Sad situation

B

Black Tornado

Feedback: +0 / =0 / -0
Joined
Nov 1, 2001
Messages
10
I just want to say that I am new at the posting game, but
have been reading for a while, I am an advid knife nut, and was
referred to this site by a friend, and quite frankly I amazed by
all the bickering and complaining that goes on here. Why
don't people focus on knives, the hobby that we all love by the way,
and get off of each others backs. I may be new here, but it
doesnt take a genius to see that there are some immature bad apples
here, you know who you are, so please go away, so we can all
concentrate and enjoy the things we love. Spark your the man around
this place, and don't know why people don't just leave you the hell
alone, there should be no arguing with your decisions, but all need
to be a little less harsh on one another, and lower the testorne level. This website is terrific, and I hate to see it ruined by a
bunch a pompass know it alls, Spark keep up the good work, and please
rid this place of all the idiots who start trouble for the sake of
trouble. There you have it, my dumbass, uneducated opionion, hopefully the good people on this site will back me up, if not, oh
well I tried.
LONGLIVE BLADEFORUMS.COM, I LOVE IT, AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO LOVES
KNIVES SHOULD TOO.
 
I agree with you to a point, there are some guys who like to cause trouble and that is a shame. The thing is, you are always going to have this when you have a forum with this many active members. Sometimes battles begin because a few people on each side of a argument are dead set that they are right and no amount of logic is going to change their minds. These things usually cool off after awhile and when they get out of hand Spark steps in only when he has to. That is to me the sign of good leadership. If he kicked everybody off this forum that got out of line and caused trouble, there would be far fewer darn good members around here. Some of the really good guys, have on occasion lost it on these forums. If they had been kicked out we would have lost there huge store of information and that would have been a terrible lose.

I think that Spark does all that is needed of him and no more. Members need to know that they can sometimes have a rather nasty disagreement with another member and that they will be able to work that out with the other person. If it gets to the point where disrespect is being shown then I think a Super Moderator needs to step in and try to quiet things down. I think our Super Mods do a great job of this. If it goes beyond this to where threats are being made or when utter disrespect for Spark, and/or the moderators, and/or the members of this forum is being shown then it is probably time to, as you say, get rid of the trouble maker.

What I am trying to say is that even though there sometimes are some pretty heated arguments on this forum, I still think that overall it is well looked after with just the right amount of overseeing by the Spark and the moderators. Fights happen in the best of families and they will happen here. Bladeforums isn't perfect, but it is good enough for me.
 
All forums have controversy, but some of them cover it up. When something like that happens at some forums, members and posts and whole threads disappear without explanation, and the members don't know how or why decisions are made. At some forums all you would know is one of the moderators isn't a moderator any more -- why? No one will say ... members who ask what happened disappear too ... no one says they were banned, you just notice they aren't posting any more. You hear rumors and don't know what to believe....

Here at Bladeforums we do everything in the open. Controversy can be upsetting at times and I'm sure some members would rather not have seen it -- but it's over now, and this way you know what happened; you know why he isn't here any more and you can decide for yourself what you think of that decision. None of it was edited or deleted and it won't be, so if somebody ever tells you a story about how he was treated unfairly at Bladeforums you can search out what really happened and decide for yourself what you think of it.
 
The problem here is too many people eager to jump in and offer personal opinions in a public forum and then the opinions snowball and get worse and more people jump in. I know of this first hand as I have been and lived through it.

We all have and are entitled to our own personal opinions as that is what makes us all unique and individual. Unfortunately when someone feels very strongly, their emotions get the best of them and they say things that in hind sight could have been stated in a more appropriate manner.

But for this they should be forgiven, not chastised for who among us has not made mistakes or done things we later see could have been done differently? I have seen people in forums get attacked verbally and people just keep jumping in and contributing.

The ones who say I have never dealt with the person shouldn't say anything as they have no experience with the person to offer any relevant comments. They are simply "jumping on the bandwagon" to join in and go with the majority. :rolleyes:

I feel Tex had the right to state his opinion and not be attacked for it by others who disagreed with him. Let the maker defend himself and speak for himself, not everyone else do it for him as the real issue is between the maker and the customer and not everyone else.

It shouldn't matter if you're a gold, premier or any other member, you're here for the same reason. Love of knives and comparing the quality and works of different makers. Tex, sorry but you were way out of line with the member comments so I can't back ya on that one.

This is Spark's forum and how he chooses to run and maintain it is his choice and business, I haven't always been happy with the postings made here but it is his forum which is why I made my own forum.

This got way out of hand too fast and too many people were more than eager to offer their personal opinion and defend someone just because another said something not nice. If he can prove the dealer got other knives to people who ordered after he did, he had every right to complain and post it here.

I hope everyone learns from this and it doesn't continue to happen to anyone and Tex, I'm sorry you took this as far as you did and made some of the remarks you did. But I'm still trying to figure out how you're still posting if you were banned? :eek:

Let us never forget that our differences and difference in opinion is what makes us who we are and keeps us from being too much alike and boring and a difference of opinion is fine when handled properly, something I have learned in the last 6 months, unfortunately the hard way.

Tex to you I say this: I had a house fire on 11-1-01 and I now know that if you have a problem with someone you don't have any more dealings with them because time really is too short and all the arguing and bickering really isn't worth it, trust me on this one.

