I agree with ghostkilla. Not to take sides, but I find it disturbing that some of you would criticize the guy who actually built the site you're spitting all over and then go on posting about your favorite flashlight the next day on the same site you just took a dump on.

Change the channel if you don't like it.

I would post my own webcam snapshot, but I'm not in love with Av, I just respect the guy, and he didn't even have to earn it.

Posted by tunnelbug I agree with ghostkilla. Not to take sides, but I find it disturbing that some of you would criticize the guy who actually built the site you're spitting all over and then go on posting about your favorite flashlight the next day on the same site you just took a dump on. Change the channel if you don't like it. I would post my own webcam snapshot, but I'm not in love with Av, I just respect the guy, and he didn't even have to earn it.

Ugh.

I respect the hell out of Av too. What he's accomplished both on this site and in his explorations in real life is amazing. But just because you respect someone doesn't mean that they're free of criticism.

You can use almost any analogy here, but the easiest is political.

Say you vote for a candidate you respect. Democrat, Republican, Kodos, it doesn't really matter. When they take office, they start doing things you disagree with. Just because you disagree with them, do you lose respect for them? I certainly hope not, as that would mean unless you see eye to eye on everything with someone, you'll have no respect for them.

In that case, it should be obvious that you can disagree with someone, and still respect them. So I guess the question is should you withhold your objections, or voice them? I just see no benefit to withholding them. Everyone is fallible. You, me, Av. Just because I respect him doesn't mean I think he's right about every single thing he's done in his life 100% of the time. Hell, Av doesn't even think that. He said in this thread that he's made mistakes and admitted to them. So since he's not infallible, it means, yes, hate to blow your mind here, but he CAN screw up. So can we. Our opinions which we are voicing can end up being terrible. But by saying them... what harm is done? If opinions aren't being censored, a discussion can occur weighing the merits of multiple opinions. With no one infallible, it's always better to have multiple opinions as every decision anyone makes can be a mistake. I made my post citing my main concern because I respect Av, and because UER means a lot to me. If I didn't respect him or the site... wouldn't I be over at deggi or wraiths or whatever other community one can feel free to join.

It's also because I respect Av that I even bothered to post. I believe that he also respects me, whether he agrees with me or not. That's key. I'd like to think Av has respect for me as I do for him. Mutual respect is always important among people. But if I did something that he thought would be stupid, I'd expect him to tell me. I don't necessarily have to listen, nor does Av to any of those criticizing what he's doing. But I wouldn't expect him to just silence his opinions on things simply because of any issue of respect.

Hell, when I busted up my ankle, he made fun of me for a good while after. Pretty sure that his opinion was that I'm a dumbass for spraining my ankle trying to find a place to sit down. That's got to be high on the list of stupid UE injuries... but whether or not it was a really dumb thing to do, because he's a good friend, he helped me get out of the location on my swollen ankle. He then made fun of me for days. And I'd expect no less.

Posted by JupiterThat's got to be high on the list of stupid UE injuries...

I twisted my ankle that led to a blood clot that lead to me laying in the hospital for a week and being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Does that count for a UE injury?

Everything is easier said than done, i understand. Ill admit i shouldnt have ever gotten involved in this type of damn thread, and i was just posting to raise my post count. Spank me.

Just post images like this. They're fun and supportive of Av!

A few comments:

- None of the posts in this thread have been deleted, because they have all been civil and constructive. If you are civil and make constructive posts, you have no worries of being banned. If a thread is locked and you accept that the discussion is over and don't simply start a new thread, you have no worries of being banned.

Can you tell me with complete honesty, Av, that if you thought to yourself "What would Ninj do?" you would come up with the policies that you're currently in support of?

No, I wouldn't have. But there's more to Ninj -- I listened to him, but when he spoke, everyone else listened also. When Ninj said "This is how it should be", usually I would agree, and everyone else also agreed. If I make the same statement, not everyone listens.

