Part of being a moderator is using your best judgement to decide if a thread is warranted or not and/or past the point of relevant discussion. How one determines what should and shouldn't be permissible is entirely subjective. Case in point: I locked the Bob Barker 'what if he dies?' thread. I came close to locking it as soon as the topic was created, but I elected to punt on the decision and see where it would go. I even participated. But I felt the discussion was getting to a point where there really wasn't much more to add, and it was kind of taking on a morbid tone, at least in my opinion. Even though no rules were technically broken, I locked it anyway, just on the grounds that it was going beyond the boundaries of "The Talk is Right" and really just the forum in general and what it exists for. Bob Barker will die one day, and there will surely be lengthy discussion about it, but having an extended discussion about it now while he's still living doesn't seem fair to him. Again, that's entirely subjective on my part, and I even said I was okay with another mod or an admin reopening the thread if they felt differently, because I realized others may not feel the same as me. Should I have locked the thread? I stand by my decision to do so. Others may disagree, and that's fine. My judgement isn't perfect, nor is that of any other mod here. We try our best, though. All of us who have been appointed to this position are committed to maintaining a high standard of conversation and community here, and at least in my view, I think we're doing a pretty darn good job of it as of late (can't really speak for the recent drama in some of our forum games, but that's a totally different discussion).
If anyone ever has an issue with a thread that's been locked or any decision in general that's been made by a mod or an admin, then don't hesitate to send us a private message to express your concerns. Part of maintaining that high standard I mentioned is communication. As long as your approach is calm and not meant as an attack, then at least on my end, I'm totally open to any and all feedback, and I will be very courteous in my response and am willing to work out any issues you have with decisions I or anyone else have made. I'm pretty laid back and don't want to be involved with drama when it can be avoided. That's the approach I try to use in my position as moderator.
