"Please, it's not time to man the barricades..." Topic

From time to time, TMP staff will temporarily lock a member's account while an issue is resolved.

If you are not the person involved, please do not jump to conclusions, make wild charges, and whip up the crowds to man the barricades… you don't even know what the issue is! Just let Editor Gwen do her best to resolve whatever the issue is. Later, if you don't like how the situation was resolved, then you can complain. But until then, let our staff do their jobs.

I would also remind everyone that if your account is locked, that does not mean you should go run and use your 'other' accounts. TMP staff will lock all of your accounts if we have to, while an issue is being resolved.

I guess even commenting on the topic is taboo. OK I'll just move on.
Paul

Why drag something out into the public when Editor Gwen is trying to resolve the issue privately? Show some respect and allow her to do her job.

OK, at this point, John has twice used his alternate accounts to 'get around' his account being temporarily locked.

This is completely disrespecting Editor Gwen.

Therefore, we've made the decision to permanently lock his accounts. John's actions really give us no choice. We've tried to work this out with him, but he refuses to cooperate with the process.

We wish him well on other hobby websites in the future.

I woke this morning to find something strange in TMP. I had thought it curious that I had not hear anything from John the OFM/Winston Smith on the American Revolution boards the last couple days. He is the person here who to me exemplifies the spirt of gaming this most excellent period. He is generous and always supportive of ideas to make a better game and encouragement to those just starting the period.

Now his accounts are both locked? What had he done? More troubling is there appeared to be a thread which caused this; now dissapeared! People write into this thread to ask questions; now disappeared! What happened here! Are we living in Argintina 1970's experiencing Operation Condor ? Do threads, posts and people just disappear from here?

First Super Max is gone. Now John the OFM is gone. The Am Rev War board has been a zone of polite discussions unlike other boards here. Why are we being purged?

Bring back John the OFM! Bring back Winston Smith! Bring back Super Max!

Let him go. If a man cheats, why game with him? Our games have rules. If you can't play by them, take up something else.

Why drag something out into the public when Editor Gwen is trying to resolve the issue privately? Show some respect and allow her to do her job.

I totally agree. Which begs the question, why start this topIc at all?

DBDD

Bill

Wait a second. What just happened to the posts here? More deletions? Why the constant gaslighting?

Geesh. What's the point of posting an honest and civil comment on a discussion topic if, when you turn around, someone has gone and erased it!

Dan
PS. I think it's time I started a collection of screen prints when I post, if anything just to remind myself that I didn't imagine it all. Until recently one had at least some evidence (the word "Deleted") to prove that the comment was there at one time.

I guess this disproves one (very) long held theory about John the OFM – that he is a sockpuppet of The Editor (may he live forever).

There are a few people it's hard to imagine TMP without: John/Winston/et al is one of them. I don't know him, other than through TMP, but he has been here forever. This is just an observation.

Temporarily locked, now permanently locked?

TMP without John is like Macdonald's without hamburgers.
Like the Airforce without airplanes.
Like Walmart without the severally underpaid staff.

Meh. Can't play fair, then goodbye.

My post was deleted as well. Really? *sigh*

Bring back Super Max!

Who is Super Max???

Now his accounts are both locked? What had he done?

The basic chronology, to the best of my knowledge:

1. Someone starts a troll account to make aggressive and provocative attacks on one of our members. (Nobody is accusing John of this.)

2. TMP staff shuts down the troll account.

3. "Winston Smith" posts an insulting message accusing TMP staff of showing favoritism toward the victim. He accuses TMP of "genuflecting".

4. TMP staff decide that this situation is best dealt with by temporarily locking the "Winston" account, allowing Editor Gwen to have a conversation with him about his inappropriate tone toward staff. Editor Gwen emails him.

5. Avoiding the lock, he switches to the "John the OFM" account so that he can post on the forum here.

6. I issue a public warning against circumventing locked accounts.

7. "Frodo Corleone" account is reactivated and begins posting on the forum.

I totally agree. Which begs the question, why start this topIc at all?

Because several attempts had been made to drag this situation into public discussion.

Wait a second. What just happened to the posts here? More deletions? Why the constant gaslighting?

I think I've said it several times now. There was no point to allowing people to "stir the pot" publicly when Editor Gwen was trying to diplomatically and privately resolve the situation.

