Be nice.

[Brian da Basher]

With the New Year it's time to remind everyone about good posting manners on the board.

Don't post anything you wouldn't want instantly broadcast to the entire planet. In many ways, the forum is no different than a public town-square and is much more far reaching.

Think before posting replies. If you have strong feelings against the post, take some time and come back to it later. If in doubt, don't reply. Before replying, try to imagine yourself in the position of the one you're replying to and other members that will read your post. Keep in mind that constructive criticism is usually best communicated privately via Personal Message, unless the recipient has publicly indicated otherwise. This is not to stifle discussion or reasoned, informed argument as long as it is conducted in a polite, adult manner.

Be careful posting personal comments about another member. Behave as you would in public in real life. You wouldn't make a snarky remark to someone you'd just met, or be unduly chummy either. Remember the forum is as much about building relationships as the real world, just slightly easier.

If you think a post is offensive or violates forum rules, use the Report to Moderator link at the bottom right of the post in question. The Moderating Team tries to respond as quickly as possible to every reported post. Reporting a post to the Moderating Team is much preferred over starting a public argument and usually a lot more effective.

Help keep What-If a welcoming home for all of us who enjoy this wacky hobby!

The What-If Moderating Team

[BlackOps]

If there have been many problems in the past, the mods are usually johnny on the spot for a cleanup, once again, a special thanks to those who keep our playground clean

[sotoolslinger]

Must agree . Having been guilty of snapping before I thought before I wholeheartedly agree with these guidelines. I must also say that this is one of the most friendly welcoming websites EVER

[cthulhu77]

I COMPLETELY DISAGREE  !!!!

(sorry Brian, I just couldn't help myself...you know what a troublemaker I am)

[Brian da Basher]

I COMPLETELY DISAGREE  !!!!

(sorry Brian, I just couldn't help myself...you know what a troublemaker I am)

If you want an argument, you'll have to go next door.



Brian da Basher

[cthulhu77]

   I did, but she told me to get out of the bathroom.

[Thorvic]

All just another note about Etiquette, this time about the tone of replies.

Recent events were caused by a very negative immediate response to a quite neutral new thread, leading to complaints and intervention by the mods.

Not sure if you noticed but the way members respond to questions, links, enquiries do have a habit of setting the tone of subsequent replies. A very negative response will generally turn a discussion into an argument as to take such an opposite stance generally give little or no room for compromise and often leads to heated responses. However funny replies can have the same effect of diluting the tone and intent of the original message. (Look at this pinned post !!!, trying to remind members of Etiquette and the replies immediately turn it into Monty Python sketch - Yes amusing but not really appropriate is it  )

That why we said THINK before posting.

G

[Tojo633]

All

Certain subjects should be avoided as we are in a very PC world but the usual ones spring to mind religion, politics and racism. In some cases it may well be advisable to reread what you write to ensure that it cannot be misunderstood, or may accidentally cause offence. An additional point is to keep threads/comments focused on the topic, this is after all a hobby which we are all involved in but there a many who tend to side track the topics and go off on a complete tangent. Often there are some who take this far too seriously than is really neccesary, get a life its a hobby not a point scoring exercise, I have no idea what specific thread Thorvic is referring to but comments and feedback should be where possible positive, helpful and constructive and if you cannot do that then you should not be leaving them!

Sandy

[Weaver]

Well just to sidetrack the thread  (but still a matter of etiquette): I tend to read the forum in 10-15min breaks at work or on a very slow and unreliable connection at home. I also contribute to two other non-modelling forums. This means that I coudn't possibly look at every thread on here, or even keep track of every thread in which I might have made an off-handed comment, even if didn't I also have an utterly, utterly useless memory.

SO - if I havn't replied to a comment or reply you've made, or havn't looked at something you think I should have done, then PLEASE give me a prod via PM. I will NEVER bite anyone's head off for reminding me or drawing my attention to stuff I've missed or forgotten about.

Now, back on track (some forums are actually proud of the way every topic goes off-track, you know....), I don't know which thread went wrong either, but all of the advice on here is good. Don't snap-respond: if you think about it for a bit and decide it's not worth it, then that's an unpleasentness avoided, and if you think about it and decide you DO need to respond, then then your reply will be the better for it. Believe me, this is far and away the most "civilised" board I post on, and it's a refreshing change....

[slackjack]

What if my WHATIF isn't "what-iffy" enough? Shouldn't the group dogpile me for being a closet anti-iffite? I know other sites might dogpile a modeler for using the wrong shade of black on a landing gear wheel's valve stem cap or slam a guy's build because the canopy was too thin or something like that - I just figured, since so many modelers can be so goofy, there needed to be something wrong with this group.

Just kidding!

[philp]

We even allow Real World builds here and hardly ever tell them that the valve stem should be red.

Welcome aboard, by the way.

[ti]

We even allow Real World builds here and hardly ever tell them that the valve stem should be red.

Welcome aboard, by the way.

Good to hear it. I've got some I would like to post here.

[slackjack]

Nice. Now I have to go back and repaint all my valve stems.

Thanks, I'll try to contribute some funworthy things. I've been interested in several things, have seen how some folks who get speculative on schemes and other things might get slammed by the members - it's been tough to see a way to enjoy the hobby for all the details that someone might take a guy to task for. The RLM discussions are always a real drag to read - sure, there was a right and wrong call-out, but then you get some guys pointing out the field painting work, and the discussion just unravels from there, making ALL modelers look like pedantic doofuses (doofusi?).

I think I'll like it here just fine!

[beowulf]

We even allow Real World builds here

i thought real world stuff was kind of frowned upon?..........especially since that thread last month which proposed the idea of a single thread for RW stuff was shot down in flames

[kitnut617]

We even allow Real World builds here

i thought real world stuff was kind of frowned upon?..........especially since that thread last month which proposed the idea of a single thread for RW stuff was shot down in flames

I think the idea of having a dedicated RW thread was shot down, not people doing RW builds.  At least that was the way I read it