It's an interesting concept, and something I've been thinking about after seeing one of the new features added to the Vbulletin upgrade I installed after the forum move.
The new upgrade includes an "Infraction Manager", which allows the moderators to issue infractions to users who violate board policy or simply become problem posters. We can set the limit and impose automatic bans, etc. I haven't had much time recently to look this over and planned on doing it after the holiday, but I think it would be a good way to tie it in with another forum.
There will be many changes happening here in the next few weeks, with many plans to add several new forums and really enhance everyone's experience here...Ian
Infraction Manager....I like the sound of that. The server speed was top notch Sunday night. The only problem I ran into was the usual redundant thread hijacking issue (which borders on spamming in my estimation)...
I know you try to maintain order here with a deft touch, but every once in a while a you run up against self absorbed personalities that only respond to the internet equivalent of a 2 by 4 upside the head, if at all. It's a shame when a few bad apples are allowed to drag the whole site down to their pissing match level. A lot of people lurk here, as you remind us from time to time, and while most of us remain anonymous, your name is the one the Home Page.
I resisted the impulse to jump into this fray earlier because I just knew what it would evolve into, another mercurial NEM vs. the world meltdown, and it is just getting soooooo old. I also voted yes because while I know the increased volume works for you, and for the aggrevation you go through to keep this site up and running you deserve to derive whatever you want or need from it, I think the quality this site used to exhibit more routinely worked for you too. I know that's what led me to join and post here.
But the tenor of the board has changed dramatically in the last several months and the civility that marked even heated disagreements back in the day has been replaced with bouts of hysteria and histrionics. It's all well and good to suggest that people stay out of threads they have a problem with, but that's not the nature of these boards. Today it's as if some here are determined to browbeat others into submission or make as many others as possible as miserable as they apparently are if they can't get their way.
Just as the membership outgrew the old server I think it has outgrown it's former ability to self police under a loose rein. You have a good group of mods but I get the sense even they are confused or conflicted as to what it is they are supposed to do when even moving or merging threads can ignite little fire storms. And inconsistent enforcement of the few rules in existence just opens them and the whole process up to criticism.
Ultimately what this site should be is up to you, and I would guess in your estimation that's what the majority of it's members want it to be. Hopefully that is the same thing it was when I first joined - the most rational and intelligent and civil football fan site on the internet - just with more traffic.
BTW do you have Brownfan 80 and Box's email addresses? In case I need to confer with them, since I've never had PM'ing enabled here for a reason.
