Moderator Locks

I can't understand what's going on with BladeForums. We won't allow certain topics and lock them but but allow non-knife threads like "EarthQuake in the Bay Area" to continue.

I can understand not allowing personal attacks and still believe this forum to be one of the best, but if people can't type their opinions then how is this going to affect future blade reviews or other negatives.

Hey, if we have rules then fine but let's ALL live by them.

BTW, Gunner, thanks for the kind words.

I'm sure this thread is about to be locked. - Jeff


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Randall's Adventure & Training
jeff@jungletraining.com

 
Welll...for starters, James has *moved* a few threads. But in each case he said where it was going, didn't chop anything out and basically "didn't kill the flow of conversation OR censor anyone".

I don't see anything at all unreasonable about that. I had a "humor and general fun" thread turn technically serious on me in Community a while back, had to shift it to Shop Talk...that was before we could move threads, if that had been available that's the way I would have done it, same as James does.

Granted, he hasn't done it 100% of the time - in the case of the Earthquake thread, he probably felt there was a "personal safety potential worry" in other parts of the country and therefore while it DID really belong elsewhere, leaving it in the "high traffic area" was warranted.

Finally, he did today stop a "pure rant on a maker" thread. And again, I think that was the right move - there was no *specific* complaint other than about the company's "advertizing attitude". There's just no percentage in that sort of thing, although if the poster wants to take it to the "good/bad/ugly" forum he's welcome to. If the poster has a more specific complaint, cool.

But remember: if someone "spouted off about a particular person in generalities", it would be seen by most here as over-the-top. In James's opinion (and mine) there's no reason not to apply the same standards of common courtesy to *companies*. In fact there's very good reason to do so: aside from the fact that Lynn Thompson has feelings too, so do his employees.

Now, if Cold Steel was actually screwing up, actually hurting customers, that's another story. In my personal opinion, they aren't - CS products are usually good value for the money. Not always, that's life - but they're not "predatory" on customers, and so far as I can tell they have a better record than most of not slavishly copying other makers.

I'm gonna side with James on this one.

Jim March
 
Hey thanks Jeff. It was me that posted the thread in question, and i personally feel that it is unfair that the thread was closed. I have a right to put my opinion on the table, and there was no critism. My point was that while cold steel may make good knives, they have no right to put down the other knife companies, and make their goods seem useless. I am afraid that cold steel better come down off their pedistal and face the fact that we should be free to chose the knife we want and not have a major knife company making all other makes seem like junk. I dont see the benefit of it, the only thing i can figure is that they figure that the more they trash talk the other companies the better they look. well i got news for them, that attitude is the very reason i wont buy ANYTHING from them. If you must close the thread fine, but i will post what i feel to be true. Thanks
 
Gunner and all,

I hope I didn't give the impression that I was agreeing with the Cold Steel criticism. All the dealings I've had with the company have been excellent and personally think they make some of the better pieces I have used.

On the other hand, I don't doubt that someone may have had problems. The beauty of a good forum such as this is it allows someone to voice one opinion and the other guys get to rebut the opinion if need be.

Open *moderated* forums are excellent, and BladeForums has some of the most knowledgeable knife folk in the business. I also think the moderators do a good job, especially with the quantity of posts. I just thought Gunner got short-sided a little on his thread, especially since it contained knife content, and I really didn't interpret it as an all-out "Lynn-Thompson-can-kiss-my-A__" post. If he was truly out of line, no doubt other people on the forum would have voiced their opinion.

I'll be quiet now :) Jeff


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Randall's Adventure & Training
jeff@jungletraining.com

 
Gosh, sorry I wasted everyones time
wink.gif


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James
 
Part of the reason BladeForums.com does so well, and attracts the people that it does is because we grant our moderators a lot of leeway in what they do, and prefer an extremely laid back atmosphere.

Of all the moderators, James is the most laid back and least likely to close a thread without good reason. I, on the other hand, am probably the most likely to shut one down. Had James not locked it, I would have moved it to the "Good, Bad and Ugly" as it's more of a PR / Company relations issue.

Ideally, I don't like to lock threads at all. I agree with Jeff that certain threads don't belong in this forum, like the "Earthquake" one; it should have been moved immediately to the "Community Center". However, until we get the next software version, I'm going to continue to be laid back on where posts do and don't belong.

When we get the next software version, I'm rearranging them like our sister site, <a href="http://www.thefiringline.com" target="_blank">The Firing Line</a>, and putting the General Blade Discussion Forum towards the bottom. This is because we are experiencing "mission creep" with the General forum here, and there is way too much off topic posts coming into this forum.

Ideally you guys should regulate yourselves. We shouldn't have to move or lock threads, or tell you to post in a calm, rational manner. After all, everyone did read the <a href="http://www.bladeforums.com/faqs" target="_blank">Site FAQ's</a> and <a href="http://www.bladeforums.com/rules.html" target="_blank">Rules</a>, right?

So, we shouldn't have to step in and actually use the moderator options, but, unfortunately, sometimes we do.

