GW Corporate

[weeble1000]

Ah, I see what you meant. As you wrote it, it sounded like you were claiming that when eldargal said people, you thought she meant you.

Also, if you're being amniable, you should probably start sounding like it. I've seen your posts in other threads, and despite your claim here from what I've seen you consistantly sound condescending and argumentative. Maybe you don't mean to come off that way, but don't talk **** when you're being hypocritical.

Don't talk **** if you don't want to get talked **** to.

See, I talked **** to you because you talked **** to me. I did not talk **** to Eldargal because while we have differing opinions I have found her to be polite, cogent, informative, and civil even while vehemently disagreeing. Thus I endeavor to respond in kind.

There's no reason for discussions to devolve, and it is posts like your that encourage such devolution. Did you really have to leap in dramatically and defend Eldargal from a fairly benign response on my part? You went straight to pointing out that I was wrong without couching that statement in much of any civility.

Maybe you could have started with 'I don't think Eldargal was responding to you in particular. I think she was just making a broader point about these buyout predictions.'

If you were concerned about my tone you could have added something like, 'I could be wrong, but it seems like you feel she was insulting you or something, and I do not think she intended to do so'.

Then you could have added something productive and constructive to the discussion like, 'I do agree with what Eldargal said. I personally think that these predictions of a buyout are rather premature. There isn't very much data to go on, not that I have seen at any rate, and it seems an awful lot like wishful thinking to me.'

There's a difference between something like that and what you wrote, which is objectively antagonistic on the page regardless of how one decides to interpret it.

Let's break it down:

The entirety of your post was an attempt to pick out one part of what I wrote and demonstrate that I was objectively incorrect, leaving open no possibility for the error to in fact be yours in any way, shape, or form. As written, you were telling me that I am wrong and you are right.

Second, my response was to Eldargal's post, not yours. This implies that you went out of your way to assert your rightness and my wrongness.

To top it all off, you threw in the statement "You are not legion," which clearly implies that I am in some way self absorbed, grandiose, narcissistic, puffed up, etc. and so forth. The implication was that I believed that I am in fact "legion," which again represented you telling me that I am wrong, only in a more insulting manner.

I think your post was unnecessary, aggressive, and unproductive. That is a pretty terrible trifecta. But you are absolutely right that I have a more aggressive tone on BOLS Lounge than anywhere else on the internet. This is because the posts on BOLS are on the whole both far less constructive and informed than those on other wargaming forums and on the whole more antagonistic and aggressive on top of that.

Most of the time when I post something, even something incredibly benign, on BOLS it is met with derision, insults, umbrage, and hyperbole. This is simply another example. You went right for the throat; jumped right in with you're wrong, I'm right. That kind of behavior is a great way to start arguments.

With more than 8,000 posts under your belt, you should be aware of how to engage in respectful dialog with people of differing opinions. But as you seem to have trouble with that, your 8,000+ post count is a really strong indication of why the BOLS Loung writ large seems to have such a negative and antagonistic atmosphere.

Maybe you should consider the manner in which you post and think about the impact that has on the quality of the discussion on the forums you seem to clearly enjoy so well.

[DarkLink]

Well, not really worth derailing the thread with a flame war. Chill out, dude, it's the internet. Try not to take it too seriously.

[weeble1000]

Well, not really worth derailing the thread with a flame war. Chill out, dude, it's the internet. Try not to take it too seriously.

This is quite amusing. See, you were the first to make an antagonistic post, and you were the first to asterisk out profanity. Pretend to take the high road all you like, but just because I wrote more than you did does not mean I escalated anything, and it does not mean I am the one being antagonistic and profane. And a plea to not take the internets seriously is pretty amusing coming from the guy who A) jumped in half cocked to attack a perfectly polite response to someone else's post and B) accuses someone of talking **** when being hypocritical.

Eldargal never said that you yourself said that. She said that people in general have been saying that. You are not legion.

Maybe you don't mean to come off that way, but don't talk **** when you're being hypocritical.

You want to see escalation, hypocricy, and antagonism, all you have to do is read your posts.

[DarkLink]

My first post was no more intended to insult than your response to eldargal. If it pissed you off, well, my bad, but considering your overwrought response I don't really feel bad. Your response to my response sounded condescending, and in your own words, which I see you edited away, was "not amniable". So I said, more or less, 'dude, don't be a dick'. If you don't feel like you were being rude, then my bad, but then your next post literally accused me of singlehandedly causing an atmosphere of "less constructive, less informed, more aggressive, and antagonistic" on bols, which I think is actually the most insulting thing anyone has ever said to me on this forum. So, meh. If you want to jump to conclusions about me as a person, go right ahead. I don't mind. I didn't really mean to say anything more than 'chill out, you're sounding kinda rude, and then you're being kinda hypocritical for accusing other people of sounding rude while you're sounding kinda rude'. If you take such personal offense to that that you feel like writing essays on how terrible I am as a person, then carry on, I guess. But holding grudges is probably bad for your blood pressure.

