generalhh

Hi all

I purchased my 09 c63 in large part due to members on this forum back in dec 2008.

I admit im more of a lurker than a poster but I found lots of useful information on here. Heck how to reset service minders how to vacuum the oil, of to change the foglights without removing the wheel.

I also enjoyed the forums. I real like the professional posters here (almost how the acura rl forum was on another site back in 05 when i had one).

Early back in 08-09 when i was here there was a sponsor that had some serious issues and the censorship used here to protect that sponsor caused a lot of information that should have been out there to get out. In the end the forum ended the relationship with the sponsor.

I know this forum was basically bankrolled by one of our sponsors for that I am thankful but I am becoming skeptical of the editorial control being wielded around here.

This is a time of one of the most exciting developments with regards to modifining the c63. The development of forced induction products namely superchargers. Their are a few companies developing them but because of various incidents the process of development has been almost a nonstory on what is supposed to be the premier perfomance geared MB forum on the net.

The more I search about information the more locked, moved and crazy threads i found. I wondered how threads that started in the c63 section got moved to other sections. I wondered why.

It troubled me because I thought this forum would be different and after the previous sponsor issue I felt MBworld had its members interests prioritized ahead of controlling social media for sponsors gain reputation protection. (Let the sponsors stand on their own merits or fall because of lack of them Memebers make these sites not sponsors, all advertising we have bought came with stats about usage/subscriber info, without that there is no sponsor. being a sponsor should be a privilege not a hedge to control and protect their image and when used as such the sponsors and the sites status both take a hit)

You see their is a diffrnece between the i like apple ipod facebook page (obviosly an apple paid for site with limted to no unmoderated discussion) and the independat i love my ipod facebook pages that cover ipod ins and outs, issues with firmwares and apple feature delations and changes. (fan run page)

My question is which one is mbworld becoming. ironically i have been spending more time in the AMG performance lounge as it now seams to be the place for real discussion of our cars without all the funny business.

BAck to my main point. I am not specifically calling out any sponsor but when you make major automotive news website (one that famously broke the detroit chrysler 200 newspaper automotive editor quitting in protest of an article he wrote for sponsors benefit to the masses) something is not up.

SO i ask even though this may get me a ban that the owners of this site who ever they are STOP IT. Transparency is always best. ITs the coverup that always get people. even people who had nothing to do with the crime go down hard because of their association (knowing or not) with what is perceived as a coverup.

YOu are killing this site. I have purchased items from sponsors of the site but if their business dealings are not right we have a problem. Many people on this site are small business owners and we understand the ups and down of business. we also understand their are various private companies that provide business risk and coporate credit profiles on almost any business that does business with other business or large distributors that report. I personally ran reports on some of our sponsors and lets just say while the paydex index score is improving slighlty many have issue staying with in agreed terms.

The point here is simple if I a good standing memeber on a fourm buy a product and dont get it delivered as agreed then i should not have to fear that the time i have invested in this site and building relationships with people on it are at risk if i publicly speak out against it.

I also have looked via google cache and other premodfided sources and i have found members that were furious months ago changing their tune. My issue is not that but the deliberate attempt by the forum sponsors and the original users that were effected to rewrite history. (dudes it the internet there is only so much you can do once toothpaste is out of the tube)

If i was mad enough at a company to express anger publicly or thru proxies I would let my comments stand and then write a followup response with the what happened and why i fell i have been made whole/better. (like an amazon .com review)

I have had discussions with some on this forum out side of this space and many are feeling the same way. WHile some of the users that had problems have a history of.

My internet research found many cases of the same sponsor years ago running into similar "product sourcing/ order fulfillment issues. Funny thing is the same thing happened. The people that complained the loudest got the owners dad to pay $$$ to make it right and then they (customer) attempted to reshape public opinion about the company. but there were some stories where user would not and that was the end of there time on that forum (SPOnSOR>forum member / forum integrity) Hope that this does not happen here.

Enough is enough of this guys. When are we as the automotive public gonna demand a stop to this. Wither its a company that sounds like a famous dark liquor or an up and coming eurotunner that just landed a magazine cover the primary focus of forums like these should be to protect us not censor or shape the conversation to help/benifit sponsors.

You are losing a solid base of members and fracturing the community into people on forum A vs forum B. it used to be people used both and moderation was self imposed not by the mods.

