So, Id like to debate the rules...

Bkeat23 wrote:

I wonder if I'll get my dry wheat toast.

It is a judgment call. Same as when an umpire decides whether to eject a player or manager......or when a referee assesses a Technical Foul or a referee flags "unnecessary" roughness or the local sport team removes an "unruly" fan. Do you think they are wrong to do those things? Should anything go?

This is not a free speech issue. This is part of their business and they can within very broad parameters choose what to allow on their website.

The ref or umpire analogy doesnt fit.

Im not playing a sport when Im posting on the forum.
The more appropriate analogy would be having an ump flag a player for saying something in an interview.
While the 'league' can fine that player- from a salary. its the opposite here- WE are the ones paying in every sense of the word.

secondly- no- there are limits on racial/religious/sexual orientation speech. Thats reasonable and should be here- because that a more universally accepted propriety. Thats very different than judging what I say as destructive or constructive.

and you are missing the point I made. This is how governments act when they want to hide the truth about whats going on under their watch.
They choose to label things as destructive and limit what the press can say. In this case we are the press, since we are the ones talking about whats going on.
So its more of a freedom of the press issue than a free speech issue. In any case- Im not claiming that either one is the same- merely analogous.

Since this is an SOM forum, they do make the rules. If it was a public Bruce Springsteen Forum, the mods could ban people based on subjective behavior. It's like kicking someone out of your house for kicking your dog.

Since we actually paid SOM to play the game, and the forum has always been integrated into the game, instead of kicking us out, the following email could be sent with the disabling of an account:

The post <<insert post here>> violates the terms of service and is part of a repeated pattern. Your account has been disabled. A check for $$ based on # credits in your account will be processed within 30 days.

But maybe I'll see a unicorn today.

You missed my point about the umpire or refereee. It was only to point out that those are subjective decisions akin to deciding the difference between destructive and constructive.

You missed my point about the umpire or refereee. It was only to point out that those are subjective decisions akin to deciding the difference between destructive and constructive.

Why would I want an untrained computer programmer, who cant even fix a glitch in the program that they are supposed to know inside and out tell me when Im saying something they deem destructive?

If they dont even have expertise in their own field, how would we expect them to understand the intricacies of language?

Im a musician. If I cant play my instrument worth 'salt', are you going to accept my authority in any matter?

You're a musician, so no, no one will accept your authority. Unless we were drummers, that would be different.
Off topic....I'll be leaving soon for this:
http://www.hollerfest.com

I worry about Salt and taking a toll on his health. I worry a bit about
the other managers too, I think more than anyone, this has really appears
to have burdened him the most and we've seen the biggest transformation
in him.

But thats not the point of this post:

Even though I agree that one entity has to set the rules,
in this case its the service provider, SOM, rule clarity
and process transparency are important. An umpire deos
make a judgement call, but he is always being asked why
a pitch is called a strike, and that is within the rules.

And simple venting of frustration has to be allowed without
fear of ejection. Umpires can't throw out someone for general
argument, they have boundaries and they have to answer to
the commission. And the fans deserve an explanation of
these things when they transpire. If a manager reaches the
ejection level, it would darn spooky if we don't get an
explanation why one of the community is no longer with us.

But a specific question. We have often vented frustration
with results by cursing Hal. A lot of us have done it after
we get bad rolls one night. Its almost a time honored
tradition. Its not really meant to be destructive, its a
a way to vent, and a healthy, humourous way to vent
mostly. So I ask:

Q: "Can we still curse Hal?"

Hey Rick
all smiles -

the reason you see a change has to do with my feelings about the morality of how things are being done.
I felt when we were at TSN- many things werent perfect- but at the end of the day, when things were done wrong- there was an attempt to make it right.
If a league got messed up because of em- they gave us a free credit.
For people that spent their money- I felt that was very fair- sometimes I even thought they really went out of their way to make the customer feel 'right', even if it wasnt all TSN's fault.

Now- I see a selfish greedy company- that refuses to make anything right no matter how much they screw up, wont even bother discussing or acknowledging it other than a vague email reply to a select few- and eliminating what they refer to as destructive speech is just one more step to washing their hands of responsibility for a foul up of epic proportions.
I cant get behind that kind of behaviour- no matter how much I like the game- its amoral, incredibly self-destructive and shameful.
Not that I have an opinion or anything.

Venting is both helpul and healthy. But when things don't resolve things over
longer period of times -- well cause for concern. You have always let me vent,
although I try to do it more privately and in-league.

I have usually chosen to fight frustration over change though understanding
and less trying to battle for control. Maybe this makes me somewhat of a
sellout, but it is what it is. But my philosophy on this is founded firmly in
a device in the 2nd book of Hitchhikkers Guide to the Galaxy: the device
that gave the user instant understanding as to how (un)important they really
were to the universe as a whole. And everyone who used it immediately went
insane. Too bad Douglas Adams never did a chapter on strat. Must have
been because he was English (I can say that, right?).

you are 1000% right that in the big picture we are fairly meaningless- which makes this game 1000th of that.
I guess for whatever millionth of mattering something is, Id like to pretend that we have some standard of doing things in a way that might make us a not totally devoid and slimy race of human beings.
Sigh...

Are you sure you want to debate or argue?