Let's all take a deep breath (everyone please read)

That may be, but I can tell you there are other sports forums more welcoming than RedsZone. To each is own, I guess. Also, there is a difference between cliques and community spirit. In the former, posters are evaluated on the substance of their posts and whether or not they "measure up" in some way, so to speak, determines whether they join that clique or not. I don't know that it's a matter of whether one gets along with a clique or not. I believe it to be more a matter of whether you are ever a part of the clique in the first place. Think back to workplace issues In a community-oriented forum, there isn't as much value placed on 'value' of posts or post-count, but rather on one another looking out for each other. The former is more competitive in nature (kind of your sports bar), the latter more about good times.

[Spitball]

All posters deserve to be responded to with toleration and respect. I believe much of what has happened lately has been born from a condescending comment or two.

I'm quite certain none of us would talk to our spouses that way. We wouldn't talk to our bosses, employees, or customers that way. We wouldn't talk to our friends that way. Why is it alright to talk to other posters that way?

Originally Posted by BUTLER REDSFAN

i have been a reds fan since i was a little kid...I like this website--nice to have a place to celebrate victories,endure losses,etc..i have never been that big into the rep points(as is obvious by my total)..but to have someone out there neg you because i spelled anyone "any1" to save space..just petty beyond words...almost wish there was a separate forum on here for people who didnt care about points at all

I don't even know how to tell what I was 'negged' for. How can I do that? To be brutally honest with you, I don't believe you typed "any1" (and I wasn't the one that negged you, don't even know what thread that was in) because it saved space. It's not important why I believe you did that, nevertheless. Still, just as one would be expected to place his elbows all over the kitchen table while eating at a friends' house, I think it's reasonable to use *some* etiquette (spelling?) when writing online. You can find all sorts of articles on this very issue.

[MrCinatit]

Originally Posted by saboforthird

I don't even know how to tell what I was 'negged' for. How can I do that? To be brutally honest with you, I don't believe you typed "any1" (and I wasn't the one that negged you, don't even know what thread that was in) because it saved space. It's not important why I believe you did that, nevertheless. Still, just as one would be expected to place his elbows all over the kitchen table while eating at a friends' house, I think it's reasonable to use *some* etiquette (spelling?) when writing online. You can find all sorts of articles on this very issue.

Under the banner, you will see a red line with various links (Donate, Chat...and User CP) - hit User CP, and you should see where your rep points have come from.

[Ltlabner]

I am still new to the forum and look forward to being a productive poster and community member. I like the hide rep points and sticky threads with beat to death topics.

So much of this can be solved with common sense. The vets here should activley take the time to hand out rep points and not be lazy about it. If you want a rep system to work you can't stop handing it out because you've gotten bored or torked with "newbies". I'm not saying give it away willy-nilly but are vets honestly taking the time to read posts from new people and rewarding those that are good? (a retorical question). I think this is a fair topic to raise as a number of people on this thread and a simular one on ORG have admitted to being lazy about giving out rep.

For us new folks we should spend more time writing good posts and less time worrying about who likes us or doesn't. We are all human and want to "fit in" on some level, no matter how much we deny it. But if we spend more time doing research, thinking about how we express our opinions, re-reading our posts before posting them, asking questions instead of trying to think of the best come back, etc etc then the rep will come. Also, if a vet responds with a reply that rubs you the wrong way, send them a PM asking them to explain further or discuss the topic in more detail. Don't just instantly take offence and gear up for a battle royale.

People spend too much time trying to be "right" about particular topics and not enought time considering what the other person might be trying to say. If the vets do their part, and the new folks focus on quality posts (combined with the tweaks discussed above) problems will iron themselves out.

[Heath]

Originally Posted by KronoRed

If you remove negative rep points then what's the point of the rep system?

I like Raisors idea of a 'been there done that' forum.

Some genius wanted to call it "Frank Pastore's House of Blues".

Smart thinker that guy.

Also, for those who've been down this road, sung the song, danced the dance, and all you got was that stupid t-shirt - remember -long seasons and if the Reds regress (unfortunetly) to career norms, all that will be left is the "battle-tested scrappy posters" of RedsZone.com by September.

