Civility in a pool forum. Should we have more of it on AZB?

No, the right to call others pedophiles, slave owners, douchebags, thieves, and so on should never be impeded.

Although this sort of behavior is clearly against the rules those rules don't mean anything unless they are enforced, which they selectively are depending on the person who broke them and the mood of the people tasked with enforcing the rules. No one has to be civil in a place where it's not enforced. However being civil is an insurance against the whimsical enforcement. You can't really complain when you accuse a person of being a pedophile if you get banned, kind of like when you speed while driving. Most of the time you won't get caught but once in while you will.

So my new policy is to try very hard to be nice so that I don't put myself into a position to be admonished for breaking the rules. Although a few others regularly flaunt the rules when speaking to me or about me, as I also did to them in the past, I have chosen that I like to be here so being nice is the better course to make sure that happens. Also being nice is simply a better way to live. I don't have to feel guilty or ashamed of anything I said in anger. It's also more of a challenge to find the positive way to get your point across than to take the easy way out and rip someone apart sarcastically.

I have spoken to Mike and Jerry about the moderation here and basically they feel that the balance is pretty much where it should be at the moment. As Jerry said pretty clearly they don't need any more "help" with how to run the forum and I can respect that. They do have bigger projects than this forum. This place is a big part of life for some of us but to them it's a distraction from the much larger picture that they are working on. So that said the civility enforcement is going to remain as it is and that means that the forum is going to be about as "civil" as it's ever been. Which is to say not all that bad. Not kumbaya great but certainly much nicer than a lot of other places.

Overall I am glad this place is here and appreciate it quite a lot. Not only from a business standpoint but also from a social perspective. For me personally AZ keeps me in touch with my pool roots while I live somewhere that has a lot of pool but not a lot of the type of pool culture I grew up with.

Lock N Load said:

Pool players, pool players families, AZB members, friends, and everybody using and being on AZB, the best pool forum in the World! This is about all of the above mentioned people. The best pool related news, the best pool forum, and the best Mods, on the planet! Civility and respect is a good thing to have and use.
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.

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You know Lock we should be civil in everything we do, but i think thats impossiable because some where along the line something will happen that we dont agree with and bam there goes your civility, but there is no reason to disrespect someone or their beleivings just because one mite not agree!Another very good thread, have a great day MR.LOCK!

I struggle with this very thing on AZ . I love mingling around on the forums but more days than not I have to avoid certain threads and posters. AZ is home to many types of people, some people are so rude that when I read their post I get that wtf??????? Moment and post instead of walking away and leaving it alone. I am the same person on and off the boards, others I really doubt they act that way in person. If they did they would be loners because no one likes an a$$hole. I like real people and not theses fakes that use every opportunity to ruin someone's day. I don't know what they get out of it.
Hope all is well

I agree with JB on this, and I must say that I too have become less confrontational, and more tolerant, having adopted that age old axiom, "If you can't say anything good about someone (or something) then don't say anything at all."
I can remember the Great Aiming Wars, like it was only yesterday. The loss of life was horrendous. I myself lost both arms and both legs so now all I do is play baseball. I'm second base for our local AA team, the Cardinals.
Things are way better now. :smile:

They lay in wait if you post on a public site.

Lock, I wouldn't want this forum overly civil.....
..if everybody posted like they were writing a Neil Sedaka song, it would
get too boring....and with all that honey, we'd end up with diabetes.

However, I also see JB's point...it's about crossing a line.
I think the Thaiger and JB debates were a model for disagreeing....
...spirited differences of opinion with a good amount of dissing but nobody
tilted.

To me, a certain amount of profanity adds a little spice, but I'm not too
keen on obscenities ( yes, there is a difference in the two )...if your kid
can't read your posts, I feel you're doing something wrong.

I think AZ does an admirable job...they aren't wardens and they aren't
the kind to look the other way either.
This is the wrong planet to be looking for perfection.

So to improve the forum, it really comes down to each individual...
..if you want it to improve, then do it with your posts; don't wait for
everyone else to shape up, show the way.

"A choice is given...and to each his own...to be a stumbling block...
...or a stepping stone."

AND IF ANYBODY DOESN'T LIKE THIS POST, GET STUFFED.:angry:

regards..<..but not ALL the time
double hemlock

Tramp Steamer said:

I agree with JB on this, and I must say that I too have become less confrontational, and more tolerant, having adopted that age old axiom, "If you can't say anything good about someone (or something) then don't say anything at all."
I can remember the Great Aiming Wars, like it was only yesterday. The loss of life was horrendous. I myself lost both arms and both legs so now all I do is play baseball. I'm second base for our local AA team, the Cardinals.
Things are way better now. :smile:

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Tramp, I don't want to hear how you're typing this post.

