staffman

Something told me to check in this morning. I'm glad that I saw this thread.

First off, my hat goes off to Efka who has done a marvelous job at keeping some semblance of order around here during my absence.

Secondly, to all the members, thank you for your patience.

The format that is currently in place was intended to exist in conjunction with the reports sections, as they existed in the previous version of OFF, as the older members may recall. The reports sections were removed "temporarily" during the last forum upgrade as we were under-taking a massive re-organization of the both the style and functionality of the board. Unfortunately, I was pulled away from OFF before the forum upgrade was completed and all the new features could be fully implemented, including the new gallery, new reports sections and other new and upgraded features.

I think I'm correct in assuming that much of the conflict here recently is related in part to the absence of the private reports sections, where members may freely discuss detailed reports, including locations, as well as an influx of new and in some cases, rude members. This will be rectified soon, as:

1) When I have some free time, my first order of business will be to read through the last few months of posts and -- to put it bluntly -- I will ban the less "mature" members who Efka has not already banned.
2) I'm planning yet another OFF upgrade at some time in the very near future to include all the upgrades mentioned above and more... once I wrap up the project that I'm currently involved in.

Hopefully the above two measures will assist OFF during these "growing pains". I don't have a precise time-frame yet, but it will be "soon".

In the mean time, I am eliminating the ability to "negative rep". I think this causes hostility and serves no real purpose other than to perpetuate ill will among members.

Thanks for your patience, and I appreciate the feedback.

Cheers,

openfire