James

[color=#507AAC]You have shown me otherwise. In your discussions with others, you've demonstrated that you can really be a very intelligent and worthwhile person. Additionally, my threat to ban is a warning to [i]anyone[/i] who breaks the rules. I'm not targetting you at all -- the same rules apply to everyone. Of course this is the most difficult rule to enforce, simply because the number of members greatly outweighs the number of Moderators. We can't [i]physically[/i] be everywhere at once. So I'm sorry if my warning was interpreted as some kind of deliberate targetting of you. It wasn't intended that way. It's just that you seem to have a constant theme of rebuffing me just about every time I do my job. And I don't appreciate it. I think I'm making efforts to be friendly to you...and I hope that the reverse can be true.[/color]

[color=#507AAC]I think that .hack//SIGN has quite a few "fillers". I found the first six or seven episodes to be rather boring and full of non-events. Their main purpose was to establish the characters and their respective roles. But when you start hitting episode 8 and 9, the story really starts to move forward...and you start learning a lot more about the characters.[/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by wrist cutter [/i] [B]Yes, that was it. I think there's a post I recently made where I said the butt synonym as well, but I don't remember where it's at. [/B][/QUOTE] [color=#507AAC]Okay then. Let's put all the baiting and sarcasm aside for a moment and behave like civil individuals. The word you overrode was "J A P". But how was that word used? It was used to express a proper noun -- the name of a band. And it wasn't used to offend someone. Now, I [i]know[/i] I don't have to tell you that this is probably the most likely exception. We have actually had instances in the past where a censored word forms part of a proper noun or part of a larger word -- and people have had problems with the censor. So of course, it's not ideal. And you know that. What I don't understand is the tone of your last post. You had chased things up that I'd posted before and responded in a deliberately provocative way. And then, after that, things seemed to go alright. You seemed to have dropped your immediate and irrational hatred of me and favored a reasonable approach. So what's changed? Is it possible for me to interact with you on a civil level? Or will I frequently receive nothing but sarcasm and rudeness? I'm genuinely asking you these questions. I don't [i]want[/i] to ban you (which is why I haven't before) and I know that you are intelligent and reasonable enough to have discussions without resorting to immature tactics. Am I really giving off Admin rays or something? lol. Please, tell me what it is about myself and/or my authority that rubs you up the wrong way. I'm all for sorting these problems out where possible.[/color]

[color=#507AAC]Ever since you joined OB, you've always seemed to have something against me...no matter how hard I try to be friendly. I don't know what it is. Maybe I'm giving off "admin rays" or something. By the way, the word you overrode was "J A P", correct?[/color]

[color=#507AAC]The title of the album is "Visions". ^_^ Definitely worth a purchase. It was one of the biggest pleasant surprises I've had with music for a while.[/color]

[color=#507AAC]What you're bringing up is a moot point. The thread is not essentially in two forums. It is in [i]one[/i] forum, but redirected from another. If we move threads without leaving a redirection, people who were having a discussion within the thread may not know where to locate it. Redirections are also somewhat like closed threads -- people can see what has been redirected and why. These continual reminders are really important; they help to keep the rules and site policies fresh in members' minds.[/color]