AZ is a digital pool room people act like it is the wild west anything goes but in the wild west if you got out of line you had to be able to defent your actions or words. When civilization came to the west freedoms were exchanged for rules usually enforced rules. The rules were enforced by people with athority with the goal of good for all. I see situations and ruling and issues ignored on AZ by the authoritys at times that I do not understand.

It would be nice if all posters acted civilized but that is a lot to expect on this forum. I guarentee the keyboard thugs, and spelling police would not act that way in a real pool room or even the grocery store if the situation was face to face, however being that this internet/AZ provides and invisible shield many participants grow a serious pair and act as if they are the potentate of life and hate on whoever they want. It is a bummer to people has ran off many of the pro's and keeps me off AZ at times myself.

Part of the problem with an Internet forum is the anonymity. To the AZ haters and trolls - I am not saying you should have to post your real name and picture at all so please do not tell me what I am saying. If you want to hide then hide and if you act badly I hope people who know you put out a real name to you so people in your community and this AZ can know how you are capable of acting. What I am saying is I think the more we know of who and where people are from so we can socialize when proximity and time allow and also just treat each other as humans when on AZ. This will make people realize that the other posters are actually people. Many people on this site are well known it is obvious who they are and these people seem to act more real on the forum. I think it would help to know who people really are especially when the ones who consitently act like trolls or perhaps welch in the action forum or do not proplerly complete a deal in sales area. I think this would calm some of them down at least occasionally. People posted SC5 info he still acts badly but people know who he is where he is and has probably saved some hassles by having a name and a face. I think we should have a check in thread with picture/name etc there are many on this forum I would like to converse with as I like what they write, I have probably walked past or even stood beside more than a few of them at pool events and had no idea who they were.

So in that spirit my name is Dana Stephenson - I live in Indianapolis. I go to quite a few events so I like to socialize and be part of the pool happenings in the real world. I will try to post a picture but here is my link on facebook it hs my picture come up and say Hi if you see me out and about.

http://facebook.com/Dana.Stephenson.Elvicash

Sorry for the rambling but this AZ place could be so much better.

Depends on two things Lock: 1.) do you measure civility the same way the person who just insulted does and 2.) exactly how much civility are you looking for?

Third thing is I truly believe that many people on here try to be funny and something is lost in the translation of their 'written' humor. Humor is subjective and many times it's generational. Example, older folks don't always appreciate young humor. They sometimes think that young folks are rude or brash. But when said young person tells the same joke to someone closer to his own age, many times, it's very funny to the younger audience.

pt109 said:

Tramp, I don't want to hear how you're typing this post.

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Well, pt my friend, the engineers here at Steamer Cue Sports Ltd., were kind enough to come up with a divice whereby typing is done from an anal point of view. They stuck it up my... well, you know, and off I went. :smile:

It would be nice if we were as evolved as society would like us to be. Unfortunately, we have several hundred thousand years to go.

Hungarian said:

Depends on two things Lock: 1.) do you measure civility the same way the person who just insulted does and 2.) exactly how much civility are you looking for?

Third thing is I truly believe that many people on here try to be funny and something is lost in the translation of their 'written' humor. Humor is subjective and many times it's generational. Example, older folks don't always appreciate young humor. They sometimes think that young folks are rude or brash. But when said young person tells the same joke to someone closer to his own age, many times, it's very funny to the younger audience.

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Very true. It's also difficult not to conclude that some demographics willfully choose to be offended, and use it to garner support for their own agendas.

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rayjay said:

It would be nice if we were as evolved as society would like us to be. Unfortunately, we have several hundred thousand years to go.

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You're right as rain, ray. (say that three times, really fast).
I'm sure that sometime, in the way off future, our ancestors will look back at us and say, "What a bunch of dumbasses." :smile:

Lock N Load said:

Pool players, pool players families, AZB members, friends, and everybody using and being on AZB, the best pool forum in the World! This is about all of the above mentioned people. The best pool related news, the best pool forum, and the best Mods, on the planet! Civility and respect is a good thing to have and use.
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.

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Civility and respect make for a good forum along with differing opinions, having good natured fun and forgiving when one apologizes for whatever.

The mods do a good job when somebody crosses the line (personal attacks), but the forum in reality should mod itself. The forum users know when things are getting bad or off course and they should politely say something about it.

That would be the civilized thing to do and respectful to all members.


Happy Holidays to ALL :grin-square:

Civility is for Homos.




















Ideally.