Commence Intelligent Discourse V1.0

[sciguy125]

I've had a good few days, so I guess I can step into the fire without getting too down about the impending fodder.

I've gone back and tried to put together a nice little timeline of the events leading to this thread. It took me awhile, but I think I found everything. Collmandoman, it seems that you've been getting upset because your recent opinions have met great opposition. Here, it sounds like you blame GP. I'm not sure I follow your reasoning for that though. You also cite unequal treatment from the moderators. I can see that. However, I also see that you've been provoking their wrath. Some time back, it seems that you were in a similar situation.

I did notice that everyone has been ganging up on you recently though. I'm not convinced that this is because you are not as respected in the community as some. I think it's more about the way you present yourself. It's almost like you attack the opposition. Naturally, they'll attack you back. I think this is why you also came to the conclusion that the community tries to "suppress unpopular opinions". Take a look at some of the more controversial/heated threads lately (eliminating ship date, mentor vs. student design...). They're presented as discussions rather than right vs. wrong. If you want to talk about something contraversial, you need to provide an environment that will allow for civil discussions. If you smack the bear with a stick, you'd better be ready for a mauling.

I commend your efforts though.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

I also went back through the timeline and tried to assess the chain of events. I want to assure everyone who reads and posts here, that there is a great effort to keep this space open for any discussion, heated or not. Posters need to know (and keep in the back of their heads) that 1) Many people read your post, including mentors, teachers, and parents. 2) If you post here often enough someone is going to take exception to something you said or the way you presented the post. 3) If many people take exception to your post, it is time for reflection. Have you been open to all the possibilities, the discussion etc.? Are you open minded enough to take replies? 4) In rare cases, this being one of them, the moderators would prefer to PM a short message to members to provide an unbiased opinion on the discourse taking place and the best way to proceed. A suggestion I give often is to take a look at your response before you post. If it looks funny to you, wait. Think about it overnight and then if you still feel that your post is the best way to proceed, then hit the "submit" button.
Now that being said, I would have liked to step in and provide a professional opinion on the discussion taking place. (Professional in the sense that I carry more than 35 years of experience in Broadcast Television.) There is one thing that most people understand and that is if you open a discussion with an attack on someone's job performance or an organization or principle that they are passionate about, you must expect a passionate and heated response. When those folks are volunteers, expect an even more heated response. This is not a personal attack but it is a very passionate discussion.
If you would like further discussion on this subject please PM me

[Arefin Bari]

I will have to agree with Billfred, sciguy125, and Al. Each one of them have been in this forum for a while and have seen what goes on around here. Collmandoman, if any of us made you feel like you don't belong to us... I apologize on behalf of them. Trust me, I have been there where you are now. There was a time, when I used to think the moderators on the forum are biased, but as time passed by and as I got to know them, talk to them, I understand their point of view and respect them. They are not trying to put you down. The moderators of this forum have been doing a great job keeping all of us together here. When I first joined the forum, I was very dumb (post wise). The posts I use to make didn't even make any sense, and I was more into chit-chat part of the forum. Few moderators who are great friends of mine have talked to me about it and since then I learned to view the other part of the forum (general, technical). I stopped posting for a while and just read every thread (specially the ones with mentors/teachers/engineers), learned from it and then started to post back here. You just have to put yourself in their shoes. They are full time students, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers too, they have a job to take care of. I am sure that you will get a response back from the forum as soon as they get to your email. They receive a lot of emails throughout the day. Just because my reputation on the forum is maxed out, I don't look down to an individual, I won't deny that I have never neg. repped anyone, but it took a lot for me to click on that "I disapprove" button. I have seen rookies who comes on the forum and start posting out of nowhere, even without reading the rules (ya, I did that too). As time passes by, you will learn about individuals. You will start to love this forum. I almost didn't want to come back after I made a fool out of myself about 2 years ago, but I sticked with it.

[Beth Sweet]

Collmando,
On these forums, people are expected to act within the rules of polite behavior, of gracious professionalism. You've presented yourself as a mentor. This makes you held to an even higher regard, and requires what you say to not only be valid but said in a way that is worthy of the respect of these students. By placing yourself as a forum role model, you have automatically added quite a bit more judgment to you because people will look more to what you say and how you say it. If I remember correctly (and please excuse me if this is incorrect), you and I have had many a conversation based on not what you've said, but how you've said it. Disagreeing is not the problem, at least not typically (obviously disagreeing with something blatently proven or an obviously stated game rule etc is another issue). The problem comes when this disagreement is in a tone or is in phrasing that is acceptionally agressive or attacking, or one of my special pet peeves that is one of the few causes of me giving out negative reps, rude. Parting from the normal opinion should and is (if it isn't would be the appropriate time to pm a mod) not a problem, but especially being of mentor/role model status, you must be sure that you present it well. Whining and complaining does not get things done. Maturely presenting your viewpoint and politely defending it against criticism is the mark of a person to be respected.