An end to competing advertising on this site (Rescinded!)

All along I've felt it was in everyone's best interests to allow complete freedom for everyone to more or less do what they please here. That includes allowing people to advertise their websites and services even when they directly competed against what I am doing here on this site. Yeah, I allowed people to advertise website hosting services and other message boards, figuring, hey, more power to you, and good luck. My wife has always said I am far too trusting an naive about people. I don't really mind competition, but it needs to be of the more "friendly" kind. Kind of like gentlemen's agreements on how to peacefully coexist without blood letting that such things can apparently come to. I thought (naively) that this could be maintained here if I extended the offer to people to freely advertise what they will, and in so doing, there would be some level of trust and respect involved.

But lately it has just been getting out of hand. So much so that I see some people taking jabs at what I have built here with such things as "Drama Free Zone" in their signature area, obviously a back handed slap at this site while trying to solicit members to leave this site and go to theirs. And certainly there have been some sites very uncomplimentary about this site on their own, and yet, with some notable exceptions, I just let things run the course they would run, and things will be what they will be.

Of course, recently (like in the past year or so) I have just been in a funk about things in general about this site, so I really didn't care one way or the other if people were intent on raping this site into oblivion, figuring that if that is what people want, then so be it. But when that DDoS attack slapped me along side the head, THAT really got my blood a percolating. Someone REALLY wanted this site dead and gone BIG TIME! I just was NOT going to allow someone to just take this site down after all the time and work I have put into it. I was NOT going to go down without one hell of a fight. And whoever you are, perhaps thanks are in order for pulling me out of the funk and getting my head back on straight.

So yeah, now my blinders are OFF, and I look around and see some people trying their damnedest to drain the blood from this site by siphoning off memberships to their own. So I started thinking, WHY am I allowing this to happen? Why am I just sitting by while every Tom, Dick and Harry goes out and creates their own message board site or web hosting service, and then comes around here soliciting MY customers and the people contributing to THIS site to try to help keep it viable? Should I continue to allow that to happen? Well, not just NO, but HELL NO! Party time is over with, my friends. No more Mr. NICE GUY.

You can go build your website or the like, with the intent of raping and pillaging this site, but do NOT ask me to assist you in that endeavor by giving you the resources I have built in order to do that. The straws have been building up on the camel's back for quite a while now, but fortunately I got shaken out of my funk before the back broke and it was all gone, and everything built here was wasted.

Yeah, some people are going to be pissed about this and others are going to feel I am being unfair to not allow them to continue on their path. Well that's just REAL tough for you. Wail away. I am NOT going to just sit by and allow YOU to take what this site has proven to be worth to people and just flush it down the toilet. I am NOT going to allow you to step on my head in order to get to that next rung up the ladder any longer. It's bad enough that I have to be slapped around by bad guys, but now the good guys want to yank the rug out from under me as well? When all the members and advertisers are gone, then what is left? Is that your goal? If that is what you want, SORRY, but I am NOT going to stand by and allow YOU to accomplish that.

Moderators are hereby requested to analyze any and all links within signature areas, avatars, or text within postings, and delete those that are blatantly soliciting members from this site to go on to a similarly constructed and competing message board site. A new warning level will be put into place for such infractions. Any advertising via FaunaAds that is noted that proves to be a problem needs to be reported directly to me to deal with.

I've given a LOT to this site and gone through more than most people would ever dream of keeping it running and viable. So, seriously people, enough is enough.....

Yeah, I know, this is going to turn into a REAL bash fest.... But bring it on. I'm pretty irritated from the last several days and ready for a good fight.

what is your feeling on people advertising new forums in the New/Updated Websites? I've seen a few, so I figured I would toss this out there right from the start.

I'm glad you're over your funk. You've built a good site, and I think really good things, like good families, good marriages, good communities, take thought and committment and work to keep them that way. Good for you, for deciding that the work you've put in here is worth defending.

