Forum Rules & Enforcement Completely Re-vamped and updated.

[Montanya]

I just think that if you look at the rules and immediatly think you will be banned soon you should perhaps take a look at your posting style. If you can't make a point without profanity, go read a book, take a class w/e, I am as passionate as the next guy but I can make any point without reverting to swearing. I think with the community growing at the rate it is, we need to have ground rules set and EVERYONE needs to follow them. Not just new members, not just the old timers, not just admins, moderators, w/e. EVERYONE needs to follow the same rules. I have ZERO issue with rules that are enforced fairly across the board. When a long time member can get away with whatever they want an a newer member gets banned for the same conduct that is BS. I look forward with hope that as the rules are enforced that all is done fairly.

[awkx]

Regarding the Classifieds
I see some people don't like the rules for the classifieds section. When I first read these rules, I too thought that they were silly and didn't make much sense. But after reading the admins' explanation and thinking about it, I now realize why these rules exist. So, I'm going to try to explain how I learned to stop worrying and love the rules.

Let's start with a fanciful pseudo-history* of PAFOA:

In the beginning, DanP created the PAFOA website, with the Discussion Forum in prominence. And DanP, looking at the Forum, saw that it was good: Firearm-owners from throughout Pennsylvania gathered, and they talked about guns, played Word Association, and posted pictures of cats. On the next day, DanP willed that would be a Classifieds section, in order that forum members might trade firearms and other goods with each other.

However, in the creating of the Classifieds, technical issues were encountered. The nature of Classifieds (as exemplified by Craigslist) is different from the nature of a discussion forum. Well-behaved was the vBulletin forum software, and but rarely was it possessed by demons. Alas, no available software for creating Classifieds was of such high quality. Unrelenting, DanP decided that he shall create the Classifieds inside the Forum.

Now, the Forum, in its full greatness, was certainly powerful enough to host the Classifieds. Indeed, it was too powerful, and it enticed forum-type discussion instead of the kind of communication suitable for Classifieds. Negative posts and flamage were not uncommon. Informative posts touching issues of general concern were lost, since the Classifieds postings are ephemeral and are not kept permanently in the Forum. Repeated posts to a Classifieds thread bumped it in the New Posts queue, distracting uninterested forum members.

Many man-months of labor would have been necessary to transform the nature of the Classifieds subforum so that it would be eminently suitable for Classifieds postings. So instead, DanP decided to implement the new Classifieds using social rules. Posters would communicate via Private Messages or email, akin to Craigslist. The seller would update his original post with any information that was lacking. With the new Classifieds rules, harmony and order were restored to the Classifieds sections, and all was well.

*Any resemblance to actual history is purely coincidental, and my apologies to DanP.

So, my perspective is as follows. The classifieds section is supposed to be like Craiglist, where sellers make a post for an item that they wish to sell, and potential buyers contact them via PMs. However, due to technical limitations, the classifieds section shares the same user-interface as the rest of the forum. So the UI lets you post comments and questions, even though this is forbidden by the site's social rules. Among other issues, responding on the thread (instead of using PMs) bumps the thread in the New Posts listing, thereby distracting those who are uninterested in the item. Allowing questions on the thread also provides a perverse incentive for sellers to leave out a critical piece of information, so that potential buyers would ask a question and thereby bump the seller's thread.

In conclusion, I see two mental models for the Classifieds subforum:

1. The classifieds section is primarily a regular discussion subforum, except discussion has been curtailed.
2. The classifieds section is supposed to be like Craiglist, but due to technical limitations, it is implemented as a discussion subforum.

If you see the classifieds section using the second perspective, I think it will be easier to accept and embrace the rules governing that section. Sorry for the long post, but I hope this helps people to better understand the reasoning behind the rules for the classifieds section.
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