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A few rotten apples can get a thread locked..... Locked

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A few rotten apples can get a thread locked.....
Posted by Norman Saxon on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 6:46 PM

I'm not sure why two people (edblysard and limitedclear) were allowed to use my "STB rules in favor of captive shippers" thread to attack an innocent ex-participant on this forum, and in the process get the thread locked, with the discussion barely in it's infancy.

Wouldn't it be more appropriate to lock out the two offenders named above, rather than locking out the whole thread?

I guess I'm still not clear on how the rules work here!

Sorry if this seems like whining!

 

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Posted by trainboyH16-44 on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 7:01 PM
Welcome to forums =)

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Posted by chad thomas on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 7:04 PM

Well first off..

I wouldn't call them rotten apples. Mabee they crossed a line with forum rules but.... 

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Posted by chad thomas on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 7:13 PM
OK, so I went back and looked at the thred in question and just when I though I was getting somewhere I developed a severe headache Disapprove [V].
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Posted by bobwilcox on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 7:16 PM
Thankfully when the personal atttacks start the thread will get locked if it goes on any length of time.  Perhaps this thread should be locked.
Bob
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Posted by joegreen on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 7:27 PM

 chad thomas wrote:
OK, so I went back and looked at the thred in question and just when I though I was getting somewhere I developed a severe headache Disapprove [V].

You and me both! I had no idea what was goin on over there.

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Posted by Ted Marshall on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 7:30 PM

 bobwilcox wrote:
Thankfully when the personal atttacks start the thread will get locked if it goes on any length of time.  Perhaps this thread should be locked.

Trust me... It won't get locked... This thread is doomed to complete deletion. Wink [;)]

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Posted by Norman Saxon on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 7:52 PM
 Ted Marshall wrote:

 bobwilcox wrote:
Thankfully when the personal atttacks start the thread will get locked if it goes on any length of time.  Perhaps this thread should be locked.

Trust me... It won't get locked... This thread is doomed to complete deletion. Wink [;)]

 

So, what you're saying is that if I wanted to get someone else's thread locked, all I have to do is launch a few verbal grenades?  Interesting......Evil [}:)]

 

Oh well, I could never sink that low!  (hopefully!)

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Posted by Willy2 on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 9:25 PM

Norman -

I believe that Ed's first post in that thread was merely making a suggestion, not trying to be mean or insulting. However, a certain member of this forum took that first post as a reason to resurrect an incident that occurred nearly a year ago, thus eventually resulting in the thread being locked. It also appears to me that Ed was, for lack of a better word, 'discussed' and attacked by that member and a couple of others on multiple occasions before he was able to get a word in to defend himself. Also, having met Ed in person, I can tell you that he is not a rotten apple... he's just the opposite, in fact. Of course, that's just my My 2 cents [2c] 

As for the final reason that the thread was locked... this would be it. It's from the forum policies thread:

"- No personal attacks or name-calling. Please keep conversations cordial. We understand that there will be differences of opinion. Please don't let those differences turn ugly. Accept that others might not have your same point of view, don't sink to personal attacks. Nothing is gained by doing so."

Again, this is just my two cents. I'm not trying to be objectionable, I'm just stating things the way I saw them. Perhaps others percieved them differently and that is fine.

Willy

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Posted by Ted Marshall on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 9:25 PM
 Ted Marshall wrote:

[Trust me... It won't get locked... This thread is doomed to complete deletion. Wink [;)]

 Norman Saxon wrote:

So, what you're saying is that if I wanted to get someone else's thread locked, all I have to do is launch a few verbal grenades?  Interesting......Evil [}:)]

 

Oh well, I could never sink that low!  (hopefully!)

Norm,

Once you've been here a while you'll understand what I mean; others here certainly do. I've seen many threads get deleted for the reasons you mention among others. But they all had something in common, they either turned into flame wars or they were totally off-topic with regard to railroading. There have been many threads about "locked threads" and they've all been deleted, TTBOMK.

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Posted by zugmann on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 10:09 PM

But....  did you wave?

 

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

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Posted by Awesome! on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 11:17 PM
Dinner [dinner]
 Norman Saxon wrote:

I'm not sure why two people (edblysard and limitedclear) were allowed to use my "STB rules in favor of captive shippers" thread to attack an innocent ex-participant on this forum, and in the process get the thread locked, with the discussion barely in it's infancy.