The reason we cant find anything about suppercharges in our cars thats useful is that a forum sponsor that was spearheading a major project had an epic fail (mechanical, personal, moneywise or whatever). THe install was super botched (reasons not publicly disclosed)and delayed multiple times. In the end the source of the supercharger not the reseller who earlier had darn near weekly/daily posted about the project.....then we have wired internet silence and the forums look like the hackers got to it and deleted and changed content moved it around and blended it for good measure. (WHY?)

I really wanted to findout more about the suppercharger but in the end i think i have found out what other members have been saying for a while. THe scrubing of the forums and perceived threat of competition from another forum that quite frankly until members started jumping was inferior.

I JUST WANT THE OLD MBWORLD BACK DAMN YOU SUPPERCHARGER WE SHOULD HAVE JUST STAYED NA.

GBlansten

I didn't read all of that but I too am worried about the Feds monetary policy.

splinter

Is there something on your mind you’d like to share?

ZephyrAMG

LOLL

Nola

With 4 posts? What are you talking about? Maybe you are using the wrong fake account.

Anyway, I think you are exaggerating. Issues are dealt on a case by case basis and our main tasks as mods are to keep the place PG-13, break off cat fights, show hecklers and trolls the door, and get rid of unpaid advertising. Think about those things and you'll see how sometimes a disgruntled customer will be moderated... but there is no conspiracy or concerted effort to re-write history, whatever your perception.

generalhh

I am actually a real person. I check on my mobile on average 5 times a week.

In my home town of Fayetteville, NC because of this site I linked up with an e55 and a few other AMG fans including a retired office with an sl55 and e63. We are home to Fort Bragg mil base and while not mil related myself many of the people I work with are.

I self admit that I rarely post (less than 1 per year) but that does not take away from my post or point.

When you make jalopnik The way we did (the mb world community) something went very wrong. The perception of censorship and they way handled (locked threads, moved threads, removal of different views, censorship of other sites (I understand that one) all combined equal a very different story.

I recommend that anyone dealing with a small or large for that matter business protect themselves. One way is by knowledge via forums like this. When the forums are highjacked then we lose a valuable resource for us all.

I say it again let sponsors rise and fall on their own merit. Their products and advertisements and preferred placement on the forum should be enough.

Remember the Chrysler 200 story

boschk

Start your own site that is better and see if the majority of people here flock there. Plenty of good forum software out there to build it on. Then you get to set whatever tone you see fit. If that's what the market wants, it will grow.

Nola

Thanks for being honest about who you are. You wouldn't believe how many 2, 3 and even 4 and 5 faced hecklers we have, especially surrounding the issues you point out.

So this is about Evosport then.... Here is something I posted about this a few days ago:

There are no threads or posts that were deleted just to silence someone with a bad opinion of a sponsor. There is no conspiracy. One common misunderstanding is that the founders of this site retain admin or moderator rights to this day... they do not.

What you will find is locked threads to avoid childish insults and stalking. You will find banned and suspended members for quite bad violations of our terms of use (mostly insults, fake users to bypass a suspension, and generally being bad apples). All these actions carried out by your MBWorld moderator staff to keep this place PG-13, reasonably peaceful, free from hecklers and trolls, and exclusive in advertising to paying sponsors. We do not try to control opinions or rewrite history.

GBlansten

You guys do a good job. People take web boards too seriously. There is enough drama in real life.

tanktube67

Just name the sponsor that rip yuo off.

black-clk500

this has already been done and it's a growing site with NO censorship and very little arguing going on.
It doesn't have the search-ability this site does (because it is a newer site w/o the history MBW has), but most of the good members here are contributing over there.
If you're a member here and don't know what site I'm talking about, you should find out--it might be for you
I still like MBWorld, but I check here much less than I use to and it is 100% attributed to the circus involving the Mods and the censorship here.
Anyway, at least there is another choice for us MB guys
The PL is great too, but it has it's limits.
Anyway, that's my .02

jvanbrecht

I stopped reading after the first pseudo paragraph.. and while he may be honest, this is a forum.. keep posts short or the short attention spanned people like me will just move on

generalhh

thats the problem with this world everyone wants soundbites not details.

Its the reason why newspapers just reprint 3 sentence AP feeds. Its why politicians master how to solve all the worlds problems in 36 words or less. Its why nothing fully gets done.

I know the post may have lots of grammatical errors but the passion is very real.

I am sorry if the mods of this forum feel slighted. But this was a professional forum and many of the posters self moderate. Except for the spam posts and straight advertising without paying. I believe the community at large does a great job of moderating itself.

