I usually treat PMs as confidential. But considering Kav was going to post it, I figured I'd post and respond:

I will leave aside my personal opinions on the "public domain" silliness.

I don't mind if threads get derailed, and I don't lock those even when they've been reported multiple times.

What I cannot abide is contention. And I am seeing a lot of it in some threads- and when I do I take appropriate action.

I lock threads as I see the need to. I hate doing it, I've avoided doing it, and I've had mob step in and do it for me. However, it is my job to maintain the OD forum, and if some people can't keep it civil, if they like to troll or poke the bear, then they will have to learn to live with locked threads.

As for whether or not my reply makes sense- that just shows me that you have an ax to grind for some reason.
EOM

Nothing is Confidential anymore in the digital world. That said,
I did give you my word in PM that I would not post this publicly if you replied to me sensibly. You did not, and have chosen to publicly post the exchange yourself.

Please address my question - why the hell do you lock threads that do not contravene the Forum rules?

I do have an Axe to grind BTW. It is an anti PC Axe.

Objection, your Honor; Asked and answered.
Sustained.

If want a conversation, post here. If you want to smack, there's another place for it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and in this case, that's me. I don't like the way you poke at someone, I will lock the thread. See above. Not interested in contention. Debate? Fine! Contention? Not fine.
I really don't see how much clearer I can be, Kav.

I don't know how you're managing to ignore the last line in the description: and keep the discussion civil.

Can we change the name of this place from the Tradewars Forum to Little Kiddies ForumWars Forum? Seems more fitting.......

Thank you for your input.

You've obviously thought this through.
Our goal here to give everyone a place to chat with fellow enthusiasts.
Unfortunately, some are unable to debate without making things personal.

Due to this particular problem, we've had to decrease the tolerance level.
Understandably, this has caused some concern among the e-peen crowd.
My goal in this is to restore civility and promote goodwill among users.
By doing this, we can bring together our divided community again.
As we work toward this goal I would ask everyone to be kinder.
So long as we do this, we will make this community a better place.
Success will come, but it will require a concerted effort on all our parts.

Show me where discussions have been uncivil....I thought as much.

Sure, some discussions have been, shall I say, spirited debates. But really, locking these threads for these spirited debates is akin to a cop ticketing someone for driving 3 mph over the speed limit.

The way I look at it, as long as discussions and debates continue to be civil and there is no real personal attacks on someone, let them continue. No need to be locking threads.

I support the point that Kav is trying to make.



Then maybe you need to step down and let someone else take over like you did on the other board.

I'd rather have someone like Oso that locks everyones threads than someone else that locks, edits, moves, or deletes ONLY threads of users they dislike. Moderating requires impartiality and patience, and I'm pretty sure that you'll have a tough time finding anyone with those qualities that are willing to step up and take the abuse.

For whatever reason you aren't understanding what I am saying.
Unless you are trying to be obtuse.
Choosing what is civil and what isn't is part of a mod's job.
Knowing that I can lock threads will help some people think first.

You should know I am not here to please everyone.
Other than that, I do what I can to help who I can.
Unless that person is a troll.

Kinda like what you do at the other board, hey?



Then maybe you need to practice what you preach over there.

By the way, the few months that you said you were taking a break went by pretty quickly, hey? Welcome back.

Hey Timberwolf. I see that's it's very hard for you to distinquish the difference between smack talk and discussion. It looks like you are attempting to get yet "another" thread locked.

Now I'll try to explain in laymans terms that you might understand.

1) Kewlbreeze is administrator of the "other" forum now, so if you have a beef take it up with him.

2) I said I was going to take a break from Tradewars. I haven't played a game of Tradewars since the ICE tournament and probably won't play another game for a few months. Is that simple enough for you to understand?

Now let's get back to the topic at hand before you graciously derailed it.

IMO you should be locking more threads. Any thread with a non-constructive post should be locked. In fact maybe you should start banning these children. I'm sick of reading their crap!

So your beef is with something D did on the other forum, and you are trying to bring it here?
I'm sorry, but I expected better from you.

I agree IF these bans were handed out on equal terms. The sad part is that a couple of these "children" are ambassadors in this forum. I understand the banning an ambassador would be a nasty stain on this forums record, but that makes one wonder why they were made ambassadors to start with.

Here comes another locked thread

The problem with that is then a troll needs only to make a non-constructive post and close any thread. Its a very effective way to stop discussion.

I prefer to remove the offending post rather than lock the thread but that is really only effective if it is done right away. Then splitting the thread becomes the most effective way to put the thread back on track. And that doesn't work often since the troll can come back to the original thread and start derailing it again. Then locking it becomes the only alternative.

I think the standard of whats allowable in public discussion here is very low. I can see when a thread is going downhill when instead of discussing and debating the idea is replaced with ad hominem attacks. Here, this is the most popular way to derail a discussion. Its the difference between saying "I think that idea sucks" and "You suck".