Author Topic: Thread locked on THR: Moderators are evil Stalinists (Read 5469 times)

K Frame · « **Reply #25 on:** January 29, 2007, 02:20:47 PM »

"Thing is, if a place keeps banning all the longtime contributors and people who actually have discussions, it ends up with a "last updated" date of two years ago, a few spam posts, and rolling tumbleweeds.

It's happened to a lot of forums, it can happen to that one."

And the converse is ALSO true.

Permitting rampant 'tards to act in any manner they wish can, and also does, destroy forums. People who are actually adult enough to be allowed to take Mommy and Daddy's keyboard for a drive get frustrated and leave for a board where moderators aren't the equivilent of braindead zombies and the lunatics don't rule the asylum.

In years past I've witnessed some of my favorite boards die simply because none of the "moderators" had the testicles to clamp down on the aholes.

BakerMikeRomeo · « **Reply #26 on:** January 29, 2007, 04:52:28 PM »

Quote

had the testicles to clamp down on the aholes.

~GnSx

Bogie · « **Reply #27 on:** January 29, 2007, 05:00:43 PM »

Problem is that they need to use testicles AND brains, or else they become the aholes...

Frankly, as of late, the forum has turned into Zero Tolerance city... That's a bad thing - it means people are encouraged to NOT think - to just act, and blame "policy."

Little Johnny draws a picture of his daddy with a deer rifle, and gets expelled. That's Zero Tolerance. A poster says something that's disagreed with by those in power...

Thor · « **Reply #28 on:** January 29, 2007, 05:16:14 PM »

Military.com went through a melt down similar to what y'all are complaining of over at THR. It hurt their forums and many of us are working on hurting their site by contacting the advertisers and complaining. I don't recall seeing any advertisers over at THR. Heavy handedness will only cause members to go elsewhere. I don't visit THR very often just because of that reason. I like a forum that I can be myself.

Lee · « **Reply #29 on:** January 29, 2007, 06:20:36 PM »

"That was well done, but we don't have a humor forum."

I'll bet Lawdog will be very dissappointed.

Phyphor · « **Reply #30 on:** January 29, 2007, 06:46:50 PM »

You know what's ironic and funny - he comes here to complain about a forum owned by the same person.

Now look, Oleg made the rules, and chose the mods to enforce them. IF you have a problem with how a particular mod is enforcing the rules, then talk to (PM) Oleg. Bitching about it over here isn't gonna do anything constructive.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #31 on:** January 29, 2007, 08:29:06 PM »

Earth to Phyphor,

He already said the whole thing was tongue-in-cheek.

Art Eatman · « **Reply #32 on:** January 30, 2007, 07:05:01 AM »

Bogie, I don't know of any moderator at THR or TFL who'd close a thread or ban a member for a difference of opinion. How opinions are expressed, of course, is a completely different matter--and how things should be expressed is pretty clear in the posted rules to which all members agreed.

Art

Justin · « **Reply #33 on:** January 30, 2007, 08:27:12 AM »

Quote

Thread locked on THR: Moderators are evil Stalinists

Yes. Yes we are.

Except for those of us that are pirates or ninjas.

Just don't go to telling anybody.

mtnbkr · « **Reply #34 on:** January 30, 2007, 08:30:34 AM »

"Comrade, you havink somthink in your nose".

Chris

Eleven Mike · « **Reply #35 on:** January 30, 2007, 08:35:16 AM »

Too late, evil Justin! I have exposed you and your cronies! For I know that YOU are the true mastermind!

See, another one follows a dissenter to APS for hounding. How far will they go to crush our rights?

Good photo, by the way.

mtnbkr · « **Reply #36 on:** January 30, 2007, 08:44:20 AM »

Now for the mass posting of vaguely related pictures...

Cheesy

Chris

Justin · « **Reply #37 on:** January 30, 2007, 09:22:52 AM »

Quote

Too late, evil Justin! I have exposed you and your cronies!

BLAST! Foiled again!

Quote

How far will they go to crush our rights?

The Volga with a couple of hard, pipe-hittin' Russkies is on the way as we speak. police

Quote

Good photo, by the way.

I linked it from CNN. Makes me wonder if Ted Turner is possessed of a sense of irony.

