I'm sure this was a hard decision for you to reach Mark - but after reading your descriptions of the continuing problems I can completely understand your current position.

Thanks for your continuous hard work to make MCO such a great place to spend time.


_________________

 

I'm not surprised, they just banned the pure post ******. Just look at the 2nd page of the "is this 320hp?????" thread in Performance Modifications forum, mightyminiz made 3 posts all one-after-the-other saying one-line fragments with a smiley that contributed nothing to the discussion. As for Ryan, well I have nothing against him, he did provide some interesting topics but he was whoring as well.

 

Agreed. Thanks for making this a nice way to spend time and learn about the MINI.

One thing totally baffles me though, what is the big deal with post counts? Do you get a prize or something when you reach 6th gear? My point being, why would someone go through the hassle and clutter the board with duplicates just to get their post count up?

Just wondering (which I suppose could be considered clutter)

 

Mark, thanks for all the diligence and work you have been putting into this site. It's a shame you had to deal with this situation, and I respect what you did to clear things up. It's not like fair warning was not given multiple times.

 

Mark, you have my full support in this.

Greatbear: I'm stealing part of your sig. :smile:

 

I, too, wonder why the post count is so important. I understand how irratating it is when you are following a thread and you see a new post and it turns out to be junk or fluff, but I don't see the big deal about increasing the count. Of course, with the maturity level around here these days, I am not surprised that the count has become a competition.

jc

 

2nd gear has always been my favorite (at least in the MINI).

Honestly, I think we should remove "Posts: " as a displayed field.

 

I appreciate the efforts MCO goes through in order to keep the level of professionalism high within this community.
My feelings on the post count thing is its become somewhat of a status symbol. After being called an "armchair quarterback" and being told "you dont know anything" on a recent performance thread, its obvious that some seem to think they're more valuable members of the community because they post more often, regardless of the quality of their posts.
Thanks mark. I commend you for upholding the reputation of your site and "us" as a community.


Regards,
Dave Scelfo

 

Post count doesn't matter and you never win a prize for having the most posts on the site. In fact, I'm considering removing it from the post display altogether. In the case of this recently addressed issue there were so many posts being made that it was cluttering the entire site, preventing other feedback from being posted, and driving members away. I appreciate everyone's support in taking this action. Its the least enjoyable thing I have to do on the site.

Mark

 

>>Honestly, I think we should remove "Posts: " as a displayed field.

Hmmm...interesting thought. The one reason that I like it is that, when I was new to MCO, I could get a good idea of who had "been around the block" so to speak. Now, I realize that high post numbers doesn't necessarily equal good advice, but I found it helpful in getting used to the forums...

Not meaning to hijack...

Mark, I think you did the right thing. Good luck to you.

 

I've talked to mark extensively about what he is working on with the new site...with the new forum software one possiblitity is to allow users to rate a user on a per post basis...essentially if you read something great and useful from someone you give that post a good ranking, and vice versa for useless posts. This then could be displayed under your username instead of a post count as it would give new comers to the site a better idea of who's opinions are really valued. More of a quality instead of quantity measure.

 

Wow that was harsh mark. If your going to ban them for that then theres many other users that should be banned for the same reason, I won't name any names...

Also there have been a few posts a while back which I thought were racist remarks and nothing NOTHING was done about it...

Deleting the post count feature seems like a good idea, post counts dont matter...

 

Mark,

Thanks for taking some action. MCO has suffered lately from a few members who feel that they need to "bash" someone's creativity or innovation. I remember just recently someone posted pictures of how he installed little LED screens on that back of his Mini's front seat headrests. In a matter of a few posts members were posting things such as, "What a waste of money", "I guess looking out the window has gotten too boring these days" and other ignorant comments.

This discouraged me so much that I decided to just take a break from MCO for a while. It is discouraging to come home from work and read things like that. Thank you for managing your site. This is also the role of the moderators and sometimes they need to step to the plate and curtail this sort of thing.

I agree with the post count elimination.

Thanks...

 

I've seen so many club sigs on MCO, I don't understand why MIGHTY MINIZ has to be singled out. We aren't making money of this board. What are we advertising? MIGHTY MINIZ is just an affiliation we belong to, like anyone else in their MINI clubs. This is totally unnecessary.

