Hello all,

Does anyone remember the FAQ BEFORE this forum was added? Back in the day when we used to discuss things like Hugo, and Stella? When people would regularly post things like "having a baby", or "getting married", etc? I still remember when the biggest threads had something to do with Oktoberfest, or "02 Fest Wherever", and people would gather at all points, and join convoys to attend these fests. Am I the only one who remembers those days, or more importantly, misses them? I doubt it.

So, where did we go wrong as a group? When did it all go so sideways? When did my beloved FAQ take such a shit? Well, much like diagnosing a mechanical problem, after doing a bunch of work, we need to ask ourselves "what was the last thing we did that could have caused this"?

In this case, it all started around the beginning of the "carpet wars", or so I think. We need to look at some of the early flame wars, and notice the participants. Now obviously, I was a rather large part of those wars, and for that, I feel a good amount of shame. Those that remember me before those days, know that's ot really my nature. I was just angry, and for that, I apologise. It's been a while now, but I've finally composed myself enough to stop the nasty, name calling and swearing. You won't see or hear that from me anymore. Not saying I won't become involved in debate, but I'm going to keep it clean.

In addition, there were several other people who got dragged down into this, that were never "flame war people" in the past. There is really only 1 person who is a regular contributor to this section, that has an entire FAQ history of violence. That person has been confrontational, and nasty since damn near the day they joined the forum, even going so far as to admit being a troublemaker. Basically, we're letting an entire community go to hell, so we can appease one person's twisted "flame war fetish". Doesn't make any sense to me.

Sure, we can all say "just ignore it, don't reply, blah blah blah". But let's face the facts, that doesn't really work, and we've proven it time and time again.

So, what do we do? I say we kill the personal attacks forum, the FAQ doesn't need it, or want it. If the nastiness lingers into the other forums, cut the rest of the disease out. I know it's a no ban policy here, but does anyone remember Elliot? I do. We banned him, didn't we? Why? He was the "thing that changed", and dragged this place into the mud. Now, without him, we have another one. We banned someone before, might be time to do it again?

Oh, and in case anyone forgot, I am no longer selling upholstered goods to this community, and have NO financial interest in who, or what gets banned. This is simply my opinion, and my idea to clean this great site up, and get us a little closer to the way it used to be around here.

Al
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