A Call for Calm

[stanrichardson]

I am sorry for hijacking this Virral, yor are correct that this has nothing to do with Ausbowl going down.

It was a point of frustration for me, and not the place to put it.

I agree with Sann that this should be moved to its own thread.

[Joemanji]

Good sensible posts, but probably worth moving to their own thread. Subject "A call for calm" or somesuch?

Perhaps best not to overdramatise the situation.

[Purplegoo]

I too would like to register an unreserved apology for the events of last week (and this seems as good an area to do so as any). My posts came from a place of wishing to light heartedly lampoon / spoof aspects of this forum, and I, incorrectly, did not give any thought to anyone not getting a joke I thought was glaringly obvious. I was wrong. That some did not get the joke, and moreover went on to be upset / disappointed by what had occurred, is saddening to me. To those people, I hold my hands up and apologise. I will not be attempting to engage in humour on an internet forum again in a hurry.

I am sad that my actions have contributed to any situation surrounding the NAF. Whilst it might mean nothing to some who have incorrectly made their minds up off the back of the noise surrounding last week’s thread; the idea of ‘cliques’ proliferating or the NAF being tarred with the brush of a botched wind-up is extremely wide of the mark, and should be discarded. I hope this viewpoint is taken at face value.

In the aftermath of that thread, the actions of some (both on this forum and elsewhere) have really raised my eyebrows. However, an apology post is not the place to discuss these events, and I’ll leave that in the hands of others that have not dropped the ball.

Finally, I hope that a line can be drawn and that we can get back to all being on the same side; that of Blood Bowl. We are stronger together than apart.

[Indigo]

I'm sorry things got out of hand with last week's events and that the underlying intent was misinterpreted too. Let's face it, there are groups of people here for whom disagreements have spiralled out of control into unacceptable behaviour on both sides. I've been as guilty of ragey soapbox posts as any. In the past though the intent was noble, the delivery was perhaps not.

The joke about the IP was an attempt to make light of how stupid the "battle lines" had become in a way that didn't personally attack anyone.

Though I'd already reached out to the aussies (who seemed to - completely unintentionally - take it hardest) as well as one chap who contacted me directly, if there is anyone else out there for whom the joke still has a sour taste then sorry to you too.

There are many disagreements over the NAF, the future of BB, all sorts of things going on. But until it gets personal and people start personally threatening or insulting others, heated discussions should be allowed.

Getting away from the pussyfooting around, Simon - you and I clearly disagree about some of the NAF stuff, the "clique" etc. and that in itself is fine. But, contrary to what you may currently believe ( ) I don't actually hate YOU... if I did I wouldn't have come to your tournament a couple of months ago ffs! Though I disagree with you wildly on many things it was never a problem until either forum posts are moderated out of existence or other people start turning the fight personal and they didn't get stopped. That's where I felt we were "losing it" on TFF, it stopped being a place where any opinion was valid provided it was impersonal - though please realise I don't place all of the "TFF blame" at your door, far from it. The problem with being "Da Spammer" is you're just the most visible. Threats started being made, discourse broke down. You probably thought I was being an unreasonable, blinkered, Lycos-loving prick (which is far from the truth, I don't LOVE him, I know I'll never have what he and Paul have)

It's fcking stupid and we need to stop it.

Maybe last week's attempt was not the best way to try a gentle approach to initiate change, maybe this kind of openness was always needed. Dunno.

Please let's all start playing nice again.

And one final apology to the aussie lads (again, hope I'm not making a habit of this...) for the thread hijack. Needs must though.

[robsoma]

Shame that the two moderators that have openly been abusive to members of the community have not also given a public apology.

[Darkson]

Two? I know I spam, but I'm still only one person.
I've apologised to those that need it.

[robsoma]

I believe galak is also a mod on here, unless asshat is meant as a term of endearment?

[deanup]

I'm not sure I understand all the politics of this re NAF and Ausbowl.

I'm just annoyed at being pimped!!

You pesky critters

[Nichren]

+1 for splitting this thread. The IP posts were very public, the apologies should be also. They should be not be buried in this irrelevant thread.

