Time for a new forum?

[Doc Intrepid]

Let's face it, this forum is whacked. That is unfortunate. But, if there was one last effort to turn it into something productive, I'd happily be a part of that.

And I'lll take you up on the beers in Seattle, too!

SB has been around at least for the past six years that I'm aware of, and it will no doubt enjoy a long and illustrious future.

But like any worthwhile effort, its going to require regular commitment to ensure that it is meeting its objectives and up to date with respect to changes in the field. This forum is no different.

This forum may very well be 'whacked' currently.

But if you (plural) are willing to be a part of turning it into something more productive, thats good enough for me.

First, recognize that over-moderation is a real problem.

Second, recognize that the power of the forum isn't in the moderators. We respond when someone calls, but like your friendly neighborhood cops we only show up after the shots are fired. If you don't have a handgun of your own, all you can do is run and hide.

Plus, some of you are far more up on the latest GUE decisions and debates than most of the mods. Thats just the way it is.

The power of the forum lies within the experts on the forum. You guys all know who they are. And even those of you who are not GUE Tech 1/2 or Cave certified generally can recognize a troll when you smell one.

Basically, its your forum. Mods can ban people and move threads and get radical, but there are not enough mods to cover every post on every thread. The power of the forum lies in the experienced members of the forum.

If you witness some act of utter bozonity occurring, some horrendous tool coming on here to sling smack, don't let it happen. Call them on it. It's your forum.

If you want a thread nuked, report it. We'll nuke it.

People ask "why do the mods let this crap happen? this forum sucks!"

I respond "this forum exists for DIR users to talk DIR with other DIR guys, and for new divers and students to learn new ideas. why do the DIR guys put up with this BS from the unwashed masses? It's THEIR forum. Why don't they run people who talk to the voices and spout unmitigated nonsense out of the forum?"

If the users of this forum want to see a change, fine, lets all work together to make a change. But its going to take everyone working together. When you become a Mod, no one issues you a magic wand to wave at problem threads to 'make it all better'.

We can talk about structural changes, and perhaps some structural changes are in order. But even with structural changes, the bottom line is that its up to those more experienced divers and users of this forum to assist in ensuring the forum meets users needs. The Mods alone are not going to be able to effect long-term meaningful change by themselves.

Meanwhile, when you guys see a bunch of trunk monkeys jumping over the fence and running into the forum flinging monkey poo and hitting themselves on the head and uttering loud cries of gibberish, run them out of the damned forum. The rules here are pretty simple and pretty clear. If someone wants to be a dick, its because they have been allowed to act dickish. Object strenuously! Ultimately its your forum.


Carpe Diem!

 

[dsteding]

Meanwhile, when you guys see a bunch of trunk monkeys jumping over the fence and running into the forum flinging monkey poo and hitting themselves on the head and uttering loud cries of gibberish, run them out of the damned forum. The rules here are pretty simple and pretty clear. If someone wants to be a dick, its because they have been allowed to act dickish. Object strenuously! Ultimately its your forum.


Carpe Diem!

Great post Doc. It would be nice to have this place become productive, as I think this style of diving has a fair amount to offer the overall dive community. It is just getting lost in the static right now.

Not to mention that people like RTodd and Bob Sherwood are waiting in the wings . . . as well as the Alberta crew, the crew here in the PNW and many others.

I agree, it is up to us. So, report early and often, let the mods do the rest . . . and don't feed the trolls. I can handle that.

 

[Sloth]

1) Make the forum opt-in - people will hear about DIR in the other forums and if they are curious they will subscribe.

2)Moderate to point - someone makes a statement of "I'm not DIR but I would X" then mod post something along the lines of "While debate is always healthy the DIR forum is reserved for DIR specific topics and debates" if they continue to post "I'm not DIR but I would do X" posts then ban them from the DIR forum

3) ????

4) Profit

 

[Sloth]

Meanwhile, when you guys see a bunch of trunk monkeys jumping over the fence and running into the forum flinging monkey poo and hitting themselves on the head and uttering loud cries of gibberish, run them out of the damned forum. The rules here are pretty simple and pretty clear. If someone wants to be a dick, its because they have been allowed to act dickish. Object strenuously! Ultimately its your forum.


Carpe Diem!

I don't know what the hell a trunk monkey is but it sounds good.

 

[rjack321]

IMO The forum rules on Mods are in conflict with this forum. Those who are giving DIR answers (or trying to) are the ones who can best see the chaff and delete it. But of course they can't cause they are participating... And there aren't that many knowledgable DIR people left to answer questions anyway (2 dozen?) since we've all gone to other boards, sigh.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

I don't know what the hell a trunk monkey is but it sounds good.

Here:

http://www.trunkmonkeyad.com/

I especially like #4!

http://www.trunkmonkeyad.com/4qt.htm





(And Rjack321,

If we have a Mod in contact on the ground, participating in some intermural firefight on a thread, there is always another Mod orbiting on station high above. We can get on the horn and call in an airstrike if it becomes apparent that one is necessary. Just because a Mod is in action doesn't mean that no moderation can take place... )

 

[Sloth]

Here:

http://www.trunkmonkeyad.com/

I especially like #4!

http://www.trunkmonkeyad.com/4qt.htm





(And Rjack321,

If we have a Mod in contact on the ground, participating in some intermural firefight on a thread, there is always another Mod orbiting on station high above. We can get on the horn and call in an airstrike if it becomes apparent that one is necessary. Just because a Mod is in action doesn't mean that no moderation can take place... )

trunk monkey rules!

(PS, make forum opt-in)

 

[fweber]

Prime example of someone who should be banned from the DIR forum.

Don't need to get into the argument about the name again for the 1000th time. Completely pointless waste of everyone's time. I do hope posting that made you feel superior, fweber.

No superiourity intended. It was a lost attempt to point out the lunacy of this entire thread. Others have pointed out the solo diving forum as an example. At least with that, there is a very clear definition of what it is to be diving SOLO or not. The single divers have faced a similar issue, and had to define what is meant by SINGLE. Now, Doing It Right can't be that clearly defined. Plain and simple. GUE doesn't own it, nor does the GUE system represent the RIGHT way to do all dives. Fifth-d can't definatively define it any better. And, even if one of these entities could, isn't it a system open to change and betterment, based on logical reasoning and the pursuit of optimization? Or, is it a system that sacrifies optimization in the pursuit of a standardized system for all dives?

I'm not trolling. I'm pointing out that you guys, who treat this so seriously, have backed yourselves into a corner. I'm just the messenger.

 

[do it easy]

Here:

http://www.trunkmonkeyad.com/

I especially like #4!

http://www.trunkmonkeyad.com/4qt.htm





(And Rjack321,

If we have a Mod in contact on the ground, participating in some intermural firefight on a thread, there is always another Mod orbiting on station high above. We can get on the horn and call in an airstrike if it becomes apparent that one is necessary. Just because a Mod is in action doesn't mean that no moderation can take place... )

Number 7 gives me comfort that there is still some sanity left in the world.

http://www.trunkmonkeyad.com/7qt.htm

 

[owlbill]

I would have to agree, that no matter what you do, there will always be "uncivilized" debates over DIR so just leave things as they are. Easier all around. People could always use the PM system I suppose. (no, I am not DIR trained, but does that make me non-DIR? Is DIR exclusive to GUE? There are rhetorical questions, please do not answer them.)

That being said I think I am gonna run out and get my suburban updated with a trunk monkey add-on.