You are better than the stuff that has annoyed you Paul, seriously.
You are better than the stuff that has annoyed you Paul, seriously.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Call it a day if you need to, but it's a loss for the forum.
This place would be a touch nicer if everyone answered the question I ask myself before I respond to a post...
'Do I want to be a guy who argues with people on the internet?'
Definitely this. There's keyboard warriors on every forum and there can be an unpleasant pack mentality but in the it takes two to have an argument and we all choose to post what we do.Do I want to be a guy who argues with people on the internet?'
Have some time away and come back on new terms. The forum is worse for losing anyone with your level of subject knowledge/expertise.
I have mentioned a few times before that if you only have bad/abusive things to say then say nothing at all.
Personally I don't get dragged into feeble arguments no more on here, I have been down that road and it just leads to lots of time being wasted with no valuable outcome, I just read, laugh, judge the person being an idiot as an idiot and move on, trouble is they probably are not idiots but fellow watch enthusiasts that are not seeing the wood for the trees.
If you really thought to yourself do I need to post this? is it going to help? will it p$$s someone/the forum off? will I look pathetic? will people not want to interact with me and add me to ignore?
If you think any of the above then really you shouldn't post it, I'm trying to take this route and its much more relaxing.
As has been mentioned, the ignore button should be used more if you cant read a post without reacting, if you cant see it then you cant react and the argument dies and the idiot starts to become segregated, I have no one on ignore but as I said I can just click past and laugh but its a good tool that should be used more.
I echo what others have said Paul. Take a break & pop in again once you’ve had a rest. I never go in the BP and don’t contribute much these days, but still enjoy a flick through watch talk & the G&D.
Keep on keeping on
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Sorry to see you go Paul, I have enjoyed your posts over years.
I would eco some of the comments further up the post advising a break rather that a permanent departure.
There are always a small number, and luckily it is a small number, of aggressive and largely ill-informed members who seem to post nothing but negative comments or constantly bait others. They seem to enjoy being provocative and very rarely have anything of value to add to a discussion. Luckily they tend to get board after a while and wander off to find some one else to annoy or pull the wings off a fly.
It would seem to be the price of having an open forum and on balance, IMHO, one worth paying.
Sorry to see you go Paul…
There’s some really embarrassing stuff on this forum from certain posters…. I don’t engage with them though
I don’t tend to go into the bear pit….
The Bear Pit is fine and largely amusing if you take into context what it is, if on the other hand you want to post defamatory things or argue and insult other members then yes it can be nasty.
Its like walking into a pub and throwing your weight around, someone is going to have a pop at you! But if you sit back, have a bit of light hearted banter and stay out of trouble you'll have a good time..
The BP is largely fine in small doses, it's The Draft Thread that leads to the nastiness. The original intent of that thread has been completely lost and now it's simply a place people go to sling mud around. Behaviour breeds behaviour and I believe that thread alone has created a significant amount of the nasty, pathetic behaviour we see here regularly now. It can't be a coincidence that TZ was a nicer, more friendly place pre-Draft Thread.
I'm sure, and I hope, that your absence will be temporary Paul :)
In my view the Draft Thread, as it was initially intended, was a good idea. Its a shame its ended up as it has. I kind of think that even if it had not been created another thread would have ended up being used for similar purposes.
I suspect even the most unpleasant posters are actually OK in real life - its just that the febrile atmosphere of an unmoderated and largely consequence free on line environment can bring out the worst in many people. I don't post that often on there but look back at some of my past contributions with acute embarrassment.
The bus made them vote Leave. Facebook advert made them vote Trump The Draft Thread makes resident trolls savage fellow members.
Fas est ab hoste doceri
Sad day, will catch up with you for a pint Offline.
I'm another one who's sad to hear this Paul. Your posts are always interesting and informative. But I get where you're coming from - I stopped posting for a while and now post far less than I used to, but for different though equally compelling reasons. Though I do still log in regularly and brows those threads that look to be of interest, even if my responses are more sporadic.
Ultimately it is the forums loss when knowledgeable people like yourself feel driven to leave it.
Hope to see you back here when you've had time to unwind and refect on the better aspects of TZ-UK, there are more good folk here than there are argumentative and awkward buggers.
Take care.
Best Regards - Peter
I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.
I'm sorry to see you go, Paul. I left another forum as a very long-time member for a similar reason: an increase in toxicity resulting from member turnover.
