<pointless debate>

lucernarian

LoLth wrote: »

in 99% of the forums on boards.ie "pointles" more than justifies the locking of a thread. maybe in AH there is an exception and that is being discussed, not jsut for this thread but hopefully as a way to reduce the "iffy" area of thread closure as much as possible in future.

If there are issues with a mod, any mod, them raise them with the cmod. thats what they are there for. if the cmod decides it has merit, then it will be referred to teh admins and discussion will take place and a resolution found. trial by popular opinion is not, and never should be, the way issues are handled on boards. what next? do we post a poll to see if a user should be banned? Do we allow users to votekick other users - awarding an automatic forum or siteban if x number of users vote in favour?

You are correct, it is not mature to label criticism as bullying or malicious however, it is not wise not to at least recognise when criticism goes past the point of being a concerned opinion and becomes a means to an end. Throw enough mud and some is bound to stick has never been a fair tactic imho.

Thanks for the response. I'm using a strict interpretation of "pointless" though. More often than not, the threads that serve no purpose also have negatives for them, e.g. they're really trying to incite a response from certain mods or else raise a topic that's being discussed to death somewhere else for want of a bigger soapbox. I'm happy with most of those closures as even if they're "pointless", common sense takes over and the thread is closed.

I don't think it's fair to judge 99 out of 100 pointless thread closures as being justified as firstly I feel it's an exaggeration of what I've seen and secondly it's an implicit dismissal of (god help my choice of words) the whole point of this thread. It's clearly a somewhat noteworthy issue if 150 posts have been made on the subject and counting.

Your 2nd paragraph touches on something that's been discussed to death on this forum so I really want to avoid sounding like a broken record. I already explained that I came here instead of PMing the mod as the decision had been taken and justified when the thread was closed. I could have PMd a CMod but why would he overturn a decision that was sort-of justifiable? There would only be one outcome to contacting a mod's "superiors". Besides, if I ever contacted a mod over a decison that didn't directly affect me, I almost always got a PFO in response.

So no, I don't think the idea of keeping it confined to whoever calls the shots on that issue is good. Your point is missing one vital part. I'm not calling for public discussions on any user. I'm interested in publicly discussing something that affects any user who might want to post in the thread or indeed the users of AH in general. I really should point out that I'm a bit ignorant of this "hidden agenda" thing that's going on and I have no problem with someone who retracts a erred decision. That is what happened with the thread the first time it was closed.

I will give a qualified "yes" to the idea of complaining about a mod in private only. If the issue is ignored or swept under the carpet and a number of posters become adversely affected by ongoing bad decisions, I would expect that a lot of users would demand a solution publicly. It's all dependent on the Cmods and Admins outlining a fair resolution in the first instance.

Spiritoftheseventies

At the end of the day a mod has to make a call on closing a thread. Some are right some are wrong. If one mod is continually closing threads then there is a problem. Otherwise I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt.

Rabies

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

I am still awaiting some sort of reply from Rabies as to what justifies the complete locking of a thread for no other reason than the thread is "pointless".

I'll be back to this thread later. At work now.

Quazzie

Rabies wrote: »

I'll be back to this thread later. At work now.

That's just not acceptable Rabies. You are a mod long enough now to know that strange people on the internet demanding an answer, takes priority over anything that is going on in your real life. Get you priorities right.

Rabies

Quazzie wrote: »

That's just not acceptable Rabies. You are a mod long enough now to know that strange people on the internet demanding an answer, takes priority over anything that is going on in your real life. Get you priorities right.

lucernarian

Quazzie wrote: »

That's just not acceptable Rabies. You are a mod long enough now to know that strange people on the internet demanding an answer, takes priority over anything that is going on in your real life. Get you priorities right.

I appreciate the humour but...

I'd like to say that I only said that I still hadn't received any reply to my post. I said it because it had been nearly 2 days since Rabies last posted and my primary concern was the status of the "pointless debate" thread. There was other issues being discussed in that time period and I was trying to keep the discussion on-topic by bringing the spotlight back to that closed thread.

I was really not trying to be a little diva about it, clicking my fingers or whatnot... Sorry if I came across like that, Rabies.

This is not going to mean much coming from a "strange person" on the internet, but that was a pretty bitchy comment to make. If you think someone was being an asshole about demanding a response, address them directly about it.

