|
This is "The Story of Why Mightydog is not to be found on the VR any more," told from his own point of view, complete with what supporting documents are available, ONLY for them that care one way or the other. The date today is March 14, 2011. Tomorrow will be one week since getting the boot. First, rest assured that the VR Store is OPEN FOR BUSINESS AS USUAL, and will remain so for the foreseeable future! We welcome all VR members, and Volusia and C50 riders and owners, as well as others, to browse around, find something you can be proud to wear, and buy the darn thing. We'll get it straight to you, just like we always have. I miss the VR. Although, I have no hope that it will ever be "home" again, and honestly don't feel that it has been since last summer. However, I understand that newer folks still have that opportunity to feel that way, and while I still can, I want to provide the same service to them that we have to long-time members since March, 2008. So, the VR Store is at your service. Please feel free to contact me at any time using the links on the contact page. If this effort at clarifying what happened is seen by some as contrary to efforts to calm things down on the VR, well, sorry about that! I feel that claims by mods that those who get banned always deserve it, and are issued plenty of warning ahead of time, appear as borderline implied slander against me, and which I have no way even to respond to now. I offer proof here that those claims are simply not true. I was offered no warning at all, and while I may not be innocent, I definitely was banned either for 1) violating unwritten advertising rules while at the same time asking for them to be clarified, or 2) speaking against management in a way that was much tamer than others who have not been banned. Either way, there was no warning of a possible ban. But, before I go any further, I'd like one more time to chase off them that have no business here, if they're still wasting their time. If you don't care about all the trouble that's been happening, God bless your lucky ass. Seriously, I envy you. To some of us, "it's just the internet", and for others of us, like moderators who work for free, members that are constantly available to offer expertise or host rallies or raise money for the relief fund -- the things that provide the "family" atmosphere you enjoy so much -- and myself, it's so much more. To me, the former have a certain slight resemblance to leeches, but that's okay! It takes all types to make a community! But there's certainly nothing you'll care about here. STOP READING NOW. This was your fair warning that there's nothing to waste your time on here, unless you care about it one way or the other, so please don't complain later that you didn't want to be exposed to this because you don't care and are above it all. It's even easier to avoid this, than it is to avoid the threads of discontent. By continuing, and informing yourself, you admit you do care. Personally, I think by finding this, you're already there. For all them that do care, either way... I can tell from some of the posts I've read in the last few days that some people have a pretty good idea of what happened, if not the details. From other posts, it's obvious that you accept the admins/mods explanation of things, along with their statements along the lines of "if they got banned, they deserved it, wanted it, and could have avoided it." I don't blame you for accepting those claims. I did for years, and I still think they may have been true back when. I can tell you for sure, they're not valid any more, and you shouldn't believe it, no matter who says it. But, you say, "ask anyone in jail, and they're all innocent." All I can say is, THEY had a trial, and got their story out, if nothing else. This is mine. It won't bring me back. I have no hopes of that, for sure. But, maybe it will clarify what happened, for them that wonder, and would like to hear both sides. If you haven't talked to me personally, I guarantee you don't have it yet. IF you're still here, I have to ask that you proceed very carefully, read each document completely, when you have time, and don't jump to conclusions before you read every word in every document. This was a back and forth, with concessions and offers from each side, over months of time. If you don't have time to do it right, then you don't care enough to really know, and shouldn't begin, or you'll likely end up even more mis-informed than un-informed. Go, be happy in your ignorance. Seriously! Either way, and no matter how you feel about the whole thing, whether you read it or not, we're still friends, and I look forward to meeting you, if I haven't already. But in between meetings, you'll have to look for me somewhere besides the VR, unfortunately. Timeline of "what happened": Last summer, was it July, August? we all found out that the VR had been sold from private ownership, run on donations, to Vertical Scope, a Canadian company, who sells advertising. This was a huge surprise to most of us. I was one of many who took a bit of offense at the way it happened. As a large contributor over the years, I admit I was even a bit indignant. If we could have discussed it, it probably would have faded away, like all other problems in the past. But, suddenly we found that we couldn't even express such thoughts, without bringing on the heat of primarily VR mods, and also of some who just didn't see that it was any big deal. The fact that we could not freely express opinions, as we always had in the past, was a sure sign of the change that was being denied. We couldn't understand why even that fact itself was being denied and ignored by VR mods, and thus began the feeling of "us against them," among some members and mods. This general sentiment was continually being expressed in various threads, in which I participated, until someone else received a temporary suspension in October. As part of the uproar over this suspension, I earned myself a phone conversation with a moderator. That phone conversation led to the following exchange of PMs with Phil, the VS admin. Link to October's PM exchange with Phil - the first I'd heard of being "grandfathered in". Please note the reference to keeping our number of threads "to a minimum". Also, please note that I later discovered that this message from Phil, explaining what was expected of me, was NEVER SENT TO THE VR ADMINS/MODS. (If it was, then at least one of them forgot what they saw, because one of them later stated -- on FaceBook -- something completely different as being the rule.) Following this exchange, the best I can remember, things went along smoothly, as far as I was concerned anyway, for 3 months, until 2 weeks before the Super Bowl. At this time, I decided the VR Store should do something for the benefit of the email Newsletter subscribers, since we'd been promising something since we started the newsletter. (We'd started the newsletter in hopes of using it to avoid the need for promoting the Store too much on the VR itself. We'd done this even before VS took over, but were stepping up efforts.) In the past, I'd been mildly scolded, although we usually worked it out, for placing the occassional new Store thread for contests or giveaways in the