[rant] What is up with other gun forums lately?

[RTFM]

The reason I found DRT forum is that the other two that I have been a member of for YEARS and have more than 4,000 posts (combined) are turning to be rabid (I repeat RABID) censors.

A very popular ".org" site use to have 200 pages in its main thread and last week decided to DELETE all the information contained with in as the moderator cadre said to manage the beast - now there are three pages on the main.

WTH?

All that information lost - not archived - but lost. SAD.

Another ".com" has taken to banning anyone that questions the senior members and locking threads - I realize these places are public forums with a general set of rules and ideals of how they want their sites to be view from the outside world, but DAMN - I just don't understand why the rapid lock down of information exchange and the deletion of a lot of good work from thousands of members.

Thanks for listening I needed to get that out.


[/rant]

[tumblebug]

 Maybe A T F is after the fully automatic mouth's.

[Ksail101]

I dont know about the censorship too much, but the reason that I have made DRTV my home is the people are awesome. On most of the other forums all you hear about is the whining Gun brand bashing. When you get on one of those forums to check out things about your gun all you end up hearing is "Is my gun jammed, this company sucks."

A gun is a machine you need to work on them and fix them and make them better. I understand sometimes you pay alot of money to try and avoid that stuff but still nothing is perfect.

 I go on this one forum every now and then and look up under this company's thread to see what other people have been doing to make their guns better or their thoughts on how there guns preform, and all I end up hearing about is the gun jammed, and this company sucks. A major problem for this company is they have a made a name for themselves as being top notch so people with no experience with a firearm buys their product and dont know how to work them properly. The people who have bought these kinds of guns dont understand that you may need more experience than knowing how to cock and pull a trigger to operate such a fine piece of machinery. I am not going to get into a Formula 1 car and race it as fast as Michael Schumacher. (I might not even know how to start it) I think people need to research something before they buy it or at least gain more knowledge about the product before you start bashing it.  Granted yes there are times that a gun is just cut wrong or has issues that need to be addressed. But just because your extractor isn't tuned right, or you dont know how to clean and oil your gun properly doesnt make that company a pile. I hear of the old days of buying 1000 dollar pistol and having to spend 1000 more just to get it to run, And that wasnt a guarntee either. I think we have it made compared to that. And I cant even count how many threads on that website right now center on bashing the company cause some newbie can't adjust an extractor. It really frustrates me.

I never get info on how to make my gun better or what someone has done in the real world that has helped them like I do on here. People on here share their thoughts about a gun, but they dont just bash a company because a gun isnt working properly. And if you need help fixing something, the people on this website are very knowledgable. And I dont have to get on here and see every other Thread saying my gun jammed. We actually talk about things that really matter. Like how someone had to use their CCW. Or how old Haz is. Or what is going on in the gun industry and how a gun really preforms cause someone with experience will have shot it, fixed any issues and then give a detailed account of the firearms preformance.

Theres my rant about other websites. The people is what makes DR what it is.

[jaybet]

AMEN Ksail!
Hazcat's age is amazing and worth discussion- essential, in -depth discussion.
I completely agree except for one item that I'm not in sync with you on... my gun didn't jam  but I did buy an SR9 and have been friggin' miserable ever since, and my bitching has escalated now that I finally got it back. I'm starting to embarass myself with my own whining. Now that it's back it's different...not what I bought and I'm really frustrated because I'm going to either have to just get used to it or take a pretty big dollar hit for supporting Ruger.

So on another thread today I posted that (and you'll all be REALLY glad to read this) I'm taking the SR9 to the range tonight and I'm going to shoot the crap out of it again. If it starts to grow on me I'll shut up and learn to like it. If it doesn't start to grow on me I'll sell it or trade it in for something else and will eat the difference in cost and the 6 wasted months with a lousy(but brand new) gun. I do, however, reserve the right to exact those losses from Ruger by bashing them mercilessly and irrationally at every opportunity. So you all have that to look forward to. Gee, I wonder if MB and the Marshalls will let me place an ad on the website even though Ruger is a big sponsor....

On the other forums......I have limited time so I don't go on many, but when I do I'm often turned off by the type of whining you are talking about, or rabid rhetoric that I'm just not interested in reading. The people here are wonderful...even the nutty, paranoid, or liberal ones and (of course) the old one. And then there's the Rangers...

I exchange more and learn more here than even at my local sportsmans club. It's like home.

[tombogan03884]

What they said +10

[Sponsor]

[ellis4538]

Like I've said before..."It's not the quantity it's the quality!"  I signed up for one forum and it's been a month or more and I havn't been cleared as a member so I can't post or ask questions and I even sent an e-mail asking what was up.  Doesn't say much for them.

My.02

Richard

[PegLeg45]

I'm not a member of very many forums, and am relatively new to this one (only been posting regularly for a month or so now).
The thing that caught my attention and pulled me in here is the fact that even though there is such a wide range of people with a variety of ideas, opinions and viewpoints, everyone discusses things in a respectful manner.
I believe that intelligent adults can joke, carry-on, debate, differ in opinions, and even sometimes argue.
And, they can still get along at the end of the day if they do it in a respectful manner.
I think I've found that here. Respectful, decent people that want to share experiences that revolve around life in the shooting sports (and sometimes life in general).

[someguy]

(Insert brand/gun/person here) SUCKS!!!!
 

(Too easy.)

Love the forum, for all the aforementioned reasons.

[Marshal Halloway]

Well, I cannot comment specifically about other forums, they all have a different approaches when it comes to rules and moderation guidelines.

Deleting posts can also be a server and space issue. Big forums with lots of traffic and lots of posts in the database, can slow the forums down if the server is not up for the task.

Marshal'ette and I have been running forums for years. I started doing it 13 years ago.

Our job is to be the hosts, but sometimes you have to be the middleman between members who simply can't go along and are not able to agree to disagree and move on. On the Internet, this can be irritating and noisy for other members even when you have the option of completely ignoring it.

Forums are also a playground for people who can play out a different personality, which means he or she is not the same person you get to know face to face. A few change their attitude completely when they have a keyboard and a screen as a communication tool. I have personally met people on the road that I have known for years through the Internet, emails and forums. Some are exactly the way I pictured them, others..... well... they aren't. 

I know a lot of people on this forum communicate outside the forum boundaries and have become good friends. This type of combined communication helps create a more human forum environment and not just a cold cyberspace with no body language and no chemistry.

Our job is to give some friendly advice when needed if things turn bad, but for the most part it is about taking care of members as if they were guests in our home. At least, that is the way we look at it.

Bottom line is that we as hosts can be just that - but without a bunch of members like we are so fortunate to have here, the DRTV forum will just be another cold place in cyberspace.

Thanks.

[kmitch200]

I know a lot of people on this forum communicate outside the forum boundaries and have become good friends.

Who'd want to hang out with all these 'bitter clingers'?