It's not unusual to see once committed members to your community to get upset about something and go on a rampage...this often results in a "goodbye, I've had enough" thread. These are the ones where the angry member tells his/her story in the forums and explains why he/she is leaving. On one hand, it can be good because it can tell your staff what they could be doing better...but on the other hand, it looks very bad to the community...especially to visitors. But then again maybe the majority of the community will realize that this particular member is out of his/her mind and nobody will care?

Tough call....I'd say it depends on the situation

I think the most important thing is to watch the thread so it doesn't get out of control. It's one thing for someone to say they are tired of the place and leaving but when others post in the thread with comments like "good, get out of here" or "we don't need you anyway", that can start bigger fights. In some instances, it's good to let the person vent a little. Even if they are leaving. You also don't want to give the impression that you delete all negative threads by just removing the thread altogether. It is a tough call though. I've seen these types of threads before and they almost always get out of hand.

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Mark Blair
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I agree with Mark on this one. Plus it also depends on if they are leaving by choice or by force. I think it can also get out of hand real quick if you are not paying attention.

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I personally have not had them on my forum where they get agressive, but I have had a mod step down simply because they don't have the time [they still pop in every once in a while].

I've seen it on many forums though. Often the member comes back after a few days and tries to forget about it. I know of a rival forum that has a communist style of moderation, and many members leave to come back again.

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Well, I have an alliance forum. The main members are members in the alliance, which has about 30 people in it. Most of the people have made several hundred posts, and everybody knows them well.

Everybody that has left to this point has done so because they don't have enough time to play the game. Their posts usually explain their memories, and have a general goodbye message. They are kind of sappy to tell you the truth. They don't seem to affect other members, other than the fact that some of the real popular members leave and it kind of bores them for a few days.

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Yeah, those are the sad goodbyes. They can present problems as well, but sometimes the most difficult are the angry goodbyes. The ones that whine and moan about how bad the staff is or how rude the members are...they stomp their feet and leave a trail behind them. These can be frustrating. They look bad to your community, but if you remove them, some might think that you are trying to cover something up. In my opinion, it is often best to act professional and be as nice as you can be to these members in public. Try to make them look like the jerk, meanwhile, your staff is doing everything correctly....if other members start jumping in and arguing, you'll need to moderate the thread.

You know why these people makes Good bye's threads? These are the people who dont really want to go. They make them out of two reasons:
1: Attention
2: To try to make it harder for themself to come back.
These people are the the one that thinks it hard to leave. So they really love your forum.

If I wanted to leave a forum, I would just leaved it. Not make a goodbye message...

But what can you do against it? I usually just igonere them. But keeps an eye out of the topic so it does'nt get ugly.

I had to people "quiting" last month. They are both back now.

attention whores ... I just delete the threads. Usually the "drama queens" come back after some time ..

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lol, drama queens.
Yes I agree they are attention suckers.

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I've had a couple of them and I kind of agree with DiaVolo. Those threads are meant for attention and a lot of times if the members say the right things in the threads, they stay. Sometimes they are just being courteous and saying goodbye, but the majority of the time I think it's to see the reaction they get from other members. When you have a heavy posting member quit or threaten to quit the forum usually it's a great thread with tons of views. It keeps everyone in suspense. As long as the flaming (if any) is kept to a minimum, it's a great way to keep your other members watching your forum.

Which brings me to a new idea...start forums post a lot...threaten to quit...get the pageviews up...etc...