Does anyone see him doing there, what he did, here?

In my head, he committed Buffista pseudicide to keep his wiki's reputation safe from all the tall tales he spun, over here. I have no facts to support that opinion. It is just how I've made sense of it, over the years.

Now, his wiki has reputation problems of its own, but they seem (from a cursory glance) to be caused by poor management decisions and moderation, rather than by being a fabulist. Is our experience relevant to anything going on at the wiki? What will/can sharing it accomplish? What will the fallout be, for this community? Will we be courting the ire of a bunch of people, some of whom post really despicable garbage?

I think "Gus" was smart, funny, creative -- and with us, he was also dishonest, and ultimately cruel. But, until his dramatic exit, he never caused problems on our board. I know, at first glance, that could read like, "Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?" My point is that, given how non-trollish he was for the 3 or 4 years he was on the board, I fInd it hard to believe in my heart that he meant to be cruel. And, speaking personally, even if he did, I forgave him long ago.

I think someone who spins elaborate fables for years, as I believe he did, must have a mental illness. I also think that site is probably his livelihood. And I think it's likely he has some physical ailment, too. He never tried to scam us out of money (although I'm not sure what his intent was with tommyrot and the car, "Gus" aborted the caper). I haven't read anything that leads me to believe he's scamming his own community.

The eyes of the Internet are already on him for what he is doing on the wiki. The Something Awful forum has so far had five huge threads about the wiki. It's an ongoing thing for them, like natter is for us. I couldn't give them a thorough read, because their focus is on the gross conversations that happen on the wiki. From what I gleaned though, he seems guilty of inept yet capricious moderation, but appears to be addressing (or trying to address) the issue, now that it has gotten press.

I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do. I know, these days, I'm not really a Buffista, so I'm just speaking as a Friend of Buffistas. This FoB made peace with this, as soon as I was confident that this community wasn't mourning someone I didn't and don't believe died. I forgave him and let it go. All I ask is this, please consider how much good and how much harm sharing our story might do, and to whom?

I fInd it hard to believe in my heart that he meant to be cruel

This? Does not salve the wound. I was casually a fucking prick, I didn't mean to be a fucking prick, just switches around some of the qualifiers on what flavour of fucking prick he was.

The prickness is still up front and centre.

I don't think there's anything about this situation that would be fixed by revealing the public story (security by obscurity--gotta love it), but then again, there's honesty, and I quite like that. Even if it's a case of volunteering the info, instead of being asked.

I was speaking only for myself there. I'm sorry I failed to get that across. Good luck, everyone. Take care.

I'm speaking for myself as well, and I think this whole matter should have been allowed to die a long time ago. It's being touted as "the right thing" or "they deserve to know," but a lot of it sounds to me like a simple desire for revenge and "somebody got away with something!/someone is wrong on the internet!"

I don't think it deserves the amount of attention it receives.

For me, as horrible as this is going to sound, I guess if the story was out there, I'd feel some sort of closure and feel like I wasn't constantly biting my tongue when the Wiki comes up.

Because DAMN, I hate not saying, "BUT YOU KNOW THE BACKSTORY HERE, RIGHT? RIGHT? HAVE SOME ASSCAP CONTEXT!!!" And, also, feeling like he's managed to get away with Crimes of Doucheyness and come out ahead. Rubs my warped sense of fair the wrong way.

I was speaking only for myself there. I'm sorry I failed to get that across.

Cindy, I think you have some valuable things to say. While I am sort of in favor of spreadign the word about Gus, I also agree it's worthwhile examining (a) the point of doing so--what would it achieve? and (b) the possible consequences to us here.

In favor of spreading the word is our knowledge that Gus is a lying liar who lies: he cannot be relied upon to tell the truth, and that certainly colors my perception of what's going on over at TV Tropes right now. Do the Tropers know he's a complete fabulist? Would it affect their community and its decisions? I dunno.

But I know that my desire to share that information is more than a little tainted by malice: Gus fucked with us and never paid for it.

Additionally, what form would such an attempt take? Who would do it? How? What proof would be considered sufficient? Do we even have sufficient proof, given that some of it was found over on the TV Tropes site itself and might have been edited away by now.

And what if the Tropers take against us? To them, we're foreigners casting aspersions on their host/moderator. The might just pull together and turn on us, and there appear to be some very unpleasant people over there.

Cindy, I appreciate that you have forgiven Gus. Me, I guess I haven't, in part because he's never expressed any penitence: and even if he has, does that mean we pass up the opportunity to help another community that he might be taking advantage of? I don't know.

Because DAMN, I hate not saying, "BUT YOU KNOW THE BACKSTORY HERE, RIGHT? RIGHT? HAVE SOME ASSCAP CONTEXT!!!"

I have had multiple occasions IRL to relate the tale, when friends have asked me if I've ever heard of this TV Tropes thing.

That being said, I'm really on the fence about whether it's worth revealing the info in this case. My wound isn't particularly closed either, but I'm not sure outing the story will do anything about that, or about Gus/Fast Eddie being who he is.

Do we even have sufficient proof, given that some of it was found over on the TV Tropes site itself and might have been edited away by now.

I haven't really explored in depth, but I suspect this is probably the case.

And what if the Tropers take against us?

I really worry about this.

It appears that the Tropers also think there was a Gus who died. I'm not sure whether they'd turn on Fast Eddie or on us as the messenger.

What I want is an acknowledgement and an explanation, however lame.

I'm for tell the story and for approving subsequent registration.

While I am sort of in favor of spreadign the word about Gus, I also agree it's worthwhile examining (a) the point of doing so--what would it achieve? and (b) the possible consequences to us here.

I don't forgive Gus. I am blackhearted that way. However, while I generally think payback is a fine thing (see above, re: blackhearted), I also wonder what it would actually achieve (other than being an end unto itself) and worry that the possible consequences to us wouldn't be worth it.