Wouldn't it be more appropriate to lock out the two offenders named above, rather than locking out the whole thread?

I guess I'm still not clear on how the rules work here!

Sorry if this seems like whining!

 

Welcome to the Trains.forum...Bow [bow] I could write stories unfair pratices in this forum...Whistling [:-^]

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Posted by Tharmeni on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 4:32 AM
Jeepers, fellas.....turn off the computer and go out for a walk....
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 7:14 AM
 Norman Saxon wrote:
 Ted Marshall wrote:

 bobwilcox wrote:
Thankfully when the personal atttacks start the thread will get locked if it goes on any length of time.  Perhaps this thread should be locked.

Trust me... It won't get locked... This thread is doomed to complete deletion. Wink [;)]

 

So, what you're saying is that if I wanted to get someone else's thread locked, all I have to do is launch a few verbal grenades?  Interesting......Evil [}:)]

 

Oh well, I could never sink that low!  (hopefully!)

Well there is a rule against flaming or personal insults, but it does seem unfair to lock the entire thread because of a limited number of flame threads.  This does indeed empower those who are offended just by the ideas being discussed in a thread.   They can squelch those ideas merely by flaming and getting the thread locked. 

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Posted by edbenton on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 7:32 AM
Dave aka futruemodal was VERY good at that one himself.  He would see his arguements being destroyed with real world data and he would go on the attack against anyone that opposed him.  At times I miss him however I would rather not have all the threads locked.
Always at war with those that think OTR trucking is EASY.
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Posted by CopCarSS on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 7:52 AM

Welcome to the Trains.forum...Bow [bow] I could write stories unfair pratices in this forum...Whistling [:-^]

Are you serious? Unfair practices? It's THEIR forum that they're letting users like you use for FREE! And yet you have the gall to criticize them for enforcing the rules that they they set forth as a condition of that use? Shame on you.

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Posted by Convicted One on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 9:32 AM
 Norman Saxon wrote:

So, what you're saying is that if I wanted to get someone else's thread locked, all I have to do is launch a few verbal grenades?  Interesting......Evil [}:)]

It happens all the time, and the mods seem to be completely clueless as to this being standard operating proceedure employed by a few  of the regulars here.

My guess that the mods hope to get the rest of the indians to do their jobs for them, rather than risk offending a few of their "long leashed" chums by doing what's right.

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Posted by Convicted One on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 9:35 AM
 CopCarSS wrote:

 

Are you serious? Unfair practices? It's THEIR forum that they're letting users like you use for FREE! And yet you have the gall to criticize them for enforcing the rules that they they set forth as a condition of that use? Shame on you.

 

when it comes to the blatent  cases of favoritism as it pertains to rule enforcement, I think  the term "unfair" is putting it mildly.

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Posted by Convicted One on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 9:40 AM

 Bucyrus wrote:
This does indeed empower those who are offended just by the ideas being discussed in a thread.   They can squelch those ideas merely by flaming and getting the thread locked. 

Sadly, all too common here. Perhaps the most flagrant form of bellicose childishness I've ever seen. On the ready 24/7/365 or so it seems.

Sometimes I'd like to see a tabulation of which members use the "report violation" feature the most often..bet I could guess the top 10..Wink [;)]

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Posted by nanaimo73 on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 9:46 AM

.

Dale
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Posted by Convicted One on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 10:09 AM

 nanaimo73 wrote:
The thought of having Convicted One as a U/M is quite intriguing.

 

Well, at least impartiality would be assured, since I have no friends to protect. Shock [:O]

off topic, but I'd decline if asked. I've been a forum host before, as well as moderating the forums of others...and the enjoyment of participation was immediately lost for me.

Which touches upon somthing I've been chewing on for sometime...most folks likely feel similarly, moderation is by and large a thankless chore,,,for EVERYONE ...except those hoping to advance some sort of agenda. Makes you wonder

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Posted by TimChgo9 on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 10:22 AM
 Convicted One wrote:

 nanaimo73 wrote:
The thought of having Convicted One as a U/M is quite intriguing.

 

Well, at least impartiality would be assured, since I have no friends to protect. Shock [:O]

off topic, but I'd decline if asked. I've been a forum host before, as well as moderating the forums of others...and the enjoyment of participation was immediately lost for me.

