I have never seen any plotting in the Slacker’s forums, although I do see many posts like this, “Here we go again” or “Would you believe this?”. Maybe all the plotting goes on in The Meter Room, of which I have yet to gain access.

The reason the Slackers are in the middle of this current unpleasant situation, is due to two things that happened recently. First, Greydragon admitted that he made a mistake by deleting the animation from Tomala’s signature without sending her a PM explaining why he did it. He admitted to failing to follow the guidelines he set up. The second cause of this situation was for Alahmnat to fly off the handle with his post on this blog showing his dislike and intolerance for Slackers, apparently triggered by Tomala’s reaction to GD’s poorly handled administrative actions.

Actually there is a third thing at work here, people like Deb Johnson and you taking this occasion to jump on board with Alahmnat to bad mouth the Slackers. The behavior you mention in your post, “Whenever there is trouble, they are right in the middle of it. And more than often the cause. Then they come out in swarms.” So you actually believe they are the cause of this current situation? That is hilarious. The swarms you refer to more often have been from friends of those at odds with Slackers. I’ve read the posts in The Steam Room, and I know you haven’t. Did Slackers cause the trouble with hacking of the UserKI?

Doesn’t the community have more to worry about right now than some bitter individuals unable to get over their hatred for a group that prefers to stay in their own little corner of the community?

I’ll try to close with a few words of wisdom:
Do not poke a tiger and be surprised that it has sharp claws. Don’t be upset that it is a wild animal. In other words, use a little common sense and common courtesy. Don’t pick a fight and then be surprised that the targeted group feels the need to fight back. That is one thing I’ve noticed about the Slackers, when provoked, they fight fairly.

Really folks, this is all old stuff that for the most part was already put behind us. But from the vitriol and outright hatred by some in the community towards the Slackers, I guess I was wrong. Some just can’t forgive or forget. I don’t understand the motives for such unprovoked attacks. I guess in some sick way, y’all want to blame Slackers for GameTap pulling the plug on MOUL.

Pitiful if you ask me. I understand that my posting in defense of the Slackers might affect how I’m viewed by the rest of the community, but I’ll take that chance.

Your right though Slackers always seem to be a part of trouble in the community….. Why is that? That is curious……

It couldn’t be that the Slackers are actually a PART of the Uru community? Nah, that’s a ridiculous thought. I mean that would mean that they have been a part of all the good things that had happened too, and that would crush your little world view BearFoot.

You won’t sully your eyes with reading our forums? Good. That invalidates your words. You aren’t fully informed about us or any of the past situations. You wish to remain ignorant of what had actually transpired, and that is the biggest crime set upon this blog so far.

Where exactly are you getting your information Ma…..I mean BearFoot.

Funny when you say that we turn things around to suit our favor. Actually, if I remember correctly, it was forum sharks that started the arguments to begin with and would vow not to stop until the argument came out in their favor. Funny thing about having an archive forum is the better to store all the crap that has happened in the past. It’s possible that if crap is stirred again, the public can and will be able to see both sides of the story.

Funny thing about groups is, you may be part of one, and you may take a stand for each other, but you are still individuals. Only reason that this has become “them” versus “us” is because someone decided to drag the Slacker’s through the mud (again).

Yeah. we’re victims all right. We have been since Day 1. There is just one big problem that always comes with having many communities trying to work together. Sometimes there is a bad mix. Certain people in those groups are not helping either. Besides, why would we be wide eyed with hostility? It sure as hell isn’t anything new to us.

Thrive on conflict? No, honestly, what is the REAL problem? Last I checked, we weren’t blood thirsty for conflict. Sharks from other forums have come and served it to us on a silver platter. And unfortunately, it is those same people who are not satisfied until they get what they came for. And they’ll constantly rip at the topic until everyone merely decides to stop reasoning, or until it gets too hot for them. Oh, and yes, I am happy to be a Slacker.

And if you don’t want to step foot on Slackers, how do you know all this is going on? Why don’t you actually have a look for yourself? Those archives have nothing to hide, they are accessible by anybody. Same with the Slacker’s Live forums.

As for information that oozed out into the public (not that I’m surprised really). As I stated in my previous response, there were those who joined ONLY to have Steam room access who are probably spies. But let’s not jump to conclusions on that part just yet.

Here’s how it usually goes down. Tomala (or someone else) starts a rant because something is making her upset. This gets her into trouble with people who don’t share her view and are upset with her. I wouldn’t say “not for long” because it seems clear to me that there are those in the community who love to hold a grudge.

