Off-topic threads

[protoprincess]

I think that the mods do a great job and should continue to do so - I can rarely participate in any of the threads in great detail due to lack of knowledge, BUT I dont find any of the threads boring and love browsing throught what ever catches my eye

....it is hard to be the badies sometimes but who would keep us in line otherwise

lol Zuz

[reads90]

+1

It also grieves me that things like Defender crossmember rebuilds are in the International forum, and not the Defender, or possibly fab forum.

Hey andy should now by now its , do i as i say not as i do

[Happyoldgit]

The first post on this thread was a notice of intention to lock the said threads, MOG, surely that's moderation ? And you'll note that I did put "to be locked" and not "locked".

Hey ho

Mo

Ah but you said 'over moderated' when no moderation had taken place. Semantics don't you just love it

[Happyoldgit]

Hey andy should now by now its , do i as i say not as i do

Meaning?

[Mo Murphy]

Ah but you said 'over moderated' when no moderation had taken place. Semantics don't you just love it

Has Les taken a pill and gone to bed and you've taken over ?

Mo

[Happyoldgit]

Has Les taken a pill and gone to bed and you've taken over ?

Mo

No idea what Les is doing. I'm shortly off to my bed to give my wife the attention she deserves.

I might even start to feel wanted again.

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

This forum is rapidly becoming a boring part number emporium,

Mo

<cough> your <cough> signature Mo <cough>

nige

[Mo Murphy]

Proves the point, Nige

Mo

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

Nice comeback

Nige

[Mo Murphy]

Having started the topic on car tax I do (sort of) agree with the mods approach of letting it run for 24 hours then locking it.

This gives the regulars a chance to read these semi OT posts, but prevents the forum from being taken over by general banter.

Landmann,

Where is the point of a discussion forum if your post is only up for 24 hours ! That's daft m8 ! It's a post relevent to Land Rovering in general and as such should be left up !

Mo

[6cyltdi]

I posted topic Yikes kind of expecting it to be binned, thought a few people migh get to see it like it and it would then disapear but hey..... Do what ya want with it...

This discussions gettin quite exciting now... Are you all going to stay up all night and argue the toss so I've got something to read whilst eating my wheetabix....

Daniel...

[OilIT]

My 2 penneth worth is: Im certainbly not one of the biggest posters here, but I use this forum because there is a good knowledge base here, plus even if I dont specifically need anything there is sufficient humour interjected that many posts are worth reading anyway (need to get out more ) and I often just browse or try to contribute with my albeit limited knowledge compared to many.

I have stopped using the LRO forums years ago because there is too much stuff that is just drivel and obviously posted by 12 year olds with big vapour dreams. There are other sites where the language is just so expletive and therefore boring - so feel that this forum is a great place compared to the these two examples.

I do think the points about road tax do affect us all - so it may not be pure 4x4 but its certainly not as off topic as some of the domestic appliance ones I have seen (which I can see the attraction of asking people you kind of know and trust but isnt really suited to the forum) and I do think are too OT. (anyone know how I can plumb my aga in? )

In summary, if youve got lro etc at one end of teh scale, and www.landrover.com at the other, I think the forum should be right of centre (you can tell I designed the pitch for new labour cant you !!!!!! (not))

[Happyoldgit]

This discussions gettin quite exciting now... Are you all going to stay up all night and argue the toss so I've got something to read whilst eating my wheetabix....

Daniel...

Nope. See my post above.

[western]

Ref-- the Defender cross member thread isn't it in the tech archive, where we put links to all the good techie stuff.

[FridgeFreezer]

Being a mod is indeed a thankless task, so with that out of the way I'll stick my oar in:

A thread about car tax, insurance, or fuel costs is pretty relevant on a car forum, surely? As relevant as discussion of oils, tools, fabrication, the SVA, GPS systems... none of those are unique to LR either. Even an OT-ish post like the Rover 200 one is borderline, don't they share engine & box with the Freelander?

The flipside is stuff that IMHO could be knocked on the head more often - for example, how many times do we have to have a "what size tyres can I fit on X" in each forum, the same with springs, parts suppliers, etc. etc. There's a tech archive full of answers and a search button, so why let muppets who can't be bothered to do basic research clog up the place with the same question every other week? Hit 'em over the head with the moderating stick and point them to the search button.

