Why, What's The Big Deal?

[Foolish]

I don't really care about the new rules, but I'm not so fond of the somewhat haphazzard enforcement.
Example: If someone posts up a link to Mazda's official site about a new model, no one's going to delete the link, and that makes perfect sense, this is a Mazda forum. But, if someone posts up a link to a non-authorized seller of Mazda parts, the mods are supposed to delete it. Does Mazda directly support this site? No, but links to Mazdausa.com stand, as they should. It is uneven enforcement of the rule, though.

My other problem is the new "no posting other Mazda communities" rule. If there's a thread on another forum that contains good information, we should be able to link to it, so that other members have that information. Isn't the main purpose of this forum to support the users, and provide them with a resource for information?

Example: If someone posts up here looking for MPV info, I'm going to send them to MPVClub.com, cause those guys know the vans inside and out, and there's probably only a 1/2 dozen people on here that have one. Deleting my link to the "other club" isn't going to stop the MPV owner from needing the information, it's just going to stop them from easily finding the information and make them think we're a bunch of pricks. If they come here, and are told "hey, welcome to the forum, we don't know much about MPVs, but feel free to stick around anyway. These other forums may be able to help" they're going to check out the other forums, (which they would have anyway) realize the MPVClub forum is not active, and come back here to hang out.

There are also a lot of threads now with broken links in them to really useful information, because that info was on another forum. This is bulls***.

I'm not leaving, but I can see why people are pissed. Nobody likes to be censored. The "other forum" rule is a bad rule and is only going to hurt members and the forum as a whole.

 

[Lt. Dan]

I don't really care about the new rules, but I'm not so fond of the somewhat haphazzard enforcement.
Example: If someone posts up a link to Mazda's official site about a new model, no one's going to delete the link, and that makes perfect sense, this is a Mazda forum. But, if someone posts up a link to a non-authorized seller of Mazda parts, the mods are supposed to delete it. Does Mazda directly support this site? No, but links to Mazdausa.com stand, as they should. It is uneven enforcement of the rule, though.

My other problem is the new "no posting other Mazda communities" rule. If there's a thread on another forum that contains good information, we should be able to link to it, so that other members have that information. Isn't the main purpose of this forum to support the users, and provide them with a resource for information?

Example: If someone posts up here looking for MPV info, I'm going to send them to MPVClub.com, cause those guys know the vans inside and out, and there's probably only a 1/2 dozen people on here that have one. Deleting my link to the "other club" isn't going to stop the MPV owner from needing the information, it's just going to stop them from easily finding the information and make them think we're a bunch of pricks. If they come here, and are told "hey, welcome to the forum, we don't know much about MPVs, but feel free to stick around anyway. These other forums may be able to help" they're going to check out the other forums, (which they would have anyway) realize the MPVClub forum is not active, and come back here to hang out.

There are also a lot of threads now with broken links in them to really useful information, because that info was on another forum. This is bulls***.

I'm not leaving, but I can see why people are pissed. Nobody likes to be censored. The "other forum" rule is a bad rule and is only going to hurt members and the forum as a whole.

My thoughts exactly!

 

[vindication]

I didn't even know about these changes. shows how much I'm on here now. those rules should not apply. I can somewhat see the vendor linking, but what if it's a known site like awrracing.com, or greddy, or haltech or jcwhitney....etc. As for the not posting other mazda sites, what is this, an iron curtain?

 

[Kansei]

And don't forget, these are maybe 10-20 people out of like 2000+! I just don't see it being that bad.

well.. more like 5 people out of nearly 30,000.

 

[Hughes412]

I don't really care about the new rules, but I'm not so fond of the somewhat haphazzard enforcement.
Example: If someone posts up a link to Mazda's official site about a new model, no one's going to delete the link, and that makes perfect sense, this is a Mazda forum. But, if someone posts up a link to a non-authorized seller of Mazda parts, the mods are supposed to delete it. Does Mazda directly support this site? No, but links to Mazdausa.com stand, as they should. It is uneven enforcement of the rule, though.

That's totally different. Mazdausa isn't going to be selling aftermarket turbo parts or UDP's and they are most likely not going to be in direct compitition with the other vendors on this forum, that is unless the vendors start to sell cars!

My other problem is the new "no posting other Mazda communities" rule. If there's a thread on another forum that contains good information, we should be able to link to it, so that other members have that information. Isn't the main purpose of this forum to support the users, and provide them with a resource for information?

