Blackjack said:
Many of us have things that go on in our lives away from the pool table. It's not a crime to share other parts of our lives in the main forum - it never has been.
There are threads on this forum that interest me. When I see them I click on them and I read them.
There are threads on this forum that I won't open. This is for a variety of different reasons, mostly it is because the thread title doesn't capture my interest.
When I see those threads, I move on.
A few months ago, there was a thread about straight pool in the main forum. I responded to the question that was asked, as did many other forum members. Later that day I received a message from some moron (and you know who you are) that we needed to keep our discussion in the Straight Pool Forum. I think I spoke for everybody involved when I replied "Kiss my ass."
Poolplaya9 - like I said to you in that thread a few days ago, there was a time when the main forum was all that we had here. We got along just fine without an NPR forum. These days, nobody wants to visit the NPR forum because it is nothing but political and religious arguing and bickering. It's a horrible atmosphere and if they deleted that forum I'd never miss it. Trust me, I'm not alone in that opinion.
I don't mind Matt updating us on his health status in the main forum. Matt is a friend of mine - we speak occasionally - he's not one to litter the forum with nonsense. I don't mind Cocobolo Cowboy asking for El Paso members to PM him so that he could ask a private POOL RELATED question - and yes it was pool related - and several of us were able to answer his question without disclosing the nature of the private discussion, and Bruce had his reasons for wanting it to remain PRIVATE.
I don't know why you are on a quest to police the main forum topics. When you think about it, it makes no sense. You're trying to control something that the mods do a pretty good job of controlling already. If a thread needs to be moved, they'll do it. If the thread is off topic and it gets ignored by everybody, that says a lot all by itself and no action is warranted at all. What you are doing is bringing more attention the the OT posts you are upset about.
You want to argue with me as if I made the policy. The person to argue with is the site administration, who made it on their own without ANY input from me whatsoever. Sue me for agreeing with it and wanting to see it followed. Anybody's else's opinion, or what they wish the policy was, is meaningless since the rule is already in place from the people in charge. It is recent (less than a month old), and is crystal clear the way I read it. I don't see where it is open to all the interpretation and spins that people are trying to put on it. Here it is:
"Heads up!
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Be advised, I am strongly considering giving warnings when NPR stuff is posted in the main forum.
There is an NPR forum and you are expected to keep the non-pool stuff there.
Enough is enough."
His tone was firm, and his wording was careful and precise. I don't see anywhere in there where he says it is ok to just post what you want and he will move it if he needs to. He clearly says not to be posting anything non-pool anywhere but in the NPR forum. He also never says that it means a thread is ok if he doesn't warn you.
And while it may not be a crime, it clearly appears to be against the policy to share other parts of our lives outside of pool in the main forum. I don't see anywhere where he lists any exceptions for "threads the poster feels are important enough for the main forum," or for "posters who don't like the NPR forum" or for "health threads" or for "sharing parts of your life outside of pool" or for anything else.
I've been around here for about 10 years, and am well aware of what the forum was like before NPR. They created it for a reason. If they did not want a seperation they would not have made them seperate. I do agree that NPR is full of trash and have made my feelings known about wanting a seperate "religion and politics" section to help with that. Unfortunately, the policy does not say to only use the NPR forum if you like it. We don't have a choice. If it's off topic then that's where it goes, agree with it or not, like it or not.
By the way, the thread that made me say enough is enough was about rice farming, about as off topic as you can get. Then there was several others right after that that were just as off topic. I don't plan to continue pointing out most of the off topic threads like I have in the last couple of days, and hopefully people will keep more to the policy in the future. I would have never said a word to begin with if all we were getting were the occasional birthday and health threads--I can live with that, even if it's not my preference.
I can also live with whatever changes the administration chooses, even if they were to decide to combine the forums. So if he chooses to clarify or change the policy in any way it is fine by me and I will live with it.
Until then, I think your best bet is working to improve the NPR forum so that it is a better place to visit since we don't have a choice but to use it for all the NPR posts. And just using it for ALL NPR topics will make a lot of diffence in helping to dilute the nonsense and set the tone for a more productive NPR forum. Your only other option is to try to get the forum rules changed. What is not a viable option however, is continuing to try to argue the rules with me, because I didn't make them.
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