An easy way to tell if people are interested in a thread is the number of views and replies, an easy gauge of the interest of the forum's membership, surely?

The 2nd most popular thread in the members' vehicles forum contains as much LR as a Rover 200... discuss

[landmannnn]

Where is the point of a discussion forum if your post is only up for 24 hours ! That's daft m8 ! It's a post relevent to Land Rovering in general and as such should be left up !

Mo

Mo,

Because any topic like that will mean loads of people will post about their mondeo's and subaru's, then raise the issue of how unjust it is. You only have to look at the endless drivel on "that forum" to see where that leads.

Mike

[Greenmobile]

As has been said before, grey areas will always cause discussion on the rights and wrongs of certain posts. In this instance I must agree with Mr. Fridge in that the threads mentioned for locking are relevant to a LR Forum.

I can understand the need for a technical 'heart' to the forum (and am learning a great deal from all the knowledge available here, thanks for that..) but feel on this occasion the mod/admin decision was wrong and not communicated in the best way.

Cheers,

James

[pugwash]

This forum is run in effect by a core of around 200 posters (of which most of the people posting here, including me, are members). We pay for the forum, we contribute to the forum and many of us know each other in the real world too- indeed most of us only see each other at off roading events. This i think is where a major problem lies- at these off roading events we get to know one another and have a good laugh- we know what we want on a forum, and that's to continue to have a good laugh and some craic even when talking about LRs and 4x4s. We often have relationship with each other formed because of LR4x4 and at the moment sustained despite LR4x4 (which is a huge shame!)

From that point of view if a large proportion of the forum is unhappy then that should signal there is something to be changed. There has been a noticeable decrease in posting by a fair few members who are both interesting and HIGHLY knowledgeable- guys like Paul Wightman springs to mind here- and i know he has the time as it's not like he has a proper job (sorry Paul only kidding)

What we have here is a dissasociation between the forum and the moderators who seem to be pulling in different directions. So far the only response that i can see from Mods has been to basically say "tiddle off" as we're ignoring you. Frankly guys that attitude stinks- if you want to become little hitlers then go and moderate a different website. Yes we have rules and aims of the forum- but surely one of the aims shouldn't be to Alienate a large % of the forum?

Someone mentioned earlier (Miseroblolgit maybe) that this topic keeps cropping up again and again and that its getting a bit boring. HELL YEAH ITS GETTING BORING. it keeps coming up because there is clear need for a change.

over to the mods!

[Guest WALFY]

Well just come across this thread. Been out and about tonight.

Nige If you are to blame for this latest clean up then why didn't you start the thread then? Why let Les do your "dirty work" for you? Or did you give him the seed and let him grow it. I am by no means a senior member here but I have been here from the start. It seems as though that when the mods/admin want something saying Les seems to be the mouthpiece. Not sure if that is his choice or he's the duty speaker?

Les has mentioned doing a thread to vote off a mod/admin. If that's what he wants then, and he has the confidence of the support of the forum let him start the poll and live with the consequences. Seems like an easy out to me.

As other senior members have said this place is becoming a lttle stifled with the threatened moderation. This forum is for the members by the members. If you have a small group telling everyone what to do on here it WILL go downhill. People advertising their events/companys is fine IF they put something back to the forum. 4x4 Adv and X Eng spring to mind. If we are going down the route of no adverts then lets get rid of all mention of other websites companys and business' from peoples signature. Some are so blatent and some are subtle.

With donations to the forum I don't think it would work if forced upon members. Some make a monetry contribution some in knowledge, how do you put a value on knowledge. Others offer goods/services and only ask for a forum donation. I gave out a few sets of ear defs the other week and asked for forum donations. Would be good to see how many actualy made a donation! There is no way of checking up without being churlish about it.

This thread will prob be locked in a couple of days if we the masses speak out against the few. I/we know that you do a great job and you have to keep us in check every now and again BUT we the masses also have a say in how the forum is run. A bit like politics, if you upset the populus you get voted out.

In my line of work you are only as good as your last job. So if we applied that to the forum. The mods/admin are only as good as their last decision!

