Steel Cage Forums: A Wrestling Forum That Won't Make You Sick And Kill You

Some people may have handicapped loved ones who they really treasure and care about and not appreciate the loved ones medical diagnosis used as a slur. It's totally understandable if they don't want to see the word used in society in that manner.

If somebody is offended by the word ******, thinking it’s still a slur about a handicap, it says more about the offended than it does about the handicapped.
 
I'll not pretend it's a word I'd use in polite company, or really at all, but that doesn't mean that Crave's response wasn't entirely disproportionate.
 
I too have stayed out of these threads - however at this point as I have now been mentioned, I will respond.
I don't believe anyone said your name in this thread. You weren't mentioned at all, to the best I can see.

To be clear I am not a "random member" but someone who has been part of the forums since 2006 and formerly part of the main page. I have a long a history with Wrestlezone and the forums
That's interesting. Let's see what you said to me in a PM:

robtaylor1.jpg


So when I ask about any relationship to those at the main page, you are "a poster, not interested in political", but when it comes to discussing the issue in this thread, suddenly you're someone who does have a "long" history with them and are willing to present their "side".

Got it.

The situation Slyfox refers to began when a moderator showed what I and the other poster considered to be bullying behavior... it was not simply about one word, but that a moderator was basically saying "admin said this is fine..." when I considered it would be against the rules Sly himself wrote.
But it wasn't against the rules. As I told you. So don't pretend now as if your concern was for the rules I wrote, because clearly it was not.

I politely protested
And you were politely responded to.
and was met with what I considered to be an unsatisfactory response
Because you didn't get your way.

so I made clear I reserved the right to go above him.
You also left out the part where you threatened my Administrator position. Here, I'll remind you:

robtaylor2.jpg


I then wrote a email directly to Crave including only the original post from the moderator and the response I'd received and I asked 3 simple questions around whether the situation/original and responses were consistent with their brand.

I received a reply from Sly that indicated I was free to go "above him" but that it wouldn't do any good and no one would care. I replied advising I had already contacted someone.
For all intents and purposes, true, to the best of my knowledge (I have no idea what you wrote Crave).

So, it really makes a person wonder. You, on one hand, claim you are just a poster but on the other hand discuss your long history with WZ. You threaten my position as Administrator and suddenly, for the first time ever, WZ/Crave comes to the forums and, without any discussion with me or Yaz, make those changes.

So in all the years I've been on these forums, your complaint was the first and only to ever be addressed and it was addressed without ANY discussion before or after the fact. But you're just "a poster".

I then received a reply from Nick Hausman within about 2 hours, advising me that Sly and the moderator had been removed, apologizing for the conduct they had shown and that the response I'd received was not what they wanted.
Ahh, so you received more correspondence than I did.

It should just go to show you how little Crave/WZ cares about the forums.

Which is why I created another forum. It wasn't anger, it wasn't spite or pettiness, it was just because it seems pretty clear Crave/WZ does not care much about these forums. It also reinforces the idea that the first time something is a little big messy, they won't bother with them.

but have seen a fair few salty comments aimed at me and a "doesn't bother us" attitude from those removed...who are now plugging a new forum...
Ahh, yes, innuendo at its finest. Accusing us of lying without actually using the words. Great tactic.

It really didn't bother me. At the end of the day, what the moderator posted was not against the rules. It is Crave/WZ's forum and they can do as they wish with it. If they want to ban 75% of the posters on here, they can. If they want to remove me as Administrator, they can. There's no use in being bothered by it, it's just a fact.

As I said, my creating a new forum is the completion of months of discussion. It wasn't a spur of the moment decision, it's been talked about for a very long time. With the completely unprofessional actions of Hausman, it convinced me of what I'd long kind of assumed, which is if this place ever becomes the slightest bit of a hassle, then the forum as we know it will no longer exist.

So that's why I created SC Forums.

But I have a small problem with claiming the reason is because "Crave" (who own Mandatory and thus now WZ) don't care and might pull the plug.
Gosh, there's a shock. :rolleyes:

It's so surprising the person who claims to be just "a poster" and yet is apparently the first person in history to get a response from WZ/Crave in the form of taking action without consulting any of the involved parties (because you were not one of the involved parties), who then turns around and claims a "long" history with WZ when it is convenient to do so....it is so surprising that person has a problem with our thinking.

