Funny, I was recently thinking of starting a thread here asking for opinions on why this BBS is so much better than any other online community I've ever seen. If there is any inappropriate rancor going on, I've missed it.

I'm new here and my opinion is that this is a great on-line community! The level of discourse and quality of information is outstanding. Steve

One of the great things I have noticed about this forum is the fact that not only do the bad apples seem to be weeded out but, also the good ones usuallly get kudos as well.

Over the 4 years or so I have been here the board has changed but the mainstays have been really consistent and imformative.

I notice from time to time, some new folks come along and seem to want to cause friction and negativity.

A little time goes by and those people usually go away.

The for sale section does seem to attract a few more shady folks.
The good thing is they usually are brought into the light pretty quickly and they find they have no ground to stand on here.

Pretty amazing how it seems to work here.

ditto here :) we have a board here in holland with about 500 people on it and they all hate each other it seems. This board has thousends of members and just a few bad apples i think Wayne and all moderators are doing a pretty good job here :)

hee ed, what board is that, just curious

Peter -
I lived in Leiden (went to the Rechtsgeleerdheid at the Rijksuniversiteit) for a semester and spent a lot of time in Den Haag. Is the de Graaf tobacconist still around (Heulstraat maybe - it's been 8 years ... near the Summer Palace, I think)? Rob is a super-nice guy and gave me a graduate-level education in tobacco and cigars.

JP

SammyG2, just so you know your now on my ignore list.:D

Think of them as Pelicans:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1092278306.jpg

I think if anyone wants to say mean bad things at lest put your name to it .........most every one here just trys to help........most....there are a few that know nothing and want to proove it........just ignore it

I have noticed more tension on the board lately. People making smart @ss comments and taking jabs at other people's posts. Don't know why. I hope it's just a passing thing.

it's an election year.....


hehehehehe

i just wanna say from the bottom of my heart.............

I love you guys

if you really wanna see some negativity.........check out the Off Topic forum

"I have noticed more tension on the board lately. People making smart @ss comments and taking jabs at other people's posts. Don't know why."

- Could just be the hot weather. It affects interpersonal interactions -- even riot and crime freq. goes up.

A strong dose of (dare I say it?) COWbell will cure all our woes.

Ok everybody....... Group hug.

Ve don't gruppe hug heah. :D

Agreed..... Ive been staying out of this forum lately because it used to be a fun, supportive community...but lately some of the bigger egos have taken to throwing flames around unprovoked and unsolicited. There are also a number of immature posts related to guns, animal abuse etc.... shouldnt those go into the OT section?

Every internet forum goes this way though....its inevitable. Small, fun, intimate communities always lose their charm and slowly degrade as more members join up and anonimity prevails into poor judgement behind the posts.

"There are also a number of immature posts related to guns, animal abuse..."

I agree -- and you forgot switchblades.

Further to my earlier cartoon, here is my theory:

Once upon a time, pretty much everyone here where little buddies along the lines of: “Hey – you drive a Porsche let’s be friends! A what? A 911?! We’ll be best friends!!”

Then, from time to time things got out of hand and moderators needed a curb to kick inappropriate discussions to. You know, innocent stuff like “Glad to have a V6” and “copped a parking fine today – WTF??”

Enter the OT forum. Left alone to fester, the OT forum became a soapbox in its own right for chat board heroes to convince the world of their political prowess/views. September 11 seems to be the universal catalyst, but I digress.

We all know that in nature, there are laws. Someone once said one of them is nothing goes from a lower to higher state without some sort of intervention. The OT forum is not immune to this.

So rather than forming “friendships” here, “enemyships” are forming on the OT board and spilling into this forum.

What’s my answer? Simple, put this little clause I lifted elsewhere as a condition of using the OT forum:

“No political or religious posts allowed. Remember that this forum is a place for friends to meet. If it turns unfriendly, take a deep breath and back off. Be respectful to one another, even those you don't agree with.“

All of this is good though as I am getting plenty of work done nowadays instead of frequenting this board.