h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I come back from a long weekend away up on top of the Alps to find the site littered with the toys people seem to be throwing out of their prams?

What the heck did I miss?

let me know when ya find out 'cos I lost the plot

Hello, Whisky. I'm just back too. As far as I can see, two unrelated things have happened:

1. Shazz, the editor of the Post, has announced that she is leaving h2g2, as she is too ill to continue.

2. Lord Wolfden has been irritating the hell out of Dr E Vibenstein with his repetitive drivel. Vibenstein responded by setting up an external website poking fun at Wolfden. Then he attacked Wolfden in the What's Just Happened thread. An ace gave out to Vibenstein and defended Wolfden. Apparently things got heated and Vibenstein left in a huff. People appear to feel that this is a great loss to h2g2 and are considering leaving too - Master B, Demon Drawer and Reefgirl have all announced that they are disillusioned with h2g2.

I have yet to find the actual conversation where the ace read the riot act to V. I'd like to see it.

Yeah I was off line all weekend too, and it took me ages to read the backlog on What's Just Happened!

In summary: LW was being his usual annoying self, those who get very volubly hacked off by his behaviour got very hacked off, an ACE or 2 had a quick shufti at the thread and pointed out that it wasn't very nice to deliberately bait the guy, and some very valued researchers have decided they've had enough and have gone.

It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye, innit?

Short story - my version:

The ACEs were discussing what to do about LW, one of EV's journals was referred to re: LW baiting, EV turned out to still be subscribed to the ACEs' e-group despite no longer being an ACE, got very miffed and left in a huff.

Unfortunately, to me, EV's user page doesn't exactly give you the rigth picture: U40285 but enough people seem to take this as the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and that's the reason why some other researchers also left, in sympathy - see conversation on EV's user page titled 'Tributes'.

And people started having a go at the ACEs here: <./>F27584?thread=1350343</.> although it seems to have calmed down a bit now...

F16034?thread=397255&skip=12700&show=20 that's the first place I can find a mention of EV's offsite tributes to Lord Wolfden, Gnomon, and I really don't have time to look any more.

I have to go exchange some boots, so please excuse me.

Jeez, my analogy of prams and toys wasn't far off the mark!

Trying to read through the backlog and all that strikes me is that a lot of people, who I'd generally considered to be sane, seem to have completely lost it. (The world's first on-line, virtual outbreak of BSE perhaps?).

So, LW's annoying - but so are a lot of people in real life and on this site... Since when has that been a reason for mass hysteria?

** a reason for mass hysteria **

LW's mass posting with not always sense of the thread is more than anoying. I am not easily angered & anoyed (a&a), but mass no sense of the thread postings are a&a me big time. he always wants the last posts too.

do what I did ?

chooce pheloxi's option!

I *knew* something had happened while I'd been away.

I agree with you,Whisky, people can be annoying - it's the way of the world. But, having had a quick look at the postings, there's surely no need for mass hysteria.

I used to feel like this and I also though the spats people were having with Wolfden were quite amusing, I've always quite enjoyed watching flame wars as a lurker.

However it's not becoming clear to me that Wolfden is now having a very negative impact on the site. I hope EV and DD and others change their minds but as I've said elsewhere, we can try and accomodate a highly disruptive influence or we can choose.
If it comes to a choice between having Wolfie *or* Dr EV, Demon Drawer etc then I know where I stand.
One thing I didn't know until yesterday was that the guy has been banned from at least two other internet communities. Kind of makes me think that.

Should we really let the destruction continue? Is it worth the effort on what I suspect is a lost cause?

I think it is worth making the effort. The guy's an idiot, but there should be room for an idiot on a site full of crazy people.

"However it's not becoming clear to me that Wolfden is now having a very negative impact on the site. "

I'm presuming that 'not' should be a 'now'

What gets me is that the actual level of 'disruption' caused by LW seems to have been amplified a hundred fold by the response to that disruption...

"If it comes to a choice between having Wolfie *or* Dr EV, Demon Drawer etc then I know where I stand."

