On Sat, 08 Nov 2003 06:25:06 +0000, Joe Parsons wrote:

On 7 Nov 2003 00:53:16 -0600, noah wrote:
We deserve better. The group deserves better. It is my opinipon that the
level of OT posting is now inviting outside trolls to pump up the OT.

Again, in case I haven't said it for the last 15 nanoseconds or so: the problem
in rec.boats is NOT off-topic posts. Those are just fine, IMO.

have been told that "this is the way it is". That rec.boats is
an open forum, like the lounge at the yacht club.

I have belonged to, or been associated with, four yacht clubs in my life. I
have *never* seen this kind of bickering, even in the most heated discussions.
Most people just don't behave like this in Real Life(tm). There's too much risk
of confrontation--even of personal injury. Here, we see lots of posturing and
rhetoric--but generally from the safety of anonymous accounts.


I gotta side with Joe on this - it's not the OT posts, or even political
"debate" - it's the bipartisanism that invades ALL posts in this NG. If you're
"conservative" and post an on-topic post, it isn't long before a "liberal" will
start at the very least making assumptions about the way you think, and more
likely start attacking you personally. (and vice versa...).

A shiver of dread goes through me every time I send a post, OT or not, to this
NG, because most replies are vicious, personal and/or political (fortunately
Canada is Multi-partisan, so there's less "proving" one party is good by
"proving" the other party is bad), and I'm basically sick of it. It's SO much
easier to wait until someone else posts something and then attack them.

I belong to a fishing message-board and there's also a "OT" (they call it NFR -
Not Fishing-Related) debate there. But there, the atmosphere is SO much more
friendly! NFR posts are usually humourous, even the "highjacked" FR posts, and
there's very little personal attacking (except good-natured barbs, etc)

It's the overall "tone" of this NG, in both on-topic and OT posts, that makes it
suck so bad.

Lloyd Sumpter, Green Party supporter