Utterly Mad

Hrm.. I've been lurking quietly, trying to keep my tongue firmly bitten, but I'll come off it to speak a little

I'm one pathetic half-invisible/half-lurking member of this forum, and from what I've seen.. well.. :>

SIDE ONE: The People Who Refuse To Let Go Of The 'B' Word: That's how I see you guys All this "I'm leaving!" from faces I keep seeing here day after day after day.. All this "I LOVED to RP here!!", and all I see is a lot of RP threads that didn't make it past two pages, and many more still that were far abandoned before the "forum apocalypse"..

SIDE TWO: The Mods Who Mainly Maintain The Game, And Maintain A Forum For Information And Suggestions: All I see some devs and mods who appear pretty sick of people who cause them far too much trouble. You guys all say this place was so special, so great, but I'll tell you something else.. KA and The Almighty Granola Bar have been here the entire time. I've spoken with both of them previously on numerous occasions and was treated with nothing but respect.

Neither of them get paid. And neither of their focal interests lie within these forums. Yes, they value the forums, and judging by how you guys have all these warm-and-fuzzy "at home" feels, I'd say their moderation up til now (for those of you with a "problem") has been top notch.. Sure, maybe "the word" wasn't on "the list", but the /first/ offender, who was told very clearly about what needed to stop, and why, obviously didn't say "Oh.. Well, /that/ word.. I see what you mean. In the spirit of community and participation, and especially to add a bit of extra courtesy to an already courteous forum, I shall indeed show a bit more consideration in the future."

I'm no censorship guru, but I feel like "censorship" is when someone "stronger" than you denies you the ability to deliver a message through a medium. The devs haven't done that. There are plenty of languages, and even more words within each of those languages.. From the "list", I see no words that would destroy our ability to communicate information or ideas to each other. Expressing severe distaste over a single word amongst a sea of a million words doesn't seem like such a crippling move, when there is an absolute wealth of words that serve perfectly well as alternates (words that are not historically famous insults, which target very specific genders or races, that've been wielded as verbal weaponry by the more savage among us)..

Yes, I understand that Daniel Tosh is out there slurring it up, and he sleeps on piles of money at night. I also understand that, upon simply being overheard discussing a Tosh.O skit in public, I could be put in jail, or sued at the very least..

I also understand how a word is just a word, sticks and stones can break bones, all that crap. I also understand that certain people in this world have been forcefully jammed into a corner and berated and beaten and tortured into incredibly fragile states, and, regardless of how devastating that might be to your casual cusser, these people are very real and also share the planet with us.

I, for one, will not grudge the forum heads for this decision. I fully support it. Newcomers will be warned, and if they ignore or argue with the rules, well, that's one extra slot open for a human being that does have a small speck of decency, flexibility, or at minimum the ability to control what they type. The forum rules have not changed, save for the addition of a single, useless word.

And, you know.. Mods across all forums say "Report and move on.". Sound advice. And I'd extend it to these people who are still sitting around here whining about their utter inability to let go of a single, immature word, people who are happy to spend their time RP'ing as some hurt, offended, valued forum member, instead of maybe RP'ing as a person who might have severe mental trauma attached to a certain word or phrase.

And yeah, The Almighty Granola Bar might have said some things that sounded less like a soul-less moderator and more like a red-faced human being, but.. jeez. He has a real job, and then, for no compensation (and very few thanks, from the general look of it) he burns up his off- time orchestrating CataclysmDDA through the forums and GitHub. I can understand getting a little angry when you make a reasonable request and get five days of whining out of it, especially when it happens during what amounts to charity time.. He could drop his DDA duties in the trash and take on a 2nd (real) job. He could free up that time to actually play DDA. LazyCat received equal, and deserved, treatment from The Almighty Granola Bar, and it was majestic But not before LazyCat received plenty of friendly warnings and links to the forum rules.

My advice, for Team Can't Let Go Of Words: be dissatisfied and move on (ah, and actually move on, too). There are dirtier, more troll-filled places, on the internet that'll let you use all the words (try a KKK or Aryan page, or maybe a Neo-Nazy page..). Here isn't your only option, at no point in time was here ever the only option, nor is it your only way to stay in contact with a friend online. What this place is, above all else, is a friendly, safe place, for anyone.

If you moved to a new forum: AWESOME! But.. There isn't a board here for 'Dissatisfied With This Forum So I'm Switching To Some Other Forum: discuss which forums you do and don't hang out at, because.. wait, why??' sub-topic section, mainly because it makes for really, really boring stories. You were dissatisfied. You left (even though you're still here). We've heard it all, across multiple threads. If this forum actually means something to you, then I think a bit of respect (for the rules, if not for your fellow human beings) is in order. That's the only reason any user is allowed to stay here for any length of time in the first place.. Nowhere in the agreement does it say you have to like the moderators. You just have to listen to them. Again, we're talking about the same mods that have kept this forum running smoothly for all this time, and will continue to keep it running.

Most people grow up surrounded by blood-related genetic families who don't get along. I have three siblings and two parents, and none of them are like me. I've never understood how people end up shocked, out there in the broad world, when they bump into a person who has different values, or a different mindset, than themselves..

All the offended people who are leaving.. This whole dispute is preserved in text here, and I think the great majority of normal, level-headed people who care to read through it will stand on my side.  My side, we'll call: The People Who Want Equality For Everyone, Realize Its Probably Impossible, But Also Realize That Nothing Will Change If Nothing Is Done.

And, from what I've been reading, people are following the new addition to the rules, even those that don't agree and "left", and no kittens died in the process. I can tell its being followed, too, because none of you have been banned yet

You just have to listen to them, and maybe try to put yourself in someone else's shoes, before simply adopting the "Everyone else says it, I wanna say it too. Because because."..

And the best part! I don't even care. There is no sickness in my stomach because the majority of my life is still based in reality, just as I suspect The Almighty Granola Bar's and KA's are, as well. I know that a small handful of people leaving isn't going to damage DDA as a game, or damage the amazing wealth of dedicated devs we've got working on Cata for us (and, short of the new bounty-claiming, for free). I just barely cared enough to type this out, because over my 31 years of existence I've learned that most people are mentally incapable of change or understanding (we wouldn't need moderation if everyone were). Nothing short of a DNA-and-brain-cell reconfiguration will save 'em And, just like prison guards, forum moderators never have to coddle or scold the law-abiding, but they have to deal with the law-breakers, every single time.

For free. While time wheels ever onward towards each of our own certain deaths.

I can see how it'd make a fuse shorter.

If you want one last bit of advice (everyone!), I'll go ahead and waste a bit more time typing this out: I live by one simple rule, and that is to only do, or say, something if it is at worst neutral, at best helpful and polite. I'm not sure if "God" exists (in any form), or an afterlife (in any form), or not, but I do know that harm is harmful, and if there is such a thing as "evil" then it lies in the simple act of causing harm (when any other option exists).