Quote: "Better to recycle an existing thread than make a new one, no?"
No lol.
Quote: "Explosive? Are we not allowed to discuss things on this forum unless everyone agrees with a given viewpoint?"
No no, you're totally 100% allowed to discuss things not everyone agrees on (I mean, it'd be a pretty boring discussion in everyone had exactly the same thoughts on it, right?

) - as long as they comply with points 3.7 to 3.10 of the
AUP, of course. The issue is when the civil/healthy debate becomes (or is about to become) a flamewar (bickering and personal attacks). That's when a thread will be locked.
Quote: "Aye, I dislike how just about every single mod has this viewpoint."
As a relatively new mod, I would agree that this viewpoint is not necessarily
helpful, but I believe it stems from the two things which make it necessary:
1) This forum used to be a great deal bigger (and incidentally, looks like it may be making a return with GameGuru's release) and when you have that many people to watch over, the chances of someone who doesn't like the moderator's actions starting a thread to debate the actions drastically increases. It becomes necessary to be able to immediately lock the thread and state firmly that moderator decisions are not up for debate, simply because...
2) ...debates as to whether a moderator's actions were "correct" or not
rarely end well.
Basically, our job here is to promote kind and courteous behaviour among forumites, keep the peace and generally help people out. We really don't like having to slap people or lock threads (well, that's not
entirely true - banning spambots trying to advertise cheap flowers is always fun

) and would much rather everyone just got along with each other and had fun. Sometimes, however, things start to get out of hand and we have to lock a thread or slap someone. Very often, the decision a mod has to make is not clear-cut and easy, and can be quite stressful. When people start publicly arguing about the decision, it just makes our jobs that much more difficult. As I mentioned in point
2) above, these debates/arguments virtually always end with everyone involved becoming upset and angry. It's for these reasons that we need to be able to stop these debates from occurring in the first place, and why we need that rule (i.e. mods' decisions are final). It's a compromise to the idea of freedom of speech that is unfortunately necessary because of the world we live in.
On the other hand, while I can't speak for the other mods, anyone is absolutely welcome to PM me to discuss one of
my decisions

I'm always happy to explain my reasons, but be aware that I see no situation where I would be willing to reverse my decision.
Quote: "That whole 'civilly' word is the only practical problem with my great philosophies."
Yes indeed
Quote: "I am super happy to hear a mod say such things as this. Some mods don't like discussing or even explaining their actions, which is a little bit detrimental in my opinion."
Haha yeah, that's just my personality
Quote: "But considering how small this forum is, there are a lot of politics."
+1 there are indeed!
Quote: "VAYPPAF"
lol
Quote: "I propose that we civilly work out a plan, generally agreed on by most people here including the mods, that will try and prevent these debates from occurring so often."
To which debates are you referring? Healthy debates about random stuff that turn into flamewars, or debates about mods' decisions? For the former, we can start by letting others state their opinions without debating them, as well as letting others be wrong if they so desire (something Mum taught me - if someone insists they're right even though you've told them they're wrong, let it be) - these are things you already do very well, DJD64, but I need lots of practice. For the latter... they will still be disallowed, me thinks. One step at a time, eh?
Quote: "I know of some audio recorders that would provide the needed power, but they are like 60 dollars at minimum. Do I really need a 60+ dollar device to power a 10 dollar microphone, or is there a better way?"
I researched this a bit, but unfortunately was unable to determine an answer. I watched the review on the Amazon page and that mic definitely sound good, but I don't know what kind of recorder you'd need to make use of it.