Saturday, July 27, 2013

I Am Boycotting The Miniatures Page

The 18th Century Boards used to be the epitome of politeness and gentlemanly behavior, but of late, things have changed as a minority of people that visit the boards have a harder and unpleasant edge about them. I will not tell you about some of the "behind the scenes" things going on, but I have decided that the best thing for me is to simply not visit TMP for a long while and reduce my level of aggrivation. Let me say that the majority of the people on TMP and friendly and I enjoy interacting with them.

I will still keep my banner ads on TMP (as I have no beef with Bill, he is a good egg), but I will not be posting or visiting the site for at least the next 30 days.

Going forward, any information about Fife & Drum, my pictures from our wargames and other eye candy will be posted only on my blog.


23 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear that. I've seen the similar decline in class on TMP and even commented earlier today in a post.


    TMP is just no fun anymore and seems to be dominated by a handful of jackasses. Bill may be a good egg but he's letting his forum be run into the gutter

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  2. The Ancients board has never been quite the same since Allen Curtis was terminated; not many interesting posters there, now. Mind you there's not a lot of friction (possibly because there are fewer posters). This might be because there isn't much current interest in ancients though.

    Last year I was on a thread where there was a great deal of rudeness, and I took six months off. There was a distinct lack of moderation...

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  3. Sorry to hear that, Jim, but I can certainly understand. Jackasses and ignoramuses about describe it. Funny how a bit of anonymity enables a small minority to turn online discussion boards into a virtual sandbox governed by the nasty loudmouth "kids," who otherwise have nothing to contribute to any exchange.

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

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  4. Sorry. I have gone through the same aggravation. Then I "stifled" all the hecklers, and I haven't been bothered sense. Hallelujah!!

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  5. I find that the occasional TMP post does generate a fair amount of additional blog traffic... perhaps not as much as in the past, though.

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  6. I don't blame you Jim, and you have done this in a fair and reasonable way. Maybe I should follow suit?

    I've allowed myself to get "sucked-in" to too many discussions that I swore I would never engage in.

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  7. I've never visited TMP, and never will. From all accounts it became the haunt of trolls some years ago.

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  8. It recently occured to me that the majority of my regular gaming friends do not participate in TMP on anything approaching a regular basis. They seem to do perfectly fine without it, so I thought that I would try doing without it too.

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  9. I am off TMP as well... didn't care for Curtis getting dumped though I don't love him but respect him for his strong opinions. Tired of Bill allowing a minority to blatantly make horrid remarks about other cultures and posters.

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  10. My beef isn't with Bill, I'm more concerned by the rising level of intolerence that the TMP membership seems to have for anyone having a different opinion on something.

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  11. TMP is where I go to see what the new releases are and that's about it. I occasionally leave comments, but not that often.

    I used to also go on forums quite a bit, but a few years ago switched quite a lot of my traffic to blogs where things tend to be more supportive and discussions handled with more respect.

    Christopher

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  12. I'm truly sad to hear this news, but I do understand. You are a great inspiration and your absence will be felt, but as ever I shall continue to enjoy your blogs.
    Best,
    Bill Dwyer

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  13. I will probably return in about a month, taking a more limited role ( low profile), but I felt that I just needed some time away from the dang pace.

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  14. I lurked TMP for approximately 10 years, but gave up reading it last year. I do not find out quite as much about new figures, but I do not have to read about so much drama either.

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  15. Sorry to hear you will be away from it for a while - I browse it most days for something to read but agree with your comments.

    Hope to see you back there soon though

    Marc (the plastics fan)

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  16. Jim,
    I can sympathize with your being burned out by TMP as a hangout. I gave it up last year as I came to the conclusion that if TMP were a games shop or club venue, I would have chosen a new crowd to spend my time with. It just seemed like incivility was becoming too commonplace for my own liking. Yes, a few bad apples can spoil the whole barrel.

    On a happier note, congratulations on the successful fund raiser! The results are a testament to your contributions to the historicals gaming community as both a hobbyist and as a businessman. :-)

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  17. I am moving this comment from Dave Hollins from the La Crenoil thread/post to this one, where it belongs. I had deleted Dave's original post as i deemed it not appropriate to my little oasis on my own blog. However, I can accept criticism, so here is Dave's post:

    ******
    Oh, I see, Fritz, you can hand it out, but not accept a bit of criticism (and some sympathy) over the activities of TMP's Idiot tendency - in a note I put here last night. I would also deplore their activities, even if you have inadvertently encouraged their ilk. It would seem that what goes around, comes around then, which is sad. Incidentally, if you think I was "belittling" Kiley and Bowden, then by implication, you are saying it is okay to mislead readers with fabricated sources and bibliographies, plus even making key information up. I had thought better of you. Dave Hollins on The Siege of La Crenoil, by Charles S. Grant

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  18. Dave: my blog, my rules, so I can post anything that I want and keep or edit any comments that I choose. As I said in my other post, "it's good to be king".

    Your original criticism is fair, one shouldn't belittle another person in a public forum and if I hurt your feelings, then I apologize for that. I don't recall what was said nor do I wish to rehash it on my forum.

    I'm not endorsing anyone in the Hollins-Kiley feud nor am I taking any position, nor do I wish for it to carry over onto my blog. Let us leave it at that, otherwise I will delete any more comments that refer to the same.


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  19. For better or worse I do look at TMP but I rarely post. It's not all bad. TMP would be a lesser place without your involvement. Nothing causes me to click off faster than reading unpleasantness there. There are better forums IMO eg WD3 for engaging in helpful/interesting discussions. I have enough grief in my daily life without letting it intrude on my hobby which is an escape for me. But at the end of the day TMP is a mine of information eg the 18th century boards and I would miss that. Please no long term boycott! I'll still come here most days to check out your posts/comments etc.

    Regards,
    Guy

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  20. Jim, sorry to hear of your difficulties on TMP. I had major differences with Bill last year based on the OFM-bashing that persisted and spent the better part of a year away. I enjoy hearing your views on 18th century topics and am thrilled with the success of your AWI range.

    regards,

    Kevin

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  21. Jim, I know that like me you're a dad. Do you intend to continue frequenting and advertising on TMP in light of Bill's "charity" work in the Philippines? He says that his paying young trans-genders for their personal, "intimate" stories is charity work. I disagree and was wondering if there was anyone with a sense of decency left on TMP who saw through his charade.

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  22. Honestly I have been only going there lately for the rather useless but unintentionally funny polls and to see if anything 15mm in my AOIs is in the Hobby News.

    Rarely I will post a comment but since Bill locked my primary account and ignores the fact that I openly told him I was using an older account (work usage) to read the forum and he should lock it too (inconsistent rules enforcement) I have lost a lot of desire to go anywhere online (TWW and LAF even.)

    The up side is that I am getting some painting done for a November convention locally.

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  23. TMP is so useful as a hobby recourse for information but yeah, I cant stand the place and its getting worse by the minute, for all the reasons you mention: the rudeness there, quite frankly, is utterly appalling. So in a similar vein, my friends and I all have stopped going in.

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