Trollheart

Yah but I don't care. I'm quite happy to be the whipping boy, as long as I know who it is that's doin' the whipping. Down, Roxy! Basically, what I mean is, I know that Batty,as the main culprit here, only does it because he knows I don't take offence, or if I do it's hilarious to him. He wouldn't actually say anything really hurtful to me. He knows how far he can go. To be honest, I've no problem with being called a twit, an arsehole, brain dead or mentally retarded, a wimp, a girl or a dickhead. As long as I know who's calling me those names and the context in which they're being made. I'd much rather any of the above in jest than be called a racist or a bully in earnest. That sort of namecalling does annoy me, especially when it has no foundation in truth. The difference is that namecalling can be done in a jokey, comradely way, and it really offends nobody. But under these new rules, mods would be forced to punish this "bad behaviour"?

Perhaps more importantly, and illustrating what I believe to be very clear flaws in your system, if Batty hadn't been allowed to be who he is (through infractions changing him; and assuming he stayed) I would never have got to know the kind of guy he is and we would not have become fast ... er ... people who post on the same site. It's the flaws that makes us what we are, and really, I think it's wrong to try to forcibly change people by hanging a Sword of Damocles over their heads.

Who's Robert Frick?
I would have to agree. I love this place but if it became stale and rigid like a military school or something I doubt I'd hang around. I would hope it wouldn't come to that; maybe I'd go back into hiding in my journals. But now that I've seen the bright lights, I'd wither like a hothouse flower back in there!
Yeah I agree. I'm all for quiet at home, but who's interested in a place where everyone quietly gets on with their threads on the internet? You need a bit of controversy, a bit of spice, a bit of danger and the odd knock-down argument to make it worthwhile. In other words, you need people like Batty.

Tore, you didn't address my point about "objectionable material". How would you deal with that? I see the "single word post" has been by consensus agreed to be dropped, but what about this and my other point? I'd like to know what your answer is.

To be honest, if I have a choice between a place I can come where I know I'll get some stick, but can give it back, where I'll have fun and know I have friends as well as the odd enemy, and some who aren't sure then I'll take that over a stale, stuffy, schoolroom-type environment such as you appear to be proposing, or which, if not intended, would certainly result if this idea were to be implemented.

Or to use your own analogy, given a choice between a playground where I can run around, scream and shout and take the risk of being beaten up, and a quiet time at the library where I'm afraid to even look up for fear of stern reprove, I'll take my chances in the former every time.

Edit: I should also add that it's almost 3AM here so if anyone posts and doesn't get a reply from me it's not because I'm a prick (well, I am, but it's not just because of that): I have to sleep. So I'll reply to any posts directed at me in the morning. Or afternoon. Early evening at latest. Maybe late evening.... zzzzzzzzzzzz

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018