Harold Evans4 said:What's your point?
Look, it’s not my fault I had to lock this thread. Most of you guys are treating this like an off-topic lounge instead of staying on track. Like you said yourself, the topic is actually useful—it's just that your posts aren't sticking to it. I already gave you several warnings about this, too. You can find the proof right there in my last explanation.
You’re acting like I have a grudge against you. It's true I had to step in before because you were veering off track, but you aren't special. I could list ten other people who got those same warnings—including Darude, whom you brought up. Also, saying I need to "rein in" someone is a weird way to put it. Sounds like you're talking about an animal.
So, should I just comment on your post title and that word "unprofessionalism"? It’s a lose-lose situation for me. If I issue a warning, you'll just claim I'm piling it on until I end up banning you, but if I don't say anything, I'm failing at my job. Do you actually want me to moderate here or not?
I’d be happiest if I could just pop onto the forum once a week, catch up on the threads that actually interest me, and learn something new. If everyone just stuck to the topics and played by the rules, I wouldn't have to hand out warnings or deal with any drama. You think I do this because I'm bored? Or like there's some big payoff? Maybe. Regardless, I try to keep my moderation objective and fair. I usually prefer sending a quick warning rather than jumping straight to a ban, unless we're talking about those messy Tesla threads—those have their own set of strict rules.
People love to lecture the mods when we don't jump on a notable post within fifteen minutes. You see comments like, "Hey mods, why are you letting these trolls run wild?" as if this were a live Twitch stream where I need to react instantly to everything. Then people act shocked when they get flagged for constantly nitpicking the moderation.
I trimmed down the quote to just the essentials.
So, I close an old thread because it was going off the rails, start a fresh one, rename it, and write a massive intro. I even left eight moderator warnings spread across nineteen pages just to try and get everyone back on track. Instead, people ignored the rules and spent three whole pages arguing about something else entirely. Naturally, I had to penalize a bunch of posts and lock the thread. Now, suddenly, I’m being told I'm doing a bad job moderating? Give me a break. 🙂
The point? I already said it above.
You dropped some pretty heavy insinuations in your opening post that just aren't true. I already laid out the facts in my first reply in bold so I wouldn't have to repeat myself. You kept demanding everyone stick to the topic, yet you let Darude run wild. He completely derailed this thread by picking fights and insulting anyone who disagreed with him. If you had stepped in and shut that down sooner, this discussion would still be on track. Either hand out an off-topic penalty or move the drama over to the chat.
The previous thread about how much money you need for a "normal" life was a bit of a mess. It’s impossible to pin down a specific number because everyone defines "normal" differently. This new topic is much better designed. It could actually work if people just stuck to what was said in the opening post and followed the rules—specifically, just being decent to one another during a discussion.
I’ve gotten seven bans from you in just one month?! Seriously. I’ll be right in the middle of a solid discussion about how people can cut down their grocery bills, explaining the actual logic behind it, and then some random parachute jumper drops in. They aren't even part of the conversation—just a classic troll throwing out a single line like, "If small towns solved all life's problems, nobody would move to the city." Then, they vanish before the debate even gets going.
I wasn't talking about living in the countryside or growing your own food. I was strictly talking about cutting down on grocery costs.
I'll just say it: surviving on nothing in the countryside looks much better than doing it in the city. Another user actually backed this up by mentioning a family that raised and put three kids through college out in rural America just by farming. If they had tried that in a major US city without an income, they would have been totally broke and starving.
Where’s the trolling in that?
Don't take this as me whining about unfair bans, though.
I'm telling you, you haven't "mastered the topic." You can tell because this thread eventually devolved into constant arguing and heavy chat. It started as a great discussion with useful info on what it costs to live a "normal" life.
It’s like what I mentioned on the PŽK thread. The same thing happens in the "Comparison" thread where a few users intentionally troll, insult people, and go off-topic for ages. That’s an old problem that existed long before you became a moderator.
The latest, funniest example is when I quoted "Starbucks closed its branch in Munich."🤣
Now that this cost-of-living thread is closed, you're acting like a victim of unruly users who won't stay on track. In reality, you have all the tools needed to keep the discussion civil. I shouldn't have to explain this to you, and I'm not trying to take your job.