Good bye guys, I WITHDRAW MY MEMBERSHIP

[Europhyllia]

It has been said time and time again that he can post any and all of his experiences in the GCReef forum.

I think sometimes info like this just flows into conversation. It would be awkward to discuss things and then stop and post a link to a different forum. ;)
The New Jersey fish store post seemed so very innocent. I can't believe somebody felt compelled to report that! I thought the reminder that most fish stores have to go through the same wholesale providers anyway was in fact good info.
We encounter so many negative posts here and members are given quite a bit of leeway to be rude time and time again. That's much more of a drag to me than somebody being excited about a store and not hiding how much time they spend there.
I will definitely miss Michael if he decides to leave. :(
Rules are rules I guess.
Wish there were some rules to limit ongoing bickering, condescending remarks and such. Those are way more distracting to me and don't add anything useful or educational for me.

[FireWater]

Karin, I agree. Unfortunately if we as mods tried to catch everything then everyone would have an argument for "over moderating" and that is what we are trying to avoid. The whole process is set in current rules and regulations that are currently in place. The post of the pics and store information from New Jersey were not what was questioned by the person who reported the post. No decision made by the moderators is easy and all are discussed unless it is blatant infraction of the rules.
I for one do not want to see anyone leave MAAST, but all folks have their right to do as they choose. I applaud anyone who wants to add educational content and experiences that might help others. Michael offered both in his own way

[MRSBIGBIRD123]

Unfortunately, this has been an ongoing issue with one of the Moderators, while I was a Moderator myself....didn't like the fact that Michael typed in all Caps...lol. I will only speak for myself, I have never met him, but felt he brought a lot of passion of his hobby to MAAST.
This is no different, as someone else put it earlier, than them giving props to Gabe....(no offense intended to Gabe,) I even felt, that there was a conflict of interest with certain Members and the relationship they had with Gabe and his store, and publicizing all over the site. Gabe has a nice store, and is fair to his customers.
How is Michael supposed to rave over the other LFS, when he lives in Corpus? Not fully understanding the logic/logistics there...it would seem to me, that my living in SA, I would rave over a SA LFS more..
I completely understand how Michael feels, why visit a site, where there is nothing but prejudice (same rules do not apply to all,) and where he does not feel welcomed? Michael is standing up for something, himself....

[captexas]

Sorry, but after the other thread and threads in the past over this issue, all I could think of after seeing this thread was -

[captexas]

How is Michael supposed to rave over the other LFS, when he lives in Corpus? Not fully understanding the logic/logistics there...it would seem to me, that my living in SA, I would rave over a SA LFS more..
I completely understand how Michael feels, why visit a site, where there is nothing but prejudice (same rules do not apply to all,) and where he does not feel welcomed? Michael is standing up for something, himself....

Perhaps if you would actually read all the threads on Michael and his situations over the past few months you would see that there is a different between a simple happy customer "raving" over a good experience with a LFS and what comes across as advertising for a LFS that he "appears" to be associated with at times, whether actually employed there or not. There are sponsor forums specifically for their discussions and advertising and that is all that appears the BOD/Mods are asking of him, to follow simple rules.

As far as "prejudice" and "not feeling welcomed", I think that is something more perceived by certain people, especially Michael, while not being factual. He's not the first person here to be very "energetic", emotional, etc. and not see things clearly, taking it all personally.

[hobogato]

...There are sponsor forums specifically for their discussions and advertising and that is all that appears the BOD/Mods are asking of him, to follow simple rules...

exactly.

[Big_Pun]

Sorry, but after the other thread and threads in the past over this issue, all I could think of after seeing this thread was -

please keep comments like that to yourself no need for name calling any post in this thread should be to help resolve the problem

[theedprado]

please keep comments like that to yourself no need for name calling any post in this thread should be to help resolve the problem

Ok wait, so now you are calling for censorship?

[justahobby]

Nothing productive can come from the direction this thread has taken. Please treat each other respectfully and continue focusing on the growth of MAAST.