So it has come to this; Esky's pseudo-farewell thread. I would like to state that, unlike the other people who have departed from TLR, I have decided that rather than cut all ties to this place, I will instead become a lurker as I once was before I began posting here sixteen months ago. There are myriad reasons for my decision, and I have elected not to go into them in detail because doing so would make no difference. Instead I will simply state that I have decided to do this because, despite the problems that I have both seen and heard about, I still hope that TLR will dig itself out of the deep hole that it is mired in. Although I won't be a visible presence on TLR, I will continue to post, but my posts will be rare and infrequent, and I will simply stay out of the way. It saddens me to do this, but I cannot in good conscience continue my carefree posting on TLR because things are not, and have not been the same as they once were for some time. This is not merely a longing for "the good old days", and is not only because of the lack of conversation and the loss of a number of the more interesting personages here on TLR, but also because of the actions of some members of TLR's staff. For example, the deletion of DS's thread. For me, the last straw was the deletion of Dark_Shadow's topic, and the subsequent discussion which went nowhere. I considered this thread to be TLR's last and best hope of working through all of the issues that have been raised, and yet nothing was accomplished except, ironically, increasing my post count. I would like to state that I completely understand why Eraser locked the thread and took responsibility, and I really respect him for that, but this is not the first time that one of the mods has contravened procedure and, I suspect, gone over the heads of TLR's administration by doing so. I had hoped that by bringing attention to this matter I could cultivate some open dialogue and try to fix things. I have tried my best, and have been unsuccessful. The manner by which I intended to do this, ie. the unmasking of the guilty party may be debatable in terms of its wisdom and potential benefits, but I still believe and maintain that it would have been beneficial in the long run for the community. At the very least, people would have respected the guilty party for owning up and explaining themselves.

I'm sure that some of you think that I had ulterior motives, but my motivation really was to make TLR better whatever you may think (by the way, I'm not referring to you or to your last post in that thread Chips, old chum ), but there are some who probably feel this way, and that's fine because I believe that *everyone* is entitled to their views. In any case, I cannot continue to come here and post regularly until things improve. I have remained on TLR while nearly all of my friends on here have left because I was hoping that I would see some improvement, and/or help to promote beneficial changes. Instead we see Eraser taking responsibilty for something that he did not do, and the person who *did* delete the thread remain hidden in the shadows without an explanation or even an apology. This person was and is a member of TLR's staff, and such behaviour *cannot* be allowed to continue. I do not know whether or not this person was sanctioned or disciplined, but I trust that it is so in order that the events of the last week not be repeated.

I haven't been here for long compared to some of TLR's members and ex-members, but I *have* been around long enough to see the dramatic the difference between "Olde TLR" as I consider it, and "New TLR". This is not an indictment of the current administration, but rather the individual(s) who prompted the mass departure, because it was shortly after this that things really started to go to hell (if you'll pardon the expression Final ). We saw fights, personal abuse, flaming, and even allegations of virus-ridden and hate-filled emails. Because of this, I cannot continue to feel comfortable here, and topher's thread was my last attempt to set things straight. Needless to say, the person who deleted the post did not come forward despite ample time to do so, and a number of people asking for them to own up. If people like this are in control of TLR's forums, how can the average poster feel comfortable posting *anything*?

Finally, I should state that in some ways, my pseudo-departure is essentially a silent protest against the issues that I have outlined above. I feel that this is best rather that going all out in an enormous and potentially offensive post outlining everything that I have seen and heard about TLR. Some of it would make your hair curl as they say (assuming that you believed it ). Well that's about it from me. I'll be around for a little longer, and then I'll return to my anonymous lurking ways. Just remember that although I may not be posting, I'll still be around to "fight the good fight" .

Take it easy people, and hope that things will improve.

Esquilax

Edited by - esquilax on 2/4/2005 3:19:27 AM