HELP! So where do we go from here folks?

[Loony661]

Well hate to break it to you but you’re gonna hate it when Dallas gets made chief moderator.

That’ll be the day!

 

[Woodpecker]

I certainly don’t expect it to end. Limiting it to the Off Topic threads would be a great goal, IMO. But that would need to be moderated.

I mean there also needs to be a level of self moderation here. Right? At the end of the day any mods are still going to be volunteers with lives outside of opeforum.

 

[ammoaddict]

There has been a lot of good done on this forum for members who have had a hard turn on life. I don't know what all was said or done behind closed doors for us general members, but there are several long standing members who have always stepped forward to do what they could to make things right. Offhand,I cannot think of a single waffle that Randy did not step up and offer saws or services toward, just as many of the other long timers. Several saws repaired with donated parts and time from the same people to right a wrong from a unscrupulous seller/builder. Sometimes that went south as well such as the case with the potted meathead. There comes a breaking point in every persons life, be it with age or experience, where we say we are tired of dealing with the negative side and sometimes lash out. I am far from a saint and as I age it takes less to end up on my crap list, but it is usually because I have tried to help and been taken advantage of too many times. We all chase or are chased our own demons.

I agree. I've been on this forum since 2017. I was always amazed at how the people here came together to help someone in need. I was proud to be a small part of it. I was really amazed at some of the very nice and expensive prizes some folks donated out of the kindness in their hearts. I have never met a single person on here but still feel like I know some of you and call you my friends. I don't know what all transpired here but it's a real shame and could have been avoided.

 

[Loony661]

I mean there also needs to be a level of self moderation here. Right? At the end of the day any mods are still going to be volunteers with lives outside of opeforum.

Absolutely. I would say most members have been able to police themselves here, but there’s always those few that can’t, or won’t.

 

[jacob j.]

You may next change your username on or after Oct 3, 2025. This is all I'm getting. Maybe I'm too new?

I think you're limited to a name/moniker change once every thirty days or something like that. You can change your title and signature whenever/how often you like.

 

[oddsaws]

That link reminded me that I need to update my AIM and ICQ IDs.

I work in tech support and will answer the chats that come in through our website. The notification noise is the ICQ notification sound

Asked our new employee if he remembers ICQ, forgetting I have about 20 years on him. I love getting old

 

[Kiwioilboiler]

We don't need a new forum, we need people to act like adults and take care of problems in a mature and responsible way.

Dick.

 

[59billy]

I work in tech support and will answer the chats that come in through our website. The notification noise is the ICQ notification sound

Asked our new employee if he remembers ICQ, forgetting I have about 20 years on him. I love getting old

Oh, for the good old days when desktop pcs were the province of hip, young people!

 

[sawmikaze]

I think you're limited to a name/moniker change once every thirty days or something like that. You can change your title and signature whenever/how often you like.

Can I be the Chief Lesbian ?

 

[cuinrearview]

Can I be the Chief Lesbian ?

Pretty sure the group shower makes this a no-go

 

[farminkarman]

Can I be the Chief Lesbian ?

I thought you already held that title

 

[farminkarman]

I would love to see OPE not only survive, but get back to a place where people can have fun and share a common interest. I lost interest in much of the forum a while ago when several regulars quit showing up for various reasons. Another thought for moderators…it might be worth developing a standard process for handling sale transactions that didn’t go as planned. I imagine that much of what led to the meltdown yesterday could have been avoided if it were handled differently from the get go.

 

[Kiwioilboiler]

Can I be the Chief Lesbian ?

I don't think so.
Queen Lesbian?

 

[stihl livin]

That’s where I’m at Andy. Would like to see @Gentleman choose a new admin who doesn’t have a monetary interest in the forum. I think that fixes 75% of the issues. The rest comes down to fellers growing up and stop being cǔnts to each other.

Well said Donny. Like any other volunteer part of a forum they need to be changed out to give guys a break. Also some people don’t know when to say they need a break and that’s when things go sideways. The stuff that started almost a year ago that caused so many to leave should have come out much sooner than it did. This would have maybe helped prevent how bad it got yesterday. It became very clear to me that Randy did not have the forum in his best interest yesterday. He tried multiple times to accuse me of saying he needed to step down. I simply said that a full change of moderation needed to happen. He took it out of context and I lost respect for a guy who was supposed to be in charge of ope. Right wrong or indifferent lines were crossed here lately and ope needs a change to move forward.

 

[59billy]

Another thought for moderators…it might be worth developing a standard process for handling sale transactions that didn’t go as planned.

I can't speak for the rest of the moderation team (which will be in flux for a little while), but I would appreciate any input you have on that.

I'd like to hear different people's perspectives, both about selling and buying. How do we make everyone more comfortable, and how do we make people whole when something goes wrong?

 

[stihl livin]

I cbt speak for the rest of the moderation team (which will be in flux for a little while), but I would appreciate any input you have on that.

I'd like to hear different people's perspectives, both about selling and buying. How do we make everyone more comfortable, and how do we make people whole when something goes wrong?

Make it clear that any sales here are to be handled outside of the open forum. Unfortunately this is going to ruffle feathers but if that bothers you don’t buy on the forum. You take risks buying things in person and more of a risk buying on a forum like this. We have seen too many issues with selling buying and porting on ope that end with major problems in the open. There is no reason to air your dirty laundry in the open. Mods who volunteer are just volunteers and will help you the best they can but it shouldn’t happen like it did this weekend.

 

[hseII]

I appreciate your candor, and I’ve been guilty of that at times myself. Honestly though I can’t see that going away completely. It’s been like that from the beginning when a bunch of riff raff migrated from AS. It’s constructive feedback for the mods though. I think that perhaps trying to keep that in the many banter/off topic type threads and out of info threads would be a good standard to aspire to.

Maybe I’m missing something but the Rifraf was what grew this forum to begin with.

How long had the forum been in operation before the RifRaf came?

 

[hseII]

I can't speak for the rest of the moderation team (which will be in flux for a little while), but I would appreciate any input you have on that.

I'd like to hear different people's perspectives, both about selling and buying. How do we make everyone more comfortable, and how do we make people whole when something goes wrong?

A Rating system & an understanding that if something goes wrong, reach out to the mods.

 

[ammoaddict]

Can I be the Chief Lesbian ?

I'm a lesbian trapped in a man's body.

 

[redline4]

I no O.G. here or on any garden tool forum, and I didn't even stay at a Holiday Inn recently. I was on vacation with friends all weekend and really have zero clue on what actually happened.
That being said, here's a few random thoughts from a simple guy from central Wisco.

If you are dealing with someone online and the deal goes sideways, it's between you and the other party and to expect others to step in to make you whole is just plain ridiculous in my opinion. If the person in the wrong and can't step up and do the right thing, obviously they are a piece of shīț and asking someone to ask them to stop being a piece if shīț will not convince them to do that.
It is also true many people are vastly different through a keyboard than they are in real life. In real life you can throat punch them when it's required. On the internet, one simply needs to ignore them because most keyboard skirmishes are well planned out from the comfort of grandma's basement while waiting on her to bring down the pizza rolls from the toaster oven and a fresh Mtn Dew code red.

Still, people are people, they all react differently, are dealing with different things in life and should definitely not take some of this crap so seriously.