PapaSmurf, always ready to defend his daughter (and the rest of his family) tells the anyone willing to listen that she is an adult and can make her own decisions. Even if you were or were not Tomala’s father, it really wouldn’t make a difference. Might I also state that a mere EXPLANATION as to why her sig was removed the first 2 times would have sufficed, even though there are a few others on the MOUL forums who have animated signatures.

When all logic fails, after no defense is justifiable, all of a sudden they claim to be individuals. Thus not responsible for each other’s actions. But almost in the same breath, it is “them” versus “us”. Where “us”, being the Slackers, are always the poor innocent victims. As a group of course. With wide eyes they are baffled at the hostility thrown at them.

What is the Slacker’s problem? They thrive on conflict. They are not happy until everybody is as miserable as they are. Members of the “Slackers family” are so eager to let everybody know they are a Slacker. They post in behalf of Slackers. They are publicly proud to be a Slacker. PapaSmurf mentioned he IS Slackers. Yet you are surprised you are tarred and feathered as a group.

I have no idea what goes on in the Slackers forum, I don’t wish to go into that hell hole. But I see what oozes out in public places. And frankly, it stinks. This is how it normally goes. Yes, there is a pattern to those who care to look carefully. Tomala makes a controversial statement, which guarantees flame throwing. This gets her in trouble. But not for long. Because all she needs to do is boast she was just being sarcastic, adds a little link to the definition of sarcasm. Or snark. And then is utterly surprised that people still don’t worship her.

PapaSmurf, always ready to defend his darling daughter, quickly tells the world how innocent she was, and then turns the tables and says none of it was her fault. If she was my daughter, I would put her across my knee and give her a damn good spanking. That would fix her siggy.

Greydragon’s mistake in not sending PMs to Tomala for her inappropriate signature animation was his mistake, not hers. For Al to go off on a tired and worn out “The Slackers are BAD” is just downright unfair. GD admitted his mistake. Why can’t Al admit his? Has anybody every heard of the concept of an apology?

I consider myself a crossover Slacker. I “grew up” on Tapestry and consider myself a friend of most of the principals on both sides of the seemingly unsettled disputes from UU. Despite this, the Slackers have been very accepting of me, despite my pedigree. From my perspective, most of the hatred in the community comes from those wanting to purge the community of those who are different. Slackers aren’t the problem, they may only be a symptom. The intolerance and hatred that Al and Deb have shown above IS the REAL problem with the community.

I wish it would end, but it won’t end until people quit looking for somebody to be responsible for their disappointment. We are all disappointed MOUL was cancelled. It was cancelled because there were not enough subscribers interested in the game. Maybe some of the feelings of superiority shown in the community for the last four plus years didn’t appeal to new explorers. I will guarantee you this, having the Slackers leave the community won’t fix anything, it would just reinforce the real problems within the community.

I am ashamed that these feelings (as shown by Al & Deb) are still out there in the community. The Slackers are due a big apology, but I really doubt they’ll get one.

I would suggest that you not use Ruby as the example of victim recovery you feel should be treated lightly.

It was MORE than nasty words, as you well know. I, too, was there.

She was less concerned for herself than for children for whom she was responsible. Still, it was she who was targeted, and there was a physical, emotional reaction as there is to any sort of attack.

You would be upset as well, if someone you cared for was threatened. I have seen evidence of that in this thread.

I personally walked her through the situation, talked her through pain, helped her recover.

What did you expect her to say? She wanted to be left alone. Most people do not come back for more. She doesn’t make a habit of attacking in return. Or at all.

If she finds some humor in the situation, that is her right. Not yours. If she finds there is empathy for her in the community, she has the right to that empathy. It’s not up to you to try lessening that for her. Why would you even want to?

I have nothing against you. I do think your choice of words was unwise.

I won’t say more about it. Let it be.

You guys keep bringing up the Ruby thing. I find that humorous.

What you may not know is that I contacted her through E-mail to see how she truly felt and to try to smooth things out a bit. Back then I actually cared what others thought about Slackers, and I tried my best to fight our reputation.

Now I realize why it was so futile. When you have a set of people like this willing to back stab your whole group because of the actions and words of a few people, how can you fight back?

Back to the Ruby thing….

The way we left it off is that she was fine. At least that’s what she told me. She was upset but really the only thing that happened is that PS said some nasty things about her, and she got offended. Big deal. You guys talk like we ripped her heart out and feed it to the lions.

Stop being so dramatic.

I think I can comfortably say that we are not going anywhere. So there you go Deb. Back to the old, leave, deal or hide scenario.