An open letter - to Old Paladin and Weeble

[Denzark]

Dear Old Paladin

I am sorry to read your last post in the corporate section, in which you seemed to express exasperation with the comments of Weeble, to the point at which you wished us well and said you were not posting again. I fully acknowledge Weeble has been condescending, patronising, single minded, unopen to reason, downright rude, and lastly (possibly worst of all to an erudite wit like myself,) boring. However, you have contributed far more to the BoLS community than he has, and I would beg you to reconsider.

If someone came to a single thread and started repeating the same one-track mantra again and again, they would be considered trolls and eventually would meet the just retribution of the banhammer. We can only hope that soon the Mods will realise Weeble is doing this not with one thread, but using the site as his battleground of choice to pursue his single minded issue of hate against GW, and is offending people to the extreme point which you have reached. I am sure in what is known as one of the more reasonable sites out there, they will clamp his behaviour with the force of an exterminatus and you feel able to return.

Dear Weeble,

I will try to keep my comments succinct (unlike the majority of yours) and without the benefit of my awe inspiring vocabulary of obscenities, which were this my website, I would not hesitate to unleash in your direction.

I respect loyalty to ones friends, and even to companies that inspire loyalty. But, your approach to the CHS issue became flawed when you actively encouraged people to take action whose intent was to damage GW, ie actively seek to purchase elsewhere purely based not on cost or quality of goods, but purely based on something not being GW. Your timing wasn't random; it coincided with a supposed massive loss warning (which somehow never materialised) at a time you thought the company vulnerable and prone to such histrionics. Whilst I would happily admit GW is many miles from perfect, encouraging people to kick a man whilst down smacks of mob mentality no true gentleman would like.

Your coming on the site not to contribute to all forums, but purely to ram the opinion that the GW case against CHS is doomed, down all our throats, is now beyond tedious - all the negative attributes I ascribe to your method of doing so above, apply and are growing - multiple posts in a row with acres of text.

Mr Big Red sometimes describes this as a bar where we should play rough but not throw punches, in that metaphor you have become the looney who comes up uninvited and sits down at your table, and then spouts his monotonous cack.

Quite frankly any sympathy I had for CHS has been long blown by you as their most vocal (only vocal?) supporter, who talks about them achieving pro bono representation as a new naive set of parents announce with great biblical wonder, the passing of the first stool of their firstborn child.

I wonder, having slated CHS for their patronising tone in trying to gain support, if actually you are a cover for them to brief supposedly legal privileged information to try and influence us and/or the case.

Quite simply in the Big Red bar scenario, you have passed the stage where being invited outside would be reasonable, and have arrived where a Begby-esque deployment of a flying pint glass would be acceptable by even the most passive of us.

Shame at you for boring away a long time contributor to this site Sir.

Mods

I hope that was you who locked his last drivel that drove away Old Paladin. I really think if you want to continue enticing (ex) GW luminaries to give interviews, you should be carefull how much of the bilious babbling banal bullshoit boll*cks you allow him to spout. Truly, BoLS lost would be DAKKA-SEERS gain.
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.
.
.
.
.
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(for those too thick this is the subtle English art of irony)

[Connjurus]

Quite frankly any sympathy I had for CHS has been long blown by you as their most vocal (only vocal?) supporter, who talks about them achieving pro bono representation as a new naive set of parents announce with great biblical wonder, the passing of the first stool of their firstborn child.


This...this is art. I salute you, sir.

[Denzark]

Spasiba tovarich!

[geisthammer]

Rip old paladin...you will be missed.

[eldargal]

I sent a PM to Old Paladin yesterday asking him to reconsider. I may disagree with this opinion of CHS, but leaving over such a petty issue would be a great shame.

[Aldramelech]

Dear Old Paladin

I am sorry to read your last post in the corporate section, in which you seemed to express exasperation with the comments of Weeble, to the point at which you wished us well and said you were not posting again. I fully acknowledge Weeble has been condescending, patronising, single minded, unopen to reason, downright rude, and lastly (possibly worst of all to an erudite wit like myself,) boring. However, you have contributed far more to the BoLS community than he has, and I would beg you to reconsider.

If someone came to a single thread and started repeating the same one-track mantra again and again, they would be considered trolls and eventually would meet the just retribution of the banhammer. We can only hope that soon the Mods will realise Weeble is doing this not with one thread, but using the site as his battleground of choice to pursue his single minded issue of hate against GW, and is offending people to the extreme point which you have reached. I am sure in what is known as one of the more reasonable sites out there, they will clamp his behaviour with the force of an exterminatus and you feel able to return.

