On Civil Behavior (PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING IN THIS FORUM)

[j. d. worthington]

There has been a growing tendency of late to not only argue and debate with other posters in this forum, but to launch into personal invective and abuse. May I remind all posters of the following rule, which we all agreed to when we joined this place:

We aim to uphold a good standard of conduct in the forums.

Please respect other members and avoid making posts that may be seen as personally offensive. We don’t allow flame wars here.

Please note that this applies both to public postings and Private Messages.

While I realize that many of the topics in this particular forum are likely to evoke strong responses, there is no reason to abandon civil behavior in order to debate a point. Argue your position with passion, argue it fervently. But keep the arguments to addressing your opponents' counterarguments and not the person. Once you cross that line and make it into personal invective, insult, ad hominem attacks, you've gone too far. At that point, threads will be closed, and banning (temporary or permanent, depending on the severity of the infraction) may very well result.

We have an awful lot of very intelligent, articulate people on this site, and we do not need to descend to personalities to have fruitful debates. Kindly demonstrate that intelligence and verbal ability by mustering your arguments, not by pulling out the hooks and knives.

[Briareus Delta]

Hear, hear. I love a good debate but personal remarks are unnecessary - you can disagree with someones views without attacking them personally.

[Ice fyre]

I strongly agree J.D but the debates can get heated in all parts of the Forum and we should all remmber that we are here to have fun in the first instance. People do not have fun when you are being unpleasnt.

I try to respect all views in this by applying a simple rule, how would I feel if I was in someone elses shoes.

[Marky Lazer]

What a stupid thread this is, silly Mr Moddington with his crazy haircut!

[Ice fyre]

Shhhhhh, he'll hear you

Oh and its actually a small furry animal that sleeps on his head for warmth I believe he feeds it donuts when no one is looking

[Nesacat]

Actually it's salted peanuts and rum & raisin ice-cream.

And yes to civil arguments.

[tangaloomababe]

I agree that everyone is entitled to their opinion, regardless of whether you may consider it right or wrong, eveyone should be allowed to express their thoughts without the threat of personal attack. This can only lead to either retribution or some members not feeling that it is worth visiting this site anymore, neither of which is a positive outcome.
So as JD has said:

Please respect other members and avoid making posts that may be seen as personally offensive. We don’t allow flame wars here.

[Deathpool]

I'm always wrong no matter what I post.

[The Procrastinator]

That's your opinion and you're entitled to it. I'm always right no matter what I post. Well...unless I'm wrong...

[PTeppic]

To quote a colleague: "What say is right, what you say is opinion."