The long story about automotive forums

[Saabhat93]

..wow

Brutal. That has to be THE stupidest reason to ban someone. Talk about totalitarianism...

[TooMany2cvs]

..wow

Brutal. That has to be THE stupidest reason to ban someone. Talk about totalitarianism...

Have you read Cincy's posts over the last few days? I'm just surprised that it took so long for him to be banned - there was certainly PLENTY to justify a ban.

[Hirsch]

If I'd been banned yesterday or the day before I wouldn't have been surprised.

I didn't think that I'd get banned for starting that thread. It was in the right part of the forum and I thought I was polite. Truthful, but polite.

Oh well, I'm not overly concerned. Time will determine SC's fate.

Keep movin' on....

[Saabhat93]

I haven't really been keeping up with the goings on over there, so no. Based on the evidence presented by Wulf, I think it's a stupid reason for a ban. Voicing ones opinion isn't a very good reason, IMO.

What else was happening?

[SaabScott]

How about we stop the "gawking at the accident on the side of the road, thereby slowing all of the traffic in both directions"?

Seriously, we have a lot better things to talk about than a forum that a lot of people have said goodbye to in the last couple of days.
And for those that haven't, so be it.

But let's move on and talk about what brings us all here ... Saabs.

[Hirsch]

But I like looking at the blood on the highway, Scott.

Don't worry, it'll blow over in a few days.

Until, you don't have to read this thread.

[nordwulf]

What Paul should have done..

Announce the offer from VerticalScope. Either offer the site for sale to the members or make an arrangement for receiving advertising income over the next few years. So they wouldn't have the admin duties but still receive the same payment as the offer from VS. It seems most of these forums are sold for the price of 1-2 years worth of ad income. Everybody would have been happy.

[Grif900]

With all due respect. I started the thread about the verticalscope buyout of S.C. on S.C. that went into 11 pages. It was simply titled "Not for sale", it got 3200+ views and 240+ replies in just a few days and has been locked (I really hope it did not help sell a single Chrysler anything.) . Scott, It's more like a train wreck in slow motion. I think some gawking is due of such a spectacle and may even seem therapeutic to some.

[Hirsch]

Mike Saunders just had a thread deleted.

It was just a thread informing members what their options were.

The mods are willing to help VS maintain the content on the site by silencing dissenters.

Thats weak.

[nordwulf]

Do they think deleting and locking threads will shut up Saunders?

I wonder how long this thread will last..
A n00bs First Impression - SaabCentral Forums

I'll copy here just in case it gets deleted on SC.

This has been an interesting read.

Hi everyone, n00b here at Saab Central, but not a n00b when it comes to Vertical Scope.

I was directed here by a friend of a friend. I started lurking a few days ago and the way this site has changed in those few days is shocking. I mean, Ford ads on a Saab website? Really? I'm logged in and I see a Ford ad at the top of this page!

From what I've read, registered members aren't supposed to see ads in the forum. Whats up with that?

Whats up is thats how VS operates. They say one thing and do the opposite of what they said. Get used to it.

Just so you know, I read through a lot of the stuff on this site. If one was so inclined, one could publish many books with the information on this site. From complete engine rebuilds(on many different engines), to interior restoration, you name it, it's covered on Saab Central. And if the person so inclined was, perhaps an employee of VS, the profits from the books would go straight into VS's pocket.

I watched a thread yesterday morning about starting over with new mods. The thread was locked, and IMO based on what I've seen over the past few days, the poster has a very valid point. But it appears that the person who started that thread was banned.

Why? The mod who locked the thread(and I assume banned Cincy Snaab) is just reinforcing Cincy's opinion and complaint. That's how I see it, I'm sure others will see it the same way.

VericalScope isn't here to help you, they are here to help themselves, plain and simple. They don't care about the community or what their presence does to the community. They care about their bottom line.

Their Terms and Conditions read the same at every forum they own. Those of you expecting sweeping changes to the t's and c's are going to be disappointed.

I see a few members jumping ship and I don't blame them. Whats funny is the mods. They remind me of ushers in a burning theater telling everyone to be calm, while the theater burns to the ground around them.

Now I'm sure I'll be called a troll and told that I don't know what I'm talking about. Let me assure you that I'm not a troll and I do know what I'm talking about. I've seen this happen at other forums that VS has purchased. The outcome is always the same. Long standing members feel betrayed, ripped off and taken advantage of and they leave, new members are turned off joining by the drama that unfolds and the site suffers. Sure the forums recover, but they never return to their former glory and they will never recover from the loss of long standing members.

Anyway, that's just the observation of a disinterested 3rd party. Based on what I've seen unfold over the past couple days, if I were a Saab owner I'd find another, independent forum to join. This one has a very negative vibe. Not just from VS's purchasing, but, IMHO, some of the mods appear to be on a power trip as well.

I'd bet the farm that there was a more positive vibe before VS entered the picture.

Bottom line, what Mr. Saunders says is right.
Content is valuable, content like whats on this site is invaluable. It's your content, do whatever you can to protect whats yours.

Well, good luck Saab Central members, I'm very sorry that Vertical Scope happened to your forum.