Jonathan wrote:I don't generally quote the person directly above me. Exceptions are if I respond something specific, or if I get to snatch a page break from Phytotron. You know, unlike email (sans threaded view), your context is right there. When I reply to a thread without quoting anyone, that means I believe I'll just flow into the thread, the context that should linger in your head when you arrive at my post. I might respond to the person above me, to a few people above me, or to the thread in general. Whatever it is, it should be readily apparent to the extent you need to know, given any reading comprehension. But maybe that's too much to ask, given that Lucifer did quote the person directly above him.
Well, several things. Those forums use vBulletin, and when you quote a post, there's a link embedded in the quote to the original post. I think when you have technology drawing the links like that that you should do it. It would be possible to write up a report that shows the flow of a particular thread, and when you can't quote the post above you, you lose important information.
Then, too, sometimes it's *not* obvious by context if you're responding to the thread in general or the post above yours specifically, so quoting the post you're answering is required to clear that up. Also, if you *don't* quote the post above yours, it can still be edited, and then what you wrote makes no sense at all.
Jonathan wrote:As for moderation, it should be done in moderation. Enforcing fairly draconian rules for the sake of it doesn't seem to help anything. That just turns it into even more of a mob thing.
To be fair, it's a crossdressing forum, so there are significant safety concerns as well as the risk that any member at any time could go suicidal, so some of the rules (like no talking about weapons) are there to keep the environment reasonably padded to accommodate any random person's emotional issues since the site is a magnet for people with such issues.
Jonathan wrote:Lucifer wrote:I prefer here, to be honest.
So stay.
Just don't use your superpowers on me.
Why not? What's the point of being spiderman if you can't climb walls for fun?
Obviously I'm not leaving.
The experience does remind me of the fencing forums I joined a few years back that were somewhat less moderated, almost as chaotic as here, and the mob ruled the whole thing. I brought up the idea that the perceived differences in male muscle development made absolutely no difference in a sport that revolved around quick thinking, and the quick movements needed were within easy reach of both sexes, and you should have seen the mob go nuts. I would have gotten a more positive reaction by saying "You're all gay, fencing is gay" than I did with that! And there were no moderators to speak of because they were involved in the flame war. Suffice it to say, I only hung out on those forums for like a week, then took off.