Which touches upon somthing I've been chewing on for sometime...most folks likely feel similarly, moderation is by and large a thankless chore,,,for EVERYONE ...except those hoping to advance some sort of agenda. Makes you wonder

Moderating a website is a thankless chore, and it takes a fair amount of time. I am a forum/website administrator for a photo site, and while it has it's moments where I wish I could just pull the plug (it's not my site, so I can't) Overall, I enjoy doing it.  I was lucky to be picked as an administrator about 3 weeks after joining the site, so I have the advantage of not having any "friends" to protect there.   Besides, the way I am, and the way I was taught, I am impartial in every situation, much to the chagrin of those who have tried to win my favor. 

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Posted by zardoz on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 10:27 AM
Both here in the Forum, as well as in the 'real' world, I keep wondering, "Who will protect us from our protectors?"
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Posted by trainfan1221 on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 11:19 AM
I have simply noticed a lot of threads being locked lately, hopefully it isn't a growing trend.  No reason we can't have civil and informative discussions here.
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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 11:24 AM

 trainfan1221 wrote:
I have simply noticed a lot of threads being locked lately, hopefully it isn't a growing trend.  No reason we can't have civil and informative discussions here.

Potayto, potahto.  One person's civil and informative discussion is another's insult-laden argument...

By and large I think we do OK.  We do have those who are here solely to pick a fight.  And those with an agenda to sell.  But we seem to do all right.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Bergie on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 11:35 AM
 Norman Saxon wrote:
 Ted Marshall wrote:

 bobwilcox wrote:
Thankfully when the personal atttacks start the thread will get locked if it goes on any length of time.  Perhaps this thread should be locked.

Trust me... It won't get locked... This thread is doomed to complete deletion. Wink [;)]

 

So, what you're saying is that if I wanted to get someone else's thread locked, all I have to do is launch a few verbal grenades?  Interesting......Evil [}:)]

 

Oh well, I could never sink that low!  (hopefully!)

No. The better course of action is the use the Report Abuse link found at the bottom of each and every post in our forum and report the offending action to our moderators.

Unfortunatley, however, there are times when a thread is too far gone and we can't simply remove the offending posts to save the rest of the thread.

Quick forum software tutorial... when a post is deleted within a thread, each reply to that specific post is also removed. That function is intended to keep everything in context. However, the problem arises when someone hits the Reply button within the negative portion of the thread. Their post is then removed by the system because it's part of that chain. It's hard to explain, but what it boils down to is perfectly good posts get removed when a bad post is removed simply because the person (unbeknownst to them at the time) hit the Reply button on the offending reply post, and not the part of the thread that would be staying. Again, it's very hard to explain, but gives a little insight into why we simply don't go through and clean up a thread by removing the offending material and leave the rest of the thread unlocked for further comment. Plus, if a thread is 4 or 5 pages long, there could be replies to the offending material scattered throughout. It could take a moderator an hour to sort everything out, and in the end it still might not make sense (again, because a good post could inadvertently be removed as a result of replying to the "bad" post).

Please, use the Report Abuse feature to let us know about inappropriate behavior. We try to keep everything on track, but unfortunatley, we can't always guarantee that we can save a thread after a mud-slinging competition starts.

Bergie

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Posted by Tharmeni on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 11:53 AM
Good advice, Bergie, but I STILL think a few of us need to turn off the computer and go out and watch trains instead of harping at one another.
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Posted by Bergie on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 12:00 PM
 Convicted One wrote:

Which touches upon somthing I've been chewing on for sometime...most folks likely feel similarly, moderation is by and large a thankless chore,,,for EVERYONE ...except those hoping to advance some sort of agenda. Makes you wonder

Make you wonder what? Why you spend time theorizing such ludicrous notions?

Honestly, do you really think I'd let one of my moderators push their personal agenda? My only agenda is to make sure this forum remains a positive place for people of all walks of life to discuss railroading. Think about this thread and what it'll do to someone who is just visiting for the first time. Do you think they're going to jump into the conversation?

Banged Head [banghead] Bergie

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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 12:43 PM

It got so bad on one forum I'm on that they created a separate "Firebox for Flamers" thread where the usual suspects could go and fling whatever they chose at whomever they chose at will.  Helped keep that kind of stuff off the regular board. 

Not suggesting such an approach here - better to keep the behavior in check in the first place - but it worked there.

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Posted by nanaimo73 on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 1:46 PM

.

Dale

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