Okay, so there was a huge piece of earth-shattering action going on last night. I'm going to explain what happened, and the causes.
Basically, the flashpoint was the Reviews forum, which I recently revived. As soon as I did, I and Edenmaster drafted a series of rules and guidelines for reviews that were to be posted. These rules were not new to the Reviews forum. They have been in effect, if unwritten, since we started doing them four years ago. Some of them I tuned down or eliminated, by request.
OB1 writes a pair of "reviews" that totally, flagrantly disregard these rules. As such, I have Edenmaster remove them. This was done both with proper warning beforehand, and proper explanation afterwards.
OB1 decides to express his discontent by writing a thread that is inflammatory to say the least. I respond. As usual, it escalated. Soon, the flavor of the comments he posted about me go from merely inflammatory to rude, outright lies and personal insults. He makes ridiculous accusations towards me, and I respond with quite an unhappy tone.
This went on for several hours. And it resulted in him deciding to leave for good.
Now, I want to stress that I did not ban OB1. In no way was he forced or coerced into leaving Tendo City. What he did was of his own free will, including starting the argument and escalating it the way he did. I gave him many, many chances to stop without consequence. He was determined to push me until I gave up and let him have his way. I was not about to do that. I almost never make a point to mention, but this is my place, and while I always welcome advice from people, I do not enjoy getting second-guessed, nor do I like being threatened and pressured into doing anything.
So what has happened is that OB1 is gone, presumably. I have removed his administration abilities. I will not ban him, and he is welcome to return any time he pleases, as long as he remembers how to conduct his behavior. I will not restore his admin priveleges, because I no longer feel I could trust him with that sort of power, but I will not stop him if he has a change of heart and decides he can be a normal human being once again.
I was not at all happy to experience what I did, and I am not happy with the result. I did not want him gone. I never had the problems with him that some have,until last night anyway. It's been weighing on my mind all day. But I did what I had to do.
OB1, if you read this, and I'm quite sure you will, I don't want anything from you. I won't demand an apology or anything. The door's always open. I hope you have the chance to look back and see what you did, and see it for what it really was.
Oh, to clarify. The boards did go down for a good deal of the day, and I know some people suspected him. It was not his doing. It was actually mine, and it was an accident.
I'm rather depressed right now, which I shouldn't be considered just a few hours ago I was excited to see TC finally come back online so I start discussing some Episode 3.
OB1, just come back. TC simply won't be fun without you, from my point of view anyway.
I tried my best, I really did, to make things clear to OB1 why we might be upset with him. I came off as "passive aggresive" (and I really don't know exactly what that term means, I take it means veiled insult) to him, which was not my intention. Him leaving is not a good thing in many ways, but if he didn't change his argumentative nature (which was the only thing I ever really had a problem with about the guy, I never actually had a grudge), then in the end it may be best. It's sad that it came to this though...
But enough of that. I hope what I just said isn't taken as me basically badmouthing him after he's gone or anything. My goal was just to make it clear what role I was trying to play in the whole thing, but unfortunatly I was unable to play peacemaker as I tried before.
Everyone can air what they were trying to accomplish in that thread and all, but what I would personally prefer is if we didn't turn this into a "bash OB1" thread. That's not going to fix anything and it's hardly polite. Well, lazy can do whatever he wants. He's above reproach.
I really hope OB1 decides to come back after he cools off. This reminds me a lot of when Lazy was finally banned at the old Rumble City. I didn't want it to happen, but ice-9's rules pretty much said it had to happen. Ryan is nowhere near the ice-9 that OB1 accuses him of being, and he is awesome for keeping us alive here. It didn't take long for the members of Blast City to go their separate ways, and yet we are still here all these years later. Hopefully OB1 will decide to come back because losing any old member is a difficult thing to take.
