[B.T.]

Originally Posted by Targan

I've said this a number of times, but it bears repeating: THE CURRENT TROUBLES ON THIS FORUM DO NOT HAVE CANON VS NON-CANON AT THEIR CORE.

Not one single member here is openly advocating that everyones' T2K campaigns must conform to canon.
But heed my words, friends - WE ARE BEING MANIPULATED. Much of the recent vitriol has been deliberately reignited solely to feed one man's perverse pleasure.

Everyone, take a step back if you will, look over the more contentious posts of the past few weeks, and analyse them with with a critical eye and with regard to what I've said in this post. There is a pattern at work here, and it's malicious and fully intentional. Don't buy into it. We're better than that.

Originally Posted by Webstral

The issue at hand is not canon, though disagreements about published materials versus artistic license are the means by which the issue is being expressed. At issue is the culture of this Board—specifically, how we handle disagreements. Integrating new people and ideas can be painful because the relationships and the norms have to be reset, which is one reason why the new is not necessarily good just by being new. We went down this road a while ago and managed to establish a tolerable equilibrium after a couple of members received temporary bans.
This reminds me of something I have not said pointedly enough: this is a gentlemen’s club. We don’t do business here the way business is done in most of the other forums devoted to gaming or military interests. Those of us who have been here for any length of time like the culture the way it has come to be, more or less.
The real question is whether we are going to defend the existing norms—the existing culture—or not.
I intend to defend the existing norms of the culture from this point onward. Kato went into self-imposed exile rather than tell some folks that we don’t sit in the smoking lounge with one hand down our pants. I’m staying here. We chew with our mouths closed. We swallow before we begin speaking. We do not boorishly browbeat our fellow members of the forum. We behave with grace. We agree with grace, and we disagree with grace. The more vehemently we disagree, the more important that grace becomes. We are not in court, where a measure of drama and chicanery impresses a jury. We are in a group of our peers.
I have a prediction: tomorrow or the next day, one of the regulars here will PM me expressing a measure of regret for his recent confrontational words. This will be in keeping with the culture, which is why people here generally respect him. Another person is going to attempt to justify and rationalize his confrontational words rather than take ownership of them. This is not in keeping with the culture. One of those two people is going to be on a short list of folks whose membership cards I am going to actively seek to revoke in defense of what we have here at the gentlemen’s club.

Originally Posted by James Langham

We are greater than the sum of the parts.

Web, what you've written is from the bottom of my heart. It is the question, if we, as a community, keep up our way of debating gentlemanly! This is, after all, one of the reasons, why I (and supposingly a lot of the other members) joined this particularly board.

What Targan wrote, seems evenly to be true. At least, that's the way, I see it.

And what James said, should be true, if we stick to the etablated and proven way of dealing with one another.

There have been postings in that thread, that could have been quoted by myself, but I don't think, this is necessary: You've got the idea, and I am glad, that so many added their personal views.

It is very important, to have new views and ideas. But the "newbys" should "behave". (To make that clear: I still consider myself being a "newby", and the oldtimers should behave accordingly!)