[Heff]

Oh ffs it was a joke! It went wrong. I bought it up to wizards of the coast buying Gw and then even l caught on.
Most people, most of the time, mean well and are relatively harmless. Let's operate like that. If people don't get over themselves then this forum will die, l suspect it is already happening. which will be a shame as l have several virtual friends here. Ask yourself why NAF committee members rarely post? I suspect its partly down to the vitriol regularly aimed at them.

[robsoma]

well said heff.

[Warpstone]

To be clear - the rumour was not started by NAF and blame laid at NAF's door is unfair.

The NAF DOES have many challenges to face and questions about what we are doing/can do ARE just. The thread about the State of the NAFtion was in fact very helpful (once you remove the insults going back and forth) about what people would like to see and how they view the NAF in parts of the world without regular access to tabletop tournaments. Some comments from that thread, and other threads, are under committee discussion (in addition to a long-list of topics we already had).

That seems extremely simplistic. Communication is repeatedly cited as a core concern NAF needs to improve at.

I can understand Joe making a bad joke, but I don't understand how you and the NAF execs who know these guys sat on the sidelines while the hoax went down and now continue to avoid saying something as simple as: "it was a bad mistake. NAF officials should not make posts which abuse the communities trust." Why is that hard to say? It doesn't throw anyone under the bus, it just reassures us that NAF is not the insular and out of touch organization the hoax has inadvertantly revealed it to be.

Sure three guys made a bad joke, but one of them often speaks for NAF. There are expectations of credibility that go with this that the rest of us don't know when to turn on or off based on a personal relationship. Until you do something as simple as acknowledging Galak's point that "when you are given a position of public trust ... it comes with a promise to not abuse the folks that trust you," this continues to be another case of poor communication and leadership on behalf of NAF.

[robsoma]

@ warpstone - Galak's point that "when you are given a position of public trust ... it comes with a promise to not abuse the folks that trust you,"

I love the irony that the above quote is taken from the same post where Galak openly abuses not only members of the community but also very likely customers of impact... Pot meet kettle.

[Heff]

On the other hand you can just carry on.

[Indigo]

To be clear - the rumour was not started by NAF and blame laid at NAF's door is unfair.

The NAF DOES have many challenges to face and questions about what we are doing/can do ARE just. The thread about the State of the NAFtion was in fact very helpful (once you remove the insults going back and forth) about what people would like to see and how they view the NAF in parts of the world without regular access to tabletop tournaments. Some comments from that thread, and other threads, are under committee discussion (in addition to a long-list of topics we already had).

That seems extremely simplistic. Communication is repeatedly cited as a core concern NAF needs to improve at.

I can understand Joe making a bad joke, but I don't understand how you and the NAF execs who know these guys sat on the sidelines while the hoax went down and now continue to avoid saying something as simple as: "it was a bad mistake. NAF officials should not make posts which abuse the communities trust." Why is that hard to say? It doesn't throw anyone under the bus, it just reassures us that NAF is not the insular and out of touch organization the hoax has inadvertantly revealed it to be.

Sure three guys made a bad joke, but one of them often speaks for NAF. There are expectations of credibility that go with this that the rest of us don't know when to turn on or off based on a personal relationship. Until you do something as simple as acknowledging Galak's point that "when you are given a position of public trust ... it comes with a promise to not abuse the folks that trust you," this continues to be another case of poor communication and leadership on behalf of NAF.

The reason is because - unlike what the "clique haters" think - they aren't our keepers. There is no clique. Surely if this was going to cause irreparable damage to the NAF and we're all in Lycos' pocket then it'd have been stamped on as soon as it was seen and not run for 36 hours. Or more likely never occurred at all.

Also, does it not make more sense if you only know someone as "a guy who helps the NAF" (and not IRL or as a friend) to take his words with a pinch of salt rather than just outright believe every word he says because he has a NAF signature? Mate, that's a bit naive too if we're being honest. I got a mail from a guy who is apparently Nigerian royalty and has left me $250m dollars

People can't have it both ways in that NAF staffers must only speak gospel truth or not at all. Let's not forget how LUDICROUS the concept of the joke was in all of this as well and how all JOE did was hint about my silly statements about a pan-asian BB online phenomenon

This whole thing needs to die. It served a purpose, some loved it, some didn't. The flag of truce was offered and spurned. Let's just let it go and get on with this ridiculous, petty little cold war.