Vig.

[Joe Calabrese]

In case you're all wondering why I closed Vig's threads, he was banned today for being a jerk in other areas of the forum.

It may change, but as of now it is a permanent ban. Sorry to lose him.

[Optimus]

That kinda sucks. I didn't see any of the bad posts (they were already deleted), but it seems he got out of line.

It's happened before. Too bad it happened here.

Good writer, though.

[dpaterso]

Just as doctors were about to announce a medication cure for the message board variant of Tourette Syndrome! Let us share a solemn moment. OK, carry on.

-Derek
My Web Page - naked women, bestial sex, and whopping big lies. (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57)

[IWrite]

Some of the greatest writers of all-time were jerks. I think the writers in this community need to develop thicker skins. He's not the first person who had much to offer who was banned.

I have no idea what vig said on the other threads. But his insights and help to others should have been weighed against whatever childish things he said.

This thread is heavily weighted towards the newbies and those who don't understand the craft. It's a shame to lose someone who had a solid knowledge and good insights.

[Joe Calabrese]

It is a shame, but keep in mind this is a community with rules and guidelines.

When you join, you agreed to those terms.

Going around the board and calling people names and referring to this board's writing competition in a belittling way because you didn't make the cut is just not right and that is why he was banned for 2 days before and permanently this time around (in less than a week I might add).

Here in the screenwriting forum, we do have a thicker skin and can speak a little more off the cuff, but keep in mind that the other rooms are governed by other moderators and administrators that are not as forgiving and as I-- especially towards screenwriters who have been known as trouble makers since the board's inception on the other site.

With that said, read the rules of this room and the forum in general. I won't ban people for having an opinion or for speaking their mind, but I will when they clearly break the rules of this forum.

[maestrowork]

There are many great, published writers here who play nice and helpful. The bottomline is, vig has been warned multiple times about his behavior. He knew the rules at AW is "to respect and support your fellow writers" but outside of Screen Writing, he has once and again violated that. After being banned for a few days, he came back with another stinger (in the AW Idol forum).

It has nothing to do with his knowledge or talent or whether the other writers are thin-skinned or whatever. It is simply that vig refuses to observe the one basic rule on this board. I'm sure he would be happier playing somewhere else where they don't mind rudeness.

[Optimus]

Here in the screenwriting forum, we do have a thicker skin and can speak a little more off the cuff,
I hate you, Joe!

You're a poopy face!

[JennaGlatzer]

Some of the greatest writers of all-time were jerks. I think the writers in this community need to develop thicker skins. He's not the first person who had much to offer who was banned.

May I ask who else you're referring to? I think I've been an *extremely* tolerant board administrator, and can think of only one time when I was really frustrated that I had to ban someone because he/she offered good insights when not being a butthead. But the buttheadedness wound up outweighing the good insights.

I have no idea what vig said on the other threads. But his insights and help to others should have been weighed against whatever childish things he said.


They were... which is why he stuck around as long as he did and got a second chance. If he was giving tough critiques and someone complained, I'd say get a thicker skin. But that's not the case. He was being an outright jerk for no good reason, repeatedly, and I don't appreciate it when anyone drives other people away from this board.

[Joe Calabrese]

Stick and stone may break my bones, but Optimus will be dearly missed when I ban him. :wag:

[MacAllister]

Joe, I dunno--that sounded sort of like Opti passive-aggressive flirting talk...

[Celeste]

Stick and stone may break my bones, but Optimus will be dearly missed when I ban him. :wag:

LOL...That's cute!

You guys are so funny!

[IWrite]

Actually Jenna there were more than one -

Maia was very helpful to many, even if she was an opionated PITA sometimes and thought she knew more than she actually did.

Simon knew a hell of a lot and granted could have a nasty streak, but people were pretty damn nasty to him.

I know there were others, but those are the two that come to mind at the moment.

[StephieM]

Okay, what did I get myself into? You guys are goofy. But I like you. I always know where to get a good laugh. :roll:

[maestrowork]

Actually Jenna there were more than one -

Maia was very helpful to many, even if she was an opionated PITA sometimes and thought she knew more than she actually did.

Simon knew a hell of a lot and granted could have a nasty streak, but people were pretty damn nasty to him.

I know there were others, but those are the two that come to mind at the moment.

Funny you should mention Maia and Simon. Both were banned for the same reason why vig was.

Plain and simple, guys: respect and support your fellow writers.

Can't be more easily comprehensible than that....

