Hello all,

I had a huge think last night (and it's not often I do that) about what should be done from now on about people bringing up past "wars". I didn't want to have to make this decision, but from now on I think anyone who brings up any previous "war" or conflict will receive a 7 day temporary ban. Continue to bring it up after the ban and you will get a permanent ban. Simple as that. All current topics on this subject are being removed.

BA used to be "the" place for people who wanted betas to come to, have a chat and grab a few files. Now nobody wants to come anywhere near us because of all the conflict that has plagued the site over the last 6 months. BA is my greatest online achievement. Why should I let a bunch of immature fools spoil that for me and others who find the site their home on the web? It's unfair to those who truly enjoy the site for what it is and want to keep coming back. Some people can't bring themselves to come back because of the immaturity of some people.

In the last 48 hours, 2 members have left permanently and have had their accounts deleted. That's not something I've ever wanted to have to do. You know what that says to me? It says to me that the site is a failure and they can't stand to be a part of it. That hurts, it really does. Now I know deep down that's not true, but on the surface that's what it feels like. So everyone, just grow up. Stop the petty arguments, stop the whining, and for gods sake stop bringing up past crap that has already been resolved. We're a beta community, not a young offenders institute.

Andy

I think you'd want to change that.

[Ontopic]
I really don't get why wars escalate over a few builds. I mean, you can set ntverp.h to 7.0.8000 and say it was Windows 8, or something. They're just builds, and while they may contain goodies, it's not worth starting a flamewar about.

What do you mean?

Whoops, must be something I misread. I thought it read "that's something i ever wanted to do".

But seriously, to quote Win.OCM,

That just about sums it all up really. If you want to go mental, I'm sure directory enquiries can direct you to the nearest hospital or prison.

I think Andy has a point. Some of us are acting very immature. I found something on google yesterday that was really bad. It was some sort of petition to ban someone from Beta Archive. I couldn't believe it when I saw it. Some of us seriously need to grow up, as he said, because there may be some people we don't like but we have to live with it. It's just like being at work.

Bad times.
Even though I don't exactly post often. I visit BA in the regions of about 10 times a day to read everything.
So play nice people!

I must admit, sometimes I will get halfway through a smart-ass response before I delete it and move on. It's so hard to contain yourself and be adult in situations where you'd just rather speak your mind. Tactfulness tends not to be a strong part of this forum.

Ban as many people as it takes to keep this site going. I'd say that even if I were part of the problem. No reason letting a good fall apart, and you've worked harder than anyone Andy. Thanks for allowing us to be part of such a great place

The site's bigger than anything I've ever done (venture-wise), in that respect, well done, really.

It's a relief to see people who keep stirring up rubbish won't be around for long.

I think the reason most of the pre-BA members aren't around anymore is because they've moved on. During 2003-2007 Windows betas were revolutionary and exciting. Windows 7 has simply been evolutionary; the betas that are released have all been stable with small changes - I believe that's why less people are joining BA right now. It's not just BA that far less people are joining.

People who aren't mature enough to observe or actively contribute to this site shouldn't be able to spoil the atmosphere. Because of the lack of new attractions in the beta scene, I share your pain, watching valued friends leave here because of delinquents makes me feel fatigue, I suspect the admin team will be hit harder than I am. Seeing an increase in the amount of mis-information by delinquents is irritating too.

HurricaneGeek, I sort-of-agree, I find it important to ignore members I do not value, but I also acknowledge it's not like work, because most members don't need to be here - they get nothing tangible out of BA, but do get a sense of belonging, friendship and respect, Andy's done a lot to encourage that - the community aspect is why most rival sites are dead. People could leave and not return if they choose, but its because of the community that I'm here.

I agree with 4tified, people who start new uprests aren't often valued members.

I totally agree with Andy.

This site is still "the" place to come for me, it's fun to contribute and great for me to follow the things in technology(in terms of Beta's)
This is the first forum/community site where i feel like it's home, i go every day to this site to read the latest topics.

