AndyCapps is a little quick with the close thread button
 

I generally agree with the mods and the job they do. But what andycapps did was B.S. Has there been a rule change since i have been away or something? Please explain why i cannot post these threads or why they were closed?



http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=200173


http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=200168



http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=200167 (I'll give you this one. I was a little excited about the beer smilie but the other 2 threads give me a break.)

I will attempt to use my otherworldly powers to divine what the first moderator's response would be:

This sort of issue should be handled over email.

Re: AndyCapps is a little quick with the close thread button
 

Edit: sending email. This isn't the place for it.

<B>[CLOSING THREAD]</B>

as a side note... if it's always handled only through email, aren't you more likely to have similar problems in the future with other members who never heard the explanation?

Well, no, if it's always handled through email, there would be no problem. It only becomes a problem when a big deal is made on the forum over closed threads.

Generally, if people complain, they're complaining because they think they are being treated unfairly, not because they aren't sure whether a forum rule has been broken.

If you have a specific question about how a specific thread was handled, it's always better to go to email. We apply general rules to specific situations. If we answer a question about a specific situation, it will be interpreted as a general rule, and that just leads to more confusion.

For example, say someone starts the third "What's your favorite car part?" thread of the day. We may be closing the thread because we already have 2 car part threads or we may be closing the thread because that member has repeatedly used this type of thread to start flame wars about their favorite car tweaking idea.

Now each of these situations can be dependent on any number of factors. On slower days, we're going to care less about how many of a particular type of thead we have. Maybe 3 or even 4 will be ok, but if we say that we closed a thread because we already had two of this type of thread, we're going to get emails complaining every time we don't follow our own "rules."

In the case of the flaming member, perhaps the next person with a history of problems to do this has recieved a warning and has promised to be good. We're going to leave their thread open to give him a chance to prove himself. But if we post that we closed someone else's thread because the poster has a past history of starting flame wars, we run the risk of getting complaints about double standards.

Hope that makes a little sense. Please keep in mind that these are just general examples, and not intended to cover every reason why we ask that these things be done via email.

And since this is going to email...closing thread.