I'm thinking about coming back

You are always welcome back You Know Who. You just have to understand that this is a friendly and welcoming business for the entire community and we intend to keep it that way. If you promise not to harass everyone here, then they won't harass you - anything posted along those lines on either side will get sent to The Ring by the mods where y'all can duke it out if you wish. Simple as that.

Did you see that we were voted Best Local Website in The Flume's People's Choice Awards?! Pretty happy about that! And you thought we wouldn't last.

I saw that, and I wrote him and told him that there's nothing artificial about it, we just make this a friendly and welcoming place for everyone by not letting anyone attack any member in the public forums. If someone has a legitimate complaint, or wants to discuss a difficult, highly-charged issue, we have no problem with that as long as the discussion stays on topic and isn't made personal. We don't lock threads, we don't ban people or snottily PM them and tell them to "read the rules again", but if he or anyone wants to make it personal and go after someone, it just has to be done in The Ring, and the other party can choose to respond or not. He can choose to post there where it belongs, or we can move it, simple as that, and the only difference between us and the other area forums is that we damn well will. I've watched as he's run people off, both here in the past and now on EGB, I think it's quite sad how they let him harass and abuse their members on nearly every thread, but hey that's their choice on how to moderate. Yes, there are several regulars who have thick skin and brush him off, but that's not what the majority of people who lurk are like. I remember how anxious I was at finally starting to post on community forums - I was terrified of getting attacked (and attacked I was after my very first post on Pinecam, and I was very polite and respectful with my post - a couple of people stood up for me and I still remember that to this day). We used to be run like that and are no longer. Everyone has a voice here so long as it gets posted where it belongs - we have Rated G to Rated R/NC-17/UR forums to fit everyone's preference.

I have welcomed You Know Who back. It's his choice if he chooses to participate and post per each of the forums' guidelines. I've told him, and will put all of you on notice as well, he's paid his penance on the Pumpkin Carving Contest and we will not be harassing him here in the Courthouse, Sports Field, or Campfire about that anymore - YNW deserves the same protection from harassment as do all of you. Good-natured ribbing is one thing, go too far with it and it becomes harassment, and it will be a judgement call on moderation if it happens - it's impossible to create a black and white rule on that as it's the intention behind the content of the post that matters and it can be hard to discern intention from written word without the benefit of body language and tone of voice cues. If you want to take issue with him and what he's done in the past, there are a few threads in The Ring already devoted to our favorite instigator - have at it there all you want. He can be a blast with his creativity and outrageous stories, but he crosses the line too often as well just trying to push people's buttons - we will be more on top of moving things that cross the line, as per our Change in Moderation guidelines that were posted last November.

I believe that there are a lot of reasons that we finally won Best Local Website , with the biggest being that we have the best discussions and information provided all around. As I said in the Change in Moderation thread, you guys have done a fantastic job of sticking to the topics at hand and not devolving the discussions down to the person with a different viewpoint with whom you are debating. We've actually done very little moderation in the past several months and you would think that with tightening the policies up, it would've become more heavy-handed but it didn't. I hope that it's due to the fact that we are straight-up with you in our expectations, treat everyone equally and fairly, and are always open to questions, comments, suggestions, feedback, and criticisms. Maybe I'm wrong about this, but I believe we were chosen the best because we follow through on what we say we'll do, and we are committed to, and involved in, this community. I won't stop saying thank you to all of you for your huge part in making that happen!

Rick wrote: From another board:

Dynaformer wrote:

Joeschmo wrote: No, I think its just a friendly lurker. Be nice!

Sorry, this is the big leagues of message boards- You want artificial friendly, go to MMT