To the Moderators...

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Spunjer

wow! went to work yesterday and when i came home last night, first thing i did was read cannonnm's hijacked thread. it made a very interesting turn, to say the least, lol. reading wayan's imitation of a female dog in heat was enuff for me to sit down and nuke some orville ridenbacher product.

i realize this is a scholarly type of forum; lots and lots of intelligent posts and posters, but it's ironic that with the nature of what we love to collect, any type of aggression are banned or locked. my thinking is, why can't we have a "Coffee lounge" page where forumites could be more open?

Hi Ron:

A fair question. A long time ago, before being asked to help moderate here, I asked much the same thing (a search for "supreme katanas" on the old forum would turn up an interesting thread). Back then, I thought watching written battles was great fun. Now, I dread them, and do my best to keep the peace.

Unfortunately, an otherwise enjoyable forum can quickly turn into a cesspool of flames and acrimony if such such things aren't stopped quickly. Anyone who has spent enough time on web discussion boards has seen this happen.

As moderators, we're acutely aware of the atmosphere of the forum, and take the responsibility of maintaining and fostering a pleasant atmosphere seriously. We do make mistakes. The only agenda, however, is a genuine desire to improve the forum.

Frankly, I don't really think of this as a "scholarly" forum. This is probably because I don't think of myself as anything more than a passionate amateur, certainly no scholar. There are definitely those here who are scholars, and I'm honored and pleased to have the chance to learn from them.

Several members have brought up the issue of a "lounge" to discuss off-topic subjects. If it were to happen, civility would still be a requirement.

Best,
Andrew