There's no question the tone of the boards changed dramatically when TER went to the multiple alias system. All of these issues, both pro and con, were debated but in the end, TER decided to do to the current system.
Of course, we're all using an alias, but when you only have one, you do tend to think twice about what you say in order to protect your reputation on the board. Just the opposite of today's situation where you can lob grenades at people and hide your identity with a different alias. I sometimes think there are only a few dozen people posting regularly, but using hundreds of different aliases.
A simple solution would be to allow a member only two aliases- one for posting and one for reviews, assuming they chose to use a different one for that purpose. This would encourage accountability on the boards, yet give anonymity for reviews.
Oh hell, I don't have any. Do you? If you could change the board going forward, what would you do differently? Maybe what you say will be incorporated; maybe not. Think of it as you making a New Years resolution that you don't need to keep. 
...and let complete anarchy reign. Also drop all rules re aliases. Or, how about a board where you can only post using an alias? No...forget about it. All these ideas suck and are not even half baked. Leave things as they are. Why fuck up a good thing?
Although flipping every alias ever used on this board, even for a limited time, would be humorous,
ha ha
We cannot have that. No one has ever figured out who I am.
Happy New Year
2011 = 69
Put the temp aliases on their own board. A half-baked, sucky idea is perfect for the aliases of a known alias.
Beter yet, make the board for disposable aliases constantly changing its board name and hiding behind ht and run anonymity. Like the board could be called PooPooGooGooHead one day and then IHaveFallenAndICantGetUp the next day. They would like that a lot.
Why don't you stop trying to police aliases its not your job and some of us have very valid reasons for using them.(and frankly I'm tired of you bashing my post bc i used an alias). There are already rules against the use of an alias for "hit and run post." Keeping in mind just because you don't know why I'm using an alias doesn't mean I don't have a good reason. The moderators have asked for aliases commentary from the peanut gallery to stop before, perhaps you missed it.
Thanks,
Doc
Beter yet, make the board for disposable aliases constantly changing its board name and hiding behind ht and run anonymity. Like the board could be called PooPooGooGooHead one day and then IHaveFallenAndICantGetUp the next day. They would like that a lot.
-- Modified on 12/31/2010 10:15:17 AM
Can you imagine the bedlam, mayhem, and general all around fucked up situation if they gave me the keys to everyone's cells?!
The National Guard will have to be called in. There'd be tear gas, rubber bullets, people in riot gear trying to control the whole fucked up deal.
I vote YES!!!!! lol!!!!
Winner gets to flip the alias of his/her choice
too many posts with a negative average they get moderated...
There are too many cliques on this board.
Quality should never be subject to mass opinion.
But we don't want too many to agree as that might be a mass opinion
I'd like to thank all the mods for another year of dealing with the kind of insanity only a forum like this could produce. Happy New Year to you all!
-- Modified on 12/31/2010 2:59:26 PM
1. Obliterate the rules that you arent going to enforce. That way I cant track them down, find their links, and then throw them back in your face and ask you why you arent enforcing the rules.
2. Actually enforce the rules that you dont decided to obliterate.
3.
Apply the rules and guidelines to everybody, all the time. Not just at your convenience, or to punish those you dislike and continue to not punish you favorites and legions of minions.
3. Get rid of the wimpy ass alias function, or for God's sake, give them their own alias troll board.
-- Modified on 12/31/2010 1:47:02 PM
Before I say anything else, Jaycee, I love you for posting this.
Unfortunately, none of this thread matters, because the boards on here long ago stopped being a community and, for whatever reason, became as ugly as most of the other boards online out there. Maybe it is too big and cumbersome to be moderated by volunteers anymore or Admin simply doesn't want to discourage any paying members, but for whatever reason, the tone of the boards is way different now than it used to be, and it long ago lost interest for me for anything other than seeing the few people I respect on here post.
More than anything, I think the alias feature is the biggest problem at this point. When the boards had a different tone here and were more of a community, posting with an alias had little impact on the boards. Now, it derails threads on a daily basis, and most of the decent posters have left long ago or post significantly less than they used to.
But all of this is academic. It's too late to go back, and many in charge wouldn't want to if they could.
I agree. there is the "flat" option now but when I view in that format the posts aren't in the correct order.
EX: the NO,NO,NO...post is near the top of this thread (as a side comment sort of.) when in tree format but is # 12 or something when in flat format and not connected to the post being commented on.
And in the same vein, maybe we need a Stupid Board so they'll have a home too.
