Rethinking my time here.

Sorry to hear that, but the site is what it is. It isn't a question of political correctness, it's about limiting what we do to civil discussion about a very limited number of topics.

I didn't remove any topics lately, but surely you must see that if we have one that spirals out of control that leaving it up would be a time consuming distraction for the mods and contrary to our purpose.

Wouldn't it be better for you, me, and the rest of the mods to go play rather than respond, defend positions or get pissed off about some form of electronic BS?

It's a really tough job to decide what stays and what goes and nobody gets paid to do it. Sometimes we may be too conservative in our approach, but until we come up with a better method it is what we are stuck with.

Good luck to you.

Scott,

I hear you and would agree this has become the land of milk and honey and everyhing wonderful and god forbid there is a conflict or debate that would lose the Sesame Street atmosphere.

I'm mixed about this myself. I really do understand what the mods are trying to do and I commend them for keeping this site relatively civil, but at a price where you no longer are allowed to express opinions that might tick someone else off or really engage in true debates. I guess what I'm saying is they go a bit to far.

It really does bother me a bit that everything has to always be so nicey nice or the posts get pulled especially since they can just lock it down if it gets out of hand.

So what if I told someone their taste in music sux, I'm sure alot of you would say the same about mine, but I'm I big boy I don't need some mod defending me. It's not going to hurt my feelings if soemone doesn't like my playing or taste in music.

Now on your personal choice to post in the forums, personally I wouldn't be on here if I wasn't killing time at work. I'd rather play than talk about it. But if I were dissatisfied with the site I'd just leave without a trace.

That's just me. Feel free to flame me.

I will say though on the whole this site is well run just alittle conservative at times for my taste. Hey you can't always get what you want and I don't make the rules so I'll shutup now.

I don't see what the big deal is, there are plenty of other sites if you want to diss somebody's taste in music or rant about why you dislike this or that band.
I fail to see anything constructive or positve coming from it but that's just me.

That's what makes this site different
I say kudos to the mods and keep up the good work

Twisted,

I would have thought that's why there's a forum called Opinions and Polls so you could express your OWN opinion.

Yes they do a good job, just a little to sanitized sometimes.

So we are not allowed to say that either?

Thanks, TL!

Well, I think rocker and me had a nice rough debate, Nick posted after it and said nothing about it. I don't know what happened but I'm sure there was a good reason for pulling. As far as sesame street atmosphere, I get what you're saying. I have it more with the 'hear here' forum, where I feel like I can't give as constructive critism as possible as well as get the idea that people don't really dare tell me if they think something is really up with my own stuff.

Twisted,

I would have thought that's why there's a forum called Opinions and Polls so you could express your OWN opinion.

Yes they do a good job, just a little to sanitized sometimes.

So we are not allowed to say that either?

sorry, didn't mean to single you out. i value your posts as much as anyone elses on a range of topics and disscussions

my point is that while there is a forum for opinions and polls, it's not meant to be a "rant" forum, which is what seemed to be going on in the aformentioned thread.
when that happens it's easy for the threads to start wandering into borderline insulting remarks and outright thinnly veiled flaming.

Having been a Mod on other sites in the past i can understand how hard it is to walk the line on threads that really have no other purpose but to reflect negatively on other peoples preferances that may differ.

Twist,

No problem with me I don't think it's a big deal either and not worth talking about to much or leaving the site, I just think sometimes there is a wee bit of Pc going on that to me is not reality.

Life ain't perfect all the time and soemtimes you have to tell it like it is.

Sluetelbos,

Yes I agree with the Hear Here section. I don't post there for several reasons..one is I'm not much into recording, two..I'm not that great of a player..and 3 everyone would just tell me that it sounded great..I really don't need a bunch of people I don't know patronizing my playing for fear they would hurt my feelings if they thought it sucked. I want to hear what they really think and that doesn't happen here.

I guess I'll be the odd man out, but I come here specifically because of the moderation.

Other large communities, like Harmony Central, have some great information. However, I get tired of filtering through the crap to get to it. So I come here first. Even if I'm not posting much, I'm still checking in (almost daily) to see what's going on. I learn something new just about every time too.