All of the people who have been banned since Jester was banned either (a) asked to be banned, (b) did nothing but troll and were warned many times, or (c) had a post deleted and were instructed to stop, but then did not.

It's still not that easy to be banned.

-av

Posted by Avatar-X We also had the oversight of Ninj back then. We don't anymore. Unfortunatly, this is not a situation I can fix. I am nothing compared to Ninj --- he would have been able to fix this situation to everyone's content. I can only do what I think is right.

Yeah, but the reason that was that way with Ninj was because people genuinely respected him. Even if you didn't agree with him 100%, you at least had some respect for the guy due to his calm demeanor and incredible accomplishments.

Av, you haven't earned that respect. As someone who has been in management for 6+ years, I can tell you honestly that an iron fist will get you nowhere. Well, it will get you somewhere. It will get you to the place that you are now where almost all of the respected explorers in the community have left or been banned and the morale around here is at basement level.

Ninj was obviously popular. And although people did respect him, there is a difference between winning a popularity contest and earning respect. Maybe Av-X isn't doing so well at winning a popularity contest, but then again Ninj didn't have the same challenges that Av-X is facing right now. Sometimes making the right decision in the face of adversity means making some enemies in the process. That being said, maybe Av-X isn't as popular as Ninj was, but he's not Ninj... he's the administrator of this site. He should be respected because of what he's built and maintained for all to enjoy. If the blood, sweat, and tears that went into putting uer.ca doesn't mean anything to you, then you will probably never find a reason to respect him or any of the other people who hope to find personal satisfaction in running internet forums.

Look at it another way; one of the hardest thing for a person to do is to empathize with another person's position. By that, I mean we rarely stop and put ourselves in other peoples' shoes. If we did so more often, we might understand them better. In this case, we as users come home from work/school and have the choice of visiting uer.ca or anything else we like to do. Maybe watch American Idol? Maybe practise a musical instrument? Maybe chase the wife around the bedroom? Maybe even explore! If uer.ca becomes too much for us to handle, we can do like someone suggested already and change the channel, or turn the TV off. Av-X comes home and has this albatross and all the drama that goes with it, whether he likes it or not. Just turning it off isn't an easy option in his case as it is for users. And do you have a bunch of malcontents waging a "holy war" against you? Have you ever been in a situation where a group of well organized opponents put every effort into giving you tonnes of grief? Do you remember reaching a point where you just ran out of cheeks to turn and had enough of the bullshit? Maybe that's where Av-X has arrived. If you've ever been there, you'll remember being on the defensive too. And don't say he brought it on himself. He is a target because of his high profile and for no other good reason. The same thing went for Misfit who got a nice bulls-eye painted on his forehead b/c of his higher profile among moderators.

So OK I'm sorry, I didn't want to add more to this thread but couldn't resist. All I'm asking is for everyone to stop thinking of just themselves for just a minute.

Posted by Jupiter Well, since everyone else is throwing in their two cents...

Great post! Read every word. Glad you took the 40 minutes to put it together.

Posted by Myelin Ninj was obviously popular....

Great post. You and Jupiter would make a great pair.

Posted by Jupiter Just post images like this. They're fun and supportive of Av!

ahem.



Yes, those are my clothes.

It's Av's bar, if you don't like the company, the staff, or the selection, go to another bar.

And I vote for more pics of Lexi.

Posted by TravisBickle

So what is this spam??

Weird. I passed this guy on the way to work today.

Posted by underdark And I vote for more pics of Lexi.

I had the same thought but I chose to bite my tongue on account of the age difference.

Posted by CowboyPenner I had the same thought but I chose to bite my tongue on account of the age difference.

And wise you are. N.

Perverts.;)

Posted by 0U812 Perverts.;)

And wise you are about not voicing that is what I meant, nothing more. N.

She's a cute kid, so what? Nothing more.

Posted by nobody And wise you are about not voicing that is what I meant, nothing more. N.

Kidding!