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Old 10-30-2005, 08:42 AM   #78
After a brisk nap
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Join Date: Jan 2005
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jackal
Without putting words in his mouth, I think the other one was just closed BECAUSE it had run its course, and as you said, already started to move into the typical banter that happens everywhere. Closing just saves the potential hassle of some yahoo coming back in just to stir up trouble and misunderstandings again. Since it wasn't closed BEFORE it had served its purpose, no one should really be upset that it was closed at all.
While maybe there's no reason to get upset, I can certainly understand why someone might bridle at an apparently gratuitous exercise of authority.

To make another unfortunate police analogy, let's say you and some friends are sitting in a park. A cop comes by and tells you to "move along". You might have been getting ready to leave anyway, and it's not like this part of the park is nicer than any other part, but why should the cop be telling you what to do?

It's an exaggerated example, but I think the reasoning that "if there's no important reason to keep a thread open, nobody should mind if we close it" is flawed.

Quote:
As a final note from me on the subject, I really don't think it's THAT hard to figure out why a thread is closed. The fact is, a single thread can take on a life of its own (so to speak), and at some point it may become beneficial to snuff it out. Even if the topic is resumed in another, the break still makes it clear that behaviour has gotten out of control. Usually people get the message, even if they occasionally squawk about the measures.
This might be one of those issues that mods and other posters experience differently. It may seem obvious to a mod why a thread is being closed, but someone who maybe hasn't followed it that closely may not realize that a 20-page thread is being closed because of an argument that happened on pages 3-5.

If a thread is closed, I certainly don't feel confident that mods won't mind if I resume the topic in another. On most forums, that's a big no-no. And besides, I don't think I could tell whether it was closed in order to cut off the off-topic posts, or out of concern that it might get "back on topic" and rekindle the argument.

A bit more to go on when a thread is closed would do a lot to clear up the uncertainty.

Quote:
So, um... yeah. Give and take. We'll try to communicate clearly, and you guys cut us enough slack to realize we aren't made of patience and free time.
Deal!
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