Matthew Carberry · « **Reply #38 on:** January 30, 2007, 09:39:03 AM »

According to his official biographer the best part about kissing Papa Joe was the way his mustache tickled your nose...

Brad Johnson · « **Reply #39 on:** January 30, 2007, 09:44:43 AM »

Quote

Makes me wonder if Ted Turner is possessed of a sense of irony

I wish he'd let someone "irony" on his combover. You'ld think someone with that kind of money could afford a better 'do.

Brad

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #40 on:** January 30, 2007, 09:47:26 AM »

Wait. The guy smooching with Stalin is Ted Turner, himself? And we were supposed to pick up on that? I'm so out of touch.

griz · « **Reply #41 on:** January 30, 2007, 09:53:35 AM »

I'm torn. I think the THR is a little too inconsistent and strict, but then again I don't like somebody calling other people fascists and Stalinists as a joke. Hmmm, maybe I'm just too grumpy lately. undecided

Eleven Mike · « **Reply #42 on:** January 30, 2007, 09:57:55 AM »

Aha! Trying to censor me, are you? It only proves you are a NAZI!1

Lighten up, griz. angel

Matthew Carberry · « **Reply #43 on:** January 30, 2007, 10:07:56 AM »

Well, we've all been around long enough to know that sarcasm, especially really dry and witty sarcasm, is fairly easy to miss in posts. Especially if one person is heavily emotionally invested in the topic.

But the responsibility still rests on both parties to read the post carefully for context and look at who's saying what. Rising in offense should be preceded by looking at the situation logically.

If a poster (or mod) is obviously not a Stalinist (or fascist or what-have-you) then calling them one can only (logically) be taken two ways. Either the poster calling names is an absolute idiot or they are joking. So you check who is posting the iffy comment and see if that sort of thing is in character for them.

If it's someone new, without a history to judge, it makes more sense to PM or post the question "are you serious?" before going off on a rant about rudeness, Godwin and the like.

Give folks the benefit of the doubt before jumping on them and you look less reactionary.

an example follows...

Quote from: griz

Hmmm, maybe I'm just too grumpy lately.

Like Hitler was "too grumpy"? grin

Werewolf · « **Reply #44 on:** January 30, 2007, 10:35:33 AM »

Quote from: Gewehr98 on January 29, 2007, 09:22:18 AM

Quote

Even if my post was humorous, I don't see how that would have justified a clear violation of my right to free speech.

Well, that was your first mistake. Who told you that you had a right to free speech on a privately-owned forum? (Seriously, you don't call the shots.)

You're right he doesn't call the shots.

BUT - the folks that do should at least shoot straight and consistently. The THR mods seem to have lost that ability lately - in other words: They're not all on the same page; they're not all playin' by the same rules; darts thrown while blindfolded seems to be the game playing strategy of the day over there.

That said: Eleven Mike's Gunshop for Men thread is a perfect example of the above. There was no reason to close it. It didn't violate any published rule that I can find in their published list:

Quote

There are only a few house rules:

1.) All topics and posts must be related to firearms or civil liberties issues.
2.) Multiple user registrations are prohibited.
3.) As a family-friendly board, we ask that you keep your language clean. If you wouldn't say it in front of your dear old Grandma, you probably don't want to say it here.
4.) Spamming, trolling, flaming, and personal attacks are prohibited. You can disagree with other members, even vehemently, but it must be done in a well-mannered form. Attack the argument, not the arguer.
5.) We cannot provide a comprehensive list of "Things Not To Say".Posts that are contrary to the above policies, or to the mission of The High Road, may be edited or deleted at our sole discretion. Membership may be revoked if such a step is deemed necessary by us. We're a private venture enabled by an all-volunteer staff. Please treat this venue as a polite discussion in a friend's home and respect the wishes of the hosts.

The only rule he could possibly have broken is rule number 5 which is basically their out which says they can close a thread just because they don't like that period you put in there at the end of sentence 5 kind of thing.

In other words rule 5 says "It's my board and I can run it anyway I like and if you don't like it then I'll just take my ball and go home an no one can play"!

What I see occuring at THR is analogous to what happens to governments as they evolve: over time it is getting more and more restrictive. It's not to the point yet that some WEB forums I've been on got to but it is getting there.

Matthew Carberry · « **Reply #45 on:** January 30, 2007, 10:43:13 AM »

Alternately, if a thread is totally tongue in cheek, why have it on THR? As was pointed out, it isn't, nor does it have, a "humor" forum, that sort of thing is technically a "Roundtable" thread from the start.

