Okay all, time for me to chime in now that things are settled...
I'm as game as the next guy when it comes to a good joke, and I'm glad everyone involved was able to finally take it for what it was, and laugh it off, but it seems to me like that was an incredible gamble to make, which could have played out quite differently. In my mind, there is a difference between good-natured ribbing between friends, and name-calling and muck-raking followed by a "...Just kidding, folks!" and a wacky sound effect. There is a fine line where a "Just kidding" doesn't work anymore, and we were precariously close to it.
I can't claim to have read every post involved, since after a while I grew increasingly saddened by what appeared to be a rapid degeneration of the spirit of our Board (I had even begun to dread that some sort of banning actions might need to happen). Like I said, I'm glad everyone was able to take it in the spirit it was intended, but it is a fact of communication that facial expressions and vocal inflections lend A LOT to whether something comes off as genuine or as sarcasm, both of which are unavailable when typing on the Net (or when writing anything in general).
I know we are all very close here, but the fact remains that we still do not actually know each other, and it would behoove us all to take into consideration how what we post might be interpreted by our fellow Tex-ans. That said, I do not deny anyone their particular views or beliefs, nor their right to express them, nor their right to express them here. But this is a community, meaning that if any two people are going to have a... shall we say... "heated discussion" (although "discussion" is not usually the term for what I am describing) on certain topics, the community might be better served if those two people took their "discussion" to private channels, and let the rest of us chat blissfully unawares.
Maybe I'm being a bit of a stick in the mud, but I just calls 'em likes I sees 'em. I'm just glad it turned out well in the end.
I'm as game as the next guy when it comes to a good joke, and I'm glad everyone involved was able to finally take it for what it was, and laugh it off, but it seems to me like that was an incredible gamble to make, which could have played out quite differently. In my mind, there is a difference between good-natured ribbing between friends, and name-calling and muck-raking followed by a "...Just kidding, folks!" and a wacky sound effect. There is a fine line where a "Just kidding" doesn't work anymore, and we were precariously close to it.
I can't claim to have read every post involved, since after a while I grew increasingly saddened by what appeared to be a rapid degeneration of the spirit of our Board (I had even begun to dread that some sort of banning actions might need to happen). Like I said, I'm glad everyone was able to take it in the spirit it was intended, but it is a fact of communication that facial expressions and vocal inflections lend A LOT to whether something comes off as genuine or as sarcasm, both of which are unavailable when typing on the Net (or when writing anything in general).
I know we are all very close here, but the fact remains that we still do not actually know each other, and it would behoove us all to take into consideration how what we post might be interpreted by our fellow Tex-ans. That said, I do not deny anyone their particular views or beliefs, nor their right to express them, nor their right to express them here. But this is a community, meaning that if any two people are going to have a... shall we say... "heated discussion" (although "discussion" is not usually the term for what I am describing) on certain topics, the community might be better served if those two people took their "discussion" to private channels, and let the rest of us chat blissfully unawares.
Maybe I'm being a bit of a stick in the mud, but I just calls 'em likes I sees 'em. I'm just glad it turned out well in the end.
Personally I think if we are going to post on subjects that might cause some heated debate or discussion then perhaps we should put a small disclamer on the thread title. That way those who are easly offended or wish to avoid such topics can see this marker in the title and avoid it.
Example....
Iraq the real story (WARNING: heated subject)
I know it seems a little strange and possibly silly but if there are folks who dislike debate then perhaps we need to give some sort of warning in the title so those folks can stay away.
Lets face it, when things happen in the world we like to comment and debate the events. Perhaps an even better possibility would be to create a new option for "off topic anything goes".
Example....
Iraq the real story (WARNING: heated subject)
I know it seems a little strange and possibly silly but if there are folks who dislike debate then perhaps we need to give some sort of warning in the title so those folks can stay away.
Lets face it, when things happen in the world we like to comment and debate the events. Perhaps an even better possibility would be to create a new option for "off topic anything goes".
Was the joke in really that bad taste?
Whilst I can agree that things did indeed get pretty heated, I did not think for a second that anyone here would lack the responsibility required to take the necessary steps and bring the situation under control.
I don't think the spirit of the board was in a 'rapid degeneration' so to speak, nor was it in any danger... it was a political argument that was spawned as a result of a few disagreements, backed with a bit of heat. I don't think anybody made any serious personal slurs against any particular members, and I am certain (at least when speaking for myself) that no respect for any fellow member was lost during this time. In actual fact, the thread in question (Katrina) had already begun its decline when many members handled the responsibility of keeping peace effectively.
