General Discussion Is Gone

I sincerely apologize that you had to witness that arguing. I was frustrated and confused at the time, but I recognize that it was unprofessional to bring those frustrations into the discussion server. I could have handled the situation much better, and I regret that our conversation escalated into a back-and-forth exchange.

That said, my perspective on the situation remains unchanged. While I accept responsibility for how I conducted myself, I still believe there are aspects of the situation on which we simply have different viewpoints, and I respect that we may have to agree to disagree.

 

and yet he is still arguing…. You have my utmost sympathy and respect Candace if this is what you have to deal with day in and day out.

 

I realized that now and I apologize. It was completely unprofessional to put that in a discussion setting in the public for everyone to be forced to witness.

 

I understand you don't want to give hopes, but at least you try to do you best. Thanks for that!

 

Candice and I both agreed to stop arguing. Let's move on, please.

 

I dont understand why a ban on one DTG medium doesnt equal a ban across all. Not issuing a carpet ban just means problems move over to another medium and youve said yourself the bar for banning is higher on the forums then it is on discord. Might explain a few things.

 

Nah it's all good and old business now, thanks!

 

I'd guess because they're not interconnected, people use different names and it'd be a helluva lot of work to chase the same person across 6 different platforms.

 

So the General Discussion section will STILL remain in the Train Sim Classic forum. D'oh!

Whilst posted in humour I think this is both a brilliant and viable option!

With all due respect Candace, closing down the GD section for TSW customers means many of us won't even want to use this forum afterwards so you waving the ban hammer around as a deterrent is a comically impotent threat.

 

Closing General Discussion would kill this forum near instantly.
Dovetail would not do any more damage than it already plans to.

 

Has abusal potential, too. Someone could just make accounts and "run amok" in the name of someone else on one of the other platforms, just to get them banned everywhere.

 

LMAO true

 

Can't remember where I read it, but I rather like the idea of merging the GD and OT forums and calling it 'Community Corner'. Especially if that forum has some additional community moderation (of which those of whom are responsible, cool-headed adults).

 

…I guess what I was trying to get across is that forum members are posting that some of DTG product(s) are broken/not fit for purpose and this is causing potential buyers NOT to part with their money AND this is happening on DTG’s OWN forum ! it makes good business sense to shut this forum down…not agreeing just saying !

 

So much drama. It's their forum and if they decide to have a pole dance section in it, what gives. I'd only miss the inputs from hundreds of beta-testers which guide me to a purchase (or not) decision.

Good thing SimRail went Playstation.

 

Community mods is a good idea, as long as theyre the right ones

 

Threatening to ban people because they disagree with a decision DTG are making just shows the attitude DTG has towards it's customers.

 

I would also like to state that Wikipedia, one of the largest sites on the Internet, is largely but not exclusively run by volunteer administrators.

I understand that Wikipedia is based in a different country and works on a different business model, but it shows that a site that the public can edit can be successfully moderated by its community.

 

Thats not a threat. Lol

 

Indeed, many of the thousands of 'independent' forums and sites across the internet.
I imagine Dovetail's concern is if anything happens in their name - although if they hand the forums to the community their name would likely be removed anyway. So I fail to see the issue with that one.

 

Exactly. I have no issue with moderators issuing a warning if someone makes a mildly distasteful joke. However, immediately threatening a ban over a lighthearted joke, without first providing context or a warning, feels excessive and unprofessional. A simple explanation or warning would go a long way toward resolving the situation respectfully.

 

JJ-dogg,
Could you please just stop it now!!

One post from you would have been enough, but no – it’s precisely because of people like you that DTG decided to remove the General Discussion forum.

And all the users here spent 12 pages pleading with DTG not to do it, and pointing out that it might also require banning a user.

And what are you doing here? You want to have a pointless discussion about why you were banned – are you actually all right?
If I’d been candacedtg, I’d have given you a 24-hour ban here.

And please just reply to my post.

 

OK, can you please calm down?

I was just replying to someone in a way that was not related to anything me and Candace had said. Besides, we both have decided to stop talking about it, so why are you bringing it up?

I just made a simple reply to someone, and I was going to keep it that way. Dude, just relax, OK?

 

This guy will never learn .. so I just gave him a “Perma-Ban” myself - jj-dogg ——> ignore list. There are times one must take matters into their own hands and not wait for higher authorities .


