Page 2 - Come on, give the mods SOME credit

actually, there is.

A forum I went in set up another usergroup whereby if in that usergroup you would not be able to receive or give rep.

it was only about 10 lines in total and the creation of the group.

People click a link to request to join the group, it permits them and the rest is automated. If JC is in a good mood, you may want to approach him about it.

I think we discussed about this already but each new hack makes the forums software harder to maintain and brings the danger of introducing new security holes. Since I don't really care about the rep, I won't bring up this issue again.

M.

Personally, I'm all for the changes. I agree that a lot of threads lately in here are pretty dumb, even for the lounge. Think I'll take a short vacation from devshed though, and come back after the rules are all set, rather than mess with all the confusion in the mean time.

FYI, threads that attempt to find out common areas of interest between members, i.e. what are you listening to, what kind of movies do you like, what kind of cigars do you smoke, etc, will still be allowed. While they are not of "interest to developers" exactly, they help bring the community together. Britney getting fat, boogers, knocked-up girlfriends, etc, do not contribute to the community.

---John Holmes...

Wow, I go away for a weekend, and all of hell breaks loose here. I'll put in my two cents for what it's worth though.

I can agree with much of the moderators concerns. There does seem to be a lot of garbage out there (Ouch, I cut myself, what do I do?) that really dosen't belong here. Yet at the same time "I knocked up my girlfriend, I'm scared of what's going to happen" isn't really all that bad. If I recall that thread in question, OP ended up feeling more confidant and more relieved after hearing the opinions of the members here. He wasn't trolling as much as it was just looking for some assurance from the more mature and adult members here.

I have always viewed the lounge as simply that, a lounge. A comfortable place for us nerds/geeks/humans to go and relax and discuss what was on our minds. I picture red leather chairs arranged in scattered rough circles where people are making conversation with many different topics, each sharing his own experience and moving the conversation along with every story told.

Never in a direction but always moving and flowing somehow. I do believe this should be a more civilized zone for more intellectually minded and mature people. Age is therefore not as important as your maturity level. Also quality is much better than quantity. Mature people don't compare boogers, or try to compete in how much milk they can drink, or even brag about how many times they have "scored" with someone in the last few months. They may however discuss the political, personal, or economic changes for the dairy industry, or ask knowledgable people about their experiences with odd body conditions. We may not be medical doctors, but "home remidies" aren't always a bad thing. And the occasional hapless individual may want some support from his peers on how he should handle a bad situation with his newly expectant girlfriend.

The lounge should be a reflection of the community it serves. If we expect mature, intelligent, and civil people to contribute in the forums, the lounge should be just that. It's one thing to be off-topic, it's another to be rude, obnoxious, and juvanille.

It's all in how you ask the question or tell the story, imo. "I knocked-up my girlfriend, what do I do" would be deleted. However, if the poster explained his reasons for asking a bunch of strangers for advise, then it could be looked upon more favorably. Posts that are more than a sentence and show they've had some thought put into them are far less likely to be deleted.

---John Holmes...