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If you want to hire me as a lobbyist we can discuss my fees.
Things get changed frequently, some get noticed, others remain invisible...
I think the rules, and enforcement too much based on perspectives guided unlike most of the world's population ... the rules too uptight although I don't particularly like it I'm willing to accept it ... because the benefits far outweigh dissatisfaction. (My sentiments.)
...we had some loosening of the rules ... particularly in specific forums where people insisted on "local control". Every time it turned into a giant cluster that resulted in a lot of time, effort, and heartburn for the moderators. Almost always it boiled down to assigning "friendly" mods to those forums to try to keep things under control. And it never worked ... there were always a handful of people who insisted on pushing things too far, and ultimately those forums were either closed or a handful of people were banned and the old rules were reinstated.
Why not ban the PITA from the forum and leave the rules alone. Why should a 'handful' of people control the forum?
As for the posters creating Moderator headaches; take a look at the staff instituting cheerful holiday spirit.
- Y'all are blaming the mods for the decisions of senior staff.
Not my impression.
- You're expecting 50 or so people ... who come from a variety of different backgrounds and cultures ... to apply consistency to a set of rules that are primarily subjective in nature. That's just not gonna happen.
I thought it is asking for more consistent not literal as in every moderator would agree prior to application of moderator power.
There are some very active posters on ScubaBoard who are adept at pushing the rules. The fact is that the mods spend probably 90% of their time dealing with less than 1% of the active posters on this board ... and those people aren't looking for reasonable ... they're looking for "entertainment" at everyone else's expense. That's a reality of the Internet ... and some of those people are participating in this discussion.
Ok, Ban the some for being a general PITA. Can the software ban a poster from a specific forum? BTW, as an Un Banned Ive been pretty entertained too.
- Y'all think it would stay confined to an opt-in area ... it won't. Serious threads are hijacked here all the time.
And they go to another thread about it. Example: accident discussion and condolences (excellent idea IMO.) Stick em back where they belong.
For the most part, that pattern's gotten much worse since the decision was made to allow "social" forums. Behavior, once established in one area of ScubaBoard, always spills out onto other areas.
Back to spillage. Is a new social forum just one too many, the straw on the camels back and over the limit? Not one more pesky social forum is ever going to be allowed? Is there a waiting list for when one goes away?
As I see it, the "culture" of ScubaBoard has been steadily moving toward one of contention ... because several of the people who post here want it that way. Fortunately, they're a minority. Unfortunately, they can easily disrupt any conversation anywhere on the board ... and frequently do ... to the detriment of all the other people who would prefer to keep those conversations on track and constructive.
Steadily moving contentious because the minority several members have the power to direct?
For some of y'all this is your idea of entertainment ... it's no accident that the popcorn smiley is used so often here.
Oh, there is a badge?
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