I feel if more would take similar actions to the chronic offenders rather than reacting and engaging, many of the more “salty threads” would peter out quite quickly.

Edit - After thought - before someone comes in and starts they have the right to talk or criticize in any manner they want , I agree wholeheartedly with your freedom of speech - Spent 22 years in uniform protecting that right. But Freedom of speech does not mean I have to listen to nor read it.

good day

 

Can you guys just calm down?

I'm not trying to start anything. I just replied to someone's comment, and I don't plan on taking it any further than what I did. I just responded to someone, and I did nothing more.

And when I apologized and agreed with Candace that I was not going to take this silly drama any further, I meant it.

So, let's all take a chill pill and simmer down, okay?

 

I understood that reference!

 

You were allegedly given 5 warnings though if I read that correctly.

 

Glad someone did

 

What did I just say? Candace and I have agreed that we are not going to talk about this in the general discussion.

 

Two quick notes:

There was a reference earlier in the thread to the allegedly small number of participants in the GD. However, if the previously quoted statistics are correct, this section has the overwhelming number of participants in the forums overall. Also, DTG should pay attention to the number of views in the threads, not just the posts. I, for one, do not post frequently, but I visit the GD daily - virtually never the other sections.

For an example of how independent forums can operate, take a look at Xplane.org. No affiliation whatever with Laminar Research, the developer of Xplane and has been running for years with strong moderator control. Unlike DTG, Laminar has close and responsive relations with it's user base, so criticism has a less tense outlet, but of course does not have the millstone of consoles limiting flexibility (no criticism of consoles themselves, just the limitations they impose)

 

Could you clarify what you wrote here, as there are two DTG employees on the list of moderators for /r/TrainSimWorld. If they aren't imposters pretending to be employees, they are still indirectly moderating the subreddit, and can potentially remove harmful comments to DTGs image?

 

Yeah, sure. I was just pointing out the contradiction is all.

 

What JJ did may have been wrong but ganging up on him is not much better.

Again behavior they want to curtail.

Theae GD threads shos the positives of having a GD forum, but at the same time they have shown its flaws and why DTG want to get rid of them as well.

It would be missed but I won't be that upset if it goes.

 

Yeah I know I’ve seen them post semi-regularly, they were also pretty active around the leaking of a couple of TSW versions.

They certainly step in when they want to - not saying it’s a bad thing but they absolutely can & do exercise control over that particular community.

 

No, nor was that the reason for her statement. All the stuff DTG lets go, yet people never stop trying.

 

Thank you! Like, I can't stress how guilty I feel for causing a back and forth between me and a mod in a general forum. I feel bad enough as it is, so to be ganged up on, it makes me feel like I’m some sort of pariah.

 

Gratitude.

 

As Bob Mortimer used to say, on Vic Reeves' Big Night Out, "that was MY idea". In a different thread, though, and not exactly as some are remembering:

 

Sledgehammer to crack a nut.

 

More strict on the forums? Don’t you come from the Land of Free Speech?

 

Simply leave negative reviews, if necessary, on the product page on Steam. PS store etc. As long as its not libellous it can’t be taken down!

DTG or any other company for that matter should not allow comments only curated in their favour. This kind of behaviour is typical of modern society where nothing negative is allowed….eBay feedback, product reviews, criticism of individuals or companies.

 

Is it really a good idea to start having a go at the staff at the one moment we want them to reconsider their decision? No wonder they want to shut down the forums, it is almost as if some people are trying to accelerate its demise! Have some self introspection for heavens sake.

 

This conspiracy nonsense that we're closing GD to silence criticism has to stop. The CM's allow all feedback as long as it is within the rules. We need criticism when things aren't right to know what we should be fixing! It's actually far more important than praise in most cases when written correctly. I believe one of the CM's cleared that up earlier in the thread.

 

I've been away from the forums for a short while, but normally I like to read discussions regarding upcoming DLC:s and be a passenger onboard the hype trains. We have some well known and respected users contributing a lot to the community and then we have some weirdos for sure (remember Synthetic Angel?) Without forums I will probably have much less interest in buying some nice routes/locos on release day. I know there will still be preview streams etc, but the feeling of something new coming will just not be the same, it will be more like a bunch of zeroes and ones with no "speculation and discussion history" between roadmap announcement and the release day. Hopefully you understand what I mean.