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Off topic forum section?

V

Vt.birdhunter

New member
Ive realized that I value a number of opinions here a great deal. Enough so that I would love to be able to ask non-firearms related questions here, rather than join other topic specific forums to try and gain info.

The members here are a tremendous resource to us all; I would love to be able to tap into that resource a little deeper. Ive noticed off-topic sections on most of the other forums I have glanced at. I guess there is the possibility of sidetracking TFL too much, but it seems to work elsewhere.

We are all firearms enthusiasts here, but many of us are also trained professionals, students, scientists, etc. We have a lot more to offer each other.

What do you all think?
 
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M

Mike Irwin

Staff
This is a question that has been asked dozens, if not hundreds, of times before.

It's discussed in this thread, which is a sticky in this section:

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=184586


TFL is a directed-focus discussion board. Off-topic subjects, while they would certainly be of interest to a lot of us, don't focus on TFL's purpose or mission, and thus would ultimately be a distraction.

I'd suggest going here for a general chat forum that has a lot of gun owners:

www.armedpolitesociety.com
 
J

JohnKSa

Administrator
Ive realized that I value a number of opinions here a great deal.
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The PM feature would allow you to ask a specific member (or relatively short list of members) for opinions.
 
H

Hawg

New member
TFL is a directed-focus discussion board. Off-topic subjects, while they would certainly be of interest to a lot of us, don't focus on TFL's purpose or mission, and thus would ultimately be a distraction.
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm out of line for saying this but that's the main thing I don't like about this forum. The single mindedness. It's a good forum, don't get me wrong but there's better ones, they just don't have as much traffic yet. This is about the fastest paced forum I belong to is why I keep coming back.
 
M

Mike Irwin

Staff
Well, as the old saying goes, if you try to please everyone, you'll end up pleasing no one.

Rich a long time ago decided on directed focus mission for TFL. Will that please everyone? Nope.

Is there anything that can be done about that? Nope.
 
V

Vt.birdhunter

New member
and thus would ultimately be a distraction
Click to expand...

If our firearms gurus were replying to off-topic material instead of offering advice on other firearms related threads, that would defeat much of the purpose of TFL. Its a strong point you make.

BTW, I apologize for posting a topic that's been beat to death; I did a hasty search for "off topic", and didn't see much.
 
B

Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
Hawg Haggen said:
Maybe I'm out of line for saying this but that's the main thing I don't like about this forum. The single mindedness.
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Which is the main thing that I DO like about this forum. There are other forums for discussing everything under the sun. Literally. There are discussion forums for those who believe the earth is flat. Yes. There literally are.

TFL is for firearms discussion and it is not and should not be cluttered by other discussions that will just become "noise" ruining the clarity of the "signal".
 
A

Al Norris

Moderator Emeritus
The following is our Charter, our reason for being:
Forum Rules said:
Welcome to The Firing Line (TFL), a virtual community dedicated to the discussion and advancement of responsible firearms ownership.
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The following are quotes from our illustrious founder and owner (whenever this question comes up):
Rich Lucibella said:
TFL tends to be more "serious" than other Boards. We also tend to be a bit more on topic, informative and better behaved. That happens to be our niche.
Click to expand...
Rich Lucibella said:
Other firearms Boards have attempted an "anything goes" policy. The results, for my money, are disastrous.....either they end up looking like the "I'm OK, You're OK" Rosie Boards of yore or like a teen-boys' first camp-out. In any case, they become "chat rooms". That was never TFL's mission...we are a resource board for firearms owners. We pretend to be nothing more....
Click to expand...
Rich Lucibella said:
Hmmmmm-
After carefully weighing all the arguments.....
"No".

Sorry.
Rich
Click to expand...
Rich Lucibella said:
It's a regular request and a search should provide our previously stated reasons for not allowing off-topic posts. It basically comes down to the fact that this is a firearms board. We desire to keep it that way.
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Rich Lucibella said:
Hmmmmmm, lemme think about it.
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OK, I thought about it. No. :p

TFL's Mission does not include providing a communication vehicle for everyone. Some people would do better in other venues.
Rich
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The ONLY forum that is not necessarily firearms related, is our Law and Civil Rights forum. This is because Rich also thought that there were subjects that were as important to the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and were directly related to that ability... Laws regulating Free Speech, Assembly, etc. Even that forum is highly regulated in content and demeanor. Moreso than the rest of the board.

There are literally hundreds of thousands of lessor forums out there. If you find that TFL is too stilted for your precious sensibilities, then kindly go somewhere else. You may be missed here, but it is better for you in the long run.

TFL was never about quantity, instead it is quality we seek. Being tightly focused is what sets us apart from all the rest.
 
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