I really wish that moderators would not be so quick to lock threads when an interesting conversation is taking place. I do appreciate that moderators have a job to do, but at least give the rest of us some time to take part before the dreaded padlock is added. In this case, I am referring to the "ORBx confusion" thread. Unfortunately, I was too late to enjoy that all too brief discussion.

EDIT: it seems that some posters decided to have a go at the moderators (for whatever reason), so maybe this one was justified. A shame, because I would have liked to have contributed to the discussion

Edited October 31, 20187 yr by Christopher Low

The "Lock" usually happens when posters go off topic or the conversation goes "South".  We are trying our best to keep things going smoothly and without the arguments and name-calling.

And you do a very fine job...............Doug

As you said, Christopher, someone made a disparaging remark about one of our Moderators. Generally that triggers at the minimum a suspension from the site and at most a ban. This is unacceptable. Anyone can disagree with a moderator, but not post abusive remarks about them.  

If someone has a problem with a moderator's decision we can be reached through PM and we will discuss it with you but court is not held in the forums.

Also, about the time this happened, the topic you are referring to had descended into who's right and who's wrong state and the lock was appropriate.

 

3 hours ago, 188AHC said:

Also, about the time this happened, the topic you are referring to had descended into who's right and who's wrong state and the lock was appropriate.

Apologies — I’m sure I’m missing something — but isn’t this literally describing any discussion where people disagree?

A forum with no differences of opinion (even strong ones!) is a very boring place. I’m sure that’s not what the moderators here are after.

James

It is a tough call, even if 95% agree with a decision of a mod 5% will make a lot of noise regarding a decision. I don't think you could make everyone happy every time

Nothing wrong with starting another one with the same theme.  Members can bash each other (although we receive a lot of complaints about others inappropriately bashing our fellow members) but not the volunteer moderators.  This is not tolerated and never was even when Tom was with us.  Appreciate your concerns but we all must follow the guidelines that Tom set up for the forums in the AVSIM Terms of Service.

20 minutes ago, honanhal said:

A forum with no differences of opinion (even strong ones!) is a very boring place. I’m sure that’s not what the moderators here are after. 

I cannot believe how many times I have seen this argument.  It does not fit here at AVSIM.  Of course, we do not try to promote boredom! This is not reddit and never will be reddit (for those not aware, reddit is a very offensive website that has few rules and almost anything goes).  We are here to keep the peace (in all AVSIM forums - not the commercial forums hosted by AVSIM).  At reddit, they have no one to keep the peace.  Trying to tell us what to do in forums provided by AVSIM Online! and how to do it is not appropriate (and why do you think it is appropriate to bash the AVSIM staff?).  We do not need a lot of bosses telling us how to run things.  We get complaints from your fellow members.  You do not get to see and act upon these complaints.  It is about impossible to please everyone.  I remind you of the Terms of Service developed long before me and mostly by Tom:

Behavior and Your Actions: AVSIM’s goal is to provide an educational and entertainment resource for people with similar interests and a community that is fun to be part of by users from around the world. Your acts and words on AVSIM will not, in any way, infringe upon others enjoyment of the AVSIM site. Any acts of bigotry, profanity, or disregard for what is reasonably considered to be social “norms” will result in suspension or banning entirely. Keep in mind that AVSIM is a multinational and multicultural site, and "norms" vary from country to country. What may be acceptable in your culture / country, may not be acceptable in others. If in doubt, contact AVSIM staff BEFORE you post anything that could be offensive elsewhere. This clause also includes and refers to any material or language that AVSIM Staff consider to be inflammatory and intended to do no more than elicit controversy and division.

11 hours ago, charliearon said:

The "Lock" usually happens when posters go off topic or the conversation goes "South".  We are trying our best to keep things going smoothly and without the arguments and name-calling.

I agree when the conversation goes "South", which I assume means getting personal and abusive.  There is no palce for name calling.

However civil arguments should be acceptable.  Everyone should have the freedom to disagree and make points pro and con.  Likewise going off topic.  Many threads become more interesting when an example of a similar problem or opinion keep the discussion going.  That's called a conversation.

Noel 

I have always been a believer of people who moderate having two logons with separate avatars.  One to participate in discussions as a member, in which case reasonable arguments are valid as with any member.  A separate Id logon should be used for moderation where it is treated much more seriously and the uniform is to be respected.

Often moderator protections are imposed in debate where a normal member would not have the same.

Really, I cant believe there could even be a debate about the plain and clear difference between the words 'recommended and required', but that is what this all boils down to, and that is why the topic had to go south. 🤢🤮

Truth does not really seem to matter anymore. No problem, this very thing was predicted long ago. 😌  

I wonder what will be next? The letter A is not really the letter A anymore?🤯

 

 

1 hour ago, pracines said:

Really, I cant believe there could even be a debate about the plain and clear difference between the words 'recommended and required', but that is what this all boils down to, and that is why the topic had to go south. 🤢🤮

Truth does not really seem to matter anymore. No problem, this very thing was predicted long ago. 😌  

I wonder what will be next? The letter A is not really the letter A anymore?🤯

 

 

depends if  its  A or  a 😀

Edited November 1, 20187 yr by pete_auau

The crux of the matter here is whether a serious and important debate should have been closed down due to a few members making off colour comments. Suspending them, perhaps deleting their comments would be the prudent thing to do. However halting an entire conversation means that those that have contributed in a well meaning and reasoned way have no way to further express their views. It should also be added that there is a direct conflict of interest when the moderator is also directly involved with the company being discussed.

Or put it another way, should moderators actually be giving their opinions in threads? 

 

What particularly annoyed me when reading through that thread was that a moderator posted his opinion three hours after it had been locked with the clear intention of having the final word. That is simply abusing the position.

I totally agree. Another topic that got closed quite quickly was the topic with the Iranian scenery. Even simmarket said, that this scenery can't be bought with paypal for obvious reasons. But the moderator here knew better and somehow made a connection to avsim what noone else did...

It was quite an interesting topic and could help others who run into the same problem.