I move about a dozen posts to the newbie board in a typical day. I've asked, no begged, for a stupid board or at least a "too stupid to post" denial reason for over a year. I'm with you, but it's not looking good. It's a shame too, because the Stupid Board would probably get way more posts than any other board.
Most of the posters falling into the "stupid post" category don't end up there because of inexperience or asking a "stupid question" in the hopes of learning something. That would be no problem- we've all been there.
I'm talking about the people that are so dense, so obtuse, so totally clueless, that even after 25 people tell them the same thing they try even harder to rationalize their own stupid behavior. Invariably, after all is said and done, they conclude that they're still right- just misunderstood.
These people deserve special recognition for their lifetime achievement in wasting other people's time- for asking for advice and not taking it, and for leaving more clueless than they arrived. In other words, they deserve a board of their own.
-- Modified on 1/1/2011 12:07:33 AM
And what fun would that be? 
It never occurs to the truly clueless/stupid posters that they might be, well, clueless and stupid.
I actually think it would be the most popular board. But lacking a board of their own, we'll just have to live with the General Discussion board being the "stupid" board. LOL.
OK, here's another one. Why do regular posts appear instantly (assuming you're unmoderated), but when you edit that same post, it requires moderator approval?
Since the majority of posts are probably edited for typos or mistakes in grammar, it doesn't seem like a very good use of the moderator's limited time. And even if they were edited for content, why would an otherwise unmoderated person have to be approved just for changing some part of a post?
It didn't used to be that way four or five years ago, and I've never understood why it is now, especially with the moderator's heavy workload.
Good point! I've been wondering about that, too.
Somebody comes along and calls you a shitbag. You react badly and they go back in and edit the post. All of a sudden you're the problem child. They can still start shit and edit, but it gets reviewed again. Most of the cases are simple fixes, and it does suck that they go back through the process, but as usual a couple bad apples mess it up for the rest.
Understood. Thanks, LP. The perverse permutations of this board never cease to amaze. I guess I'm just naive.
"If you could change the board going forward, what would you do differently?"
I would crack down on alias attack posts.
I will start out by saying that I like aliases as a whole. They serve many useful purposes like talking about something that is to embarrassing to have traced back to you or to protect the ladies you have seen when complaining about something not related to those you reviewed. There are other good uses for aliases as well. I use them from time to time myself. I want it clear I like and use aliases. I have no issue with those that use aliases for non attack purposes.
My issue is with alias attack posts. There are aliases out there that exist just to attack others. I have had my aliases outed by an alias in an attack post. (The alias did not say AnEscortsHusband is scoed but he/she did link the contents of my handle and my alias which did cause me issues and outed me to someone I didn't want to link the two TER identities.) I have had personal attacks on both me and even worse on my wife by aliases. Nothing is ever done unless you go crying to the mods like a three year old. Which I will not do. I have had a post pulled that in my opinion was no where near as crass as the alias attack post I was responding to because that alias cried to the mods and I did not. That bothered me.
MP67 is likely moderated for life, yet as a whole his posts are not anywhere near as bad as posts I see every day put up by aliases. He uses his real handle so people pick up on his faults and complain to the mods, yet there are much more crass attacks launched by those hiding behind an alias but because these attacks are launched under more than one alias nothing is done as the complaints don't pile up.
People do get away with more if they hide under an alias, no matter what the mods say. People launch attacks that they wouldn't dare launch under there handle as no one would ever see them if they knew what they where like. I am not saying that the mods are treating aliases special but they have said they do respond to complaints and aliases make it more difficult to see trends in behavior thus reducing complaints, and yes I do know the mods do see there real handle but those doing complaining do not.
I have brought it up in the past so I know nothing will be done but it feels good to vent about my only real complaint about the board.
There's no question the tone of the boards changed dramatically when TER went to the multiple alias system. All of these issues, both pro and con, were debated but in the end, TER decided to do to the current system.
Of course, we're all using an alias, but when you only have one, you do tend to think twice about what you say in order to protect your reputation on the board. Just the opposite of today's situation where you can lob grenades at people and hide your identity with a different alias. I sometimes think there are only a few dozen people posting regularly, but using hundreds of different aliases.
A simple solution would be to allow a member only two aliases- one for posting and one for reviews, assuming they chose to use a different one for that purpose. This would encourage accountability on the boards, yet give anonymity for reviews.
permitted is if to protect the hobbyist and the ladies he has seen. Assuming of course that the post could lead to an unfavorable result to the ladies.
If I post something negative (justified, not just sayin to say) without using an alias, a VIP member can see who I have seen and possible start a shitstorm.