P/R/E restructure

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Restructure the P/R/E area?

Poll ended at Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:34 am

Yes
19
50%
No
8
21%
Other - please comment
11
29%
 
Total votes: 38

GreatLakesRailfan
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 4828
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2005 12:28 am
Location: Marysville, Michigan

Re: P/R/E restructure

Unread post by GreatLakesRailfan »

I'm probably a little late to the discussion (ok, ok, there's really no probably about it). I haven't had nearly as much free time to waste on the internet lately and hadn't realized the PRE area was up for restructuring. Apparently I need to check the posts there a bit more often than I've been checking them.

I didn't have time to read each post above this one completely but I did note that quite a few people are questioning why those offended by the posts in the P/R/E forum are still reading the posts in the forum. Back around the election, and even for a while after the election I was involved in posting and read posts in the forum (back when I spent less time at work). Over the last six-nine months I've gone from reading just about every post made in every forum here to just reading the posts whose titles sound interesting (or which were posted by people whose thoughts/observations tend to interest me). I've actually quit reading the PRE forum more than once or twice a month, not so much because of the content posted there, but due to time constraints (I simply don't have enough time to sit and read everything, then try to form plausible arguments about why Gregg is wrong :twisted: )(I'm kidding, Gregg :lol: ).

I don't believe the PRE forum has harmed the way I would interact with other members of the site. I do believe that my participation in the forum allowed me to better understand how other members of the site, with whom I don't see eye to eye with, view various issues and topics. It has helped me to see things from their points of view, even if I don't (and won't) believe their points of view are correct. If nothing else, I have a better idea where others are coming from in their posts in the other forums on this site. Our political/religious/extreme beliefs and viewpoints have a significant impact on our worldview and our worldview has an enormous influence on our hobbies. Take, for example, the example of EMDAceSteve, who was banned from the site some time ago. I don't see eye to eye with Steve on a lot of things, such as how well Canadian National is run and exactly who should benefit most from CN's operations. Had Steve been actively involved in the PRE forum, through the discussions there we may have been able to learn more about why Steve feels the way he does about CN and CN's management, rather than the posts we see every once in a while on other sites from him. I believe it's important to know what factors have influenced a person's character and personality in order to gauge the legitimacy of their posts about things, especially things they seem to care strongly about. I believe the PRE forum has helped to foster an environment in which we can discuss things that are not directly railroad-related but that are separate enough from railroad-related discussions to not fit onto a revised or restructured PRE forum but which can have a profound impact on the railroad-related discussions, even those which are just barely railroad-related.

While I'm at it, and since I'm sure most of you who started reading this post have since skimmed over the rambling above and are busy reading the next post below this one right now....I will mention that I have not yet used the friends/foes/etc. function of the "new" site yet. I have a pretty good idea as to whose view points I tend to agree with and whose I tend not to agree with. Those posts I tend not to agree with, I do still read, although I will take them with a bit of salt, for flavor if nothing else. I usually wind up learning something, even if I don't agree with the overall point the post is trying to make. I do enjoy the fact that there are so many differing points of view here and that those with different points of view DO make the effort to post, at least once in a while. Hence, as I might've referenced above, although I don't always agree with Gregg's posts, I do appreciate the fact that Gregg does post on these forums, and that he did so last fall despite all of the opposition to his posts (including the rather personal insults that were probably more the result of misplaced emotions than actual animosity toward Gregg or any other poster in the forum).

I'll try to wrap this up by stating that I believe the P/R/E forum was a valuable addition to this site and I believe that it has contributed greatly to the community aspect of this site. As railfans, we like trains, but we're more than just railfans, we're people as well, people with non-train interests and lives that are separate from our railfanning activities. The P/R/E forum has helped us to build ties and (dare I type it) relationships with other members of this forum based on things that go deeper than favorite paint schemes, locomotive types or scales we model in. It has also provided entertainment that isn't exactly appropriate for the Off-Subject forums. I'd prefer to see it stay intact, as is, because there will always be political topics to discuss, most of which could have implications in the railroad industry, but which may not be directly related to railroads (has anyone been keeping up to date on all these psycho politicians running around the state of Illinois lately? It's crazy, I tell you).
~ Charles W.

GreatLakesRailfan
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 4828
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2005 12:28 am
Location: Marysville, Michigan

Re: P/R/E restructure

Unread post by GreatLakesRailfan »

hoborich wrote:Here's an idea. Keep the P/R/E board, and post a tutorial at the top, carefully explaining how to avoid reading posts one is not interested in reading. Then post the E-mail address of a priest the complainers can send their complaints too. :lol:
I like this idea too. The main down side would be for the poor priest chosen to be the recipient of the complaints...
~ Charles W.

User avatar
SW
Rail Trail Explorer
Posts: 11082
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 10:51 pm
Location: Owosso, MI - 1 mile north of the GLC

Re: P/R/E restructure

Unread post by SW »

Great thoughts, Charles!
Owosso Steve

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~Z~
Sofa King Admin
Posts: 12893
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 2:14 pm
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Contact:

Re: P/R/E restructure

Unread post by ~Z~ »

Through these discussions, we have arrived at removing access to the P/R/E section. I will keep all of the threads intact, but will not be viewable.
In eliminating this section, religious talk should not continue(not that it really was talked about much to begin with), adult nature posts(extreme) won't have a place here either. The only political nature posts that I'd like to see are railroad related ones, and those should go in the respective forum to which railroad topic they relate to.
AS Charles mentioned, the P/R/E forum was good for letting us be more of a community. I know the off subject area has been used for that as well, and I'd like to see that continue. Many of us have lots of thoughts/opinions outside of railroad related subjects, so I'd still like to see those, but we need to steer clear of political/religious/extreme subjects.
As for the pay-to-play idea, as long as donations come in and get close to paying off the monthly server fees, I'm not going to force anyone to pay to post on the site.
Thank you all for your input on this matter, and thanks to those that enjoyed using that section.
FYI, in about 2 weeks, I'm hoping to open the 3rd section of this site to some testers to start. It involves documenting railroad related data. PM me if you might be interested.
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Railroad photos on Railroadfan.com

User avatar
J T
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Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 7:23 pm
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Re: P/R/E restructure

Unread post by J T »

hoborich wrote:Kinda like "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists"!
So....which one are you?

:lol:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimthias/
GRHC - you know every night I can imagine he is in front of his computer screen sitting in his underwear swearing profusely and drinking Blatz beer combing the RailRoadFan website for grammatical errors.

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Jetlink
Not a Railfan
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Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2011 2:41 pm
Location: 2.5 miles from CH 116.3

Re: P/R/E restructure

Unread post by Jetlink »

Awesome to see this return. Thanks to the Admin! :mrgreen:
interested in trains

Patiently waiting for LansingRailfan to antagonize me in his tagline

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