We now return to your regularly scheduled "kiss the mod's ring session" already in progress

(BTW - nice work Boss - :smoochesring: )

[MrCinatit]

Originally Posted by Heath

We now return to your regularly scheduled "kiss the mod's ring session" already in progress

Oh. We're supposed to kiss their rings...shoot, is my face red :

[Unassisted]

I think the carrot part of the rep system is good, but the stick doesn't hurt enough to change behavior. I want to see negs count as much as positive rep. I also want to see disciplinary actions of any kind result in a pre-defined decrease of rep. And if a poster drops below certain pre-defined rep levels, reduce their privileges on the board.

The Dead Horse forum is an interesting concept, but I wouldn't like to see it used for threads that start on a completely different topic and veer into "dead horse" territory. Posters should be able to scan the list of topics, see that there are three topics in there that mention "Dunn" and "strikeouts," and recognize that the issue is effectively verboten. If a poster looks in the special forum and sees a bunch of thread titles that are unrelated to the "Dead Horse" issue, I don't think it will solve the issue any better than locking such threads.

Maybe instead of the separate forum, there should be a wiki page listing current "dead horse" and "hot-button" topics, linked from the board as a forum, that only the mods can edit? I think the mods and admins would benefit from having a place like that to publicly post their current hot-button issues, to avoid the need for Boss to start up a thread like this when things boil over. The mods communicate among themselves, I presume. Having a wiki page would enable them to communicate better with us.

[TOBTTReds]

My 2 cents:

I dislike LARGE amounts of sarcasm in threads that are "inside" jokes, even though I know what people are talking about. I'm very tired of hearing someone is "a scrappy vet," "scrappy," or the old one that went away was being a "mocker." I know why those things were said once, but it has been WAY OVERUSED. Basically anything that DanO, Miley, or Narron has said gets repeated here way too much.
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Be nice, people. If someone says something that you know is wrong, explain to them why in a post, and maybe even back it up some how. If someone says something that I disagree with, I try to explain it to them like they are my girlfriend. Many of us don't have a clue who eachother is, or our backgrounds in baseball. If you say something incorrect and I feel the need to correct you, I will try to do it as nicely as possible, without showing you up.
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I would like Rep points hidden as many people mentioned.

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I would like something where we could "pimp" our collections or stuff like that. I know some people have great organizations they are a part of that they would like to share with us.
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Don't continually say a player sucks. Especially when he is playing well. This does a major thing: People lose respect for you, because no matter why you dont like them, the things you say are just ridiculous. There have been numerous posts about many players on our team this year like Dunn, Freel, Brandon Phillips, Hatteberg, LaRue, and name a pitcher other than Harang or Arroyo.
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Be respectful. My NUMBER 1 pet-peeve on this board, is when people get VERY disrespectful just because of difference in opinion. Just be nice. Just about all of us love the Reds here. Could you imagine being at a stadium then getting in a fight with someone because they like Hatteberg vs. lefties or something like that.

We are here for one reason...the Reds. Not to showcase our knowledge of the game, our use of numbers, or how much we know about K's, SB's and small ball. Go REDS!

[GAC]

Originally Posted by Spitball

All posters deserve to be responded to with toleration and respect. I believe much of what has happened lately has been born from a condescending comment or two.

I'm quite certain none of us would talk to our spouses that way. We wouldn't talk to our bosses, employees, or customers that way. We wouldn't talk to our friends that way. Why is it alright to talk to other posters that way?

Good post. And the reason why you can get away with it is because you will most likely never have to face that poster/member face to face.

The internet makes some people very bold in their talk. .

What bothers me about this forum - and alot of others have expressed the very same sentiment - is what you mention above Spitball - the condescending attitude that leads to basically a "know it all" attitude.... I'm right, and I'm trying to do you a favor and educate you.

We all, myself definitely included, will always encounter individuals that are more knowledgeable on various subject matter or topics.

Our whole lives are about learning.

But it's the way or approach inwhich it is done.

You have a vast mixture and diversity of not only people on here, but also type of fan...

from the casual fan, all the way to the die-hard statiticians.

