So over the past few weeks, I have been informed that numerous reports have been made against me involving my profile and how I use the Shoutbox. In light of this, I feel it is necessary to call you all out on the reports, and set the record straight. Additionally, I would like to hear your comments and poll how you feel about all of this.
Before I begin, this is NOT a thread to excuse my behavior or negate the rules of the site in any way. This post is simply to inform the members, and gauge actual opinion.
For those of you that are lucky enough to know me on the site very well, as well as off-site in the "real world", my behavior comes as no surprise. For those who know of me, or not at all and only see me once in a while, you are at a disadvantage and as such, your feelings and perspective of my behavior can easily be misunderstood. I am a shock-jock of sorts. I use visuals and language to shock people, and more often than not, use it to amuse people and make them laugh. In fact 95% of the time, my behavior, posts and responses cause more uncontrollable laughter than hurt or bad feelings. When you see me use foul language in the shoutbox, it is blurted out in the form of "****". In essence you cannot truly know what word I used, or even verify that I used foul language due to the shoutbox's auto filter. At times this can be both misleading and misunderstood.
But to clarify for myself, I never filter my own words, I allow the SB to do that for me. One thing you will notice is that whenever I use profane language, I never use it to describe a person here, nor do I personally direct I it towards someone. The whole point of the filter and the cursing rule is to protect members of this community. Now I do believe in the rules, I really do. But at the same time, if I am causing no personal harm towards members, I don't see what the big fuss is.
I'm glad my comings and goings on the site have everyone so pre-occupied, but seriously, I'm one guy. What harm am I doing, and how important is my behavior really to you guys? Have you nothing better to do than personally go around and monitor the site, reporting members like the 343i's own personal Gastapo? I understand that not everyone wants to see what I have to say, and that's why we can block people. Let me ask you one thing, and think about it logically and honestly. Have I ever caused any serious harm either mentally or emotionally to anyone by what I have posted or said in the shoutbox? Or is it an over-reaction to something you did not understand from someone you don't fully understand?
Lastly I want to talk about my profile. The rules we have on certain content, do not apply fully to the profile system. Our profile's are more like our own personal "batcaves", in which we have a greater flexibility of what we can and can't put up. While my profile is not exactly "normal", it is a perfect reflection of who I am as a real person. I have always told people that I am the same person off site as I am on site. And my profile fits me 100%. My profile at the same time may not be pleasant for you all to look at and read, but it was YOUR choice to venture onto my profile. Do we blame cars for hitting people when they venture out into a busy intersection without looking? No we don't, we blame the careless moron who darted out there. Same rule applies. If you don't know me and can't look at things objectively enough or don't have a sense of humor, then don't DO IT!
In the end, I'm just like everyone else. I have good days, I have bad days, and I don't do anything that really harms the community. While I may not go about things the right way all the time, I often again, bring a lot of humor to the site. I cannot change who I am or how I go about doing things here. I don't want to offend people, I don't want to change who I am, so how can we meet on the middle ground here? Keep in mind that children between the ages of 10-15 are the biggest users of profane language, I know from experience as a parent. The words I use (and they are filtered out to boot!) are slight compared to what I heard children use IN PUBLIC!
All I ask is that you examine yourselves and decide exactly how honestly to answer my poll questions. I don't want to have to leave this great site because people here take themselves and the rules too seriously. Again, I like rules and they all have their place and need to be followed. But I cannot change who I am, and in the end I don't believe I hurt anyone. So answer honestly, and please, leave some feedback posts. I appreciate everyones candor and honesty in this matter.