Etiquette & Guidelines Open Discussion

[patrick_777]

Talk about them here.
With the exception of spam, there will be no moderation of this thread.

[mrlmd1]

Sounds good to me. You obviously care about this site and have spend a fair amount of time thinking about this and writing it up in as clear and as direct as you can. I think practically all of us abide by these "rules" and if a conflict does come up on here, I don't think it is intentionally instigated by anyone as a direct attack on someone else, although it may seem to come off that way. To oversee this site (including reading all the posts everyday), takes a fair amount of time and energy. We are all in this together for the common good and I would like to be the first to commend you for your efforts in keeping this forum working as well as it does and for keeping us all together on the right track. Thanks. :2tup: :rawk: :) :biggrin:

[Easy Rider]

Sounds good to me. You obviously care about this site and have spend a fair amount of time thinking about this and writing it up in as clear and as direct as you can. I think practically all of us abide by these "rules" and if a conflict does come up on here, I don't think it is intentionally instigated by anyone as a direct attack on someone else, although it may seem to come off that way. To oversee this site (including reading all the posts everyday), takes a fair amount of time and energy. We are all in this together for the common good and I would like to be the first to commend you for your efforts in keeping this forum working as well as it does and for keeping us all together on the right track. Thanks. :2tup: :rawk: :) :biggrin:

:plus1: :tup:

And I think most of us realize that anybody can have a bad day and do/say things that you normally wouldn't. That is to be expected; it comes with the territorty and should be excused.

The problem IS with people who insist on defending bad actions. Thankfully that doesn't occur very often and usually resolves itself (one way or another) fairly quickly.

Thanks again to Dupo and Patrick for keeping things going. :2tup:

[Easy Rider]

Talk about them here.
With the exception of spam, there will be no moderation of this thread.

Now having read the other post............I have two comments:

The paragraph about excessive quoting should ENCOURAGE a short quote......or an item added to encourage that. It is often confusing to post a short comment with no reference, as it might apply to any one of several previous posts.

A post of "Boy that's stupid." without a quote might make several people mad when that wasn't the intent.

AND .......we can't hijack a thread ?? That spoils all the fun. :roll: :biggrin:

[alanmcorcoran]

I think the content control gets a bit heavy handed and as a result the board content tends to be homogenized and most of the contributions are from the same group of people. There have been a number of people (not saying they were nice people, smart people or even people whose opinions I was particularly interested in) that have been drummed off the forum because they picked a (verbal) fight, or wanted to discuss changing their GZ into a 350 or some other verboten topic.

(What's the big deal? It's words, we live in America, and we supposedly value free speech and diversity. I understand many of these posters were morons, but live and let live.)

As a result, 80% of the posts, or more, are from the same 10 people (sadly, I am one of those 10.)

I have never run one of these that has had this much input for so long so maybe this is the way it has to be. My experience is that people get bored and move on (see Dupo and Badbob. for example.)

[mrlmd1]

"My experience is that people get bored and move on (see Dupo and Badbob. for example.)"

And don't forget Lord Jonathan.

[patrick_777]

Without board management and "content control" then the board would have no structure and we might as well eliminate all forums but General. With the exception of the 350cc bullshit from the past few months, I have never locked, merged or banned a duplicated thread from a new user. We (the board members) in general have a pretty good reputation of replying with multiple links to other more thorough threads on the topic, and will often even discuss the topic (ad infinitum) in the duped thread anyway.

The "top speed" thread happened to be the fourth thread by THE SAME USER with an identical subject. It takes literally no time to click "View your posts" on the top (right next to the very handy "View unread posts") and find the thread you already have on the subject, and reply to that. Not only is it good etiquette, but because of the reaction in that thread, it now will be an enforced offense, unless it is disclaimed in the new thread that the old one couldn't be found. Each case will be reviewed on an individual basis.

As said before, I do read every post here, and will continue to do so while I am capable. It's an honor to administrate this board since it's really the most restrained public message board I've encountered in my 20 years working on the Internet and its predecessors. It's by far the best one I've managed personally - due specifically to the users here.

As Easy said, we all have off-days, and I've certainly had enough of my own. If I come off as harsh sometimes, it's not intended that way. However, stern moderation is necessary for repeat infractions. It's better to hang a head on the fencepost every once in a while as a warning for the outsiders, than it is to let anyone come into your village and run amok with your valuables.

Thanks to Dupo for his work here building this site to the premier GZ250 information site IN THE WORLD. We still have a lot of work to do and it's going to take all of us to keep us there.

[patrick_777]

"My experience is that people get bored and move on (see Dupo and Badbob. for example.)"

And don't forget Lord Jonathan.

He is sorely missed.

[music man]

I think the content control gets a bit heavy handed and as a result the board content tends to be homogenized and most of the contributions are from the same group of people. There have been a number of people (not saying they were nice people, smart people or even people whose opinions I was particularly interested in) that have been drummed off the forum because they picked a (verbal) fight, or wanted to discuss changing their GZ into a 350 or some other verboten topic.

(What's the big deal? It's words, we live in America, and we supposedly value free speech and diversity. I understand many of these posters were morons, but live and let live.)

As a result, 80% of the posts, or more, are from the same 10 people (sadly, I am one of those 10.)

