Another "straight talk" thread.

[hk45ca]

Ok, well as I said... it appears that unless you had thousands of complaints pouring into your PM box, that my assumption was correct and that a FEW are able to deem what is appropriate for all.

And to be clear, ALL members then have the same ability to convey their each and every objection to material on this forum? Until which time the staff feels they have overstayed their welcome and are asked to stop wasting their time.

SO, hypothetically speaking if I as a single member had 143 open web browsers with 143 individual PM's ready to send to each of the staff members(143x 12)... each registering a complaint about either a piece of text or image that I find unacceptable the staff would honestly bring each item up for discussion and make an HONEST decision as to each items acceptability?

I find that VERY difficult to believe. And I must ask, are the answers you are providing YOUR answers? Or are each of these questions being brought to discussion?

AND if the membership needs to feel no fear of retribution for asking questions... then why am I getting emails (off forum) from members who state that they agree 110% with me but would never post that in the open forum? Its obvious... what is perceived to be the thoughts and feelings of the membership are at least in some cases incorrect.

this thread is for members to ask questions about things they don't understand or know about. you have been on the staff and you already know the answers to the questions you are asking. you above all people don't need a 30 page decision on why you can't have a improper picture as your avatar or in your signature among a myriad of other rules you keep trying to skirt.

i am growing tied of this game so proceed with caution..... or not, it's up to you.

 

[hooligan]

raffle off watches?

:facepalm:


If I wasn't still pissed about that scenario, that would have been kinda funny.

 

[levelmanroger]

OK - I've been around for a while and many of you know that I have no axe to grind. So here are my opinions/observations:

1) CBR - I'm sorry some doubted your integrity. I've never seen you as anything less than an honorable and helpful person. But know that a few fair-weather friends on a faceless forum turning their backs on you does NOT in any way diminish your value or honor. And considering your continued service to our country, I'd be proud to call you a friend in most any circumstances.

2) I feel the Mods/Admin here do a phenomenal job - and a difficult and thankless one at that! With thousands of members from all over the world, all age ranges, and all life circumstances, it is nearly impossible to find a balance that most would agree with. And I, for one, feel our Admin team has done it. Kudos to them and I will be making another donation today as a small token of my appreciation.

3) Offensive Avatars and Pics: CBR, here's where friends can respectfully disagree. While I find many pics such as yours and {{EDIT: Gio's (sorry Alvi)}} very enjoyable, beautiful, and artistic, the line for me is one of intended sexuality. As a middle-aged family man (not all on the forum meet this description), I often peruse the forum while sitting in the den with my kids in the evening. My 6 year old often wants to see the watches etc. that I am looking at.
PCSams avatar, while showing a naked arse, is in no way sexual or sensual. It is funnny. And I'd say the same regardless of the gender of the subject, because of the situation.
Yours, however, is intended to be sexy. It connotes sexual overtones. While I'd love to see more, I don't want to happen upon it unexpectedly while my 6 year old is peering over my shoulder.
That would go for a boss peering over the shoulder of many here who need to keep their jobs, and for a wife to those whose spouse is not as understanding and tolerant.
In other words, I personally don't want to be cruising the internet for watches and have to explain to anyone why I'm looking at sexually suggestive images.

4) Raffles: I never won one, so screw 'em. :lol:

5) Hooligan: Props to you for having the guts to open this thread, allow uncomfortable discussions, and stand your ground with tact and dignity. Many others would have just been reactionary by now, but you are handling things with decorum. And that is what sets this forum apart from so many others.

So in conclusion, we will all have to agree to disagree and yet remain "friends" and forum-mates in the process. The Staff here have a difficult job and even if they are too lax one time and too stringent another, we just have to accept that they are doing the best they can to keep this place a comfortable home in cyberspace.

There's my $0.02, and pretty much as worthless as all my previous posts.

 

[hooligan]

Well said, Roger.

We can't please everyone all the time, but we *do* try. Hopefully that shows.

 

[trailboss99]

Thankyou Rodger. Very well said.

Originally Posted by wat44
raffle off watches?

