Good Or Bad - "Ottoleaks"!

[Wikkus]

He is trying to give up smoking.

Ahh, right! Then he has my best wishes in finding inner peace and harmony without the wicked weed

Rik.

[Wikkus]

OK, you know what I'm going to say next if anyone says what they shouldn't, so don't say it.

{averts gaze, whistles innocently, shuffles feet}

R.

[ashgray]

{also averts gaze, looks other way, posts smiley}



Ash

[sniper297]

Just to clear up a few items.
Otto is one of them polarizing types that people either love or hate. No rule against hating somebody, but there is a rule against stalking, and some people are so obsessed with Otto they follow him around everywhere he goes to start fights with him. They get told to PUT OTTO ON YOUR IGNORE LIST (and get some therapy!) and they fail to do that, continue to post flamewars in every thread he starts, then they get banned - it's never for one single infraction. I don't know how it works here, but at trainsim.com a ban is not permanent, it forces the member to talk directly to Nels in order to get reinstated. Nels owns the website, all the moderators work for Nels, Nels is the final judge of who goes and who stays since it's his private club and everyone is there by his invitation. Some people don't agree with how the moderators work over there, but we are all following Nels' policy, we talk with Nels frequently and try to run the forums exactly the way he would if he had time to do it by himself.

Others say Nels has no clue what's going on, or don't like the way he runs that forum. First, he's always in the loop even if it's a day later, second Nels ran flight simulator bulletin boards before the internet existed - he's been at this a long long time and he knows what he's doing. The balancing act between a tight rigidly controlled forum and a free-for-all is not easy, make it too strict and you lose members, make it too loose and you lose the other end of the spectrum, strike the perfect balance and you become the biggest trainsim website in the world with the middle ground members.

There is no "Conspiracy to make Railworks fail".
There is no "Conspiracy to censor all negative comments".

There IS a goal of allowing a certain amount of CIVILIZED debate which is ON TOPIC. A certain amount of heat and passion is okay, a certain amount of playful horsing around and going off topic is okay, and it's always a judgment call how much to allow and when to step in with restrictions. "Bashing" is a judgment call, we get a lot of alerts for that then have to decide if the alerter is being too sensitive over a legitimate criticism or the poster is going over the top. Either way we're not going to please everyone, no matter because the only one we have to please is Nels.

I am watching that particular thread, in my opinion (again, it's a judgment call, nobody likes the referee but we call them as we see them) there's nothing wrong with it YET. But regardless of whether RSC is making zillions or going belly up, stock reports and shareholders dividends have nothing to do with train simulators. I've deleted a number of Otto's posts about RSDL/RSC finances in the past, not because I'm trying to protect RSC, but because they stray so far off topic they end up having nothing to do with railroading. Again a balancing act, occasional jokes about how many cookies Derek eats are fine, but if it strays off into a debate about whether Oreos are better than Chips Ahoy then how the price of cookies have gone up then how bad the economy is then why don't Obama do something then it's the Republicans fault, it's gone too far. That's how posts get deleted and threads locked, we don't do that stuff on a whim.

[TransportSteve]

Thanks for that Jim, the only thing is, it seems from afar that Otto appears to have aquired a bit of a fan club and much of what he comments on is absorbed like a sponge by many of the younger generation, et al. However, guys like Phil Skene who is a veteran gamer from Auran Trainz also visits the trainsim forum on a regular basis, and I wouldn't be surprised that one day a thread may be opened on their forum commenting on the state of the finances of Rail Simulator/Railworks or something similar, to which the Auran Trainzers would lap up with glee, and of course Phil would quote Otto as being his "reliable source". I think that posts like these open a huge can of worms and should be stamped on as they do not serve any purpose whatsoever, and rumours and scaremongering can cause all sorts of havoc if not properly dealt with. Nels does a brilliant job of his forum, but, he cannot moderate other game forums around the world.

Cheerz. Transport Steve.

[stephenholmes]

One thing noone can stop is freedom of speech
It would be a sad day indeed if that were the case
Obviously any information published must be factual and not malicious etc etc
Kind regardas Stephen

[styckx]

Freedom of speech does not exist on the internet unless you are the owner of the website. Otherwise you are under the owners rules and regulations.

[stephenholmes]

Hello Bill
The right to express opinions and share information is always available
Obviously forums have their code of conduct for obvious reasons
We do not live under a dictatorship
Like I say malicious tittle tattle is another matter altogether and I dare say anyone doing this will be dealt with
Kind regards Stephen

[dorlan]

Freedom of speech does not exist on the internet unless you are the owner of the website. Otherwise you are under the owners rules and regulations.

It doesn't exist in the real world either!

"Everyone reckons there is freedom of speech. Freedom of expression is enshrined in the new human rights laws, but laws governing defamation go back hundreds of years.

Defamation
Libel: To falsely attack the reputation of a person or body in a permanent form (i.e. in writing or in a drawing).
Slander:To make spoken defamatory statement.
Speech during stage plays, or radio and TV broadcasts is considered libel, rather than slander.

[sniper297]

"rumours and scaremongering can cause all sorts of havoc if not properly dealt with"

The old saying is "Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see". Misinformation has been around forever, predates the internet, television news, radio, and even the printing press. Anyone who takes everything he reads on the internet for gospel will have to learn the hard way, you can't protect the gullible from believing in 9/11 conspiracies or global warming.

[gptech]

.......in 9/11 conspiracies or global warming.

so thats what they spent 300 grand on.......

<serious hat on> published accounts should not be taken as a definitive reflection of any companys financial state, they are there to show that what the company states as being their financial position has been audited and checked as a true and accurate reflection of said status at the time of auditing. Under no circumstances should they be taken as 'cast iron proof' that a company is in financial trouble,or lost the confidence of shareholders/creditors, particularly when (as in the case of rs.com) extraordinary costs are involved--aquisition of intellectual rights, capital investment etc.

As an example, the company I work for has posted losses into the millions for the past 2 years, partly due to the take over (they like to say 'merger') of another business, but still recieves the full backing of its backers. </serious>

[Darpor]

Just to prove how much this can get out of hand and misconstrued, someone posted over on the Steam forums, starting a thread with the header "Railworks Bankrupt", quoting that they would be bankrupt by next month and stating sources as both Otto and Vern. I didn't read anything about next month, did you?

[USRailFan]

Talk about the feather that turned into five chickens (do you have that saying in Britain?)...

[Darpor]

I don't think I have, I know it is probably the same as mountain out of a molehill.

Now awaiting Tom to come and post that picture he is fond of.

[USRailFan]

Yeah, it is pretty much the same expression (seriously o.t. now, but the expression is from one of H C Andersen's fairytales).