i've noticed recently a jump in negativity…. or just users plain being rude, at GB.NET. i feel this should be looked at more, and something done about it. this is probably one thing that drives a lot of members away.

“Being miserable and treating others like dirt is every New Yorker's God-given right.”
-Mayor Lenny

is the mood slime rising in the sewers? are fur coats coming to life? are other things from the ‘flip city’ montage happening? nah man, im just kidding… i just couldnt resist. cant we all just get along?

I can handle this now this is very good stuff b/c i made my toaster dance with it. ***Hoses Everybody*** K that should do the job

thanks river! maybe gb.net users will start being nice to each other.

EVERYONE, please take a moment to read this.

There's not very many members like that, but you've got a HUGE point there, and I think it should be addressed immiediately. I'm not naming any names, but a small number of members just can't seem to get these rules through their thick skulls, and into their weak minds:

* Message board posts must be clean. No lewd conduct, language, or photos will be tolerated. Language used in the films is ok, but don't go out of the context of your topic and don't go overboard. Topics which contain anything questionable will be deleted, no questions asked. Even if they are related to Ghostbusters, there is no need for filth.

* Do not get into flame wars. Threads will be deleted if members insist on using the Ghostbusters Message Board as a war ground. Posting personal messages, good or bad, will not be tolerated. Use email to carry on personal grudges or conversations.

* Ignore members who insist on causing trouble. The more you pay attention to them, the more they act out. Email mods@ghostbusters.net as soon as you see something offensive and they will take care of it right away.

* Encourage other members. Do not slam other members for any reason. The only way the community can grow is to nurture each other's ideas. If you don't have anything nice to say, keep it to yourself. Rude posts will be deleted. If a user is acting out of line ignore them and email the mods (see above).

I know at least several members who have broke ALL of the above rules:

One is just plain rude to everyone. He threatens, he bashes, and he's just all around randomly rude to anyone. Even to people that don't even know him. He just seems to keep on getting away with it too. He thinks he's a “real” Ghosthunter, and seems to brag to others about it, while bashing them.

Another one is an extremely weak-minded (No offense.) rude person. He goes into random posts, and just yells off-topic comments at people. He usually does this when questions are asked, as topics. He'll go in, bash the asker, and give them a rude, off topic answer to their question. He also seems to think that the Mods are “afraid” to deal with him. I know for a fact that that is NOT true. I remember several times when his rude posts were deleted by the Mods.

The two members mentioned above, have INDEED been warned on numerous occasions to cut it out. But they continue act that way, and don't respect authority.

And last but not least, we have several other members, who seem to think they can get away with anything and everything, and won't get banned, “just because they've been in this community longer than us”. And everytime they get into trouble, they use that lame excuse, and it works! That alone, is the most pothetic, pittiful, and weakest defense that I have ever heard! None of them have been banned yet, but yet they seem to think that Chad is a “Dictator”. If he was a “Dictator”, then they would've been banned a LONNNNNNNG time ago, considering all the stupid, uneducated choices they've made. Then after they've bashed the heck outta someone, with profanity and other rude comments, they'll come come back and give the lame excuse of “I guess I was wrong, and I'm sorry, and it won't ever happen again.”. Then the next day they'll come back and do the same thing all over again.

Ryedale, I don't know how you do it… i mean it's mostly copy and paste but you type way too much. I think you have a very great point there and I wanna know why and how you do it lol. *Downs a glass of positive slime*
BTW Who was that mod you talk about? email me if possible with the answer, x0aguilar0x@netscape.net

If I had anything other than the ability of edit/delete, I would likely listen to the complaints we've been getting and ban them in an second and be done with it so no one has to listen to it anymore. I know I get tired of hearing it on a daily basis(just as a member its not something I joined to be a part of on this site). Some negative attitudes have no place in the continuing positive growth of this community.

Then again, I can't do anything to change it. Tell it to them. They'll just tell you to lighten up. There's nothing they should really even bother trying to say in their defense. Just my opinion that this is the only real problem with many people on this site that has yet to be addressed. Chad makes those decisions though. Who stays and who goes. I'm guessing it will continue to be a neglected problem though.

“Message board posts must be clean. No lewd conduct, language, or photos will be tolerated. Language used in the films is ok, but don't go out of the context of your topic and don't go overboard. Topics which contain anything questionable will be deleted, no questions asked. Even if they are related to Ghostbusters, there is no need for filth.”

this one is sooooo loose in exactness its hard to say. depending on the mod, you cant say “bs” in the chat room. thats the two letters “b” and “s” meaning a word, of course, but its clean for visitors that are in the chat. visibly its cleaner than the real word, and lot more polite. also, “damn” and “hell” arent tolerated very nicely from said mod. other than that i dont see much of the rest. because i doubt anyone is lame enough to go around posting porn and garbage like that.
now im going to wonder if i was one of the ones mentioned in ryedale's thing. hm.

Maybe we should just stop looking at negative posts in a negative light. Be more positive about negativity!

Example:

new_user: I just found this new site, it's called (**shameless plug***) The Unofficial Ghostbusters Download Center!

old_user: You moron! That's been posted a bazillion times!

Now, instead of saying to ourselves, “Self, that old_user is pretty harsh”, we could be more positive and say, “Self, it sure is great to have a new user on the site”.


Whaddaya Think? No?!?
Well…maybe my method doesn't work so well after all

Wow! Part of my post has been deleted. I guess it's for the best, though. I don't want to offend that person.

Well, as far as that profanity issue mentioned above goes, I don't use profanity. It was an old bad habit that I don't use on here, and I'm still trying to get rid of it, verbally.

And about the Mods. The Mods have indeed been a great help. They've been very helpful, and kind to me. Especially Zack, Netsolo, JESUSFREAK, castewar, and the others. They've also encouraged positiveness on GBN. Not to mention, they've been generous enough to give many of those “bad choice makers” more than enough chances to cooperate, yet they still caused trouble.

And Brian is right about bashing new members who mention already-known-sites. We should apply that method, and help out the “Newbies”. That reminds of one day when this happened:

Member: Can Someone make me a new sig banner?
2nd member mentioned above: DO IT YOURSELF LAZY BONES!

Now that was uncalled for. He didn't even have to respond to that topic. Yet he did, and he was rude. He could've suggested e-maling or IMing Banner making members.