The Recent "Tone" of the boards

[n00bitron5000]

I am a senior member on this board who wanted to post this anonymously because I usually don't get involved in this silliness but I can't help myself. Plus, I'm leaving and would like to say my peace.

This whole thing of people not feeling welcome, unfair attacks, and confrontation after confrontation did NOT start with the influx of newbies, it happened when the album leaked. Some of the very members in here who are bitching about this new tone to the board are some of the very members who are responsible for it.  

Tom talks (to no end) about how accepting this community used to be when only the other day he was bragging about helping forcing Dylan leave by making him feel unwelcome.  You set the tone, Tom.  This place has always been welcome "to some" not everyone and you are partly responsible for that fact.

Tracy won't stop bitching about Trolls and he has admitted in the past that he often intentionally tries to elicit an emotional response from people, which is the definition of a troll.  Talk about reaping what you sow!  It is YOUR fault that the board has sunk to this level.  More and more people are calling you out (including our new mod) and you're just getting huffy about it.  The young guys are beating you at your own game.
     
Senior members were leaving this place before bluntmaster even registered because of people like Tom and Tracy.  The difference is now that their cliché is having trouble over-powering some of the new members, but they continue fighting the same battles with different people (although they insist everyone who disagrees with them is Dylan in disguise) and in the process they have alienated those of us who come here to check up on and talk about our favorite band, not rub elbows with our interweb pals.  

Tom and Tracy made the most knowledgeable person on this board (about the band) feel unwelcome and now they want to bitch about their friends (EC, etc.) being made to feel unwelcome, well some of us don't want to hear it.  Again, you set the tone by making it clear that knowledge of the band and sharing that knowledge is not as important as being well-liked by you (Tom, Tracy, and others). Now this whole board gets to reap what YOU sowed as we have little Tracy's and Tom's popping up everyday, starting fights and making people feel unwelcome.

I think this is my last post on this account or any other.  You won't be able to figure out who I am though because so many senior members are leaving these days.  I just needed to point out that that has at least as much to do with people like Tom and Tracy as with newbies like Bluntmaster and Goatboy.  

[ycartrob]

I am a senior member on this board who wanted to post this anonymously because I usually don't get involved in this silliness but I can't help myself. Plus, I'm leaving and would like to say my peace.

This whole thing of people not feeling welcome, unfair attacks, and confrontation after confrontation did NOT start with the influx of newbies, it happened when the album leaked. Some of the very members in here who are bitching about this new tone to the board are some of the very members who are responsible for it.  

Tom talks (to no end) about how accepting this community used to be when only the other day he was bragging about helping forcing Dylan leave by making him feel unwelcome.  You set the tone, Tom.  This place has always been welcome "to some" not everyone and you are partly responsible for that fact.

Tracy won't stop bitching about Trolls and he has admitted in the past that he often intentionally tries to elicit an emotional response from people, which is the definition of a troll.  Talk about reaping what you sow!  It is YOUR fault that the board has sunk to this level.  More and more people are calling you out (including our new mod) and you're just getting huffy about it.  The young guys are beating you at your own game.
     
Senior members were leaving this place before bluntmaster even registered because of people like Tom and Tracy.  The difference is now that their cliché is having trouble over-powering some of the new members, but they continue fighting the same battles with different people (although they insist everyone who disagrees with them is Dylan in disguise) and in the process they have alienated those of us who come here to check up on and talk about our favorite band, not rub elbows with our interweb pals.  

Tom and Tracy made the most knowledgeable person on this board (about the band) feel unwelcome and now they want to bitch about their friends (EC, etc.) being made to feel unwelcome, well some of us don't want to hear it.  Again, you set the tone by making it clear that knowledge of the band and sharing that knowledge is not as important as being well-liked by you (Tom, Tracy, and others). Now this whole board gets to reap what YOU sowed as we have little Tracy's and Tom's popping up everyday, starting fights and making people feel unwelcome.

I think this is my last post on this account or any other.  You won't be able to figure out who I am though because so many senior members are leaving these days.  I just needed to point out that that has at least as much to do with people like Tom and Tracy as with newbies like Bluntmaster and Goatboy.  

(you have felt this way for how long and all you had to do was PM me to resolve it but you decided instead to post your feelings anonymously on a public thread to handle it? wow!)

An anonymous poster, a sr. member calling me out, how fitting.    ;D   classic

great points, you're exactly right. And I have not changed my tone or approach in 5 years. In fact, I have toned it down (hard to believe?). Nor have I ever threatened anyone with physical violence like some knowledgeble ex-members.

I'll continue to call people out who I think are being uncool; the band pays me to do so.

it is what it is.

the fact you posted this anonymously tells me how passionate you are about the subject ;)

-and for the record, I have never mentioned Dylan's name since he left, until now. I have done that out of respect for Dylan's friends here who are also my friends. All that is in the past as far as I'm concerned.