I have to say in complete and total honesty that I would never put my forum based website in my signature here, nor would I submit a banner here for that website. It's a respect thing, and whether it is reciprocated or not does not matter. It's just not a cool thing to do, to any site owner. IMO, as always.

I do not allow any negative posts or discussion on businesses or private breeders or their ethics on my site. For what it's worth, I post links to Fauna several times a month, referring my members to the BOI for that.

I don't see a problem with your not feeding your own competition Rich. I have a question though~ you only mention no forums.......
uuuummmmm.........
what about those of us who happen to sell some of the same types of animals you do? You do know your just about the only one who allows links that directly compete with the site owner. I've always tried to be very respectful of that............but I do understand if you want that stopped too.
So~ are links to our websites that sell cornsnakes okay still?

The signature has been removed.

But, you ASSumed way too much on this one Rich, and I take offense at your offense, and your wrongful accusation of me directly targeting you or Fauna. If I was blatantly attacking you or this site, why would I continue to contribute MONEY to your site? Answer that one for me.

I worded my sig that way because that's EXACTLY how I meant it. We will not tolerate any jabs at other members, discussing business ethics, or general DRAMA of any sort. I direct such posts to the BOI where they belong. We aim to be a "friendly" place to hang out. Nothing more was meant by it.

Like I said in my PM, if I had a problem with you or Fauna, I would have taken it up with YOU DIRECTLY! I am not some sneaky, underhanded individual who is afraid of confrontation, and needs to do things in a hidden way. I am an up front person, and will always be that way, regardless of people feeling offended. Thing is, in this case, no offense was really meant.

To own my side of it. After all the commotion this has created, I can see where you might misunderstand my intentions, based on the wording in my sig alone. For that I do apologize. I should have, or could have, worded it a bit differently. But accusing me of sneaky underhanded doings is just as wrong. You could have just asked me. I am direct enough, that I would have told you straight what was meant by it.

Like I said, it has been removed. But I ask you to reconsider the new site wide policy. It was after all created because you took something the wrong way. EVERYONE should not have to pay the price for that.


Rick

Rich got a question bro. And I do not mean to start a fight at all.

Does this mean in the fauna ads too? That is the way I took it. I have a site I was going to advertise with that. But I do not see it competing with you as I really talked up fauna on it. I will PM you when you say you have time. I know that your OPM box has to be getting full over this.

Originally Posted by hhmoore

what is your feeling on people advertising new forums in the New/Updated Websites? I've seen a few, so I figured I would toss this out there right from the start.

That practice is now over with. Kind of the straw that broke the camel's back effect. I was perfectly willing to allow people to promote their own forum based websites here in that fashion, among other vehicles, but it has gone too far. I've seen people get themselves worked up into a lather over some slight they have suffered (in some cases misinterpretted) and then go off to create their own website and think they could then suck off as many members from here as they could in their exit. I've seen one forum here completely raped of participation. I guess I'm supposed to just stand by and allow that to happen all across the board here.

Well, thanks bunches, but I didn't go through all the BS that I did, and am STILL doing, to keep this site running to allow anyone to use this site as the doormat to their own competing site.

Originally Posted by Cheryl Marchek AKA JM

I don't see a problem with your not feeding your own competition Rich. I have a question though~ you only mention no forums.......
uuuummmmm.........
what about those of us who happen to sell some of the same types of animals you do? You do know your just about the only one who allows links that directly compete with the site owner. I've always tried to be very respectful of that............but I do understand if you want that stopped too.
So~ are links to our websites that sell cornsnakes okay still?

For some reason that doesn't really bother me. Well sure, I am not real keen on someone who would post something like "my prices are 25 percent cheaper than SerpenCo's prices". But beyond that I don't have a problem with it. I guess the difference is that they are not advertising on SerpenCo.com. That, to me, would be a problem, which is why I don't have any advertising vehicles for that site for others to use. I allow advertising on CornSnakes.com for people selling their cornsnakes, just as I do here, and that just doesn't concern me.