About thedarkstar's thread

[firehate]

I know people might onsider him a troll but you must understand that the point he was trying to make is. What makes America uniq is the fact that we acsept people with all kinds of problems. And you mods should be the same way here. I don't know him but I am sure that's the point he was trying to make. Also Snarky you should understand that even if people are smart enought to read and understand something if you don't explain to them what they are doing wrong they will not change what they are doing. I have always wanted to tell you that. I have no bad will twoards any people here I am just trying to express myself.

[Ghost]

Hi ig!

[Khris]

Hey Igor,

what you should understand is that the mods can see the IP address and if not already obvious from the writing and content will use that to determine that it is indeed you again posting as a sock puppet.
Do you plan on getting unbanned? Because multiple accounts and sockpuppeting isn't exactly going to achieve that.

[AGA]

Well given that fairness is uniquely American, it's a pity this website is British.  No fairness for you.

Also, interesting that you don't know him, given you're posting from the same IP address.

Oh, and you can't read this because you're banned.

[Janos Biro]

Sigh... wrote this before AGA posted. Too late now... Well, maybe that's for the best.
EDIT: Also, if what I said below is right, he will just come back. He will find a way, because that keeps rolling in his head and he won't give up. He have to understand that he has a problem, or else its gonna get worse and worse. I saw this before.

Hello firehate,

I'm new here, but I have some experience mediating Internet discussions, and I've been reading about this particular one. So let me talk to you for a sec. You don't need to tell me what happened, I'm aware of that already. I will assume everything you said is true, and try to work with that. Here's the deal: you have an open mind and you are willing to learn from others how to correct yourself, and so is darkstar. All you're asking is that people explain him what is wrong, so he can understand how to improve his behavior. So, I will ask you to open your mind and pay attention to what I will say now: I don't know you, I'm not judging you, I have nothing against you, and I understand your point. You want people to answer properly instead of just making jokes, right? That's fair enough. So you are only expecting a little respect, don't you? When people don't do that, you feel disheartened, I know how it is. It's not just about darkstar. It's about something greater, right? It's about an noble ideal of tolerance and acceptance. An ideal that is somehow intertwined with a great nation, the American culture. That's easy to understand. You probably look around you, the way people treat each other in the streets, in your school, in your work, maybe in your own home, and you might think: That's not right. Why people have to be so mean? Why can't they accept others, like they say they do, like patriots should do, like they say everybody in the world should do, so we can live in a great brotherhood? Why can't people be more like Superman, or Captain America? Don't they see that the spirit that makes this nation so great is dying? And then you realize its up to YOU. No one else is going to do this, so it is YOU who have to try and fix this, at least doing the best you can. You are doing your part to make this a better world. This is noble, and that makes you some kind of superhero too, isn't? That's great. I think everyone can see the logic of this. People seen to have forgotten what it means to stand for something greater, something good, right? We all know how bad is to be rejected. We all want to be accepted. And not all of us get accepted, not all of us accept others. That seems to be the big problem, isn't? So, when you see that kind of thing happening in a Internet Forum, you know it's not just a minor issue. It's something very important. So you won't give up until people see your reason. In times that everyone seem to have no certainty, no solid values, you found an unshakable base. No matter what happens, one thing is absolutely true, and cannot be questioned: people have to accept each other. You are so sure that this is right, that you cannot believe such a fine group of intelligent people won't eventually agree with you. So you will keep trying, nothing will stop you, that's for sure. And that is remarkable. Few people have this capacity. So I congratulate you. You are a very special person, and I'm not joking here, I'm being very honest, I mean it.