 

>>I've talked to mark extensively about what he is working on with the new site...with the new forum software one possiblitity is to allow users to rate a user on a per post basis...essentially if you read something great and useful from someone you give that post a good ranking, and vice versa for useless posts. This then could be displayed under your username instead of a post count as it would give new comers to the site a better idea of who's opinions are really valued. More of a quality instead of quantity measure.

I have found that it is difficult for most people to be objective. If you allow other users to rate someone's post it will create more issues with regard to "popularity". One person's valuable thread is not another's, and I would cringe at the thought of rating another's thread just on relevance to myself.

I do believe the flame wars got entirely out of hand. I commend Mark for taking charge of his site. If rules he put in place were broken, it is up to him to enforce them. It is unfortunate we can't all live with the adage: "Teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves". We have (as Americans) proven time and time again that the masses need and want control.

I also believe that there are others who stand on their intellectual high horse and demean others with snide and rude comments. This should also be contained.

MCO was put here for Mini enthusiasts. Maybe Off-topic should be banned completely, or ignored completely. It's Mark's call. Mark for what it's worth, you have my support. The good, the bad and the ugly.

 

I actually found some of their threads colorful and informative...I could name many users that seem to fluff to get their way to 6th gear, or whatever "milestone" they were looking for. But I have read some really nasty posts recently that these guys had little or nothing to do with - were these posters also reprimanded / banned in similar fashion?

I sincerely hope we don't see a victory thread celebrating banishment of MCO members now...that's not right either.

 

I too dont see what Team Mighty Miniz has to do with this other than Doug started the team. We dont make money off anything. Its a car club. If thats the case all sponsorships and car club logos should be removed from sigs.

 

TMGRobyn - good points about the rating...it would be something that I would envision would be used only about 1% of the time...essentially something really helped you or something that you feel doesn't belong on MCO etc....but yes it would be sorta a popularity rating to some extent...hmmm...ideas on how to get across to new users who the senior members of the site are that are generally respected or insightful? I believe to new members this could be very useful information.

 

>>Deleting the post count feature seems like a good idea, post counts don't matter...

This would be a start....posters should maked sure they have something to say that adds to the content of a thread.

Many people post messages to each other that would be better served in a pm.... :evil:
We all need support...Hugs and kisses are better done in private !!!

We shouild all help. If something is objectionable, report it immediately!!!!

 

Team Might Miniz, I think Mark was refering to MightyMiniz sig, I think it was advertising M7 speed, the new tuner, I might be wrong but thats what I remember seeing.

The two that have been punished, I have read their posts and some are good and informative, while others are pretty mean and attack others. But it's Marks site and he has done everything within his power to try to get them to stop so he had no other alternative.

_________________
2004 EB/EB MCS || premium|front fogs|xenons|silver x-lites|gray space cloth|anthracite dash|hk|gray mats|british flag vavle caps|roadblock || OCTOBER! ON THE TANABATA AND ARRIVING IN CHARLESTON ON THE 2ND!

 

>>TMGRobyn - good points about the rating...it would be something that I would envision would be used only about 1% of the time...essentially something really helped you or something that you feel doesn't belong on MCO etc....but yes it would be sorta a popularity rating to some extent...hmmm...ideas on how to get across to new users who the senior members of the site are that are generally respected or insightful? I believe to new members this could be very useful information.

I believe everyone rises to their own level of mediocrity. The good posters will rise in every area. It doesn't take long to discover who shares valuable information and who needs emotional support. If Mark wanted to emphasize member knowledge in a specific area, he could easily have a who's in the know list.

_________________
Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose

 

I applaud your hard work, : ) standing up and applauding..... :smile:


Keep up that hard work Mark. I love reading the posts.

 

DELETE THE POST COUNTS!!!

I've spent a year and a half to break 200 posts! All that work down the drain.

 

Anthony,
I should provide some clarification on this. I don't have problems with showing a member's association with a club. That said I have contacted Doug in the past relative to images that have been used to bash another club. In the future it may be prudent to remove the ability to include images in signatures since they can easily be abused. This is not something that I'm considering at this point but going forward it may become a necessity.

Mark

>>I too dont see what Team Mighty Miniz has to do with this other than Doug started the team. We dont make money off anything. Its a car club. If thats the case all sponsorships and car club logos should be removed from sigs.

 

It would be nice if old and unused thread and post could ethier be deleted or archived? And as far as post counts go. I'm in neutral I guess