Amps forum rules and a notice to users

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john turner

john turner

You don't want to do that. Trust me.
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Mar 14, 2000
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#1
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#2
Okay - the TB CUP:

The key thing here is whether or not you're responding to information that has been directly requested (either in a thread or a PM). Factual info posted in response to such a request is fine, but general comments about the virtues of your product that are not posted in direct response to a question are ADVERTISING and shouldn't be posted.

The aim here is to establish a level playing field for "free" aspects of forum usage by all commercial users. People who won't play ball here are exploiting the forum to gain an unfair business advantage from free advertising.

Commercial users or, for that matter, regular members who see posts like this and feel that the forum is being misused as free advertising space can help us out by letting one of the moderators for the relevant forum know. PM or the "Report Bad Post" function are the easiest ways to do this.
 
#4
Just wanted to make sure everyone is hip to the additions to TB Rule #7.
Classifieds Forums are provided for personal sales, however a Supporting Membership is required to post.
Non-Supporting Members must also refrain from posting 'for sale' ads or links to ads in their profile signatures. Posting links to personal ebay auctions is not allowed for any members, in posts, signatures, or elsewhere.
Click to expand...
 
#5
While threads on the topic of outsourcing production overseas are allowed, these threads must stay on the topic of the quality and attributes of the amp itself. Any introduction of politics and race are not allowed in this forum. Voicing dissatisfaction about the quality of a product, no problem. Discussing prices, profits, etc. no problem. Introducing general political / personal remarks on outsourcing, race/ethnic content, or other remarks that serve to derail these threads from discussion on the product itself, is forbidden.

For several months, we have tried to keep civil discussion threads open regarding recent choices industry players have made to move their production overseas. However, without exception, every one of these threads has resulted in a flame war, and closed down. Maintaining civil discussion on a faceless, impersonal message board is always difficult. Maintaining civil political debate (or religious discusion), is nearly impossible. That's why both topics are banned from all general public TalkBass forums (and have been for many years).

I've had requests to ban overseas production threads from Amps all together, as a result of the inevitable political flame fests that have resulted. However, the vast majority of TalkBass members contribute to these threads in a constructive manner, regardless of which side of the debate they're on. We don't want to let the behavior of a few ruin the discussion for everyone, so we will be enforcing this rule very strictly from here on out.

Therefore, any member who takes it upon him/herself to introduce political material, racist remarks, or other generic comments on the effects of outsourcing in this world today, into any Amps thread, or show disrespect towards another member, or otherwise contribute in the derailment of these threads, will be offered a heavy penalty, and may be asked to leave these forums.
 
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#6
It’s been noticeable for some time now (like, months) that the tone of lots of threads in the Amps forum can go downhill pretty fast, so much so that the forum has now got a reputation for this sort of nonsense amongst the mod and admin team. Comments from mods in other forums along the lines of “I wouldn’t want to moderate in amps, some guys in there are always causing hassle” are not uncommon. And amongst the mod team who deal specifically with this forum, we’ve all expressed frustration with the way that problems seem to flare up with regularity. It’s about time we put this right.

So, we’re asking you guys (the ones who do this on a regular basis) to stop. And those who are unable to do so will be told, via the infraction system, that this sort of stuff is unacceptable and may, in extreme cases, result in permanent exclusion from the site. Please consider this fair warning.

We believe that everybody knows what sort of forum the TB team (and the big majority of our membership) want and what sort of stuff is unacceptable. If not, then I guess people will find out what our expectations are as we go.

And please, if you see a post that you think is problematic in this or any other regard, refrain from posting any response intended to argue on any sort of personal level. People doing this are just as much part of the problem as those who “cast the first stone”. The post report function is the ONLY acceptable way to deal with any post you find objectionable.

I’m going to repeat that sentence for the sake of total clarity.
The post report function is the ONLY acceptable way to deal with any post you find objectionable.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to the big majority of people here who already get this. This message is aimed only at the few who don’t. I hope we will be able to unstick this thread pretty soon, if those people understand the need for it and respond to it positively.
 
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#7
TalkBass should be a pleasant, family friendly place for folks of all ages to hang out, chat about things, engage in constructive tech talk, and treat each other like we're all friends.

I've been asking folks to embrace this as a concept for some months now, without the resulting improvements I'd hoped for.

It's a shame that very strict enforcement of Rules 1-10 and the basic terms of service seems to be what it's going to take to make TalkBass friendly and fun again.
Now would be a good time to review all those rules and do your best to live by them.

Lastly, as Bill said: report posts that fall outside what's proper, rather than engaging and promoting further conflict.

Thanks, and, be kind to each other.
 
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#8
howdy folks, got a few things to share.

first of all, i'd like to remind people that our site rules are accessible via the Rules/FAQ/CUP link located at the top of this page. i know we have a lot of rules on talkbass, but they're not that hard to follow - they're mostly common sense and should be patently obvious to anyone not wearing shortpants as essential in governing any civilised discourse.

those that aren't obvious are clearly stated and explained, and any of us (Site management) would be happy to explain them further via pm, if the need should arise. take us up on that offer, please - we'd much rather explain a rule beforehand than penalize someone for violating it.

that brings me to the second point i'd like to make today. it has come to our attention that there are a handful of folks who seem to enjoy disrupting the conversations here on a regular basis. this is going to stop.

this site is as successful as it is because of the strength and nature of the community we have built over the past 12+ years. the essential guidelines ensuring the health of this community are our rules. we have learned through experience that when our rules are followed, and evenly and fairly enforced, our community thrives, and when they aren't, the community suffers.

in light of this, no longer will there be any double standards in enforcement in amps. no longer will there be slack given to long-term site members because of their perceived "importance". this has gone on long enough and it stops now.

to those of you who feel that on some level the rules do not apply to you, i urge you to rethink that position. if you are about to post something disrespectful of someone else, snarky or rude or otherwise trolling with the intent to disrupt, infuriate or, most importantly, attempt to silence other members who you may disagree with, i urge you to reconsider. such postings will not be tolerated.

we (site admins) are instructing the existing amps mods to take a more hardline approach to disrespectful or trolling posts than they have before, especially if they are from the tiny 1% of members here who are repeat offenders.

furthermore, i will be taking a more active, -proactive- role in guaranteeing the discussions in the amps forum stay healthy, positive and beneficial, with a very high signal to noise ratio and with a minimum of the snide disrespectful cutdowns that seem to be a hallmark of many of the longer threads in this subforum.

lastly, we will be welcoming pacman to the amps mods fold. this is one of the busiest subforums on talkbass, and his help here will be indispensible. jon has a lot of experience as a successful moderator on talkbass as well as a 25+ year careeer as a professional bassist.

if you have any questions regarding this announcement, feel free to shoot me a pm.
 
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#9
I think it might be a good time to bump this - please read through it again, folks. There have been quite a few instances in the Amps forum recently of undignified bickering and we don't really appreciate it. It's not so much the messages that people are trying to say, as the way in which they choose to say them that we have a problem with. Please, stop it.

It may be that we need a period of strict enforcement of rule #1 in EVERY SINGLE AMPS FORUM POST MADE BY EVERY SINGLE AMPS FORUM USER for a period, to try and re-establish a baseline where people can post in here without being attacked by others.

So, bear with us while we put that process into effect, for the benefit of the big majority of users here. Thanks.
 
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