Ok guys here goes, this one is from the heart so if it offends please dont bother to waste your breath replying. Comrades, as of late there has been much anarchy on the board, in one guise or another in very small pockets. First let me start by saying that to me there is a select few who fit into 4 categories 1.) Regular Contributors 2.) Occasional Contributers 3.) New Contributers 4.) and finally those who read but dont contribute. For me the regulars make this board, the likes of Kevan, Grahams, Stevef, Noony, 512 Tea Are to name only a small few, all bring their own indvidual something to the board, its is a broad spectrum of people. Yes there have been pockets of arguments, theres bound to be. Then theres the occasional poster. They come onto fchat read a few posts, take offence to them, shout and scream about how bad the world is when a ferrarichat forum aint talking about ferraris 24x7. If only they would read back further and see what a conversation is really about and take it in the correct context. The new contributers, through no fault of their own, sometimes go straight on the offensive, saying why aint everyone being serious, talking about a clutch change or what type of polish to use. If only some of them would bother to search the archives to find this information. I do believe that new contributers are wholly welcomed to the board, some take fchat as a great way to make friends and talk generally about cars and a bit of general gassing. But here for me is the point i am making, those who read but dont contribute. In the last two days i have had 3 pm's from people who as far as I am concerned have not contributed, do not know me but wanted to either vent their anger or get information from me. The first I did not mind one bit and was asking about my I.T accreditations, which I am more than happy to share with anyone who I can help or has a genuine interest in. The last two not so much so. The first was a deliberate attempt to find out who my share dealing broker was, I have been emailed and pm'd about this. Firstly I dont particularly find this offensive but just annoyed he didnt ask it over the forum and I have never seen this guy post nor has he tried to make conversation with me. Would you ask a stranger who he banks with? NO The second was complaing to me about why I stated that dealers have cars on sale or return. Yes its a fact of life that dealers do this, but to me does not excuse the complete farce encountered by a fchat member at winchester cars. The guy then continued to say why not check his website, then posted a link on the forum in a thread to his webiste saying try these guys they have loads of that type of car. ADVERTISING- which is prohibited when advertisers pay good money to Rob for the privilege The above two I can take with a pinch of salt. I have not moaned to Tonyh about this, frankly he has better to do with his time. What I will say is, its poor that certain peoples posts get closed just cos a few people take offence to them. Well get this guys, its the 21st century and we have freedom of speech. Not everyone is gonna agree with you or not offend you on one point or the other. How many times has someone has dissed a certain make of model car on here and the whole board is in uproar. Lets get back on track now, simple solution if you dont like a post dont read it, if you dont like someone put them on yer ignore list and lets make tonyh job (which he does brilliantly) easire by not telling teacher all the time. Lets face it if you grassed on someone at school you would have got filled in Steve If you took offence to this post then .....tough
Dear Comrade and Fraternal Brother Stephen Paynter M8, First Class Post. I concur with every bit of it. This site should definitely be an ochlacracy rather than the democracy some would wish it to be. Ha, Ha! And that's my two penny's worth - for the moment. With kind regards, 512 Tea Are - Tea Arse - Tear Arse
Very well articulated post , Steve. You all have no idea how tedious this section is becoming to me personally due to all the moaning and *****ing between members, both on the forum and via PMs. As a result of this and an increased workload, i will be in the background as a Mod and a contributer from now on. Rgds Tony
Great Post Steve, but something you didnt cover is when another member of F-Chat starts posts to offend another member, get his back up and mock him on purpose when all he did was ask people's opinion on the colour of a car, yes not a Ferrari admittedly. Is this fine ? Thank you to everyone who has sent me a pm recently regarding set posts and your encouragement for me to continue using this site !
sad its come to this tony, just sometimes you read posts on here and its like, eh what on earth is this guy moaning about, lifes too short and I would hate for anyone else to leave as everyone has something to contribute, only some more than others and on different playing feilds steve
Dear Comrade Toe-knee Hand-cock M8 Archangel of Ferrari Chat, Sorry to learn of this - all such a pity. Steve f was only saying yesterday on the telephone what a difficult job it is moderating us lot. My apologies should I have caused you unhappiness as this would never be my intent. With kind regards, 512 Tea Are - Tea Arse - Tear Arse
well said stevep but who wrote that for you ????? The only thing that i think is wrong is the school kid manor of pm tonyh to complain we are mostly all grown ups on here so why keep bothering the teacher tonyh. who does this of his own free will with no payment it probably costs him money doing it Not everybody likes the same and get on if they did there would be no wars soilders policemen ect so if you dont like a topic dont get involved if you do well sort it out without involving tonyh thanks PS [proper ferrari's have 12 cylinders in the rear]
Well said Steve. Hope you don't get many more odd pm's. This is Ferrari chat and not the fight club. I would suggest group hug, but someone would complain or get squashed...lol.