I my humble opinion I think the situation has skewed out of proportion, and with the introduction of Aaron's recent comments it is easy to understand why it appeared so... but I might add that after I sent an e-mail explaining my own little shennanigans to AC all was easily reconciled and brought back to Earth.
Of course James, I understand your point in regards to what defines good humour compared to dangerous territory... and now that you have put things into perspective perhaps it was a risky move... but I constructed the gag with only the noblest of intentions, and that was to extinguish the flames on this board by means of bringing back the good natured humour that we have grown to love in each other. Perhaps it was a bit selfish of me to assume that Jim (and the rest of the board) would handle the joke exactly as I had intended... but after all it's safe to say that the "I've had enough" post reeked of satire, and it is a wonderful compliment to the members of this board that everyone was not only able to stand by Jim amidst fears that I had lost the plot completely, but we were able to stand by each other and laugh like a family again when the joke came clean. Now that my friends are the qualities of a great community.
"I'm just glad it turned out well in the end." ...so did I mate... as if it wouldn't.
A lesson learnt is the best lesson of all, gain from the good, and learn from the bad but always have your humour.
-Cub.
Whilst I can agree that things did indeed get pretty heated, I did not think for a second that anyone here would lack the responsibility required to take the necessary steps and bring the situation under control.
I don't think the spirit of the board was in a 'rapid degeneration' so to speak, nor was it in any danger... it was a political argument that was spawned as a result of a few disagreements, backed with a bit of heat. I don't think anybody made any serious personal slurs against any particular members, and I am certain (at least when speaking for myself) that no respect for any fellow member was lost during this time. In actual fact, the thread in question (Katrina) had already begun its decline when many members handled the responsibility of keeping peace effectively.
I my humble opinion I think the situation has skewed out of proportion, and with the introduction of Aaron's recent comments it is easy to understand why it appeared so... but I might add that after I sent an e-mail explaining my own little shennanigans to AC all was easily reconciled and brought back to Earth.
Of course James, I understand your point in regards to what defines good humour compared to dangerous territory... and now that you have put things into perspective perhaps it was a risky move... but I constructed the gag with only the noblest of intentions, and that was to extinguish the flames on this board by means of bringing back the good natured humour that we have grown to love in each other. Perhaps it was a bit selfish of me to assume that Jim (and the rest of the board) would handle the joke exactly as I had intended... but after all it's safe to say that the "I've had enough" post reeked of satire, and it is a wonderful compliment to the members of this board that everyone was not only able to stand by Jim amidst fears that I had lost the plot completely, but we were able to stand by each other and laugh like a family again when the joke came clean. Now that my friends are the qualities of a great community.
"I'm just glad it turned out well in the end." ...so did I mate... as if it wouldn't.
A lesson learnt is the best lesson of all, gain from the good, and learn from the bad but always have your humour.
-Cub.
Last edited by James LeMosy on September 14, 2005 • 1:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Not to belabor the issue, Cub, but that gets at the very heart of what I was saying. When I read your "I've had enough" post, it was after having read a slew of the Katrina-related posts, etc. and while reading it, I, honestly, did not detect any sarcasm or satire whatsoever, which goes back to my point that things that appear only in written form, without any face-to-face communication (or textual indicators like an occasionalCubase wrote:but after all it's safe to say that the "I've had enough" post reeked of satire
) to punctuate the feeling and intent of the text, can be very easily mis-interpreted by the reader. It may be due to their current frame of mind, their lack of paying attention, not having read all the relevant posts, or any other number of reasons. And, yes, now that I actually have gone through and read all of the posts in question, I see the idea behind "I've had enough" clearly. But, case in point, not everyone was in the right frame of mind at the time, and hindsight is 20/20.Now, that having been said, we all loves ya' Cub, and we'll only be on your back about it for anotherrr... four... five months... tops.
Hehehe James... I think the satire mostly lied in the fact that the post contained intelligent words and passages... clearly not my trademark! lol! 
I do understand where you are coming from... I probably should have reconciled in the last sentence, or placed some of these: in the post, but the suspense factor was too promising to turn down...
It actually reminded me of an April Fools joke Matthew Buckstein performed on us a few years ago which was titled (funnily enough): "I have had enough" (or something along those lines). In the post Matthew said that he had given up on Tex Murphy and was going to leave us all for good. It was about 2 days later when he came back with an "April Fools!"... we were all had!
...and of course, it would not have had nearly as much of an effect if all of us had not had that day or two to hype up the situation.
-Cub. =o)
I do understand where you are coming from... I probably should have reconciled in the last sentence, or placed some of these:
in the post, but the suspense factor was too promising to turn down... It actually reminded me of an April Fools joke Matthew Buckstein performed on us a few years ago which was titled (funnily enough): "I have had enough" (or something along those lines). In the post Matthew said that he had given up on Tex Murphy and was going to leave us all for good. It was about 2 days later when he came back with an "April Fools!"... we were all had!
