Topic & Post Purge In Marine Chat?

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ZoddyZod

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There's a few posts and at least one topic that has disappeared from the Marine Chat section. We also appear to have lost SeffieUK judging by her status updates (any evidence as to why seems to have disappeared from posts/topics). It would be an incredible shame to lose the heart and soul of that section.

Can any fill me in on what has occured?
 
Something happened that's caused a lot of upset

Sadly

But I am also unsure of the details
 
The MOD team will make an announcement in due course
 
It appears that some members of this forum have decided to no longer choose to be members here. Some of them attempted to delete their previous posts, or delete their accounts, which in general we don't allow. This policy is simply because it would ruin the integrity and flow of existing threads, especially for members with a large quantity of posts.

In short, we never like to see members choose to leave, but I think it is just part of the evolution of a community like this. If the members choose to come back and like all members follow the rules we all agreed to, they are more than welcome back.
 
It appears that some members of this forum have decided to no longer choose to be members here. Some of them attempted to delete their previous posts, or delete their accounts.

ok, but what was the reason for this mass exodus?

The marine section had a lot going for it (fantastically responsive & engaged), and I hope it will remain so. However, if a lot of the high posters have decided to 'quit', it will be a massive blow.
 
the moderating team won't go into detail regarding the reasons of the members leaving, other than saying that it was completely their choice to leave. I'm sure the S/W section will be back up to strength as not all experienced members have chose to leave.
 
the moderating team won't go into detail regarding the reasons of the members leaving, other than saying that it was completely their choice to leave. I'm sure the S/W section will be back up to strength as not all experienced members have chose to leave.

a slightly frustrating answer, but understood.
 
It appears that some members of this forum have decided to no longer choose to be members here. Some of them attempted to delete their previous posts, or delete their accounts.
ok, but what was the reason for this mass exodus?

This will probably be equally 'frustrating' as Ian's answer, but I wanted to reply directly as you quoted me directly.

It is our policy to not publicly discuss issues that do not involve all members of the forum. As I wrote above, some members have chosen to leave on their own. Their reasons are their own.
 
This will probably be equally 'frustrating' as Ian's answer, but I wanted to reply directly as you quoted me directly.

It is our policy to not publicly discuss issues that do not involve all members of the forum. As I wrote above, some members have chosen to leave on their own. Their reasons are their own.

The point I was trying to make was that I believe the 'issue' (whatever it may have been) occured in a thread called 'the salties' (if I remember correctly). That thread seems to have vanished - so either I can't find it or it has been deliberately deleted - I dont think any regular board members have the ability to delete threads.

I just wanted to voice my disappointment that not only do we appear to have lost some valuable members (the sort of members who attract others to join due to their wealth of experience), but the 'issue' has also been swept under the carpet.

It is precisely these type of members (without naming particular names, but I'm sure you can guess who I am reffering to) that we should bend over backwards to encourage to stay. Each of the sub-forums has a handful of incredibly knowledgeable and engaged contributors that make the forum as a whole flourish. Without their dedication then there would be much fewer people (myself included) who would've stuck around after their first few posts.

On the flip side of this coin - I do not know what has caused the 'exodus', I can not judge for myself who was in the right/wrong. It's quite possible that I would not be voicing these concerns if I had the chance to view the posts myself and this is probably where most of my frustration lies.

I understand your position on such matters, but I wanted to air my concerns.
 
The members affected will be hugely missed and were very valuable members :crazy:
 
I just wanted to voice my disappointment that not only do we appear to have lost some valuable members (the sort of members who attract others to join due to their wealth of experience), but the 'issue' has also been swept under the carpet.

Z,

In that thread, rules were broken. There were some hurtful things written, well outside the scope of what this forum stands for.

So, of course it was removed from public viewing -- that's what mods do, keep the forum in a good state for all users. The thread we are talking about here was unhealthy enough, that it wasn't salvagable -- hence we just removed it.

To be frank, we do this all the time with any thread that isn't salvagable. We delete all the spam threads, too, do you want to keep those around as well?

If you wish to dicuss 'the issue' as you word it, please feel free to do so. The only requirements are that you follow the forum rules as you do so, and in particular each and every person in the thread and the whole forum must be treated with respect.

On the other hand, if this is an attempt to goad details out of us, again we are going to politely decline, per our policy. Again, to be frank about it, I've stated the 'issue' as much as needed. Several members has chosen to no longer be members here. They have their own reasons, and it is not my place or any mod's place to publicly list those. This is to respect their privacy. So long as forum rules are followed, they can come back if they choose to in the future.

we should bend over backwards to encourage to stay

At what cost? How much bending should we do? What if someone is demanding to be able to advertise for free? Or otherwise break our rules? I think that writing something like 'bend over backwards' can lead to a very slippery slope of precedent where any member may think that they can bully the admin and mod staff.