Shocking, truly.

They cared enough to remove an admin who had been in position for many years
And yet, didn't care enough to actually ask that same admin for his "side" (as you mention later), nor consider that admin's time and personal money he had invested in the forum.

It is easy to say "Remove him", sign in and change a Usergroup. It's a little more work to actually receive information and make an informed decision. Guess which route Crave/WZ went?

who was adamant no one would even read my email
History said they wouldn't...surprising how you're the first person to ever receive a response. Especially when Hausman wouldn't even discuss the issue with me at all before or after the event. But you...you got exactly what you wanted and threatened me with.

It shouldn't have been a shock bearing in mind what happened with CSR and those guys but it shouldn't be shocking at all... the online world has changed and use of that kind of word against people just isn't going to fly in any company owned forum in 2018, like it, don't like it, learn to live with it...
:lmao:

Well, thank God you're here to tell everyone how they have to talk in 2018. Apparently, words no longer have meanings. Thank you, Moses II.

At the end of the day, the only reason for Crave/Mandatory/WZ to kill the forums is if they damage/don't help their business.
Is that not exactly what we've been saying? They don't care about the forums, they don't care about the posters, they don't care about the "community" you so often talk about. They only care about what's easy for them. If the forum becomes just a little bit difficult, then bye-bye forum.

Thank you for saying exactly what we've been saying.
Losing lots of users might do that, but at the same time they're likely expecting Slyfox to set up a new forum and taking some people too.
I seriously doubt they've given two thoughts about me since that day. I was an unpaid volunteer on one wrestling forum for a site which clearly is not high on their priority list.

If they've given me a second thought since that day, I'd be incredibly surprised.

So by all means, respect Slyfox more for his response or that he now seems to be handing things in a positive way with a new forum... but there are 3 sides to it all in this situation, just cos WZ didn't give a detailed response doesn't mean they don't have one.
And what is their detailed response? Is it your post? Are you acting as their representative?

Because your post here had very little to do with the interaction I had with Hausman, the lack of ANY communication before or after the situation, the fact this forum software is a decade old or, really, much to do with the new forum. Really, you just wanted to come in and spout a bunch of irrelevant things, despite the fact I never once mentioned you were the person who threw a fit when he didn't get his way.

So, do tell...what exactly was your goal with your post?
 
Can I speak my piece too? I feel like I can add to the conversation, but I don't want to cause anymore issues than I already have.
 
Sly - do you really not believe that Yaz's post was flaming?
It did not meet the WZ Rules for flaming, no. If you look at the rules, it was not an "extreme" insult. I used the word "extreme" for a reason when I wrote the rules. I obviously don't have access to the particular forum any longer, but I suspect if you look in the forum where all of the Infractions for the forum are kept, you may not find 5 Flaming infractions in the last 5 years. A lot of people talk about, and WZ certainly has a reputation for, being a very strict forum. But, really, the Staff over the years have taken many steps to pull back on strictness, while still trying to keep a relatively decent posting environment.

As I told Rob Taylor in PM:

"I didn't say I was condoning it, I merely said I'm not taking Disciplinary action against it.

Please understand the enormous difference."
 
What about trolling, prejudiced remarks, or stirring up drama?
What about them? Nothing Yaz posted fell anywhere close to any of those categories. He certainly wasn't trolling and he wasn't the one creating any drama. He was just replying to someone whose opinions for which he had no regard.

As far as prejudiced remarks? As I have told several people in the past, ******ation is quite literally the slowing of progress or development and when applied to humans, it refers to those who cognitive abilities do not progress at a reasonably normal rate. If I call you that, because I feel your posts are lacking in logical or realistic thought, then I am actually using the word by its intended definition. The fact it has become a schoolyard taunt is irrelevant.

It's not like words people use to slander black people or Muslims. Those words exist solely as terms of prejudice and/or are not being used in their correct form.

So, no, Yaz's post did not violate any of the rules of the forum, as they were written and enforced for so many years.
 
I am a lot of things. I am an asshole. I am barely above a shit poster. I am basically a try hard. I had however built a reputation in my years as a competent member of the forums. I had five years in WZCW, including a two plus year stint as head of the entire fed. I volunteered to help run multiple tournaments and end of year awards. I never once had an infraction I gave out reversed. In my time, I had a nearly clean record. A single warning about two weeks after I joined. I had the cleanest disciplinary record on staff. I was a strong candidate for G-Mod when Killjoy was promoted to the position to replace JMT.

