Should an HT forum allow posters to:

1.) Inform and advise us according to the manufacturers recommendations?
2.) Try to sell us on the products sold by their advertisers or the advertisers supporting the forum?
3.) Act as a meeting place for happy folks who all agree on HT?
4.) Be a forum for people to report on their good experiences and good opinions on HT equipment, manufacturers, and all things HT related?
5.) Be a forum for people to warn others of their bad experiences with those entities covered in #4, as well, so that they might not experience those same nightmares?
6.) Be a forum where folks can suggest ways in which those problem entities may correct those errors noted in both #4 and #5?

So… how do you guys see an HT forum?

Thanks!


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Take Care,
merc

If anyone believes that all 6 reasons are valid and legal posts on HT forums... then what forums do they actually think will allow them???

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Take Care,
merc

I don't have a problem with any of 'em. What I do personally have problems with, is people who trash equipment with no more credentials that a 6 year old. That unfortunately happens a lot on a lot of forums.

Another issue is *how* people get across all of those points in their posts. If I want to be preached to, I'll go to church, or a political rally. I believe that HT forums should be a place where people can learn new things in a constructive environment, and not have their faces rubbed in the fact that *someone* else might just know a little more than they do.

And then close minded people. (OK, I'm venting a little now.) Remember the dude here who had so many excuses why SPL meters were such a bad idea, that he wouldn't even try one even though he was so adament about how open minded he was? And then over the thread, a lot of his "variables" actually were refuted, and he just ignored that? Man...

I'll be honest, and say that I've learned more in the last few years on HTF (and some here! ) than the 20 previous years reading audio mags. Not that audio (and now HT) mags don't have a lot of info, just that the interactive nature of forums kicks major booty...

My 3 cents anyways...

Or... are you sure you just learned and examined ONLY what HTF wanted you to know and learn?

Are you assuming that HTF allows all 6 points as seen above?

[This message has been edited by merc (edited September 14, 2002).]

I think some of us are well aware that not all six aplly to HTF.. Can you say censorship to the Nth degree???

merc: just buy a banner ad....they'll let you say whatever you want.

and, of course i get your point loud and clear. truthfully, i assumed such going into that place. and please...keep up the good work.

I do agree that HTF is a little bit more restrictive than here. But it seems to be the individual moderators involved more than a general trend coming from Parker or Ron.

But I wouldn't put it quite as strongly as, "Or... are you sure you just learned and examined ONLY what HTF wanted you to know and learn?"

I spend time at HTF, here and AVS, and have also checked out other forums on audio/video as well as guns, gunsmithing and photography. My interests involve music and the outdoors, and while I frequent forums to learn, all of these forums are unfortunately also visited by a few pushy or egotistical people. HTF has a fair amount of these, but I agree with Kevin that you can learn much from these forums. This forum is the least restrictive of any that I visit. But as with any sampling of a society, each and every forum will always contain a wide variety of personalities. Some people rub me the wrong way. Others bother Kevin. Still others bother Merc. Differing opinions never bother me. It does bother me when someone cuts someone personally or cuts a product they have never used.

I totally agree about HTF. Its a shame when moderators actually intimidate users to take a position on particular products.

I had extremely negative opinions of Outlaw Audio just because moderators at HTF had no tolerance for anything but praise of the 950 even before it materialized and Outlaw had made a series of missed shipping date pronouncements over 6 months.

My budget forced me into buying the 950 anyway, and since I have, I've been very impressed with the product (for the price) and absolutely blown away by their over-the-top customer service. (Scott, you RULE!)

99% of us can weed out the postings from the uninformed, crazies, or salesmen posing as enthusiasts. But its the well stated dissenting opinions we're often most interested in.

IMO heavy handed moderation is absolutely counter productive to consumers and creates resentment and backlash to products the moderators support.

As one person noted here before, this forum is the most civilized AND the most free of moderation.

HTF is at the mercy of its moderators though. As soon as Mr. Simon came on board posts and threads were selectively deleted and people (including myself) were booted in droves with no explanation or justification.

I think the Outlaw forums are a model for what open and free discussion forums should be. And HTF is or at least was the posterchild of how overactive and "activist" moderation can destroy a boards credibility and reputation.

Once again, Kudos to Outlaw!

[This message has been edited by HT crazed (edited September 15, 2002).]

One problem with forums like HTF is that many people will never realize just how heavy the censoring is, at least until they are censored themselves. Same for AVS.

I once asked a simple question looking for an explanation to why copy protection on TheaterTek (PC DVD player) was heavily defended, while people were constantly discussing ways to defeat region encoding, overclocking CPUs, etc. Any software piracy discussions were censored immediately, while region hacks and hacks to 'unlock' pro features on cheaper software were allowed.

Of course, the answer is that AVS is a reseller of TheaterTek, and therefore has a vested interest in stopping piracy of it. Despite the fact that it's protection is far, far beyond that of applications costing thousands of $$$s, and is a major pain in the ass.

My post (and account) were deleted in less than 8 hours.