Karyn
I credit you as being a responsible, intelligent adult Steve.  Please explain why you continue to ask this when you've been given the answer before.
 

There's no need to patronise me, but maybe you're wrong in crediting me with any intelligence, because I still don't know what to do 'officially' if I want to report a post made by a host (in their designated forum/s) if there is no "Report Abuse" button available.
 
The thread you link to contains some useful suggestions, but no official protocol one should follow. The advice seems to be to send a PM to a Cakewalk employee - can you clarify if that is the 'official' way to report a host?
 
Just out of interest, why does the 'Report Abuse' option not appear in a host's post?

 
 
Another quick question while I have your attention...
 
Is it accepted practice for a host not to even acknowledge an 'official' complaint made to them?
 
I only ask because I sent John a PM regarding the proliferation of 'copycat' threads. He hasn't acknowledged this message, let alone offered me an explanation of any action that may or may not have ensued with respect to my grievance.
 
I realise you mentioned earlier in this thread that the matter was discussed, but why isn't John capable of replying to me in person. You obviously have no idea how frustrating such aloofness and impoliteness can be.

Your "official complaint" was dealt with properly and correctly.  You sent a PM to a Host, your complaint was discussed, a course of action was decided and I was assigned to deal with it.  When a complaint is submitted there are no guarantees that a single Host will be the sole contact.
 

SteveStrummerUK
Just out of interest, why does the 'Report Abuse' option not appear in a host's post?

If it's any consolation, I don't see a "Report Abuse" button on any of your posts either.

Regarding this thread's topic, I have to agree with Sharke.

It's becoming creepier than google and feels very cliquey.  Seeing today's flavour of the GBFOM Coffee House thread title felt rather intrusive.  However, if it's the wishes of a select band of forum members to make the CH a private club for themselves, I guess there's not a lot others can do about it.
 
This is rather a shame as off-topic forums can be good places to get to know people and discuss a wide variety of topics.  However, life is way too short as they say, so I think the best solution for me personally is to simply filter this particular forum out from the list and wish bon voyage for all who continue to sail on in her.
 
To put an appropriate spin on Caesar's famous quotation:  "Volui, deliqui, dedi."
 
 
 

ston
Regarding this thread's topic, I have to agree with Sharke.

It's becoming creepier than google and feels very cliquey.  Seeing today's flavour of the GBFOM Coffee House thread title felt rather intrusive.  However, if it's the wishes of a select band of forum members to make the CH a private club for themselves, I guess there's not a lot others can do about it.

I'm sorry but "I don't like certain things, so no one should post them" equals private club.
 
"Post whatever you want within reason and within the terms of the CoC" is not a private club. Not even remotely.
 
It's one thing to do as Sharke did and express a distaste for certain things. Perhaps people will consider it and act accordingly. Or not.
 
But people rationalizing why others should or shouldn't behave in a particular way that they don't like for whatever reason is another thing entirely. 
 
If you're looking for a place where no one will ever post anything you dislike and no one will ever argue with you, you're not going to find it on the interwebs.

I admit, I've been known to post the occasional idiotic copycat fred title with an equally stupid post. I can say that I've posted a sizable chunk of blatant and inexplicably inane buffonery. In fact, a wood chipper operator could probably count my intelligent posts on one hand with his remaining digits. I rely on smart people with actual knowledge and skills to impart wisdom and insight. I'm here to lower property values and make everyone else look hysterically intelligent by comparison. Since I know that I'm a ghastly cave-dwelling thing, I try to limit the amount of IQ-lowering idiocy I inflict on normal people. That's due to the fact that I seek to avoid crowds with pitchforks and torches. 
 
The TBRSTBA (Trolls, Bell Ringers, Swamp Things & Bubbas Association) holds regular self-help meetings where we share our experiences with one another. As a result, I can understand how thinking people might not enjoy the bilious miasma of lunacy which spews out of our heads. They have standards. For this reason, when I hear grumbling about the condition of the Coffee House, I know that there may be a run on pitchforks and torches in the near future, and I should get back in my cave where I belong. 
 
All I'm sayin' is that I can understand how too much buffoonery can lessen the enjoyment of the forum for some folks, and I don't like to make that happen. As far as reporting abuse is concerned, I can see the same link issue that Steve pointed out (forum hosts do not have a "report abuse" link and regular folk do have one), but I'm not sure that's a deliberate choice. I suspect that this is due to our beloved forum software's limitations on how a forum host can function. That seems much more likely to me than the idea that some folks became forum hosts as a strategic step in their plan for World Domination.
 
It's not that I have anything against World Domination, you understand. It's just that I don't think the world is quite the prize everybody else thinks it is. 

For the record, I'm not against copycat thread titles per se. I've posted a couple in my time. I just wanted to point out that when I visit the Coffee House and the first page of posts is dominated by them, I hit the back button. 1 or 2 is funny, 6 or 7 consecutive ones looks like the forum has been spammed.

 

drewfx1

ston
Regarding this thread's topic, I have to agree with Sharke.

It's becoming creepier than google and feels very cliquey.  Seeing today's flavour of the GBFOM Coffee House thread title felt rather intrusive.  However, if it's the wishes of a select band of forum members to make the CH a private club for themselves, I guess there's not a lot others can do about it.

I'm sorry but "I don't like certain things, so no one should post them" equals private club.
 
"Post whatever you want within reason and within the terms of the CoC" is not a private club. Not even remotely.
 
It's one thing to do as Sharke did and express a distaste for certain things. Perhaps people will consider it and act accordingly. Or not.
 
But people rationalizing why others should or shouldn't behave in a particular way that they don't like for whatever reason is another thing entirely. 
 
If you're looking for a place where no one will ever post anything you dislike and no one will ever argue with you, you're not going to find it on the interwebs.

Drew, I'm sorry, but clogging the place up with repetitive, pointless nonsense is plain selfish, simple as. I've had Coffee House regulars both current and past contact me and complain that the place has turned very cliquey, and I have to agree with those that say that some treat it like their own private forum.
 
Before I started to lose interest in this place, I felt like I belonged to worldwide group of friends. A group that shared a camaraderie and a common sense of humour - coming here was akin to actually meeting up with your acquaintances in a 'real' coffee house to have a chat.
 
Things obviously change over time. People come and people go. But over time, I've noticed that the core group has shrunk and shrunk, now it's only a small handful of people who might be considered 'regulars'. And I'm afraid that their actions and interactions have become, to me anyway, frequently banal and predictable to the point of tedium. The same handful of people seem to feel the need to comment on every single thread, often just to make some trite, hackneyed or prosaic witticism.
 
I simply don't understand why a group of obviously intelligent people feel the need to post so much wearisome drivel all the time. I'm all for having a laugh, I'm capable of being as puerile as the next chap, but so much of the attempted humour that litters up the place only seems to be appreciated by the same 'cliquey' few who post it.
 
To suggest that one should simply put up with it or leave is an atrocious attitude to have. Why shouldn't those who disagree with how the Coffee House functions try and change it? Or at least be able to express an honest opinion?
 
I'm afraid that the more you censure those that criticise you and a few other for treating the CH as their own, the more you actually reinforce the opinion that this is actually the case.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I thought the Cakewalk folks had indicated this, but if ANYONE has an issue with a forum host, please please please feel free to send a PM to the Cakewalk folks with the complaint.  
 
If it is in regard to a particular post or thread, I would suggest you paste the Permalink for the thread/post in question into your PM to them, so that they can review exactly what you would be describing to them in the rest of the body of your complaint.
 
Bob Bone
 

It should be noted that I have restrained myself by not posting in this thread.