[unruhjonny]

Originally Posted by F ROCK

... This is not the friendly community that it used to be. ...

It can definitely seem at times to not be friendly when you're on the receiving end of unbridled criticism or scoffing;
I would know.
Even my brothers often make fun of me for saying more than the bare minimum to get the point across.

One of the times that I was on the receiving end of some shockingly unflattering comments from a thread I was in here, I texted a member (whom I occasionally spoke with offline) to ask for his unbiased take on what prompted the brutal (from this side of my monitor) comment;
It was suggested that the post was likely an inebriated comment.

Funny, but not funny.

I will say that the offline feedback I received really took the edge off the comment for me.
It didn't make it better, but it made me less mad/defensive.
I chose to not reply, and it went away.

I tend to think that for the most part, this IS a really good group;
Just like with family there are sometimes people you'ld probably prefer to ignore, but they're still a part of the group;
Unlike family though, there is no real relationship with many of many members here, from which a degree of understanding and forgiveness might normally be fostered.
It doesn't help that sometimes these "fake" communities, give you the feeling that you're in a legitimate community - but that's just the way it is with any social network.

I think this site, and other forums like it, work best when we all try to at a bare minimum be civil with each other, and the people moderating, don't get ego trips for weilding a small shred of power.
After all, we're all here for the same reason.

Originally Posted by F ROCK

I never give advise and I think twice about asking questions now.

In my opinion, that's a bit of a "glass is half empty" defeatist attitude.
If someone is asking for advice, and you think you can help, please do... just watch your words.
If you have a question, odds are there is an untapped knowledge base here that can answer just about anything anyone might need to ask.

[Stuart]

I think this has gone far enough, the point has been made.