Yeah, I called a guy whose opinions I disagreed with fucking ******ed. I didn't just up and one day decide to pick a poster at random and call him out. I had started by disagreeing with his positions and opinions and done my best to back my stances with facts. He continually failed to grasp basic debating technique, as well as having a limited grasp on grammar and the English language. He continued to be a poor poster, a poster who received more votes than anyone else for Worst Poster of the Year in 2017. Rob Taylor, a man who had tried to convince mods more than once to change things to suit him, decided I was out of line and indirectly called me on my choice of words. A word he found so offensive, he couldn't even type it out. I responded that I had broken no rule, but invited him (and the poster I called the name) to speak with Sly.

I was not having them run to Sly because I knew Sly would back me on the basis that I was a mod and those two were not. I sent them to Sly 1) Because I have always been told to direct any complaints about mods to the admins and 2) Not long after I became mod, someone reported a post because someone else was called a ******. I checked through former infractions to see what the punishment for the word should be, but found no previous infractions for using the word. I asked Sly and he explained to me that that particular word was not against the rules, as it had a basis in medical terminology. He likened it to the word dumb. A word that was once an official medical term for mutes.

I wake up one morning, to find I have been removed from staff. I had zero say in the matter. A position I had dedicated multiple years to, as a volunteer in an effort to make WrestleZone a better place. Removed without so much a PM from anyone at Crave or the main page.

Sly is a much more reserved and polite man than I. He has done more for these forums in my time than anyone else. He may not boast about it, but trust me when I say this place would not exist without Sly's work.

Rob Taylor didn't like a rule in place, went to the admin, didn't get his way, so he decided to go above the admin and place his complaint there. I have no doubt had they have refuted his complaint, he would have kept looking for ways to get people to accept his way of thinking and change things to suit him. He got two people removed from staff, but is still not satisfied because those "bullies" have not apologized and possibly because we aren't bowing at the his feet and thanking him for making WrestleZone a safer place.

Kick me off staff, I mean nothing to this place, but Sly deserved better than how Crave and Hausman treated him. Since this has happened, they have had no other hand in the forums, showing how much they truly care. They simply heard someone pitch a fit, someone who used to work on the main page mind you, and likely took his side without looking at facts or getting all sides of the story. It was reactionary, it was senseless, and above it it was...well it was a word that is now against the rules, except no one has come in to change the rules, which should be all you need to know Crave doesn't give a squirt of piss about what goes on here. If WrestleZone Forums burn to the ground, there are two people you can thank, one a self righteous snowflake, the other an absent liar.
 
I am a lot of things. I am an asshole. I am barely above a shit poster. I am basically a try hard. I had however built a reputation in my years as a competent member of the forums. I had five years in WZCW, including a two plus year stint as head of the entire fed. I volunteered to help run multiple tournaments and end of year awards. I never once had an infraction I gave out reversed. In my time, I had a nearly clean record. A single warning about two weeks after I joined. I had the cleanest disciplinary record on staff. I was a strong candidate for G-Mod when Killjoy was promoted to the position to replace JMT.

Yeah, I called a guy whose opinions I disagreed with fucking ******ed. I didn't just up and one day decide to pick a poster at random and call him out. I had started by disagreeing with his positions and opinions and done my best to back my stances with facts. He continually failed to grasp basic debating technique, as well as having a limited grasp on grammar and the English language. He continued to be a poor poster, a poster who received more votes than anyone else for Worst Poster of the Year in 2017. Rob Taylor, a man who had tried to convince mods more than once to change things to suit him, decided I was out of line and indirectly called me on my choice of words. A word he found so offensive, he couldn't even type it out. I responded that I had broken no rule, but invited him (and the poster I called the name) to speak with Sly.

I was not having them run to Sly because I knew Sly would back me on the basis that I was a mod and those two were not. I sent them to Sly 1) Because I have always been told to direct any complaints about mods to the admins and 2) Not long after I became mod, someone reported a post because someone else was called a ******. I checked through former infractions to see what the punishment for the word should be, but found no previous infractions for using the word. I asked Sly and he explained to me that that particular word was not against the rules, as it had a basis in medical terminology. He likened it to the word dumb. A word that was once an official medical term for mutes.

