More professional atmosphere on the forums

[Elvis]

I am going to keep this short and sweet. These forums are plagued by improper grammar, off topic conversations, immaturity, no regards to the rules and the general lack of proper online community etiquette (And more).

I have been lurking on these forums for quite a few months now, but have recently decided to become a more active part of them. However, a very big "turn away" for me and many others that may be interested in becoming a part and contributing to the Kalamazoo Airsoft community forums is what I previously stated above. I am not accusing everyone of contributing to this, but it seems that over half of the usual users do to some extent.

So what I am suggestion is that:

1. The forum moderators put down the ban hammer and start better enforcing rules, no exceptions. Everyone will be treated the same regardless of seniority. A few members may be lost in the processes but more beneficial members will be gained.

2. New rules, more clearly posted rules.

3. Lead by example. I have noticed a few moderators that frequently have bad grammar and do not follow the rules, or tread in a gray area.

I know this will likely spark a lot of controversy, but please remember that this is solely my honest to god opinion.

Thank you for you time.

-Elvis

[Simon]

I was drafting my own thread like this so instead of posting another thread I'll just post it here.

Lately I've been seeing a number of comments and replies to threads that have been rude, disrespectful, disruptive and overall discouraging to new players and members. This flaming needs to stop now.

KA attracts many young and/or inexperienced people to the sport. It is critical that we welcome and guide these new players not only to help grow the airsoft community in Michigan, but to teach them proper airsoft safety, use and play.

Instead of coming down on someone for poor posting, offer tips for improvement.

This forum is the public face of the KA community. Even if you don't mean to, it also reflects on KA as a field. A positive community attracts more players to the field and sport as a whole.

It's not everyone, in fact it's just a few members, however it's a good reminder for everyone that how you act on here matters.

I appreciate comments and discussion but it needs to stay civil.

[Elvis]

I will draft out a more thought out reply later tonight, but I like some of the points you brought up. Especially the one about the forums being KA's "Face."

[maxooolm4guy]

Forum seems fine to me.

[Salem]

I agree with Max.

[Zinger]

Most of the discussion threads are generally alright. I find the commerce/classifieds to be worst offender and I would like to see a little more enforcement there, but I think the mods are doing a decent job. There will always be issues, but I think by Elvis and the rest of you guys bringing it to the attention of everyone, people will hopefully catch the hint and start cleaning up their posts on their own.

[Simon]

Luckily the stuff I described happens fairly infrequently but there has been at least one case where instead of helping a new member, some "senior" (high post count) members literally mocked him off of the forum. It was his first post and he was shredded by some idiots "joking around". I'd reference the thread to call out the offenders but it has since been deleted.

I want to bring this kind of junk to light now to keep it from happening in the future.

[Elvis]

I am in no means attempting to start a flame war, but if you do not recognize a problem, or at least a little bit of a problem, then you are either part of it or do not know what a proper online forum looks like.

I would also like to mention that there is a group of "offenders" that frequently post and each post is commonly less than ten words a post, rarely a complete sentence and barely a complete thought. Little to no effort is put into those posts. I consider that a "problem."

I agree with Wraith and Zinger about bringing these issues to light.

The first step to solving a problem is admitting that there is one.

Just my two cents

[Doc]

I as one of the Mods here on the forum, I have said this several times. If you see a post that is out of line then report the post. This way the Global Mods can then see this, and we will look into the reported post at that time.

We are doing what we can to enforce the rules and I do use the Ban Hammer when it is needed. However we will look into grammar issues, but we are not going to become grammar nazi's. Report the thread/post and the Mods will take it from there.

[golden1]

I personally think the mods do I fine job of regulating everything on the forum. As for me, I don't care if someone misses a couple periods or commas. I know I do if. I will admit that I have probably done most of the stuff on the list at one point or another.