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Hello Everyone,
Recently there have been some comments made about the forum that I believe deserve some clarification. I will provide them here as well as some additional thoughts to consider. Please note these points are intended for the sole purpose of clarification and not to as any call to arms, etc. They are intended to be offered in a positive manner and I trust they will be viewed as such. I also hope we can listen to, and learn, from some of the comments made to see how we can continue improve things for the hobby.
1) Editing Posts. The following comment was made by Dave Bushing about posts being edited on this forum “I have read positive posts about our company on GUF only to have them no longer listed a few hours later. This begs the question as to what positive posts have been removed by the forum moderators…”
This comment undoubtedly refers to a portion of a post made recently by Joel Alpert that was intended as an advertisement/promotion of the Mears for Sale section. Quite simply, that portion of post was deleted as it violated the forum rule in this regard. We do have, and have had, paid advertisers on this site and the rule is there to protect those who pay for that privilege. If anyone believes it is to their advantage to advertise on this site they can contact us about doing so. In fact, we removed a similar post about another site the day before Joel’s and, when we emailed the poster, he apologized for violating the rules. That same scenario had also happened a number of times previously with an apology from the poster each time.
The comment also asks the question what other “positive” posts have been removed by forum moderators. I’m not trying to be funny here but I asked someone with pretty good analytical skills if it were possible for us to be deleting posts on a public forum without justification and without anyone knowing. Here was his reply which I think shows what it would take:
“It's technically possible (via 24/7 moderation that deletes all subsequent complaints) but not very likely. Without minute-by-minute moderation (which would be a feat in itself - you'd need to recruit some internet addicts as moderators), then anti-GUU posts would slip through and stay up for long enough for large numbers of folks to notice them and/or their absence. In Dave's scenario, you'd need to have 24/7 moderation and then likely ban the offending poster's IP to help ensure they didn't make any subsequent complaints. Banning the IP would prevent them from creating multiple login IDs. Unless they simply got another IP, which isn't that hard. I'm going off tangent here though. Long story short, in this case, possible but very unlikely.”
Well, I can tell you that we are not moderating the forums 24/7/365, hiring internet addicts, deleting posts immediately, banning IP addresses, etc. in some attempt to delete positive posts about others. In fact, I have personally made positive posts about other industry entities and I can also think of numerous posts on the forum that have spoken positively about Mears. Here is one made just yesterday (there are plenty of others for those who care to look):
http://www.gameuseduniverse.com:80/vb_forum/showpost.php?p=81291&postcount=89
The short answer is, posts are not being deleted if they are not in violation of forum rules.
2) Anonymity: Again, a comment was made that we allow “a smoke screen of anonymous members…” We have explained this numerous times and I’m not sure how else to say this. All posters are required to register with a full name and email address and their names can be found publicly in the user directory on this site. As per the “Disclaimer and Responsibilities” section of our site, it has been made clear to posters that:
The views and opinions stated in the postings do not necessarily represent those of Game Used Universe, Inc. and GameUsedForum.com, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed in postings are the responsibility of the posters and not of Game Used Universe, Inc. and GameUsedForum.com, Inc.
Notably, there are times when we will email posters when their posts seem to be incongruent with the objectives of helping the hobby. The people posting on the site are legally responsible for their posts and can be traced to their IP addresses. Again, I hope that is clear to everyone.
3) Sticky Threads: I had a rather lengthy call with Chris Nerat yesterday where he asked for a response to a quote made by Bushing (about this forum) that is intended to run in an upcoming article in SCD. Apart from the quote, some of the points of which are being addressed here, we talked about some of Chris’ views of the forum. One of the topics was “sticky” threads and specifically the ones we had up recently regarding the Namath helmet. We actually made the threads sticky for their educational value regarding evaluations, etc. However, Chris reiterated Mr. Bushing’s comments from the article that they could be perceived as an attempt to discredit competition.
Let me say that I didn’t personally see the thread that way. I think the poster of the thread regarding the Namath helmet went out of his way to commend Heritage for doing the right thing when the issues were brought up. I can name quite a few people who I have personally told that I think Heritage runs a very professional operation and I thought the thread showed that they do. However, given the thread’s inactivity, Chris pointed out that leaving it up there could be perceived as trying to focus on a mistake. Though I didn’t see it that way, I understood the point and agreed that the thread should be “un-stuck”. I unstuck it while on the phone with Chris. I also think that is learning for us at GUU as to how important “sticky” threads on this site have become to the hobby. I honestly didn’t know so many in the hobby were evaluating that level of granularity on the GUU forum and we will be more sensitive to these things in the future. I will discuss this with the other moderators and I will take personal responsibility for the Namath thread remaining “sticky” for as long as it did. If anyone would like to discuss this further please let me know.
