Endoperez wrote:Glabbit wrote:Begone, foul fiend!
It takes two to tango - phoenix isn't the devil come here to tempt saints. He's just a person who used to enjoy spending time here, but with the way he's being ostracized and bullied, I don't know if that's true anymore.
You being annoyed at someone isn't a reason to ban. What even is a bannable offence here? Spam, random posts and rudeness are prohibited, yes, but if I were a moderator I could use that line of thought to ban most people in this thread.
Seriously, this started as "I don't like a game, I wasted my money". Now it's about people insulting a person for not agreeing, I.e. not liking a game. Again, if I were a moderator and punished the insulting people, Phoenix wouldn't be the worst offender, and might not receive a punishment.
You are quite right, of course. No one here is a sole instigator of any of the madness we've had. But please don't misunderstand to think that's what I'm saying. I'm not calling anyone the devil, I'm
certainly not calling anyone saints. But there is a situation going on and insults are thrown about needlessly, which isn't an unusual thing in itself, but it's been dragging on for so long and escalating to the point I'd find would be call for intervention.
You say you'd find Phoenix not to be the worst offender.
Are you sure?
Let me explain how I've seen this situation to develop.
Phoenix offended a bunch of people. It happens. There is no one on these forums save perhaps the elusive
David who has failed to offend at least one person at some point.
Some people comment with varying degrees of subtlety on how they don't appreciate that.
Phoenix, presumably trying to be funny, responds by continuing to offend. Understandably, this ruffles some feathers. He's still posting fairly relevant content in other threads, and being a general part of the community, but respect for him has been dented a tad, and in his boyish attitude he doesn't have the galactic diplomacy required to keep bothered people on the internet from insulting him openly.
Others, who were less bold up to this point but equally dissatisfied with Phoenix' conduct, find the open insults to be some kind of justification for insulting him openly themselves, and more hostility crops up, which makes the first stone-throwers feel more justified and generally unleashes a torrent of snide, cooperative bullying.
Phoenix takes this rather well, but perhaps not wisely. As he stated in one of the back-and-forths on this topic, some people would concede at this point, apologise, and tame themselves. Others might feel threatened, and flee the forums. Phoenix did neither of these things; he stood is ground, and is still standing his ground.
The thing is, that does not solve the situation. If he were to apologise, it would defuse the idea that pummeling him is justified, allowing him to be reintegrated and eventually respected again. If he were to leave, the crowd would have no one to pummel, might make some snide jokes afterwards, but when would return there would first be a curiosity about whether he's changed or learned something since he was last active.
Sticking around just exacerbates things; since so many feel justified in attacking Phoenix, there are all too few left who are capable of taking him seriously, and the concept of justified hostility keeps on feeding itself so long as Phoenix keeps doing things that someone finds 'wrong'.
The key here is that Phoenix seems unwilling to cooperate. Nay, even unwilling to help himself. Unwilling to consider his own actions. When people first announced their dissatisfaction, he either didn't fully understand, or he ignored them. When I later wrote the courtesque post, he
chose not to respond.
And thus he continues to provide empty arguments, acting as if the words 'No' and 'Bullshit' actually contain any intellectual content for use in disputes, antagonising and ignoring the more logic-loving members of the community.
No, I do not hate Phoenix. No, I do not consider him the devil. But I do find him an annoying fuckwit who is undeniably at the core of the consideration-drought conundrum that we face.
And that is why, if I were a moderator, I would choose to temporarily remove him from the equation.