Oh, well that's a relief at least. But still, his posts will be missed.
When the "trolls" started showing up, the "matures" demanded that the "originals" do something. We were supposed to ban every supposed "troll" (which generally meant anyone not seen as part of the clique of "matures+originals", especially those who didn't instantly conform and kiss the ass of the "matures") according to the matures. Meanwhile, that group took it upon themselves to be abnormally cruel to the new people. The problem with the whole thing was that some of the people being lumped in with the "trolls" were perfectly decent individuals. How were we forum leaders to discern between a quality poster with a difference of opinion and a supposed "troll"? Sometimes it's obvious... but most of the time, it's not.
Eventually, most of the group of people who I've called the "matures" left to create a spin-off forum that still exists to this day with a core membership of about 50 people. Nobody new joins that forum because nobody new is welcome. They do not want people with dissenting opinions. They do not want tolerance. They've got what they want--more power to them.
And the other forum is still around, too. But "the originals" are all but completely gone. Actually, I still keep in touch with a handful of them. We've all grown up and are members of various groups. The old forum is now run by people who used to be considered the biggest of the "trolls", people who the "matures" demanded be banned. And that forum is doing all right, with a steady flow of active membership of about 200 people. But, compared to its hey-day, that forum is dead.
I hope that made sense.
I like DC_DEEP and his posts a lot, and I'm sorry to hear it if he's been "chased off". I'd love to know in the future if he and others of you go to another forum to post and chat. :smile: This forum, actually, isn't really the type of forum I spend most of my time at because I'm not really that into being a part of social networking about my big dong. :tongue:
