Bannings

[Steel God]

I have taken the unilateral decision to remove four players from the Blitz: McIvan, Tanker, DevilThomas, and Colonel Talvela.

If you are so unhappy with the Blitz, some or all of it's policies; some or all of it's staff; or some or all of it's players; that you have to post on other websites how bad things are (in some pretty horrible ways I might add) than I don't wish you to be unhappy any longer. Please, I wish you all the happiness that the world can give you, but it should be away from here, because we obviously are not what you consider the ideal of a war gaming Club to be.

Some questions may arise by my actions, I hope to have answered them below:

1) This is not a change in policy. As a general rule, I do not, and will not, go searching the internet for folks complaining about the Blitz. I prefer to ignore rumor and gossip and only act on what I see and hear here at the Blitz. If I find something out despite that, I have no choice but to deal with it. I'm human and I can't ignore the fact that you're smiling at us and bad mouthing us behind our backs, and what I saw was not an odd comment or two, but a long, sustained campaign, which included some pretty foul language.

2) I realize that these guys are well liked and have more than a few friends here. Heck I freely admit that I have enjoyed my conversations with some of them. So I understand completely if other members feel they too must leave the Blitz in a show of solidarity for them, or disgust with the Blitz. If you're so inclined we will gladly remove the records of any member who asks. Post here, drop an email or a PM, and we will do so, no questions asked. Otherwise, your records will remain as is until they go inactive in the usual fashion.

3) Some may say..."Well I'm their friend, am I next?" or similar. In short, no. If I saw no evidence of you in those posts, you're not in the list, and you are welcome to stay. If you wish to go anyway, please see Item 2), and again, no hard feelings and best wishes elsewhere.

4) Anyone playing these players has a week to report any games against them if you so desire, after which time their records will be shadowed and no more games can be reported against them.

The bottom line in all of this that the Blitz is what it is. We try and manage to the ideals and the rules that Jim established in 1999. If there's anything about these facts that just rubs you the wrong way, we respect your right to disagree, but if you want to fight about it, we're not interested. We make no money on this web site. Not one cent is made by clicking this URL. So if we have 50 members or 500 members, or 5000 members, it's all the same to us. We are here and we provide the services we do for folks who are wish to be here and abide by the rules we have in place. If you can't do that, for whatever reason, it's cool. We'll miss you, but you should move on. If it comes to pass that the Blitz is just out of step with the mainstream, and all our members go elsewhere, that's okay too, at that date and time we'll roll the banners, turn out the lights, and close up, happy and proud of what we have done to date. But as long as there are players who want to play here, under the guidelines we provide, we'll be here to support those players.

My sincere apologies to the membership, to the Staff, and to the Owners for anyone who is insulted or upset by my actions.

[Mikey_FGM]

If you are so unhappy with the Blitz, some or all of it's policies; some or all of it's staff; or some or all of it's players; that you have to post on other websites how bad things are (in some pretty horrible ways I might add) than I don't wish you to be unhappy any longer. Please, I wish you all the happiness that the world can give you, but it should be away from here, because we obviously are not what you consider the ideal of a war gaming Club to be.

Your saying that four players have been permanently banned for whining on some other websites?

Certainly there can be a negotiated settlement that would make the termination of these four gentlemen unnecessary.

Maybe a week long probation.

Before calling out the firing squad, maybe a level-headed, no BS discussion could calm the waters, and clear some bad blood.

[Hawk Kriegsman]

If you are so unhappy with the Blitz, some or all of it's policies; some or all of it's staff; or some or all of it's players; that you have to post on other websites how bad things are (in some pretty horrible ways I might add) than I don't wish you to be unhappy any longer. Please, I wish you all the happiness that the world can give you, but it should be away from here, because we obviously are not what you consider the ideal of a war gaming Club to be.

Your saying that four players have been permanently banned for whining on some other websites?

Certainly there can be a negotiated settlement that would make the termination of these four gentlemen unnecessary.

Maybe a week long probation.

Before calling out the firing squad, maybe a level-headed, no BS discussion could calm the waters, and clear some bad blood.

Without getting into all the details everything you advocate has been done.

This has been going on for years. No other remedies have seemed to work.

Thanx!

[Steel God]

Your saying that four players have been permanently banned for whining on some other websites?

Certainly there can be a negotiated settlement that would make the termination of these four gentlemen unnecessary.

Maybe a week long probation.

Before calling out the firing squad, maybe a level-headed, no BS discussion could calm the waters, and clear some bad blood.

Mikey;

It was regretably, not just whining, in my opinion. It was real issues that were never going to be resolved to their satisfaction. I feel that I have done everything I could do to try and please these gentlemen, with one exception, which was to remove a member of the staff who was selected for his duties by Jim personally. At the end of the day the running of the Blitz is not something that is open for negotiations with the members. If you like what we do and who we are, we are pleased to provide you our services. If you don't like who we are, or what we do, we encourage you to find a place more in line with your gaming style. I assure you, I did this with reluctance.

Paul

[Mike Abberton]

It's too bad, but this was certainly not sudden. There was quite an attempt made to help be as inclusive as possible here, i.e. the petition and its results. And I think things in the CM section have improved tremendously since Bootie and Wigam stepped up and took over.

As I mentioned in the Suggestion Box thread on QBs, I don't really frequent any other wargaming clubs on-line, but if they are as disatisfied as Paul implies (and I trust Paul completely) then this is probably for the best.

Take heart Paul, it sounds like you did the only thing you could. And if the worst ever happens and the Blitz closes down, I'll be there to help you sweep the floors or something.

[Copper]

Thanks for the nod Mike. As for the Blitz closing down anytime soon... I just cant see it myself. If you step outside the little CM corner of the web you can see the Blitz is thriving across the majority of its communities. Sometimes we fail to see the bigger picture outside the CM board but I can tell you now there are some exciting things planned for the future of our club.

:)

[mTk(FGM)]

As a former member of the disgruntled "21" I had an opportunity to listen to, and eventually appreciate, Steel God's style in handling of things then. Basically, I came to admire his clear dedication, fairness and even-handedness in representing and governing all things Blitz.

That said I have no doubt that those banned crossed over the line and cannot possibly be surprised by the result.

What I cannot understand, and never will, is how one can get so worked up about the operation of a wargaming club so as to warrant getting banned. :conf:

[Copper]

mTk man... I know exactly where you are coming from. I was embroiled in it all a while back too but having taken a step back realised how pathetic it all really was... now I just wargame and have a laugh at the antics. Needless to say Im glad we here at the Blitz have put that all behind us now and hopefully we can start getting some of the ideas for the Blitz that have been put on the back burner due to other nonsense issues of the ground and running.

[wigam]

Hear Hear! :)

[Hedgehog]

Lads for goodness sake play the bloody game, like mtk says how the hell can people get worked up to get there selves banned....I think they should get a few more games on the go and keep them selves occupied....


Ted