:facepalm:



Col.

 

[trailboss99]

A few pages ago a question was asked about gen raffles.
There will be future gen raffles if a suitable watch becomes available and a member is in the position to purchase said watch on our behalf. However for the foreseeable future we will not not be raffling anything above 1200 dollars and the ticket price will not exceed 20 dollars. Any admin/mod/member purchasing a watch for raffle will receive what they paid for it and shipping costs only. The cost of the watch and the return to RWI will be made clear to all members. Monies raised thru raffles (gen and rep) will all go to a fund that buys prizes and GAWs for contests and further raffles, not into the operating fund so the return to members is as close to total as we can manage. Operating costs will be met by donations and subscriptions. Not one cent of raffle monies outside of justifiable expenses will go into anyone's pocket, the whole idea of raffles to me is to enable us to give something back.

Hope this clears up the issue of raffles.



Regards, Col.
RWI Chief Admin Officer

 

[alvinado]

Guys I am the raffle meister of RWI, was about to launch the latest gen raffle when i saw this.

Trailboss is right, tickets will not exceed 20 dollars at maximum. If the watch is bought at $800 , it will be raffled off at around a grand with some funds donated to the forum.

Coupled with the shipping with DLH/Fedex with insurance of the true value of the watch to the winner and also the money suckers in between like paypal, how much do you think the forum can get?

The staff are here on a volunteer basics, we all have our jobs and commitment outside in the real world, just like any of you, we choose to put our time and efforts to better the forum. We KNOW that our members do like gens, so we procure them to raffle off. And we try to find great value, hard to find watches. That is my direction for future raffles, unless any one of you wants to take over.

T, I know you are a stand up guy and I respect you for that, but some of your responses here are out of line and out of sight.. I am deeply disturbed..

I do hope I have shared some of my insights here.

Alvin

 

[If you see Kay]

How much money does it actually take to run a forum like this annually and the hard costs such as servers, etc.? I've always wanted to know.

 

[reeder139]

How much money does it actually take to run a forum like this annually and the hard costs such as servers, etc.? I've always wanted to know.

Thanks guys who answered my questions already, the above is another question I'd like the answer to.

Also, I too, in my limited experience think the staff do a good job and it would be impossible to please everyone. Obviously members may have their own personal beef with the forum and staff etc... but none from me.

I think its clear there are people from all walks of life using the forum and so the policies/rules must keep anything that could be interpreted as offensive in any way to a minimum.

Otherwise, ultimately the forum would lose members until the membership consisted of a small few who aren't offended by anything and at that point the forum would be far less useful.

For what its worth, i think the current rules and staff and the way the rules are enforced find a very nice balance and will probably keep the maximum possible number of people happy.

 

[CBR]

this thread is for members to ask questions about things they don't understand or know about. you have been on the staff and you already know the answers to the questions you are asking. you above all people don't need a 30 page decision on why you can't have a improper picture as your avatar or in your signature among a myriad of other rules you keep trying to skirt.

i am growing tied of this game so proceed with caution..... or not, it's up to you.

I learned a very long time ago to only ask questions that I have the answers to...
I also did not create this thread, and have been told that this WAS the place to ask these questions... SO which is it? Ask or dont ask? Answer or dont answer? Respond to the stupid assed comments about wine and medication or let them slide?

 

[R2D4]

Well my claims of CBR's medication or lack there of is unsubstantiated and it was a figure of speech. So I withdraw my "off your meds" comment on the basis of what the French call a certain, I don't know what.

CBR, I just have a skeptical side and it doesn't show too often. It usually comes out when I don't understand an-others ultimate motivation. I always ask questions when I don't understand something and this means, I really don't have an answer or a question. If that makes any sense.

 

[hk45ca]

I learned a very long time ago to only ask questions that I have the answers to...
I also did not create this thread, and have been told that this WAS the place to ask these questions... SO which is it? Ask or dont ask? Answer or dont answer? Respond to the stupid assed comments about wine and medication or let them slide?

why would you waste our time asking questions you already have the answers to? you know we all have jobs and donate our time to this forum. do you not think our time would better serve the community answering questions for members that don't know the answers and need the help? this is getting tiresome.

