Rated R label needed

[bykfixer]

Several years ago I joined the Candle Power Forum because it was a friendly place to discuss the electric fire on a stick, was very informative, a great resource for learning and most of all a family friendly place where the vast majority of members self-policed to keep things orderly and drama free.

Now, as history would show there was a staff here that kept the conversations between the guardrails. But one day the queen stepped down along with her guards and a new leader took over. And for the most part the vast majority of members self policed, which continued the family friendly atmosphere. Even in the off topic area. And even the discource of political topics largely remained civil. At least the majority of the posts.

Recently, not so much. Insults hurled about, personal attacks, the F bomb being tossed around and other off putting behavior. Some are saying "where's Mr Ed, you guys know we're not supposed to be acting this way" as if just because the teacher is not in the room it's ok to have a spitball fight. It's not. Just because Johnny hit you with a spit ball does not make it ok to hit Johnny with a bigger spit ball.

Sadly in America these days that is what public discourse has devolved into. Yet CPF used to be an escape from that. Anybody reading this can make up their own mind but as for me the situation makes me kind of sad. To see that CPF has become no better than a Reddit thread or a Facebook fight is such a shame.

Yes, there are a few here who seem to sign up, start drama and eventually get bored enough to go elsewhere. But I'm speaking to the veterans here mostly. You helped build this place up so I implore you to not be part of the mob tearing it down.

 

[orbital]

+

CPF has become a total turn-off for me.

It's no longer an interesting enthusiast forum for flashlights,
now it's a weak extension of Facebook and all the junk imported from there

..with Google overseeing everything.

______________________________________________________________________

How many threads have been closed in exactly the last five years?

 

[dc38]

Several years ago I joined the Candle Power Forum because it was a friendly place to discuss the electric fire on a stick, was very informative, a great resource for learning and most of all a family friendly place where the vast majority of members self-policed to keep things orderly and drama free.

Now, as history would show there was a staff here that kept the conversations between the guardrails. But one day the queen stepped down along with her guards and a new leader took over. And for the most part the vast majority of members self policed, which continued the family friendly atmosphere. Even in the off topic area. And even the discource of political topics largely remained civil. At least the majority of the posts.

Recently, not so much. Insults hurled about, personal attacks, the F bomb being tossed around and other off putting behavior. Some are saying "where's Mr Ed, you guys know we're not supposed to be acting this way" as if just because the teacher is not in the room it's ok to have a spitball fight. It's not. Just because Johnny hit you with a spit ball does not make it ok to hit Johnny with a bigger spit ball.

Sadly in America these days that is what public discourse has devolved into. Yet CPF used to be an escape from that. Anybody reading this can make up their own mind but as for me the situation makes me kind of sad. To see that CPF has become no better than a Reddit thread or a Facebook fight is such a shame.

Yes, there are a few here who seem to sign up, start drama and eventually get bored enough to go elsewhere. But I'm speaking to the veterans here mostly. You helped build this place up so I implore you to not be part of the mob tearing it down.

Some of us need to work from the dark so that others can enjoy the light. I'm a power cell. I will likely never see the light I help produce, but I know it's there. There are also some xxxxxfire cells that want to be the light, and they vent so violently that they're brilliant for all of a brief moment, and destroy whatever they're in proximity to. Poor quality cells always run the risk of thermal runaway, and it can cause a chain reaction that destroys good cells along with the installation they're meant to run, thus plunging the whole system into darkness.

 

[Dave D]

I discovered the 'Ignore' member feature. So far it's working well.

 

[PaladinNO]

I must be frequenting the wrong parts of the forum then, because the worst I have seen here is some friendly bantering. That, and a couple misunderstandings, but hey - it's the internet, it is difficult to sometimes phrase a joke in such a way it is obvious that it is one.
I have been guilty of inadvertently offending someone here, and once called on that, I have apologized and made changes to the initial post to make my intent clear. No hard feelings either way as far as I'm concerned or aware.

That said, I did mainly join up here for the technical knowledge, and perhaps sharing some of my own (though took a 6 year hiatus not long after my signup, when a moderator called me "ignorant and arrogant"), and so..."The Cafe" isn't a part that I am often visiting.

I for one am not here for the serious discussions - just sharing in the hobby, dare I say passion, that we all share.

 

[thermal guy]

I’m not on here as much as I used to be but I’m not seeing this. Not saying it’s not happening.

 

[leukos]

I discovered the 'Ignore' member feature. So far it's working well.

I have unfortunately had to ‘ignore’ several members too due to their lack of ability to keep politics out of certain forums. People can discuss political views just about anywhere online, but there are so few places to have in-depth discussions of flashlights. Please follow CPF rules and keep the hobby specific forums free of this drivel!

 

[raggie33]

I try with all my heart to be respectful . But im old and sometimes am unkind and for that i am sorry

 

[jacobd]

The political boomer/old man rantings is why this place has gone from a hive of activity to a ghost town. Looking at old threads makes me think very wistfully of how good this place looked a decade ago.

I've just found the ignore feature, so I'm sure I'll hear less cult-like rhetoric now

 

[wacbzz]

The belief that the byproduct of a singular thread would cause one to find the whole of CPF unfavorable seems slightly off to me.

 

[thermal guy]

The political boomer/old man rantings is why this place has gone from a hive of activity to a ghost town. Looking at old threads makes me think very wistfully of how good this place looked a decade ago.

I've just found the ignore feature, so I'm sure I'll hear less cult-like rhetoric now

I think it’s because there’s really nothing new. I mean to the extreme. When we went from incandescent to led it was a great time Truly spectacular. We talked about run times and bulb life and it was all new. Now that we’re past that stage it gets a little mundane.

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

Well, I think the Golden Age of CPF was probably before the LED became so prolific, and members were modding their incandescent flashlights to get better performance out of them. You look back at the modding threads for Maglites, and it is crazy the stuff that was being created! I wasn't really around back then, and even if I had been, I don't think I would have been brave enough to have experimented like some of you people have. There are a lot of technical minded people on here, engineers, technicians of all kinds, who know how to make things. To some of these people, I tip my hat. To the snobby elitist types, I have other, more rude gestures for. I apologize if my intolerance for political stupidity has caused heartburn, but it is very difficult for me to suffer a fool. I do try to moderate my language, but being human, I do slip every now and again. bykfixer is my Jiminy Cricket. ;)