rec.autos.simulators

Let's see, it opens with a tirade against the 'kiddies' ruining our
community by sounding off with bad attitudes to moderators and developers,
leading to forums being closed and developers withdrawing from direct
community contact...  then you proceed to sound off against a moderator and
developer on the simbin forums.

You forgot to include your PM to him (moderator and developer) that led to
him calling himself 'chief'. I'll refresh your memory:

'So what you're saying is that - since you don't care (really), that
automatically implies that, uhm, I shouldn't either? So tell me - who the
f'ck died and made you chief? If you don't have anything to contribute to
the thread, go check this out: it's made for you http://Iamatotaltosser.com'

Congratulations, absolutely hilarious.

'a puss infected, lingering disease-ridden human detritus... infecting our
community like lepers; a festering sore, a maggot'...

for closing a thread he felt was going out of control. You then sent him an
abusive PM, namely -

''So what you're saying is that - since you don't care (really), that
automatically implies that, uhm, I shouldn't either? So tell me - who the
f'ck died and made you chief? If you don't have anything to contribute to
the thread, go check this out: it's made for you http://Iamatotaltosser.com'

To which he responded by posting 'noone died and I'm still chief, topic
closed'.

Sir, that is not a 'rant' that's called defamation of character and libel
and a completely uncalled for and unjustified personal attack, not to
mention extremely derogatory to those with leprosy.

Shame.

"By downloading AutoSimSport, you waive any rights you may have against
AutoSimSport, its editors, its writers, FILSCA, or any other person related
to AutoSimSport in any way. Download and read the issue at your own risk. "

--
-- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard>
-- This announcement is brought to you by the Shimago-Dominguez
Corporation - helping America into the New World...

Associating the moderator of the forum - to the groans berated in the Rant -
is taking a liberty with the content of the article which doesn't exist; in
fact, the rant clearly distinguishes between the groans (who remain
nameless, but we all know them) to the moderators, to whom I appeal for a
little moderating.

They are distinguished by a simple fact - one is called a "moderator" - the
other "groans".

At no stage did I intend - specify - nor, indeed, can it be inferred - that
the moderator in question - Jay Ekkel - was or is a groan; he is a
moderator, one whose moderating leaves much to be desired. And I called it
as I saw it; I, as a fully paid up customer of Simbin, posted a genuine
question on the weight issue - and he, the moderator, came in after I had
been attacked by no less than three posters and chose to post to me
directly - and only me - a sarcastic retort. And since he shut-down the
thread, his comment was, of course, the final word on the issue.

Well sorry, but I for one (and I am not alone) am sick of this kind of
treatment. Take it out of the sim context, insert it into a real-world
context and imagine if you got this kind of treatment from your local
Restaurant; "Sorry, I'm wondering about the fat content in this meal."
Waiter insults you, is generally an a-hole, you get angry, owner comes along
and boots you out of restaurant.

No, it's just not good enough and I called it for what it is.

What he does, he does not do for free; if he does it for free, then I'd very
much like the 300 bucks I spent on GTR deposited back into my account; he
doesn't, the forum is the Simbin forum, Simbin is the producer of the
product I bought, and I demand respect - not flippant remarks, and certainly
not closure of a thread on an ad-hoc basis after the sarcastic comments I
had to endure.

Now some of you may think this is normal; and you're welcome to your
opinion. I for one will not be treated in such a brusque manner; not from
someone whose salary I helped pay last month.

The contract is simple; I purchase his product, he gives me after-sales
satisfaction. If he doesn't, I get to rant about it.

As for the groans - they remain, as I say, nameless. But those of us who
have had to endure years of their abuse - like the US Pits and many sites
and forums that have been forced to shut-down because of them - the time has
come when enough is ***y enough. Sorry if that offends anyone but so it
is; most of us decent folk who have been scared and intimidated and
otherwise ill-treated on forum and thread after thread - and who cannot
bother anymore with the constant sniping - are getting fed up with this
state of affairs.

As for moderators; moderating is what they do. If they can't do it, then
they shouldn't. We all do things for free - and wielding the "close-down
thread" like a machine gun and shooting everyone because of a few is
nonsense; specially when I posted a real thread on a real issue. He chose to
abuse his power.