Dear Weeble,

I will try to keep my comments succinct (unlike the majority of yours) and without the benefit of my awe inspiring vocabulary of obscenities, which were this my website, I would not hesitate to unleash in your direction.

I respect loyalty to ones friends, and even to companies that inspire loyalty. But, your approach to the CHS issue became flawed when you actively encouraged people to take action whose intent was to damage GW, ie actively seek to purchase elsewhere purely based not on cost or quality of goods, but purely based on something not being GW. Your timing wasn't random; it coincided with a supposed massive loss warning (which somehow never materialised) at a time you thought the company vulnerable and prone to such histrionics. Whilst I would happily admit GW is many miles from perfect, encouraging people to kick a man whilst down smacks of mob mentality no true gentleman would like.

Your coming on the site not to contribute to all forums, but purely to ram the opinion that the GW case against CHS is doomed, down all our throats, is now beyond tedious - all the negative attributes I ascribe to your method of doing so above, apply and are growing - multiple posts in a row with acres of text.

Mr Big Red sometimes describes this as a bar where we should play rough but not throw punches, in that metaphor you have become the looney who comes up uninvited and sits down at your table, and then spouts his monotonous cack.

Quite frankly any sympathy I had for CHS has been long blown by you as their most vocal (only vocal?) supporter, who talks about them achieving pro bono representation as a new naive set of parents announce with great biblical wonder, the passing of the first stool of their firstborn child.

I wonder, having slated CHS for their patronising tone in trying to gain support, if actually you are a cover for them to brief supposedly legal privileged information to try and influence us and/or the case.

Quite simply in the Big Red bar scenario, you have passed the stage where being invited outside would be reasonable, and have arrived where a Begby-esque deployment of a flying pint glass would be acceptable by even the most passive of us.

Shame at you for boring away a long time contributor to this site Sir.

Mods

I hope that was you who locked his last drivel that drove away Old Paladin. I really think if you want to continue enticing (ex) GW luminaries to give interviews, you should be carefull how much of the bilious babbling banal bullshoit boll*cks you allow him to spout. Truly, BoLS lost would be DAKKA-SEERS gain.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(for those too thick this is the subtle English art of irony)


I cannot agree Zark.

I don't see anything wrong with Weebles thread and think that his aim was to only inform anyone who was interested in the issue. He does have his own opinions on the matter and his commentary is slanted toward those opinions, but everybody does that, show me a completely unbiased newspaper article.

Whilst his condemnation of GW might seem extreme to some, I have found some peoples defense equally extreme. I am an old school wargamer from a happier era before large cooperations moved in and although the rise of GW and their ilk has had advantages, there are huge disadvantages too and I am against anything or anyone that tries to gain unwarranted influence in the hobby as a whole, tells people what they can and cannot do with their toys or tries to stifle creativity. You can count BOLS new buddies Battlefront in that category too.

I do not spend anything near like the time I used to spend here on BOLS and that is partly because I have moved away from GW and into more competitively priced systems that are better catered for elsewhere and partly because of the the rabidly pro GW attitude that prevails here. This site has a reputation for "Fan Boys" but I liked to think that, like gamers everywhere, there was a an independent spirit and most of the membership here were free spirited, free thinking individuals who would not be told what to do by "The Man", it seems I was wrong.

I have stopped posting my work here some months ago, I didn't see the point anymore, no one was reading it because it doesn't consist of anything GW related, this included non BF WW2, Incursion, Secrets of the Third Reich and Black Scorpion Pirates. BOLS loss is several other forums gain.

My visits here have become more and more brief, outside of the 40K and Warhammer sections nothing seems to happen, no one seems interested. The one reason in the last few weeks Ive bothered visiting at all was weebles reporting on the GW/Chapterhouse battle.

If your so annoyed and incensed by what is being said, don't quit the forum, just don't read it. If your so bored by the issue or the reporting, don't read it.

As far as I can see Weeble has not been rude to anyone, unless you count engaging in intelligent argument rude.

Denzark, although I can see that Weebles stance annoys the hell out of you and you disagree strongly with him, was this really necessary? This constitutes a very personal attack on the man and is IMO out of order and against the rules of the forum.

Sorry Guv, there it is............

[Denzark]

Mme L'Eldargal

A well reasoned comment as usual, this is why I am at the forefront of the legions who worship at your temple;)

Mr A

I'm sorry bud and I have tried to leave well alone, but when it gets to the point where people bang out then something needs to be said - in the same way when you had your spat with he who shall not be named (OK BuffO) and you disappeared - this was a tragedy for the site as you have been one of the most worthwhile and prolific contributors.

The difference in this case is that Weebs only comes on after one thing, and Buffo at least gave value in other areas.

