Except for GQ threads where the question has been answered.
What we have here is a thread in MPSIMS where the OP was faced with a lot of flak due to perceptions of other posters (including me) that his attitude towards Tupac being possibly gay are questionable or weird. Unable to stay away from the thread, unable to explain himself, he requests the thread be closed, and lo! two posts later it is closed.
What’s up with this? Special treatment, or what?
I agree. I was reading that thread with my mouth open, aghast. I would have liked to see it played all the way through.
At least Tupac can stop turning over.
There are some threads that yeah, close those suckers. There are others that seem to deserve being moved elsewhere. Like, the BBQ Pit. This one seemed like a good contender for the latter.
What the fuck is that?? I have never, ever, ever (everever) seen a thread closed at the request of a poster.
I DO recall, however, Mod notes stating that they don’t do that and tough shit etc. etc.
I object that I didn’t get a chance to object.
I request that the thread be re-opened so that I can object, per Ambivalid’s comment, the thread’s closing.
That thread was a bit of a trainwreck right from the start, and it seemed to me that it wasn’t ever going to get better. It didn’t look like a good candidate to be moved to another forum, though if anyone wants to start a pit thread about it, feel free. The OP requested it to be closed, and under the circumstances, I figured that was probably the best thing for it.
We generally don’t close threads just because the OP or anyone else requests it. In this case though, it seemed to me like the best course of action.
Actually, we do it fairly often.
Be fun to do a little work (actually probably wouldn’t take much) and make a list of threads that:
[ul]
[li]Were a trainwreck from the start, and/or[/li][li]Seemed like they weren’t ever going to get better, and/or[/li][li]Don’t look like a candidate to be moved to another forum.[/li][/ul]
I think we could all name a poster or two whose entire catalogue of OPs checks off all of these.
Not sure why this is a special case. Ambivalid has a history of posting OPs in which he immediately has to dig his way out of them. Not sure why he gets Mod help in this case.
Ok, I take it back. But, most of the time is begins with the OP saying “Since there is no GQ answer to this, mods can feel free to close it” or something along those lines.
Not “Since I’m getting my ass piled on for posting a stupid OP and then doubling down, I request that the mods close it.”
We’ve done that in similar cases on occasion.
I reported that thread for closure myself, since I didn’t think it was going to be productive to leave it open. We don’t leave trainwrecks open just so they can continue to be trainwrecks.
If the main thing you want to do is berate the OP (which seems to be the objective), as has been said you can go ahead and open a new thread in the Pit.
But look: It’s one thing for a mod to step in and close a thread because it’s a trainwreck.
It’s another to do it because OP requests it because they regret starting it. I suppose there may be examples of that particular situation, but I while I can recall some of the former, I can’t recall any of the latter.
And I think Roderick Femm’s question is valid: He’s not asking why mods closed a thread that was a trainwreck, he’s asking since when can an OP just up and ask and have that wish be granted.
And I think that thread actually was pretty productive, RF’s posts among others. I think there was some good communication on-topic on the part of several parties.
If I’m reading this correctly, Ambi’s request corresponded with something that the mods were already contemplating. Mods also close threads that are train wrecks due to, for example, misogynistic content. I’m surmising that the thread would have been closed either way for objectionable subject matter.
“Thread closed per OP’s request.”
Didn’t he also say, “the mods can close this if no one objects”? I think that’s the key phrase there.
I never got a chance to object. At the very least, we should have had three (3) days after such notice was posted to lodge an objection. If there were any objections, that should have automatically triggered a 30-day public input period, followed by an open-doors meeting of an Ad-Hoc Special Committee on Exceptional Thread Closings.
Only AFTER this process (or a similarly thorough one) would I ever, ever consider dropping this.
Or.
Maybe I will now.
Mods, if no-one objects, feel free to close this thread.
I object! Don’t close this thread!
Anyway, there was about a half hour between requesting thread Claire and actual thread closure.
F* it, I’m out.
Waot, did I miss something? Who’s Clair?
Claire is the evil imp that controls my spell check.
She’s a hateful little thing.
I thought it should be closed as soon as I started reading it. Once I got down to the closure request, I reported it since I’m not a mod of that forum. I don’t know if engineer saw it before that.
Well, then, obviously we weren’t just following the OP’s request. It was decided to close it whether or not anyone objected.