4) Conflict of Interest. Mr. Bushing stated that having an auction site on GUU is a “Conflict of Interest”. I will say that I couldn’t disagree more. The fact of the matter is Game Used Universe as a company holds itself to the same accountability that collectors on our site are now asking of other entities. In fact, it can be easily argued that we hold ourselves to an even higher level of accountability because we encourage it. For example, we have built custom software for our auctions where questions can publicly be asked about any item we have for sale and those questions, and responses, can be viewed by everyone so they can make informed decisions about what they are buying. Up until now, I don’t think either sellers or authenticators have had to provide such transparency nor were their opinions publicly questioned.
Consistent with making the industry more accountable, Game Used Universe’s auctions provide an unprecedented ability for collectors to ask questions and get information prior to making a purchase decision. We have had people ask us tough questions, including questions about items in our auction, and we answer them. We have pulled items from our auctions when collectors have helped us determine the item may not have been correctly assessed. We welcome their feedback and are willing to admit our mistakes because we want to create a marketplace that collectors can trust in terms of finding legitimate merchandise. We believe that type of accountability is good for collectors and will make the hobby better.
It is certainly not a conflict of interest to create a more accountable auction model where there is less reliance of individual opinions and more reliance on the collective opinions to make sure potential buyers better understand what they are buying. I know there are some in the hobby that won’t like this move toward more transparency and accountability but we are convinced beyond doubt that this is better for the hobby and better for the collector.
5) Learnings. There are some learnings I think we can also take away from some of these comments. They include:
- I think those wishing to sign their full name to each post are encouraged to do so. For reasons alluded to by others on the site, we will not make it a requirement. However, it certainly won’t hurt in terms of credibility if you feel inclined to do so.
- Regarding “sticky” threads, as mentioned above, we now realize the hobby may be placing more importance on this mechanism than we realized. As such, we will try to be more aware of potentially sensitive issues and the fact that people may subjectively view those threads differently. If anyone has any concerns about a “sticky” thread please let us know.
- Regarding the tone of posts, I would encourage everyone to think about the tone they use when making posts. While we know we can’t dictate how you write, I personally think a less negative tone is better received by readers. I also think us moderators will need to be more aware of posts that may be perceived as personal attacks. While we really hope we don’t need to start editing posts more regularly, I think Mr. Bushings comments should tell us that the tone of posts on this site have the potential to affect people’s feelings in a very real way. We have asked in our rules that all posts be made in a sincere attempt to benefit the hobby. Again, while we are not trying to dictate the writing style of people on a public forum, I will say posts with negative tones have less of a chance of attracting listeners and moving the hobby in a positive direction.
Once again, this post is intended to clarify some points as well as communicate some learning I think can come out of Mr. Bushing’s comments. I hope and trust they will be viewed as such.
Recently there have been some comments made about the forum that I believe deserve some clarification. I will provide them here as well as some additional thoughts to consider. Please note these points are intended for the sole purpose of clarification and not to as any call to arms, etc. They are intended to be offered in a positive manner and I trust they will be viewed as such. I also hope we can listen to, and learn, from some of the comments made to see how we can continue improve things for the hobby.
1) Editing Posts. The following comment was made by Dave Bushing about posts being edited on this forum “I have read positive posts about our company on GUF only to have them no longer listed a few hours later. This begs the question as to what positive posts have been removed by the forum moderators…”
This comment undoubtedly refers to a portion of a post made recently by Joel Alpert that was intended as an advertisement/promotion of the Mears for Sale section. Quite simply, that portion of post was deleted as it violated the forum rule in this regard. We do have, and have had, paid advertisers on this site and the rule is there to protect those who pay for that privilege. If anyone believes it is to their advantage to advertise on this site they can contact us about doing so. In fact, we removed a similar post about another site the day before Joel’s and, when we emailed the poster, he apologized for violating the rules. That same scenario had also happened a number of times previously with an apology from the poster each time.
The comment also asks the question what other “positive” posts have been removed by forum moderators. I’m not trying to be funny here but I asked someone with pretty good analytical skills if it were possible for us to be deleting posts on a public forum without justification and without anyone knowing. Here was his reply which I think shows what it would take:
“It's technically possible (via 24/7 moderation that deletes all subsequent complaints) but not very likely. Without minute-by-minute moderation (which would be a feat in itself - you'd need to recruit some internet addicts as moderators), then anti-GUU posts would slip through and stay up for long enough for large numbers of folks to notice them and/or their absence. In Dave's scenario, you'd need to have 24/7 moderation and then likely ban the offending poster's IP to help ensure they didn't make any subsequent complaints. Banning the IP would prevent them from creating multiple login IDs. Unless they simply got another IP, which isn't that hard. I'm going off tangent here though. Long story short, in this case, possible but very unlikely.”
Well, I can tell you that we are not moderating the forums 24/7/365, hiring internet addicts, deleting posts immediately, banning IP addresses, etc. in some attempt to delete positive posts about others. In fact, I have personally made positive posts about other industry entities and I can also think of numerous posts on the forum that have spoken positively about Mears. Here is one made just yesterday (there are plenty of others for those who care to look):
http://www.gameuseduniverse.com:80/vb_forum/showpost.php?p=81291&postcount=89
The short answer is, posts are not being deleted if they are not in violation of forum rules.