This question comes up every so often, so that's why I'm explaining it. If you (as in hypothetical "you") don't like why "your" thread was closed, please look at what you said, and how you could have changed it.

Like the Cold Steel thread, for example. It could have been phrased:

"I'm not happy with Cold Steel. I don't approve of their super-hype marketing tactics and I feel that they go overboard in putting down other companies, especially when I don't find their product at all superior. I wish Lynn Thompson would change his strategy, as it has, at least in my case, cost him a customer, instead of convincing me to buy from him."

Need I say more?

Spark

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Kevin Jon Schlossberg
SysOp and Administrator for BladeForums.com

Insert witty quip here
 
I was wondering if the "locked thread" deal was bugging anyone else other than me...

Nothing personal against anyone, but what is the purpose of having a "general" forum if every topic is going to be narrowed down to a specific subject and categorized in its own forum?
Before long, we will have hundreds of little specialized forums here and the "general forum" will be full of locked and relocated threads.
My opinion is that something along the lines of "banning firearms" is not appropriate for the "Knives for Sale" forum. If that happens, move the thread... but the "General" forum, being the highest traffic area and the main (if not the ONLY) one frequented by many of us, should be open to anything in general (as long as it in some way relates to the knife industry), hence the name "GENERAL FORUM".

Peace-
Orion

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"One of us is wrong... ain't but one way to find out who it is."
(modern day NHB fighter speaking to traditional martial artist
after lengthy discussion concerning the effectiveness of each one's style)
 
So, Spark... let me get this straight.... (and I'm really not trying to be an a$$hole).

The level of one's education/command of the English language determines whether or not his/her threads get locked? One can say anything one desires as long as it is done in a politically & grammatically correct/educated/eloquent manner?

In the example you gave above, you basically said the exact same thing as the guy did in his post, you just did it in a more eloquent way.

Just curious-
Orion
 
I think that locking and moving a thread to the proper forum is a good way to lead people over to the other areas of the site. If you open a thread that interests you and then follow it to a forum full of undiscovered issues...

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James
 
Personally, I don't care what threads are locked out; I is clearly stated when you sign up for BladeForums membership that personal attacks are not allowed. It's that simple.

A while back I included a personal attack in a post I wrote, and I was instructed to remove that part of the post... I was happy to do so. If my post was entirely a personal attack, I am sure it would have been locked. It wasn't ALL a personal attack, so (like I said) the personal attack was brought to my attention and I removed it.

I read the Cold Steel thing before it was locked, and I felt it was a personal attack. Not PART of the post, the whole thing. There was no real background into what spawned the need to post, and there was nothing included in the post that would have yielded a constructive discussion of any sort = LOCKED.

The posts that are of non-knife content that are NOT locked or removed remain because they really aren't going to impact the flow of this forum in any way. We don't walk around with knives on the brain, I am not thrown by a post about something non-knife related here; whats the big deal?

I think that Spark, James Mattis, Mike Turber, and all the other moderators here at BladeForums do a very good job of keeping roughly three thousand people from verbally slitting each others necks. Let them do their jobs, I would rather have a semi-restricted BladeForums then no BladeForums at all.

By the way, I think that THIS thread should be locked and moved to the Help Center, make what will of that notion.

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Robert Joseph Ansbro

If it can be written, or thought, it can be filmed. -Stanley Kubrick, 1928-1999

www.Cinematopia.com

I am the moderator on the forum "The Balcony" located at Cinematopia, please come support this brand new site
 
I think that the moderators here are all doing a great job. When I come here I don't want to filter through threads like "for or against abortion", or maybe "earth quakes" etc. if I want that I will listen to the news or go to a forum that deals with those issues. I believe if we all put our posts in the forum where they belong then everyone will be happy without locked threads.

Lonnie
 
Mercury basically said what I was going to respond, but here's one more thing.

Orion, you are basically correct: How you phrase your question is a very big part of whether or not it stays open. It's that simple. It's like that saying: "Diplomacy is the art of saying nice doggie while looking for a large rock". If you say something in the form of an attack, it's likely to be closed. If you say something as a fact/opinion inviting polite discussion, it's probably going to stay open.

This isn't a one size fits all rule. The moderators are allowed a large amount of leeway to use their best judgement. Occasionally, someone's thread is going to be locked, and that person isn't going to be happy about it, but that's life: Not everyone is going to be happy all the time.

Spark

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Kevin Jon Schlossberg
SysOp and Administrator for BladeForums.com

Insert witty quip here
 
Yep, I also think that JKM locked that thread a little soon. But, I am glad to see the Admin. stand behind him. He does a very good gob on not locking threads most of the time.
Hey Spark how about a Bitch forum, when you rearange this place?
 
Already have that: Good Bad and Ugly, for dealers and companies, Suggestion Box if you have a problem with us.

Spark

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Kevin Jon Schlossberg
SysOp and Administrator for BladeForums.com

Insert witty quip here
 
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