I also wish Stealth would go back to how he used to be and return you know. Old "sheep boy" used to be a pleasent chap to be around, but then for some odd reason he changes completely and he essentially defined what being a troll is. Eventually, Weltall just out and out had to ban him... I've checked, he's technically no longer banned, but he doesn't know where our site is now, which may be for the best. Sheep boy was awesome, but for some reason he just totally changed. That whole fake stealth thing, for the uninitiated, was a farce. By the way, every now and then I still talk to Stealth on MSN. Unfortunatly, he's taken to this odd habbit of trying to actually tear apart your very soul. It's a little lame, and maybe I shouldn't be sharing this but, if you do talk to him, he'll likely start out and end by saying "you must be a very pathetic lonely person in real life" or similar accusations with no basis in fact. I really have no idea why he became so bitter...
Come to think of it, isn't this like the 4th time, total, that a member has just out and out been fed up with us and left? Is it us? Are we the arse holes? N_A once left incredibly angry over a silly issue of respect, but he has since returned and has been a productive member here. The Biggah left over what he saw as a concentrated attack on him by everyone here. He hasn't come back HERE yet, but I do still talk to him online and have played the occasional game of SC or WC3 with him.
You know, I think now's as good a time as any to try and get people back. OB1, let's give him time to cool off, but for now who can we call back to us? demon is online in ICQ every once in a while. His ICQ number is 47674503. Since I have Trillianl, which supports ICQ, I actually see him there. Since you guys now know his number there, you too can see if he will come and post here.
Netmapel needs to come back. She's been gone too long. She's on every now and again in AIM, as NetMapel, and I think she also plays some matches against The Biggah now and again.
Hey ABF, you see Biggah more than I do. Tell him to come here. Mention OB1 is gone or something. That may just bring him back, but don't mention our intentions of bringing OB1 back or anything :D.
Hey Weltall, why hasn't Moiraine been here? I know she moved out of your house, but what does that matter? Bug her to get back over here!
Lord Shockwave knows where we are, but it's a month of Sundays between posts here. Who can hunt that guy down?
Then there's one last thing, new members. I believe our best tactic is to just go to the boards we visit most often and, rather than spam them, mention to INVIDIDUAL PEOPLE they should come here. Just the ones that are intelligent though. Let's try not to get the "leetser haxxor my boZXXXars, Link kicks Cloud's arse!" people.
I myself know a few real world friends who may be willing to join as well. They're good kids, not at all idiots for the most part, but they can't be trusted to keep anything secret.
Above reproach?
Of course losing an old member is harsh, but what he became was out right rediculous. All Ryan did was say that the original rules for the reviews are still in effect for the review forum and OB1 wanted to have it his way. Not because he had something to say, not because he felt like his ability to give free speech was being hindred, but because he simply wanted it his way. He reverted to name-calling Ryan and other members over a completely null and moot point, as he did in the past with all of us. It's no different than watching a kid hold his breath until he gets his way.
I'm extremely happy that the OB1 I saw last night, and for the past year is gone. But I will truely miss the OB1 I remember, before he decided that TC is an 'immature message board' or a 'stupid Nintendo forum' where he feels the need to alienate himself from everyone for fun.
I think it would be nice to see some old faces here again too.
As for fresh blood? Makes me wish I was wealthy enough to bring back ROTM... or TOTM?
True that...
And actually my point is that you, lazy, are really above reproach in my mind :D. Seriously, you can do whatever you want and I can find no fault. Namely, because you do it with class. You speak of sodomizing most of the members here with CLASS, that is in a way that makes it abundantly clear what you actually mean and without intention of actually hurting anyone, and usually it's about the kidding.
Hey, we can't afford to have rumbler of the month any more... But Tendite of the YEAR? That should do it!
I'm sure we can afford, at most, $50 if we all pitched in. In fact, if just 5 of us commit to it, that's just $10 a year to a nice contest. Anyone with a paypal account can do that. And oh yeah, paypal is free, no monthly fees or charges for transfering cash, so you guys feel free to make one. I myself volunteer to help in this.
Oh yeah, I checked out OB1's profile just now in the admin panel. His signature image is broken, so I decided to delete it (I wouldn't have otherwise). His avatar is missing, and I never checked the link for that, so I gave him one everyone should like, including him, but for differing reasons :D. I also changed his title, so as not to have what might end up being a permanent insult to ABF all over the site. Anyway, the last thing I edited was his forum access permissions. He's just a regular member now, and he's going to stay that way according to Weltall, but I thought that he should at least still be able to view and post in the hidden forums like Forum 5, so I enabled those privilages.
