Tubeguru speaks/blows his top (delete as appropriate)

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Tubeguru speaks/blows his top (delete as appropriate)

Post by tubeguru »

OK, I feel the need to get a few things off my chest, and I shall do so in public, so you all know about it.

It has been triggered by the fact that I've now had enough of these counting topics. I have tolerated it for as long as I could, but it appears that even when I offer an olive branch, and create a new thread where things can start again, some people seem insistent on not listening. I gave you a chance to start again, and you just ignored me.

I don't even know why I am typing this - a topic where people count in sequence? This must be the only forum where such a stupid thing can exist.

This is part of a slightly larger problem - the problem of me having my authority questioned. I have had one person message me in an apoplectic rage, because I added the word "the" to the swear filter so it appeared as "ze" (for a joke). His signature was altered as a result, and he thought I had changed it to annoy him specifically. The word "the". I mean, come on ...

Another person (it may even be the same person) messaged Moley to complain to him about it too. I don't really care who it was, but you could have messaged me first to discuss it. I would have welcomed that. One thing I do not appreciate is people trying to play Moley and me off against each other. Next time, be a man (or a woman) and come to me if you have a problem with something I have done.

I have had said fellow admin tell ME to behave, in public, or he will take the forum offline (for those of you who don't know, Moley holds the database on his own servers).

I have had my requests for threads to follow certain guidelines ignored time and again. I have had people tell me to "lighten up" and "stop being a grumpy old man". Well guess what - no.

This is my way of reminding you all, nicely, that I am in charge around here. I am not a dictator - I am very diplomatic when it comes to this place, and I rarely get ranty in public. But just recently things have been building to a head, and I have had enough. You will notice that I am not taking an aggressive tone in this post.

If anyone wishes to flounce off in a huff over any of the above, then please do, but remember one thing.

This is MY forum. I thought of the idea for this website and the forum, I purchased the web space for it, I pay for the domain and the hosting of it every year, and I have never ONCE asked anyone else to contribute. Yes, Moley holds the database on his own servers but that is only because when I first started, I didn't have the ability (or the knowledge/facility) to do so. I am grateful that he has hosted the database for the last eight years.

I can pull the plug any time I like, but I have no intention of doing so because I LIKE this forum. I'm sure you all like it too. But please bear in mind that I am not just some "grumpy", power-crazed, middle-aged fool who likes to tell you all what to do. I'm just trying to stop the place degenerating into the mess that the majority of web forums have descended into. That's all I ask.

I am a nice person in real life. Just ask my long-suffering wife ...

Now bloody well start behaving, or I'll go and cry into my Horlicks. :roll:
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Re: Tubeguru speaks/blows his top (delete as appropriate)

Post by GuyBarry »

I'm very sorry that you're upset. I don't think it would be appropriate to say more at this stage.
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Re: Tubeguru speaks/blows his top (delete as appropriate)

Post by greatkingrat »

tubeguru wrote: I don't even know why I am typing this - a topic where people count in sequence? This must be the only forum where such a stupid thing can exist.
You better not go to the Digital Spy forum then, they have got up to about 490 thousand at the last count!

Yes, it was a fairly pointless thread, but you could say the same about everything in the Never Ending Games forum, if you don't want never ending games being started, I'm not sure why that forum even exists?
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Re: Tubeguru speaks/blows his top (delete as appropriate)

Post by tubeguru »

greatkingrat wrote:Yes, it was a fairly pointless thread, but you could say the same about everything in the Never Ending Games forum, if you don't want never ending games being started, I'm not sure why that forum even exists?
That is a good point, but it would be churlish of me to delete EVERY "pointless" thread we have.

As I put in the latest counting thread I started, I was more than happy for it to start again, but immediately someone tells me they are ignoring me and doing it their way. I may as well just let you lot run the forum if that's the way it's going to go.

Someone has to exercise restraint and control, no matter how inconsistent it appears to be. I am a forum member too - I am allowed to join in, so therefore if something takes my fancy, it stays. If it doesn't I may tolerate it, or simply delete it. I can't simply be a robot who works to a strict set of rules.

I try to go with the flow most of the time.
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Re: Tubeguru speaks/blows his top (delete as appropriate)

Post by moley »

Some forums are very heavily moderated (eg a green coloured tube forum), some are over run with idiots (Digitalspy).

We try and sit somewhere in the middle.