Example: If someone posts up here looking for MPV info, I'm going to send them to MPVClub.com, cause those guys know the vans inside and out, and there's probably only a 1/2 dozen people on here that have one. Deleting my link to the "other club" isn't going to stop the MPV owner from needing the information, it's just going to stop them from easily finding the information and make them think we're a bunch of pricks. If they come here, and are told "hey, welcome to the forum, we don't know much about MPVs, but feel free to stick around anyway. These other forums may be able to help" they're going to check out the other forums, (which they would have anyway) realize the MPVClub forum is not active, and come back here to hang out.

This again is a no brainer for me. If you see something on another forum just copy and past it here on this forum, just be sure to put that if isn't your post. You don't what to take credit for something that isn't yours.

There are also a lot of threads now with broken links in them to really useful information, because that info was on another forum. This is bulls***.

I'm not leaving, but I can see why people are pissed. Nobody likes to be censored. The "other forum" rule is a bad rule and is only going to hurt members and the forum as a whole.

I do see the broken links and yea that is anoying, but like I said in a short time that will be gone and all will be right.

 

[Kansei]

I'm still confused about the gray area with companies like racing beat, corksport, AWR, etc who I don't think sponsor the forums but are reputable resources.. but then also do compete with authorized vendors on here who sell their products.

oh well

 

[Foolish]

That's totally different. Mazdausa isn't going to be selling aftermarket turbo parts or UDP's and they are most likely not going to be in direct compitition with the other vendors on this forum, that is unless the vendors start to sell cars!

Actually MazdaSpeed sells sway bars, partial turbo kits for the Proteges, any stock MSP parts that a sedan owner wants to upgrade to, and so do several of our venders. That is direct competition.

This again is a no brainer for me. If you see something on another forum just copy and past it here on this forum, just be sure to put that if isn't your post. You don't what to take credit for something that isn't yours.

We could do that. It's redundant and a pain in the ass, but we could do it. But why should we have to, really? There are other forums on the web. Many of them relate to cars. Many of them relate to Mazdas. People can figure this out on thier own. Pretending they don't exist isn't going to make them go away, and while they are technically competition for this forum, knowing about/joining one is not exclusive of being a member here.

I am a member on three other car forums, but I only go there for information. I come here for information but mostly for the people, and the sense of community. That sense of community is what is lost when the admins start dishing out heavy-handed rules that hurt the members. I know this is a private forum. I know it's a business. But these two censorship rules both have a feeling of completely paranoid protection of the bottom line, and they're bad for the community. When I don't know if I'm allowed to post about a cool new product I found and post a link because the vendor isn't a sponsor of the site, I don't bother to post about it at all, because the link may get deleted, and then no one sees what I'm talking about, so I've wasted my time. If people don't post the info, no one sees it. The community loses out. If I get sick enough of it, I'll find another community, this community loses anything I may have contributed to it, AND the admins' effort to keep their advertisers happy has caused me to STOP looking at their ads. It's a lose-lose situation.

I do see the broken links and yea that is anoying, but like I said in a short time that will be gone and all will be right.

Where are the broken links going, exactly? Whenever someone asks a question on here that's been asked before, we tell them to use the search. Search doesn't know that all the info in the threads it links to is gone now. This makes search useless, the forum less useful, and hurts the community. Once enough damage is done, everyone will leave, and where's the bottom line then?

 

[Hughes412]

Actually MazdaSpeed sells sway bars, partial turbo kits for the Proteges, any stock MSP parts that a sedan owner wants to upgrade to, and so do several of our venders. That is direct competition.
We could do that. It's redundant and a pain in the ass, but we could do it. But why should we have to, really? There are other forums on the web. Many of them relate to cars. Many of them relate to Mazdas. People can figure this out on thier own. Pretending they don't exist isn't going to make them go away, and while they are technically competition for this forum, knowing about/joining one is not exclusive of being a member here.

I am a member on three other car forums, but I only go there for information. I come here for information but mostly for the people, and the sense of community. That sense of community is what is lost when the admins start dishing out heavy-handed rules that hurt the members. I know this is a private forum. I know it's a business. But these two censorship rules both have a feeling of completely paranoid protection of the bottom line, and they're bad for the community. When I don't know if I'm allowed to post about a cool new product I found and post a link because the vendor isn't a sponsor of the site, I don't bother to post about it at all, because the link may get deleted, and then no one sees what I'm talking about, so I've wasted my time. If people don't post the info, no one sees it. The community loses out. If I get sick enough of it, I'll find another community, this community loses anything I may have contributed to it, AND the admins' effort to keep their advertisers happy has caused me to STOP looking at their ads. It's a lose-lose situation.

