@Multisubject — I agree with you on a lot of points. Yes, it is hard to moderate a forum. Yes, not many people have the desire to do so.

However, when moderation becomes "policing", that's where I draw the line. We are all nearly adults on here capable of forming our own opinions and making decisions which deem us fit.

If I am allowed to drive a car from one end of the USA to the other, then why am I not allowed to talk about a member who has departed five separate times because their ego has been bruised and everything is "just different"? On a forum no less.

I understand I do not control the medium. And thus I am powerless, in a way. But I can't fathom a world where the ENTIRE internet is masked off in red tape, including this forum.

I can't stand censorship. Look at the UK and what is happening there. People are getting fat fines or even prison sentences for speaking out against political figures or even making MEMES. It is clear that people whose opinion acts as a "universal truth", without any kind of explanation, fall under the branch of tyrants... we see this in our day-to-day lives.

I just don't want one individual with very specific tastes and opinions to "rogue police" a forum designed to accommodate people across a variety of spectrums... and we have an off-topic board section for a reason. I know Euro members think it's a cataclysmic failure of the forum system, but I disagree... it brings a lot of productive conversation to the table and even builds bonds and friendships beyond the discussion of lamps and lighting.

@Maxim This is most board is most likely going to be taken down. Because shouting at an Admin, won’t go to well with the Admins…  but I do see what you mean. Not being able to discuss another member’s departure is a bit harsh.

That’s just my imput…

I know you're a younger member, and a younger member out of Europe, but...

If you don't speak out against tyrants, they balloon into larger tyrants.
I have always been one to fight for what matters to me in my life.
I'm fighting a fight with my parents, too. Because I found out they are flawed people and not the gods I saw them as growing up.
I tell them what I think of them to their face.
And I know I want NOT to become like them in my future.

So, in comparison, what does a direct question to a moderator entail that is so "scary", when one deals with more formidable situations day-to-day?
And I am not "shouting" at anyone. If you want to be a "good boy" who sits back and remains complacent in the current situation, then do just that. I'm not judging. But I am calling for change.

@HIDLad001 — Agreed! I've noticed this before also.

Also— isn't it a bit schizophrenic and peculiar to mark your location as "Watching you" on a forum? I mean those words SCREAM "power trip".

I find it funny that RCM loves to shut us all down for things he deems “unfit for a public forum” when he has posted some off-color stuff in the past on said public forum

I think RCM442 is doing exactly the job that is asked of him. I think the main problem is what is being asked of him. Of course RCM442 deletes more conversations than the other mods because (no offense to the other two mods) RCM442 does the vast majority of the moderating round here. I think the problem is in the rules. Hear me out

I think that if a conversation gets rowdy or hateful, then it should be shut down in most instances. I believe this should be the criteria for a conversation shutdown. Conversations about members leaving are very likely to become hateful, but not all of them inherently will. Deleting a conversation because it is likely that it will become rowdy is too proactive in many people's opinion, I think conversations should be deleted after a warning has been given and then violated.

But doing that is difficult, that requires constant monitoring of these high-risk conversations, and like I said RCM442 does the majority of the moderating, and he is only one person. If I was in RCM442's position, I might find myself doing the same thing, being proactive because it is easier to prevent drama before it happens. Or maybe making rules like rule #8 that prohibit these conversations from starting.

Rule #8 is an interesting one as it does make sense to keep people's information confidential. But I do think that not all conversations regarding departed members cross into this "confidentiality" territory, just like not all of them cross into the "hate" territory.

So it is a rule that RCM442 is enforcing, and that is his job. We might not like the rule, we might want the rule to be more lenient but that makes RCM442's job harder and he is already doing a lot. The solution here is to get more moderation to make it easier, but nobody really wants to do that, and we all know that the more moderators you have the more likely it is for one of them to go a little crazy.

So I don't really think there is a viable solution, but the more we complain about it the more likely it is for something to change. Meh. That's just the nature of using a platform that you don't control.

That's a pretty epic view there, @dor123

We have a strong winds here at Haifa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sANmmrUB3r0

Oh, I should ask, @Maxim is the "100w Icetron" this one, or different?

https://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=8842&pos=2&pid=258220

We have spoken, he is aware...

@Maxim This is most board is most likely going to be taken down. Because shouting at an Admin, won’t go to well with the Admins…  but I do see what you mean. Not being able to discuss another member’s departure is a bit harsh.

That’s just my imput…