Talk about anything?

Cloud · Post by **Cloud** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 12:14 pm

Fascinating. I am not sure I agree with your assumptions, Baylor.

monkeyboy · Post by **monkeyboy** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 1:01 pm

Hello everyone, please take time to review this:

http://www.anime-beta.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=13832

As mods we try hard to allow you all to participate. I will speak for myself and say I know we try hard to be fair.

Personally I had many thoughts on the thread and debated with myself on posting them. I chose not to because I'm sure it would offend some here.

Now that thread has sparked these follow up threads.

Pudge is correct to ask you to take simmering or heated discussions elsewhere.

This forum was created for you to enjoy our collective love of animation art.

Yes, the Anything thread is open to post on any subject with some previsions of no discussion of religion or politics. As I saw it, that first thread moved from a discussion about how the economy was affecting members to one of politics and personal political beliefs being debated.

My final thoughts here, please use common sense and keep this a place to enjoy cels and animation. Or this forum could be closed. No one wants to have a headache from having to deal with the bickering.

Edited for spelling.

Deadly Whispers · Post by **Deadly Whispers** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 1:27 pm

Cloud wrote:Fascinating. I am not sure I agree with your assumptions, Baylor.

Looks like you got the smackdown, Baylor.

(heeheehee

I couldn't help it - what a cheeky bot!)

Thank you, all of you, for your thoughts on how we've been doing. Good or bad, we need to know it. But all of the members here also need to know: We are going to continue to moderate.

The Anything forum has been a sore spot with some members and mods for a very long time. I will not say who, because it isn't important. I will say that I have been a loud defender of it.

Why? Because people talk. We become friends, we become bold, and conversations go off-topic (meaning, sometimes we feel like chatting and sharing things not related to cels and animation). It happens. So the Anything forum is a place where that's allowed to happen. I like that. I like giving the option to everyone here to not feel like they're in a conversational cage.

But if anyone wants to change Beta, now is your chance to speak up. Please let Magician know how he can improve and tailor this place. After all, the effort he puts in is for us, not himself. Anything - Talk about anything you like! is not meant as a crutch to poke other people with the Opinion Stick. If you've already spoken there, please ignore this. http://www.anime-beta.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=18185

I took the time to reread the Rules and Guidelines (thank you, monkeyboy!). Yeah, I'm the one who wrote it, but it's a nice reminder of why I moderate. The other mods are upholding Beta's rules. It says so here:

If there is a disagreement that heats feelings beyond polite conversation, take the discussion to Private Messages, the Chat Room, e-mail, or instant messages.

Starting a conversation is so easy. Talk about anything you'd like. But please, please, please, once your opinion starts butting heads with someone else's - meaning, once it starts becoming the I Am Going To Change Your Mind type of conversation - please take it off the boards. And we'll leave the threads alone.

It says that here:

8. The Admin Team. As always we are here to help. We want you to enjoy your stay here at Beta. But we are also here to keep our rules in place. We reserve the right to move, delete, lock, split, or merge any threads or posts needed to stay within our own guidelines; we hope you will respect our decisions.

I thought it was pretty clear what that meant. But I am no international author.

As always, I am here if anyone wants to talk about these kinds of things.

Respectfully,
DW

thrance · Post by **thrance** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 1:28 pm

Again Im not here to try and turn the site into something else and I agree with bits and pieces of what everyone has said here.

But the thing is, these forums have non cel, or even anime related topics. Ok yes, religion/spirituality and politics can get ubber heated, but so can video games, or fanart etc. Im not saying we NEED such topics etc, but just, dont be so uptight I guess about it.

If someone makes a thread, and the topic is pretty direct, and it's a topic someone dosnt like, just dont go to it. If it gets heated, then do what needs to be done depending on why IE say someone comes in just to troll that thread, dont close the thread, just punish the person.

I get that say a thread that says something like "Zen Buddhism is better then Christianity" Is obviously grounds being locked or deleted and that member maybe even booted, by all means you have my support on such a thing.