Where are the broken links going, exactly? Whenever someone asks a question on here that's been asked before, we tell them to use the search. Search doesn't know that all the info in the threads it links to is gone now. This makes search useless, the forum less useful, and hurts the community. Once enough damage is done, everyone will leave, and where's the bottom line then?

But the main reason that I see is these are stock parts. And they are over priced most of the time any ways. I see the difference here, I can't understand why you don't. I wished I was a better speaker, I would try to explain it. But I think I'd just end up messing it up.

The thing about the rules. What do you expect? You get a few people running their mouths and trying to make the owners of the site look bad. Ofcource they are going to tighten the rains. If you tryed to make me look bad I'd kick you off too, or edit your post because it's my site. Antoine was been very leanant as far as I'm concerned. I'm not nameing names, but there were and are a lot of people that were and do start s*** and they have not kicked them off yet. I'd banned there asses along time ago. I've seen several AV's take s*** about members and that's a nono.

It all boils down to, this is just an internet site. If it makes you mad log off and go get a beer, kiss you girl or guy and don't worry about the small stuff. I just had a parent teacher confrence, that sucked!

 

[bazooka joe]

so true... no one is irreplaceable.. even me.

i'm not sure about that lisa!!!

oh, i still love this place!!

 

[BadKarma]

I feel I must chime in and say that in my several months of being a member here, I've found the environment to be helpful, friendly, fun, and informative. The people here are very cool and, regardless of any changes made recently, the forums are welcoming and great to be a part of.

That is all...

 

[girth]

There are other forums on the web. Many of them relate to cars. Many of them relate to Mazdas. People can figure this out on thier own. Pretending they don't exist isn't going to make them go away, and while they are technically competition for this forum, knowing about/joining one is not exclusive of being a member here.

And now the moment you've all been waiting for - MY 2 cents!
I agree 100% with the quote above - censoring out the other car forums because you essentially don't want other people to know about them is a dumb idea. I mean it's sort of a slap in the face - as if we're too stupid to figure out what the other forums are.

What I find sort of surprising is that Antoine feels the board is sailing along just fine and it seems he thinks this forum is superior to other car forums. I have a very limited exposure to other car forums but even in that limited exposure I have found a different one that I like much more....it reminds me of how THIS board used to be actually. It's not because there's more info over there - it's just because it's more fun to surf around on and more active even though it has a smaller user base. His goal IMO should be to not just be the "biggest" and "best" Mazda board but to be the biggest and best CAR forum. It's headed in the wrong direction to ever become that IMO.

 

[MiaTurbo]

I'm sure we all agree on one thing: Fadi is awesome and none of us want him to leave. We should all bow down to his almighty FSMs that pwn us all!.

 

[girth]

I have to stay....just to see if Fadi's incessant leg-humping of chicks ever pays off hehehe

 

[smo0f]

I have nothing useful to add, so I'm just going to point out spelling and grammatical errors, because Lost just ended and I have nothing better to do for the next 5 minutes.

Keep in mind this is not personal. I am just killing time until my guest arrives ( I already pre-gamed, so I'm good to go).

First, why the capital S in Saying? 'Is it really that big [of] a deal it' ??

'privet' = private?

effected should be affected

somehow you spelled privilege right, so high five on that one.

stricked....niiiiiiiiiccccceeee - i think the word you're looking for is 'strict'

'A whole new group of people will know start to take over.' What do they know? Huh? now

the m in Moderator shouldn't be capitalized, they're not God.

'I for one am happy with the way things are ran here.' You're messing up your tenses here. 'are' is present, 'ran' is past, it's either 'are run' or 'were ran'.

'Over all' is one word, overall.

But yeah, I guess I agree with you for the most part.