Who is Super Max?

Supercilious Maximus was the author Brendan Morrissey. He is a very well respected author on the subject of the American Revolution. I am sure many people here have one, or more of his books.

I didn't think either mine or Dan's comments were an attempt to 'stir the pot'. They were honest questions/comments in a thread you started.

You mean Supercilius Maximus. TMP link

When Editor Gwen tried to talk to him about his situation, he "threw a fit" and we had no choice but to make his locked account permanent.

I didn't think either mine or Dan's comments were an attempt to 'stir the pot'. They were honest questions/comments in a thread you started.

They were attempts to continue a discussion which, for the sake of the individual involved, I had asked you to forego.

I'm not privy to the ins and outs of this case, but must say how saddened I am to lose such a central member of TMP. In all these years I'm not sure we ever once interacted directly, but I've always valued his insight, knowledge (especially of the AWI) and acerbic wit. He will be much missed.

"Stir the pot"? Wow.

Why did you start a discussion topic if you didn't want a discussion?

Whatever. I'm done with this thread.

Dan

Should the punishment fit the crime or was the Dawghouse full? Seems like the death sentence for jaywalking.

Why did you start a discussion topic if you didn't want a discussion?

As I said, I made my post to stop other people from discussing it so that the matter could be resolved privately.

Bill is enforcing civility on TMP. I applaud that, though I am sorry to lose John's witty comments. He made me laugh many a time.

A few weeks ago, I complained that a particular thread was political, complaining by the button, and by post. Bill over-ruled me, stating the thread was not political. He deleted my comment in the particular topic, and I am glad he did. I never returned to the thread in question, as I found it not worth my time. If the participants, and TMP at large, enjoyed it, good on them.

Bill is correct, we need to respect the staff of TMP. If we cannot, then we need to take a break from TMP. If we cannot police ourselves, and be civil, then TMP staff have every right, and responsibility, to remove us, to keep this place civil. Participation is a privilege, not a right. Be aware, TMP is a warm, friendly place… Snowflakes take note!

Should the punishment fit the crime or was the Dawghouse full?

We didn't think throwing him in the Dawghouse for a few days would change the behavior, which was the actual problem. We thought that if Editor Gwen could explain it to him, he might change his forum behavior.

Seems like the death sentence for jaywalking.

Note that what got his account permanently locked wasn't the original infraction, but disrespecting TMP by continuing to post on the forum using his other accounts.

If he wants to come back, (1) he needs to stop using other accounts to avoid the lock, and (2) he needs to listen to Editor Gwen and come to an agreement.

Doesn't he always use multiple accounts, one for home and one for work at least….were both main ones locked?

Not that its a defence of him continuing to post once he knew he was locked on either account. Just that it is possible that someone with two main (home and work) accounts could not know at first that the other account has been locked.

Bill… you started this thread. Its very creation/existence 'continued the discussion' in a public arena. If you wanted this to be private, you should have left it there. I'm sure it would have been resolved one way or another without this additional drama and offense.

I simply commented that I hadn't noted any rabble-rousing or barricades, and wondered what the fuss was all about.

*sigh*
I was a contributing member for years. I have done my best to avoid grudges or controversies, focus on hobby topics, and contribute legit content where ever I could, but this strikes me as something beyond petty.

If this is a continuation of the original thread I saw yesterday then Bill didn't start it.

I went to man the barricades, but no one was there.

Did I miss it? Who sang the barricade song?

Sheesh (walks back home for a beer)

"As I said, I made my post to stop other people from discussing it so that the matter could be resolved privately."

Bill, if you want to post messages to the forum but don't want discussion then how about a site update that allows you to lock a thread? Then you could post, lock and avoid the discussion.

Doesn't he always use multiple accounts, one for home and one for work at least….were both main ones locked?

No, Editor Gwen wouldn't know about his other accounts.

If you wanted this to be private, you should have left it there.

I had to make an announcement because of several other people who had started discussions (now removed).

…this strikes me as something beyond petty.

Forum rules are there for everyone's benefit.

…then how about a site update that allows you to lock a thread? Then you could post, lock and avoid the discussion.

Site updates would be a bit of a distraction right now. Let's get TMP fixed first.