Let me just state it now: We aren't going to do that. Our rules are equal for everybody, and we do our utmost to enforce them equally for everybody (we are only human, so I'm not going to claim that we are perfect in the endeavor). We aren't going to have preferred groups on this forum. We expect everyone to follow all the rules.

And, if you don't wish to follow the rules, you may choose to leave. It really is that simple. We think we have a pretty good set of rules and enforcement of those rules because we have grown quite a good forum. We aren't going to start down the path of giving anyone preferential treatment.

I can not judge for myself who was in the right/wrong.

Lastly, this is quite a murky concept here. You know as well as I that 'right' and 'wrong' are largely functions of persepctive. And if you talk to one person about an incident, you're going to get a very different story from a second person -- about the exact same incident.

So, again, the mods have agreed to a policy of not publicly discussing the specifics of incidents that do not affect the entire forum. As above, this is to respect the privacy of others. And, as a practical point of view, it prevents just one side of a story from coming out. Or, to put it differently, it prevents us from just presenting our 'tyranny' and having people react to it without knowing the entire story. So, the thread was removed because there were rules-breaking in there, and we aren't going to put it back for public inspection.

What this really boils down to, then, is that the site owner, William, has entrusted judgement to the other admin, Tolak, and the other mods. That it is our judgement that nothing in the thread is salvagable to be posted and have any value to the forum. And that it is our judgement that none of the specifics need to be discussed with the entire forum.

I guess I am asking that you trust us.

The above is probably still 'frustrating'. But, I think that is because you are asking to discuss the specifics, to see the thread that started this, and the answer is going to be 'no' every time, for all the reasons I've expanded upon above. Lastly, so long as we continue to remain respectful, we (the mods) will continue to answer as many questions as we can, so please do not hesitate to ask whatever you want. We'll answer as well as we can in accordance to our rules and principles.
 
I was going to post a longer reply to this, but Bignose has really hit the nail on the head with the post above mine. In fact I don't think there is anything that I can add to it, other than to say iterate the comment made in the first post, in that we are always disappointed when members decide to leave, but this is part of the evolution of a community. If the members who decided to leave were not prepared to follow the basic site rules which are in place to make TFF a pleasant place for everyone, and then it is probably for the best anyway.
 
Bignose - thank you for the lengthy and detailed reply, I'd just like to comment on a few points....

In that thread, rules were broken. There were some hurtful things written, well outside the scope of what this forum stands for.

and the fact that I have no clue about what was said is the reason I started this topic. I see that several memebers have left and it appears the Mod team have removed any trace that would alure to the reason why. From my end that makes me think suspiciously about the actions of the Mod team. I can't judge the facts for myself so I am left to guess as about what has occured.



On the other hand, if this is an attempt to goad details out of us, again we are going to politely decline no, it is certainly not an attempt to do this


we should bend over backwards to encourage to stay

At what cost? How much bending should we do? What if someone is demanding to be able to advertise for free? Or otherwise break our rules? I think that writing something like 'bend over backwards' can lead to a very slippery slope of precedent where any member may think that they can bully the admin and mod staff.

again, as I do not know what occured I was making a point that we should always try to encourage such productive members to stay. I have probably used an extreme phrase here and do appreciate that no preferential treatment should be given to any member

I can not judge for myself who was in the right/wrong.

Lastly, this is quite a murky concept here. You know as well as I that 'right' and 'wrong' are largely functions of persepctive. And if you talk to one person about an incident, you're going to get a very different story from a second person -- about the exact same incident. Exactly - which is what we are doing here in a way. Without seeing the material myself, I can only rely on others interpretation of what was right/wrong. Of course that perspective largely depends on the individual, but I retain my right to make that decision myself

So, again, the mods have agreed to a policy of not publicly discussing the specifics of incidents that do not affect the entire forum. I could argue here that it has affected a significant portion of the forum - and therefore does 'affect' many members - but I do not wish to make such an argument (or any argument), just to present that opinion.

I guess I am asking that you trust us.

and that's fine.

The above is probably still 'frustrating'. But, I think that is because you are asking to discuss the specifics, to see the thread that started this, and the answer is going to be 'no' every time

the simple fact that you mention there were "some hurtful things written" is really enough for me. I simply did not know that has happened. My initial frustration was that it all seemed a bit 'cloak & dagger'. No thread = no evidence of any wrong-doing. I am more than prepared to accept that something out of line was stated, and that is the reason for the 'incident'.

once again, thanks for responding.
 
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