I have to ask, why are so many people Saying they are leaving this forum? Is it really that big a deal it the owners what to change or enforce any rule on a privet site? You guys take this so seriously yet half of you really arent even effected by it. The way I see it if they want to change things let them. It is a privilege not a right to be able to post here. It takes money to run this site and like all things costs go up, so its only right that things change to offset that rising cost. Then you have a few new rules because the powers that be felt that someone did something wrong. Now I know that they were not just automatically banned. They had a chance but blew it. You cant tell someone how to run their own s***, that makes them mad. Do you really blame them for getting more stricked with the rules? If I owned a shop and my employees and customers bitched about how I ran things I would fire the trouble makers and run the bad customers off. As with the shop, a little advertisement will go a long way. This forum will survive. Most of you leaving will be back. A whole new group of people will know start to take over. The MSP, P5 and the 3rd gens will be the equivalent to the 1st gens now. Maybe its the military in me, but rules are rules and it doesnt matter how long youve been here or if you are a Moderator. Everyone has to follow the rules. I for one am happy with the way things are ran here. So things can be better but over all Id give it an 8 out of 10. If you guys will stop trying to be chiefs and be happy with what you are giving, remember its FREE to be here and FREE to sell things and make friends here.

So stop being so dramatic and let it go. Some of you really do have a lot to give to this place and the new guys coming. But non of you are irreplaceable!

 

[iLisa]

i'm not sure about that lisa!!!

oh, i still love this place!!

(kiss) thanks..

 

[yashart_mp3]

I don't have to remind everyone that this community has been online for over 5 years. We've heard our share of apocalyptic claims by attention ****** over the years and guess what...We're still here...The reality is this is a damn fine community full of a lot of awesome people and no amount of BS from the peanut gallery is going to change that!

You are oblivious to the world.

The only reason people stay/ stick around, is because there is no other established Mazda Forum. Many members are leaving not only because of the new rules, but also directly because of your actions. The whole MAM situation still bugs me, but I'd rather not get into it again. This forum does have a lot of good information, and some really cool people. Will I be leaving, nope. Do I like whats changing around here, nope. I still think your a dickhead, and that wont change

 

[slayer4u]

The reality is...These "drama queen" types are always the same...They usually number no more than a handful but they make it seem like the ENTIRE community is falling apart...WHY?...Simply to push their own agendas, get attention or because one of the Mods or Admins didn't kiss their ass...

I don't have to remind everyone that this community has been online for over 5 years. We've heard our share of apocalyptic claims by attention ****** over the years and guess what...We're still here...The reality is this is a damn fine community full of a lot of awesome people and no amount of BS from the peanut gallery is going to change that!

I could care less about most of it but I can't see your logic behind the link sensoring. it's not like those other mazda forums are taking business away from you is it? Perhapes you can explain this to me....


Hughes, If leaving such a rediculously unimportant topic then why bring it up? It seems somewhat foolish to bring it up if you really don't care about it.

 

[Kansei]

Just give people their answers antoine. People WILL leave if you keep up the secrecy.. at least let your moderators and SUPERmoderators aware of the changes you make. It isn't very professional when the supermods get caught off guard like that.

Like yashart said though.. people are here because there isn't another forum for all of us to go to

There's so many cool people here, and so much information, and such a great community spirit.. but the community spirit is degrading and what is being done about it? More restrictions.

People want answers about the M AM situation, about why S U was treated so differently than M AM, about the censorship... If you at all care about this community you'll give us answers. I know I'm just one members among thousands voicing out here, and I'm not much of a veteran member since I registered in 04, but still.. hear us out. I still feel that with some small changes this could be the best Mazda forum out there.

 

[Hughes412]

Well thanks for pointing all of that out for me. I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't corrected. I'm just so bad at multi tasking. I have a hard time processing loans and taking calls and playing on the net. And damn this dyslexia just sucks. I say one thing and put another, kind of sucks. I guess it's a good thing that I'm a loan processor for the stat. I don't have to worry about the little s***.

Oh by the way, it's not personal buy you're a dick.

I have nothing useful to add, so I'm just going to point out spelling and grammatical errors, because Lost just ended and I have nothing better to do for the next 5 minutes.

Keep in mind this is not personal. I am just killing time until my guest arrives ( I already pre-gamed, so I'm good to go).

First, why the capital S in Saying? 'Is it really that big [of] a deal it' ??

'privet' = private?

effected should be affected

somehow you spelled privilege right, so high five on that one.

stricked....niiiiiiiiiccccceeee - i think the word you're looking for is 'strict'

'A whole new group of people will know start to take over.' What do they know? Huh? now

the m in Moderator shouldn't be capitalized, they're not God.

'I for one am happy with the way things are ran here.' You're messing up your tenses here. 'are' is present, 'ran' is past, it's either 'are run' or 'were ran'.

'Over all' is one word, overall.

But yeah, I guess I agree with you for the most part.

 

[slayer4u]

somehow you spelled privilege right, so high five on that one.

lol that for some reason struck me as funny.lol