One of the things that I find really refreshing here is that if a person goes "out of bounds" on something, the mods will actually contact the person, point it out to them, and try to rectify the situation before a flame war starts. Threads that seem as if they may devolve into a more hostile atmosphere are kept open until other measures are taken to defuse the problem. And best of all, the mods and staff here actually TAKE PART IN THE DISCUSSIONS and if you weren't able to see that they were staff/mods in their profile, you'd never be able to tell the difference between them and anyone else. There is no hierarchy amongst the posters here (forum rankings or not) and it feels like everyone has an equal chance to contribute.
Other sites (yeah, that one, too) will just lock/close a thread with no explanation, or delete it from the board entirely. The person who is "guilty" of ******** up the thread will be banned or suspended with no explanation, and the mods/admins go back to their ivory tower, uncontactable by the plebians, and their word is infallible. Some members of other sites do not take part in their message board communities at all, and that kind of bothers me, because it's like they see themselves as "above" the rest of collectors. But I digress.
Actually, I'd equate JD to an Ivy League school, while sites like "that other site" are like Romper Room. I think that we're all intelligent people here, and we respect others who post here. Sure there are little jabs thrown back and forth between people, but it all seems to be done in good humor, and it's probably the most mature SW collecting forum on the web, and I feel really appreciative to the staff for giving us a place to indulge our inner children in an adult manner.
Except for JediMAC, who gave me cooties.