I have never run one of these that has had this much input for so long so maybe this is the way it has to be. My experience is that people get bored and move on (see Dupo and Badbob. for example.)

Nobody on here wants to "Homogenize" anyone's posts, we just don't want 18 different threads on a 350cc conversion that you are NEVER going to do, or a different thread every time you go 1/10th of a mph faster.

[music man]

Not only that, it is one thing to "accidentally" post two threads about the same thing, but when its becomes three or more, it is just rude and lazy. :tdown:

[Easy Rider]

I think the content control gets a bit heavy handed and as a result the board content tends to be homogenized and most of the contributions are from the same group of people.

(..... I understand many of these posters were morons, but live and let live.)

As a result, 80% of the posts, or more, are from the same 10 people (sadly, I am one of those 10.)

I have never run one of these that has had this much input for so long so maybe this is the way it has to be.

Fine example of talking yourself around in a circle !!! :biggrin:

It is true that 80% of the posts come from 10% of the users......in almost all open forums like this.

If the morons aren't kept in check, then 80% of the posts will be from, about and arguements between the morons. I don't think we want that, do we?

So, yes, it does kinda have to be that way. Take your pick: A moderated, civil forum that is somewhat boring or an un-moderated one that becomes dominated by those who can yell the loudest. The former tends to lose 10-20% of the new users because they get "censored". The latter tends to lose 80% of it's users because they get tired of the juvenile behavior real quick.

I prefer the first choice most of the time. There are other places that are free-for-all's if you prefer that kind of environment.

P.S. Dupo is gone mostly because he doesn't have a GZ anymore, I think, and BadBob rides more than he posts; I aspire to be more like BadBob !!! :tup:

[mrlmd1]

OK, enough. Let Patrick do his thing. He's doing a good job and we don't want him recalled or kicked out of office (yet). (Kidding). Those of us on here who do participate, whether it's 10 or 20 of us, sometimes have slightly different opinions and advice, but like I said before, we can all learn from each other, most of the time, if we keep our minds open to what somebody else has to say. And we all have to realize that sometimes somebody else has more expertise in a certain matter than we do ourselves. When I was learning the craft of surgery, scrubbing with numerous older, more experienced, senior surgeons as tutors and instructors, I always took away something valuable from each of them, and then combined them all into my own style. My style, me, was the best of all of them, in my opinion. We are doing the same thing here. And Patrick is doing a good , thankless, job. All of us should be happy how this has been going, all of us should say thanks instead of being so critical.
Badbob participates in the GZ 250 forum on Yahoo (more than on here), Dupo and Jonathan no longer have GZ's so maybe their interest has waned, or maybe the forum has become less appealing to them to participate with their input/expertise and WE have to ask why. Don't blame Patrick for this, for setting and enforcing the rules. WE are the forum. It's up to us to keep it interesting, appealing, and honest.
Just my opinion.

[Sarris]

I applaud Dupo, Badbob, and now Pat for their patience and for doing a very tough job. But, I think this site, like most other popular sites, eventually gets taken over by the morons, and eventually dies or morphs into another form.

Most forums are merely a reflection of how society at large has digressed, and this one is no different. The economic downturn has forced a lot of people onto motorcycling and that has caused the memerbership to grow exponentially. A wider membership brings in the fringe. You used to not have to tell people to be respectful of others, nor tell them to handle personal issues on a personal level. And of course us old(er) bastards were taught how, and know pretty much how, to spell and punctuate. When I signed on (a couple days after Easy Rider) the biggest issue was the uncomfortable seat, how to make the bike run at it's best, and a few repair issues. We had and solved a few personality issues, and we knew every one of the regular posters.

Todays GZ250Bike site is a different animal from the site I enrolled in. I miss the "old" sense of communty we had. Another societal reflection............

:cry:

[mr. softie]

One of the best things about the GZ250 is how reliable and trouble free it is. This limits posts on troubles. One of the worst things about the GZ250 is the lack of aftermarket accessories, which limits posts on upgrades and mods etc. Then we have the limited ability of the GZ250 as a touring bike, which cuts down on the ride and trip reports. And when was the last racing tweak performed on a GZ250? In other words, what are we supposed to post about anyway? How many people are GZ250 fanatics, or stay that way long? Besides a few of us that is.

The GZ250 is usually a "beginners" bike, so a lot of owners aren't savvy when it comes to the regular maintainance and upkeep required on any motorcycle. A motorcycle demands a lot more attention to keep it safe and reliable than a car, and this board offers a wealth of GZ250 specific information for the new or inexperienced rider. I applaud everyone who has contributed to this knowledge base as a true hero of the GZ riding public!

The GZ250 is usually a "beginners" bike, so a lot of owners aren't savvy when it comes to the regular maintainance and upkeep required on any motorcycle. A motorcycle demands a lot more attention to keep it safe and reliable than a car, and this board offers a wealth of GZ250 specific information for the new or inexperienced rider. I applaud everyone who has contributed to this knowledge base as a true hero of the GZ riding public!



:plus1:

I've always thought of what the experienced riders do on here as a sort of public service, not unlike the guys who run the MSF courses. I know I appreciate it.

Keith