Thanx for letting me post and babble my humble opinion and to all have a wonderful rest of the week and weekend!! :)
 
There seems to be some confusion here.... First, the vBulletin software we use here (and the UBB software we used to run) shows current member status even for old posts. For instance, if you search out the very first post I made at Bladeforums it'll show me as a super moderator even though I wasn't then, and it'll show my current number of posts. Ez-board software is different; it shows the member status and number of posts at the time of the post, so my first post on an Ez-board forum shows the member status I had then (Novice or whatever the admin chose for new members) and shows my number of posts as 1 even if I've made a thousand posts on that forum since then. (I like the way Ez-board does that, but vBulletin has so many other advantages I prefer it overall. They're both good programs....)

So, a banned member's old posts here show his member status as banned, whatever his status was at the time he posted the message. Sometimes members who've been banned here at Bladeforums have promised to change their ways and have been reinstated, and again all changes on vBulletin boards are retroactive, so his old posts don't show him as banned after he's been reinstated. Sometimes they sneak back using a new name instead, and if they're up to their same old tricks we usually notice immediately and ban them again, but if they've reformed we might not notice that new member is the same old troll come back again, or we might choose to just keep an eye on them and make sure they really have reformed before we decide to let them stay under the new name....

The discussion about Big Tex's transaction with Matt Lamey was within normal bounds for TGB&U. Everybody is welcome to post their experiences and viewpoints as long as they can be reasonably orderly about it, and you can decide for yourself whose opinion is worth listening to -- I don't try to do that for you. When someone reports an experience with a knifemaker or dealer others who've had experience with him often join the discussion, and when a question about whether a practice is ethical or not arises, people who haven't necessarily had any transactions with either of the individuals involved often contribute their thoughts on the ethical question. If you don't think the viewpoints of people who weren't involved in the transaction that started the discussion are worth paying attention to, you don't have to pay attention to them.

I hope it is clear to everyone that Big Tex was not banned for reporting his transaction with Matt Lamey or for expressing his feelings about that transaction. None of the people who expressed disagreement with him were banned, either, and no posts were edited or deleted.

The basic principle of TGB&U is if everyone is allowed to post their viewpoints the truth will come out -- and we believe members (and lurkers, too) can make up their own minds for themselves and don't need moderators to shield them from controversy and tell them what to think. It's only when a discussion really gets out of hand that we step in. Maybe we take that too far at times; I know some people think so, but we believe it's better to err on the side of too much freedom than too little.

The topic of TGB&U is inherently controversial; controversy is unavoidable here. As far as I know it was the first moderated forum for consumer complaints to appear on the net -- there were plenty before TGB&U but they weren't moderated forums. I think TGB&U is a successful forum, though I don't claim credit for it (maybe a little of the credit for it, but the members deserve most of it). Other similar forums have been started recently and I think most of them have been successful too. It is possible to have a moderated forum on an inherently controversial topic without stifling the truth -- many people thought it couldn't be done, but we've proved it can.
 
Hi Cori, how are things going? I hope things have gone well for you since the fire. It seems that you guys have some of the worst luck.

Personally I think Tex had every right to bring up his experience with Matt. That is what the GB&U is all about. It is also the right of all those that support Matt to come to his defence. If they have had good dealings with Matt I want to know about that as well.

What you say makes a lot of sense, but I think Tex went to far. I doubt that we saw everything as I think there were probably some private exchanges between Tex and Spark that were at least part of the cause of what happened.

I think that Tex just got sick and tired of what he saw as problems that were happening on Bladeforums. This is probably something that has been building for awhile and it just all exploded. To bad, I liked Tex and am going to miss him. He shot from the hip and could be abrasive, but that was part of his charm.

Big Cat, your explanation shows at least to me that things are being looked after just fine around here.
 
I think ya'll misunderstood me, I by no means meant that you should be allowed to use your position to state personal or business opinions, you should be impartial and unbiased. What I said was he had a legit gripe. And yes it should be stated if you had good or bad business with someone or a company but without the personal comments attatched, that's what I said. Not that it shouldn't be stated at all.

Keith, thanx for the well wishes we are replacing the items lost in the fire slowly and we thank God every day that we are all still alive and healthy. But you're right, we have had some really bad bad luck lately and we hope with the move, the luck changed but time will tell.

To all have a wonderful day and Cougar, I didn't mean for the banned question to seem offensive, it was more sarcastic as to why he was allowed to continue to post and fuel the fire, sorry. See what happens when I try to be nice,it's almost always taken for sarcasm or something other than it's intent but this time the intent and meaning were good.

Spark, this is your forum to do with as you wish whether people agree, like it or not so to you I say "rock on" and keep it going.
 
You cannot call a man a "prick" in his own house and expect to be around to do it a second time.FACT OF LIFE.Get over it guys.Quit analizing it.
Spark owns this site.FACT
You are not going to come to my office and call me names.You might do it once.Not a second time.
Big Tex is not going to do it a second time.
 
So Randy......youre saying ifn I called you a bad name you would beat me up???? Man..........wheres the love?????? You are a GREAT guy!! :)
 
If you called me a name Mr Mayo, I would turn the other cheek.Love ya buddy. :)
 
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