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The current forum climate
Biggles
<font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
in Zocalo v2.0
As many of you have noticed, this forum seems to be becoming a little agitated recently. An abundance of political discussions, where people's views clash, has contributed to this at least in part. Some people have complaining and saying they are going to leave because they don't like political discussions. Others are saying they will leave if they can't have them. In my opinion, the first lot are being silly. How many years have we been here now? And how many at the Sierra boards before that for many of us? Firstones.com has always been a community of tolerance and acceptance. If you feel you have to leave because some others are discussing things that bore you, you are making the wrong decision. Simply ignore those threads.
After much discussion, we have come up with a possible solution [to the political debates problem]. If you don't like political discussions, don't read them. Don't click on the thread title. There may be more of them now than there used to be, but I still only count approximately 6 threads with political or similar discussions on the entire page of the Zocalo. At Firstones.com, we pride ourselves on being a community of intelligent people who, unlike a lot of the world, are capable of listening too and accepting other people's points of view. There are plenty of threads available to discuss non-political things, and even whole other forums here. Be glad that you arn't an admin. We have to read (or at least check on) every thread to make sure that they arn't getting out of hand.
Also, try to remember that Firstones.com is an international community. Different people have different standards, different views. Try to respect them and don't post stuff that you know will offend others on purpose. As admins, we have to think of the forum as a whole. If things get bad in some way, we will close topics.
So remember, you don't have to read a thread. The choice is yours.
Don't leave because you don't like one thread.
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[url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]Never eat anything bigger than your own head.[/url]
"Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras
After much discussion, we have come up with a possible solution [to the political debates problem]. If you don't like political discussions, don't read them. Don't click on the thread title. There may be more of them now than there used to be, but I still only count approximately 6 threads with political or similar discussions on the entire page of the Zocalo. At Firstones.com, we pride ourselves on being a community of intelligent people who, unlike a lot of the world, are capable of listening too and accepting other people's points of view. There are plenty of threads available to discuss non-political things, and even whole other forums here. Be glad that you arn't an admin. We have to read (or at least check on) every thread to make sure that they arn't getting out of hand.
Also, try to remember that Firstones.com is an international community. Different people have different standards, different views. Try to respect them and don't post stuff that you know will offend others on purpose. As admins, we have to think of the forum as a whole. If things get bad in some way, we will close topics.
So remember, you don't have to read a thread. The choice is yours.
Don't leave because you don't like one thread.
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[url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]Never eat anything bigger than your own head.[/url]
"Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras
Comments
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[url="http://www.alecm.com/"]Alec McClymont[/url]
"Something is only impossible until it's not."
MAKE LOVE NOT WAR!! lol
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Chase
Web Hosting Provider for FirstOnes.com
http://www.radiusco.com/
I chisel admin rights out of the 'gods' and then I build a new forum category...
Za'hadum...
the place which no thread leaves alive... bad threads, those which offend, have the potential to get truly ugly, nasty or just plain anit-social will get sucked into the realm of the Shadows, where conflict and strife are encouraged.
A realm of negativity for those who really must persue every last detail of a thread to the point where it dissapears up it's own proverbial arse...
In short, you can get bitchy and evil in your own corner of the room where no-one else has to put up with it. As I said to those in IRC...
There is such a thing as 'freedom of speech' and there should also be very much a 'freedom of listening'.
*smacks SB for the fun of it*
Now welcome to Firstones
seriously, Za'Ha'Dum might not be a bad idea...put it in place of one of the forums that no longer needed. (Like ideas for saving the game)
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[b]whitestar90: [/b]"it would give the computer a heartattack just looking at it" -
[b]Sanfam: [/b]"And Drazi didn't like it one bit.-
[b]Mr.Bungle: [/b][i]"So that's where the forum went..."[/i]-
---
[b][i]ahhh, the good old days of HTML.[/i][/b]
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[url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]Never eat anything bigger than your own head.[/url]
"Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras
Very Good Answer!
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[b]4 Thousand Throats can be cut in one night by a running Warrior[/b]
[b]I am completely against providing a place at firstones for people to yell and swear at each other. That is not wha this site is about.
[/b][/quote]
well, when you put it THAT way....
I was thinking a place for topics like Moderate Muslim, the school topic, etc. once that are peacfully argued already, and just plop 'em in another forum so other members that don't want to see it, don't. [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/smile.gif[/img]
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[b]whitestar90: [/b]"it would give the computer a heartattack just looking at it" -
[b]Sanfam: [/b]"And Drazi didn't like it one bit.-
[b]Mr.Bungle: [/b][i]"So that's where the forum went..."[/i]-
---
[b][i]ahhh, the good old days of HTML.[/i][/b]
Argone: Thanks. [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/smile.gif[/img]
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[url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]Never eat anything bigger than your own head.[/url]
"Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras
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We are here to place President Grenewetzki under arrest!
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[url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]Never eat anything bigger than your own head.[/url]
"Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras
I think it's a neat idea...
[img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/wink.gif[/img] [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/vsml.gif[/img]
This is, first and foremost, a Babylon 5 site. If a discussion can't fit in a B5 forum or an off-topic forum, then it really doens't belong here at all.
[b]Now...how about...a forum for people who post between the hours of midnight and 12:01 AM?
I think it's a neat idea...
[img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/wink.gif[/img] [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/vsml.gif[/img] [/b][/quote]
And we can also have a forum for people who double post, and one for people who triple post, and so on! [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/wink.gif[/img]
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[url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]Never eat anything bigger than your own head.[/url]
"Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras
[b] And we can also have a forum for people who double post, and one for people who triple post, and so on! [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/wink.gif[/img]
[/b][/quote]
We already have the Warleader forum!
