BG and the Demise of BPL

Self moderation (with a sense of humor) and new insights on how to do things or think about things is what keeps me reading.

Like you said, "BPL is just an Internet forum"

I am mentally prepared for any internet forum I while away (or is it wile away?) my time on to disappear at any moment

I don't know that things are worse now than other times, although things go in cycles?

Nice to see Nick posting more, seems like he did less for a while. c'mon, post something on chaff : )

I kind of ignore the B.S. As long as there are a lot of good ideas in the flow, it's a good thing. If everyone agreed with me, or with each other, it would be boring and of less value.

Add it probably had something to do with a new employee, contractor, or whoever they get to write up an article besides regulars. Personal disagreements or even attacks among members are nothing new here, … there's old posts of one poster threatening to shoot another (with a posse lol) from 2008 (granted Chaff), … found by researching some gear designs that have been around. Ed: add, br, and homogenized

We're defending Bob behavior when it sounds like BPL hasn't accused him of anything?

Silly questions, is it time to renew his membership?

Could be an error in they're spam blocker. I'm somehow banned from a gardening forum I've never participated on because I tried to access it from work where we share IP addresses…

Since BPL is a paid forum, I'd anticipate they'd get back to bob soon with a resolution or explanation.

I appreciate Bob's participation around here. And I wouldn't mistake a few odd nuts and bolts, as a community wide degradation. Ask the right question, and several names pop up I've been appreciating for years. That remains unchanged.

"Could be an error in they're spam blocker."

'Could be an error in they are spam blocker.'

They are spam blocker?

–B.G.–

At times when I post something that I think will be useful, I think to myself, “What will Bob think?” And then I take a little more time to ensure it is clear and concise, or even check my facts further. All of this is a good thing.

I've held back on a lot of initial complaints about some equipment I just tried out, because of a slight anxiety that Bob will point out how it was user error, not the fault of the item. Then I go read FAQ and dig in BPL forums, to attempt to eliminate the possibility I was doing something wrong. About half the time, I find some bit of information that changes my perspective quite a bit.

Let's not overdo the love or Bob will be insufferable when he comes back.

edit: oops, I thought that I was posting this on the OTHER BG thread, where it made more sense as a hopefully funny caveat.

Looking at the record of posts for "account closed" at http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/profile?ot=0&u=ACCOUNTCLOSED#posts, there is nothing newer than 2 months ago. Looks like a hack or some sort of weird database glitch to me.

Dale –
Account Closed was the starting post. The thread was hijacked to the locking of Bob’s account. Read through Page 2 to get caught up.

"Let's not overdo the love or Bob will be insufferable when he comes back."

Truth. He's a royal PITA. But, he was done dirty here and it's not right.

I wonder sometimes if Jack Nicholson's character in As Good As It Gets was inspired by Bob.

Let's not overdo the love or Bob will be insufferable when he comes back.

Likely, but it could be worth it.

I think the forums are really the main tangible value to this website currently (at least to me), and that people like Bob and their above average participation helps keep this place active and interesting. BPL's backend crew hopefully sees this outcry over the moderating crackdown and embraces this as an opportunity to contemplate how to harness the thrust of such free resources as compulsive contributors and market starved cottage manufactures, rather than stifling and suppressing them until they get discouraged to the point of looking elsewhere.

Of course, you can't please everybody, or you'll lose your ass:

source: http://www.jokes4us.com/animaljokes/donkeyjokes.html“,Beeen”

The moral of the story is:

Don't carry your donkey over a bridge. It's irrational and irresponsible. And possibly "irregardless" of life.

that fable is one of my favorites, appropriate for many cases

Actually, the real moral of the story is that you should use your own brains and not be entirely dependent on what other plebs say.

But that would not make such an amusing story.

Cheers

Donkeys are too heavy, get a goat.

"Donkeys are too heavy, get a goat."

Donkeys, onions?

Never mind.

So for me, Shrek started narrating this thread several responses up ^^^^

"Actually, the real moral of the story is that you should use your own brains and not be entirely dependent on what other plebs say."

Are you saying that this is all untrue and Bob is free to post?

"BPL Community Profile
Bob Gross (–B.G.–) – BPL Guest"

Reminds me of the time I was kicked out of the BPL yahoo group back in 2004 ; ).

More concerning to me is the unprecedented amount of slanderous personal attacks by other BPL members over the past few months, along with the constant complaining and whining about just about everything here. It is never ending. I am getting to the point I don’t want to participate here any longer. It truly is not an issue with the BPL ownership or moderators. BPL is just an Internet forum, much of it free or of minimal cost. BPL is deteriorating fast, not because of how it is managed, but it is rotting from the inside out: due to the inappropriate, vicious behavior of a few. A few who are making this no longer a nice place to visit. This is the problem with BPL. Not RJ, not RC, and not BG.

+1+1+1+1…. that.

Actually, this is an oft repeated pattern in the life cycle of communication mechanisms that enable/allow "speech" without face to face contact. Things often do not take as long to degrade as it has here and I've long been puzzled how we've survived this long. The few forums I know that have avoided this decay have been smallish and often had a high percentage of participants who HAD met face to face. In those instances the slightest hint of uncivil behavior was quickly challenged … that and strong a "don't feed the trolls" ethic was promoted and understood. There is good evidence that micro subsets of BPL have formed as a result of shared trip experiences and the GGG gatherings … many of the people in those groups have moved on to just enjoy each other's company and have either left BPL or rarely participate.

Nick and Jim are absolutely correct in their analysis. Almost all forums start off with a bang and then slow down either because it has all been talked about before or folks get tired of answering the same questions over and over and participation wanes.

People like Bob keep the heartbeat going even during slow times. I have been here from the beginning and I don't notice Bob's posts anymore than anyone else and I don't think that he has ever commented on one my posts. I do notice the attackers and whiners more, but I just ignore them.

Here:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=104164&skip_to_post=880304#880304

Roger denies any knowledge of BG being spanked and sent home from school.

Seems to me, either he's lying or BG opted out.

I'd hesitate to call any man a liar with no evidence other than what I've seen so far.

Am I Missing something?

I'm sure everyone is telling the truth here.

We're only hearing that Bob was locked out through third parties who have his personal email address. I willing to take what they are saying at face value.

It's also possible that Roger is out of the loop and/or doesn't have any control over this situation.

@ Richard Reno,
If I'm reading that thread correctly, Roger wasn't referring to Bob Gross, but rather to "Account Closed", the original subject of that thread and therefore no one need be lying.

"@ Richard Reno,
If I'm reading that thread correctly, Roger wasn't referring to Bob Gross, but rather to "Account Closed", the original subject of that thread and therefore no one need be lying."

+1 Talking about someone else entirely.