wrong sections. I thought, this time, I'll ask ahead of time where to put a new thread for the Super Bowl contest, so as to avoid any conflict over placement. I sent a PM to a VR mod asking where to place the new thread. I received a response saying the VR mods did not think I should start one at all, because it might "cause confusion among members" since it was only a contest for Newsletter subs. That PM is unavailable, because I can't get to it. (They can, though, if they want to dispute my paraphrasing.) The fact they thought it might be confusing is not completely unjustified, although it is addressed in my plan as being "fun" for everyone. Here I did something questionable, I admit. I immediately went over their heads to Phil with my request, because I considered it to be in line with his rule that we keep our threads "to a minimum" and I was not trying to hide anything. At the time I contacted Phil, it was approaching one week until the Super Bowl. He didn't get back to me for almost a week. In the mean time, I decided to conduct the contest within our own Store's one main thread, which I was under the impression I could use for anything I wanted. When Phil finally replied, he said that we should not run the contest, because it wasn't "fair to other vendors." (Again, paraphrasing, since the PM is in my account's mailbox, but they can present it, if they want to refute the accuracy.) I told him the contest was already active in the Store's thread, and that we didn't start a new one for it. I told him I wouldn't cancel it at this point, but that he could, if he felt strongly enough about it. He did not. The contest ran completely in the Store thread, and was fun for all. Only one person asked what was going on, and they were satisfied with my private explanation. Link to text of the Newsletter announcement that I went with in the end. That was the end of that, but I admit, I wasn't happy with the outcome. I felt we had abided by the rules set out for us in October by Phil, but that when we wanted to start the new contest thread, the agreement had been pulled. This meant, going forward, I must have all new threads for contests or giveaways, let alone sales or promotions, approved ahead of time. Okay, but it was yet another rule change for us to deal with, and NOT TALK ABOUT. I wasn't happy about it, and told the mods so in private. I also told them that if it came to it, I would not hold them personally responsible for whatever happened. Then, in this unhappy state of mind, I posted something that seemed rather tame to me, especially compared to things being posted by others. Looking back on it, I'll say it was a mistake. But really, who knew it would bring on a warning? Maybe I'm just slow, but not me. I received this warning in response, which I'm able to provide now, only because I subsequently posted it on FaceBook. Link to text of my warning for the above post on FEB 6. Please note that the warning was for disgruntled speech, NOT for violating the advertising policy, and that I would be "subject to increased discipline, up to and including a 1 year ban of posting privileges." There is NO MENTION OF A PERMANENT BAN EVEN BEING CONSIDERED!!! Also, if you're in doubt as to the tone of posts being made by others at the same time, check for yourself. This was mild by comparison, in my opinion.Sharing that information (yes, on Facebook, since I certainly couldn't share it on VR, as I would have in the past) was the trigger that set the final act in motion on Feb 6. As a result of that mis-step, several members who were already unhappy decided to protest using the Store as a method of voicing their feelings. I did not ask for it, encourage it, nor participate in it, as has been acknowledged by both mods and Phil. I even asked for them to stop before they got themselves banned. But, because of the ferocity of the posting activity, three suspensions were handed out for "spamming" the site with links to the VR Store. At this point, things really went south in a hurry. I believe several mods decided I had fomented a revolution of sorts, and they hunkered down for a battle, shooting retorts at anyone coming close to sounding disgruntled. Others were obviously working behind the scenes to find some common ground. The Captain's Cove was opened. I tried to bite my tongue and see what came next. What came next was an email from Capt Cruiser, who was apparently serving as management's rep for the discussion. I appreciate all that Jay has done. He obviously cares as much about the place as anyone. As it was explained to me, all the admins/mods, along with Phil, had discussed and voted on an offer which was presented to me in the email, dated FEB 10. Link to text of Letter from VR admins/mods & VS rep to mightydog (unedited except for names) My reply was waiting for them the next morning. Link to text of Letter from mightydog in response (unedited except for names) By that afternoon, I had a PM from Phil, saying Capt Cruiser and the rest of the VR staff was out of the equation, and it was between he and I now. I can't provide the text, because it's in my account's mailbox, but I can paraphrase, and again, they can provide the text if they want to dispute it. Phil said, basically, "This is the way it's going to be from here on." I was told to remove the link to the Store from my sig line, and not start any new Store threads. The one main thread would remain as a service to the community. I immediately complied, and we thanked each other, and that was the last I ever heard from Phil to this day. The same day, I posted a link to a "press release" from the VR Store. I did ask in public, if the rules were being updated, since I was aware that I had been asked to do something that I couldn't find anywhere in the current rules, and I was told there were some rule changes being discussed. I said okay. A couple of weeks later, I asked again, and was told I would have to be patient. I said okay. During this time, on FEB 16, in the wee hours of the morning, I sent an email to the VR mods' rep, pleading for them to let me know if there was anything I could do to help calm things down. The Captain's Cove had been closed because of the rampant bitching, and people were upset everywhere, while I was restraining myself. Link to the text of my email to mods on FEB 16. The only response I got was a personal one from Jay. Then, the discussion started about mailing things to Canada, and on MAR 7, I joined in, beginning by saying I wasn't sure how much I could say, which was true. However, this was again taken as a back-handed complaint, and a discussion was begun, in that thread, in public, between myself and a moderator. The discussion ended with the mod suggesting I return my link to my sig line, and be happy. And I was! Link to the thread with the suggestion that got me canned, or not? It went a bit further than that in private, but ended very cordially, with me asking that if it continued to be an issue, to please let me know. If you check the few posts I was able to make following that exchange, ending with a Happy Mardi Gras, I think you'll see that I was indeed happy. Until the next day, that is, when I went to sign on and saw this: "You have been banned
for the following reason:
|