I think where we differ over GW is that whilst you see it as the man to be fought and held in contempt citizen Smith stylee (is this what I mean, I shouldn't use 70's metaphors with my tender years), I have come to see GW as a monolithic mostrosity that is unavoidable and a necessary evil - think NHS or MOD. This is why I use their fluff (the necessary evil) and purchase almost everything else from elsewhere - and many of my minis are much less than 50% GW shall we say.

I wish I could get into an alternate games system but like the 19 year veteran on the pension trap (you know what I mean) I have many years and thousasnds of GW pounds and points and it just ain't worth it - I'm starting to lay down all painted 2k+ armies for pete's sake!

Anyhoo I will happily and humbly pass apologies if this approach offends anybody (my main army is WorldEaters so hey, up the middle and sod the smoke) with the exception of to Mr Weeble, who will receive no such courtesy until he makes amends to Ole Paladin.

PS Wrt 'the hobby' versus 'The Hobby' a la GW. I have always taken the GW Hobby capital H, to mean collecting citadel miniatures and paints, modelling them, then playingone of their table top games; I take the wider wargaming hobby to mean any conflict based simulation played on a table, with a board or not, or with miniatures or card pieces to represent multiple personnel forces and with a dice or other randomiser to affect outcome. GW can claim 'The Hobby' but will never claim the wider wargaming hobby - with their insistence they will not produce historical miniatures as at last profit reports, I don't even think they are trying to - making their shops one stop buy it all places to get 'soccer moms' to get little timmy into wargaming, and trying to make those shops weapon of choice, is surely not i-or-a-moral - just a company carrying out its duty to its share holders.

[Old_Paladin]

To clarify things;
I am not leaving because of Weeble; I've had my words with him, and that's that. We are two headstrong individuals that have, ultimately, completely non-compatible views of the world.

Aldra is actually pretty much spot on; the timing of my choice was just poor.
Quite frankly, while I love this hobby dearly (I read some Black-Library almost everyday) it has been over a year since my last game and well over six months since I put paint to brush.
I have little connection left to the hobby as of late, and feel distance from those that do.


The new Grey Knights have given me a spark of joy (and I'm now glad that I never touched my AoBR marines), but I've been impassioned by ideas before, and, everytime, it eventually ended up never coming to pass.

Perhaps if I'm able to actually commit to building a Grey Knights force, I'll return here and post my progress or accomplishments; but until the time I can prove to myself that I can commit some time to actually doing something, I will not be back.

[Denzark]

OK, Paladin, sorry its that way, your timing and commentary left me rather confused with others.

I therefore publicly apologise to Weebs for accusing him of responsibility, when it is clearly not the case.

Whilst I regret expressing them so stringently, my comments about your manner would be for nought if you expressed fact about the case and tried to be less inflammatory in challenging people to out-reason your pseudo-legal nous.

Also, if this site does have the fanboy rep that Mr A mentions, it is a strange place to conduct a jihad against GW but hey.

[Drew da Destroya]

Also, if this site does have the fanboy rep that Mr A mentions, it is a strange place to conduct a jihad against GW but hey.

Well, there's something to be said about a frontal assault against your opponent's gate. Up the middle and sod the smoke, right?

Plus, if you can change the opinions of the fanboys, or at least leave them more informed, then you've accomplished something.

I've been pretty interested in this case, and the reporting of it, but considerably less interested with the fighting that's been going on around said reporting.

[pablowest]

This...this is art. I salute you, sir.

Yeah right. I agree with what you say. It is really an artistic one. :D

[Aldramelech]

And this needed to be dragged up because?

[Inquisitor Hate Machine]

To clarify things;
I am not leaving because of Weeble; I've had my words with him, and that's that. We are two headstrong individuals that have, ultimately, completely non-compatible views of the world.

Aldra is actually pretty much spot on; the timing of my choice was just poor.
Quite frankly, while I love this hobby dearly (I read some Black-Library almost everyday) it has been over a year since my last game and well over six months since I put paint to brush.
I have little connection left to the hobby as of late, and feel distance from those that do.


The new Grey Knights have given me a spark of joy (and I'm now glad that I never touched my AoBR marines), but I've been impassioned by ideas before, and, everytime, it eventually ended up never coming to pass.

Perhaps if I'm able to actually commit to building a Grey Knights force, I'll return here and post my progress or accomplishments; but until the time I can prove to myself that I can commit some time to actually doing something, I will not be back.

Hey buddy, Let me show you this game I recently picked up while taking a break from Warhammer... It can be played at a much smaller scale, with only a few models on the board if you like! It has action, refreshingly well written rules, and the Warjacks are just crazy!

Why dont you step over here to this 4'x4' table and let me run you through a game.... shouldn't last more than 15 minutes mate ... ;)