# Yay, we've been saved from ourselves again! **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 5, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013 "2012-05-05T18:41:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/21 "2012-05-05T22:38:05Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > If there’s enough of a community to make 10 viable goofy threads all at the top of the forum page then they’re the actual content. > > Czarcasm, if posting never mind stripped all the meaning from the thread, it would have had 0 replies and disappeared into the bowels of the forum. Since it didn’t, clearly it meant something to someone. Clearly it meant something different to each poster, which means that the title of the thread didn’t make it clear what the thread was about which is, once again, against the rules. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/22 "2012-05-05T22:40:44Z")
Moderation is useful for eliminating spammers and handling poster disputes. Moderation is not useful when it attempts to change the tenor of the board. There’s no reason to assume that allowing the walmarticus thread to remain open would have turned MPSIMS into any more of a free-association game than it already is and if it did, then it’s because the community in aggregate wanted it to be that way. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/23 "2012-05-05T22:41:18Z")
Here’s a little test: Who here(besides the OP) can tell me what **jali** had in mind when he posted that thread? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/24 "2012-05-05T22:44:18Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Clearly it meant something different to each poster, which means that the title of the thread didn’t make it clear what the thread was about which is, once again, against the rules. What’s wrong with something meaning different things to different people? It’s clear enough that she had something to say about the poster Walmarticus although, what that was, I couldn’t tell you. What you have failed to do, however, is explain in a satisfactory manner why one must rely on the title to provide necessary context instead of the OP and why when it’s clear that posters are ok with that lack of context, the moderators feel it necessary to close the thread anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/25 "2012-05-05T22:48:36Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > What’s wrong with something meaning different things to different people? It’s clear enough that she had something to say about the poster Walmarticus although, what that was, I couldn’t tell you. What you have failed to do, however, is explain in a satisfactory manner why one must rely on the title to provide necessary context instead of the OP and why when it’s clear that posters are ok with that lack of context, the moderators feel it necessary to close the thread anyway. I’m not going to explain to you why the thread’s title should have something to do with the thread, because it is self frakkin’ evident. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/26 "2012-05-05T22:51:54Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Here’s a little test: Who here(besides the OP) can tell me what **jali** had in mind when he posted that thread? Is that the only standard? The OP is only one post in the thread, which you closed in its entirety. A bad OP might be part of a good thread. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/27 "2012-05-05T22:54:50Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Is that the only standard? The OP is only one post in the thread, which you closed in its entirety. A bad OP might be part of a good thread. 1. I didn’t close anything. 2. The OP wasn’t good _or_ bad-_it wasn’t there!_. It seems that **jali** was going to post something, then changed his mind, posted “nevermind” instead, and walked away from it. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/28 "2012-05-05T23:38:28Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > This is a moderated board, but apparently you don’t like that fact. I happen to think that getting a sense of what a thread is about by looking at the title is pretty damn handy, but you seem to think that turning the whole MPSIMS into some sort of unmoderated free-association game would be fine and dandy. To each his(or her) own, but I think that such a forum would look like shit. Over-react much? Apparently the only way you can feel good about your position is by putting words in my mouth. \*I like this board. \*I like that it’s moderated. \*I like the moderator of the thread mentioned in the OP. \*Sometimes threads take on a life of their own regardless of the OP. \*Your own OP mentioned in post 8 failed to meet the rules you quoted in post 12, yet _amazingly_ it didn’t bring the board to it’s knees. No one used it to post-pad, it just sank away and all remained right with the world. You can continue to rail "but it’s a _RULE_!!! all you want but it doesn’t answer the question of why. There used to be a ‘rule’ about instantly closing zombie threads. People voiced objections and the ‘rule’ was relaxed. That’s how things can work, that’s what this forum is for. Surely you can understand that… right? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/29 "2012-05-05T23:44:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I’m not going to explain to you why the thread’s title should have something to do with the thread, because it is self frakkin’ evident. Then someone should have changed the title to match the OP. The reason Nemo thought you closed it is because you were a mod within recent memory, you’re acting as if you’re the mod who closed it, and if my memory isn’t faulty, it’s exactly the sort of thing you’d close a thread for. Jali is a girl. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/30 "2012-05-05T23:49:32Z")
What the hell, if a thread is active, good topic or not, why not let it breath? It’s not like it’s sucking the life out of a kitten somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/31 "2012-05-05T23:49:47Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Then someone should have changed the title to match the OP. The OP of the thread was “Nevermind”, as in “Disregard this thread, it was a mistake”. What the hell would you change the title to to make it match the OP? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/32 "2012-05-06T00:01:58Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > What the hell, if a thread is active, good topic or not, why not let it breath? It’s not like it’s sucking the life out of a kitten somewhere. You really don’t understand how the internet works do you? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/33 "2012-05-06T00:06:59Z")
Not that it really changes the discussion much, but just to keep our pronouns straight, Jali’s a she. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/34 "2012-05-06T00:13:35Z")
Czarcasm isn’t a moderator, so don’t waste lifespan arguing over this with him further. He has no authority to lock or unlock threads, nor do his interpretations of rules carry any particular weight. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/35 "2012-05-06T00:18:48Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Czarcasm isn’t a moderator, so don’t waste lifespan arguing over this with him further. He has no authority to lock or unlock threads, nor do his interpretations of rules carry any particular weight. Equal weight with everyone else posting here, including you. Right? ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/36 "2012-05-06T01:04:39Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > You really don’t understand how the internet works do you? OK, that was funny. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/37 "2012-05-06T01:10:19Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Equal weight with everyone else posting here, including you. Right? Yeah, but I’m not the guy running his mouth like he speaks ex cathedra on board matters in this thread. You are. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/38 "2012-05-06T01:17:47Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Yeah, but I’m not the guy running his mouth like he speaks ex cathedra on board matters in this thread. You are. If you think my opinion is wrong, tell me why you think so. If you think I’m junior modding, report me. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/39 "2012-05-06T01:38:27Z")
I vote for closing pointless threads. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013/40 "2012-05-06T01:48:03Z")
Just my modly 0.02 here, since I’m not a Pit mod and didn’t close the thing — I would have closed such a thread in IMHO, but left it open in MPSIMS. Probably Marley would tell you the same thing. If people are having fun in MPSIMS, even though it was basically content-free, there’s not a big problem there, to me, if people are being clever and having fun with it. But the other forums, eh, it’s a bit of a problem. They’re set up to discuss stuff, debate stuff, have questions answered, and blow off steam. If there’s content-free threads allowed there, then we aren’t really upholding the standards we set out to have. Make sense? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-weve-been-saved-from-ourselves-again/621013.md?page=3)