TelegramSam wrote:
I've been at this board a couple years, and I can say with confidence that it used to be a much friendlier place. I used to be very pleasantly surprised at how much different this place was than other internet communites. I'm sorry to say, though, that it's looking more and more like any other random message board. I don't know what the source of the growing tension is here, but it's gotten slowly and progressively worse and worse, like a tiny spot that grows into a sore and eventually a festering wound. Serpent won't be the last person to leave.
I disagree. I think we weathered the worst of it, mostly around politics and less so of Jessie's unhappy times and peoples reactions, for and against. Her life changes have pretty much let a lot of sunshine in the room, as far as I am concerned. If there is growing tension, I think it revolves around Serpent, frankly, and he has provided the solution, if its permanent.
Lately, we have been kickin' around some of the same contentious topics but in a much more civil way. Some of us may be hardened into polarized camps about a given issue and just don't bother trying to communicate. One very decent guy left this Board because of the sheer number of anti-American detractors so I suppose that would strenghten Sam's assertion in an unexpected way. i feel that some, who once expressed very extreme reactions to things, have tempered their words in the desire to keep it civil. It's a tangible sense to me, notwithstanding Sam's assertion.
There is no easy way to say this but I will try. With enough life experience, a person can sometimes see that a very artistic and emotionally sophisticated person can appear in many guises, leaving very conflicting impressions among different people. That sophisticated person may or may not have base motives and with layers of manipulative stances, only God knows whether they are base or not. To an extent, I have been judged in similar ways in my own life. It so happens that this is basically a music forum and musicians happen to often fall into this category. Spend enough time rehearsing and performing with folk and this becomes very familiar, especially with entrepeneurs like music agents and instrument builders.
I am complex, Jessie and Loren are complex and so is Serpent. All of us have been misunderstood and harshly judged at one time or another for a single facet of our personality. Its our posts and follow-ups that have shaped ultimate perceptions. You have to look at the total, I think, to make your judgment.
I learned from my days of selling guitars and being friendly with builders that you should never march for another man's army, no matter how great they seem. You will be used in the end and diminish yourself in the process. Defending Bill at this point falls into the category. The guy said he was leaving and left. If you think ill of him, for others to defend him strengthens the suspicions that once again, people are being manipulated on his behalf.
For those of you who have corresponded with Bill, you know that he always says many kind things, assumes the stance of an interested and concerned builder and all-around good guy. For those of you who have felt threatened or insulted by him, you may see him as a person capable of great manipulation and a crafter of a careful persona, which has broken down several times in chat in very graphic terms. This includes lots of sexual innuendo and inappropriate self-revelation, over-the-top and unwanted Private Messages, the assumptions of simultaneous multiple chat identities (which he later admitted, including the identity of a nine-year-old girl), and supposed threats to destroy two chatter's computer systems from a remote location. I'm sure all of this would be explained away as "playful fun", but as Cran pointed out, several very nice chatters left for good over these episodes, and those who sexually harass, often defend it in the name of "adult fun."
This all seems too personal, but what I see now is people tearing into each other OVER him. That is a bad thing. I post my comments above in that spirit. I am not sure what makes the guy tick but I know that he has deeply offended many Forum stalwarts to the point that they will never trust him again.
If you think Bill is great, correspond with him on GC. If you think he's bad, enjoy his absence. But please don't go crazy at each other then complain of a loss of civility. His departure seems voluntary, unless otherwise stated.
As a builder, I would say this: We have no craftsman's guild with apprenticeship and certificates for whistle building so its caveat emptor at all times (Buyer Beware). I think that Serpent has not found a consistent instrument design but has marketed extensively anyway. This always surprises me but it tells more about me than him. I would never release a product into the market until I thought it was very tested and worthy. I think that Serpent has done the opposite and I have proof. This will lead to a lot of animosity in an open Forum like this. Loren picked up on this at the outset and his concerns have a lot of validity at this date. But the issue becomes a matter of interest and survival sometimes. In other words, the market pays for development via trial and error and if you are unlucky enough to be the early test-subject, you are stuck with an inferior product. But in a capitalist system, that is allowed.
I will say this one more time for emphasis: I don't know what makes the guy tick so I am NOT plunging into an attack but trying to explain why there are such varying opinions of him in this aftermath.
Best wishes,
The Weekender
Sara
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