...and of course, it would not have had nearly as much of an effect if all of us had not had that day or two to hype up the situation.-Cub. =o)
And, not being immune to making April Fools jokes myself... shortly after Overseer was released, I put an article in The Bay City Mirror on the site, saying that Overseer would be the last Tex game ever, because Access Software was shifting their focus to children's educational software or something like that.
I've always been afraid that I somehow karmically jinxed Tex by doing that, since it was sometime after that when Tex's future started to become shaky...
I take it back, Universe!! I take it back!!
I've always been afraid that I somehow karmically jinxed Tex by doing that, since it was sometime after that when Tex's future started to become shaky...
I take it back, Universe!! I take it back!!
I still remember that April fools joke like it was yesterday: the blood stopped flowing for a few seconds to my face.James LeMosy wrote: I've always been afraid that I somehow karmically jinxed Tex by doing that, since it was sometime after that when Tex's future started to become shaky...
I take it back, Universe!! I take it back!!
Since then, I thought that it was quite an ironic turn of events...... But I'm sure one day things will turn to brighter. Look! Even the red sox won the world series after like 100 years
I'm here to endorse an off topic section. Why?
Because technically everything spoken thus far was ON topic. Ahem!
General chat is..."The place to discuss whatever comes to mind, from the intricacies of thermodynamics to Grandma's NEW de-e-licious Cheeseburger Goulash recipe!"
I'm sure that a heated debate over politics falls right in line in between thermodynamics and cheeseburger goulash, of which nobody here has spoken of. General should be relabeled "Talk Tex", thusly, for all those who want only to talk about Murphy, they can come here to talk about Murphy.
However, James made a good point. We don't know each other. Why? Why can't we get to know each other a little better? We may not like what we see, but we'll all at least agree on Tex.
All I know about Alex is that he's Russian and enjoys FMV. All I know about Jen is that she has only one photo of herself and that she gets carried away writing sex scenes. And all I know of Jim is that if you asked him personally he might say that he saw fire invented.
So, I request that general be split in two: off topic and Talk Tex. Now, as I plan to do no work towards this, I am a begger, and begger's just cannot choose. However, if all you've got is pie and you can have cake, it would be nice to have the cake.
Because technically everything spoken thus far was ON topic. Ahem!
General chat is..."The place to discuss whatever comes to mind, from the intricacies of thermodynamics to Grandma's NEW de-e-licious Cheeseburger Goulash recipe!"
I'm sure that a heated debate over politics falls right in line in between thermodynamics and cheeseburger goulash, of which nobody here has spoken of. General should be relabeled "Talk Tex", thusly, for all those who want only to talk about Murphy, they can come here to talk about Murphy.
However, James made a good point. We don't know each other. Why? Why can't we get to know each other a little better? We may not like what we see, but we'll all at least agree on Tex.
All I know about Alex is that he's Russian and enjoys FMV. All I know about Jen is that she has only one photo of herself and that she gets carried away writing sex scenes.
And all I know of Jim is that if you asked him personally he might say that he saw fire invented.So, I request that general be split in two: off topic and Talk Tex. Now, as I plan to do no work towards this, I am a begger, and begger's just cannot choose. However, if all you've got is pie and you can have cake, it would be nice to have the cake.
My blog:
http://nvracar.wordpress.com/
http://nvracar.wordpress.com/
Why bother??... there a no problems anymore, lets just get on with being who we are and continue to enjoy the community which has been going well and un-changed for many years!
An about knowing the people here, I am afraid I don't agree with this whole idea about "we hardly know eachother"... some people may not have been here long anough to realise this but I have been a part of this community for almost 9 years and have known some of you for all that time (some of whom have been here longer than me). I would laugh with them through the good times, cry with them through the tough times and always be here to and land a hand and lend my ears (or eyes in this case).
I might now know what everyone looks like on a bad hair day but I am thankful every day for this community and know each of you enough to realise I could not do without you.
-Cub. =o)
An about knowing the people here, I am afraid I don't agree with this whole idea about "we hardly know eachother"... some people may not have been here long anough to realise this but I have been a part of this community for almost 9 years and have known some of you for all that time (some of whom have been here longer than me). I would laugh with them through the good times, cry with them through the tough times and always be here to and land a hand and lend my ears (or eyes in this case).
I might now know what everyone looks like on a bad hair day but I am thankful every day for this community and know each of you enough to realise I could not do without you.
-Cub. =o)