It's bad enough they have to deal with actual trolls, but members who know better should maybe think before cluttering up the board. Anything actually clever like the gunshop idea (and it was funny) is just going to spawn a legion of imitators, who aren't funny, and who will point to Eleven's thread as justification, "he gets to do it, you guys are unfair".

Better perhaps to just not allow non-serious threads at all, given the current troll climate.

That doesn't mean you can't have fun in a thread, but the topic covered should be genuine at the start.

Werewolf · « **Reply #46 on:** January 30, 2007, 10:54:00 AM »

Quote

I will quote myself, because I think it gets the point accress that I am trying to make:

"Guys, and girls, it's not your site. With the exception of ONE person, we are ALL guests. If that ONE person wants to drop f bomb after f bomb, it's his house. If he tells us we can't swear, then don't. Where's the problem? Are we that moronic that we can't handle this rule? Is our vocabulary that simple?

Would you go into someone's house and put your feet on the coffee table after they ask you 100 times nicely not to? Or do you claim to be protected by the 1st amendment? THEN WHY DO IT HERE???"

The whole HOUSE analogy is flawed.

Agreed: The forum belongs to the guy who pays the bills but it is more like a public park or a restaurant than his home. Forums are open to the public just like a park. There are no criteria that need be met to enter. It's a public forum.

Like a park one can do what one wants within the law and in general and as far as I know freedom of speech isn't restricted in one (hop right up on a soap box and commence to speak your mind). The only caveat I would add is that since THR is a topic focused forum that posts should be ON TOPIC and if not then they should be deleted. There are many off topic threads on THR that are never deleted let alone locked because of the arbitrary nature of some of the mods.

Now some parks, and other establishments are members only affairs. One must meet certain criteria to belong. THR isn't like that. Show up, register, and voila you be a membah! Yeehah!

So I don't buy that whole it's his house deal. One doesn't invite 10,000 strangers into one's home. One does invite 10,000 strangers to a public park.

And while I'm ranting the THR Mission statement says:

Quote

It is the declared mission of this board to achieve and provide the highest quality of firearms discussion on the Internet

All the mods are doing now is providing the most arbitrary firearms discussion on the internet along with discussion of non-firearm related topics they have a particular fondness for.

THAT SAID: I still visit THR and read about 1/2 of what's posted. I still occasionally post but not near as often as I used to. I still read general and L&P but mostly read the gun related forums. Why because there's nothing arbitrary about the gun forums and the mods there.

Maybe THR should just kill off General and L&P and stick to the gun and other forums.

Eleven Mike · « **Reply #47 on:** January 30, 2007, 10:54:37 AM »

Werewolf, at this point, roping in gullible people has lost its appeal. I was joking about the whole thing. I'm sure the mod had his reasons to shut the thread, and it was only mildly annoying that I didn't get to at least post a thread mocking the people who thought I was serious. At least I can still make fun of Gewher 98. grin

Gun-related humor threads should be allowed (I think LawDog still posts his yarns over there.) but I'm not in a position to tell the moderators what to do. They know a whole lot more about what's going on over there than I do. It's a tricky business and if a few fun threads have to bite the dust to keep things on the High Road, that's fine with me.

I think my last humorous thread was "If you could only own 300 guns..." Hehehe.

That one got locked pretty fast, too.

K Frame · « **Reply #48 on:** January 30, 2007, 11:00:22 AM »

"There are no criteria that need be met to enter."

Incorrect.

You must register, and in doing so you agree both to abide by the terms and conditions set down by the owner of the forum and to be bound by those terms and conditions.

If you don't like those terms and conditions, you're welcome to find another board where they're more to your liking.

Bogie · « **Reply #49 on:** January 30, 2007, 11:27:54 AM »

Lately, to me at least, it seems like THR has been invaded by gamers, paintballers, and kids in search of a new way to piss off their parents...

I mean, I fully expect to see "What is the best way to conceal a minigun and the air tank under a black trench coat, so that I don't have to go to school anymore? And where do I buy the thing that automatically switches the guns for me?"

News:

Author Topic: Thread locked on THR: Moderators are evil Stalinists (Read 5469 times)

BakerMikeRomeo