I know!

I’ll explain later what I mean by “anti-Greeks”, but first I’d like to make a note about the title. I’m using Americans as an example in what I’m about to say, but my criticism reaches well across the Atlantic as well. After rereading The Iliad, I realised that the ancient Greeks were the most perceptive people in human history. They understood the nature of man more than anyone, and I feel that time of the Greeks is one of the the most golden periods of humanity.

If you look at why the Trojan war (whether or not it happened or not is irrelevant), it was started by the kidnapping of Helen by Paris. Menelaus, her husband, waged war on the Trojans not to get his wife back, but to preserve his honour. So, what IS honour anyway? Don’t go hurrying to look it up the dictionary. I’m sure that we all have lost sense of the word “honour,” so let’s call it “self-integrity”.

Menelaus, along with Achilles, were both ready to die in a heartbeat for what the stood for. Rather than sitting around and rationalising life like Hamlet, they lived and fought for self-integrity. This brings me to America.

Americans want, but they’re never willing to sacrifice anything to get it. An example? People want to feel safe, but they also don’t want to pay taxes or have their beloved petrol prices rise. This is the culture that has experienced decadence for far too long. Is there anything that anyone would die for anyway? Sure, someone will say “I’ll die for my country”. That’s super and altruistic of you, but you will not be remembered after the people who knew you personally die. The real heroes were the people who died for their own personal causes.

Thanks to Shane and Jeff, I now have my very own Twitter thing! I feel like this will actually make me use my account now that I have the badge displayed openly. Now I can get stalked. That sounds exciting. Anyhow, I’ve been busy with uni. I’ve got a Geology test, History paper, and Literature paper due within the week. Ouch, huh?

In other news, no, I’ve not fallen off the face of the planet. Shane has graciously allowed me to keep this blog and I’ll continue to write in it. I’ve got members on RS. Which is a naughty thing since I need to be doing coursework/modding RSBANDB/socially interacting with people. It’s fine though. I’ve been wanting to get my nooby combat lvl up. I’m currently 86 and I want to be 88-90 by the end of the month. Should I just PC my way there? I’d like to, but finding a good world is next to impossible. I’m not one of the elite RS players, so I don’t get to go to the good IRC PC channels. Hmf. Woe is me.

At least I have that awesome Twitter badge.

So I just got done mining 1k coal. It’s sort of strange, but I’ve been feeling the need to play RS for a while. I never really had the time until today where I just had hours to spare. It was sort of boring to be honest, but I think I’ll actually get back in the swing of things. I want to get my mining to 70 and my smithing to at least 60 (it’s 55 right now..lol..yes, it’s my least favourite skill). I’m F2P right now though.

I’d get membership, but frankly I can’t spare the cash right now. Yes, you heard it here.. MQ is poor. If anyone ever wants mine with me, just let me know and I’ll add your name to my friend list.

Here’s some things that I think make a good forum member. Take it for what it is, but I think that it’s what I see in a lot of the people I respect on our forum.

A good RSBANDB member is someone who..

