Originally posted by Bastid
Mike, I can agree with you on one thing in your agenda.
Post count does not mean a thing. I learn more from new members now than I do from most of the old "heard" as you choose to call them.
I think that's great. You seem to have misunderstood my use of the term "herd" though. I am not referring to the entire bladeforums community. As a few have said, there are thousands of members here, and I'm not familiar with even half of them.
The "herd" is the usual group that piles on people, like in this thread and in this forum almost exclusively.
I sincerely hope that the "herd" continues to jump on situations that are dishonest.
It's not so much the dishonest situations, it is any situation that involves "one of their own". That's what's disgusting.
I am not deluding myself at all. There have been hundreds (if not thousands) of situations where new members have been in touch with me on a decision of a purchase or a situation here or just a question about how to conduct or promote business.
You seem to perfectly understand people emailing you personally, instead of posting here, but you are completely baffled that people have sent me an email instead of posting, or I guess sending you an email.
My point is that there are a lot of members and just as many perceptions. Some are correct, some are partially correct some are wrong. This is a social forum. I don't know about you, but when I find myself in a social instance new to me I watch and listen first before chiming in with a point.
Yes, that does sound reasonable. It's also reasonable to believe that someone new to this forum that ends up with a problem with a more senior member might just suck it up and not say a word. That's normal, and it happens everywhere you go. For some reason, quite a few here seem to be denying that this could happen here.
I am not 100% sure, but I believe such a topic has come up before, with people saying that had kept quiet when they were new here.
There have been many new members that come in here with an agenda or a chip on their shoulder that gets knocked off (maybe one of your emails is from them). How many emails have you gotten from folks (new and old)who appreciate this place. (I would venture to say none.)
Correct, I have had no emails at all extolling the virtues of bladeforums specifically. I have however had numerous email exchanges with people from bladeforums about knives and other topics.
In other words, it's not just newbies with a chip on their shoulder that email me off of the forum.
I think your perception has been tainted and somewhat influenced by the fact that you have not had any positve emails about B.F. (I am just trying to point out the other side here that you are failing to recognize. (That should sound a little familiar to you.))
No, my perception is based on what I have read, numerous times.
Further, I happen to like bladeforums for the most part. Just because I recognize that's it not ideal does not mean I hate all of it, or even any of the people that frequent it.
What I don't feel the need to do is go along basically parroting what everyone else in a thread is saying. When I don't agree, I'll say so.
You set yourself up for emails by making posts of sweeping generalizations about a forum that treats new members poorly.
No, I'm making it known that my opinion is different than the majority that are posting in whatever thread it happens to be happening in.
A few people have then emailed me to relate similiar situations and to say that they kept quiet due to the seniority of the other member.
That's not setting myself up for anything, anymore than I would be setting myself up to get "good" emails.
I am sorry, but generalizations about large groups of people can always be proven false. Especially when they are based on one side of a story based on individual situations rather than stepping back and looking at that group as a whole.
Well, my opinion is based entirely on what has been written right here on bladeforums. Everyone is free to do a bit of research and decide for themselves if herd mentality is festering in this forum or not. Either way, in the grand scheme of things it makes no noticeable difference anyway.
You have done that in this case with no acknowledgement that the vast majority of new members are treated with the respect they deserve. You are the dellusional one if you think otherwise.
I really don't feel the need to point out that most new members have no problems here.
I pointed out that if a new member has a problem with a senior member, they get piled on, repeatedly, regardless of who's right and who is wrong.
Many old members are proud of this community and will not put up with B.S. in a knife deal.
That's not the entire problem, and yet you keep making out like it is.
People were piling on from masterchef's first post, without ever hearing the other side of the story.
In fact, wolfman says right in this very thread, what I have been saying all along, and you and others keep denying :
What Masterchef says goes in my book, I believe him 100% on face value alone. Why? because he has earned my respect and there is zero reason to doubt his word, period.............
That's what's disgusting, and that's what I have had a problem with all along.
And wolfman is obviously not the only one who feels that way. 8 legged might as well not have bothered responding at all.
A lot of your posts here in GB&U come across as a defense of the cause of a bad deal.
Point me to one where I defended a bad seller/trader. In this very thread, I'm not defending anyone.
Maybe masterchef did get screwed, but his actions and behavior were also suspect, as well as his motivations. I did not set out to condemn masterchef. Far from it.
I meant it when I said I was sorry to see him acting the way he did. However, his posts went downhill very fast after the other side of the story came out and his older posts were brought to light, and his outrage at me for daring to question him was bizarre.
We seem to get more compliments than complaints. You seem to dwell on the complaints. I wish you could see the compliments they might serve to convice you that this place is not as bad as you espouse.
I don't doubt you get lots of compliments. Overall, bladeforums is a great forum, and I never claimed otherwise. I don't dwell on it at all. I speak up when I see it happening.
What I said was the behavior of the herd was disgusting. The herd comprises a very small percentage of the membership here, so it's really not that much of a problem. However, to imply that it should just be ignored or overlooked is silly, I think.
It's really kinda petty the you and a few others have implied or outright stated that I condone screwwing people, but if that is all you have, I'll just consider the source.
. (hint - none have been positive and there have been more than a couple over the years.)