[wkw90]

I think that a post like Mo's about the rover 200 is ok. Mo post lots of good Land Rover post's helping other members , so if he needs a hand and its a bit off topic is it really a big deal . Things like tax is something i have on my Land Rover so if there is news regarding them i am glad to read it

Regards Paul

[dougstar]

That's daft m8 !

Mo

Mo is that not "text talk" that'll get corrected soon too

No serious now ..... i too am a infrequent poster due to my serious lack of knowledge but i too also like to cast my eye over the threds that catch my eye and some that dont.

I am one of those people that have made the silly threds that no doubt contribute to the 'duplicating of simple tasks' mention earlier.

But i like many on here (back me up if you will) find this forum very informative on many levels and do not want to see it run down the pan into a 'rant and free for all' that many of the other forums have sucome to, but i feel IMHO that maybe the issue of border line OT threds (like the ones that started this thred) should maybe thrown back into the members court via a simple poll ??? 'should we close this OT thred?'

This is not a request or a poll for that matter but mearly may 2p's worth that may need some further input to make it viable / workable.

Lets also not forget that we are all on here for one reason, and one reason only. LAND ROVERS! please let us not fall into the demise that the rest of England seems to be regarding Policing / politics / political correctness / immigration and wreck what we have here and that is a good LR forum that works but also needs a few democratic tweeks too.

Just my thoughts thats all. (and not the majority i,m sure)

Dougie

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

From that point of view if a large proportion of the forum is unhappy then that should signal there is something to be changed. There has been a noticeable decrease in posting by a fair few members who are both interesting and HIGHLY knowledgeable- guys like Paul Wightman springs to mind here- and i know he has the time as it's not like he has a proper job (sorry Paul only kidding)

Interesting you say the above,

Perhaps Paul will read this and comment, he on the other hand maybe will not, as the last time I spoke to him he commented about the amount of dross and nonsense posted on LR4x4.... and how we should moderate it..... harder

Frankly I have had enough of this, tonight and am signing off before I blow a fuse.

To my knowledge there is no UK LR site better than this for tech, and thats why I am here, I have tried the others and walked away from them all.

LR4x4 is just part of my life not all of it, ...perhaps you should set up a alternate LR site like DEW110 did he wasn't happy either

Could someone here please tidy the teddies before we close for the night

Nige

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

Nige If you are to blame for this latest clean up then why didn't you start the thread then? Why let Les do your "dirty work" for you? Or did you give him the seed and let him grow it. I am by no means a senior member here but I have been here from the start. It seems as though that when the mods/admin want something saying Les seems to be the mouthpiece. Not sure if that is his choice or he's the duty speaker?

Wafly

Just to set the record straight I read the post re the Driver / Prison and posted up in the A&M forum as to was this 'suitable' for this Forum. ?

(I don't have mods rights in International etc but do read as a member)

The mods were a bit divided, some thought it was like me OT and not for here, a couple were less sure.

This, coupled with the other OT posts, maybe then led Les to Post up, don't know Les maybe can say if he wants, I didn't wnat everyone thinking this was all just down to Les, I prob triggered it. I am ONLY a mod in T&F and Video, ..so 'public announcements' are not frankly... and shouldn't come from me.

For the record I thought the post was unsuitable (not 100% becuase it wasn't LR based) more the drivelly way it was 29 pages long, the language muppetry trolling flaming showing there and frankly I am not really interested in a bloke who drives like a maniac, crashes, causes someone else to have an accident, goes to prison admits he was wrong, says he is genyuuinely remorsefull, and then giving a blow by blow account of his time. Not exactly LR related either, and on this basis where to draw the line ? So I asked the Q...

But, it was down to me this maybe started I guess, the announcemnt not down to me.

Nige

[Happyoldgit]

Someone mentioned earlier (Miseroblolgit maybe) that this topic keeps cropping up again and again and that its getting a bit boring. HELL YEAH ITS GETTING BORING. it keeps coming up because there is clear need for a change.

over to the mods!

YES IT WAS ME.

My take on it is that it keeps coming up as some people want an OT bit and some do not.

[Happyoldgit]

Could someone here please tidy the teddies before we close for the night

Nige

No leave 'em ...and the knives.

I'm def off to bed now and out early in the morning as the 110 is going in for warranty work. I'm spending the rest of the day with the wife and children possibly up at the Festival of Hunting, perhaps not. Either way I'm spending time with the family.