Do what you need to do mate, we have all needed or taken a break from here but its undeniably great less the minority
RIAC
Illegitimi non carborundum
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Sad day.
Sorry to hear it Paul, I've appreciated your advice on working on mechanisms. Hope you will stop by every now and then.
Tapatapatapatapatalk
Elvis /Paul hasn't left the building, he is still here.
Agree with the sentiment of other posters, I'm relatively new and signed up to learn more about watches. First post I got told not to let the door hit me on the way back out. Classy. I'm thick skinned and glad I stayed about as the wealth of knowledge here is incredible.
The forum reflects the world outside, lots of people got more vehement/ have less availability for dialogue, while horology as such turned mostly into a rich man's farce.
Members do need to keep their Bear Pit head separate from their rest of the forum head as 95% of members have no interest in the Bear Pit squabbles of old men with nothing better to do. It is totally wrong that Bear Pit fun and feuds spill out of the Bear Pit into the more well mannered and interesting areas of the forum.
Take time out if you want to - just as it should be.
Oddly this thread got me to pop into the BP for the first time in ages - Even made a rare post in there.
Gray
And look what happened there.....
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48279613
Cheers,
Neil.
Hope to see you back here in due course, Paul. You are one of the most valuable contributors here.
ATB
Jon
Sent from my moto e5 play using Tapatalk
It can be a bit that way, and I haven’t participated in a fully active way in quite some time, mainly because of the childish abuse which can be commonplace in the Pit. That said, I’m still here, still visit regularly and usually enjoy 90% of what I read - I still have good friends here (albeit virtual ones) and pick up good advice on a regular basis.
Enjoy the break Paul, I know it’s hard but the best way of staying out of the mud-slinging is to not become involved. Easier said than done with some characters on the internet, but it’s the way of sanity for me at least.
I've enjoyed your posts. They are very knowledgeable. I hope that you fare well.
Best wishes,
Bob
I always try and post on forums as if I were speaking to someone in real life (which you are by way of a faceless medium really), I’d love to see some of the troll types speak the same in real life! It’s usually this type that wouldn’t say boo to a Sloworm.
Must admit I don’t get the bear pit either as it’s just a soup of venom and only serves to fluff up chests. I wonder what is wrong in people’s lives that they feel the need to be so nasty, perhaps bullied themselves or maybe unable to integrate socially in real life so don’t have that compassion.
Kill them with love is the only way. I’ve often replied to trolls on YouTube comments and it’s quite surprising how many delete their own comments, edit them or apologise. The internet gives people anonymity and I’m sure they don’t realise they’re speaking to another human being half the time. If the YouTube comments were real world conversations we’d all just be shouting and swearing at each other in the streets.
I see this thread start whilst i was on holiday , i could nt reply as internet was bad !
i hope you will come back after a break, as I can only echo other members comments that your knowledge and help will be missed.
By the way Whats the Bear pitt! Is it only available to members with a certain post count?
It's a no rules apply sub forum that you need a higher post count to access.
Sent from my SM-G950F using TZ-UK mobile app
Action in the Bear Pit isn't too bad unless you deliberately setout to annoy someone. I think the real problem arises when people forget to leave the Bear Pit behind when they are in the open forum.
The Bear Pit itself is fine, and a good idea to keep spats out of the main forum.
It’s the opposing groups who have sworn a mafia like oath to continue a generation spanning vendetta against their perceived enemies that’s the problem.
We need less vendetta and more omertà in my opinion...
Paul/Walkerwek1958,
Your posts have been substantive and your contribution highly valued.
Ask yourself if this place continues to be rewarding or is just habitual.
All The Best.
Peter
Thanks to everyone for letting me know. I did wonder why I couldn't find it in sub forums and using the search
Will have a look once my post count is there
The problem is that the BP rules are somewhat outdated, they should prolly read along the lines:
"If you want to express strong views, then do it here at your own risk. If you get savaged by the resident trolls I'll just hose the place to moisten your remains so the bottom feeders won't choke on the hard bits."
Oh, and while we at it, can we rename it to Jeremy Kyle corner?
Last edited by VDG; 19th May 2019 at 09:46.
Fas est ab hoste doceri
[/COLOR]Oh, and while we at it, can we rename it to Jeremy Kyle corner?[/QUOTE]
Maybe get him in as a Mod seeing as hes between jobs at the mo.