DP Becoming a "lurker" forum because of over zealous mods!

Now i did steal the "Over Zealous Mods" title from the thread below this one posted by BikeHire.eu <-- but his words describe exactly the problem with DP at the moment!

Real members here at DP - who read it often, have been members for quite some time - are being given red rep's for just taking part in discussions!

Threads getting removed, and stickys with "Free bans available" - it's starting to feel like your breaking the rules for even posting.

The worst part about this - is you are only hurting real members, because people who just join, are going to post in the wrong place anyway, and have you thought some people do not really understand how forums work, and how stickies should be read.

My rant comes from when i posted in a the service section, asking on the thread if someone could complete some articles in 24 hours, as well as some other questions. Now, i got a red mark, and my post removed - with a "stop trying to get post count" message. DOES ANYONE REALLY CARE ABOUT A LITTLE NUMBER NEXT TO THEIR NAME?! This forum is for people to get help and support. The only people who try to restrict post count, is people who have a really high number, and start thinking somehow that makes them better then other members. It's sad. Why not just turn post count off - if people are posting "YOU'VE GOT MAIL" etc just to get an extra post count.

Why does it even matter that people are doing that? It cannot be bandwidth, and if anything, does it not appear to search engines that the page is being updated often?

I dont write to get "post count", or to waste my time, or even get links - my sig is empty. "Bumping Thread" was another red mark i got -- what the hell does that mean? It's just removing my post for a reason that had nothing to do with my message.

Anyway, I really like DP. I'm just mad that my message got removed, and the reason was "Running Up Post Count/Post Has No Value" -- when i had some serious questions to ask, that other forum members might have liked to know, and after trying to PM the seller. If my message had been left - i may have used someone else, who was offering the specific time requirements i needed.

And this is not a rant at the seller - only a mod. The seller who has done a great job on some work, but just not in the time i needed it. The mod has given me a red rep, and made me waste $90 on some articles that a buyer no longer wants.

Shaun if he still owns the site, should maybe trim some of the power hungry mods, and give people more freedom again to join in. - otherwise, the people who like to talk and join in - "real members" will be unable to answer questions and offer advice, because they'll all be banned for really stupid "made up" rules that are there just to let mods ban people.

If you ran a vote -- lets the members vote "Should you be banned for asking a for a pm". you would get a NO.

If anyone read this, thanks.

 

If I was you I wouldn't be posting a thread complaining about mods or infractions, you may end up getting another. Shit happens, you're not banned yet so you'll just have move on with it

Posting things like "pm me details" or "im interested, pm me details" is pointless as you could easily just pm the op if you are interested, same goes for "pm sent" because the op will already know they have a pm from you and if any OP's are asking you to post pm if interested they shouldn't

just my 2 cents

 

Actions have consequences. I've ran a fairly large community in the past and will be the first to say - you need hard moderations who won't take any crap. It's been said many times in threads like this, users have always got the freedom to join in - it's only when they don't read the FAQ/Rules/Stickies and start posting at their own will is when infractions are dished out.

As for your vote, you forgot the other half of the question. It should be: "Should you be banned for asking a PM, at the expense of BST being spammed with posts that aren't useful to anyone except the posting user?"

The way I see it, the no-nonsense policy is the only way a forum this size can be maintained. The minute people start loosening up is when people start signing up making really dumb-ass posts you'd expect a kid to make. Can you imagine the amount of 13 year old wannabe-webmasters that would sign up replying to topics with "Yeah", "lol", "Nice" and "Cool" ?

Infractions are the only way people will learn to take their time and read the rules. *shrug*

 

1. Starting threads to complain about infractions gets you another infraction. PM a mod if you have questions about them in the future.

2. Seems rather silly that someone who only had one active infraction at the time (and only one expired one from a year earlier) would get so heated about infractions to begin with. They're warnings to refresh on the rules. Nothing actually happens to you unless you choose to continue ignoring them and you rack up 10 infraction points.

3. Your post that got the infraction very clearly violated the rules. You may not post to thank someone (use a PM or rep comment). You may not post to tell someone you contacted them privately. There's no need to ask questions about turnaround time if it's already discussed. If the OP hasn't made a change, then you assume it's "still" applicable or you PM them. And asking about custom order sizes and custom discounts for them, beyond the advertised packages, should be done via PM as it applies solely to your own project.

The infraction won't be reversed. Re-read the rules and sticky threads and you won't have to worry about hitting 10 infraction points at all.