Hope those alterations aren't a problem. I'll change them back if someone takes issue with it.
Quote:Oh, to clarify. The boards did go down for a good deal of the day, and I know some people suspected him. It was not his doing. It was actually mine, and it was an accident.
Heh, so DJ was right that you messed something up? :)
Quote:I tried my best, I really did, to make things clear to OB1 why we might be upset with him. I came off as "passive aggresive" (and I really don't know exactly what that term means, I take it means veiled insult) to him, which was not my intention. Him leaving is not a good thing in many ways, but if he didn't change his argumentative nature (which was the only thing I ever really had a problem with about the guy, I never actually had a grudge), then in the end it may be best. It's sad that it came to this though...
He won't listen to you or me, and will take most anything we say in the worst possible way. Or just ignore it, often, in your case... so yeah. But anyway, it wasn't you or me who got him to quit, it was Weltall... though his feelings on how he thinks that we act certainly played a part, I'm sure.
Quote:Hey ABF, you see Biggah more than I do. Tell him to come here. Mention OB1 is gone or something. That may just bring him back, but don't mention our intentions of bringing OB1 back or anything .
I thought of that... it might help, actually. :) OB1 certainly is the one he disliked most... we'll see. He is busy now (with real-world things...), though, so he doesn't have that much time...
Quote:Netmapel needs to come back. She's been gone too long. She's on every now and again in AIM, as NetMapel, and I think she also plays some matches against The Biggah now and again.
Not recently, but she is on MSN sometimes... I don't know if she wants to come back. I know we've asked before but she hasn't returned...
Quote:I also wish Stealth would go back to how he used to be and return you know. Old "sheep boy" used to be a pleasent chap to be around, but then for some odd reason he changes completely and he essentially defined what being a troll is. Eventually, Weltall just out and out had to ban him... I've checked, he's technically no longer banned, but he doesn't know where our site is now, which may be for the best. Sheep boy was awesome, but for some reason he just totally changed. That whole fake stealth thing, for the uninitiated, was a farce. By the way, every now and then I still talk to Stealth on MSN. Unfortunatly, he's taken to this odd habbit of trying to actually tear apart your very soul. It's a little lame, and maybe I shouldn't be sharing this but, if you do talk to him, he'll likely start out and end by saying "you must be a very pathetic lonely person in real life" or similar accusations with no basis in fact. I really have no idea why he became so bitter...
Stealth is Stealth... he talks to me on MSN sometimes. And sometimes he's a decent person to talk to and other times he's bent on doing his best to insult you... it is silly, but he's 'normal' often enough that I don't mind talking to him on MSN. I wonder how he'd act on the forum though...
Quote:I myself know a few real world friends who may be willing to join as well. They're good kids, not at all idiots for the most part, but they can't be trusted to keep anything secret.
So you won't invite them because they'll tell people your real gender? But with OB1 gone, who here do you want to hide it from, really (especially given that some people already know)? Is it really THAT important? :)
As for new members, what can we do... get linked somewhere? But how would we go about that?
Hey, your words, not mine.
It's not a secret if everyone knows it.
I wasn't even talking about something.
I was referring to ABF's comments.
I'd probably be far more saddened to lose him if not for our giant fight a couple months back. That spanned most everyone, but for the most part, it was OB1 and I, and the way he conducted himself (not unlike how he did here) disgusted me and made me lose all respect for him. I never held a grudge, and after it blew over I acted like nothing happened, and OB1 and I were fine again. I still lost my respect for him, and I might even be sad to see him go, but after that, he showed me just how stubborn, arrogant, and rude he truly is.
If he comes to his senses to and decides to give us another chance with a better attitude, then I will welcome him back like everyone else. I don't, however, want the return of OB1 as he's been the last few months. No matter how short of members we are, I don't want to be around a single one like him.
To OB1: Don't let the door hit ya on the ass.
Least I'll never leave! ...wait wheres everyone going!? COME BACK!!
Edit:
Holy crap! since when do I have 2,300+ posts?
Edit2:
Quit hacking my eyes Smoke!! :D