A Message to Mike1984 from the Mod Team

[Elf]

I was the one who wrote the Announcement. It wasn't something I wanted to do, but through decision it is what the Team decided needed to be done. I don't like the idea of banning a friend, but there comes a point where sometimes you have to cut out the cancer so to speak. (Not that I'm saying Mike is a cancer, it's just the best metaphor I can think of right now.)

Anyway, the reason why this was made public was a very clear and simple one.

If we would have privately given Mike the message it would have become public anyway. There have been instances in the past where we have warned Mike, every time, he has gotten angry about it and brought it to public light. When Mike made things public, it always put us in the worse possible light and we couldn't get a word in edgewise.

So, we went preemptive before Mike got on his proverbial soap box.

I was the one who had to write this to get the point across. I did so with a very heavy heart, but boils and lancing and cancer and cutting.

[Mike1984]

Honestly, I really don't see how this can end well.

If it was just "don't explode at people", then I could at least try to do that, but the way they're picking up on a fairly innocuous blog post as the "final straw" makes it pretty clear that I also cannot express my opinion any more. If I call a mod a fascist, that gets me a ban (even if I think it's true), and if I point out what seemed to me at the time to be mod abuse of power, I get a ban.

I am someone who says what I see without really sugar-coating it, that is just how I am. Elf has previously stated that she also feels that way, but yet she seems to feel justified in threatening me with a ban for doing that, even when I'm really not being particularly harsh. I cannot simply gain tact overnight, that is just not how I am, and the mods do not seem to appreciate that at all. It's one thing to say "don't get angry", but they can't even accept perfectly calm criticism, and given how little trust I now have for them, I can't see that being something that is stable in the long term.

I don't intend to leave, if they want to get rid of me they are going to have to take responsibility for it, but given their attitude I don't see this working out. It's one thing to say "don't explode" (although it's not that simple), but they're going further than that. Altima claims I can trust him, but he has provided no evidence to demonstrate this, and nor has Elf for that matter. The last time I got banned showed how little that was true, and, despite all their promises to communicate better and try to deal with issues more effectively, the next time anything even remotely serious came up, I got this. Hardly a good way to engineer trust or respect.

And, then, they start complaining about the lack of respect I have for them. Sorry, but in my view, respect is something you earn, and the actions of the mods over the last month or so have certainly not done that. Obviously, I will have to at least try to fake that respect, since you basically threatened me into it, but I assure you that, at this point, that is all it is, fake. You're going to have to do a hell of a lot if you want me to get back the kind of real respect I used to have for (most of) you.

[Altima of the Gates]

To those asking why this was made public. By past precedence, if we had sent this to Mike through PM, it would become a new blog post by morning I'm willing to bet. So we cut that off at the pass and just made it public this time, to avoid such things happening, and to hopefully have a civil discussion about things.

^^ Sniped by a long shot by Elf.

[Mike1984]

I was the one who wrote the Announcement. It wasn't something I wanted to do, but through decision it is what the Team decided needed to be done. I don't like the idea of banning a friend, but there comes a point where sometimes you have to cut out the cancer so to speak. (Not that I'm saying Mike is a cancer, it's just the best metaphor I can think of right now.)

How the fucking hell am I so bad that I need to be got rid of like this? And, if you "didn't want to do it", who did?

Anyway, the reason why this was made public was a very clear and simple one.

If we would have privately given Mike the message it would have become public anyway. There have been instances in the past where we have warned Mike, every time, he has gotten angry about it and brought it to public light. When Mike made things public, it always put us in the worse possible light and we couldn't get a word in edgewise.

Maybe, maybe not, but you could at least have had the decency to talk to me first, rather than dumping this on me.

So, we went preemptive before Mike got on his proverbial soap box.

I was the one who had to write this to get the point across. I did so with a very heavy heart, but boils and lancing and cancer and cutting.

I do not honestly see how I am so bad that I deserve this sort of treatment. My blog post was a little harsh, but basically correct. I admit that I should have waited longer for IRUn to respond to me, but people do make mistakes, and you cannot seem to accept that.

You do not seem to care about me at all, how you're making me feel or what you're doing to me here. I do not cause sufficient disruption for this to be anything like a proportionate response, and you did not even have the guts to talk to me about it yesterday, despite talking to me on MSN for over an hour.

[Elf]

I don't sugar coat things, but I don't come off sounding like a vicious bitch either. I'm blunt, but I don't come off sounding hostile. Sometimes it's just word choices, and sometimes its knowing when to cut your losses and leave.

[Mike1984]

To those asking why this was made public. By past precedence, if we had sent this to Mike through PM, it would become a new blog post by morning I'm willing to bet. So we cut that off at the pass and just made it public this time, to avoid such things happening, and to hopefully have a civil discussion about things.

^^ Sniped by a long shot by Elf.

Right, so you expected me to be perfectly OK with being threatened with a perma-ban, and to just "discuss it civilly" when the Sword of Damocles was hanging over me?

Yeah, I'll give you a hint, if you want a "civil discussion" with someone who you know is rather anti-authoritarian and who has somewhat of a temper, then don't attach a massive threat to the end of it. Threatening people doesn't tend to make for a particularly fruitful or civil discussion....

- - - Updated - - -

I don't sugar coat things, but I don't come off sounding like a vicious bitch either. I'm blunt, but I don't come off sounding hostile. Sometimes it's just word choices, and sometimes its knowing when to cut your losses and leave.

Well, you've not exactly come off sounding nice here....

I am not perfect, but I do not think that my blog post comes even close to warrenting what you've done here. This is totally unfair and disproportionate.

[Lycodrake]

...the Sword of Damocles...