It doesn't mean we always get it right, eg I should have moaned at Neil in private yesterday!
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Re: Tubeguru speaks/blows his top (delete as appropriate)

Post by tractakid »

*insert boasting about notable tube accomplishments here*
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Re: Tubeguru speaks/blows his top (delete as appropriate)

Post by tubeguru »

God, that was excruciating ...
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Re: Tubeguru speaks/blows his top (delete as appropriate)

Post by greatkingrat »

tubeguru wrote:God, that was excruciating ...
Finally something on which everyone can agree!
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Re: Tubeguru speaks/blows his top (delete as appropriate)

Post by tubeguru »

tractakid will be banned in due course. :lol:
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Re: Tubeguru speaks/blows his top (delete as appropriate)

Post by tractakid »

ok
*insert boasting about notable tube accomplishments here*
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Re: Tubeguru speaks/blows his top (delete as appropriate)

Post by Sam »

greatkingrat wrote:
tubeguru wrote:God, that was excruciating ...
Finally something on which everyone can agree!
YAY! :D
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Re: Tubeguru speaks/blows his top (delete as appropriate)

Post by GuyBarry »

tubeguru wrote:I don't even know why I am typing this - a topic where people count in sequence? This must be the only forum where such a stupid thing can exist.
I don't think the counting game was stupid. On the contrary, it was a very difficult game to play well. Given some arbitrary number like 387, how easy do you think it is to find a piece of information that (1) isn't blindingly obvious and (2) doesn't just duplicate the sort of information made in other posts? As far as I was concerned the primary aim of that game was to keep it interesting. Doing the research for that game was quite challenging, and I was amazed with some of the facts that other players came up with seemingly off the top of their head. There was also the additional threat of being "gazumped" - there were several occasions when I had some neat fact ready to go, only to find that someone else got to the number before me, or that someone made a non-counting post and hence disrupted the sequence. It was frustrating at times but that was all part of playing the game.

I couldn't see any point whatsoever in going back to 1. The players had already covered those numbers, so we'd have had to either regurgitate all the information we'd already posted, which would have been very tedious, or else find some completely new piece of information. It's hard enough finding an original fact about 387 the first time, let alone a second time. Going higher has its own challenges of course, as the higher the number the harder it is to find anything to say about it - but that was the fun of the thing as far as I was concerned. I was quite proud of some of the stuff I was coming up with near the end, like the "438 match" where South Africa beat Australia in a one-day cricket international by one wicket and with one ball to go. How else would I have found out about that? I was quite pleased when tractakid mentioned that he'd learned some new things from my posts.

I know that the game wasn't everyone's cup of tea, and some people took it less seriously than others, but it was a harmless piece of amusement and those who didn't enjoy it didn't have to participate. There seemed to be general agreement about the rules - after a rule was brought in banning consecutive posts I was quite happy to abide by it. There was absolutely no need to start a new thread with a new set of rules as far as I was concerned.

I'm not a Tube Challenger and I normally just lurk here, so my views probably don't count for very much. I got sucked into that game because it appealed to something within me. Maybe I should go and find a forum where people regularly play that type of game as I very much enjoyed it. I think I'd draw the line at that Digital Spy thread though!
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Re: Tubeguru speaks/blows his top (delete as appropriate)

Post by Sam »

GuyBarry wrote:
tubeguru wrote:I don't even know why I am typing this - a topic where people count in sequence? This must be the only forum where such a stupid thing can exist.
I don't think the counting game was stupid. On the contrary, it was a very difficult game to play well. Given some arbitrary number like 387, how easy do you think it is to find a piece of information that (1) isn't blindingly obvious and (2) doesn't just duplicate the sort of information made in other posts? As far as I was concerned the primary aim of that game was to keep it interesting.
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GuyBarry wrote:I'm not a Tube Challenger
Begs the question, what you're doing on a Tube Challenge forum then?! :?
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Re: Tubeguru speaks/blows his top (delete as appropriate)

Post by GuyBarry »

Sam wrote: Wikipedia, gotta love it! :D
Some of that information came from Wikipedia, but by no means all. Wikipedia has its own pages for numbers going up to 223 (yes really) but after that there's often only the briefest of information about each number. I gave sources for most of the information I found - I think the article about Norway getting 387 points at Eurovision was buried on about the sixth page of Google search results!
GuyBarry wrote:I'm not a Tube Challenger
Begs the question, what you're doing on a Tube Challenge forum then?! :?
That's a good question :D

I joined this forum about two years ago when I was doing some private research on all things related to the London Underground - it was around the time of Marc Gawley's successful record attempt. I never really intended to take part, but then I got sucked into the controversy about whether Marc's attempt was legitimate or not. I was also very impressed with Geoff Marshall's site and had a few questions arising from it, so I thought I'd stick around for a bit. When my curiosity was satisfied I went back to lurking.

I'm not sure what got me posting again - it was before the counting game, during the discussion about whether it was possible to end a Tube Challenge on foot. I thought I'd found a loophole in the rules that allowed it, so just for fun I mentioned it (although it seems that I was wrong). Then I had a couple of comments on other threads and all of a sudden I got into that counting thing...

I'll probably go back to lurking now, but it's been good fun. Thanks everyone.
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