Our forums have 'threads' for a reason - to allow discussions on particular topics to be separate.

Lately, almost every thread, no matter the topic, seem to get taken off topic with endless posts on topics such as:
- electric cars in threads not about electric cars
- the good old days and cars 20+ years old when discussing new cars
- extensive discussions about lexus cars in threads not about lexus cars

Obviously some 'comparison' posts are welcome, or humor, but we (moderator team) ask that you please think before posting "does this have anything to do with the thread title or topic?" If no, don't post it, or start a new thread.

Also, if you've made a point once or twice before, it probably isn't necessary to make it over and over and over again. Regulars likely don't appreciate it.

Thank you for helping keep ClubLexus threads more organized and on their own topics.

 

I would suggest, as I have suggested before that there be some outlet where we can have unregulated, free flowing discussions. I and others feel stifled by the tightly regimented rules about what we are allowed to discuss here, and this has become what in my experience is the most tightly moderated and restrictive car discussion forum on the internet, at least of all the ones I have read and participated in. Nowhere else have I seen such a focus and effort to control what the members are allowed to discuss. I have tried in the past to create a thread where people can talk about whatever they want, and it was closed down. Quite frankly, only being allowed to have tightly moderated and regulated discussions isn't all that enjoyable. I understand the need for strict topics in the vehicle specific forums where information is searchable, but this is the general car chat forum, people are not searching for information here (that was the reason we were given as to why my general Car Chat thread was closed).

I would humbly suggest that there be some way to have a free flowing discussion where we aren't told what we can and cannot discuss and where. I care a lot about this forum, and this group of people and format is very difficult to replace...but this has become over the top IMO.

I think if you would allow us to have some place where we can have a free flowing discussion that ebbs and flows and evolves and changes subject, you would find that threads that are directed to a specific topic will not have this issue. The reason this happens is those are interactions we want to have with each other, and we aren't allowed to have them. Is it a chat bot plugin or something? Is it a thread? Is it a different forum entirely from Car Chat? I don't know...but there has to be a solution that balances the management's desire to have everything tightly controlled and organized, and the desire many of us have to have the ability to have more natural organic discussions about cars.

 

I completely agree. I think you will see an improvement in the quality of all other threads, keeping a strict focus on the topic presented by the original poster. It's easy to go off topic in a lot of these conversations because they are things that interest us, being the car enthusiasts that we are.

 

And the other part of it is...we genuinely like each other and enjoy talking to each other. We may bicker and things may get heated every once and a while, but we want to be able to just talk about cars in a general way.

 

Guys I hear you but when the chat thread was around, it did not keep other car chat threads from wandering off topic into unrelated and random directions. And the chat thread had both experienced and newly joined members posting questions that should be elsewhere in the forum that would have yielded better assistance and broader input for them, which is why it was split off & ultimately closed.

All that's being asked is if you have a topic that springs to mind that isn't largely related to the topic of the thread you are posting in, push 'new thread' instead of the 'post reply' button and presto you've got a thread on that topic with pretty much the same effort as a reply. Plus I and other members will be thankful to be able to go into that thread and find a topic they are truly interested in because it has a title that interests them and a conversation related to that topic.

 

Absolutely agree. Some of the thread closings make sense, most to my mind do not. Perfectly good car discussions - things that members want to talk about - are getting shut down for reasons that I often can't fathom.

 

Look at the bright side, years back when there was less moderation, threads were turning into holy wars, and while it is fun it wastes even more time than we all already waste on here arguing over the same stuff over and over again.

 

To be fair, the chat thread was only around for a few days, and people who posted in it looking for help can be easily directed to where they need to go. People post in here and in threads all the time looking for help...you didn't close down the Car Chat forum because some people get confused.

Anything that goes off topic in a different thread can be easily split off from that thread and merged into the general chat thread, you would never have to close another thread for going off topic again.

The issue with just starting a new thread is that often discussions come out of some facet of the topic and starting a new thread interrupts that chain of thought. Its just not a natural conversation at that point so it doesn't serve the purpose. The other issue is that thread also winds up closed because its not a fully formed topic. Example, I posted that picture of the Civic Si with the Historic tags. Its now closed with no explanation. It can't go off topic because there really was no topic. If there were a general chat thread, I would have just posted it in there.

People aren't posting in this thread about this because they are intimidated, but I promise you there are many people here who feel this way, I know because I have talked to them over PMs, texts, emails etc. We don't pay to use CL, but we are CL's customers. We view ads, we do business with vendors who pay CL to have access to us, and we create the content that makes CL attractive to the advertisers and vendors that pay to advertise to us. Your customers are showing you they want something here...there has to be some way to support that.

 

That is a different story. That stuff should be shut down and stopped.

 

You obviously don't frequent the car forums I do. I'm currently active on 5. One of them will threaten to ban you if you bump a thread that is more than a year old, or bring up anything negative about the vehicle. If you question their decision in a post, they will immediately ban you. I would say this forum is somewhere in the middle. It's not overly moderated and not a free-for-all. There are a couple mods that act like the rules don't apply to them at times, though.

 

Again, I agree with every word.

 

So tell me what will be different about the new chat thread? How will you react differently if a new confused member joins and posts in it? Exactly when will you create a new distinct topic vs just post in the chat thread where other members not interested in the 'chat' won't see and will now never respond to that new topic of interest? Once a thread gets to be a certain size, moderation and thread viewing gets wonky so you can't count on moderators taking time to constantly move things around. How are you going to keep the recurring 'holy wars' of topics like ICE vs EV from taking it down a path where it gets closed?

 

What car forums are those?

I have zero issue with enforcement of the rules. Lord knows I have been a thorn in the moderators sides here at times and for that I apologize, but what I take issue with is the moderation of what people can and cannot talk about and the closure of threads that members are enjoying talking in where no forum rules are being broken, its just decided that discussion won't be allowed to continue.

 

Looks into any EV or performance car related thread

I'd say that The Clubhouse would be a better shoot the shat about random topics home than in Car Chat

 

Sorry, incorrect. That rule has been here longer than you've been a member

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/faq...#faq_off_topic