When it comes to forums, moderators are Gods. They can control what gets posted, how it should be posted, who posts it, and they control the life of the account of a forum member. One thing that absolutely bugs me about moderators who abuse their power are those who control speech. If i happen to say something that the moderator doesn't like, but the society of the forum agrees with it, the moderator can still ban me. This is completely unconstitutional and dictatorial. I'm assuming that most of those who post in this forum are from America or from a country that condones a set constitution, so why do the people let someone get banned unjustly? It's because they're scared (or so i assume) of being banned themselves. My proposition for the forum moderators is to still continue to being God, but in the sense of being a watchmaker. You create the watch, and let it run on its own. In this case, you create the forum and let it run on its own. If it does come to a point where someone is abusing is assumed right to free speech, then have the forum society elect a committee to evaluate the member, and come to a decision on weather he/she should be banned...the only instances when a mod shall take his/her immediate and full power is in the case of a spammer, of course after a committee comes to an agreement on the proper definition of the word "spam"

Moderators and Admins, i love you guys and i know your intentions are good, but sometimes you gotta loosen the reigns. A forum is a place for people to talk about whatever...just let them talk and control those who abuse the forum and not those you don't like. The president can detain someone who is going to blow up a building...but he can't detain a person just because he doesn't like the way he dresses...its not fair. I'm not trying to be some kind of revolutionary, I just want people to be able to discuss in a forum.

"I also think that it is pointless to lock any thread that has people posting in it" -- sheerheartattack

“I believe strongly that the internet should not be regulated by the federal government and believes even more strongly that people should be free to engage in the activities they wish, as long as they are willing to take responsibility for their actions.” -- Ron Paul

Ahhh It all says Jomie in it.

But. I disagree with you.
Or with what you quoted.

[quote]"I also think that it is pointless to lock any thread that has people posting in it" -- sheerheartattack [/quote]

It can have people posting. Many people can post every 2 minutes.
Even if this "is" true. Are the things being posted relevant
to what the thread is even about?
As well as has this thread been discused previously before?
If it has; go post your opinions, there rather then having to post
a new thread each time something happens.

So as a user in a forum you should do a little searching for threads
that have what your discussing about. Then if you don't find it
It's best to just post it. As a new thread rather then have some kid
talk that he doesn't like the pillows now. Or having ask if they've sold out.

In response to Little Bastards (by the way, are you the same fool who covered Little Busters, switching the lyrics around and called it "Little Bastards" and put the video on Youtube?):

I see that most users don't have major problems with the admins. Occasionally (rarely) I think threads are locked without good reason. It's nothing to get hugely upset over, though. We discuss it, and things are generally resolved, or we can see the reasoning behind it.

I also see that you have only 12 posts.

No one is forcing you to use this forum. You may just have to go with the flow or leave. No skin of my back.

Mare and Jomes are both guilty of stupid things (they [i]are[/i] still human, despite the "moderator" appellative), but when they do stupid things, we let them know.

An internet forum is [i]not[/i] a democracy. I can and do give my opinion, and thankfully, Mare and Jomei are often reasonable enough to either recant or to explain/debate their positions. This is ultimately because terra is the supreme God and ruler of IM, not the moderators. She puts her faith in the moderators to [i]regulate the forum according to her will[/i], since she cannot always be here herself. Moderators do not have free reign on IM, for if they cross the boundary of terra's will, they could easily find themselves out of a position.

The United States Constitution is designed to protect individuals from the federal government. It is not a tool to protect individuals from the private organizations that provide services or employment for them. For instance, I have freedom of speech. If the government attempts to squelch me, the Constitution protects me (or, at least, it used to). However, if I am working at McDonald's, they can damn well tell me exactly what I can and cannot say, and rightly so. Or, if I am shopping at Wal-Mart, they can justly remove me from their premises if I defy any restrictions on speech they hypothetically set up. Or just because they "don't like the way I dress."

LOL BANNED.

Nah, just kidding. But seriously, you keep writing long-winded posts that come across to me as pointless. You didn't get banned, so stop bitching about banning. You had a thread locked, because you were discussing something that has been discussed over and over again in a variety of threads. Most of your "Did the pillow...?" and "Will the pillows...?" threads have been discussed in other places, and are very redundant. You had one thread locked. Big deal. Get over it or get out, that's just how things work around here. If you don't want your thread locked, how about you post a question asking why the thread was locked, or PM the mod who locked it rather than bitching about mods in general and making yourself look like an idiot. Your long-winded posts aren't impressing anybody, and, just as sheer said, the internet is not a democracy, so get over it.

I'm not Ron Paul, no one has been banned recently, and you have 12 posts.

Look, there ARE places for people talk about ALMOST ANYTHING on this board. Short of porn or dangerous, illegal things, you can post just about anything you want [i]as long as it is in the right place.[/i] When a thread goes way off-topic and just becomes an exchange of verbal abuse, does it still belong in an on-topic forum? If we just set up the forum and let it go wherever as you suggest, it would be a mess and difficult for pillows fans to navigate in order to find news and other information. Mods stop abusive posters as well as maintain order on the board, which includes locking and moving threads when necessary.

I'm sorry, but we aren't going to form some fucking [b][i][u]INTERNET TRIBUNAL[/u][/i][/b] to discuss the locking/moving of threads on a tiny English forum about a Japanese band.

edit: And guys, if you don't like a moderator action I take, just shoot me a PM, and we can talk about it and, most likely, reach a satisfactory understanding. If I lock your thread it's not that I don't like you. It's probably because I checked on the forum early in the morning, was grouchy, and locked it when I should have just moved it or something (see: My Foot Dinosaur thread).

Might I add that the forum tribunal is officially the most hilarious serious suggestion to have ever been made on the internet. Ever.

not so much in the defense of what little bastard is bitching about but more so what he is getting at.....

i want to throw out that perhaps, even though like mare said in one of little bastards, posts that certain discussions have been beaten to death a thousand times have been beaten at a later time when opinions where one way but now as little bastard is reviving them again, perhaps our opinions have changed about them from one way to another.

i mean its true that posts like that do clog up the forum at one point in time but, like i said, opinions do change. even though this guy is new as hell and probably hasnt had time to peruse through all of the forum posts, perhaps we can sort of take revived topics as questions of changed opinions. but hell, thats just one point of view at this point.

You could revive an old thread rather than starting a new one.

[quote="Marekenshin"]You could revive an old thread rather than starting a new one.[/quote]

Isn't there a name for that.
I mean in a bad way?

No.

Also, lock.