[Angry Ewok]

When the album leaked, this board saw dozens of people register here for the sole purpose of stealing the band's new album. Some of them even had the gall to criticize the work. Obviously, that wore on everyone here and rightfully so.

I know this means nothing coming from me, but I pardon all of the regulars here who eventually wore thin and were not their normal, welcome selves. I'm hoping I get the same sort of pardon, because I was getting really fucking pissed, myself. I know my tone changed after that first night.

For about three days, we were subject to a relentless badgering... I received something like a half dozen private messages from noobs asking me for a link to the pirated copy... and I was very outspoken against it. I can't imagine what some of the neutral folks had to put up with.

I any event, thankfully, that time has passed for now. Sure, I hope we know how to handle it better with the next major release... but remember in three or four years we had never seen anything like this before. Next time, it'll go smoother. For CC, especially, now that he has reinforcements.

Now, I don't know if you're a historical revisionist or something, but Dylan was not run out of here by Tom Eisenbraun. It was nearly the opposite, actually, but you didn't see the insane, ranting private messages Dylan sent Tom, so you didn't know that. Anyway, Dylan took heat from a shitload of people because he not only pirated the new album, but he was proud of it and basically said he was entitled to pirate their work.

...but that whole episode, ultimately, was not why he left. What really happened is that Dylan, out of the blue, talked shit about John Conaway - conjuring him up from years of idleness - and when word eventually got back to John, and John was revived in his own defense, CC backed John by setting Dylan in his place. CC basically shamed Dylan publicly, saying, "I know John and he's cool, I don't know you and the shit you say is out of line, and the grudge you've had for years is just scary," Dylan felt the heat and got out of the kitchen. I'm not sure if that thread still exists, but that's how it really happened.

Still, I don't like seeing people talk about Dylan. He's gone, now. It's over. I don't like folks talking about him, mainly because I fear that he might come back to "defend himself" and the handful of us that he despises the most would be subject, once again, to the same private tirades all over again. I wish folks would let it go... for our own sakes... it's not like we've somehow lost our only elder, and our last link to My Morning Jacket history. There are plenty of knowledgeable folks around here and so far none of them have sent me any sick, insane tirades through private messaging.

Anyway...

I don't know who you are, but I've got a good idea... we may have even met, once... Funny how after three or four years of correspondences, we begin to learn one another's writing style and there eventually comes a voice with the narration, which is then replaced by that person's real voice. That's so much fun.

It's sad to lose another voice in the crowd, but with or without you, we will move forward. You should think about that before you decide to leave... this place won't look the same in a month, or a year, or five years... it may be better, it may be worse, but it's always changing and regardless of whether or not the regulars are a constant - this place will exist for better or for worse. Your presence can make this place a much better place, or you could be a cancer on our little community.

In the end, that part is left totally up to you.

[ycartrob]

Brad, even though I'll be hating you again in Aug. when football season starts, that was a great post.  Thanks

[n00bitron5000]

I don't know what Dylan wrote in those pms and neither you do.  It's hearsay.  I do know that if he really didn't write those things, these attacks that you and others have levelled on him on a public forum (that he's no longer a part of) are tantamount to slander punishable by law, so you better hope your buddy Tom isn't lying.  

Tom attacked Dylan the other day calling him a motherfucker and directly attacking his character on the public forum.  How is that okay but bluntmaster (or aMD's) comments are somehow out of line?  You can't have your cake and eat it too.  If you think it's okay to make people feel unwelcome, prepare to be made to feel unwelcome.  That's not even to mention the fact that Dylan's "attack of John" was nothing compared to how you all have dragged his name through the mud since he quit the forum. But I digress...

The point is the people who are bitching about the board being ruined are the very people who have ruined this board and I couldn't go away without saying it, even if it was anonymously.  Pretty soon there will be very little info here, the covers comp and the Ger's archive already seem to be defunct. It'll just be fighting, gushing and elbow rubbing.  Maybe someone will start a new, more worthwhile jacket forum.  Until then, adios.

[ycartrob]

I don't know what Dylan wrote in those pms and neither you do.  It's hearsay.  I do know that if he really didn't write those things, these attacks that you and others have levelled on him on a public forum (that he's no longer a part of) are tantamount to slander punishable by law, so you better hope your buddy Tom isn't lying.  

that's actually why I saved mine, with the time, date, and signature stamps.

(I thought you were leaving? or perhaps you'll continue to post using your "real" fake name? The suspense is killing me.)

[TheBigChicken]

And like sands through the hour glass,so are the days of our lives.....getting JUST a LITTLE soapy in here...that's ok cause I haven't showered this morning :)

[getinthevan]

Welcome to the boa...  oh, nevermind...  bye.

[Angry Ewok]

I don't know what Dylan wrote in those pms and neither you do.  It's hearsay.  I do know that if he really didn't write those things, these attacks that you and others have levelled on him on a public forum (that he's no longer a part of) are tantamount to slander punishable by law, so you better hope your buddy Tom isn't lying.  