And finally, as for my final post in that thread; I was polite, in the face
of sarcasm and clear provocation, in four to five posts; finally, I gave
up - because no moderator had come to damage control - and resorted to my
right - I flamed right back.

There would have been no need for it had the moderator moderated.

This is an issue in all forums. And we have all been a victim of it;
sometimes it is difficult to know what is more annoying - the flaming from
the groans - or the willy-nilly ad-hoc approach of moderators.

So I spoke out. If you don't like the fact that I spoke out, you don't have
to read the ezine.

I repeat; the moderators of forums - and the groans who pollute them -
were/are clearly distinguished in the article. To take words out of
context - and to insert to them an intent - and a subject - which does not
exist in the article - is not fair and not warranted.

If you have criticism on the ezine - and I'm sure there is plenty to be
critical about - please stick to the facts. Out of context slices of text do
not count as criticism.

As for the assertion that I then sent him an abusive PM, namely -

"So what you're saying is that - since you don't care (really), that
automatically implies that, uhm, I shouldn't either? So tell me - who the
f'ck died and made you chief? If you don't have anything to contribute to
the thread, go check this out: it's made for you http://www.racesimcentral.net/"

the assertion is absolutely, completely, and demonstratively false in every
way; the remark was directed at the poster, NOT the moderator. In fact, Jay
Ekkel was never addressed to in that thread since his one and only post was
to launch his oh-so-sarcastic aside at me - before shutting down the
thread - and then refusing to answer the polite emaill I sent him. HAd he
answered his email, I would, perhaps,  have been more forgiving.

Sorry; I will not be treated this way. Like it or lump it, but that's the
way she blows.

But I confess to having insulted those afflicted with leprosy. I am guilty
of that - and of strong language. Such is life. For the strong language, I
do not apologise - it is, after all, a rant column. It is titled: the
backpage RANT - not mother Mary's Knitting Class.  For the leprosy, my
monthly donations to charities says more about my political correctness than
miles of type ever could. I sleep easy.

Enjoy the ezine or not - that is up to you. Download or not - that is up to
you. But slicing text out of its context is not cricket.

Thanks,
Best,'
Alex

"why, you ask? Why did the US Pits choose to shut-down its operation after
all this time and over nearly 5 million - that's million - hits since their
counter was started in 25/11/95? Here's why:

"After 9 years, 1 month, and 11 days, we had finally had enough. Sometimes
you just have to say "that's it!" We did. We decided we were going to put up
with it no more. The file areas, the archives, the tools, the forums...gone.
And 90% of it will not return. Ever. Period.

"Why? We finally grew too tired of the ***ing, whining, complaining,
bashing, and so on. We work for free here. We do this because we like to. We
want to enjoy editing and racing, and when ingrates and crybabies start
their incessant griping, it gets very aggravating. We get to where we don't
enjoy this and it becomes a tedious job.

"For those of you who have been great members of the sim racing
community...we apologise that we've decided to take this action. However,
all is not lost. Many of the editors and league admins will not lose our
support. We are not just going to take our toys and go home. .

. jan kohl"

That's why. They closed down because of these puss-infected, lingering
disease-ridden human-detritus called the groans that infect our community
like lepers.

Here's an example of these festering sores, these maggots, at work -
http://www.racesimcentral.net/

And you'll notice the remarks of one Jay Ekkel, self-styled master of the
universe no doubt who - instead of booting the groans from a thread that was
a genuine attempt at gaining information for a special GTR section on this
ezine (a special that included a real-world interview with a real world GTR
driver and which I have scrapped because of this kid's attitude) - decided
to shut-down the thread with a sarcastic remark aimed at me."
----------------
I think it very clear that Jay Ekkel was not the target of the rant.

I look forward to hearing from you so that we can put this to rest once and
for all. And again, I apologise, as I did in an email to you (I assume you
know the contents of that email, I refer to the second paragraph), if you
mis-understood or were angered by my rant. It was, again, not directed at
you.

Good read, thx for the hard work you guys put it in.
I didn't know that Roland Ehnstrom speaks Dutch though :)

Andre