 

[CBR]

Thank you for the retraction R2... Im sure you do have a skeptical side. We ALL do. And I probably do more than most.
As I replied to your PM, no worries... I really, truly and honestly AM NOT trying to "blackmail" the staff or RWI. But I have to admit, that was funny!
I will ask no more questions, as it has been made clear that I was confused in thinking that I was allowed to ask what I wanted.

why would you waste our time asking questions you already have the answers to? you know we all have jobs and donate our time to this forum. do you not think our time would better serve the community answering questions for members that don't know the answers and need the help? this is getting tiresome.

Thats a very simple one, and Im fairly surprised that you dont understand... I am but one of over 20k members... I have the answers, but they do not. Maybe they WANT to know the answers, but dont have the time or inclination to actually ask. I do however.
I asked the questions that I thought the membership may want to have answers to. Would you have preferred me just ANSWER the questions for them?
PLUS, I truly wanted to see what answers I would get! Its all about transparency, remember?
No worries... No more questions...

 

[hooligan]

...Respond to the stupid assed comments about wine and medication or let them slide?

Hey, YOU brought up the "bottle of wine a day" thing, not me. It was supposed to be a joke - trying to lighten things up a bit. :wacko:

 

[Wiz]

Even if I feel like I'm interrupting a family meeting, there is something I'm bothered with:

Somewhere in this thread I read something like "I don't want my 5 and 9 years old to ask why dad is looking at nasty pics".

I'm not a dad myself, but I often have kids at home (cousins, nephews, nieces, ...) and I don't want them to see porn pics if they look at my computer screen. But there are some other things that I don't want them to see on my screen, like ... guns.

I have no problem with the way other people choose to live their lives, and if someone wants to live surronded with guns, who am I to tell him he shouldn't...?
But to me, gun pics are violent images, and I don't want my nephews to be exposed to violent or pornographics images (at least not on my screen).

So if porn pics are prohibited, I was wondering why gun pics are allowed ?

Thanks.

 

[hk45ca]

gun images are not violent, images of the damage they can do to flesh is another story and wouldn't be permitted.

 

[reeder139]

I have a few more questions regarding the relations between this forum and the others:-

1) Although I am a member at repgeek, I do not frequent it and I've never been to RWG, are these other forums run/owned by the same people?

2) What are the main differences between RWI and the other two?

3) Why do I get the feeling, although obviously I've never bothered researching it properly, that members here believe RWI takes the moral high ground.

Thanks.

 

[R2D4]

I have a few more questions regarding the relations between this forum and the others:-

1) Although I am a member at repgeek, I do not frequent it and I've never been to RWG, are these other forums run/owned by the same people?

2) What are the main differences between RWI and the other two?

3) Why do I get the feeling, although obviously I've never bothered researching it properly, that members here believe RWI takes the moral high ground.

Thanks.

Hi reeder,

I think you will find that all the forums are similar in content and memberships. All of us are here to discuss watches. Each forum has there their place in repdome. I am not going to classify RWI against them because it would be a personal opinion.

I don't think the moral high ground label is appropriate because we are all participating in a hobby with illegal contraband. I will say this, I don't think this thread would be allowed on the other forums.

 

[sconehead]

Hmmmmm...Terry knowledge is power...enjoy your trip...by the way mate, while we're being transparent, I never did get that SMP GMT with the broken crystal...you never did answer my pm's about it...any news? I didn't think it was worth rocking the boat about at the time, 'tis but a trifle to me...but somehow, this holier than thou, I know more than you attitude you suddenly seem to have developed jogged my memory...sad really, ex-mod with an axe to grind...methinks...

 

[sub4me]

WTF?? Its been known for a long time whats acceptable here. F, I used to have a green dildo in my avatar placed thier by the admin and I liked it, however its gone and for some reason I can't sell a dill pickle here either, go figure, crazy sh^t.:sub4me: