Rudy, why do you feel the need to shut down any kind of conversation you deem unfit to your personal tastes? You've closed and locked more threads than I can count. No other mod closes and locks threads with more gusto than you.... genuine question.

Is discussion of something as significant as say, BT25 leaving, prohibited? What are we, supposed to sit quietly, if we have an opinion that we think matters?

'Cause that pushed a lot of members over the edge... do you really want more to leave? You act like a glorified mall cop on a power trip... we are all adults, or nearly adults on here...

@RCM442

@Maxim This is most board is most likely going to be taken down. Because shouting at an Admin, won’t go to well with the Admins…  but I do see what you mean. Not being able to discuss another member’s departure is a bit harsh.

That’s just my imput…

We have spoken, he is aware...

I think RCM442 is doing exactly the job that is asked of him. I think the main problem is what is being asked of him. Of course RCM442 deletes more conversations than the other mods because (no offense to the other two mods) RCM442 does the vast majority of the moderating round here. I think the problem is in the rules. Hear me out

I think that if a conversation gets rowdy or hateful, then it should be shut down in most instances. I believe this should be the criteria for a conversation shutdown. Conversations about members leaving are very likely to become hateful, but not all of them inherently will. Deleting a conversation because it is likely that it will become rowdy is too proactive in many people's opinion, I think conversations should be deleted after a warning has been given and then violated.

But doing that is difficult, that requires constant monitoring of these high-risk conversations, and like I said RCM442 does the majority of the moderating, and he is only one person. If I was in RCM442's position, I might find myself doing the same thing, being proactive because it is easier to prevent drama before it happens. Or maybe making rules like rule #8 that prohibit these conversations from starting.

Rule #8 is an interesting one as it does make sense to keep people's information confidential. But I do think that not all conversations regarding departed members cross into this "confidentiality" territory, just like not all of them cross into the "hate" territory.

So it is a rule that RCM442 is enforcing, and that is his job. We might not like the rule, we might want the rule to be more lenient but that makes RCM442's job harder and he is already doing a lot. The solution here is to get more moderation to make it easier, but nobody really wants to do that, and we all know that the more moderators you have the more likely it is for one of them to go a little crazy.

So I don't really think there is a viable solution, but the more we complain about it the more likely it is for something to change. Meh. That's just the nature of using a platform that you don't control.

I find it funny that RCM loves to shut us all down for things he deems “unfit for a public forum” when he has posted some off-color stuff in the past on said public forum

@HIDLad001 — Agreed! I've noticed this before also.

Also— isn't it a bit schizophrenic and peculiar to mark your location as "Watching you" on a forum? I mean those words SCREAM "power trip".

@Maxim This is most board is most likely going to be taken down. Because shouting at an Admin, won’t go to well with the Admins…  but I do see what you mean. Not being able to discuss another member’s departure is a bit harsh.

That’s just my imput…

I know you're a younger member, and a younger member out of Europe, but...

If you don't speak out against tyrants, they balloon into larger tyrants.
I have always been one to fight for what matters to me in my life.
I'm fighting a fight with my parents, too. Because I found out they are flawed people and not the gods I saw them as growing up.
I tell them what I think of them to their face.
And I know I want NOT to become like them in my future.

So, in comparison, what does a direct question to a moderator entail that is so "scary", when one deals with more formidable situations day-to-day?
And I am not "shouting" at anyone. If you want to be a "good boy" who sits back and remains complacent in the current situation, then do just that. I'm not judging. But I am calling for change.

@Multisubject — I agree with you on a lot of points. Yes, it is hard to moderate a forum. Yes, not many people have the desire to do so.

However, when moderation becomes "policing", that's where I draw the line. We are all nearly adults on here capable of forming our own opinions and making decisions which deem us fit.

If I am allowed to drive a car from one end of the USA to the other, then why am I not allowed to talk about a member who has departed five separate times because their ego has been bruised and everything is "just different"? On a forum no less.

I understand I do not control the medium. And thus I am powerless, in a way. But I can't fathom a world where the ENTIRE internet is masked off in red tape, including this forum.

I can't stand censorship. Look at the UK and what is happening there. People are getting fat fines or even prison sentences for speaking out against political figures or even making MEMES. It is clear that people whose opinion acts as a "universal truth", without any kind of explanation, fall under the branch of tyrants... we see this in our day-to-day lives.

I just don't want one individual with very specific tastes and opinions to "rogue police" a forum designed to accommodate people across a variety of spectrums... and we have an off-topic board section for a reason. I know Euro members think it's a cataclysmic failure of the forum system, but I disagree... it brings a lot of productive conversation to the table and even builds bonds and friendships beyond the discussion of lamps and lighting.

Last thread that was locked was not locked by me.

also creating a topic complaining about moderation is not a good idea. Just send a DM instead.

@Maxim
I don't think any type of moderation will be perfect for everyone, but there is a place that LG should stand to satisfy the most amount of people at once. I think the only way to really know where this ideal position sits is by a survey, but of course not everyone is gonna fill it out, and what questions would we even ask?

To would live to find a solution for this but I don't know how that would be practical. Anybody else have ideas?

You guys really claim I'm on a power trip when all I'm trying to do is keep the site clean. I am also the only one doing really doing anything. I've been here for a VERY long time, BT25 has left and come back many times by talking with a retired admin that is no longer here! He was the one that locked his own topic. When I feel a thread has run it's course or has gone too far into drama I will lock it. That being said, it's been a while since I've locked a thread.
I could just leave all the posts that start to devolve into drama open, people come and go all the time, whether or not they delete their account is up to them.
This whole thing could have been solved with a DM, instead of creating drama. 

Last thread that was locked was not locked by me.

Wasn't me either, I started the topic. Who else could?

I'm not calling anyone a liar, this is a genuine question...

Then who actually locked it? I'll have to do some research and see...edit: Just did some research, not entirely sure who locked it. Post was made in 2025 so I don't remember.

 I got an Email notification yesterday at 11:02 P.M. EST saying :

 
Lighting-Gallery.net
Mar 31, 2026, 11:02 PM (19 hours ago)
to me

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