2) Anonymity: Again, a comment was made that we allow “a smoke screen of anonymous members…” We have explained this numerous times and I’m not sure how else to say this. All posters are required to register with a full name and email address and their names can be found publicly in the user directory on this site. As per the “Disclaimer and Responsibilities” section of our site, it has been made clear to posters that:
The views and opinions stated in the postings do not necessarily represent those of Game Used Universe, Inc. and GameUsedForum.com, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed in postings are the responsibility of the posters and not of Game Used Universe, Inc. and GameUsedForum.com, Inc.
Notably, there are times when we will email posters when their posts seem to be incongruent with the objectives of helping the hobby. The people posting on the site are legally responsible for their posts and can be traced to their IP addresses. Again, I hope that is clear to everyone.
3) Sticky Threads: I had a rather lengthy call with Chris Nerat yesterday where he asked for a response to a quote made by Bushing (about this forum) that is intended to run in an upcoming article in SCD. Apart from the quote, some of the points of which are being addressed here, we talked about some of Chris’ views of the forum. One of the topics was “sticky” threads and specifically the ones we had up recently regarding the Namath helmet. We actually made the threads sticky for their educational value regarding evaluations, etc. However, Chris reiterated Mr. Bushing’s comments from the article that they could be perceived as an attempt to discredit competition.
Let me say that I didn’t personally see the thread that way. I think the poster of the thread regarding the Namath helmet went out of his way to commend Heritage for doing the right thing when the issues were brought up. I can name quite a few people who I have personally told that I think Heritage runs a very professional operation and I thought the thread showed that they do. However, given the thread’s inactivity, Chris pointed out that leaving it up there could be perceived as trying to focus on a mistake. Though I didn’t see it that way, I understood the point and agreed that the thread should be “un-stuck”. I unstuck it while on the phone with Chris. I also think that is learning for us at GUU as to how important “sticky” threads on this site have become to the hobby. I honestly didn’t know so many in the hobby were evaluating that level of granularity on the GUU forum and we will be more sensitive to these things in the future. I will discuss this with the other moderators and I will take personal responsibility for the Namath thread remaining “sticky” for as long as it did. If anyone would like to discuss this further please let me know.
4) Conflict of Interest. Mr. Bushing stated that having an auction site on GUU is a “Conflict of Interest”. I will say that I couldn’t disagree more. The fact of the matter is Game Used Universe as a company holds itself to the same accountability that collectors on our site are now asking of other entities. In fact, it can be easily argued that we hold ourselves to an even higher level of accountability because we encourage it. For example, we have built custom software for our auctions where questions can publicly be asked about any item we have for sale and those questions, and responses, can be viewed by everyone so they can make informed decisions about what they are buying. Up until now, I don’t think either sellers or authenticators have had to provide such transparency nor were their opinions publicly questioned.
Consistent with making the industry more accountable, Game Used Universe’s auctions provide an unprecedented ability for collectors to ask questions and get information prior to making a purchase decision. We have had people ask us tough questions, including questions about items in our auction, and we answer them. We have pulled items from our auctions when collectors have helped us determine the item may not have been correctly assessed. We welcome their feedback and are willing to admit our mistakes because we want to create a marketplace that collectors can trust in terms of finding legitimate merchandise. We believe that type of accountability is good for collectors and will make the hobby better.
It is certainly not a conflict of interest to create a more accountable auction model where there is less reliance of individual opinions and more reliance on the collective opinions to make sure potential buyers better understand what they are buying. I know there are some in the hobby that won’t like this move toward more transparency and accountability but we are convinced beyond doubt that this is better for the hobby and better for the collector.
5) Learnings. There are some learnings I think we can also take away from some of these comments. They include:
- I think those wishing to sign their full name to each post are encouraged to do so. For reasons alluded to by others on the site, we will not make it a requirement. However, it certainly won’t hurt in terms of credibility if you feel inclined to do so.
- Regarding “sticky” threads, as mentioned above, we now realize the hobby may be placing more importance on this mechanism than we realized. As such, we will try to be more aware of potentially sensitive issues and the fact that people may subjectively view those threads differently. If anyone has any concerns about a “sticky” thread please let us know.
- Regarding the tone of posts, I would encourage everyone to think about the tone they use when making posts. While we know we can’t dictate how you write, I personally think a less negative tone is better received by readers. I also think us moderators will need to be more aware of posts that may be perceived as personal attacks. While we really hope we don’t need to start editing posts more regularly, I think Mr. Bushings comments should tell us that the tone of posts on this site have the potential to affect people’s feelings in a very real way. We have asked in our rules that all posts be made in a sincere attempt to benefit the hobby. Again, while we are not trying to dictate the writing style of people on a public forum, I will say posts with negative tones have less of a chance of attracting listeners and moving the hobby in a positive direction.
Once again, this post is intended to clarify some points as well as communicate some learning I think can come out of Mr. Bushing’s comments. I hope and trust they will be viewed as such.
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