That was a great post, prompting me off the sidelines.

While most of the people here, myself included, are in the shades of grey (careful using the word "gray" - one definition is "cheerless, dismal"), there are some who are consistently positive and some (many?) who are consistently negative.

Now, considering the content of your post, it basically describes our situation exactly. It seems the ONLY real basis for so much criticism is our PPS. But I think we all know why it is what it is. No guess work required. IMO, it's the silence, it's Swartz, it's the probability of nothing happening till mid-April (so why not play elsewhere, and jump back in in early April?), and it's the incessant negativity on message boards.

Now, recognizing this "reality" (at least as I see it), one must consider the personalities of those spewing the negativity. IMO, these people are either unable to grasp or cope with the reality (displaying a severe lack a either smarts or maturity), or they have an agenda (probably to promote a further drop in the PPS, which they can further feed on toward their objective of buying shares on the cheap - at everyone else's expense). Some have been so bold as to actually state that the latter is their intent. And at least one has demonstrated it recently, clearly IMO.

Yet somehow many of these folks survive here, stating baseless negative conjecture as if it were fact. They jump from "they aren't telling us anything, and they've told us why (as described in your post)" to "they aren't doing anything". More of a leap, than a jump, reminding me of Monty Python and the Holy Grail when they determine that that made-up winch is a witch.

"Witches are made of wood, wood floats, ducks float, so it she weighs the same as a duck, she's a witch!". While that always makes me laugh, the leaps made on this board, while equally laughable, have very probable serious repercussions.

And, to use an analogy from another Monte bit, when the baseless accusations are responded to, it resembles a visit to the Arguing Room (Is this the room for an argument? I told you once! No you didn't! Yes I did! No you didn't! Yes I did! No you didn't! Yes I did! ). Pointless.... Eventually turning into a visit to the room for "Abuse" ("Shut your festering gop you twit!"). Somehow, it's not quite so humorous here. It's seriously detrimental and demoralizing IMO - but that's exactly the intent, again, IMO.

This board, IMO, needs much better monitoring. Maybe time for the next step.

As it is, they're real generous in dinging people for IMO questionable language - apparently perceived as "profanity" by some (even when it's directed at no one). But they're completely blind when it comes to dinging people for hyping (though this a rare occurance) or bashing (a frequent occurance).

The groundrules here should be pretty simple:

Nothing should be stated as absolute fact unless there is factual basis provided.

Any conjecture, positive or negative, should be stated as such ("IMO"), and be backed by reasonable basis for the conjecture.

If you have a question, regardless of what it is, ask it - ONCE.

Redundant discussion of a topic that has already been beaten to death should be pointed out and stopped, preferrably with reference to the prior thread.

These simple rules would, IMO, enable this board to serve its intended purpose - to promote civil discussion. It would remove all baseless hype and bash. If a post doesn't pass this simple test, it should be a candidate for immediate removal. But somebody with the ability to discern compliance has to be watching the ball (and I now await getting dinged for using the word "ball"). It's either that, or let the reports of violations fly, and hope the powers that be are able to comprehend a problem - which, by the ongoing tone of this board, it seems thay are unable to do IMO.

Now I'm going to step back onto the sidelines - I've said my piece.

I intend to report this post as a violation myself, just to get someone at Agora to read it (as I no longer see the old "question for Agora" icon).

Hopefully Agora will consider making some improvements. Soon. Surely they recognize that PTSC isn't going to continue funding an endeavor that is detrimental to the company. Hawk and other company-sponsored PR may not be doing much for us, but at least they aren't knowingly providing a forum to hurt us.

Meanwhile, I'll continue to enjoy exercising the "Ignore" feature, and sit happily on the sidelines of discussion. If I beleive I have something significant to say about PTSC, I'll say it. This, however, is hopefully my last post about this message board, how it's managed, or its membership. Why? Because this too has proven fruitless, IMO.

JMHOs,

GLTALs,

SGE