Alea iacta est. The end of an era.
25 Jul '16 16:21For over 10 years I have financially supported this site. I love the
chess and, frankly speaking, it has given me many laughs.
However, it is with great sorrow that I announce this: today I have
canceled my subscription. I cannot longer help to keep alive
something which is dead, i.e. a pet whose owners have abandoned
to die of cold and hunger. Don’t get me wrong. I am not going
anywhere and this is far from a rant. Hell, I was banned for several
years and managed to return! But I certainly cannot support it and I
will slowly crawl into the shadows forum-wise —or at least that’s my
intention.
Hand of Hecate called me once “a blunt instrument” when it came to
procuring laughs. Few have read my forum persona that well, to be
honest. That is me. One day a priest, the other a wrestling midget,
and then Malcolm X. Moreover, I have carried my persona with
consistency for as long as it was fun for me and for a select few who
got joy from it. I have many times went over the top, and I smiled
every time I got a message from the moderator handing me a ban. I
have been banned so many times that I recognize which user is the
ban purveyor in turn. Until recently. My last ban, which was for
something innocuous compared to the many previous cases, came in
a phrasing and style which I have never heard before. And that’s
when I realized that the site owners do not care about this place
anymore and, most importantly, that I ran out of valuable things to
contribute.
I have said terrible things during this past decade. But I was an equal
opportunity offender. And, most importantly, I made heavy use of the
aforementioned bluntness —which made it evident that, though
vulgar and crass, it was never my goal to be sadistic or petulant but a
mere buffoon. Things have changed, though. I see an increasing
cruelty and hypocrisy among the ‘new cool kids’ which, obviously, is
not for laughs. Suddenly, the Debates and the Spirituality forums
have crawled into the General Forum —and the new moderation has
done nothing about it. KGB-like techniques of badgering and inquiry
have replaced the old banter and this is no longer fun. It is pathetic.
Luckily, in real life I do not have neither an inferiority complex nor an
anal personality, so I do not need this place to make me feel big or
important, like a big fish in a small pond. But that is precisely what
pollutes this site. And the keys to the sanatorium have been given to
the scariest patients. In the good old days, the General Forum was
populated by really difficult characters, but purveyors of much
laughter, all thanks to their wits and delightful darkness. Today?
Today there are only thugs with no other objective but to kill the fun
for everybody else. And, I hope you understand, I cannot put my
money into such a thing.
I should have noticed the trend when the big names started to leave
(Nerdlys, Handjob, Starrboy, Phlaccid, Xants, SJnumbers, Darvs, etc.)
but I guess I am a romantic and noticed until now. And, one day, you
will notice it too.
Cheers,
-S-
chess and, frankly speaking, it has given me many laughs.
However, it is with great sorrow that I announce this: today I have
canceled my subscription. I cannot longer help to keep alive
something which is dead, i.e. a pet whose owners have abandoned
to die of cold and hunger. Don’t get me wrong. I am not going
anywhere and this is far from a rant. Hell, I was banned for several
years and managed to return! But I certainly cannot support it and I
will slowly crawl into the shadows forum-wise —or at least that’s my
intention.
Hand of Hecate called me once “a blunt instrument” when it came to
procuring laughs. Few have read my forum persona that well, to be
honest. That is me. One day a priest, the other a wrestling midget,
and then Malcolm X. Moreover, I have carried my persona with
consistency for as long as it was fun for me and for a select few who
got joy from it. I have many times went over the top, and I smiled
every time I got a message from the moderator handing me a ban. I
have been banned so many times that I recognize which user is the
ban purveyor in turn. Until recently. My last ban, which was for
something innocuous compared to the many previous cases, came in
a phrasing and style which I have never heard before. And that’s
when I realized that the site owners do not care about this place
anymore and, most importantly, that I ran out of valuable things to
contribute.
I have said terrible things during this past decade. But I was an equal
opportunity offender. And, most importantly, I made heavy use of the
aforementioned bluntness —which made it evident that, though
vulgar and crass, it was never my goal to be sadistic or petulant but a
mere buffoon. Things have changed, though. I see an increasing
cruelty and hypocrisy among the ‘new cool kids’ which, obviously, is
not for laughs. Suddenly, the Debates and the Spirituality forums
have crawled into the General Forum —and the new moderation has
done nothing about it. KGB-like techniques of badgering and inquiry
have replaced the old banter and this is no longer fun. It is pathetic.
Luckily, in real life I do not have neither an inferiority complex nor an
anal personality, so I do not need this place to make me feel big or
important, like a big fish in a small pond. But that is precisely what
pollutes this site. And the keys to the sanatorium have been given to
the scariest patients. In the good old days, the General Forum was
populated by really difficult characters, but purveyors of much
laughter, all thanks to their wits and delightful darkness. Today?
Today there are only thugs with no other objective but to kill the fun
for everybody else. And, I hope you understand, I cannot put my
money into such a thing.
I should have noticed the trend when the big names started to leave
(Nerdlys, Handjob, Starrboy, Phlaccid, Xants, SJnumbers, Darvs, etc.)
but I guess I am a romantic and noticed until now. And, one day, you
will notice it too.
Cheers,
-S-
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