No Flame War!

[Rodger Thorm <dqn@earthlink.net>]

There is no need for a flame war in any newsgroup not devoted to that purpose.  The DragonQuest groups that I have established and moderated have done rather well without a lot of involvement on my part, and I'd like to see things continue along those lines.

Anyone who starts a flame war (or who contributes to it) *WILL* be held responsible for their actions.  A public forum has a right to expect a reasonable level of decorum from its participants, and we who act as moderators try to serve to maintain that level.

Ad hominem attacks, name calling, profanity, and general belligerence are all unsuitable for a polite and reasoned discussion forum devoted to a recreational passtime.  Anyone who cannot adhere to those reasonable standards should refrain from posting messages in such a forum.

To be fair here, I'm replying here because I am the moderator and founder of this group.  But I have also been involved in the discussion, and I don't want to be seen as taking sides or using my administrator status to throw my weight around.  I've asked on of the other group moderators to watch over this discussion, and to take action as may be necessary. 

Please everyone remember that a lot of people tend to write conversationally instead of formally when sending email messages of any sort.  And a lot of conversational nuance is lost when all that you have is plain text.  Something meant as a wry remark or a gentle jab can be taken by someone else as a personal attack.

I didn't see any malice, slander, or meanspiritedness in the reply message, but you clearly took offense.

In the future, I'd ask that all of you taking a reasoned minute before flaming off a reply when you feel you've been attacked.  Try to work it out with the other party before stomping all over the rest of us.  While you may be passionate about whatever is in dispute, most of the rest of us probably aren't, and you aren't doing much good for yourself or anyone else by starting a flame war.

By and large, this is a community of common interest, and the groups have done quite well with only very minimal intervention required from the moderators.  We would like to keep it that way, and appreciate everyone's cooperation to that end.

  --Rodger Thorm
  dq-rules Moderator