Censorship etc... have at it

Many of us who were involved, felt that Z-Bo's post ( even if some didn't agree with it) felt it was honest.  .  .  .

z-bo erroneously implicated our group as putting in "skin track-like" tracks on the subject line, which seemed dishonest to me because it was a manifestly false charge.  Hence, I corrected him via a public post and shot him a PM to advise of his error.  So, no, in my informed (I was there) view, his post was either not honest or unwittingly erroneous.  I really really don't like being falsely accused of anything.

There's more to the story.  I heard yesterday that someone (not in my party) skied the subject line that day with a broken Dynafit heel, and he experienced at least one nasty fall.  It is well possible that the big broad tracks z-bo found to be offensive were laid by the guy flailing to get down on a broken binder.  IMV, a guy ought to get his facts straight before launching personal attacks.

Re the santization of this site in the name of civility, it is what it is, not unlike other moderated forums (e.g., NWHikers).  Charles has been hosting the party and now Marcus is the host, and the host has the discretion to moderate the tone.

I recall seeing some spirited debate in Random Tracks -- the one responding to the "nothing is worth doing unless one's life is on the line" or some such similar quip comes to mind -- and I'd like to see more spirited discourse on TAY.  But, if the mods want to glean name-calling and other cheap shots on TR's, that's fine with me.  But, then, I'm biased because I was the subject of an unfounded false attack.

It would depend entirely on the question. Stupid questions, questions that could easily be answered by doing a search, (especially in the wrong forums) or those with underlying attitude get the treatment at TGR. One has to earn credibility there, and sometimes that involves having a thick skin for a while.

I've had tons of great experiences there. Been JONGed a few times early on, especially when I was looking for someone to ski sidecountry with in Utah where I failed to be clear about my experience and understanding of avalanche safety. I learned from that and adjusted my approach to such things as a result.

I've met and skied with many, many cool people there including a bunch of guys that helped my son select his line at the jr. comp at Snowbird last year and showed us goods for 3 days, bought countless items at extraordinarily good prices, sold a boatload of gear, and learned so much about everything skiing that I can't even express it. If it weren't for TGR I'd never have attended str8line camp - a life altering time.

As for their lack of moderation? Well, things have a way of working themselves out. Those who can't take the heat bail out. Those who can benefit enormously. A temporarily bruised ego isn't necessarily a bad thing.

TGR is a much larger-profile site with more members, so it follows that there would be a greater quantity of posts and topics, but does that hold true of the quality as well?

A social experiment probably could be designed to answer this one.  A new member could try posting the same question about skiing both here and at TGR, and then would see what responses he/she receives.  I'm guessing it would be fairly easy to determine on which site they receive more creative, constructive, and meaningful feedback at.  Maybe this wouldn't be entirely a reflection of the level of moderation, but it surely has an influence.

I'm not in favor of censorship, but I do like to take some of my news in a well mannered library.  Sometimes the subway station is fine, but much of the time, the noise level is too much there.  As for read/reply ratios, I couldn't say if there might be an optimum participation level, but please don't turn this into another TT with endless chatter over almost nothing and where the goal appears to be maximising posting numbers

Re the santization of this site in the name of civility, it is what it is, not unlike other moderated forums (e.g., NWHikers).  Charles has been hosting the party and now Marcus is the host, and the host has the discretion to moderate the tone.

You are right, the host, owner of this site has the absolute right to do what they want. No denying that, but lets be honest about the moderation.
Here's an example.
The post that starts this thread is mine, moved from the other thread and edited by Marcus.
In it I asked for a thread by a friend of Marcus's to be deleted because it contained IMV a personal attack based upon the rules that Marcus was defending. ( it don't bother me at all but I was doing it to make a point.)
Marcus deleted the thread so which I objected and then edited my post to take out the name of the person who made the post , whom I mention in my preface ( as it not being personal) before complaining.

Marcus is then quite happy to move my post ( edited by him) to a prominent position to promote this discussion.
I can only infer from this, that Marcus removed his friends name so as to not embarrass him but quite wiling to let me fly in the wind.  Selective moderation and cronyism has always been the TAY way up to now and the new regime seemingly intends to perpetuate it.

Scotsman, you seem to have a very clear idea of how things should be done as well as how things are failing to be done as they should be done. The offer to make you a moderator still stands so that you can put this knowledge to work and help improve the forum.

I'm generally letting this discussion develop on its own, Scotsman, but that's an intentionally poor misreading of the actions here.  

You are, of course, free to edit the first post as much as you like.  I removed Randy's name not because I wanted to save him embarrassment, but because you quoted his reply in your comment, thus the perceived insult (which, as you say, didn't actually offend you at all) was perpetuated.

You're the one who wanted to discuss censorship here -- I'm pretty sure you don't really feel like you're flying in the wind.  This thread is here to let the community speak out about the tone and norms of the site, not to single out any particular user.  I'm happily to delete your post if you'd like me to.