...I'd like to note that the Sword of Damocles is a metaphor for the weight and danger of being a ruler or in a position of power.
And that it was hung by a horse-hair, which would respond to humidity. :V

[Mike1984]

...I'd like to note that the Sword of Damocles is a metaphor for the weight and danger of being a ruler or in a position of power.
And that it was hung by a horse-hair, which would respond to humidity. :V

Well, yes, that was the original meaning, but it's come to mean a serious and imminent threat more generally.

[Seika]

The meaning has changed from encompassing what the set-up was meant to prove into a straight conjuring of the set-up's imagery without the moral weight.

I translated that story somewhere. Wonder if I've still got it around ...

[Kyte]

Right, so you expected me to be perfectly OK with being threatened with a perma-ban, and to just "discuss it civilly" when the Sword of Damocles was hanging over me?

Yeah, I'll give you a hint, if you want a "civil discussion" with someone who you know is rather anti-authoritarian and who has somewhat of a temper, then don't attach a massive threat to the end of it. Threatening people doesn't tend to make for a particularly fruitful or civil discussion....

I thought this was the part where "all previous talks have failed" comes in. If you have already proven yourself unwilling to negotiate with no threat to keep you in line, why bother?

[Lycodrake]

The meaning has changed encompassing what the set-up was meant to prove into a straight conjuring of the set-up without the moral weight.

This saddens me.

[Elf]

How the fucking hell am I so bad that I need to be got rid of like this? And, if you "didn't want to do it", who did?

That I can't tell you. The whole names being withheld to protect them sort of thing.

You do not seem to care about me at all, how you're making me feel or what you're doing to me here. I do not cause sufficient disruption for this to be anything like a proportionate response, and you did not even have the guts to talk to me about it yesterday, despite talking to me on MSN for over an hour.

You know why I didn't talk to you about it? Because I didn't want to, because I had already become so upset because I was the only one who could write this. Darples couldn't, Roadbuster couldn't, and Altima couldn't. It was me, and I loathed doing it. I was the one who had to write this because I'm the one who could get the point across to you.

Because I wanted to have a nice friendly chat before the shit hit the fan, that's why.

[Mike1984]

That I can't tell you. The whole names being withheld to protect them sort of thing.

Right, so, in other words "it ain't my fault, but I'm not going to actually tell you who is at fault".

If you lot are going to stab me in the back, you should at least have the fucking decency to admit that you are doing it. Don't hide behind anonymity whilst you're pretending to be my friends, that is just plain two-faced. I want to know what you all think on the matter, honestly and truthfully, and I don't want any bullshit.

I'm sick of being lied to, tricked, given half-truths and treated generally like I'm unimportant. I want to know what the fucking hell is going on. I think I am fully entitled to know who is screwing me over and why/

You know why I didn't talk to you about it? Because I didn't want to, because I had already become so upset because I was the only one who could write this. Darples couldn't, Roadbuster couldn't, and Altima couldn't. It was me, and I loathed doing it. I was the one who had to write this because I'm the one who could get the point across to you.

Well, OK, fair enough, that is understandable. Still, knowing what the hell was going on would be nice.

Because I wanted to have a nice friendly chat before the shit hit the fan, that's why.

Well, still, it'd have been nice to actually be able to put across my viewpoint.

[RoadBuster]

How the fucking hell am I so bad that I need to be got rid of like this? And, if you "didn't want to do it", who did?

Nobody WANTED to, but damn, Altima, Elf and I have been dealing with this for years now. Your rap sheet is many times longer than Nahash's ever was. I've got a ton of friends that won't even log in here anymore citing you as the biggest reason. So... what exactly are we supposed to do here? It seems enabling if we keep 'trying to work on it' with little results. I, and the others understand that it's not your actual intention to be as destructive as you are, which is why we've done everything we can... but there comes a time when we can no longer justify it.

[Mike1984]

So, in other words "bugger you, Mike, I'm going to throw you to the wolves"....

[Kyte]

More like "bugger you, Mike, I'm not gonna stop you when you keep throwing yourself to the wolves" :V

[VelspertheCat]

I'm sick of being lied to, tricked, given half-truths and treated generally like I'm unimportant.

You're a fucking important character, Mike.

Anyway, it's shitty, but I think they pretty blatantly said what they feel about you, man. They're backpedaling at the moment, but the first impression says more than anything. They just don't want to cover you anymore.

To be fair, they aired their grievances out in a stupid fashion, but whatever.

[Mike1984]

Anyway, it's shitty, but I think they pretty blatantly said what they feel about you, man. They're backpedaling at the moment, but the first impression says more than anything. They just don't want to cover you anymore.

As a group, yes, not as individuals.

[Neir]

Right, so, in other words "it ain't my fault, but I'm not going to actually tell you who is at fault".

If you lot are going to stab me in the back, you should at least have the fucking decency to admit that you are doing it. Don't hide behind anonymity whilst you're pretending to be my friends, that is just plain two-faced. I want to know what you all think on the matter, honestly and truthfully, and I don't want any bullshit.

I'm sick of being lied to, tricked, given half-truths and treated generally like I'm unimportant. I want to know what the fucking hell is going on. I think I am fully entitled to know who is screwing me over and why/

Well, still, it'd have been nice to actually be able to put across my viewpoint.

I don't think anyone is pretending to be your friend, here.

Nor are you particularly entitled to who has been complaining.

And your viewpoint has been made pretty clear.

[Mike1984]

I don't think anyone is pretending to be your friend, here.

Elf and Altima certainly are....

Nor are you particularly entitled to who has been complaining.

No, but I am entitled to know what the people judging me actually think.