Anyways, with how secretive GW tends to be, and if as daboarder says GW has consistently managed themselves to maximize their stock as if prepping for a merger or acquisition, then without hearing anything specific I personally wouldn't make any calls. Then again, I'm generally more of a wait and see sort of guy.

(pssst, it's really actually daboarder who's dragging bols down, that guy's a total ***, just look at his signature ).

[weeble1000]

I see you are continuing the "flame war" you felt was off topic.

I explained why your first post was aggressive, insulting, and completely unproductive. It's fairly objective and not a matter of opinion. If you wanted to tell me to chill, I already explained how there was a far more polite way to do that. You respond with insults and profanity and you think that isn't dragging down the forum?

And there was no need to tell me to chill in the first place. My post was perfectly polite. If you feel the need to jump in when there's absolutely no need to and reprimand someone for no good reason, how does that promote healthy discussion. My response to you was indeed a bit condescending, but if you are going to wade in swinging you should be able to take a little chaffing in response without resorting to profanity and insults. If you can't, we'll, with 8,000 posts of that sort of behavior on these boards...what do you expect the environment to be like. Seriously, a little self evaluation goes a long way.

[DarkLink]

I don't think that saying "hey, didn't really mean to insult you" counts as continuing a flame war. If you find me a little blunt and profane, less than a year ago I was literally a yes/no away from being an officer in the USMC, decided civil engineering was a better fit, and now I work on construction sites. It's a wonder I don't ******* swear after every ******* ************** word now. Though funnily enough, most of what I picked up from the OCS Marines was frikin'. They say it like a shy kid says 'ummm'. And then Gunnery Sergeant Yahzee said "doggon frikin' " after literally every other word. But at this point I'm kind of just rambling.

[lattd]

I'm going to agree with they are not ramping up for a merger, I think they are just being much more efficient. Also people chill out a bit no need to get so aggressive I find bols is a very nice forum compared to many others, so let's try and keep it that way.

[eldargal]

I made a prediction.

Eldargal indirectly responded to my prediction by stating that she believed there to be a "problem" with it and explained that the problem related to the prediction having been made for a long time without ever thus far being correct. She lumped those that have made such a prediction together as a collective that has been making said prediction for 20 years, which can simply be taken as her making a point about the reliability of predictions based on a scanty amount of data, confirmation bias, etc., and need not have been taken literally.

I responded by amiably pointing out that my prediction is inherently unrelated to the prior predictions of others.

This was not a confrontational dialog, nor am I claiming to speak for everyone. Eldargal was however most likely responding to what I had written, which is perfectly fine, but in doing so she inherently lumped me together with the "we" who had been saying the same thing for 20 years. She made a fine point, understanding, as I expect, that my prediction is not related to the prior predictions of others and not intending to be taken literally.

I merely made explicit the point that I am independent of her rhetorical "we" for the benefit of folks such as yourself.

I am sure that Eldargal can shed some light on this matter.

I wasn't really responding you actually, I was really just expressing my bemusement that this discussion has been going on so long with people seeing signs of possible pre-acquisition for so long. As I said that doesn't mean it won't happen, it may well happen and if it does I think it would probably be a good thing for the hobby (GW with the kind of capital Hasbro could invest into them...). I'm absolutely not saying 'ha! all you people saying it now are wrong because other people have been saying it since the early nineties!' I'm just amused that it's such a pervasive idea, it's nearly always Hasbro that is mentioned as well.

My personal opinion is that I am sceptical that GW are preparing for a merger, but that's only because I'm sceptical of any kind of armchair analysis of business dealings by community members however knowledgeable some may be (like yourself, weeble). This doesn't mean I take issue with people who think it will happen or that it is some kind of kneejerk defense of GW (which no one here has implied). I just think predicting the behaviour of GW is fraught with peril and the path littered with predictions that were wrong.

[Mr Mystery]

It's also alleged to have happened months ago, according to unsubstantiated rumours.

But no official announcement. Which is required in the UK for plc's.

[eldargal]

Yeah, when we get to the 'rumour of secret corporate meetings' I just stop reading.