Kudos to you Andy for running this great site. Dont let it fall in the water.

yeah sadly people take collecting builds a bit to far from time to time...

thanx Andy!

peas
cityboy

Yeah, I love this site and the flaming is driving me insane, this is the only forum I really feel at home at.

That's annoy me when people don't know how to control emotion on Internet.

Yes good idea. The fanboyism (not even sure if thats a word) gets to me after a while. Its okay to say you like an OS, but dont criticize people who use a different one. I have seen many posts with fanboying as the main topic.

The fanboyism are the main problems I'm having with this forum lately. For some reason people feel the need to single out certain products or companies and bash them into oblivion without equally reporting the other side of the situation. The bias of some members of this forum is ridiculous, and we all need to learn to respect each other's differences, as well as our differences in opinion.
Just my two cents.

^QFE!!!

i couldnt have said it better..some people hold there opinions very high, even if you disagree, they still have this odd way of being persistant in telling you all about what they think, even though a lot of the time you really dont care...lol

peas
cityboy

I completely agree with Andy. I don't normally want to ban people when they express certain opinions, but on this forum it's gone way too far way too often without any proper response. This is a place to collect and discuss betas and abandonware, wrapped with some tech discussion. Not to discuss who did what and when and why. If you want to discuss that kind of stuff then you better find an another forum to spew it on. We have to show new (and old) members that they can come here without being spammed with irrelevant stuff on something that happened in the past.

So from now on, whoever mentions a "war", attacks an another member about it, starts stupid "ban petitions" or whatever along those lines will be given this temp ban. And if you keep it up we'll give you a free upgrade to a permanent ban. You're always free to contact me (or Andy too I believe) if you have a concern about some issues or want to clarify something, but keep it off the forums.

The immaturity stops here and now. And if you can't hold yourself from childish behavior then this forum is not for you.

As for everyone else on this forum I hope this action will make your stay more pleasant .

I might be lucky, since I never been bothered on this forum, or have seen (as actually read) a flamewar in here. My feeling is like most of the posters in here: this is a really neat place where I can log on anytime of the day and find at least an interesting topic. I like how everyone that posts in betaarchive seem to know what this forum was created for.

But I can only suppose that this kind of behaviour will only increase with time, being the access to the internet now widely available in all kind of devices and maturity lacking more and more as newer generations acquire that access. As old as I may sound, Internet and participation on it has changed from a privilege to a regular thing, so people nowadays don't think before posting any kind of stuff on it.

Really sad, if you think about it. What was once a tool for research now has become an international tabloid of the lowest quality.

-Commanderraf

It sucks to have to ban people but I know where your coming from

I'm a mod on a fairly large forum of which I can't really discuss here but thats besides the point. As these sites get larger you end up having to deal with more and more immature kids. The internet is a breeding ground for them. Eventually you have to hand out the bans and it is never nice to give them out but you have to do what you gotta do. I totally support you on this one Andy.

Luckily for me I really am not on here as much as I used to so I haven't seen much of this flaming and waring going on. Hopefully you screwed the top on this problem tight enough so it doesn't come flying back off lol.

ever since I joined OSBG and EABG I have not been here as much either.

Thank you.

I agree, responses posted here from certain members do indeed make it painful to read some days, I was wondering when the limiter was going to be hit.
What are the chances of implementing a post limit per hour on some of the less experienced posters here, might give them time to think before posting.
Who were the two members whos accounts you removed if I may ask, though I think I may know who one of them is.

For those who really want to know, it was KenOath and Namronia. Their accounts have been permanently removed, not deactivated, removed. Their posts do remain however since otherwise there would be far too many gaps left behind.

Oh, so that's why I couldn't find KenOath to PM him for some information on his WinPad alpha photos... bummer.

Any chance I can contact him through other means?

-Commanderraf

Sad, but would it be possible to make an own forum for all those classics "fights" and flamewars instead of spamming the rest of the forum?