I wake up one morning, to find I have been removed from staff. I had zero say in the matter. A position I had dedicated multiple years to, as a volunteer in an effort to make WrestleZone a better place. Removed without so much a PM from anyone at Crave or the main page.

Sly is a much more reserved and polite man than I. He has done more for these forums in my time than anyone else. He may not boast about it, but trust me when I say this place would not exist without Sly's work.

Rob Taylor didn't like a rule in place, went to the admin, didn't get his way, so he decided to go above the admin and place his complaint there. I have no doubt had they have refuted his complaint, he would have kept looking for ways to get people to accept his way of thinking and change things to suit him. He got two people removed from staff, but is still not satisfied because those "bullies" have not apologized and possibly because we aren't bowing at the his feet and thanking him for making WrestleZone a safer place.

Kick me off staff, I mean nothing to this place, but Sly deserved better than how Crave and Hausman treated him. Since this has happened, they have had no other hand in the forums, showing how much they truly care. They simply heard someone pitch a fit, someone who used to work on the main page mind you, and likely took his side without looking at facts or getting all sides of the story. It was reactionary, it was senseless, and above it it was...well it was a word that is now against the rules, except no one has come in to change the rules, which should be all you need to know Crave doesn't give a squirt of piss about what goes on here. If WrestleZone Forums burn to the ground, there are two people you can thank, one a self righteous snowflake, the other an absent liar.
I must speak about you here.

You aren't a beep hole by any measure. What I know about is that you are a fun loving guy. But you speak whatever you feel on face itself. You can't fake it. You can't hide what you feel. If someone's wrong, you call him wrong. That's a quality too rare to find nowadays. Also, if you start calling yourself beephole, it won't make you one. Just like it couldn't make Franku one. (Remember the consequences, Franku!)

Also, I don't favour when we use words like ******ed. But I don't think that saying a word should've nullified the efforts put by both Slyfox and Rainbow for WrestleZone Forums. That too free of cost. Heck, instead of taking such a harsh decision, they could have taken feedback from other members as well about both of them. Why just listen to one side of coin? Why not the other?
 
The world needs more people like ShinChan.

In all honesty, I get why certain words might upset some people. I used to be overly self-conscious about people calling each other autistic. Not because I am autistic, but because I have several very close friends on the spectrum, and I was once upon a time overly self-conscious about the possibility I might have some kind of ASD (to the point I actually went to a screening, and found out what I had was closer to ADHD).

When it comes to calling people things like ******ed, autistic, brain damaged and the like, I operate on a weird rule. The moment I find out whoever I'm insulting suffers from these mental conditions, I don't blame them for it, and I stop. "Sperging out" is a phrase I use when someone acts like a complete child when I expect far better from them, but if they do suffer from a legitimate mental health condition, I stop, because that's where an edgy joke goes into outright bullying for me if they can't help it.

Do I expect people to adhere to my standards? Kind of. If someone is actively bullying another person for their mental disability, I'll stick up for that person. But I'm not going to police people every time they want to use a certain word. Yaz wants to call something ******ed whether or not I agree with him? I don't care, that's his prerogative. But was Yaz acting with particular malice of intent? Far from it.
 
The world needs more people like ShinChan.

In all honesty, I get why certain words might upset some people. I used to be overly self-conscious about people calling each other autistic. Not because I am autistic, but because I have several very close friends on the spectrum, and I was once upon a time overly self-conscious about the possibility I might have some kind of ASD (to the point I actually went to a screening, and found out what I had was closer to ADHD).

When it comes to calling people things like ******ed, autistic, brain damaged and the like, I operate on a weird rule. The moment I find out whoever I'm insulting suffers from these mental conditions, I don't blame them for it, and I stop. "Sperging out" is a phrase I use when someone acts like a complete child when I expect far better from them, but if they do suffer from a legitimate mental health condition, I stop, because that's where an edgy joke goes into outright bullying for me if they can't help it.

Do I expect people to adhere to my standards? Kind of. If someone is actively bullying another person for their mental disability, I'll stick up for that person. But I'm not going to police people every time they want to use a certain word. Yaz wants to call something ******ed whether or not I agree with him? I don't care, that's his prerogative. But was Yaz acting with particular malice of intent? Far from it.
If the man Yaz was talking to was the one to make the complaint things may be different. Rob Taylor had no dog on the fight and got involved anyway
 
Every time Shinchan censors himself from saying words that you can say on cable television, a puppy dies.
 
