As Some of you know.. i've been round here quite a long time.
One of my Favorite parts about the Website has always been the Chatroom.

I am an Auto mechanic, I wander round the boards a few times a week, and apply My knowledge and experience to other peoples problems on the boards, and try to help them out whenever i can, Only posting when i'm confident that what i'm saying's going to put people in the right direction, or fix their problem as i've read it.

When i'm in the Chat room, I try to help people out with problems to the best of my knowledge given the circumstances it's being displayed throuh.... i don't mind some people are more knowledgeable than others, and some are just hard headed and can't understand... but i try. If they don't want my help no problem.

The reason I Go to the chatroom however is not to help people with car problems, it's to get to know the guys and girls from the board a little better... it's about the only outlet we have that's "real time" that we can converse... and i really appriciate having it around, talking bout cars, jobs, life in general, different way to meet people.. it's nice... We've planned many meetings, and gatherings large and small over the years out of there...

That's what i Like most about the chatroom, and about the site, meeting and gettting to know people i'd otherwise have no means of meeting. Making friends, pal's and buddy's along the way. That's the great payoff to me. I deal enough with cars the rest of the week, that it creates a break from the brain pain they often cause

The issue at hand is, that recently a large portion of the boards have been shut out from the chatroom, and denied the opportunity to learn more about the names on the boards, on another level.. a more personal level. As i've understood, there was a problem with a few people from Aol and they banned the whole thing.. to me that's over reacting.. but then again i'm not in charge..
Other people have a bad taste since when they get in there they are berated or belittled or whatever.. ... as the old saying goes STuff rolls down hill,.. it comes from who's in charge of the sector, and comes down from there.

Most of the time some Understanding and Courtesy is what's needed, not snapping and biting, and sniping at other names on the screen, they are people, and what you write is how you present yourself. If you come off as harsh and arrogant, that's how people are going to judge your character, especially in a "real time" environment such as the chatroom.

In concluding this.. before it goes ten pages. I'd like to see the chatroom stay.. and flourish, but I'd also like to see a more even handed moderator running it. Me I have neither the Net knowhow nor the time, to perform such a task, which is why i have a certain admiration of peopel that take on that task, and appriciate it.. I'd like to see someone else admining the room, but if that's not the case, I admire tpi_roc for the time he's putting in, and that he's doing the best job that he can.


My .02 for the chat room.. Not a complain, but a request.

 

The AOL ban was because of a few people causing serious problems, and alot more causing moderate problems. The reason it went to the extent it did was because a certain AOL user hijacked TTA (3.8transam)'s account got op status and had his 30 seconds of fun. The AOL ban obviously affected a wide range of people, however provisions were made to allow the more trusted AOL users by me, using my own personal server as a gateway into the chat. Either way ther are ZERO active bans, anybody and everybody is allowed to "flurish" in there. You'll find that a fair amount of moderation can make it better for everyone. Even if you're in there to "Shoot the ****" its easier to do when you dont have to filter out all the "A/S/L??? LALALAL LOLOL HAW HAW SMOKE WEED!#@$!"

I tried to help, maybe i helped to much? I was never told what was grounds for removal and otherwise, so I did so at my discretion, not to mention that dirk himself is/was aware of all bans in place, If asked to lift a single one naturally i would have done so immediatly. He's a busy guy, he doesn't want to deal with this **** So I tried to. I can offer a few things which is why i was doing it. Knowledge of both cars and computers. Apparently I'm not so liked as a general person

Oh well, I tried.

 

Just for the reference, he has on several occasions provided that alternate access for AOL users that arent trolling.

 

I'm able to connect from work, but at home I use AOL as my ISP for the cheap DSL. I have been a trusted member of this board since 1998, and I registered when the new boards went up in '99. If there is a way for me to use the chat from home through AOL, please, please allow me to do so. I agree with what was said above, but the only time I'm really able to find time to chat is at home. Needless to say, I rarely use the AOL chats! tpi_roc does a good job, and if I the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, I'll understand. I'll just have to set up a dialup connection to another ISP if that's what it takes. Let me know, and thank you!

 

I've done alot more of keeping the AOL lines free and allowing users to join. So at night time you should find yourself able to join, however if any $H1T hits the fan instead of banning over and over and over as the user just comes back i'll just ban aol for a few hours, unfortunatly its partially coincidence and bad timing. Hope it works for you tonight as it will be unbanned untill something happens.

 

sounds like a good plan to me