B-b-b-ban me!

[Renegade_Turner]

Agreed.
For examples of this in action, see Armored_Wolf's apology, and Devilsclub's (repeated) departure from the forums.

Exactly. Cases in point. That's precisely what I mean by the problem sorting itself out. On this forum, I see the reactions of the community as the "Administrator", so to speak. If the community approves, the content is accepted. If the community is horrified, the content is generally swiftly removed.

Also, as a side-note, you don't want your children seeing certain things, but at times protecting them from these things and pretending they don't exist is more damaging for when they later discover such things.

Case in point: my girlfriend was under the impression until the age of around 13 or 14 that you became pregnant by kissing the opposite sex. Eh? Stupid parents.

[Assaultman67]

I raise up the topic of 4chan as your counter example ... lol

Well, so far the stuff I've seen in these forums is fairly mild (discounting porn and dead dogs) ... that said I probably won't log onto these forums when im at school anymore ... but I've seen the lawlessness get so out of hand that people are raging at each over 24/7. bickering about things such as who stole what, what one person said to another, who showed whom's penis over AIM to someones girlfriend ... and it drags ON AND ON AND ON.

But it seems the atmosphere here is just right for a grudgematch like that to start ... most noticably because of all the small bickering ... i bet 1/3 of all topics here turn into a debate/arguement ... LOL

... There is just too much kindling lying around ...

[h2ostra]

It is precisely because this forum is pretty mild that I don't think i needs a strong moderator presence. We have shown a decent enough ability to police ourselves to warrant trust from the moderators and administrators. Should things start to get out of hand (and I realize that the exact definition of "getting out of hand" is fairly subjective), I would be all for stronger moderator presence, but as it is, I think things work out pretty well on their own

[tokage]

Another aspect of a more rigid moderation will be that it cripples imagination through chilling effects. Anticipation or fear of moderation and rule enforcement will make (normal) people think twice before they post that off topic post. If that off topic post would spark a new discussion about another aspect of the original discussion or is itself much more interesting and valuable than the original thread the community will have lost something. Threads die down earlier and the forum becomes a less fun and interesting place to be. I think most of the interesting and funny threads in this community came forth because someone crossed the line at least a little bit.

There still is the problem with people like Devilsclub though, who won't listen if they get told off by most members. If they are persistent enough, they can ruin the community of course. Luckily if the community can sit those appearances out and goes back a little on nurturing those peoples trolling it will cease by itself.

[Renegade_Turner]

Another aspect of a more rigid moderation will be that it cripples imagination through chilling effects. Anticipation or fear of moderation and rule enforcement will make (normal) people think twice before they post that off topic post. If that off topic post would spark a new discussion about another aspect of the original discussion or is itself much more interesting and valuable than the original thread the community will have lost something. Threads die down earlier and the forum becomes a less fun and interesting place to be. I think most of the interesting and funny threads in this community came forth because someone crossed the line at least a little bit.

I agree completely. Off-topic posts often lead to more interesting discussions than the originally bland subject matter of a thread.

[Armored Wolf]

Another aspect of a more rigid moderation will be that it cripples imagination through chilling effects. Anticipation or fear of moderation and rule enforcement will make (normal) people think twice before they post that off topic post. If that off topic post would spark a new discussion about another aspect of the original discussion or is itself much more interesting and valuable than the original thread the community will have lost something. Threads die down earlier and the forum becomes a less fun and interesting place to be. I think most of the interesting and funny threads in this community came forth because someone crossed the line at least a little bit.

I agree completely. Off-topic posts often lead to more interesting discussions than the originally bland subject matter of a thread.

You just pwned topic starters everywhere.

[Assaultman67]

What moderator closes topics that go off track? That sounds more like power abuse to me ...

[BlackHole]

What moderator closes topics that go off track? That sounds more like power abuse to me ...

Just splitting a topic works better.

- Black
90% of teens today would die if Myspace and Facebook had a system failure and were completely destroyed. If you are one of the 10% that would be laughing, copy and paste this into your signature.

[Armored Wolf]

If Fournine or other mod/admin banned/reprimanded me, then I would continue to post roadkill pictures until I found out what levels of disgusting roadkill I could post without a ban/reprimand.
Maybe it's me that's messed up

[tokage]

What moderator closes topics that go off track? That sounds more like power abuse to me ...

Never said the moderator would close the whole topic. Off topic posts being deleted is not so uncommon though. And there are chilling effects from that and there are benefits from off topic posts.

[Armored Wolf]

What moderator closes topics that go off track? That sounds more like power abuse to me ...

Never said the moderator would close the whole topic. Off topic posts being deleted is not so uncommon though. And there are chilling effects from that and there are benefits from off topic posts.

For example, this entire thread no longer being about RobLikesBrunch banning.

[BlackHole]

But that happens to almost every topic in this forums.

- Black
Architecture is the art of wasting space.

[tokage]

But often(ok, maybe sometimes) it comes full circle to the original topic from a new perspective.

[Assaultman67]

What moderator closes topics that go off track? That sounds more like power abuse to me ...

Never said the moderator would close the whole topic. Off topic posts being deleted is not so uncommon though. And there are chilling effects from that and there are benefits from off topic posts.

Sounds more like power abuse is common ... That would be one good reason not to get more moderators for people against the moderation in the other thread ... I've seen moderators get overzealous quite often ...

Although it really does take a pro to be responsible enough not to abuse the moderating tools at all ... I admittedly used the tools to look up a few IP addresses every once in a while out of personal curiosity ...

I remember one time some kid was asking me to make some vehicle for him in UT2k4, but I told him no ... then some second account that was newly created PM'ed me saying something along the lines of "I don't know that other guy, but i definitely think it would be a great idea for you to make the vehicle! You should do it" ... and of course I'm like ... "This has to be the same guy" so i looked up his IP address ... something regular members wouldn't be able to do ...

Oh and they matched ... and i scolded him for pulling that shit.

[Sandurz]

Ren, did you completely ignore my previous comment?