A Stupid Rule

It's been a while, but recent events have reminded me of the utter stupidity of this rule. I respectfully ask that it be dropped from the rules.

We all know this was put up because it was thought that I was "using" stuff from here to "punish" people at TrekBBS. I wasn't (I prefer giving people the rope to hang themselves, not doing it for them,) but in response to the perceived action, this lame rule was put up.

I have no problem with people trolling, flaming, whatever over here when it comes to TrekBBS. Comes with the free speech bit that this place likes (which inexplicably includes the right to be a racist pig, but that's another whine for another thread.)

But truly, if you are STUPID ENOUGH to say, "Well, I'm going to go over to TrekBBS (and it can be any board, not just mine,) and FUCK THEM UP, why then, YOU DESERVE TO BE BANNED FOR STUPIDITY.

Guys, either you have free speech or you don't. But what you're doing is trying to protect stupid people, something that WF normally doesn't do. Why? Do you have such an irrational hatred/fear of TrekBBS that those who need to attack it need protection?

It makes no sense. Truly. Normally, the WF reaction to such sissiness is "man up, you pussy. If you can't take the heat, get out!" Yet in this case, the sissies are free to hide behind the shield of an illogical (for WF) rule!

So I request that this rule be stricken from the book. I know that my chances are slim, fat and none, mainly because there is this hatred/phobia of TrekBBS, but I'm taking the chance that there is still a smidgen of fairness.

Of course, what is sad is that in spite of real discourse on this (and I am serious) is that I'll get:

- Fucking hag. Go back to TrekBBS! You're not welcome here!
- TrekBBS sucks.
- We'll do what we like and fuck you!
- Did I say I hate you?

But all jokery aside, why does this exist? It makes zero sense on this board to have that rule. WF touts itself as a board that promotes freedom, to the point when a black man here can openly be called a (n-word) (and by the way, that's reprehensible) but you can't take being responsible for your own actions?

I'm not looking to "get" anyone. I don't fucking care. I figure if people are going to fuck up on TrekBBS, they'll do it themselves. But do you not see how UTTERLY RETARDED it is to have this rule?

I agree. The rule should go.

Seems a reasonable statement to me. It's nothing personal.

Shouldn't be a problem with such a rule, unless you intend to use things you find out in Gray Room against people.

It is not a stupid rule. It is in place to protect people and provide a sense of safety to post on topic in the forum.

The only reason you would have a problem with it is if you do want to use the info found within it against those posting it. If that is done, then you should be banned from the gray room.

The only people who hate you Bonzie are the people who went back to troll and get foiled by you.

Most of the anger at the time was really directed at Lisa (IIRC), you were just in the way. Man, whatever happened to her and LL?

LL moved on and is still kicking around the web and Lisa (who had a nice bum) just went mad and is now working in a tesco in the north.

I believe the rule was put in place to stop other moderators who weren't you.

I think the rule should go if only because I would like to see the Gray Room as a totally open forum without having to opt into it.

I believe we should ban anyone who happens to be a moderator or admin on another forum.

It's the only way to be sure.

I concur. Convince me why it should exist.

I think (if memory serves) that you guys have the Gray Room to keep the shit out of the regular forums. There was once a time where there was lots of shit being slung.

The idea wasn't bad, but the rule put in there is. Truly. It goes against what WF is, being man enough to stand up for what you say or take your lumps.

To be honest, traffic is so low in there now that you could easily dump it and like the occasional hate thread go into RR. But if that was the case, would that lameass rule follow?

As for mods who aren't me. Warnings and bans over there have to go past me. Meaning if it's dodgy, I'll hear about it. And if I don't like it, I will have the mod reverse (or unban.) They can vouch for that and there's plenty of time they don't like that. Hopefully, that takes care of any bias.

The fact that there are so many over there who I personally don't like or think are mostly there to troll (some of whom post here too) should attest to my fairness.

Here, I'm arguing more for consistency. The rule doesn't fit with how WF operates. It's a protection for weiners.

So is no rep war outside of the RR and GR, at least as far as blank negreps are concerned. So is rules about personal information anyone can find on Google. So are rep limits at all as they must only be protectionism from being negged too much, as who is offended by pos-reps?

With the standard you are going for here they should all go.

My personal stance is neutral.

Although I would like to point out that no matter how stupid you think the rule is, he broke it, he admitted it and bragged he would do it again...even if the rule ends up tossed, Lubek is still guilty of flaunting them..and polarslam proves that rules changing later does not alleviate the guilt of breaking them to begin with.

Don't forget the protections for the Blue Room.


I kind of like the Gray Room the way it is. Sure, there's a rule in place to protect "weiners," but everyone who signs up agrees to follow that rule beforehand. If nothing else, having the Gray Room (and having it hidden) keeps even more drama threads from cluttering up the Red Room, which is apparently a big turn off for some people.

No, actually, not everyone signed up for it. It was forced on it after the bit with me. So some did, some didn't.

I'm not looking to shield Lubak in this. It's more of an old annoyance that came back to me that the current bit brought back to mind. I should have argued it more forcefully back then, but I was just glad to get the wrong set right. Now I want the OTHER wrong set right.

Yes, you agreed to the rule when you didn't unjoin the room when it was implemented.

It had certainly been implemented a long time before Ten Lubek joined it.

I was always amused at Trekbbs when T'Bonz wouldn't codify rules because "there were enough already."

Now she wants to change rules here. Why does she have a problem with consistency, doing what she agrees to, and the authority of people other than herself?

Take it elsewhere please, The Help Desk isn't the place.

It's refusing to be complicit in the abuse of a Wordforge member on another website. The rule should probably be extended, or at the very least transferred, to the Blue Room as well.

I don't care what happens to the rule, but the Grey Room should remain hidden. We have enough forums as it is.

No argument about the second statement and this isn't about Lubek for me. He's responsible for whatever he does just as I am responsible for my own behavior. In his case, I just didn't like the post that was tattling. It was lame.

And Poodle, bug off. This isn't about TrekBBS either, this is a WF matter and I'm here as Bonz the WF poster, not Bonz the TrekBBS bitch. I'm not interested in TrekBBS-WF fighting, never have been, never will be. I don't comprehend why people get so fucking territorial over a bunch of typed words. None of these places exist and we are not limited to "one". If you want to claim one as home, fine, but don't force me or others to do so.

Tamar, the statement you said was that we agreed to the rule when joining the room. I pointed out correctly that that was not the case. You are right that one (grudgingly in my case as it's a lameass rule,) must abide by it if one chooses to stay, but it was AFTER THE FACT, not before. It was NOT in force when I joined Gray Room. Yeah, I'm nitpicky like that.

I still maintain that it's a bad rule, given the atmosphere and usual way of doing things here. It sticks out like a sore thumb and it's a vestige of a stupid competition between the boards that should have ended ages ago. Both boards have value, both have good and bad things, one is not great and the other shitty, and if anyone really thinks that one board is all good and the other is all bad, why then it's time to log off and find something better to do with your life.

It's not a bad rule, it's a rule you don't like.

TBBS is not the only BBS on the internet and people have used the Gray Room to discuss other BBS' problems as well. If someone from one of them did the same thing, they too would be in trouble for it. It isn't just about your board...it just happens to be someone from your board who decided to ignore the directive.

Anyone who doesn't like the rule can unjoin the room. No one is forcing anyone to stay and be subjected to a rule they don't like.

Again, it's not about Garak. He's a big boy. It's about a lame rule that doesn't fit what WF usually is.

As for the GR, yeah, people bitch about other BBSes. But you and I both know, that the raison d'etre of GR was originally to bitch about TrekBBS and hide it so that people weren't scared away from the rest of the board.

It served its purpose at the time. I could argue that it's not needed, but then again, like MA at my board, it doesn't hurt to have it for occasional use.

Don't be obtuse. That's NOT the point and if I absolutely couldn't abide the rule, I'd have "unjoined". The point is, that rule does not fit with what WF is, a place of freedom. It was put in effect to protect people who shouldn't need protection. Or are they still so tender that they need the protection?

Either you have an open forum to bitch about other BBSers or you don't. With that rule in effect, you might as well open up the GR.

BEAR:

No reason why it can't be both.

Your opinion is noted.

Hmmm...I wonder what prompted this thread...


Tan Lubak (aka TBBS Garak) His Douchebaggery on display for all to see.

Basically one of her mods flaunts the rules and Bonzie wants to change the rules. I know what I would tell her.

Archangel, I can't help but agree 100% with your post.

I like Garak - heck, I play Call of Duty 4 with him now. But his duties as a mod have jaded his view of the internet.

Still not seeing the problem here.

Um, I'm not sure what this is all about (since I never joined the Grey Room), but I thought it was there so people could bitch and rant about other places without having to deal with more drama because of it. I know I like to bitch and rant about things, but that doesn't mean that 1) everything I say in the heat of the moment is meaningful or 2) I really want to object of my bitching and ranting to know. Some things just peeve you and you need to get it out somewhere, and after that, maybe everything is fine.

It looks like the rule is there so that we keep everything contained, which explains why the room is hidden. The whole point is not confrontation, it's bitching and ranting. If I had a problem at TBBS (unlikely, since I've never visited the site), I'd call it out there. If I wanted to bitch and rant without fear of penalty from TBBS, I could go to the Grey Room, which *technically* seems to be for those members who are not in places of power on other boards.

I think it's a good rule because it potentially keeps down outright war between forums, and the Grey Room keeps bitching and ranting about TBBS, TK, etc. out of the other rooms, which I like because I don't care at all what happens in other places.

If we suddenly have members getting banned from TBBS for things they say in the Grey Room, I can imagine the Drama-O-Meter will go through the roof. However, if we happen to ban a TBBS mod who feels the need to lash out at people for things they say in the Grey Room, all the drama gets shifted to TBBS (potentially) and we don't have to worry about it here. Keeping the rule lessens the amount of problems we could have because there is always the recourse of just banning the troublemaker.

I'm becoming as long-winded as Async, but I sorely lack his wonderful language skills!

I see. The sad thing is that this is probably the same exact thing I would have said.

I knew I was wasting my time. The hatred for TrekBBS is too strong. But one had to try. *shrug*

* *

You don't know me very well. If my mods (or even I) come over here and break the rules, we deserve to be warned just as anyone else would be warned. The only time I bitch about warnings (mine or someone else's) is if I think they're unfair. Then I DO fight.

Every single warning minus one at TrekBBS that I got in the old days, I earned. The one that was bullshit, I fought it viciously and got it reversed. I "wo"man up when it comes to that kind of stuff.

Besides, IF by a miracle the rule was changed, it wouldn't be retroactive, now would it?

No, Garak coming over and the comments that his posting generated reminded me of how much I hate that stupid rule. What it does is give protection to morons. Anyone stupid enough to plot in the open deserves anything he/she gets.

P.S. IF I were the type to want to "get" someone, I sure as fuck wouldn't do it openly. But I'm not into "getting" people. I'm more apt to let troublemakers stay too long than to gun for them. Ask my mods!