;)

[Optimus]

I was never bothered by Simon's tone. I think it was more in defense of being attacked than anything else.

Maia was only helpful to people who didn't know enough to know that nothing she said was even close to correct or actually helpful. IMO, she did much more harm to new screenwriters than good.

[terryewalker]

Look and lean, and take it with a pich of salt. No use taking the hump if you can't take it.

And an old saying, "shouldn't have jointed if you can't take a joke".

[swollen sentence]

How do individuals who were actually banned stay banned? There are no firewalls to actually keep the banned person from the boards as another poster. Unfortunately Vig has been banned from other boards as well, and that administration dealt with him for years under other names. His attitude was far more abusive on those boards. I saw no personal attacks at anyone on this board.

From what I saw, Vig wasn't being overtly nasty. Vig may be rough around the edges and far to prickly for a community of writers such as this, but he did offer plenty of help to others and knew a great deal about screenwriting.

Could you put up the posts that led to his dissmisal so we can see what caused such a stir? Jenna, you run a great board, and Vig should have taken the original ban as a warning, but I have to say, in his defense, his reason for this ban is boardering on a mob mentality of a few writers who lack a sense of humor and thicker skin, as several have pointed out.

I saw the original thread on the Idol section and there was nothing that warranted a ban. If you can not call people to task, then what is the point?

I certainly hope this can be ironed out. It just seems to sad a situation to get over and I hope nobody does anything drastic. In times like these I liked to think what would Garp do?

[JennaGlatzer]

Hi,

There were a number of posts in question. To sum up, he was ridiculing all the finalists in the Absolute Write Idol contest, telling them that most of them didn't belong there (in multiple posts, after we'd already asked him to knock it off-- why make writers feel bad about something that wasn't even their decision?), telling people they were "ridiculous" and "ludicrous" for putting effort into entering, trying to make it look like something nefarious was going on and that one of the finalists had entered twice (he hadn't), attacking one member in particular, etc. Repeatedly, moderators and fellow members asked him to knock it off, and he paid no attention.

I don't expect this place to be sunshine and roses all the time, but people who can't show a basic level of respect for the other members on the board won't last here. I do try to weigh all the pros and cons and to keep the general membership in mind, and I think there's a huge difference between those who are just cantankerous and gruff (I actually like most of those people) versus those who are gratuitously insulting and cruel.

And Simon is the person I was referring to earlier. She had a lot to offer, and it drove me nuts that she couldn't keep her temper under control. (Yes, she.) She was causing way too much trouble in the Bewares section (*not* the screenwriting board), and I asked her a few times to tone it down, which she'd manage for a few days before blowing up again.

P.S. How do individuals who were actually banned stay banned?

I do have ways, but would rather not divulge so those in question can try to find ways to work around them!

[Joe Calabrese]

Swollen Sentence,

You are right. Vig can come back in another user name (even though we mods would know from the tools at our disposal), but if that form does the same things, he will be banned too.

The derogatory posts he made were deleted and if you read them you should agree that he deserved a ban too. Does that mean that we should put it out there to a vote? No. This is not a democracy. Jenna owns this board and she has ultimate decision on who stays and who goes.

She made rules we ALL must follow.

I will say that enough people were upset by it to complain and when Jenna read the posts she made the decision based on content and past behavior. Vig was warned several times.

If I did the same thing, I would expect to be banned too. No one is above the law.

[wurdwise]

As a refugee from another board I won't mention, I know how good a job this board does of moderating, and it isn't heavy handed or unfair. No moderation at all leaves people wide open to attacks from cruel people, and I love it that here, I don't have to worry about that. Not for one second to I think the moderators are unfair or biased, there is plenty of room for debate, I have read some heated ones, and that makes life interesting, you can say what you think here as long as you don't get personally nasty. But when people start attacking others, the gauntlet comes down, and that's a good thing. Go to a board that has no moderator and see how you like it, it really blows, because the anonymity of this screen leads people to say a lot of things I think they wouldn't otherwise. Like someone above said, how hard is one rule to comprehend, "respect?"

But I LOL when I read the post that just when the medical community was discovering a cure for message board Tourette's syndrome, that seems like what vig had. I didn't know vig, but I'm sorry you guys lost a good screenwriter because he didn't set himself boundaries here.

Great board. AW. Great job, Jenna and the mod squad.

Denise

[Joe Calabrese]

Wise words from Wurdwise.

With that said, let's move on. This thread is over. Let's get back to topics that relate to screenwriting.

Peace. :whip: