Why have numerous relevant threads been moved to discussion time?

Lotus-eater

PasturesNew wrote: »

Instead, threads have been moved over alongside "OMG MY DOG HAD TWINZ INIT!!!"

Exactly, you try having a adult conversation on there.


However, this is Martins site and the people whose help he gets in running the site, they run it as he has advised and they don't really deserve any bad treatment.

In the end, I believe it is up to the paid employees of MSE and ultimately Martin. That is where the abuse emails go.
So I would guess Martin himself will be making a decision about this, so please remember that when talking to his appointed board staff, abusing them will only annoy Martin and he is the man who pays the bills.

amcluesent

I reckon Clown's had a word with the mods - no bad news must ever be mentioned again; everythings coming up roses in NuLabour's la-la land.

#Things can only get better#

carolt

As far as I can see, looking at browntoa's helpful link, the relevant sections are:

"KEEPING THREADS ON-TOPIC

Please try not to take threads off-topic. This can be confusing for new users and makes it especially difficult for people coming through from the email to find the information they want. Where requests from Board Guides for threads to be brought back on track have not been followed off-topic posts may be removed. We encourage community, but not thread derailment.

Please bear in mind the main purpose of the site is to save money. The forum team has therefore been instructed to prioritise its time on the MoneySaving forums."


and


"KEEPING TOPICS RELEVANT TO THE BOARD

Please only start MoneySaving discussions on the main boards. There are two boards provided for off-topic chat and discussion. The MoneySavers Arms has been set up for fun, more lighter-hearted chat (although do still remember this is a family forum – keep it clean please). Discussion Time is for discussion of current issues (read Martin’s description).

If you post a topic that does not relate to the board it’s posted on it will be moved to a more relevant MoneySaving board or to Discussion Time/The MoneySavers Arms."





So I suppose the relevant question is, what constitutes "off-topic discussion" where house prices are concerned? Personally, I don't believe house prices operate in a vacuum from the wider economy, and that things like job losses/interest rate cuts etc etc all have a huge impact on house prices. Also, as people don't just buy a house as a one-off payment, but borrow via a mortgage thus taking on debt that will typically last 25 years, they need advice not just on current House Price figures - useful though they are - but on data such as the above which suggest the future direction of house prices.

Put most basically, if I think I am about to lose my job, or my neighbour is, I might decide either (a) not to buy a house now, or (b) assume that prices might well fall further and thus offer less/not offer at all. Conversely, if I decided that the news was being overblown and/or the government had measures to deal with any problems, I might decide it was better to 'get on the ladder sooner'. Either way, if kind souls on MSE could help me by pointing me in the way of relevant data, I'd find that very useful - and, I believe, exactly what MSE was set up to do.

Given that house prices are so clearly dependent on wider economic factors - unlike, say, the price of a particular product in a particular shop on a particular day - I fail to see how the Board can fulfil it's remit of providing information on House Prices for those planning to buy a house.

If all it is allowed to be is something that states current house prices, you might as well do away with the Board altogether, and replace it with a link to the HAliax/Nationwide/Land Registry pages and Rightmove for asking prices and nethouseprices or some such site for sold prices. Information given, no discussion needed.

Given that the shopping codes board has a whole thread for discussing the whereabouts or otherwise of Tesco shopping codes, surely on something as important as Housing (on a Housing Board), readers should be able to discuss the future direction of house prices?

PasturesNew

This House Prices forum was created, I believed, so we could keep these relevant and associated topics in one tiny corner away from normal people!!

I can't mix with normal people. I like the loonies in the House Prices sub-sub-sub forum.

The normal people scare me

Generali

divadee wrote: »

I moved those threads over this morning, as most were not to do with house price's. This is the house prices board, not for talks on the general economy and until the name is changed board guides have to try and stick to the guidelines.

Yes, board guides have let some discussions off topic on here, but it was getting a bit much really.

If you want to ask about renaming the board you will have to ask one of the mse team.

Shouldn't this thread have been moved to the Forum Policy and Rules Discussion sub board? The same with the sticky Reminder - make your point but be pleasant doing it. The latter has been up on this board for months and not been moved. Surely if mods can post O/T then us humble souls that make MSE what it is can do so.

What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander after all.

Cat695

Divadee are you a labour supporter by any chance......Its just typical of labour to decide what I should do without asking me

baby_boomer

divadee wrote: »

I moved those threads over this morning, as most were not to do with house price's. This is the house prices board, not for talks on the general economy.

How is the wider issue of deflation, or rising unemployment, not connected with house price falls?

mewbie_2

carolt wrote: »

rule stuff

Absolutely agree Carol. I read through all the rules and couldn't see much specifically banning the sort of discussion we have on here. Quite surprised that my tongue in cheek threads got locked, as each one of them was IMO bang on [strike]target[/strike] er topic. Oh well, I must get on with the ironing er. the quality of my ironing is directly linked to how I feel about the value of my house.

Incisor

Cornball wrote: »

Uh, !!!!!!? Talk about mob mentality. :rolleyes:

divadee started tearing out the heart of what this board is about. You calling the howls of protest 'mob mentality' is a bit like Hitler accusing the Russians of mob mentality for defending Leningrad.

divadee is perfectly entitled to move threads as per board guidelines. When you registered with this site you agreed to abide by site rules.

Thanks fr another opportunity to say that the board guides are here to serve, not to rule. The entitlement derives from a duty to facilitate discussion. There is no 'right' to do it, and as it doesn't serve the purpose of facilitating discussion, there is no duty to do it.

If you don't agree with them, appeal without personal attacks on mods, or even better, you know where the log out button is.

It is for the site owner to tell me to sling my hook, so if you feel inclined to tell me my place, remember your own. I think the ignore button is useful, however.

Stamping your feet and throwing your toys out of the pram cause someone moved a thread just makes you look like a sad looney.

Except they have been moved back - not that anyone has actually said that it was a mistake - but there is actually some respect for all the sad loonies who liked things the way they were.

I guess I'm in the minority, but thank you divadee for moving the threads to more approproate forums. I had started ignoring anything in this forum as it was such a mess.

A valid view, but I think the mob is in a majority.

Incisor

Browntoa wrote: »

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=305655

MoneySavingExpert.com Forum Rules

as requested above

And quoting "Any posts or anyone that threatens the site’s resources or makes it a worse place to be will be stopped appropriately solely at the discretion of MoneySavingExpert.com with or without reasons given."
It's opinion of course, but had the threads stayed moved, this board would have been a worse place.