Hello everyone,

I guess I can put my 2¢ worth. I have read this thread and carefully thought out what point I wanted to make. There are many things that go on within these forum walls. Inside our fortress resides many different people. People of different nationalities, age, gender, religious backgrounds, or intelligence. I am definitely not the sharpest crayon in the box. We have people who are veteran forumers, coming from other boards and we have the new ones who chose this place to be the first forum they participate on.

With such diversity comes patience. A great community like ours has to excersize tolerance. Some of our fellow members may come from boards where respect for one another is non-existent. I dislike those boards with a passion. In fact this is the only forum I have stuck with. Some forums I stick around just long enough to find the information I am looking for and then I leave, never to return. Do you think they even miss me? Do you think they even notice I am no longer there? No. I do not cultivate friends on those forums so how can I be missed?

I have many friends on this forum. Male and female. I have friends who live in my own state. I have friends who live in other countries that I will probably never get to meet face-to-face. That part is sad. I doubt I will even get to meet my friends who live on the other side of the country.

Now with that said, I would also like to remind everyone that some of our forumers are raw and new to this type of community. Some people have never been to "Pleasantville" before and need to be shown the ropes. I do agree that many people probably have never even looked at the rules for this forum. That makes it tough for the rest of us, I understand that.

There are meaningless, repetitive, or continuous posts. These can be frustrating. I understand this too. It does deter from the main concept of this forum. I have been here for over a year now, almost every single day. Does that mean I do not have a life? No, it means I enjoy being here. I enjoy being involved. I enjoy the company I keep. It has been tough at times. People have targeted me as there source of fun. I didn't enjoy it all the time, but with patience and constant polite comments, I was able to turn it around after awhile.

People just need to be shown how to do things. We are similar to the villagers we tend to on our VV games. Do they come in knowing how to do things well from the beginning? Some do. Most do not. We need to teach them how it is done, what we want out of them. It is the same here. Respect and honor one another. The best way to get through to someone is with kindness and patience. If you attack someone, they will get defensive. It is a natural reaction and it might actually encourage the same actions you were getting upset about.

I too remember a group of people here who were trying to boost there post count. It was a race to see who could outdo the other. In the end they were given the title of "Post Cheater Newbie" (PCN) and if I remember correctly, and I may be wrong, they got post counts taken away. I didn't appreciate the actions from the PCN's. It made trying to get a new title pointless. There was no pride in getting to the next level with meaningful posts.

We have all been guilty of at least one of Jazzo's concerns at least once. We learn, we adapt, or we leave, or, on rare and severe occasions, we are forced to leave. We do have rules here and everyone really should read them. We should follow them. I know I have, as the Forum Moderator, had to delete posts or complete threads because they were way off-topic, irrelevant, or did not follow the rules. I have received bad comments when I do that. I have received less than appropriate PM's because I deleted something. It is my job. I take my position here on the forums very seriously. I try very hard to be fair. There are things I have seen that I do not like. Some, I find offensive, but I do not remove them because I don't like it. That would be a dictatorship and that would be the worst for this forum. If it doesn't break the rules then it stays.

So I guess I am just saying that there are things on this forum that will upset us or annoy us from time to time. I am sure we will do or say something that will annoy someone else. Again, I say this... Patience, respect, and honor. Be patient with others, be patient with yourself. Respect and honor others, respect and honor yourself. Remember our fellow forumers have feeling as you do. Respect people's feelings and you will honor yourself.