I think we have beat The Bush and Kerry threads to death.Things are starting to revert back to pre OTL posting.I'm starting to see a pattern here that almost ruined this forum.We need a few topics that kind of let us unwind a bit.We are begining to attack each other a bit too much.IMO.I'm not pointing fingers here,I just as guilty as anyone.I would have posted this thread in the user feedback forum,but I think some users might have missed it.I'll try to change the subject a bit myself.Surely we can find common ground.

 

I try not to post here just for those reasons alone. From the "subtle" hints that Ken (WebMASTER) has been saying for a while (and people are ignoring) I can see the OTL being gone soon. It's kind of sad that people just can't get along and "play nice". Well, I'm out. I am off to the "tech" threads!

-Matt

 

The majority of the moderators have advised shutting down OTL for weeks, and one of the assistant admins has as well.

I've resisted because I figured users would take the hints and calm down. Sadly, that hasn't happened and what could have been a good thing has been ruined by a handful (both conservative and liberal) who feel the need not only to bring up political topic after political topic after political topic ad nauseam, but also the need to respond to nearly everyone that they disagree with. It gets old. It was old the last 5 billion times I mentioned it. Its one thing to say something now and then about a political topic, but geeze, God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason....

I heard the cry "wolf" too many times in General Conversation so I introduced Pig Pen. I heard the cry wolf too many times in Pig Pen so I introduced OTL. I heard the cry wolf too many times in OTL so I put up a list of post junkies. Still no change so I started denying access to those who spend the majority of their time in OTL. No change.

Basically, I have been extremely willing to give such topics a place on FTE and time after time I have been disappointed with the results. There are no further options left except kicking people off FTE (something I'm not going to do) or shutting down OTL. Its quite obvious self-policing won't work, people don't seem willing to police themselves until they see the ax about to fall. Sometimes the people at the center of a problem are the last to notice it.
The timing of your post is ironic considering that I told Torque1st last night that I intended to shut down OTL.

OTL will be shutting down later today. It is a failed experiment. To those who didn't cause this, I am truly sorry. I really tried to make this work, giving it every opportunity I could. I regret the decision, OTL could have been a great thing --- instead it became a tired, worn out soapbox.

Sorry if this post is blunt and I'm sure it'll anger a few users... but hints have never worked.

 

All I can say is I seen it coming.I'm sorry if any of my post contributed to this discission.

 

And that's the majority of the reason why I don't come to the OTL. I don't want to get "sucked in". FTE is a great place but I do believe the OTL brings down the whole image. This is not Ken's fault but mostly the fault of users who don't want to abide by the rules.

I believe the General Conversation adds to FTE because it is just an extra place for people to "chat" without getting too controversial. I do believe it is true that you can't just talk Ford trucks all the time but people need to be cival.

There are going to be some people that are going to be upset about the OTL being gone but I guess that's just the way it is. Ken you do a great job around here and anything that makes your already hard job even harder needs to go. (Unless it is benefiting FTE, which I believe the OTL does not).

Just my $0.02

-Matt

 

Ken has been talking about this for some time. Go look in the User Feedback and Suggestions Forum. There are NUMBEROUS threads there about this and I do believe Ken is sick of it (and he has a RIGHT TO!)

-Matt

 

Ken, do what you must. If I contributed to your headaches I appologize. I assume that topics (religious, political, etc) that brought this about also won't be allowed in GC or other forums.

It's not all bad, maybe now I can take some people off my ignore list.

 

I hear you Matt.I know what thread you are refering to.Ken has been more than reasonable with this forum.I support the decission.

 

Ken,I to would like to apoligize to you and others on the forum, this last few days I stopped going to the OTL because of the fevered pitch it became. I do believe OTL could be a good place to discuss issues. But an election year did make it rediculous, I respect your desicion. This is a superb site, with a lot of good people who are passionate about (First and Formost) Fords, and I feel privileged to be allowed to ask so many questions, and get such good quality responses.
Hopefully this is a wakeup call for many of us and we will conduct ourselves with more civility for each other.

Again my apologies and keep up the good work, I do appreciate what you and others are doing. I would also like to offer any help that I can offer.
Sincerely,
Paul Crockett

 

hey how long it OTL going to be shut down? i think OTL is a good idea, but its out of control. after all this is about ford trucks and OTL is really polical and stuff and it gets dangerous in there sometimes! anyway i dont think having a poical forum on this website is the best idea because it should be more focued on ford trucks. there are plenty of polical forums on the internet and people (including myslef) should go there to argue about politics.i know i have contributed to the demise of OTL a little bit but im sure you folks have noticed i almost complety stopped posting here for a long time because it gets so dirty and mean in there sometimes.