[color=#507AAC]And if I catch you doing that, I will ban you. Words that are censored are not appropriate on the site for numerous reasons. You can say the word and allow the software to automatically censor it -- but you [i]can't[/i] use symbols to override the system. It's not for members to decide on their own what is and isn't acceptable in that sense. Having said that, we could be overzealous and censor words like "butt" and "damn" as well. But we don't. These words aren't offensive to the majority of the members here and as such, they don't need to be censored.[/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by REVENGE2 [/i] [B]-Yeah, but that comes back to the first problem, which is, you don't get to the point fast enough, therefore some people just assume that it's the same 'common sense' as their own and go about their buisness. The idea isn't to change your rules, it's to make them easier to read.[/quote][/b] [color=#507AAC]The rules are in dot point format. They get directly to the point and are listed [i]point by point[/i]. How on Earth do you make them get to the point more quickly? They get to the point just fine. What you're suggesting would dilute what we already have and I don't think it's appropriate or useful to do that. The rules will remain as they are -- if people don't want to spend a mere five minutes reading over them, that's the risk they are willing to take.[/color][quote][b] -Uh...try five or so. Rogue Shadows, NeoRogueShadows, REVENGE, REVENGE2, and then another as well, back before I was Rogue Shadows. The whole 'alternate personality' game I played then too. It REALLY is great fun, you should REALLY try it (although it'd probably be a bad idea to do it here, because then not only are you breaking rules but you're also breaking your OWN rules...you could do it at an EZboard or something, though). Anyway, I was then told it was against forums rules. I think I said "Oops...my bad" and then relinquished that one. I think it was Shyguy who said that was a no-no. [Files that under another thing the rules say that I didn't know was a no-no][/quote][/b] [color=#507AAC]What on Earth is your point? Do you have any concept of how much you are rambling on without actually saying anything substantial? lol[/color][quote][b] -Er...well, the problem I think is the whole IP adress thingy. Thus I don't actually know weather or not I was banned, and will never know unless my screen name is banned. In which case, as I said, I just implement my master plan, which I apparantly won't even need a second computer for, and get on with my life and let you get on with yours.[/quote][/b] [color=#507AAC]My god...are you sure you have nothing better to do? I mean, seriously. You [i]were[/i] banned. I think it was Justin who personally told you that he banned you. I've also verified this. Don't tell me that you're posting all of this rubbish now just because you wanted to confirm that you were banned -- that's ridiculous. It's simple enough to ask and be told. All you are doing now is wasting everybody's time.[/color][quote][b] -Um...actually, the first should be 'making suggestions to better the board' like most people who go here probably intend to do (I'm happy to be a minion, you see, although I make a great power behind the throne. Horrible leader). If it were that, then it would actually be a bit of both, with extreme emphisis on the first. I like reading my work. Mostly because, ever since I started writing, very little other writing has entertained me, except some animes (surprising, Evangelion is not included, despite the fact that it's right up my ally) and stuff by R.A. Salvatore.[/quote][/b] [color=#507AAC]I don't mean to be offensive...but I think you really should seek some medical/psychiatric assistance. lol Just reread this paragraph of yours. Would it be possible to bounce back and forth between subjects any [i]more[/i] than you've already done? lol It's okay to make suggestions...but I don't know [i]what[/i] you are doing now. Does anyone else understand what is going on here? I might be crazy, but right now you seem to be rambling on and on about nothing in particular. o_O[/color][quote][b] I-Funky. Like I said earlier - thank you. Er...is there any way I can chnge REVENGE2 to something else? You know, keep the screen name, but change what people see it as? [It's a lot simpler then simply making up ANOTHER new screen name and asking you to kill this one]. Or better yet, let me have NeoRogueShadows back, and simply kill the other ones. Although you might want to PM me to tell me first when (and if) it's ready; otherwise I might get icky again, because I'd think that I was banned. Again. After you said this [bad memmory, you see].[/quote][/b] [color=#507AAC]Oh man... I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Ah, the stresses of being an Administrator. You've reregistered five times or whatever and now you're asking for a name change? I...I...*explodes* What is [i]wrong[/i] with you? lol Please...somebody...bring a stretcher and cart me off to the nearest hospital. I'm suffering from stress related illness... [size=72]o_O;;;[/size][/color][quote][b] [pause] by the way, I was reading this even as I replied. It's what I always do. So if I contridict myself in any post, follow the last thing I said. [/B][/QUOTE] [color=#507AAC]LOL It's not so much a matter of contradicting yourself...it's a matter of having the mental capacity (read: insanity) to actually follow what you're saying in the first place. I really hope all your posts on OB are not like this in the future. I don't know whether to be entertained or frustrated out of my mind... Anyway, I'm going to close this now. I wonder if everyone else is as confused as I am...lol [/color]:worried:

[color=#507AAC]o_O;; First and foremost, we do not assume that everyone has the same common sense (as you have apparently demonstrated). Thus, we have a rule page published online. That seems self evident, wouldn't you say? And secondly, we have banned you twice so far. Your first name "Rogue Shadows" and then your second, more recent name. You have now registered under a [i]third[/i] name. If we ban you [i]again[/i], are you going to come back and say "Will you just BAN me and stop SAYING you're going to ban me?". Don't you see the problem there? lol In any case, I'm unsure at this point what your intention is. Are you trying to tell us how to run our own boards or are you simply typing as much as you can to read your own text? At this point, I don't think you're really offering anything of value. This just keeps going around in circles over and over again. I will let you stay under your current name if you ensure that you abide by our rules. That's all we ever ask. But if this ridiculous discussion gets even [i]more[/i] ridiculous, I will ban you [i]yet again[/i]. And it will be permanent, I assure you. [/color]

