He who flounces, must accept a little flak.
There is otherwise no way to tell a user who has left from one who simply hasn't posted in a while, and no way to know people are leaving if they don't say so. And when a long-time poster does so, not in response to losing an argument but due to objections to the way the administration is handling the forums, the official response should be something more than: "You're replaceable, we've still got thousands of other users. Good bye."
Posting "goodbye" is slightly different than posting "how do I cancel my membership?". The first is simply indicating intent, the second is an attempt to engage in discussion
about the leaving.
(There'd be other ways to say "goodbye" too - like changing ones signature to "I'm out of here. Bye". Then it's part of every post made by the member.)
As for official response, what do you suggest? Should the "goodbye" have been greeted by "no! please stay!". That seems to play into the cry for attention. Or should the response have been "what's the problem? can we fix it?". Well, the mods will be well aware of the history of the member, and that will also have a bearing on whether they think the effort to find out the "problem" and "fix it" is possible or not.
The "I'm leaving" thread indicates a decision had already been made. The "officials" are busy enough without trying to talk people back from that position. That thread started with a question, it was answered matter-of-factly and as accurately as possible. It degenerated somewhat, but that wasn't helped by the person "leaving" posting again (which kind of proved (if temporarily) the "sometimes people say they'll leave but they come back" point).
No one forum will please everyone. And if someone wants to effect change, starting with "goodbye" isn't the way to do it.
Dwights first post in that thread was:
Greetings.
I find this forum too repressive (1) for my liking. I have not posted here in 2 years (7) except to criticise (2) the overzelaous moderation (3). I would like to terminate my membership but cannot find the means to do so. Please supply the appropriate methods so that I can carry out the procedure as soon and as painless as possible. (4) I have no desire to post a plethora of swear words in order to be banned (5).
Thank you
Dwight steven-Boniecki
Author: Live TV From the Moon (6)
(1) Slight insult.
(2) Seen it. Wasn't impressed.
(3) Slight insult.
(4) Why are you asking this? Just stop posting.
(5) Threat of bad behaviour that will take time for a mod to clean up.
(6) Why is this needing to be mentioned here?
(7) So what's the loss?
I don't see any of that as actually constructive, nor seeming open to discussion about staying, or fixing whatever issues exist. I think the reactions he got were exactly correct in tone.