1. Can handle disagreements with another member. Whether or not it happened on MSN or on the forum itself doesn’t matter. Nothing is worse than seeing flaming, or even the subtle tension between members who dislike each other for one reason or another. If you have a problem with someone, there’s nothing more passive aggressive than posting cryptic or sarcastic replies to what they write. Get over whatever it is that you have against the person or talk it out over MSN. If that doesn’t work, forced civility is a saving grace.
2. Is objective while still giving their opinion in debates. Let’s face it, no one in the world is ever 100% right about anything. To win a debate, your goal is to convince others that your view is superior for such-and-such reason. The goal ISN’T to make yourself look like an asshole by flaming the other person or making an effort to belittle them. I think the main key to debating anything is to acknowledge the things that both parties agree on and give intelligent and well-thought reasoning for any disagreements. That’s the secret to winning a debate and still having the respect of the other person.
3. Is someone who gives fairly and takes fairly. This seems broad, but I have an example.. I see some people just sort of plop their signature down in Graphics Central and then as for con/crit. This is fine, except for the fact that I never see the person give any helpful criticisms to any other artist there. This annoys me because it makes me think that certain people only like posting when they can get attention and feedback on their work, but they’re unwilling to help other fellow artists. Give your support to other members and don’t leave them in the dust. This goes for people who ask questions in the RS-Questions forum too.
4. Never lets the decisions of another member dictate how they view the entire community. I often talk to people who are unbelievably upset about a decision made by a moderator or admin and they sort of go off about how they want to leave and such. Life, just like Runescape communities (lol), isn’t going to be perfect. We all have those times where we get annoyed/angry about things and we end up blaming other people for just doing their jobs the best they can. There’s nothing more hard to live through than a grudge against someone you once looked up to. Look past the little things and focus on the good things. Don’t think about how so-and-so did something to upset you, think about all the people you know and like here and consider whether or not your ego is above it all. RSBANDB is a great community of people who don’t deserved to be lumped into your stereotypes.
5. Doesn’t take it upon themselves to assert authority or intimidate other members. This is self-explanatory. Good people on RSBANDB realise that this is a forum where people talk about RS and have fun. I notice a lot of people use grammar-correcting as a way to sort of embarrass or demean other members. Guys, give it up. I’ll admit that my English isn’t perfect because it’s not my first language. For others, it’s just hard. I make mistakes and having someone reply to me with the sole purpose of saying “It’s “you’re”, not “your”" is just pointless. You’re not our grammar teachers, you’re our peers. I understand that some people have horrible grammar/spelling, but politely asking the person to be more clear can’t be that hard. After all, if you’re good at correcting others’ grammar then you should be equally as good at formulating polite reply.
6. Is sincere. They don’t feel like they deserve favours for being a responsible member. If so-and-so reports posts a lot and generally helps out, that’s absolutely wonderful and looked well upon. If this person thinks that it’ll make them exempt from flaming other members or break rules, then they’re wrong. Any help is greatly appreciated, but RSBANDB isn’t the USSR. We don’t do bribes (unless you’re bribing with baked goods, then..maybe) and favours aren’t extended to those who break the rules. Not even us moderators or admins “get off the hook” easily.
7. Knows when enough is enough. If you’re arguing with someone or if you’re privy to certain bits of information then you should know when it’s just best to keep quiet. This doesn’t mean “shut up about everything”. Sometimes we need to voice our opinions about things in order for change. But if you know that you’re going to cause an uproar, consider that there are other ways to do things. If you’re getting into a heated argument on the forums, take it to PM. I find in the majority of my PM debates that the other person and I end up coming to a mutual agreement without putting each other down. Learn to draw the line sometimes.

If you think of any more things that make a good RSBANDB-er, post them here. I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Well, it’s officially spring break. I’m not sure what I’ll be up to. I might actually be busy since I’ll be out a bit with friends. I’m staying with my roommate though. We’re not going anywhere crazy like Cancun. We might see a film..bake cookies. Idk. I’ve been studying my ass off for Midterms and all I really wanting is some peace and quiet.

Oh, I made Creepy a sig today. I haven’t made a sig since… god, I don’t even remember. It’s been a while though, several months. Hope he likes it.

Wtf, why is it appearing greenish?

Here’s the URL

Because that’s what happened to your DC site. I’m writing this entry, not out of malice, but in effort to tell you what goes on there.

Today, I was forcibly removed from the Design Crew Council for reasons unknown.

I’m going to give you the “tell-all” of what happened and I’m going to do my best to be the better person and remain impartial. Last week, Matt announced that he was resigning from the DCC for personal reasons. He suggested me as his replacement and a poll was put up. All of the Council was to vote on this poll, but Dave’s vote was missing. We allotted a few days to allow him to come around to give his vote. As I recall, I had 3 votes for me and 0 against me.

Today, I got invited to a DCC group conversation so that we could address the current state of the crew. Honestly, the conversation veered down a bad path where we criticized each other’s lack of handling of the Crew. I was having to defend myself for making the DC site. My argument for adding the new site was that the old one was hideously out of date and had little information or interactivity. I wanted to involve the Crew in the site and let them have more freedom in it. I didn’t want it to be a “I’m going to post a project and you’re going to do what I say otherwise you get kicked off” group.

Well, that went on for about 45 minutes. The conversation slowed and a good former friend of mine told me, “Whatever happens here won’t affect our friendship.” I was about to tell him that I didn’t bear any sort of grudge toward him for criticizing me, but I paused for a moment.

During that pause, Matt told me that I had been voted out of the Design Crew Council. A Council that I had been a part of for nearly a year. I didn’t need a reason and in a moment of snappiness I said, “Good riddance to you all” and left.

What I wanted to tell those of you who are on the DC is that it’s not about you. It’s about them having a rank. I criticized how the DCC was running the group and I was kicked out. I had formerly criticized others who spoke badly of the DC and now I apologise for that. You were the ones who were right to be skeptical. I tried to take that criticism and use it for something positive and it got me nowhere.

Good luck to the rest of you. For those of you who contributed to stabbing me in the back, thanks. It made me a little less naive. I’m proud to be an artist and I will always be there to help with this site. The difference between you and me is that I don’t feel that I have to have a rank image to be of help.

You do.