These cars are coming off lease fast and the community demographics will change as they become more affordable 2nd hand. I know your jobs may become a bit harder but the free sharing of information, ideas and experiences should always be the goal.

call me a sucker but i really hope the boards dont fracture but i feel that may to late.
So at this point going crips vs bloods does nothing for the general membership. no one is gonna like having to look at 2 places.

with these cars being available now with 30-40k miles with prices in the high 30s to the mid 40s (not CPO) people will have $$$ and no warranty to worry about. It now becomes a choice between a new subaru STI and some money for mods vs a german missile c63 (used but designed to be abused) ready for modding but not friendly on the gas tank (LOL dont we all know)

keep it chill ill prob shrink back into my hole as now I feel i got this off my chest. i have posted almost more in the last 24 hrs than the last 3 years. LOL

boschk

PM me the link. I'll have a looksee. I used to play on benzworld, but it's pretty lame activity-wise. This site is just more interesting.

GHAZAN

PM me too and I agree with what the OP described so vaguely. Hang around here long enough, but just to be fair quite a few members are just as guilty as sponsors and mods.

boschk

Oh, do NOT PM if you have an official affiliation with said site. To me, that's spam, so I'll respect this board. If you're just a fan of the site, frankly, you should be able to post it in open. Doing so isn't tied to the purse string so to speak, so I don't see what the problem would be.

ZephyrAMG

Reading the OPs post is like trying to read a box of easy mix brownies after 17 shots of Tequila. What the heck are you trying to say? I have 9 years of schooling under my belt but don't exactly understand what you are trying to say. I know I'm slow n' all...Maybe I should call my university and ask for a refund. Do you want a free forum? Did a sponsor stiff you? Talk to me goose...

Nola

I think you get the point. The internet is a big place and there is room for everybody without having to spam other sites to get members... IB alone has a few more Benz sites, and of course there's Benzworld, Mymbonline, etc.

The problem with the particular new site mentioned (or not mentioned, as it were) is that for a few months the owner and some members have been systematically targetting MBWorld with a spam and slander campaign. While the spam is just annoying, the slandering is quite offensive indeed. All we can do is keep unsaid site out of here... hopefully they'll get critical mass soon and won't feel that they need to troll our site and slander it to get new members.

So to answer the OP's questions (which are actually well summarized in the thread title):

Has the site been taken over by Sponsors? No. The mod staff operates independantly from any sponsors. We simply provide a place for them to advertise and engage their customers. If they do a lousy job, we don't sweep things under the rug, although we do step in to prevent stalking and catfights.

Has the site been taken over by Hackers? No, but there are a few members with an agenda to push the interest of a competing site by discrediting MBWorld.

Nola

I think it also has to do with, let's say, "personalities". There is a certain type of member whose online "personna" is not a good match with MBWorld's TOU, mostly because of language, aggressivenes and confrontations. As we ban or give infractions to those members individually, they are now finding a home in this other site, may feel slighted by MBWorld and perhaps have an axe to grind, and thus the resulting "Forum war"... whcih we try not to respond to other than as mentioned previously.

boschk

Just to be clear, I never said this site has been taken over by anyone. Yes, I see a lot of sponsor posts, but I have the power to read what I like, so I can't say it bothers me. My cost to login is pretty cheap, so biatching would be pretty silly IMHO. There is one sponsor in particular that comes off as a complete ahole, but there's no reason to hole mbworld responsible. I get the nature of the relationship.

I do not think that owners & moderators of a competing site should spam a board to grow. To me that's chicken chit and any site should grow on its merits, not on the coattails of another. But, a raving fan that has no official affiliation with a competing site should be able to post about it. The hard part sometimes is separating the fans from those with an axe to grind. I get that. At the end of the day, the reader will make up their own minds, so sites like this need to take the high road and play their own game. Forum fracturing happens on pretty much any large board. I've seen it many, many times. Those that are successful know what they are good at, continue on that path, don't get involved in the mud slinging and keep moving forward.

Nola

Nice post.

blownS

There DEFINITELY should be a thread in this forum discussing all the different FI options for our cars (price, features, reviews, etc.) This would be INVALUABLE.

You seem to have time to write. Maybe u could put it together (or at least spearhead the movement)??

Nola

One of the admins here is trying to get an MB wiki off the ground... maybe this is a nice first entry?

https://mbworld.org/forums/c32-amg-c...w-project.html

blownS

wikis r great...but I like THIS site btr. I'm also quite lazy, and having to venture elsewhere to get info that should (logically) be here is, well, annoying. Just my $.02, of course.

Nola

I think the idea is that the wiki be here. Maybe VRAA will chime in and give us "his vision".