I would just like to state that I am appalled that a thread started in genuine interest has had to be closed because of offensive remarks. Does this happen often? Those wishing to indulge in bickering and abuse should start their own threads if they must and stop hijacking other reasonable discussions.

---

Answer: If you wish to continue the discussion, simply start a new thread on the subject and continue the discussion - peaceably. Feel free to link back to the previous thread. That's why the thread was closed and not deleted. We find that thread closure puts an end to combat without forcing us to resort to censorship. We used to close threads routinely at a hundred messages because long threads were hard to load for those who had dialup connections - was that oppressive? [It also had the pleasant side effect of stopping squabbles before they became overly contentious.]

But yes, you're right that it is a shame that the squabbles of a few people can ruin perfectly good threads. And it's always the same people. Sometimes, I thwart the combat by moving the combative messages to a new thread, but I didn't think I could do it in a rational way in the "traditional" thread.

I'm sorry, but we do not allow public forum discussion of our editing and moderation actions. You will find very few online forums that allow this. You will, however, find us to be refreshingly honest if you contact us privately - just send a personal message or e-mail to Joe, Big Mick, or Max.
-Joe Offer-
joe@mudcat.org