Spiritoftheseventies

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

I appreciate the humour but...

I'd like to say that I only said that I still hadn't received any reply to my post. I said it because it had been nearly 2 days since Rabies last posted and my primary concern was the status of the "pointless debate" thread. There was other issues being discussed in that time period and I was trying to keep the discussion on-topic by bringing the spotlight back to that closed thread.

I was really not trying to be a little diva about it, clicking my fingers or whatnot... Sorry if I came across like that, Rabies.

This is not going to mean much coming from a "strange person" on the internet, but that was a pretty bitchy comment to make. If you think someone was being an asshole about demanding a response, address them directly about it.

I do agree that the delay in mods getting back to posters is something that should be addressed. Can be very frustrating if you think your post is being ignored.

Rabies

I'm still at work. Its 4am. I'm home within the next hour or so. Will reply then.
Logged in about 9hrs ago today.
Yesterday I went out and partied after work. Today was hangover day.
Most of us are online every day, but please don't always expect a rapid response even if we log on. Sometimes its only to check stuff. Normal work comes before Boards stuff.

WindSock

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

This is not going to mean much coming from a "strange person" on the internet, but that was a pretty bitchy comment to make. If you think someone was being an asshole about demanding a response, address them directly about it.

I took that post to be more of a general jibe, rather than directed at you specifically.

Spiritoftheseventies

Rabies wrote: »

I'm still at work. Its 4am. I'm home within the next hour or so. Will reply then.
Logged in about 9hrs ago today.
Yesterday I went out and partied after work. Today was hangover day.
Most of us are online every day, but please don't always expect a rapid response even if we log on. Sometimes its only to check stuff. Normal work comes before Boards stuff.

Thats fair enough Rabies but if you are busy let the poster know that you will get back to them at some stage. It does no good if posters have this perception they are being ignored.
I agree work comes first but even a short reply to tell them you read their post and will get back to them would be a start

lucernarian

WindSock wrote: »

I took that post to be more of a general jibe, rather than directed at you specifically.

I couldn't find anyone else in the thread pointing out that Rabies hadn't got back to the issue yet. Also in hindsight my post earlier today did look demanding. So I took the post to be a sarcastic dig at what I said.

I really want to make it clear, Rabies could take a month to reply and I wouldn't mind. I just didn't want my question to be forgotten about in a thread that was becoming rather general in topic. I wasn't trying to provoke a speedy response.

Rabies

Spiritoftheseventies wrote: »

Thats fair enough Rabies but if you are busy let the poster know that you will get back to them at some stage. It does no good if posters have this perception they are being ignored.

I did


Right, skipped out of work early. Will be up for another 30min or so.

To_be_confirmed, I can't remember the question. Fire away and I'll the best to answer and explain.

3 different threads running on pretty much the same topic. Easy to get mixed between the threads.

Saibh

LoLth wrote: »

If there are issues with a mod, any mod, them raise them with the cmod. thats what they are there for. if the cmod decides it has merit, then it will be referred to teh admins and discussion will take place and a resolution found.

Just a note on this, I did raise a query to an admin (07 February) in regard to a query I had (there is no cmod, so next step is admin). I was told it would be brought up for discussion but I heard nothing back about it.

I think a short pm back from someone in admin saying it was looked into and decision was etc would have be nice to get back.

Rabies

Sorry, your question was on the last page

Re the "pointless" comment from myself.

That was about the thread. Thread had no meaning or substance. It had reached the end of it's life and was being flogged.

I locked it, and then explained in FB that I could move it to tCN or Humour where it was best suited. Sarky doesn't want it there, thats fair enough. I've no problem with it in Humour. The posting style fits in there.

AH is a light hearted general discussion forum. That thread isn't what the forum is about.

Right now I think we have lost the run of ourselves a little, is all this about me locking a thread or about people wanting a chat thread? Two topics are intertwined.

When it comes to the chat thread topic, its a forum, not a chat room.

An AH chat thread would be almost like a single CVP&L thread. And would take traffic away from the main topics at hand in the forum. Having to monitor it is only a small issue.,

I think the (un)official #Boards.ie is still going, but can't be sure.

That_Guy

Love and harmony.