[TomBrooks]

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With all due respect

[/ QUOTE ]Meaning of course that you intend to show no respect whatsoever. You really could have made your valid constructive points without paragraphs of gratuitous insults.

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Stellar,

My comments above sounded harsh but were not intended to be personal or insulting. Had I had the luxury of more time to rewrite and refine them I could have better achieved that goal.

MODERATORS ARE USUALLY NICE GUYS
I think most moderators, and I know this about MrWookie because he is the moderator of the forums I participate in most, are nice guys. They generally want to be helpful, they give freely of their time, they obviously care about the forums, and they contribute a considerable bit to them. I can say that about MrWookie in particular - for instance, he has contributed some well thought out and written FAQ type posts.

MODERATION SKEWS A FORUM
Notwithstanding that, I stand by the points I tried to make. This thread itself shows why perfectly. Some people want stat posts. Some people do not. If a moderator decides to change something about the stat posts, some people will like it, some people will not. No matter what a moderator does, many people will consider it a detriment rather than an enhancement to the forum. Therefore, there is virtually no decision any moderator can make that is a good one for everybody.

The more things a moderator moderates, the more a forum is artificially skewed from representing the true interests of the participants. For example, perhaps 50% of the people want to read stat posts, 40% want to read downswing threads, 35% want to read x, 30% want to read y, and 25% want to read z. If the moderator removes stats, downswings, and x, y, and z, chances are that almost everybody have will have had one or more things removed that they would have preferred weren't.

THE BENEFITS OF DOING NOTHING
Now if a moderator does nothing, those that like stat posts can enjoy and benefit from them. Those that don't like them can address their criticism directly to the OP or they can refrain from opening and reading them. This is a simple solution that is good for everybody and requires no tinkering.

This allows the forum to self moderate, similar to capitalism in an open market. Supply and demand forces will tend to make the forum conform to the types of posts people want in proportion to the extent that they want them.

THERE IS BEAUTY IN AN OPEN FORUM
It is a beautiful thing to watch a forum self-moderate. To the extent that a post is liked or disliked, or someone is seen as getting out of line, other posters will like clockwork almost auto-respond in appropriate measure. There is freedom of speech and open debate. Opinions are exchanged freely. Diversity is honored, respected, or learned about. People grow.

There is nothing a moderator can do to improve that. By definition, it is the absence of a forced hand that allows it to happen.

Regards,
Tom