“Thinking too well of people often allows them to behave better than they otherwise would.” - Nelson Mandela.
I cannot express how sorry I am to all of you for failing as your moderator. Apparently, my attempts to moderate using the above philosophy has failed miserably, and resulted in the inevitable closing of the forum. Just so you all know….Mike basically gave me the forum to run as I please a couple of years ago. I made the rules, I set the tone… and it’s my failure to bare. When I first entered the forum, and especially when I first participated in the moderator duties with Ermz, I really exploded in a few rants due to my lack of tolerance for the type of stupid trolling that has always been a cancer in this forum. I’ve calmed down a bit since then, and I have tried to be patient, to nurture civil, intelligent discourse, to lead by example… and overall I believe most of the posters here are good people who have good intentions. Unfortunately, the Internet does provide adequate cover for those who wish to indulge the weaker sides of themselves. I attempted to sew the principal of “ignoring the trolls” to the members here as the best method of fighting the pathetic few, but I guess the temptation to react was too great for most of you… and I simply failed to react appropriately. Yesterday, I was even lecturing a member about how good I am at my job. ROFL what the fuck I was thinking.
The real shame is that this band makes fantastic music, and is populated with fantastic people. Every single person in the band is a quality human being… humble and accommodating to all of their fans under even the worst of circumstances. This forum gave a unique opportunity for fans to congregate and discuss the band’s music… and even directly interact with current and former members. Unfortunately, I didn’t weed the garden often enough. Now this opportunity will no longer exist for those who may have really benefited from such a place.
So… to those fans for whom this forum was created, and for those who used it in the spirit for which it was intended, again I apologize. Although I am sure that there are some like Wes (Arasmas) and David (Skulk) who are taking turns licking congratulatory loads off of each other’s faces in some pathetic “victory” celebration, they are not in fact responsible for this forum’s demise. I am.