Tony we seem to have been here before - and just before we went to Silverstone too - I hope the two aren't connected. Whilst I agree fundamentally with what Stevep has said I feel we all owe it to the forum to listen to some of the censure that is being levelled at us and see if it is warranted. I think it would be very helpful if you Tony could give some unambiguous examples as to what has made you want to slip into the background. Some of it I am sure will be crystal-clear and I too am finding too much of the humour well past its sell by date. The fact that it rears its ugly thread in virtually every thread is really rather sad - by all means lets have some humour, but please lets make it a bit more original. Whilst I respect everyones right to freedom of speech, if this isn't tempered in some way, then we will simply have posts about the same old, same old and that will only drive more and more people away. Perhaps we should use the cafe more - perhaps we should have special unique threads for posting v12 vs V8, Starfish posts etc etc, rather than having them appear everywhere. This is only my initial thoughts in the hope of stimulating the debate that Stevep has so magnanimously instigated. Please do not let this degenerate into a mud slinging match, but let us have an open and honest debate, where everyone feels able to state their opinion without risk of ridicule.
Dear Comrade Reggie M8, I apologise. My posts are really only meant as persifiage and never ever intended to cause real offence. Sometimes things do get a little out of hand on the board. I am sorry. With kind regards, 512 Tea Are - Tea Arse - Tear Arse
Stevep Nice note and many relevant points. I would encourage as many people as possible to join the meet-ups and drive outs as getting to know and understand each other seems to result in less on-line conflict between people. As I recall the cafe was intended to be the place where lots of Off-topic discussion took place and people didn't seem to mind what the subject was and people should try and use it rather than a new O/T thread all the time. take care and look forward to meeting up at Silverstone ( & Lime Trees ) regards James
cant really use the cafe for starfish posts as children use it they should be in the off topic with the bikini thread but v12 v v8 is ok but its all a bit of fun anyway what sort of **** iam i going to get if i buy a 360 cs but thats life and i dont care i am big enough to take it
Reggie i have pm'd you so hoepfully you wont take this the wrong way but do you not fall into points 2 or 3? if i were to take offence at every post then i would be known as the guy who hires his ferrari, which is a relica and never goes out in the wet. see what i mean?
512 Tea Are I appreciate and accept you apology. The problem is that i dont know you at all to be able to take your post(s) as a slight joke or with a pinch of salt. I wouldnt walk up to a stranger in a pub and jokingly say, 'hey fatty' , but if his friend came in and said the same thing, very different conotations ! Its also very difficult to say what we mean in words as tones of voice and facial expressions arent conveyed through typed word ! We have to work with what we got. Thanks for the message, Reggie
Hi Kev, the V12-V8 debate springs to mind . I have been around here longer than most and the arguements are always due to a couple of egos colliding. It's hard for new members to get a look in as some regulars hijack threads with in - jokes no one else gets . This has been going on for a couple of years.
Dear Comrade Steve M8,, It's all true then? Is it an MR2 underneath the cladding or what? If this is the case you should be okay in the rain as the stick on panels are fibre glass. With kind regards, 512 Tea Are - Tea Arse - Tear Arse - trying to do his best make enemies.
Steve the only things on f-chat i have found offensive were some of the comments about parking in disabled bays as i have a disabled father and the post from Tea Are which he has apologised for and hopefully sorted as it was specifically aimed at me. The v8-v12 thing doesnt offend me, i just find it a bit much all the time, and i think the banter and jokes is a neccesary part of this site to keep in fresh. I dont think i have shouted and screamed other than those two points ! I dont want to cause any problems and i certainly dont want to offend anyone and hopefully i havent !
I think Reggie explained it in the next post stevep - I think the more established members 'know' the personalities and their humour and are therefore less likely to take offence. It's a bit like that new kid at school feeling - so perhaps we ought to try and refrain from hijacking 'newbies' threads ?
nice one reggie we are all just and upright men of sound judgement and strict morals, this is my point, it is hard to guage a character from what is posted, sometimes things are taken well out of context, You will also notice you have hit the nail on the head with not knowing someone. I am waiting for the people who pm'd me to explain themselves
