A letter from the commissioner

[Bergie]

Do you know why we provide our reader forums? Please stop and think about it for a second.

Our reader forums are here so you and exchange ideas and learn from other model railroaders. The recent influx of news concerning our hobby has led to several threads where users emotions have gotten the best of them. Please, before you post, remember to not let your emotions do the talking. Please remember that everyone has an opinion, and they’re rarely going to coincide with yours. Please don’t attack other users because their opinion differs from yours. Nothing is gained.

Below is a thread from the Trains Magazine forums that I posted a few month back after some of their users got a little rambunctious.

QUOTE:
If you've used this forum enough you probably know by now that I'm even-tempered about the vast majority of conversations that take place here and that I rarely censor posts. However, if you need a reminder or if you're new, here's what I don't like (in other words… things I will take action on):

- Swearing... if you wouldn't see it in our magazine, you shouldn't use it here.
- Personal attacks... from nit-picking grammar to "my railroad's better than yours," they get us nowhere. If you get so mad at something you’ve read that you have the urge to fire a personal attack, walk away from your computer for a while. Trust me, I have to do it myself sometimes. Don’t let your emotions control your typing.

Above all, we want you to enjoy your time spent here, and I think you all do or you wouldn’t keep coming back. Just try to be civilized and remember that this isn’t the third grade (and my dad can’t beat up your dad).

Thanks,
Erik

One more thing on the topic of swearing: I don’t care if you use symbols to clean up your swear words, it’s still swearing... don’t do it.

I hope we can all let bygones be bygones and move on to more productive conversations.

Thanks for participating in our forums.

Bergie