LadyExxotica

Folks,

After reading some of the responses I found myself actually wondering why Lighthouse has NOT closed down this thread already! Ironic, no? After reading all of the replies, especially Lighthouse and DrZeus and BBhumeBB, I feel I have gained a greater appreciation for the task of Lighthouse.

Bottom line, he CAN close thread, delete posts, etc. at his discretion. I would like to see more personality and less heavy handedness, but he does have a difficult job to do and I appreciate that now.

Lighthouse - thank you for your work. I hope you really take to heart some of the changes being asked for here in this thread and yet still be true to your job. Maybe it is time to close this thread....

Everyone else - thank you so much for posting your thoughts, ideas, opinions, etc. For the most we stayed pretty well inbounds and showed that a lively discussion is possible without getting closed down. Please, always be open and respectful.

Thanks,

Lady Exxxotica

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Hi LadyExxotica,

Thanks for taking the time to post your feelings and concerns. I have also received feedback on this same topic since I started. This is home for a good number of people and they've let me know (and some of the Dev's too!) how they feel it is being handled. Some people have expressed they like the change of pace and felt that the forums had grown a bit unruly. Some others let me know they felt I was being overly prohibitive and stifling. I respect the fact that I'm the newcomer here and do my best to keep the feelings of our posters in mind.

I do lament that I don't have as much time as I'd like to just involve myself in discussions on the forums. Unfortunately, that means that a lot of times when I post into a thread, it is as you said, to address some concern with how the topic is progressing or to shut something down. So, that is to say, I can understand your feelings about my presence on the forums. It is something I'm aware of and working to address.

We do have good reason for the Message Forum Rules and Guidelines that govern conduct on these forums. This place is not an open soapbox for anyone who wants to stand up and rant and bash the game or to talk about topics not on the game. We have these forums to help players get the most out of the game and those rules are a good part of keeping that experience a positive one.

I welcome any input and feelings about how we run things around here. If you don't want to voice that here, please feel free to write me a private message.

Respectfully yours,
Lighthouse

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Lighthouse, I want to say thank you! I know you could have dealt very differently with my original post and I thank you for letting it run its course for a while.

I also sincerely appreciate you taking the time to acknowledge a few points I tried to raise. I really look forward to having you on the boards and as active as possible. You response, believe it or not, helped me see your point of view.

Glad we could talk this out! Let's go play!!

True, rules are rules and they need to be enforced - to a point. In Washington State the speed limit is the law - no grace limit like oh, 5 miles over is okay but 6 and we'll hit you with a ticket. So imagine going one mile over the limit and getting pulled over and getting a ticket. Tell me, would you thank the officer and say "Rules are rules. I will pay the ticket first thing tomorrow"? OR would you try to reason with officer, maybe get him to give you a warning? Maybe say that there are worse crimes he could be policing? May even just take the ticket but then go to court to fight it, knowing that the judge would probably reduce the ticket? Where is the rules are rules line then? Rules are rules ONLY when they suit us. I have never had a post edited or deleted or had a thread closed. I have complete freeness of speech in this...

The fact that a rants forum is currently against the rules does not make it impossible. The rules can be changed.

As you can tell, I have rarely posted on the forums. That being said, I do read through select ones nearly every day. Lately I have noticed a disturbing trend regarding rants and the forums and Lighthouse.

More and more discussions/rants are being closed down by Lighthouse. I realize he is the Community Relations go-to person, but in trying to establish his unique presence in that role, I feel he has gone a bit too far at times, more than not.


I cringe everytime I see his name in a discussion. Maybe I am not very sensitive to people's feelings but Lighthouse seems to be politically correct to the extreme. Someone could use the word "butthead" in a post and he will close it down. Have we become such a community that we cannot tolerate even minor rants and dissenting responses?

I wonder how many respones this will generate before Lighthouse closes this thread down.

What I would like to see is a bit more balance from Lighthouse, more leeway being given to rants. Maybe it is me, but the rants lately have been generating some good discussions, some good feedback with only a few poor posters using inappropriate language.

Rather than merely closing down the rants, Lighthouse could close them and then open up a new discussion forum where he has distilled the rant's thoughts/points and then invite feedback. Would that mean some more work for Lighthouse? Yes, but he is the Community Rep. Wouldn't his job be to not only monitor but also direct and redirect discussions in a more positive vein?

I know that this post will divide many on the issue of Rants in general and I know some will take sides over Lighthouse. I do not dislike Lighthouse - I have seen some quality respones from him. MY OPINION is that he could back off a bit on his politically correct stick and allow us to work out our rants on our own or step in only when really neccesary.

A final suggestion - a forum dedicated to rants only? A free for all rant forum where users would have to agree that what is said in the forum stays in the forum?

Thanks for listening. This has just been something that has bugged me from day one of Lighthouse being here....