I don't know what to say. On one hand, you have Denis Dyack at fault, being incredibly immature in his actions and words, but then you have GAFers drinking Evilore's koolaid, and then some.
Based on what I listened to on that one single podcast episode of 1up yours that contributed to all of this, I admit that there were times when I was outright shaking my head in disagreement, and there were also points where he did make good points that I agreed with.
His problem, however, is not too different from that of Jack Thompson: his message or opinion might not necessarily be wrong, but his actions are incredibly childish.
Its like one big, fat shouting match.
Jaffe's perspective and contribution to this thread is a perfect example of how "normal" people would interact with their community.
Dyack's behavior and history with this forum, as well as any source of criticism (i.e. Mark Macdonald's E3 "preview") mirrors that of a manipulative child who screams when things don't go his way, yet claims to still have the upper hand at the end of the day, just to spite others and comfort himself.
As for the ethical aspect of moderators that swirls into all of this, there seems to be two general opinions:
1) Moderators should be impartial, as that is what a moderator is
2) Moderators on GAF are normal people who just so happen to have the extra privalege of abusing their power on a whim; NeoGAF is a privately owned community, and they can do what they want.
Personally, I fall more into the first category of thinking, but obviously the second one is more realistic. People liken the rules of our forum to that of fascism, with our mods representing corrupt officials.
I think that's the point that Dyack's trying to point out, but I think he's flawed in his belief that this has some kind of long-term influence over the rest of the world/internet.
But something I'd like to note and tell everyone is this:
Everyone is a hypocrite, in fact the word comes from Greek origin, where it didn't have such a negative connotation, but instead was an accepted part of what it meant to be human. I just wish people would be more aware of what they say, and what's going on around them.
Evilore's actions are that of a person who's been insulted, and acts to represent and defend what he believes, and he's not wrong to do that, as some may lead you to believe. NeoGAF isn't a public forum where moderators are impartial, where we have a representative that is separate from the moderators; as a whole, we're just people that talk about games and other things, share our passions with people we'll never meet, and most of all, spew hyperbole, hype, and hate, just as much as any other forum.
Our system may be flawed in that respect, but we're a simple folk, and unless we were to make partaking in NeoGAF a second job, I don't see people making governmental structure to what's simply an online gaming forum.
And to return to the Nietzsche quote, "he who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster," this is truly an age-old message that can be adjusted and applied to anything from the immature, to the misinformed, the idiotic, and to the ignorant, and the flipside can apply as well.
So basically what I'm saying is: Dyack needs a really really really strict PR manager, but that ain't gonna happen.
I mean, seriously, NONE of this drama would have ever started if Dyack just kept his mouth shut after E3 06. I don't think ANYONE would have remembered or cared about what was said in that "preview" article regarding Too Human. Some people are just too involved with all of the whispers they hear around them for them to realize what they need to do is work hard on what they're striving for. Some could even blame Microsoft for forcing that demo to come out, but would it have at all mattered if the final game, or the official review build was astonishing and awesome? No, it wouldn't have.
Seriously, the guy just dug himself the biggest grave ever, and he can only blame himself.
Mama Robotnik said:
:lol