There's a huge differemce between watching somepne get raped and a 3rd party being upset about the word ****** when he's not even a part of the conversation.

You're not stupid so stop acting like it

It depends on the situation really. If it's a group of friends, it's banter. It's acceptable. If it's a group of friends saying that in a presence of a literal ******, I'll be upset. If it's a group of kids, I'll say something. If it's adults, specially bigger than me, I'll be silently upset and an hypocrite thinking: "what a bunch of ******s".
 
What about them? Nothing Yaz posted fell anywhere close to any of those categories. He certainly wasn't trolling and he wasn't the one creating any drama. He was just replying to someone whose opinions for which he had no regard.

As far as prejudiced remarks? As I have told several people in the past, ******ation is quite literally the slowing of progress or development and when applied to humans, it refers to those who cognitive abilities do not progress at a reasonably normal rate. If I call you that, because I feel your posts are lacking in logical or realistic thought, then I am actually using the word by its intended definition. The fact it has become a schoolyard taunt is irrelevant.

It's not like words people use to slander black people or Muslims. Those words exist solely as terms of prejudice and/or are not being used in their correct form.

So, no, Yaz's post did not violate any of the rules of the forum, as they were written and enforced for so many years.

and here we come to the crux of the issue... "My place, my rules..." and the implication that whatever YOUR opinion is, is worth more than anyone elses... it may fly in the new forum until this issue rears its head again (not through me, I won't be joining) when you or someone else goes too far and its not dealt with.

Mocking disability IS like mocking race...or sexual preference... and is equally protected against in law as the other two. You might feel justified using such language but you are not protected to do so, just as you are not uttering or writing a racial or homophobic slur, those who do so run a risk of complaint which can quickly escalate.

If you disagree with that, it is you who needs to change/will fall foul of that. Is it SO hard to just tell someone they're wrong without mocking their mental faculties or even better put forth an argument rather than insults or questioning their mental function... That's not your role...

Even now GSB is questioning your interpretation of your own rules... that in itself proves that there was grounds for the complaint and a tightening of the rules. It wouldn't have taken much for this to have been handled much differently...but throughout it's "what Slyfox says goes" rather than meeting even in the middle. We are where we are now...as much through your own and Yaz's fault as my own for making a report.

Yes I disagreed with you and advised I would go higher, not out of spite but because you were wrong and your interpretation of the online world is wrong. There are no "dark little corners" of the internet or little fiefdoms anymore where bullying behavior is OK... if you own a site and it happens, and someone reports/sues, then it's your ass and reputation on the line. Crave/WZ clearly didn't think your services were worth that risk... again, meeting half way would have perhaps mitigated that. Be careful as an owner, it means the buck stops with you if someone goes too far... it's you, not Crave or WZ who gets sued/reported.

I don't have "more info" than you in the slightest... all I know is I asked how Yaz's behaviour and your response fitted with their brand and they responded with actions... they clearly saw it as breaching your rules, even if you didn't.

So FFS move on... stop mentioning me in coded little posts and guys stop posting "******" for the sake of it.

If you want to take every member from here and sink the place then you will anyway... but stop making out I'm to blame here or had an agenda...

If Yaz had some common sense and a little less ego, and you'd shown a little more co-operation it would never have happened... but it was more important for you both to be "right", than the situation to be resolved properly... Now you can be right all you like in your new forums...but rest assured you are very wrong to think the behavior that led to this was OK.
 
If the man Yaz was talking to was the one to make the complaint things may be different. Rob Taylor had no dog on the fight and got involved anyway

That person DID complain and felt ignored... to the point I took things on and they thanked me for doing so... I note even since the removal, no apology was made to them.

I work with people who have disabilities... I've seen first hand the hurt and pain that is caused by a casual drop of the word. The disrespect that goes into it, whether intended or not is very real EVERY time it is used... there is no casual racism, just racism... there is no casual homophobia, just homophobia and there is no casual disability discrimination, just disability discrimination... it is NEVER harmless and the sooner people start to realise that and stop hiding behind words like "banter" the sooner everyone of the above is stopped.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
174,827
Messages
3,300,735
Members
21,726
Latest member
chrisxenforo
Back
Top