The basic chronology, to the best of my knowledge:

1. Someone starts a troll account to make aggressive and provocative attacks on one of our members. (Nobody is accusing John of this.)

Didn't John go through something like this a long while back? Where folks were making polls with the OFM moniker?

2. TMP staff shuts down the troll account.

TMP didn't do that for John back then did they? Pretty much let the game of polls roll right over him whether he liked it or not.

3. "Winston Smith" posts an insulting message accusing TMP staff of showing favoritism toward the victim. He accuses TMP of "genuflecting".

If he is comparing it to the treatment he received when he was poll-er-ized, then he could be forgiven his view. And unless the genuflecting is a euphemism, what's insulting about it?

4. TMP staff decide that this situation is best dealt with by temporarily locking the "Winston" account, allowing Editor Gwen to have a conversation with him about his inappropriate tone toward staff. Editor Gwen emails him.

Seems just emailing him would have been enough. Throwing a lock and then laying out what they think is inappropriate behavior is frankly a tad heavy handed.

5. Avoiding the lock, he switches to the "John the OFM" account so that he can post on the forum here.

He's po'd he's been locked out, for a relatively minor offense.

6. I issue a public warning against circumventing locked accounts.

Did you post it to the main boards? He may not have seen it. I normally gloss over topics that don't interest me then go wow, how'd I miss that. Why didn't you just email him?

7. "Frodo Corleone" account is reactivated and begins posting on the forum.

Okay, this was a post to far for him.

All in all this is my two pesos to the pot. Mayhap I don't have all the info on this kerfuffle, but with what I have I think I've made a good reading on the situation. +/- 30%

Why all the hate for the American Revolution Board? We are one of the most civil boards on TMP. We have lost two of our most valuable members. Both have helped out many newbies into the hobby. They are a wonderful source of information on the AWI. Your not considering the body of work.

How sad.

Your not considering the body of work.

Some animals are more equal than others?

Didn't John go through something like this a long while back? Where folks were making polls with the OFM moniker?

If you want to dredge up ancient TMP history then remember that John the OFM was both the original TMP "celebrity" and was also seen by many as the original "Tango01" (that is, a lot of members were irritated by the frequency and content of his posts).

One member asked for a poll about banning John the OFM.

It was my ruling at the time that there was no forum rule against such a poll, that John the OFM being a "celebrity" was different than being an average member, and that the TMP community deserved a means of deciding who needed to leave the community.

The vote was against banning John the OFM (as I expected).

The TMP communnity later voted to give up the ability to ban members; that power now rests solely with TMP staff.

How sad (and disappointing). I've been coming here less and this is just another reason not to. So much of the "flavor" of TMP is gone for better or worse. The latter IMHO.

Sorry to lose you, but we have to keep the forums civil for the benefit of all of us.

Nothing is more civil than an empty forum.

Nothing is more civil than an empty forum.

If you had a forum, you would let people break the rules just to keep your numbers up?

Is it official? John, in all his manifestations, is gone for good?

Bill, that came off as irrelevant and condescending.

I know the rules are there for everyone's benefit; my issue was with you starting a public thread over private drama, then deleting comments that questioned a furor that didn't appear to be happening (or at least wasn't common knowledge/in the public eye) until you started the thread and drew attention to it.

I get you have to take out the trash occasionally/clean up messes. It was you who raised a stink by starting the thread though. It has very little to do with forum rules and civility – unless you have one about airing dirty laundry in public.

Your not considering the body of work.

Some animals are more equal than others?

Truer words have never been spoken here.

Sad day all around.

Some animals are more equal than others?

Sometimes. If someone is helpful and overall their influence is positive then I would take it all into consideration. It depends on who it is and their overall contribution to the membership. Take it all into account.

Sometimes. If someone is helpful and overall their influence is positive then I would take it all into consideration. It depends on who it is and their overall contribution to the membership. Take it all into account.

Seems grossly unfair. I'm completely against creating a privileged class of TMP members who can break rules with impunity.

Is it official? John, in all his manifestations, is gone for good?

It's up to him. I've explained the road back, if he chooses to take it.

…my issue was with you starting a public thread over private drama…

Dentatus, catch up with the story, I did not start the discussion in public, I was shutting it down.