thanks for the info, guys. thanks tact for the link. a nice thread there with some good info. i'm an old member of SimHQ, actually even older than my old number there states, since back in their early days, they kept having site problems and wiping out the member lists. i'd re-sign up and six months later, boom, it'd get wiped and we'd all have to do it over again. lol!
i don't post there too often anymore...

though i still have many good friends there and drop in every so often to chat with them or keep up on what they're doing.
the place has really changed over the last few years. they went from almost NO moderation, where flame wars and personal attacks were common-place and rampant---to
OVER-KILL moderation... where the moderators now want to control your breathing... (no joke intended.)
i've seen guys get banned there for nothing... and i mean that. nothing. and they really don't want any sort of posting that might (even in the smallest way) be controversial or debateable. and if you voice any sort of dislike for one of their sponsers, which UBI is a big one, you'll find yourself on the wrong end of a moderator REAL quick. at the least, you can expect an immediate "locked" thread. at the worst, a suspension or ban.
don't get me wrong, i surely don't think any site should be run as loosely and tolerant as UBI-ZOO, but neither do i think any site should have mods that demand near complete "thought" control either. free speech tempered with good, common sense (and a dash of wisdom and experience) is always the best bet. running things with an iron fist never works well.
i guess the thing i hold most against them (the admins and mods there) is their tendancy to lock great, informative threads at the drop of a hat, with only the slightest hint that it "might"
eventually go sour...
a very trigger happy bunch. indeed, though they spout responsibility at every point, they then turn around and show a complete lack of it by their unwillingness to let responsible people BE responsible, where as they want to JUMP the gun and be responsible FOR EVERYONE without everyone's participation in it. lol! and to put icing on the cake, the mods and admins often simply cannot resist body-slamming a hapless suspended/banned poster or his locked thread, with some smart-assed personal attack line or comment that THEY themselves would have suspended or banned someone else (a non-mod or non-admin) for making. go figure.
to be a good mod or admin, you have to be thoughtful yet fair. the knife has to cut both ways. for how can you "expect" others to follow the rules if you don't yourself? sure, you have to be firm... and at times, even harsh, but never unfair. for unfairness is injustice and injustice is a rot that once takes hold, will eat even the best from the inside out.
thanks for the link, though.
Salute!
Beowolff