Spparently, he was banned for....reasons? Something about commenting on taking boards down in the past, then finding himself banned. Ah, well. Let's get this shitstorm over with.
Oh, that's why he tried to friend me on Facebook. No. WFers. No. Facebook is my place of zen retreat. No drama will pass.
Please, Anc banned him because he didn't like him and there's nothing more to it. The alleged "threat" is just a convenient excuse even though everyone still recognizes it as Castle's usual bullshit puffing up of his chest.
Castle, whether it was a fair ban, or you were railroaded, enjoy the vacation. Get some goddamned writing done.
What happened? Castle was banned?!? You know the board owners have killed him. This board was his whole life and only friend. His blood is on their hands.
It's long as headache inducing. http://www.wordforge.net/index.php?threads/using-donations-to-support-your-blog.104391/ The ban stuff started at page 14. Though he was nicely melted down before that.
He abused personal info, got a friendly warning. Did it again and got a full warning. He was also repeatedly warned for trolling in the Blue Room and Workshop. If it were me then I would've waited for the third time and then banned him. But, that said, the board owner has a prerogative to decide a threat to the board and Castle made a threat to the board. He was showing no retraction from his latest meltdown and attempt top stir shit. Why not give him a short term vacation?
Yeah, i couldn't find the thread this started in, either. I'm on the WF group on FB, which is how I found out.
Anc's views on banning for general asshatery are well known. It's amazing he hasn't acted on them like he'd prefer.
He was banned for lacking the social skills needed to figure out when to back off and follow simple instructions on top of having piled up a handful of friendly and not-so-friendly warnings, not for general idiocy.
John Castle definitely needed time away to cool off. A ban is one way to provide that. That said, Ancalagon did not come off squeaky clean in his banning at all. I read John's reply to Anc's question to be an obvious "No", but Anc was steamed and seemed anxious to use his Banhammer on someone from his list of Posters I Don't Like and Really, Really, Really Wish Would Go Away, and so things went the way they did. I hope Castle regroups, does some navel gazing, and realizes that a torrent of Fuck You's in different font sizes and shapes isn't the best way to respond.
Which is why I don't have much faith in Anc's objectivity. Quite frankly I just don't think he gets WF, despite being a long term menber. That said, he's the owner and Castle thought he had free reign to be a total cunt. More fool Castle imo.
After reading that post, it's clear that anyone with half a brain that he was full of his usual bluster. I don't see where he posted personal info, nor is there an edit from staff that anything was removed, Chup. if that did happen, then Anc is certainly justified to boot him.
Anc made it pretty damn clear that anything other than an unequivocal and unadorned "no" would be an unacceptable answer from JC. Frankly, whether or not you agree with Anc's conclusions about what Castle was trying to say, Anc was quite generous to him in that he made an effort to parse Castle's meaning after telling him that anything other than a simple "no" would bring the banhammer. The meaning of Anc's question was utterly clear: answer "no" or be banned. Don't equivocate, don't explain, don't answer with a tantrum; just answer "no."
So Anc operates like Jules from Pulp Fiction? Anything other than a specific response and your head gets blown off?
Anc gave him fair warning. I'm a newb and it was plainly obvious to me he wanted a response of exactly two letters to demonstrate Castle's intention to comply. Instead, Castle had to put his pride and ego first, and now he's paying the price. I've been around forums long enough to know that if an admin demands something specific of you, you do it or you face the consequences. (After that point, it's up to you whether or not you consider it worth continuing on said forum at all.)
Yeah, he was always pretty good at demonstrating a knowledge of where the line is and not crossing it. Lately that hasn't been true. The threat was basically the last straw after a few weeks of increasingly erratic behavior. With a bit of a cooling off period, I'm sure he'll be able to come back..
Glanced through the shitbucket, and yeah, a well deserved kicking. If the owners are in no mood to tolerate a threat, no matter how empty, you backpeddle and try and save face, not push your luck, if you're the one making it. The dumb fuck hasn't even that much horse sense. Although I'm sure the internet has plenty of other venues for him to play his Walter MittyMethy routine.
I'm not shedding any tears for Castle, and I agree that he needs the time to cool off, and it won't hurt some of the other members too. But having said that, that sentence of yours I just quoted has not traditionally been true for Wordforge, and that is a good thing.
Some forums are surely much more freewheeling than others. WF strikes me as being more lightly moderated than most online forums. It shows in both positive and negative ways.
Can't it just be for being tiresome and unoriginal? Everyone loves a good troll, but when your A game is little more than untreated tourette's syndrome, it might be time to step up your game.