Why do you keep locking threads?

[Famous Mortimer]

What's the point of having a forum if you're going to lock a thread the minute any debate starts in it?

[kodiakthejuggler]

Because they's da bosses.

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

like what thread per se???  I have several threads that just keep going and going on with very intense debate about serious things.

[torgosPizza]

We don't like to lock threads but sometimes we have to. When the discussion spirals downward into name-calling, or a "virtual fistfight" where there is nothing constructive brought to the conversation, that's when it gets locked.

Going WAYYYYY off-topic can have this result as well. Unless the discussion is really interesting or a "hot topic" that gets a ton of posts, then we might be lax about it.

We encourage discussion and debate, as long as it's civil and well-thought out. What's the point of having moderators if we don't enforce any rules or "nice behavior?" Not that you have to act nice all the time, but if you want to get into a fight online, do it on the IMDB forums, and not here.

Discussion is one thing, bone-headed conflict is another.

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

BONE HEADED

how dare you

(pulls off glove) Slap!!!

I challenge you sir to fisticuffs.

[Famous Mortimer]

Specifically, the one about the new guest riffer up in the announcements folder. 15 pages of debate, strongly held beliefs but it was civil for the most part, then we have some bad impression of a Renaissance Fair town crier and the thread is locked. There was also a thread "should we bring back MST3K?" which wasn't brilliant but also was just puttering along nicely, that got locked for no real reason too (to be fair, it got re-opened when I asked torgosPizza about it).

Can anyone tell me what rules were broken in either of the threads I mentioned above?

[torgosPizza]

BONE HEADED

how dare you

(pulls off glove) Slap!!!

I challenge you sir to fisticuffs.

Have at you!

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

i would counter and punch or something but i have no idea what image that is   stupid firewall.

[kodiakthejuggler]

BONE HEADED

how dare you

(pulls off glove) Slap!!!

I challenge you sir to fisticuffs.

Have at you!

C'mon you little pipsqueak!!

[Conor]

Specifically, the one about the new guest riffer up in the announcements folder. 15 pages of debate, strongly held beliefs but it was civil for the most part, then we have some bad impression of a Renaissance Fair town crier and the thread is locked. There was also a thread "should we bring back MST3K?" which wasn't brilliant but also was just puttering along nicely, that got locked for no real reason too (to be fair, it got re-opened when I asked torgosPizza about it).

Can anyone tell me what rules were broken in either of the threads I mentioned above?

Not that we need to explain ourselves...

But as we explained at the end of the thread, the whole discussion was slipping into the realm of personal attacks, which isn't cool.  Nobody's heard the guest riffing yet, so there is no debate to its quality.  We explained why he was chosen, answering many questions and eliminating any mysteries there.  All that was left to debate were the claims about the character of our guest riffer, which all of us are probably woefully underqualified to do. 

[BathTub]

Specifically, the one about the new guest riffer up in the announcements folder. 15 pages of debate, strongly held beliefs but it was civil for the most part, then we have some bad impression of a Renaissance Fair town crier and the thread is locked. There was also a thread "should we bring back MST3K?" which wasn't brilliant but also was just puttering along nicely, that got locked for no real reason too (to be fair, it got re-opened when I asked torgosPizza about it).

Can anyone tell me what rules were broken in either of the threads I mentioned above?

I'm not so sure that...

1. T:Oh no not him, here is why I don't like him
2. Hater, <conjecture of other possible reasons for hate>
3 T:<reiteration of original reasons for dislike>
4. go to 2

..was much of a debate and more like an endless treadmill of bickering.

[Conor]

Specifically, the one about the new guest riffer up in the announcements folder. 15 pages of debate, strongly held beliefs but it was civil for the most part, then we have some bad impression of a Renaissance Fair town crier and the thread is locked. There was also a thread "should we bring back MST3K?" which wasn't brilliant but also was just puttering along nicely, that got locked for no real reason too (to be fair, it got re-opened when I asked torgosPizza about it).

Can anyone tell me what rules were broken in either of the threads I mentioned above?

I'm not so sure that...

1. T:Oh no not him, here is why I don't like him
2. Hater, <conjecture of other possible reasons for hate>
3 T:<reiteration of original reasons for dislike>
4. go to 2

..was much of a debate and more like an endless treadmill of bickering.

Very well said.  And we don't "keep" locking threads.  It happens like every 3 weeks, and only when people start repeating themselves or insulting people.

[Pak-Man]

Don't mean to sound like a troublemaker, but are we just supposed to pretend Lowtax isn't riffing for the next week and not discuss and anticipate this for fear that someone might have an unfounded, negative opinion?

[J-Proof]

In our defense - you'll see threads about Saddam Hussein, nationalism, conspiracies, moral relativism vs. universality etc all staying very UNlocked.

As for pretending Lowax isn't a guest riffer - no, you don't need to pretend anything, just stay civil and threads don't get locked, no?

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

cant even keep count of all the religion threads that have been started or others that mutated into them.