I've stated this before - everyone derives their enjoyment from the game of baseball in different ways.

People don't want to simply respect that.

But there are also people who act childish in the real world - so it's no big deal for them to do so on a forum. They know no better, and nothing is gonna change them.

Finally....

I don't like the two separate game threads.

It has created "classes". There are those who come into chat, and want very much to participate on a gamethread, but are not able to NOW do so because a majority now post on the ORG gamethread.

And from my standpoint, these were not people who were "troublemakers" before. But now they are basically being "punished".

I think the gamethread should be accessible for all. Ther is a positive to that too. It enables people to get to know others better.

When you isolate people, even when the intentions were noble and good, that is very hard to do.

When a person joins RZ, are they required to have to read the forum rules (so they know/understand) and then sign a disclaimer that they accpet them?

That might be a solid idea to consider.

Alot of new members come from other various forums that have little or no moderation. So they are use to a more "open" atmosphere where little rules/etiquette are involved.

Also - maybe a few more moderators as this forum continues to grow?

[ThatsAStrike]

First of all, thanks for letting those of us in Reds Live to voice our opinion. I've followed some threads in ORG and have wanted to comment but obviously cannot.

Concerning the "dead horse" issues: I'm sure there are some topics that long-time members of this board are sick to death of hearing about, but to new posters, well, it's a new topic. Perhaps if you're so sick of hearing about a certain topic that you can't contribute to the conversation without being snide or condescending, maybe you shouldn't respond. (See UKFlounder's post above -- he said it much better than I can.)

Regarding the game thread being moved to ORG: From my perspective, there were just as many ORG members causing problems in the original game threads as there were non-members. It may be pointed out that the game threads have become more "civilized" since moving to ORG. I believe that's simply because it was a wake-up call for some people and they decided they'd better behave themselves. Just my own opinion.

Basically it just comes down to respect, as noted in several of the posts above. Just treat each other with respect and most of these problems go away.

[KronoRed]

I like the 2 game threads because it keeps the noise down, you can follow the game instead of hitting refresh and seeing 25 new posts and maybe 1 of them saying something about what actually happened on the field.

[Edskin]

First of all, I agree mostly with the "just chill out" crowd. This is a message board after all, and I think most of these "problems" could be solved if people just didn't get their panties in such a bunch over such silly things.

But if we were to make a hard-fast rule, here would be mine:

Eliminate "Reds Live" altogether. I think having the two separate forums has created a sort of cast system that naturally brings division. It also brings confusion-- sometimes I'm not sure where to post my thoughts.

To me, Redszone is Redszone. There should be ONE community. Of course, you could still keep the non-baseball forum, etc... but there should be one "big board."

I believe you will continue to see petty arguments and board degeneration as long as there are two main boards-- especially seeing one board is considered a "call up" from the other.

Perhpas we could install a "time" rule upon registering at the site? Maybe a newbie would have to wait a certain number of days or weeks before they could post-- even after signing up. That way, they could still follow the board, see how things work, and post once they've become a little more acclimated?

[redram]

Originally Posted by Austin Kearns

People who neg people for stuff like that should not be allowed to hand out negs. That's beyond ridiculous. That's not what the rep. system is about.

But it happens, as a matter of fact it happened to me a year ago. I like coming here, reading and seeing what is new for the Red's. I will look in the game thread, but not post much. As you can see by my rep, it means nothing to me either, but mainly because of what happen a year ago. I think that rep points are given out to much by who ya know, as opposed to what you post sometimes. I love the Reds, love coming here, but just ran out of gas trying to get enough rep points to get to 200. I have posted many positive things and yes some neg things as well. I get very passionate about this team, and get mad when we lose. guess that is why I just read more now, lol and opposed to posting after tough losses like we had today. Just wanted to chime in here. Go Red's

[KittyDuran]

Originally Posted by KronoRed

I like the 2 game threads because it keeps the noise down, you can follow the game instead of hitting refresh and seeing 25 new posts and maybe 1 of them saying something about what actually happened on the field.

It will be a moot point if the team goes "south" - like this game thread last year in September when there were only 74 replies. :
http://www.redszone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40103