Q&A forum and its rules

I received a warning from The Flat Earth Society for not abiding by the Q&A forum rules. I would like to open the entire forum's rules up for discussion. Here is the warning:
{warning}
FlatOrange,

You have received a warning for inappropriate use of the Q&A forum in regards to the message:

Quote from: iWitness on April 13, 2015, 07:58:48 AM

Interesting how on this old map, Russia and Alaska both connect to Antarctica, and NOT the Bering straight. Just what I suspected, that traveling from Russia to Alaska over the Bering straight is IMPOSSIBLE. Which is why there will never be a land bridge or superhighway built.

It is totally possible
Look up Karl Bushby and Dimitri Kieffer

And people kayak or paddle the Bering strait way more often
http://www.angusadventures.com/adventurer-handbook/beringstrait/

Please be contributive to the forums.

Regards,

jroa

{/warning}

Maybe, like me, you are wondering, what is this very important question that calls for the crackdown of warnings to be given out when one does not answer the question but chooses to delve into deeper discussion about the topic?

It is this:

It would be fun to see a map of our flat world with approximate distances. Has there been any progress on producing this?

It seems like a fairly essential aspect of the flat earth proposal.

Well, I'm sorry to inform you of this, Jroa, but everyone who posted in that thread something other than a flat-out 'No' is violating the forum rules.

Perhaps the forum rules don't work when Flat Earthers either don't give an answer or don't have an answer? It's not my fault I carried on the discussion.

The Q&A forum rules have been under debate for a while. They don't really serve any purpose except to curtail discussion.

The idea behind them has merit, a place where people can get simple, explicit answers to questions, but it's very rare such answers exist. And, in that absence, Q&A becomes useless.
It probably doesn't help that a lot of people make posts that would be far more suited for Debate in there, admittedly, but it's hard to gauge how many follow-up questions will be needed before you get an answer. It helps even less when the majority of posters on here are trolls who say something absurd then hide behind Q&A rules to avoid elaborating at all.

I think the proposals I've seen to alter it are:

• Scrap Q&A altogether
• Make it a place where mentioning RET is forbidden, and discussions are had exclusively around what FEers say.
• Let only OPs ask follow-up questions
• Actually define the rules for the forum rigidly, and enforce them similarly

The fourth just doesn't seem practical, at this point.

It helps even less when the majority of posters on here are trolls who say something absurd then hide behind Q&A rules to avoid elaborating at all.

I realize that on a thread in Q&A, it looks like I did just this to you.  I had composed and posted a through response to you before I realized it was very debate-ish and altered it to a rules reminder.  If you would like to create a thread in FED about how most round-earth scientists agree that meteorites don't strike the earth, then I would be glad to respond to you there.

Well, I'm sorry to inform you of this, Jroa, but everyone who posted in that thread something other than a flat-out 'No' is violating the forum rules.

Perhaps the forum rules don't work when Flat Earthers either don't give an answer or don't have an answer? It's not my fault I carried on the discussion.

Just to let you know, several people in that thread have received either warnings or short bans.  You are not special. 

Quote from: FlatOrange on April 16, 2015, 11:28:26 AM

Well, I'm sorry to inform you of this, Jroa, but everyone who posted in that thread something other than a flat-out 'No' is violating the forum rules.

Perhaps the forum rules don't work when Flat Earthers either don't give an answer or don't have an answer? It's not my fault I carried on the discussion.

Just to let you know, several people in that thread have received either warnings or short bans.  You are not special.

well that does help. Thanks Jroa I guess I can just avoid the Q&A thread XD

Just to let you know, several people in that thread have received either warnings or short bans.  You are not special.

If a thread ends up primarily debate, why not just move it to debate, rather than issuing warings? You have no problem moving derailed threads to CN, wouldn't it make more sense to move debate threads to Debate, rather than curtail discussion?

Quote from: jroa on April 16, 2015, 04:06:14 PM

Just to let you know, several people in that thread have received either warnings or short bans.  You are not special.

If a thread ends up primarily debate, why not just move it to debate, rather than issuing warings? You have no problem moving derailed threads to CN, wouldn't it make more sense to move debate threads to Debate, rather than curtail discussion?

Doing this causes the perma-noobs here to explode in a frothing ragestorm.  When this was our policy, the totality and zeal of the lash-back was so extreme that we shunned away from it.  Also, it isn't in spirit with the OP and it results in every thread being moved to FED.  Current rules don't stop round-earthers from debating in Q&A, this policy lets them debate and adds more work to the moderation team.

How about we try this for a change. Stop debating in Q&A.

How about we try this for a change. Stop debating in Q&A.

That clearly doesn't work. What you class as debate means people asking questions never get satisfactory answers. That defeats the whole point of Q&A.

A few days ago, I asked a straightforward question n the Q&A Forum..... "I have noticed that the word "aether" is used multiple times by different people on these forums.  I searched the Flat Earth Wiki for its definition and could only find one reference which mentioned AETHERIC EDDIFICATION as a sub-heading.  But this entry is vacant. What is aetheric eddification?  It has been suggested that aether may have no mass (substance?) so how can it form eddies?"

The only response from an (apparent?) flat earther VAUXHALL was.....
-Aether is a substance with no mass, but great power

On further, more detailed questioning, this same person responded as follows.....
-I can't give you that information. It's confidential.
-Large scale conspiratorial reasons
-That's confidential
-The moderation team knows this information
-The research is conclusive. It shows that the Earth is flat
-I don't know the exact dimensions of Earth
-You are simply part of their disinformation control group

Is this sort of thing common in the Q&A Forum?  If it is, as suggested by several people in this thread, then what is the point of any newbie asking questions?  And I still have NO idea as to what "aetheric deification" actually is.

How about we try this for a change. Stop debating in Q&A.

How about you realise that Q&A is often a form of debate.

Q&A sucks monkey balls.