Please think before you post. [I realize this is off topic, please read on carefully, and hopefully this will be the last].
If its not related to model railroading, trains, or railroading in general - don’t post it. This forum is hosted by MR for railroad related topics - its not your personal public journal or soapbox - like it or not.
If its something that can be patently and blatantly offensive or just plain dumb - don’t post it. I, and I think others are tired of coming here to see topics edited and left with a “never mind” or something in the place of the message and a laundry list of replies to something no longer there.
If its something you are going to regret or feel is questionable - do not post it! Think about it - does the world care if your buddy blew chunks on himself? Does the world care if you know the latest fart poem (funny or not)? Answer is probably not.
I think there is a lot of wasted bandwith on this forum and a lot of good stuff mixed in and buried by the junk.
I moderate 4 other forums and most of the stuff on here wouldn’t be tolerated - and its my opinion the low tolerance makes the other forums much more enjoyable.
This is a forum open to the public - not a public forum, i.e. this ain’t the town green and even the town would have limitations to content. This forum is payed for and managed by MR staff and I don’t think they appreciate most of the stuff on here.
The 6 other websites I visit and the 4 forums I moderate have a level and sense of what is appropriate. The participants know to stick to what the forum is intended. If a topic wanders that is perfectly fine and I’ve let stuff get off topic and go on so long as it wasn’t offensive, immature, and was an honest diversion of “one thing led to another” - but the MR forum here is notorious for being blatantly out of line with many topics.
Another thing is using the information already here - it might be easier to search without all
I agree also, and I don’t want to shed darkness on this, but it seems every time a flaming war starts in the forum, someone like you gets the right idea and tries to help soothe things. It’s great for a while, but you’ll notice in a few weeks, it’ll happen again.
I’ll keep my thoughts on the little war to myself. If others would do the same, instead of constantly adding posts that say “let this die”, it would go to the back, and never be seen again.
I agree this forum needs to be more ON TOPIC. I am also extremley tired of seeing a post and then the author edits the title to “don’t read this”, 'pass this by please", ect., ect
Yes, i’ve made some posts that i regret (most of them about P2K) but I try to keep things ON_TOPIC. I hate to say this but this last week the forum has been more boring than before. disclaimer-this post is not intended to offend anyone and therefore those who are offended should…ummm… do something…i’m not sure what
How is this on topic? If I wanted just train stuff I would certainly not have wasted a post. Most of the off topic stuff seems like a waste to me and I ignor it. Some I have found facinating. I have choice and I cheri***hat.
David - I agree with your thoughts. The problem is that a full time moderator would be needed, and Kalmbach is not going to devote that kind of resource to this forum. They would shut it down, rather than spend the money(and I agree with them). I suspect we have to put up with the ‘how much I love modeling’ to the ‘what is your favorite HO engine company stuff’. In between we can find the ‘good’ nugets of info!
Forgive me, but I think the real and apparently lasting strength and character of this forum is that we have a broad range of personalities and backgrounds who manage to do things reasonably…reasonably… well all by ourselves. Like any family, we have the occasional cross words, often misunderstood. Someone always picks up the slack and offers/suggests a better way of saying it, or a way out for the person, and we go back to enjoying our forum.
As ARTHILL wisely stated, when this forum becomes thought-controlled, it will be the strongest signal imaginable for me to get lost.
If every one of us does what he/she thinks best, can we ask for more? When a bunch of us tells the apparent offender that we think he/she erred, and they make amends, what more can we ask? When we forgive, what more can they ask? When I am forgiven, what more can I ask?
And bless you for raising the issue, because that is what the forum allows you to do…and me to say, “If thine eye offends thee, do not look!”
I think this is a very well -moderated forum. It allows a little freedom on subjects discussed as long as things don’t get out of line. That is the strength of this board – besides being a great source of information it is also interesting. I mean really… who wants NOTHING but posts on how to scratch-make turnouts?
David,
I agree for the most part with your post. There are some differences with how we do things here, but most of the trouble has been when people have as you mentioned posted things that were confrontational or antagonistic (usually political or religious in nature as well). We do need to be more considerate of each other.
As far as off topic is concerned, most of my posts are in the coffee shop thread which has grown to be a community of friends that only occasionally discuss trains or model railroads. I read other forums, but do not participate. (For that matter, I can’t even get the host of NHRHTA to respond when I request an account and get a account already exists message). The tone here is much more friendly overall than the others, and I’m comfortable. Thanks for posting. J.R.