[color=#507AAC]I think that OtakuBoards is already reasonably exclusive. For instance, go and visit the Gaming-Age.com forums. Now, these forums aren't too bad...but read through a couple of threads. Any threads at all. And then look at OB again. See the difference? At many other sites, there is spam [i]everywhere[/i] and people have to try and talk over the rubbish to actually have a decent conversation. That doesn't really happen here. So I think that we are already exclusive enough...some say we're too strict and others say we're not strict enough. We can't and will never be able to please everyone. I think we're just about right at the moment, in terms of rules and rule enforcement.[/color]

[color=#507AAC]And thus, you've learned a lesson. Official magazines are full of corporate marketing rhetoric; don't read them and expect any kind of serious analysis.[/color]

[color=#507AAC]Nice response, wrist cutter. ~_^ Anyway, any question about the rules being too long is moot in my opinion. If you don't want to spare a measly five minutes to read through them, then that's your business. But if you get banned, don't complain that you didn't know you did something against the rules. It's up to you.[/color]

[color=#507AAC]Yep, it's complex. And let me tell you....hack//SIGN is only part of it. All the OVAs have different perspectives and the game itself also has a different view of the story. It's one big universe...and .hack//SIGN is only one portion. If you read the timeline of the series anywhere, you'll see what I mean. It has a massive backstory...I'm starting to believe that this anime is more complex than EVA...[/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by TFlover [/i] [B]clones.....yuck. [/B][/QUOTE] [color=#507AAC]TFlover, this is really an unsatisfactory post. "clones.....yuck." is pretty meaningless. Please put more effort into your posts in future -- I'll be watching to ensure that you improve.[/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Sara [/i] [B[size=1]I think, where I stand on a theological scale, I need to take the Bible at face value. If one part of it is false, there is no guarantee the rest of it is true. However, my beliefs include that which Scripture is inspired by God, and "Scripture interprets Scripture." If you can show me something in the Bible that proves the rest is false, I would belive you..but then, if the rest was false, so would that verse be, and it means that the rest is true. :whoops: Don't you love paradoxes? [/size] [/B][/QUOTE] [color=#507AAC]This is an interesting problem. Do we take the Bible at face value or do we take the position that the scripture's words have deeper meanings? I tend to believe that if [i]one[/i] part of the book is false then at the very least, doubt is cast on the rest of the book. Genesis is, obviously, completely false. The passage of time is a question where you ask yourself "does seven days really mean seven days...or can seven days symbolize millions of years?". It's hard to say. Obviously we know that Adam and Eve (and the story surrounding it) simply isn't possible. Anyone with even a basic scientific knowledge will tell you that. But then you can look at the situation in a few different ways. For example, you can look at the Bible as part fact, part fiction. The ficitional elements may be designed to provide moral guidance and practical examples. It's hard to tell and it's an issue where even many Christians have differing views. Generally speaking, I don't think it wise to take the Bible as a textbook of history. In other words, much of it can't be taken literally. I can produce numerous quotes from the Bible that, taken literally, are ludicrous. Genesis alone is full of such quotes. But once again, it depends on both your perspective and interpretation. Those who believe that the Bible is a literal definition and historical textbook of the Earth (particularly those who [i]should[/i] know better, such as Creation "scientists") are people who will often choose a predetermined answer (the earth is 6000 years old) and then they will bend and twist the many contradictory scientific facts to fit their predetermined path. So it's kind of a reverse science. Start with the answer and force the facts to fit, no matter how much the facts contradict the answer. My main problem with the Bible is not the Bible itself. If you take the Bible in your stride and place it in conjunction with scientific fact, that's fine. But when you take aspects of the Bible literally and circumvent/surpass scientific knowledge...that's really indefensible. It's not so much a problem for the lay person -- a person who may not be literate in science to the point where they know that they are incorrect. But Creation "scientists" do not have such an excuse. What they practice is fraud. So I think that the Bible comes in somewhere between. There are those who will embrace knowledge in conjunction with the Bible's moral lessons and spiritual guidance. And there are those who will take the Bible 100% literally, despite the vast breadth of contradictory information that is freely available. I think most Christians (even the Pope himself, who acknowledge the existence of evolution in 1989) can take a rational view of both schools of thought. And essentially, those people can see how religion and science are interlinked (and the place that the Bible itself takes in the process). Anyway, bleh...that turned out longer than I thought it'd be. But I thought you'd find it interesting. ~_^[/color]

[color=#507AAC]This belongs in Art & Design...and even then, it doesn't really belong there. Please [b]read our rules[/b] before you continue posting.[/color]

[color=#507AAC]You think "damn" is worse than the other word? I think most would disagree with you there.[/color]

