This has actually been a very interesting thread, and I personally think it would be a disservice to open discussion around here to delete it.
Sgtpet, while your posts were cited as an example of what was being discussed on the thread, I don't think that *anyone* here has intended any sort of personal attack on you. I also think that you misunderstand what people are saying, though.
I too do not understand people who ONLY want to hear the positive. I have seen threads on the other DIS boards roundly criticizing The Unofficial Guide to Disney World for including negative comments, as well as positive, about restaurants and attractions. I thought that that was ridiculous, as negative comments CAN be just as informative (if not more) as positive comments.
HOWEVER, this is where I think that you are missing the point that some here were trying to make. As I read it, people here are NOT questioning your right to express your opinion. They are NOT criticizing you simply for posting something negative about DVC. I know that what bothered me about your posts of the past few days was not that you were saying something negative, but the WAY that you were phrasing your comments. They did not always come across, to me, as 'balanced'. You made some very strong statements, (let me say that you are not the only one who has been making these type of comments over the past few days, but you are being cited because you have been very good about discussing these issues after making your initial posts, as you and I did extensively on Friday) often without elaborating on the context of the comment. For instance, saying that Disney had 'lied' to you without explaining how until a number of posts later, or saying that they had gone back on their word, or stolen benefits away, again without fully explaining what was the basis for your assertions until a number of posts later.
I think that given everything that you have posted about your vacationing habits, you made a wise decision not to purchase at this time. It doesn't sound like what you wanted or needed it to be right now in order for you to be happy with a purchase, and I think we would ALL want you to make the most informed decision possible. But you have been actively trying to dissuade others from buying/considering DVC, in a much more 'attack oriented' way than the way that you feel that you have been attacked on this thread. And a lot of what you are upset about was based on speculation, as we discussed the other day. But someone looking into DVC for the first time might read one or two of your posts about Disney 'lying' to you, and 'stealing' benefits from members, and completely end their consideration of DVC WITHOUT a full and informed view of what it is about. Now you have said that you simply want people to make a fully informed decision, and I believe you, but there are *some* of your posts that did not strike me as working towards that end.
You are complaining that some members on this board do not want anything negative to be said about DVC, but the tone, especially of some of your early posts on Thursday, struck me as the exact thing that you are complaining about. You were trying to block positive info about DVC from getting distributed in exactly the same way you were complaining about others trying to block negative info from getting out.
Now granted, you and a number of people here were and are VERY upset about prospective point hikes for the Disney Collection, and it is understandable that people post very strongly worded or emotional posts when they are upset. But please understand that no one here, that I can see, is questioning your right to complain, either about Disney or the DVC. It is a question of method, of style, NOT of whether or not you had the right to.
I guess I would just say that if you're going to say something negative, simply back it up. Don't make posts with accusations, such as 'Disney lies!' (totally generic example) without backing it up with examples of *why* you say that they lie. Such posts, while distasteful to some, are much more welcomed here and would come across as much more balanced, if every time you make an accusation, you explain the basis for the accusation.
Sorry to be so longwinded, just wanted to put in my 2 cents...
