=][= LEGAL ACTION AGAINST SITE IMMINENT (?) =][=

[Captain Coolpants]

I think whenever we type BBF, it should populate a poo emoji. 

 

Childish I know, but equally as funny. 

[Ace Debonair]

By The Throne, the title of this thread actually had me worried for a minute there. 

 

Having actually read the thread instead, my main takeaway is that I really don't understand who the term "Bolter and Chaindorks" is actually supposed to insult.

 

Just picture someone sneering something like "We meet again, Bolter and Chaindorks" at you, unironically. It's hilarious.

It's so pitifully toothless a phrase that it's almost endearing.

[Brother Captain Arkley]

His latest post is pretty spicy.

[Scribe]

5 minutes ago, Ace Debonair said:

It's so pitifully toothless a phrase that it's almost endearing.

 

The real irony is that he both lurks the site, cares enough about what is going on, and created a sock puppet to continue to engage.

 

Thats how badly he wishes he could be here still. :)

 

/wave

[Ace Debonair]

24 minutes ago, Scribe said:

 

The real irony is that he both lurks the site, cares enough about what is going on, and created a sock puppet to continue to engage.

 

Thats how badly he wishes he could be here still. :)

 

/wave

It's a pretty great site, all in all, so I don't blame him for lurking.

 

Maybe that's why he's using the tamest insult in the history of communication - because deep down in his heart he, too, longs to be a Chaindork again like the rest of us. 

 

EDIT:

For Clarity, in no way do I advocate for the return of the banished. He had his chances and wasted them all.

Edited July 24, 2023 by Ace Debonair
for clarity

[grailkeeper]

I'm an Irish Barrister. Here "press charges" means to make a criminal complaint. I'm not an expert in American law by any means but I'm pretty sure it has the same meaning there. Struggling to see how banning someone from a website could be an offence.

[Brother Tyler]

"Pressing charges" means the same thing in the U.S., though it can be civil as well as criminal, and it would inevitably involve seeking some sort of compensation/restitution for the perceived wrongs (i.e., suing us).

 

Brother Argos and I are co-owners of the site, so he would effectively be suing/charging us. Since Brother Argos is essentially retired and completely uninvolved in whatever BBF thinks he might sue us for, and since pretty much everything for which he might sue us for happened on my watch, I would ultimately be responsible. And while I'm not any kind of expert in the law, my lawyer is. Having BBF bring a lawsuit against us would actually benefit us because the damages for which I would countersue would support the site for a while (his Fb antics have been aimed at slandering the site and me, and have been designed to materially harm the site by harming our reputation and, in the case of this frivolous lawsuit, drain our coffers). I'm looking forward to BBF actually following through on his chest-thumping.

 

If this were to become an official legal matter (which seems highly unlikely to me), all of the evidence provided in discovery would be very embarrassing for him. I can't think of anything we did that might be construed as illegal, unethical, or immoral, but I don't profess to be an expert in the law. Frankly, he was previously banned under an old account and was allowed to come back. He continued to misbehave, repeatedly violating community rules/standards that he both agreed to follow and was required to follow in order to remain a member of the community, but we didn't ban him until very recently. He was contacted at various times over the years by moderators and administrators in an effort to get him to change his behavior so that he could remain a member of the community, yet he repeatedly chose to behave inappropriately. And despite his public claims to no longer desire to participate in the community, it is almost certain that he has come back under a new identity and/or simply lurks here (as evidenced by multiple posts on his Facebook site about discussions here). Whatever pathology it is that drives him to behave in the way he does has been beyond all of our efforts to adjust within the standards of the community.

 

He is in a one-sided war against us (nominally the site, but really me and the staff), as evidenced by his Facebook posts. It's really weird that he's so obsessed with us.

 

As far as his most recent Facebook posts go (the screenshots of his discussions with individuals about us), those are valid. However, those posts represent the opinions of the individuals that made them and fail to tell the whole story. Just as this community is diverse, the members of the mod team represent diverse outlooks. There is inevitably friction when there are clashing viewpoints. I try to find an appropriate outcome based on the various opinions and the welfare of the site/community and considering the issue more holistically. As with anything, however, there will always be some individuals that are dissatisfied with decisions (and their dissatisfaction may be completely fair). The individuals that engaged in the discussions that BBF took screenshots of were dissatisfied with various decisions. It is unfortunate that they chose to leave the team over simple disagreements like that, especially since they then deprived the team of their input in making decisions about other issues (and which may have had outcomes that would be satisfactory to them). Not everyone is able to participate in conflict-positive groups, however, and we neither can nor will ever try to keep anyone against their will.

 

Realistically, this whole situation is very unfortunate. Looking beyond the BBF aspect of this, anyone with complaints/concerns about the running of the site is always welcome to communicate those to us. We are not above making mistakes and sincerely desire to make this site as enjoyable as possible for our members. Even in cases where we disagree, communication will help everyone to have a better understanding of the reasoning behind things. We have made numerous changes in the past based on recommendations from the community, and we will likely continue to do so (though we haven't always followed suggestions). If BBF really had valid complaints, he should have brought them to our attention. While I'm not 100% certain, I can't recall him ever voicing complaints/concerns. Instead, he fabricated lies intended to harm the reputations of individuals, the staff, and the community. It's possible that he had some valid complaints, but he never gave us a chance to address them. If there is illegal/unethical/immoral stuff that happened to him, however, it will be in our database backups and we'll be able to find them as part of the legal process (and by "we" I don't mean me because I'm a mook, but we have some very technically savvy individuals that can do that kind of thing).

 

In the meantime, I don't really want this discussion to turn into a session of beating up on BBF. That would be almost as bad as the nonsense he's leveling at us. Rather, my intent is to make everyone aware of the possibility of a lawsuit against us, even if it is unlikely to be serious. If he actually does bring a lawsuit against us, it will have an impact on the site and I'll keep everyone abreast of the situation as well as I am able. Unless/until that happens, however, I'll lock this discussion so that we can focus our attention on more important matters like enjoying the hobby.

Edited July 25, 2023 by Brother Tyler