[color=#507AAC]Hm yeah, I do notice that the more I watch...the more I enjoy it. I like the characters especially. I'll be interested to see what the dub sounds like when it comes out.[/color]

[color=#507AAC]Who/what says Xbox is better in those departments? You're still not citing a source. And that is arguable anyway. Xbox is "better" at [i]some[/i] things and worse at others. It's too simplistic to just say "Xbox is better at all this stuff". [/color]

[color=#507AAC]Transtic, please don't use characters to bypass our censor. You know [i]that[/i] is something we shouldn't be doing here. Anyway, to address the question at hand... If we were to organize the definition of spam into one sentence, it may actually be [i]easier[/i] to miss specifics. That is why we use a very clear, straightforward dot point system. It's much easier to read down a list -- and it ensures that there is no ambiguity to our rules. We don't want our rules to be "open to interpretation" by members. Instead, rules should be very clear and thorough. This idea lends itself to a slightly longer rules page in general, but I don't believe that the rules page is overly long. Essentially, it would be possible to skim much of what has been published and still have a full view of what we expect. In addition, most of our rules are common sense. These rules are here mainly as a disclaimer; to ensure that members always have a resource for understanding our policies and how we enforce them. In terms of consequences, I believe that these are laid out pretty simply and clearly. Generally we provide people with a warning about their behavior. The Moderator/Category Moderator/Administrator would provide specific details of what the member is doing wrong and how they can improve. Often these warnings come within a thread, so that others may also view them publicly. Having said that, we do occasionally ban people immediately. But this is only in cases where people are demonstrating a clear lack of interest in any common sense rules. And obviously, mass spammers are also banned immediately. I can tell you that our rules will be updated and streamlined in the future. But I can't tell you exactly when that will happen -- it largely depends on the time I have available. Oh, and I forgot to mention earlier... If we have a consequence where we ban people for one week...that makes things twice as tough for staff. There is already a huge number of active members in comparison to staff -- it's difficult enough to ensure that things are running smoothly on all parts of the board. If we start having a situation where we need to monitor weekly bans of several members, things become more messy and technical. It's better to have more of a case by case based system (which we do currently have). Often, members who are potentially banned are discussed in our Moderators forum thoroughly. This ensures that an autocratic decision on banning is rarely made. Therefore, most bans have full staff support and discussion before they occur. It also ensures that staff can discuss the rules with other staff and find a consensus on how to deal with a problem. So, despite what some would have you believe, all bans are not performed by myself (I'd say maybe 10% are performed by me in total) and [i]most[/i] bans are discussed thoroughly by staff as well.[/color]

[color=#507AAC]You're placing it above [i]Evangelion[/i]? Hm... I don't know if I'd place it that high. I have only just finished disc one of three though (I haven't had the time to watch it endlessly, unfortunately). So my opinion may change. Oh and...in addition to the second season, they are also making three OVAs I think. The first is .hack//LIMINALITY I think. Those look interesting; they appear to be set in the real world rather than in "The World".[/color]

[color=#507AAC]Since when is "everywhere" saying that Xbox is the best? This is where you need to start citing some [i]sources[/i] to continue the discussion. In any case, I think Xbox and GameCube are about equal in terms of software quantity. But GameCube clearly has a higher number of AAA titles. Who knows if that will change in the future. Given the changes apparent recently in the industry, I certainly wouldn't want to make a prediction about it. But as I said, PS2 will probably clean up this holiday season. If we include the GBA though, there's no competition. GBA will absolutely thrash PS2 this Christmas. Recent releases such as Zelda are sure to push the little handheld further than ever before.[/color]

[color=#507AAC]I think it's kind of funny that your opinion of Xbox seems to have changed markedly since you bought one. Even when you weren't playing it. lol Anyway, I think GameCube will outperform Xbox this Christmas in terms of software sales. Games such as Metroid Prime are going out effortlessly outsell Xbox Live kits this Christmas. But once again, PS2 has the market cornered for the holidays. Just watch Vice City fly off the shelves.[/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Mnemolth [/i] [B] And there are few moments more satisfying than knowing you are being underestimated. :D [/B][/QUOTE] [color=#507AAC]By that standard, you have provided me with frequent satisfaction. :smirk: Anyway, I think this thread had been pretty much answered.[/color]

[color=#507AAC]Yep. It's the one with Seal. Good, isn't it? When I first heard it I didn't really like the start...but I like the chorus. I think his voice really suits the song (and I was never a Seal fan, so there you go lol). It's nice to listen to uplifting music...considering my sister is always playing death metal or rap with plenty of swearing and depressing themes. lol[/color]