Some people intentionally stir the pot, IMO. I wouldn't walk up to someone and tell them their taste in music sucks. So why do it online?

Jason

One of the things that you get to see very quickly, as a mod, is threads that are bound to go south. We try to allow as much freedom as possible, but sometimes we decide to stop a thread before anything untoward can develop.

Sometimes we get there as the fires are being fanned and douse it before it turns ugly - very often before anyone else gets to see the ugliness. For example, I often come on early in the (European) morning - which is late for most of the US people - I can often leave GN in the background and reload every 30 minutes or so and still have no posts. Very often, though, that's when I find and remove a whole pile of porn - how many of you saw the Paris Hilton Pics? Not many, I reckon, because I got there and removed the thread.

Because you didn't see insults being thrown, it doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Grey,

Just keep on doin what your doin and once in awhile someone like me will whine about it but it's all good no sense sweating the small stuff.

I guess I'll be the odd man out, but I come here specifically because of the moderation.

That's exactly what brought me here all those years ago! But, I came from Usenet, which is HORRIBLE!!!! :x I wanted a moderated forum to eliminate all the BS you had to wade through. When they asked me to become a moderator here, I was honored to be asked! I (and I'm sure all the other mods, too) still feel honored to be able to participate in a forum of this caliber.

It all boils down, though, to the fact that you can't please all of the people all of the time. Someone, somewhere, will always find fault with what you do and that can't be helped. I wish it could. But, it can't.

Oddly enough, this seems to have started with the McCartney Dance Tonight thread in the opinions section, which was initially just a mindless one-off post (mine) about a mindless one-off song, but which generated a handful of strong opinions about the song and McCartney's / The Beatles' music in general. That led directly to the I Don't Like This Artist thread, which in turn spurred the Gender thread and of course the Where Is The I Don't Like This Artist Thread? thread, then the Deleted Items thread, and this one, with two members leaving! Snowballed out of control.

It could have happened with the Hendrix thread a few months ago, given the fanboy ravings (j/k ;)) and then the shred-bashing, but for whatever reason it didn't.

The point is, I disagree that GN is stifling. There can be, and is, some very opinionated discussion. But when it goes off topic or gets personal, it serves no good purpose.

Anyway, if Scott has found a place he likes better, so be it.

I guess I'll be the odd man out, but I come here specifically because of the moderation.
I agree, C-n-J. After checking out a few other guitar forums, I have quit looking elsewhere. I got full of the sexism, racism, trash talk and posturing I saw elsewhere in a hurry.

I didn't see the final exchange(s) that got the particular thread deleted, so I can't give an opinion on whether it was appropriately deleted or not. It was a decent discussion topic to start with, but I suppose somebody had to turn it into a p***ing match. :roll:

I appreciate a spirited discussion but not everyone knows how to engage in the art, so some threads are inevitably going to go over the line and get locked or deleted. Overall I think the mods here do a great job, and it remains a pretty clean family-safe, diversity-safe forum as a result.
Sluetelbos,

Yes I agree with the Hear Here section. I don't post there for several reasons................and everyone would just tell me that it sounded great..I really don't need a bunch of people I don't know patronizing my playing for fear they would hurt my feelings if they thought it sucked. I want to hear what they really think and that doesn't happen here.

I disagree with this, Cnev. What I see on Hear Here is that relationships develop over time, where people feel increasingly "safe" in giving constructive criticism, based on how that criticism is received by the original poster. Most of those doing the critiquing on Hear Here (and the two songwriting forums, as well) respond with a sensitivity to how much criticism the poster can take without being unduly hurt or offended. If gentle criticism is well-received and appreciated, the critics can get a little more specific and raise the bar a little when subsequent clips are posted. If the poster takes offense at even the gentlest criticism, they surely shouldn't expect people to spend time crafting well-thought out, honest critiques in the future.

Also, from what I've seen, beginners who post at Hear Here will tend to be dealt with more gently than those who have a depth and range of skills, and that is as it should be, IMO. We beginners need more encouragement and advice on different aspects than those who've been playing forever.

Margaret