Re: what about the future?
 

I don't know what the argument is. You've got a Forum, and that's great. The whole "but it's got this, and this, and this" effort is starting to sound just a tiny bit insecure at this point, however, especially since noone's really disagreeing.

Re: what about the future?
 

Well, when gandalf continually implies otherwise, there's a certain point to bringing it up, isn't there? But thanks for that. It's good to know that we dysfunctional children have a counselor ready to help us with our issues.

Re: what about the future?
 

Wow, where to start?

The bans were handed out for breaking forum rules. It wasn't a matter of correcting people for being wrong about the nuisances of the game. Your master harassed new players, he insulted other members of the community on a daily basis for little to no reason, he was an all around pretty rotten guy to everyone except for your little group. The bans that came after his were delivered because the people wanted to be banned.

A community with rules does not promote passive-aggressive behavior. In this particular case, it ensured that people were treated equally on the forums. Shrapnel has a obligation to its customers to provide a forum that allows for all people to participate without worrying about intimidation from other forum goers.

You tout your new forum as being free, but really it is not that much different than this one. Instead of a handful of moderators making the rules, you have a handful of people who got banned from here. To say that your whole forum decides the rules is absurd, there is little chance that you could get everyone to participate in such decisions which means that the core members of the forums will decide what happens.

Finally, Shrapnel's forum rules are pretty standard as far as forums go; so drop the forum nazi crap. The only thing that is different here is your disbelief that a heavily active modder could be punished for being a douche bag.

Re: what about the future?
 

rdonj, you're welcome to beat your point into the ground as thoroughly as the ground will stand it.

And I very much agree with the naivete involved in assuming any online Forum is somehow going to either "work", or remain, as a benevolent anarchy.

Re: what about the future?
 

It's funny, I come into this thread to tell one person I think he's making a mistake and that there's going to be more political fallout... and apparently I'm getting on everyone's hit list BUT the one guy I took issue with. You people are driving me crazy, and I feel no need to defend myself against things I never did. I don't appreciate those arguments, they are a waste of my time and energy. However, in the interests of being technically correct, I would like to point out that fantomen and I are most definitely not the same person.

On a completely unrelated note, the characterization of Sombre as our master was hilarious. Thanks for that one stampy.

Re: what about the future?
 

I think maps dynamically changing was a great thing thematically. Maybe it made actual multiplay somewhat less balanced, but I personally could easily live with it!
From Dom 2 to Dom 3 at least 1 spell - Astral Weapon was also removed. Maybe some were from Dom 1 to Dom 2, too.

Re: what about the future?
 

Yeah, that did catch my eye, Wrana. I wonder what it was like? I imagine something like desert areas transforming into forests or swamps, which would be pretty neat.

Especially with things like "stronger in mountains/forests" abilities, and certain spells, now that I think about it...

Re: what about the future?
 

See, and I think 'repression' (your word, not mine) got us out of a bad situation. People were leaving the forums, and new registrations were way down. Now things are turning around.

I'll settle for them being removed from our forums. I don't want them to stop being a part of the community at large, I don't want them to stop playing Dominions. Anyone is welcome here if they can live with the rules. If they can't they aren't wlecome here.

You assume we will let that anger be conveyed here. As I have already said, we are through allowing that kind of behavior here.

Okay, that is a good thing, right?

Your more than welcome here. We are not trying to turn this into a forum where everyone has to agree with us. We<b> will</b> turn it into a forum where everyone will, at least here, show us and the community here, common courtesy.

Re: what about the future?
 

Um. What? When did I *ever* say that. I think you need your eyes examined, since you clearly didn't read the post you were replying to.

I'm talking about the difference in 'rules' of community behavior being established and enforced by the community vs. being established and enforced by someone outside the community. I don't know what you're talking about.

lol, master. Hilarious. Because having my own thoughts that are different from yours clearly means i must be in thrall to someone you dislike.

Maybe you should look at the thread which actually led to him getting banned. He was harassing someone for a pretty good reason, and that someone was engaging in a *lot* of passive-aggressive behavior. (That of course was only the ultimate cause. The proximate cause was declaring the initial penalty was laughable, which had nothing to do with anything he did in public).

Ah, naivete.

All communities have rules. Communities encourage desired modes of behavior and discourage undesired modes of behavior by engaging in discouraging or reinforcing behavior. It doesn't require forum rules with moderators enforcing them for a community to have rules of behavior. Thus all forums (and all communities) also engage in intimidation to some degree to enforce their notion of what is proper. There is no such place as an intimidation-free community.

And not all rules encourage passive-aggressive behavior. But rules which discourage conflict do, because passive-aggressive behavior is all about provoking conflict without appearing to be engaging in conflict yourself.

err.. and why is that a relevant juxtaposition? Unrelated statements are unrelated.

No, I didn't say the whole forum decides. I said the community decides. Being part of the community requires active participation. And it isn't necessarily (or even likely to be) something the community actively decides, its something that the behavior of members of the community decides.

Seriously, did you actually read my post? I'd like to read the post you did read, because it sounds way more fanciful and entertaining than what I wrote.

(most importantly, i didn't pass judgement on either forum, i just pointed out what the consequences of enforcing 'niceness' rules is. And there is passive-aggressive behavior on this forum that would not be tolerated on the other one.)

Re: what about the future?
 

Sheesh I was was just trying to be diplomatic. Of course any forum CAN be anything. I was just trying to paint a picture of both forums using terms inoffensive to both sides. Instead you want to paint a picture that your forum does not offend anyone and this one is all wrong (there isnt really a majority agreement on either of those).

I think most regulars know that my personal description of the other forum and the people on it are nothing close to what I posted. But to say so, I would have to go there (yes I fully understand that is one of your selling points). I happen to recognize that such a post would not fit the environment desired here.

And I agree with that. New people here do not need a double barrel of my opinion on what some of you are posting. I dont have to live here and demand a right to vent. There are other forums for that.