I would suggest that political debates, and others from the social realm, but kept open within the context of the Zocalo - the fact is, conflicts of opinions aside, that they're actively engaging people; that people keep coming back to them is clear to see, and this forum, being open for discussion, should attempt to give people just that...
We apparently have a fairly diverse cultural membership. Ideas are bound to conflict, but this is EXACTLY the kind of place where these ideas should be explored: in a forum where we all know we have at least somethings in common (B5) and know the concepts presented on that show, whether we agree with al of them or not. Building on this commanality can only be a good thing.
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bobo
<*>
B5:ITF
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Talk is silver, but violence is gold.
Toxic threads on a BBS are a part of life.
As I said to Biggles ar length, closing threads is akin to putting duct tape over the mouths of those in the debate. That's a breech of the much touted and much abused Bill of Rights.
Setting up a small but obviously volatile little corner of the BBS for the polluted, corrupted or twisted threads gives people the choice to listen or not to listen.
When someone goes to Zahadum, the "abandon all hope, yea who enter here" signage, goes without saying.
The very act of shifting a thread to Zahadum places a large and rather onerous scrutiny on those who go there. You are willingly entering a 'small hell'. Just by frequenting Zahadum you have to question why you are there in the Shadows realm.
Evil and malice exist, in each and every one of us. Denying that is suicide.
Dealing with it takes courage, this is coming from a guy who inner demons make Diablo look like a newborn kitten....
I can almost guarantee that the moment a thread is sent to Zahadum... it will quietly shrivel and die away the death it very much deserves by even being there.
I also think we'd see less than three threads go there every year, assuming the general populace of FO continues much as it has in the past.
We need a scum filter on our BBS. We need a grim reaper to slice off that which rots, so the board can continue to grow straight and tall.
If that duty falls to me, cool. No-ones likely to try and cross me or debate my judgement of when a thread 'has' to die....
There's plenty of soot on my wings, I'm built for the job. As much as you lot of Bon Vivants want to carry on as is... the darkness lingers...
and it hungers for Ostritch pie...
Toxic threads on a BBS are a part of life.[/quote]
No, death is a part of life. "Toxic threads" are a choice, and one which doesn't have to be tolerated here.
[quote]As I said to Biggles ar length, closing threads is akin to putting duct tape over the mouths of those in the debate. That's a breech of the much touted and much abused Bill of Rights.[/quote]
And is yelling "Fire!" in a crowded room also a breach of the Bill of Rights? Can I stand outside your home and shout profanities at will?
This place costs money to run, and flamewars are an abuse of the rules to which you agree when you join the forums. This isn't like walking onto the street and screaming your lungs out. There are people who run this place, and just as you can throw someone out of your house, they can put an end to conversations that get out of hand here.
[quote]Setting up a small but obviously volatile little corner of the BBS for the polluted, corrupted or twisted threads gives people the choice to listen or not to listen.[/quote]
So you're basically creating a "slum". I don't agree that that's necessary.
[quote]The very act of shifting a thread to Zahadum places a large and rather onerous scrutiny on those who go there. You are willingly entering a 'small hell'. Just by frequenting Zahadum you have to question why you are there in the Shadows realm.[/quote]
And that puts a tarnish on this site. This isn't a road-side pool hall.
[quote]Evil and malice exist, in each and every one of us. Denying that is suicide.[/quote]
No one is denying anything. What we're saying is that if you can't act peaceful in the forums, you lack self-control and discipline.
[quote]Dealing with it takes courage, this is coming from a guy who inner demons make Diablo look like a newborn kitten....[/quote]
You're talking as if flamewars and trash talk are a necessity. I'd have to disagree with that. If you can't control your temper, you've got other problems.
[quote]I can almost guarantee that the moment a thread is sent to Zahadum... it will quietly shrivel and die away the death it very much deserves by even being there.[quote]
Then why even have that section of the forum in the first place? It will also die when it's deleted.
[quote]I also think we'd see less than three threads go there every year, assuming the general populace of FO continues much as it has in the past.[/quote]
Again, why would you create a brand new forum for only three threads per year?
[quote]We need a scum filter on our BBS. We need a grim reaper to slice off that which rots, so the board can continue to grow straight and tall.[/quote]
We have one. It's called moderators. First you say that this kind of stuff is inevitable and should stay, then you say that we need to get rid of it.
The idea is to take out the trash, not leave it to stink up one corner of the room.
[quote]There's plenty of soot on my wings, I'm built for the job. As much as you lot of Bon Vivants want to carry on as is... the darkness lingers...[/quote]
I'd be just find to let the darkness linger in another place. This forum is an outlet for (primarily) Babylon 5 discussions. There's no [i]need[/i] for a flame-war forum.
You yourself have said that it's just not necessary (only 3 posts per year, threads will die after going there, etc.)
[This message has been edited by samuelk (edited 12-08-2002).]
But basically, what you've said, is that you want a forum created for 3 posts per year; posts which will quickly die once moved to that forum.
[This message has been edited by samuelk (edited 12-08-2002).]
After i thought about it. We don't need a Z'ha'dum. B5tv.com has an NR-17 forums, and I would not mind something like that. Put we are too small to break up into more forums.
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"When it is time,come to this place,call our name,we will be here"-Walkers of Sigma957
[url="http://freespace.volitionwatch.com/babylon/"][i][b]The Babylon Project[/i][/b][/url]-Bringing Babylon5 to Freespace2
[url="http://ifh.firstones.com"]I've Found Her-Babylon 5 free game[/url]
SB: Tone it down a bit. Just because someone disagrees with your idea, there is no need to call them a fool so bluntly.
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[url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]Never eat anything bigger than your own head.[/url]
"Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras