I try to be constructive, and hope that the others will as well.
Yes, probably the situation has calmed down, but it hasn't come out in any way from the few threads that I've read through. Maybe I just haven't been here to notice it; even if I might have wanted to, I simply haven't had time.
TheEllipticalDisillusion wrote: I think if you take a look around, people have calmed down on both sides. Some of us caused "trouble", yes, but it happens so infrequently. We're human, not perfect.
Did you get the e-mail that I sent to you shortly after you had tried to call me (which I appreciated a lot, thank you)? I mentioned who I mean in that post. (I hope that MariaHobbit did get my answer to the mail she sent to me...)
Lidless wrote: "Professional troublemakers?"
Ironic that such a term is used in a post wanting order and respect for the Charter.
Care to put names to that, Rowanberry?
Maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was just about what I learned some time ago on a very good lecture about communicating with others:
yovargas wrote: This was never about the troublemakers vs the rule-followers. It never ever was about that. It sucks that hal made a billion posts on the subject and some people still don't understand what he was trying to say. And since he tried a billion times and failed, I don't think I'd have any success in making yet another post on the subject.
In 99 % of cases, people don't get offended by what is said, but by what they hear. And, in this case, several people - myself included - heard (or read) an attempt to smoke a few humourless "killjoys" (I don't believe that I'll have to give any names here) out of the site, and reacted to that. And, well... I'm fairly hard to piss off, but when someone manages to do that, I'm very slow to forget.
So, maybe it's about everybody having to consider very carefully how they put something that they want to say, not just what they want to say. (Maybe that would help hal to get his message better through, too...) Otherwise, be the rules strict or lax, or be there no rules at all, conflicts that escalate into ridiculous measures will happen. Because, as Faramond said in another thread some time ago, the root of all problems is that there are people on this site that simply cannot stand each other - and, on a small board like this, it's wellnigh impossible to avoid bumping into them.
You all know that, B77 has never been the only messageboard for me, and not even the most important one. But, as strange as it may sound after everything, I still care about this site - although I probably won't have much time for it in the future - and hope that it will develop into what it was originally meant to become.