I think this is something that should be further talked about, as it's clear there are a good few views on this.

graymouser · Post by **graymouser** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 1:49 pm

At this point I'm probably being repetitive, but I really enjoyed reading the thread on economics. It made me wish I had seen it before it was already locked. It did get a little heated, but it wasn't that bad. I also liked the fact that it was posted at this forum. I don't spend time on the internet looking up economic forums and I would have missed a wonderful discussion if it had not been here.

I can understand wanting to avoid flame wars like what was on animanga. I think that since beta doesn't let you post without being a member helps prevent a lot of that. Many of the flames on animanga were caused by people hiding their identity or pretending to be another known member (using a simular name, etc). That doesn't mean that there won't be times that thread will need to be locked. I am also sure there will always be debate about how heated a discussion should get before locking it. (I think they get shut down a little too soon, but that's me.)

Still, I would hate to see the Anything thread disappear. I don't think having this one section devoted to a variety of topics will dilute the anime artwork character of this forum. How can it when there are so many other sections here at beta? Its great to see how fellow collectors feel about things other than production art.

Cloud · Post by **Cloud** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 2:26 pm

But not all of them are.

Baakay · Post by **Baakay** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 2:27 pm

Wow, go away for a few hours and the place falls apart. Not that my presence would have prevented anything, but... well you know.

I personally was finding it to be a nice, reasonable discussion. Yep, we had some differences of opinion, but -- at least from my standpoint -- we were at least ATTEMPTING to understand, clarify, and explain. I certainly didn't feel any sort of negativity from anyone, except for thinking that maybe KenshinKenji was misreading my response to him, thus my further explanation.

I LIKE talking to fellow cel collectors about stuff that's broader in scope. This is a fascinating bunch of people, with a wide variety of experiences and viewpoints. One way a person can learn is to "butt heads" occasionally -- with an open mind -- and see what shakes loose. I was certainly interested in finding out how people from other parts of the country were experiencing our economy at the moment, and seeing whether my own oddly put-toghether thoughts might be given the thumbs up or I'd be told I was totally in la-la land. I surely have never thought very deeply about the minimum wage issue except to have a vague disquiet about it. So it was interesting, to me.

And let there be no misunderstanding: it is THIS group of people I prefer to talk to, not some yammering masses on a political forum. These are the people I have come to know, to trust, and to respect.

Edit: yep, this seems like a better spot to end the post ^

Gonzai · Post by **Gonzai** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 2:46 pm

There ya go guys - the thread is re-opened - post to your little
hearts content.

duotrouble · Post by **duotrouble** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 3:29 pm

Lynxa wrote:(I never got grounded before I did something wrong when I was a kid )

Lucky you! I did! Of course, it usually made me go do something stupid to make it worth my while.

Alright! I'm popping the popcorn. Who's bringing the drinks, chips, etc.?

I personally feel if you wanna talk about the "forbidden 3", go ahead. It's your own fault if you're feelings get hurt. I lost a close friend because she said she was open-minded about those 3. (politics, religion & money) The mods do what they have to do and quite frankly, do a good job at it. (No, I'm not sucking up.)

I'm off to troll some auctions and dealers sites to see what I can get while y'all debate.

wELCOME cONSUMER · Post by **wELCOME cONSUMER** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 3:40 pm

Can we please talk about this?

Cloud · Post by **Cloud** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 3:41 pm

Do you mean you and me? Thanks for asking politely. Sure, this sounds like a good topic.

Baakay · Post by **Baakay** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 4:28 pm

wELCOME cONSUMER wrote:Can we please talk about this?

Um...

Do we HAFTA??

monkeyboy · Post by **monkeyboy** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 4:32 pm

WOW!

Nothing like American animation bishies!

thrance · Post by **thrance** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 4:38 pm

<Kahns voice> Bobby Hill for the win!

glorff · Post by **glorff** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 5:26 pm

I discovered this thread after posting in the reopened economics thread.

I am very glad that we can still have these kinds of discussions here, since there are a lot of interesting, well educated, widely experienced people here as moderators and posters. I think that the idea of "COOLING OFF" a thread may actually be a viable tool in the moderators arsenal in the future, rather than sudden death.

Thanks everyone, I am still glad to visit this Beta

and I'm really glad I turned down moderator so long ago