I simply do not understand that attitude. Why should I be expected to "the bigger man." Someone comes into my house and insults me and I don't have the right to tell him he is not welcome anymore? Again, people should be expected to take responsibility for the actions. Simple as that. That is what being an adult is all about. And until people are punished, they will continue to be troublemakers, because they know they can get away with it. Sorry, that's not my philosophy, never has been. Everyone here knows that, yet children continue to challenge it.

 

well you're right for the most part there but assuming that f150online.com is a business (it is right?) i wouldn't be too trigger happy on that ban button if someone is providing great information and is well-liked. you ban too many people like that for minor slip-ups and soon you'll have nothing but a husk of what could've been a great forum. i've seen it happen before...all the knowledgeable people get up and leave and now only children troll the boards of the misc. and racing kills or something...check out www.tccoa.com same thing happened over there. no one posts any informative tech information and all you see are 16 yr olds posting about killing civics..

but again, i dont know the gravity of the violation....so its not my place to judge.

 

You make some very good points. We've run this site the same way for more than five years. In that time, we have seen good technical resources come and go. We've also seen many trouble-makers come and go. Some were one in the same. This site has continued to grow and will continue to grow because its goal is to enable mature conversation. Will there be exceptions? Sure.

But the second we compromise our on our policies, the site will go downhill. It simply will not go downhill because we ban a good or well-liked technical resource. People will tire of the bashing and penal colony sites long before they tire of this site.

Despite what some will say, Doug and I take banning very seriously. 99% of the time, someone argues a consenting opinion on our actions based on a single side of the story. They don't see the emails from people that threaten us or defame our families. Sometimes people will post our private communications on other websites, which only serves to reinforce that we made the right decision the first time around. We don't share these communications because frankly they don't concern anyone but Doug or myself.

I think back to a few years ago, while we were going through some growing pains with the Lightning forum. Sal (PSP) would probably be the first to tell you that he hated me. He was banned at one time for violating our vendor policies. We worked it out like adults and he was welcomed back and is a very important part of the F150online community. Unlike others that we have banned, Sal never sent me an email calling me a d*ckhead or telling me that I would regret my decision or threaten me with legal action.

This site is run by adults and always have been, not by college kids. I am a 33 year old professional, have been married for six years and have an 8 month old child. Doug is ... umm ... older than me.

Yes, this site relies upon advertising, supporting vendors and product sales to survive, so yes it is a business and needs to be run that way. Is anyone getting rich? Nope. The best month I had this year after taxes and expenses was $1200.

 

as long as banning is taken with seriousness and judgement i think we can all live with it....

 

I was just going to post what Steve said, but he beat me to it. I was banned about a year after I joined this site. I was a nice guy, I helped everyone I could, I made informative posts, but the fact is I broke the rules.

This is not freedom of speech. You cannot say anything you want. This is a private site, and when you registered, you agreed to abide by the rules. You break the rules, and you face Steve's wrath. It's that simple.

I don't always agree with what Steve and Doug do here on this forum. But what my personal feelings are, are irrelivant, because I am not running this site. I learned my lesson and now I just play by the rules now, because I like it here .

 

Wrath? Thanks Sal.

 

Don't drag me into this.:o

 

Watch it, the Carolinas were next on our list. Hmm, or was that the Dakotas? I'll have to check...

 

I'll be crawling back into my hole now thank you.

 

Well I have not read all the rules yet all the way through but I think that banning people for posting something on another site is a bit too much Nosebleedspeed for example was banned for posting a funny picture about an F-150 Online meet which was a joke and I know Mark was here quite a bit and always helped people by answering questions they had. Along with him you banned anyone else who wrote a responce in that site I think that is wrong in my opinion I am not trying to start anything just don't understand the logic it was not posted here I agree some people go overboard but I don't see it being the case here
Harry

 

In TampaSVT's case he rode the line on the policies for years, sneaking over time and time again. Based in part on his reputation and contributions, He was given chance after chance. Eventually he decided that he didn’t care, JUMPED over the line and basically started telling me where I could stick the rules. The next step was obvious.

Sal and JIM@JDM and Spiro are just a couple examples of folks who were banned for violation of the policies. After some time they opened an offline dialog with Steve and myself and were considered for reinstatement.

As Steve said none of them threatened my life or did anything to materially affect my ability to make a living.

As Steve said ALL TOO OFTEN one side of the story is seen here and we are portrayed as the bad guys. Then when I try to defend my actions by explaining some more detail, people pick apart that as well. It ends up being a no win situation with an audience as big and varied as this one...

In the past few weeks I have considered MANY alternatives to lower the Stress factor that has resulted from the BS here. Going to the 1/8th mile track the other day and running some side by side runs door handle to bumper with Sixpipes, finishing within hundredths of the same ET, helped me remember why I do this.

Let’s Move on....

Doug

 

So SVTWHITEROCKET, if somebody went around town making up stories about you, insulting you and defaming you, you would actually welcome them into your home? I wouldn't and I won't. I pay the bills around here and people that get off on insulting me or Doug are simply not welcome.

Common sense would dictate that if you are insulting me then you don't have any desire to be in my home anyway for any other reason than to continue insulting me. Otherwise, you are two-faced hypocrite and how can anyone respect a two-faced hypocrite?

Plenty of people speak their minds when we ban somebody and contrary to what you posted, not everyone that speaks out against a ban is banned as well. People that cross the line from inquisition to insulting criticism or resort to personal attacks or libel may wind up being banned. Again, you do not see the email communications we receive, nor do you see the hundreds of attempts to register on the site with inflammatory usernames just to cause problems.

Doug and I work hard to maintain this site and we don't welcome people that insult us, regardless of where it occurs. I don't have the drag racing outlet with my 1997 F150 that Doug has. And since I sold my VFR after our Son was born, the best I can do is sit at home in front of my PC.

 

Hey Steve, where is Jersey on your list?

 

Hmm, the Jersey shore is clear for a while. Central Jersey should be fine, too. That stinky, smokestack ridden part just over the G.W. may become a high priority target.

::::ducking from those that live in East Orange::::

 

>>Right here<<