Now that all opinions save c0bra's seem to be in (c0bra, if you still want to post to this thread, feel free), I am going to post my generalized reply to everyone and a further explanation of what I think about all this.

Let me start by explaining the source of my distress over this.

It is obvious that, regardless of what potential the BEER/BUTT thing had for humor value to begin with, it was a failed effort for at LEAST the reason that it went on too long. The reason I was shocked, dismayed, and angered that the backlash against the joke was so severe and final was that, in the past, the situation has been reversed. Many of the people who were upset by the joke are people that, in the past, at one point or another and sometimes many different times, been the perpetrator of something annoying and/or offensive and/or stupid and/or a test of patience. Everybody has moments like this. Generally, I believe I have extended a lot of patience to people in RinkChat for things like this, and I ALWAYS give people the benefit of the doubt almost to a fault. It was disheartening to see that that same courtesy was not reflected back at me for just once.

I spend all my free time, and some of my non-free time, working to entertain people through RinkWorks. Whether that's in an official RinkWorks feature or just idle moments in RinkChat, I bust a gut to make RinkWorks the best generally entertaining site I am physically and mentally capable of making it. And I ask for precious little in return. The LEAST I think I am owed is some patience, courtesy, understanding, and, if you absolutely feel it necessary, forgiveness, for the ONE time I try to do something funny -- out of all the RW humor features, out of all the episodes in RinkChat, archived and non-archived -- that didn't pan out. The thought that I had readers -- a significant percentage of that readership if the reactions last night were any indication of the larger whole -- that, the way I saw things, did not feel I should be extended this courtesy, got me seriously rethinking just what the hell I'm doing busting my gut to make RinkWorks as good as it is.

That's my viewpoint. I withheld it last night, because I did not want my viewpoint to color how others gave their own sides to the story, and so last night's message was designed to solicit honest responses. Now that I have them, I may present my side of the issue, as I have, and respond to all of yours, which I will do now.

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Morris/Eric: You and I had a very productive discussion on AIM today, following the posting of your message. For the benefit of others, here's a recap: I explained my position similar to the way I did above, Eric immediately understood and sympathized where I was coming from, and apologized. I told him I was particularly eager to hear from him on this matter since I have a great deal of respect for his wonderfully weird sense of humor, and I admire how he is relentless about exercising it and unintimidated by the risk of failure. Sometimes he succeeds, sometimes he doesn't, and I respect his drive to develop his talents. At any rate, I said that I had no further issues with him if he had no more for me (he confirmed that he didn't), and then I asked him, to ascertain WHY the Beer/Butt gag didn't pan out, he said, paraphrased, "I was annoyed, and when I found it that it was you that was annoying me, I was disappointed." This explanation makes sense to me, and so I chalked that up to added experience about the art of creating improvisation humor and left it at that.

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Wormwood. Wormwood's situation is different than Morris in a crucial way. Morris was annoyed by BEER and BUTT but didn't show it and in actuality joked about things throughout the whole episode, including after Wormwood and Morris were mock-accused of being the frat boys. With Wormwood, the accusation was the primary point at which his annoyance started. I will be addressing Wormwood's reaction in a separate reply to his own contribution to this thread, and so I will only say here that I think he was being very humorless and overreactive in his handling of the situation. Had Wormwood went with the flow and joked around about it instead of being indignant about it, things would have turned out differently. When I realized Wormwood was going to be steadfastly offended instead of becoming a collaborator in the improvisation, I deliberately shifted my accusations away from Wormwood and toward Wes, instead, who was not so indignant about it and eventually started playing along.

The fact of someone being accused of schemes like BEER and BUTT in RinkChat is NOT defamation of character. If you think so, you're hopelessly overreactive far beyond the point where I think it is reasonable to expect me to humor you. I was not framing anybody for pedophilia here. It was framing somebody for a COMIC VENTURE. No matter what way it was going to pan out, Wormwood was going to be vindicated. And, indeed, I *did* vindicate him. That Wormwood did not seem to trust that that would happen is not something I think is a remotely reasonable fear (this kind of stuff happens ALL THE TIME in RinkChat -- LOTS of archives that people cherish highly consist of similar situations). Even so, I let up on him anyway, even after thinking that his adverse reaction was irrational.

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Spacebar. His mammoth-sized post warrants its own reply.

Kaz. I appreciate that you realize the BEER/BUTT episode for what it is -- an attempt at humor, at livening things up in the chat room, that didn't go as planned. And I am thankful that your worst problem wasn't the gag itself but that Wormwood happened to be hurt by it.

c0bra hasn't replied yet, and so I won't comment on him except to say that I think my comments from the beginning should have applied. If one isolated incident on a site that he has visited for at least a full year is enough to make him that indignant and "ruin" him on the site, well, so be it.

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At any rate, in summation, I am *still* very distraught about the lack of benefit of doubt I have been shown in any of this, and I am *still* rethinking my commitment to RinkWorks. I don't get why I should bust my gut and try so hard when the first real failure is met with such uncompromising criticism.

Personal replies to Wormwood and Spacebar will follow.