I thought about this one...quite a bit. I was a tad angry when I wrote that first one, because Ben is my friend, and a good man, and I don't like people insulting him.
I acknowledge that you have done a lot to make sure Dion's actions are well known. It's appreciated.
I don't appreciate you calling me names. I noticed every single one you called me, including feeble-minded child posing as an intellectual, which almost got to me. But I'm just going to ignore it and smile.
Was I going to say more than that? Earlier, I was. Now...nah...I had an alternate post typed up, but I thought I'd try to solved this in a peaceful way again, instead of just firing insults back. I have no fear of the SNK Devils. I'd just like to take another crack at us at getting along.
We're not enemies here. And Ben is not your enemy, nor a "violin-playing hoe". Ben is very skilled at running an IRC server, and as such, he is versed in the rules that most IRC rooms follow, by tradition. One of them is to have text like the text I am typing. Now, I personally like text like this, and I like being in a chatroom with text just like this. But #neo-geo, because it's moderated by ops that love you guys...you can go in there and do whatever you want, so it seems. So that's great. If it was the old #neo-geo chatroom, you'd be forced to stay in that chat, as well, because it would be...well, on its own little island.
But now you can go into other chatrooms, the way it is set up. If you guys go into another chat room, and argue with the members...that's bad enough, but you might not get banned. But if you go in with caps, that breaks their rules doubly--and I'm not saying those rules are right to you, or right at all, for the sake of the argument--then Ben gets involved, and when you argue with him, he gets just as mad as you get, and you fight. And let's face it, the SNK Devils say some scathing things...you've already said some to me, and I know that's only minor compared to what you're capable of. I'm sure Ben got an earful, and if he did ban you from the server, I assure you it was only temporary anyway...he's soft on things like that. But I doubt he did. It was probably a chat ban--might have not even been by him...it's near-impossible to tell in the java-client. And what seemed like a server ban may have been a chatroom ban plus a flaw in the client...I have yet to experiment with it, but I might get around to trying it out.
I want you to keep something in mind. Ben and I both dislike Dion. We both respect what you've done to point him out. The only thing Ben has against you is that you leave #neo-geo and cause him to have to do his job, and enforce their rules. He doesn't want to do his job...he wants to sit back and talk to his friends on there and be lazy, like most anyone.
The way I see it, there's two futures from this point. In one, you stay in #Neo-Geo, or change the way you act outside that chat so that other chatrooms with stricter rules (and if you think they're stupid, that fine) don't ban you. Then everyone's happy, and you aren't making enemies with people that share similar interests (especially in games) and dislikes (Dion).
Or you could tell me off, tell Ben off, make a big deal out of it. Then you'd probably go into some other chat on Ben's server on purpose, make some remarks...Ben would get angry and remove you from the server for disruption. Then you'd come on here and post 5 or 6 anti-Ben messages, and probably anti-me ones too. And it'd just get worse, and worse...and I don't know where it would end.
I don't want that. I want you guys to chat in the #neo-geo if you want, and to know that if you go outside of it you have to be careful that your lifestyle doesn't conflict with other rooms' strict rules. That's all. Please don't take it the wrong way, and please don't take Ben the wrong way either. He's just doing his job, and sometimes when an IRCop has to do that job, it looks like he's being malicious or out to get you. But he's not...it's just business.
It's your choice.
Oh, and I'm sorry for any of my underhanded subtle remarks earlier...I was angry, but that's no excuse.
- The Black Knight