why isn't anyone following the classified rules?

[Dr. Riddim]

Every time I go to the bass guitars or speakers & amps classifieds sections I find that close to 50% of the items I'm checking out are sold - but the thread isn't closed and the seller didn't even bother to put "sold" in the subject line. Rule violated, time wasted.

I frequently see "for sale" items listed without prices and lately I've even found 2 instances where items were advertised here AFTER being listed on eBay.

It's not like there's an overwhelming number of rules, and it's not like they're incredibly hard to follow.

Before I knew any better I'd occasionally (politely) post to a thread that should have been closed with a link to the sticky with the rules in it. Then one of the mods reprimanded me for it - called it an unneeded post - so I stopped.

The situation has gotten worse and worse, and I don't see any signs of anyone intervening. So what do we do? Don't tell me to report the threads, because you've made it abundantly clear that enforcement is not a community process. What exactly is the moderators' job if it's not cruising the forums and making sure the rules are being followed?

I'm not trying to make any trouble here, I'm just trying to express my frustration with a system that is clearly not working as it should. If we need more mods, let's get 'em.

Bill

[Thunder Pulse]

I agree with you 1000%. You and I must be related, separated at birth. I haven't even been here a year yet and I'm very frustrated with several things here. You've been here six years so I can imagine how you must feel. Like you, I've pointed out quite a few times when 4-sale threads need to be closed and have also provided the link to the rules with instructions on how to do it.

Just this week a for-sale thread I was watching was closed by the original poster because he said he wanted to start a new thread with a lower price. He started a new thread, but with the same price. I politely pointed it out thinking he he copy & pasted the info from the first thread and thereby may have done it accidentally. I ended up getting a PM from him telling me to remove my post from his thread and that I'd been reported to a mod. Nice. Then I got a minor infraction leveled against me for violating the rule of questioning a poster's price. I couldn't care less what his asking price was, I simply pointed out that his price was the same in both threads.

This forum's Rule #1 it to respect your fellow members. "All registered users must address fellow members with the utmost respect at all times." Presumably that rules pertains to replies to threads, but in my opinion it should also reply to original posters when they start new threads. It's incredibly rude to start threads with titles like "Help", "I have a question", "What do you think of this?", or "I'm a newb, please don't yell." This week alone I've seen two new threads asking about Essex basses. That's just pure laziness on the part of the posters, as there are several mega-threads with literally hundreds of posts about them already. It's inconceivable to me that people think titles like those are somehow acceptable. What would you think if you went to your local library and every book was simply titled "Book" ?

Threads with vague, incomplete, or misleading subject lines should not be fixed by mods, they should be removed. The original posters would probably be offended, but guess what? How many times do you have to touch a hot stove before you realize it burns? If you get a thread deleted because of your own laziness then you either cry like a baby or you don't make the same mistake twice.

I like this place, but there's a lot of room for improvement.

[Dr. Riddim]

Hey ThunderPulse,

Thanks for seconding me on this one. I half expected to be flamed to kingdom come and was pleasantly surprised to find someone actually agrees with me.

You know, when you add in the people who post "wanted" items in the "for sale" section and all the other stupid stuff it gets to be a little ridiculous. The mods aren't taking care of it, yet we get yelled at if we try to contribute something to the community and help keep some semblance of order around here.

Why even bother enacting rules if you're not going to insist they be followed - or, worse yet, only selectively enforce them?

[paul]

I'm sorry to hear about your experiences. Yes, we do discourage the *public* practice of "members-turned-mods" - when members try to moderate eachother, it usually turns into a bickering match. BUT, we absolutely depend on reported posts - and I find it very sad that you've decided not to report these posts. I'll look into the mod situation in Classifieds, but until then please understand that with more than 5,000 new posts added to TB every 24 hours, the mods absolutely depend on post reports. If you report a post and don't see adequate resolution, be sure and hit the "contact us" link at the bottom of any page to send a ping to the administration.

[guy n. cognito]

Originally Posted by Thunder Pulse

=
This forum's Rule #1 it to respect your fellow members. "All registered users must address fellow members with the utmost respect at all times." Presumably that rules pertains to replies to threads, but in my opinion it should also reply to original posters when they start new threads. It's incredibly rude to start threads with titles like "Help", "I have a question", "What do you think of this?", or "I'm a newb, please don't yell." This week alone I've seen two new threads asking about Essex basses. That's just pure laziness on the part of the posters, as there are several mega-threads with literally hundreds of posts about them already. It's inconceivable to me that people think titles like those are somehow acceptable. What would you think if you went to your local library and every book was simply titled "Book" ?

Threads with vague, incomplete, or misleading subject lines should not be fixed by mods, they should be removed. The original posters would probably be offended, but guess what? How many times do you have to touch a hot stove before you realize it burns? If you get a thread deleted because of your own laziness then you either cry like a baby or you don't make the same mistake twice.

I like this place, but there's a lot of room for improvement.

Don't. Read. Them. Problem Solved!

You can thank me later.

[Thunder Pulse]

I expected someone to chime in with that response. You're obviously more liberal than I am in what you find acceptable as a subject line. What if every person who started a new thread with a question just used "?" as the subject line? Would it bother you then? Where do you draw the line?

[Dr. Riddim]

Originally Posted by paul

I'm sorry to hear about your experiences. Yes, we do discourage the *public* practice of "members-turned-mods" - when members try to moderate each other, it usually turns into a bickering match. BUT, we absolutely depend on reported posts - and I find it very sad that you've decided not to report these posts. I'll look into the mod situation in Classifieds, but until then please understand that with more than 5,000 new posts added to TB every 24 hours, the mods absolutely depend on post reports. If you report a post and don't see adequate resolution, be sure and hit the "contact us" link at the bottom of any page to send a ping to the administration.

Hey Paul,

I hear what you're saying, and I'm wondering if 5,000 new posts a day maybe isn't spreading the mods too thin. I'm sure the number of posts in the Classifieds sections doesn't run to but a small percentage of that, so if you're not already doing it maybe you could dedicate a couple of mods to just those forums.

Clearing up the backlog would take some time, but once caught up it shouldn't take a lot of work to review the new posts on a daily basis. I know personally I can go through all the new posts in the guitars and amps for sale sections in pretty short order, as I do it nearly every night.

As far as potential bickering goes, I can see your point but I don't recall ever having anyone react badly because I reminded them to close a thread - probably because I did it respectfully and politely.

Bill

[guy n. cognito]

Originally Posted by Thunder Pulse

I expected someone to chime in with that response. You're obviously more liberal than I am in what you find acceptable as a subject line. What if every person who started a new thread with a question just used "?" as the subject line? Would it bother you then? Where do you draw the line?

Yes, but its not every post, just a few. I am more than capable of ignoring them.

Relax a little bit. You'll live longer.

[Thunder Pulse]

Your definition of "few" is different than mine as well.