BUT, and you know that we have have to have a "but", your course of action won't help you reaching your final objective, no matter how good your intentions are. Believe me, I'm not trying to deceive you. So what should you do? One thing I know: you can't convince a group of anything simply insisting that they should do it because it's the right thing to do. It doesn't work that way. The more you keep insisting, the more they will reject you, that's who people are, no one can change that. So darkstar's cause in this forum is really a lost cause. Not even if the president of the USA come here and say that Snark should listen to darkstar, or if half million people sign a petition asking for it, that probably won't happen, because a group is still a group, and when a group is formed, they make up rules for themselves, and they follow those rules no matter what other people think, because there can be no group without some "we are apart from the others" thing. There's nothing wrong with that. You have to tell darkstar that he will achieve nothing trying to break in and insisting to be heard just because America is America. Not he, nor everyone else, can teach how mods should or shouldn't be. As long as they don't break any laws, they can do anything they want, and they are also free to do it, and they will do it. See? America's soul is self contradictory.

So, if I was darkstar, I would stop insisting, and I would rather do what most people here do. I would play the games, praise those that I enjoyed, try to help others anyway I can, and be a good fellow. That's why this forum exists. Letting people know me, what I like, what I dislike; that takes time. You have to live together for a while. And maybe, just maybe, if something is really troubling me about the forum rules, I would try to talk about this later, much later, in the appropriate space, following the rules of the forum, and being as kind as I can. That's because the forum rules precedes me, I was not here when they were done, I didn't helped this community to grow and be what it is today. So who am I to start changing rules here? If people don't care about what I say, I have to live with that, and move on. You have to weigh what is more important: pointing at the issues that could or should change, or being a pleasant company. You can't do both at the same time.

I also don't know darkstar, but I think he might have an slightly obsessiveâ€"compulsive personality. He seems to have a strong will. It is very common for people with this type of personality to have long standing conflicts with a particular group. Most of the time it is the family group, but it also can be an Internet group. These people can stay a long time discussing about details they feel important, with oscillating degrees of emotional tension, and they want others to hear and understand everything they feel and think about that particular subject. If this is frustrated, they feel lost, like something is missing, and they will bring this back at any moment, trying to make this come to a final resolution, that never seems to happen. If that is the case, the best he can do, to his own health, is to avoid the place of conflict until he can control his obsessiveâ€"compulsive tendencies, that is, forget about that group, find a place he can relax, and occupy his mind with other things.

Sorry for the length. I hope this could help.

[monkey0506]

I'm a unicorn, your argument is invalid.

[KodiakBehr]

We're generally pretty accepting people here.  But everyone has a limit.  You found the mods limits.  That's what makes you special.

Also, insert short-essay social commentary here that includes the following elements: democracy, power-dynamics, John Keynes and Greek sculptures. 

[monkey0506]

[Snarky]

I am happy to say that I have literally forgotten why Igor got banned in the first place, and I intend to keep it that way. What I do know is that he was given multiple chances to mend his ways, and showed himself to be completely unable or unwilling to follow the most basic forum rules.

I'm sure he'll keep coming back, and we'll keep banning him. The irony is that if he just gave up trying to fight his previous bans, kept his head down and tried to participate in the forum as any other member (as he has often said he wants to do), we probably wouldn't notice or care. (I suspect I may have said this before as well. This whole thing is starting to become routine.)

[miguel]

I am the walrus?

[Darth Mandarb]

Well given that fairness is uniquely American, it's a pity this website is British.  No fairness for you.

You Brits are soooooo unfair!  Like, remember that time we [fair] Americans wanted a revolution and you guys were all like, "no way!" and then we had a fight?  Totally unfair!

[AGA]

Hey man, I've played Assassin's Creed III.  I know the revolution was nothing but a Templar plot.

[Retro Wolf]

Can't you just block his IP address?

[AGA]

Where's the fun in that?

[monkey0506]

Can't you just block his IP address?

They'd have to call the Cyber Police to backtrace it first.

[Ghost]

I am the walrus?

The walrus was Paul.

[KodiakBehr]

Can't you just block his IP address?

They'd have to call the Cyber Police to backtrace it first.

Consequences will never be the same.

[Adeel]

Can't you just block his IP address?

That would be too cruel, imo.

[RickJ]

Shame on me!  I was just thinking what if he were unbanned and permission to view his posts was removed from everyuone else? like I said just thinking of stuff...

[AGA]

Can't apply custom permissions to administrator accounts, so I'd have to read them still