Who's forcing _you_ to make a choice? It doesn't matter in the slightest if its DD, EV, Gnomon, Mina, JimiX or the most junior of newbies as far as I'm concerned. If someone wants to leave over what they believe is right then that's their perogative, but that doesn't force me to agree with what they're saying...

"One thing I didn't know until yesterday was that the guy has been banned from at least two other internet communities. Kind of makes me think that."

That may be so, although it's a little vague, some communities you can get banned from simply for posting off-topic.
However, as far as I'm concerned, although LW may well be an annoying so-and-so, he's not done _anything_ on this site worthy of a ban...

"Should we really let the destruction continue?"
If it's self-destruction then I'm afraid we haven't a choice... And personally I'm not convinced that LW can be held solely responsible - I've been involved in several conversations with people complaining about him who have attempted to use what are in effect, completely innocuous conversations as justification.

The guy can be a pain in the neck, I don't think any of us would disagree with that... But since when has one single pain in the neck been of such importance to this site that they can't be ignored?

Sorry yes that should have been a now. I hadn't before realised just *how* much he was riling some people.

Noone's forcing me to make that choice but I see - for want of better word - a moron's actions causing some of the most well established and prolific writers on the site walk away. I'm not going to name names but I've had it said to me 'if he's still around in year then I won't be.' That is how some now feel about the guy. That's where I see the choice coming in.

Shouldn't the fact that people such as EV react so harshly to this guy not give us some sort of hint that this is more than a bit of toy throwing? He's been around for six years or more so if toy throwing was something he was prone to would it not have occurred before now ? This has been going on for months now and it seems to be reaching a crisis point for some. I think the action by a couple of ACEs just tipped the thing over the edge more than anything else now.

What I'm getting at is that the site seems to be bending over backwards to accommodate Wolfie at the seeming expense of some who've contributed far more to the site than I ever have and I see this as wrong now. Just my personal view of it.

The thing with Wolfden is that its a grinding sitation that niggles people isn't it. Eventually a niggle becomes a big deal when it happens persistently over a long period of time. I'm not convinced LW isn't doing this deliberately either, although I'm not sure, he *may* be that dense.

Do the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many? (even Wolfie might recognise that quote ).

As to the banning thing, he's definitely banned from an online Star Trek forum and someone posted details elsewhere, I'll try and find the link.

I personally do seem to be able to ignore Wolfie, what I don't like seeing is people I regard as long term friends walking away

>It doesn't matter in the slightest if its DD, EV, Gnomon, Mina, JimiX or the most junior of newbies as far as I'm concerned.<

That, it seems to me is the crux of the matter. What I detected in this case was a definite attempt to 'pull rank' as a 'senior researcher' by some members of the site, and when they were roundly (and rightly) told to s*d off an get a grip they hitched up their petticoats and flounced out.

Yes, we know LW's a pain, but to put it bluntly, every community has a village idiot. I should know as it's usually me. Having been a role player for many many years I'm fairly used to the idea that every group of individuals will have one member who borders on dysfunctional.

You adapt to that. I'm proud to say that some of my best mates were the worst dysfunctional ars*h*les in the group, but over a period of time they learnt to behave and we le learnt a bit of tolerance.

The fact that LW has been banned from two other communities is a red herring. What was he baned for? What were there moderation policies? Who enforced them. I mean, I've been banned from websites for daring to sugest that not all blues music is preferable to all other music.

I believe he was banned from startrek.com for spamming.

Gnomon and Orcus,

LW is anoying me. normaly I am easy going. he is far away so he does not bother me, but he posts so much in some of the threads and ignores request to be bit more keeping with spirit of thread.

I tried subtile hints he ignore. I even used an old kids song about bear that sailing went left and right, but could not find his way back! I know I am always understandable, but still a reacrion would be nice!

Gnomon and Orcus is always pleasure to read your postings!

pheloxi

What sort of spamming? Was he posting genuine 'spam' ie floods of unrelated topics or was it what I've seen him do here which is post repeatedly in the hope someone, anyone will talk to him?

I dunno, to be honest.

LW's "spam" isn't real spam. He just doesn't always understand what the conversation is about and posts an off topic inane remark which everyone ignores because it is off topic. Then he posts it again and again because everybody is ignoring him.