Time for a new forum?

[Hank49]

This is why people like Bob Sherwood don't bother to post here. He doesn't need to waste his time "arguing his case more extensively."

.

He posts informative, direct answers, moves on and doesn't seem to get caught up in telling people why they shouldn't be here.

 

[*Floater*]

This is why people like Bob Sherwood don't bother to post here. He doesn't need to waste his time "arguing his case more extensively."

And where exactly is the charter of this forum which specifies that the purpose of it is to endlessly cross-examine proponents of DIR about the minutia of DIR? I know a lot of anti-DIR posters believe that's what its purpose should be, but most of the "proponents of DIR" have become tired of that game.

I'm not talking about entertaining anti-DIR divers per se, but those who are DIR curious do understandably want to cross-examine some of the DIR beliefs and procedures before deciding, for example, whether or not to take DIRF. Their natural instinct is of course to raise such questions in the DIR forum. And IMO some latitude for debate should be allowed in such cases in order to give these people a fair view of DIR.

To be useful this forum should be about DIR and DIR divers. For the readers that aren't DIR, if this offends you, try to realize that not everything in life is about you.

And should I start posting in the solo forum trying to get the solo divers to argue their case more extensively? A DIR invasion of the solo forum could probably make that forum completely useless, just like this one...

I haven't been to the solo forum but I doubt they'd care if someone started questioned their dive practices. But if you saw someone post something you felt was clearly misinformed in the solo section then perhaps you should post a reply over there, perhaps it would make the forum richer for everyone. Same should be allowed in this forum as far as I'm concerned.

But as I said, split it in two; purists and drokes. In the purist section everyone with GUE/DIR training beyond DIRF would be allowed to moderate and enforcement would be strict. Offensive threads would be deleted or moved to the droke section where open debate would be permitted as long as it didn't devolve into trolling.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I say split the DIR forum into the DIR purists section (with strict enforcement of rules) and the DIR "strokes" (or drokes) section, and let's see where everyone ends up posting...

Obviously if someone is clearly trolling their posts should be deleted, but some of the time it seems that purist DIR divers don't have the patience to debate DIR details with those who are DIR-curious but with doubts. And having a few anti-DIR posters in the mix is fine too because it forces the proponents of DIR to argue their case more extensively which I assume can be of value to those readers considering DIR.

The initial intent was for this to be a board where the "purists" could discuss DIR. If you have questions that may or may not include DIR responses, it belongs in the Basic Discussions forum.

That's all spelled out in the six rules that are in the first thread in this forum.

I think if we simply followed ... and enforced ... those rules, we wouldn't need to be having this conversation.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I haven't been to the solo forum but I doubt they'd care if someone started questioned their dive practices. But if you saw someone post something you felt was clearly misinformed in the solo section then perhaps you should post a reply over there, perhaps it would make the forum richer for everyone. Same should be allowed in this forum as far as I'm concerned.

I'd be willing to place a pretty hefty bet that if you had some anti-solo diving folks going in there starting threads about why they'd never do solo diving ... analogous to some of the anti-DIR threads that have been recently removed from this forum ... you'd get a pretty angry response from some of the solo regulars.

But as I said, split it in two; purists and drokes. In the purist section everyone with GUE/DIR training beyond DIRF would be allowed to moderate and enforcement would be strict. Offensive threads would be deleted or moved to the droke section where open debate would be permitted as long as it didn't devolve into trolling.

I disagree ... we're already divided enough. And it would serve no purpose.

Would you go into someone's home and tell them they should confine themselves to only a part of the house, so that people who wanted to come in who didn't like their company would have a place to play?

Like it or not, this is the ScubaBoard "home" for DIR people to discuss how they've chosen to dive. If it were about people coming in and asking questions about DIR, there wouldn't be any complaints. The problem isn't that at all. The problem is that there's a growing number of threads that get taken over by people who are clearly not DIR, have no intention of ever learning anything about DIR, or are obviously antipathetic to DIR, who want to come here and argue about why DIR is wrong.

That's not the purpose of this forum. Why should we want to consider dedicating a part of it to people with that agenda?

Take it to Basic Discussions ... or in most cases, and more appropriately, take it to Whine and Cheeze ... that's what those forums are for.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[rainman_02]

I still think the simplest solution is this:


1) Anyone can read.

2) Only people who have opt'd-in can post.



Since VBulletin is way more powerful than phpBB, it should already be built into the software.

 

[lamont]

I haven't been to the solo forum but I doubt they'd care if someone started questioned their dive practices. But if you saw someone post something you felt was clearly misinformed in the solo section then perhaps you should post a reply over there, perhaps it would make the forum richer for everyone. Same should be allowed in this forum as far as I'm concerned.

Before the solo forum was created it was basically impossible to have a solo diving discussion between solo divers without half a dozen DIR divers entering the thread and lobbing hand grenades.

 

[lamont]

But as I said, split it in two; purists and drokes. In the purist section everyone with GUE/DIR training beyond DIRF would be allowed to moderate and enforcement would be strict. Offensive threads would be deleted or moved to the droke section where open debate would be permitted as long as it didn't devolve into trolling.

The DIR forum is the 'purist' forum. The hogarthian, technical diving and basic scuba forums among many others are free to open debate. The hogarthian forum was created to try to solve this very problem, actually.

 

[lamont]

poking around the solo diving forum, there seems to be a complete absence of flames and trainwrecks... i also noticed this post about moderation on the board:

As Doc's post stated and Bryan's post clarified, the solo diving forum is for those who have already decided to solo dive to ask about and discuss the training, equipment, techniques and procedures they choose to utilize while solo diving. As always, while it is OK to disagree, in this forum it is not OK to tell someone that s/he is stupid or unsafe for choosing to solo dive.

If you have come here to ask if solo diving is for you, then you are in the wrong forum. It is NOT for discussing the merits of solo diving or for telling people what to think about it. If you want to know if solo diving is right for you then it's better to ask this question in the Basic Scuba Discussions, New Divers or other appropriate forums.

Having this forum available, posting in this forum or admitting to diving solo in no way implies that ScubaBoard.com, it's owner, advisors, moderators or members advocate or endorse the practice of solo diving. It is simply a forum where folks who have already chosen to solo dive may discuss the practice without fear of flaming by those who disagree that some or any divers should dive without a buddy.

this is all that i'd be looking for in an an actually useful DIR forum.

seems that the novice solo divers don't have any problem making posts in their about their first times solo diving (...as i *shudder* due to the icy cold chill running down my spine, yet turn away and do not attempt to save them from their own destruction... time to re-unsub from the solo forum for me....)

 

[OneBrightGator]

Um, what's the point of a DIR forum anyway? If the answer isn't on GUE.com, or in one of the many books on the subject, then take a class to find the answer.

There isn't a whole lot to discuss about DIR, it either is or it isn't. I suppose you could talk about the DIR dives you do, the DIR classes you've taken/want to take, etc. but the principles are established, and anything that isn't probably isn't going to be decided here.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Um, what's the point of a DIR forum anyway?

What's the point of a solo forum? A Hogarthian forum? A photography forum? A singles forum? Or any number of other forums this board has established? Clearly there are other ... and probably better ... places to find the information that's discussed in any of those forums.

The answer's obvious.

Now a better question, Ben, would be why do you CARE whether or not there's a DIR forum? Clearly you've already established that it's something that doesn't, and never will, be of interest to you. OK ... that's fair enough. But nobody's making you come here.

Wouldn't your Internet time be better spent on things that DO interest you?

You seem to be on a vendetta ... the problem is that the two DIR divers who hurt your feelings aren't here.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)