If nothing else, our recent travails on the Sierra Pro Pilot Forum illustrate the headaches of trying to run a web site in a manner consistent with our own vision while being responsive to the needs of our readers.

For those of you not following the situation too closely, there have always been a vocal group of ProPilot critics who have frequently and repeatedly expressed their disappointment in the product, their frustration with Sierra, and their fervent demand that despite their dislike for the product they are entitled to a free or significantly-discounted upgrade. For most of these unhappy posters, their feelings are genuine. profound, and unchangeable. For a few of these disgruntled visitors, it seems to have become a mean-spirited mission to use an AVSIM forum as their personal soapbox from which to do everything in their power to abuse Sierra, to demand Sierra apologize to them, to require Sierra to disclose to them information about future product enhancements or refund policies, and to flame anyone and everyone who dares to disagree with them.

In the past, we have advised our Sierra ProPilot reader to ignore the posts they disagree with rather than prolonging an argument in circumstances where it is clear there can be no basic resolution of the issue. It is still good advice. Nevertheless, equally ardent SPP supporters have continued to post in response to these messages, and many threads have escalated into destructive, pointless flames. More importantly, over the recent weeks, more and more of the regular forum visitors -- the people who had, in the past, been among the most helpful in assisting other SPP users and constructively identifying problems and workarounds -- were simply leaving the forum, having "had their fill" of trying to deal with or screen out the vocal few who continued to engage in their self-appointed mission to bludgeon Sierra Pro Pilot into submission and/or the people who responded angrily to them.

As Publisher of this venture, I stepped in and called a halt to the bashing. I gave warning that effective immediately, I would begin removing messages that were nothing more than a rehash of the topics related to "refunds, free updates, reveal everything you know about the next version or else, they ought to grovel before us on bended knee," or of similar ilk.

Most people reacted positively to this message, and it is gratifying to receive peoples' support, both public and private, for having made a difficult decision. A few people have been critical of my decision. I understand and respect these opposing points of view. I too would like nothing better than to be able to allow our Forums to operate unmoderated, relying on the good taste and common sense of the posters to constructively contribute their views. But I can't help but wonder why some of these individuals who disagree with my decision seem to believe that, one the one hand, they are being principled, they only want to get the truth out to the seekers of truth, they are fearless defenders of free speech. They accuse me, on the other hand, of acting out of anger; of suppressing the truth and free speech; of concealing facts; of kowtowing to Sierra; of having sinister motives. One notable (and new) visitor to the forum, in an earnest attempt to assist in the editorial management of AVSIM Online, urges me to stop posting news of any new products or patches until they are released, and to create a new unmoderated forum to allow people to post their unfettered opinions about Sierra Pro Pilot or any other flight sim- related issue.

To both the supporters and critics of my decision, I ask you to take a moment and "walk a mile in my moccasins..." I can listen to the ardent ProPilot critics, to the people convinced that they are the sole repositories of truth and wisdom, to the people who seem to come around and offer their criticism only when they have a bone to pick with something Sierra, AVSIM or I have done. Or I can listen to the people who actually frequent and constructively participate in the discussions on the SPP and other AVSIM Forums. I can accept the view that truth only comes out when people have an unfettered ability to post their opinions without regard to good taste, common sense, or their own personal agendas. Or I can try to keep our Forum system focused on what they were intended to be: a source of help and information to users or potential users of Sierra Pro Pilot and other aviation simulation-related products. I can invite people into my home to engage in a reasoned dialogue over the course of an evening, or I can offer up my living room to allow a couple of sincere but addled nuts to engage in a two-hour group rant, yelling indisputable facts, accurate quotations, and heart-felt opinions at the top of their lungs over and over and over again until they come to blows and bust up my furniture.

In sum, I can allow the minority to dictate the content of AVSIM Online, or I can try to balance the wishes of our readership. I've come down on the side of our readers, who seek honest, reasoned discussion of products. We continue to encourage such discussion on all of the AVSIM forums, including the SPP Forum. And I reject product bashing, personal attacks, and repeated whining in the name of "truth" or "free speech."

Truth is a precious and subjective commodity. No one has a monopoly on it. To the people who seek information about Sierra Pro Pilot and other products, I hope and believe they can find some on our pages. And I am equally confident that these same people -- seekers of wisdom who genuinely seek information about a product -- will continue to also look at the many other resources available to them to round out the picture.

A few months ago, AVSIM offered an unmoderated "General Topics" forum which attempted to allow readers to share their opinions about many things, including the relative merits of flight simulations. It quickly turned into a zoo, frequented and dominated by a few vocal people who chose to abuse the forum with their own view of the world. We're not going to do that again, thank you. If you want that sort of forum, feel free to visit USEnet's rec.aviation.simulation, or one of the many other places that offer unmoderated opinion discussion. Or better yet, start your own web site, public forum, mailing list, or USEnet group, and good luck to you. Then, perhaps, you'll acquire a better understanding of the problems we deal with around here every day.

Tom Allensworth
Publisher,
AVSIM Online