the truth
I have avoided responding to this thread up until now because I did not want to be accused of egging thomastem on. Now that he has outright named me in this thread (via his posted PM request to Mike Haven), I am posting this to set the record straight. Please hear me out.
Yes, I notified the moderator (Mat) of thomastem's offensive posts. That is where the truth in thomastem's post at the top of this thread stops. I will say this for the guy, however - he certainly knows how to put his own unique spin on the "truth" in an attempt to gain sympathy. Here is what I sent to Mat via PM:
Yesterday, thomastem started a nonsensical thread about me. I didn't say anything to him about it and hoped he would just go away if I ignored him. For the second day in a row, he has done the same thing. His harassment is unfounded and no doubt violates this site's terms and conditions. I'm not the only person he has harassed but he seems to have selected me as his temporary target of choice. Will you please delete the offending posts?
As you can see, what prompted me to write to Mat was not thomastem's penchant for spamming, his inane sense of humor, or his unholy fascination with "critters." Rather, thomastem had gone on a crusade of sorts as a result of my having posted a message about the results of the "What's Wrong With the SS Forum?" thread poll. He started two threads on consecutive days that did nothing but make direct attacks against me. He also made no fewer than eight posts in threads started by others in which he made rude and inappropriate references regarding me. In fact, at the time I wrote to Mat, ten out of thomastem's previous twelve posts were personally critical towards me. Nobody should have to put up with that, so I used the "notify moderator" button in each post. My concerns were obviously justified, as evidenced by the immediate removal of those posts.
What thomastem oh-so-conveniently failed to mention in his post(s) is the fact that a few months ago he and I discussed, both on this board and (when that started highjacking certain threads) via private message, an agreement whereby he would not say negative things about me. I thought we had reached such an agreement, but he broke it within a mere forty-eight hours by starting a thread solely dedicated to attacking me. I asked Mat to delete the thread, which he promptly did. I thought the matter was resolved, but apparently it had just lain dormant until thomastem's most recent bout of rudeness as detailed above.
In summary, I have tried to reason with, and then ignore, thomastem regarding his unreasonable actions toward me. When that failed, and as a last resort, I simply asked the moderator to remove the offending posts. I did not request that thomastem be banned or that any sanction be taken against him. His reaction to Mat's warnings shows he is hell-bent to get himself banned entirely on his own. He has nobody to blame for his problems but himself.
This may be "just" an anonymous Internet message board, but it is also a community and a very valuable asset. Within this community are many people whose opinions I value. I have participated in the 2+2 forums for over three years now, was a charter and regular member of the shorthanded game study group, and have been a semi-regular at the 2+2 table on PartyPoker. I believe I have remained on good (and certainly no worse than neutral) terms with all but one of you during that time. I hope this episode has not changed that fact for the worse. Thank you for your time.
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