closed thread

dirt85

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 14, 2002
Messages
5
Hey Gang,
I don't post here much but I do enjoy reading what is said and I've gotten a lot of good information from all of you. This Paul guy seems to have stirred up a hornets nest. It seems like the vast majority of you think he should go away. That should be enough of a reason for the webmaster to suggest he go elsewhere. However, he chooses to let him post. Is it just me or did Scott sound Paul-like when he said that he would answer our e-mails if he felt like it? Also, why did he close the thread so we couldn't reply? I hope this forum stays friendly and informative.
Dirt
 

Code Monkey

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Messages
3,783
<doing my best to see that this thread doesn't get closed ;)>

The shortest answer is that Paul Day has a long history of *really* getting on people's nerves (Scott's included). Once a thread involving PD goes astray, it's never a pretty thing and that's why Scott closed it - to contain the poison you might say.

I simply put PD on my ignore list (the first person I've ever been motivated to do so) because whether the leopard has changed his spots or not (which I doubt), it's simply too hard to read anything he says objectively any longer. PD can say, "Hi how are you?" and it will raise the hackles on the back of my neck, and this probably goes for many of the people on the board who have been around for a bit. If you're like me, just put him on the ignore, you'll never read a post from him, see whatever avatar he chooses, or see whether he's still a peon or has now surpassed you for wasting time on the board. I really just want to do my best to pretend he's not here. If he'd had a lick of sense and really wanted to come back peacefully, he'd have left the 'Paul Day' handle in the past and started clean. That he didn't says a LOT about his reasons for being here, at least to me.
 

Botar

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 27, 2002
Messages
1,441
I can't speak for Scott, but I can give you my take on his words/actions. I believe the comment on answering the e-mails if he felt like it was just his sense of humor. As for closing the threads, I believe he closed the one by Paul to keep a bad situation from getting worse. The thread that Scott posted and closed was just a way of posting information. In my opinion, I think it's a subject best left alone. Welcome to the boards, you'll be amazed at how much you can pick up from these people.
 
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MrDeranged

He Who Rules
Staff member
Joined
Jul 16, 2002
Messages
2,000
Ouch... You wound me. As to whether or not I sounded Paul like, I'll let anyone else who wants to answer you answer that one. I'm not gonna touch it. I will say that my comment about answering you if I want was sarcastic. I think that anyone can tell you that if they email me, I email them back......

As for why I closed the thread, it's called moderation. There is no point in allowing people to reply to a post that turned:

A) Inflammatory. I won't have it here.

B) That is going to be deleted. (for the most part) There's no point in having people wasting their time by replying to a thread that everything but the first post is going to be deleted. I don't feel that people were at their best when replying to Paul. I don't think he posted anything wrong, just a request for information. If people wish to reply to him, they can send him an email with the information that he is asking for if they so wish.

To be honest with you, whether or not people don't like him is irrelevant. As I said in my "What's a Webmaster to do???" post, if you don't want to read what he says, put him on your ignore list. Many things were said by Paul in the past on other sites that cause many people, myself included, to view his name as anathema. I feel that it is due to this reason that the response to him posting here was so vehement. Once people cool down, and Paul keeps his views in check ;) everything will be back to normal. I believe that Paul deserves a second chance. If you disagree, feel free to ignore him.

Everyone needs to remember, with the ignore feature, you don't have to read anything that he types if you choose not to.

Scott
 

dirt85

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 14, 2002
Messages
5
Good enough explanation for me. I will continue to post,read,enjoy,and gather information to help me with my ever-growing collection of 42 "T's". You girls and guys have unknowingly helped me a bunch....Thanks!
Dirt
 

SkyeSpider

Spider Queen
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 17, 2002
Messages
1,250
Just my two cents (from someone who grew up on the internet).

I do not know Paul. I did not read the replies to his earlier post (thankfully).

I've been on the internet for well over 10 years, now. In that time, I've seen MANY people change. Some of my closest friends became enemies. Some of my worst enemies became friends. I've seen the most computer illiterate people (read: AOL shorthand typers) become programmers. I've seen programmers degrade to people who can't use an AOL chat room.