Great idea and thoughts, but I personally doubt if they can or would be followed. This list attracts many newcomers to the hobby . They haven’t seen the hundreds of “whats your favorite engine” polls, and since they are new and don’t have much to contribute they spy the “Start a new poll” link and they’re off.
Then there are those who don’t indicate what their query is in message subjects. We get “Help” where some one really wants “Help me pick a …”.
The Trains forum does not have the Polls feature, so I assume Kalmbach has purposely left in on this one just for the newbies to use (and annoy the rest of us!).
Mate, I couldn’t disagree more. You say you’re the moderator of four other forums - that doesn’t give you any status or priveleges as a moderator on this one.
The subtext of your post is that you want all participants here to post in a fashion you approve of, only on topics you regard as appropriate, and to conduct themselves in a manner you’ve determined to be “mature” and “respectful”. The very act of suggesting this is immature, and, as much as it galls me to use such an ugly neologism, disrespectful as well.
You claim to “really like this forum and the number and diversity of participants”, yet you want to put an stop to the diversity of posts and posting styles? How do you reconcile the two?
True, and as MR manages this site, they are going to be the ones who determine what they will tolerate. Not you.
Sorry Dave, for someone who moderates four forums, I don’t think you have quite fully grasped a sense of what is appropriate. You are not the moderator of this forum, and I’m sure that you would not appreciate someone charging into a forum you moderate to tell you that your forum “is notorious for being blatantly out of line with many topics”.
While I think a lot of what you are saying is true, your post is terribly condescending. If you think you can do a better job of moderating here, then approach MR and ask them to take you on as a moderator. Until that happens, please let them do their jobs and concentrate on moderating your four forums.
Gentlemen, why are you flaming David? He’s not coming on as a prison guard looking down on the forum, he’s only making some viable suggestions. For those of you around in early and mid 2004, this forum experienced lots of “Flame Wars”, and a reliable source indicated that the MR staffers were seriously considering “pulling the plug” on this forum. So, it seems that this is the angle where Dave’s coming from and he’s only trying to help…not bully. We can be off topic, but not abusive.
Think about it. How many times has Bergie had to lock or delete a topic? I’ve been here only 1 1/4 years…and from what I’ve seen…too many.
I enjoy this forum…and though I haven’t posted the thought…I grew a little frustrated at reading topics that were listed as “Please Ignore” or “Don’t Post”, etc, after the poster realized that his topic was not positively conducive or benefitial but only a flame kettle of lava.
Bergie relies heavily on us to “police ourselves”. None of us here outrank anyone else.
I’ve enjoyed the wealth of info that I’ve learned here. My computer is “packed” with the info and reference links from this forum’s members.
No offense to those of you under 25, but I have a special appreciation about this forum. I wish I could literally transport you back to 1977. During my teen years, me and a friend of mine had to catch a city bus, ride across town, and spend hours at an LHS carefully rustling through magazines just to obtain 1/1000 of the info that you can find today on this forum in a minute by pressing a few keys.
We’ve got a really good thing here. Think of this as good, reliable car. Maintain it properly and you’ll get the performance. If you fill the gas tank with vinegar and punch a hole in the engine block and won’t fix it…it’s totally useless and needs to be scrapped.
Off topic posts break up the routine, as well as polls. If the majority of the
members aren’t interested in them,the topics will sink off the page.
People (normally) are only trying to reach out and be friendly when they
have an off topic question or observation. Relax, it’s like a supermarket.
Lots of variety.[soapbox]
I just love that little guy on the soapbox !!![swg]
I for one agree with David. I have been a member for less than two years but I have found I visit this forum less and less in the last couple of months. I think it is mainly due to the amount of off topic headers you have to go thru to get to anythiing MRR related that is useful. And far too many Polls in my opinion. I asked a MRR ? two days ago and within 35 minutes it was on the second page bumped by three polls, two off topics etc. And yes I do have the choice to ignore the posts I don’t want to read so all is fine with me. However, I still get that excited tingle when I find a post that is genuinely interesting and profitable. Every body have a great day.
Terry
There is no reference or use of the term “Policing ourselves” in these rules. That term would suggest that forum users somehow have the authority to deem something inappropriate. Any policing should clearly be left to Bergie and company, and not you, I, or any other forum member.
From time to time certain forum members try to think of themselves as a moderator of sorts, and in my over FOUR years on this forum this usually is the cause of a lot of trouble.