Thats exactly the kind of stuff I’ve seen and why I stopped going over there too. There is no point in a discussion that is “edited” for “correct thought” or locked after they get the last word on a subject so nobody can disagree any further, that’s not a discussion. When I find myself playing with kids who make the rules of “and I win because I said so!”, its not for long. Some kids are still fun to play with, but the kids over there are old and wrinkled and frowning.
Relaxed this place is indeed! I came over for the same reason. The clique-ish and snobbish members, as well as the power-hungry mods, sealed that deal a long time ago for me.
As with where you’ve been, this place has tons of useful information. You’ll fit right in!
As a long time sysop/sysadmin/moderator myself, I’ve been rolling around a few thoughts (manifesto? LOL) about the perfect board:
1. If it’s not a scam, spam, illegal or hate speech, leave it alone. It’s better for people to speak their mind than to bottle it up. And besides, I’ve always seen it as a badge of honor for someone to criticize me as a moderator and telling them: “I’m sorry you feel that way, that’s your opinion, and I think you’re wrong, and here’s why I think you’re wrong.” When you let someone openly criticize you in front of a community and take it with grace, it gives you a certain credibility you can’t get anywhere else.
2. The site owner serves the community, not the other way around. The community is more important than the site owner.
3. The site sponsors serve the community, not the other way around. The community is more important than the sponsors.
4. Instead of empowering a few people to rule the community, empower the community to rule itself.
5. Instead of using complicated rules to overcome technical limitations of a board, address those limitations instead.