My point is, everyone deserves a second chance. Forgiveness is divine. If I'm wrong, I'm sorry. This is just my point of view. Nothing is absolute. Especially not my opinions ;)

Oh, and from someone who's been paid to moderate chats: I think you handled things very well, Scott :)

-Bryan
 

kellygirl

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 1, 2002
Messages
1,055
wow! i leave for a weekend and i come back and there is mad drama! i have no idea what happened but i'm glad everything has been worked out...

kellygirl
 

belewfripp

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 17, 2002
Messages
344
A Little Story...

This is about a guy who played on a very well-known MUD awhile back and who occasionally still shows up there. He's been there for 6 years now, and started when he was still in high school, and is now out of college. For those who don't know, a MUD is a Multi-User Dungeon, sort of Zork Trilogy meets AD&D or Star Trek or whatever world-type is being used as the foundation. Another good way to describe one would be text-based Everquest, although in general MUDs support a far smaller amount of players.


This guy was pretty bright, learned fast, and was very opinionated. Honestly, even now I don't see much wrong with the majority of his actual points. However, the way in which he conveyed them to the world were, well, less than gentle. Although sometimes he was pretty cold/factual, most of the time he was very animated and vitriolic. He could be very sarcastic and was often not very nice. Especially to the administration of this MUD. This guy had a lot of ideas and a lot of problems with how the place was run and although I can't support a love it or leave it philosophy, by the same token these people worked very hard trying to create, police and staff a game world that they believed in.


This guy criticised left and right, for quite awhile, in posts to the board. Not a board like this one, but a noteboard within the game world. Occasionally he would say less than pleasant things about some of the admins out loud both privately and, rarely, over public channels. All in all, while it would be hard to characterise him as an outright harasser, given that he was arguing points and not spewing mindless flames, and that he very rarely ever directed insults or outright name-calling AT any of the admins, the fact of the matter is that the lad was out of hand. He was too angry, too vitriolic, not at all sympathetic in any way whatsoever to the feelings of admins who worked very, very hard to make a good game for people to play and in general was just not a very pleasant person to deal with, especially in any kind of argument.


This went on for awhile. Finally, it seemed his bell was up. The admins were tired of it, and he was about to get the plug pulled, most likely in the form of a siteban, although I don't know for sure. He tried to explain himself. He was sorry, but he was doing it because he wanted the game to improve. It seemed that this point got through to the admins present but the fact of the matter was he had been too mean-spirited and nasty and in general was as disrespectful of the game's authorities as one could be, even without much in the way of straight up name-calling and insults. Somehow, that, in turn, got through to HIM. Suddenly, a lot of things changed. And although he occasionally got into it with someone in the years that followed, it was never with an admin and for the most part he had calmed down a great deal, put a lot of different things in perspective, and made a lot of adjustments in how he relayed his opinions and ideas to others.


Folks, that was me, quite awhile ago. I think anyone who has seen me on various message boards from the defunct egroups tarantula lists to this board would be hard pressed to find me an offensive cancer. To date I've not had any nasty messages sent my way, save one, and I ignored it completely because that's what it deserved. If I can go from the raving nutjob I was before to who I am now, I think anyone can. From what I understand Paul is not very old, probably around the same age as I am. Maybe I'll end up being wrong, but I think it is worth it to give someone, especially a young someone, a second chance.


Adrian
 

redbadger

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 21, 2002
Messages
29
..When I enter here....I want to read and enjoy the bounds of info....I want to go away from the world for awhile and hang with T. folks....I have enough drama in my emergency room job...tons of blood, guts, fighting, screaming, dying and suffering crap....I quess my point is(for what is worth)...I hope that no one would want to try to turn this place into a truama room..I deal with that bloody mess daily...
I came here as a complete Newbie..I entered with respect....folks answered my silly questions(thanks again)..I was treated with respect...I was raised to believe when in anothers home you must be respectful!
Just my two cents.....
 
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