He isn't lying, and you wanna know how I was able to verify the legitmacy of those private messages Tom told me about? I simply compared them to the two dozen or so that he had sent me.

I'm pretty sure there is a function where you can forward PM, anyway.

Tom attacked Dylan the other day calling him a motherfucker and directly attacking his character on the public forum.  How is that okay but bluntmaster (or aMD's) comments are somehow out of line?

It's not okay. I actually sent Tom a private message and gave him a phone call and begged him to never say anything like that, ever again.

That's not even to mention the fact that Dylan's "attack of John" was nothing compared to how you all have dragged his name through the mud since he quit the forum.

I know this isn't referring to me, but I will say I'm not so sure John would agree with that. It doesn't matter, though. John was over it for the longest time... and I'm ready to be over it right now. I wish we would all move on, for everyone's sake and sanity.

Pretty soon there will be very little info here, the covers comp and the Ger's archive already seem to be defunct.

Ger has a great website... but what's to stop someone, say, me, from making a new website and having it re-affiliated with the official website? None of that information is going to be "lost forever", man, so why the mourning? This is the internet, dude, most information published once is forever in permenance. It isn't fun making an A-to-Z songlisting, but I did it. It isn't fun designing a tabs site, but I did it. It isn't fun compiling every setlist ever, but it's been done. It won't be fun archiving all of the comp's, but it's not anymore difficult than anything else us fanatics have already accomplished. All of this stuff is possible because no single person is a sole witness to MMJ history. It baffles me how some folks want to write this stuff off as lost forever. Hello?!

It'll just be fighting, gushing and elbow rubbing.  Maybe someone will start a new, more worthwhile jacket forum.  Until then, adios.

Look... I've met a lot of people on this forum and all but a couple are easily the greatest people I've ever met. Even Tracy is a very cool guy ( ;D)... I'm afraid to try and name all of you guys that I consider my best buddies, because I know with my memory I'd forget someone and then feel bad about it... but the fact is, these people have been very good to me, the band and its staff have been very good to me, and there's simply no way I'm leaving on account of anything. After three or four years of posting here, this is my interweb home.

If you really are gone forever, I wish you god speed. If you're one of those awesome people I'm talking about - don't forget to write, because I know I would miss the friendship

[wss]

I'll continue to call people out who I think are being uncool; the band pays me to do so.

it is what it is.

the band pays you to be rude to people?  i find that quite amazing (and f'ed up).

[primushead]

I'll continue to call people out who I think are being uncool; the band pays me to do so.

it is what it is.

the band pays you to be rude to people?  i find that quite amazing (and f'ed up).

In his defense, he hasn't been rude.  He's at least using civilized arguments instead of dropping f-bomb after f-bomb.

[wss]

i apologize. rude was a poor choice of words.

that said, i think that saying the band pays him to call people out - if this is true, that is not right.  if it's not true, saying it in a place where people will believe the band does this sort of thing - is not cool.

i think when people try to start fights and other people engage them, it's wrong on both sides.  it often feels like that is one of the main purposes of many internet forums.  it's a place for people to get out whatever aggression they can't in real life or something, which bums me out, actually.

[Angry Ewok]

i i think that saying the band pays him to call people out - if this is true, that is not right.  if it's not true, saying it in a place where people will believe the band does this sort of thing - is not cool.

You'll find that the band seems to employ a lot of sarcastic assholes around here.

;D

...but seriously.

;D

[The DARK]

It's simple, really. We're just a bunch of guys trying to have fun and worship the Jacket.  It's all good with Tracy, we know that he's just messing around most of the time and trying to have fun like the rest of us. The thing is that we're getting new fans every day with this new album, some of whom are really trying to offend on purpose. The only rule we really have here is "Don't mess with our brotherhood", because that's the one thing that sets us above the other message boards. That's why I personally don't have a huge problem with bluntmaster, while he's really not doing himself any favors, he's not trying to ruin the place either. Just try not to feed the fire.

[Penny Lane]

i feel like i just watched an episode of the The View or something---too much estrogen lol 8-)

[Jenny]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/v/wMAaBlcNy74&hl=en[/media]

[shockadow]

I'd like to chime in here since some of my earlier post may have caused devisiness and hurt feelings.

Here is the problem as I see it.

MMJ make positive, feel-good music from a place that is a perfect little garden of kindness, positivity, and peace.
Real people simply can't actually live up to the standards of the music.  At least not the thousands of new fans the band has.  

When i originally suggested that the leak might have been a promotional tool by the record comany, Jonconaway and tracy PERSONALLY ATTACKED me in anyway they could to try and discount my thoughts.  I had good points and they attacked my writing style and grammar.  I expected that the MODS would give me the boot for ruffling so many established feathers but the guy, CCBAXTER, was very cool and did nothing of the sort.  

When there are 50 forum members and many of them have a face-to-face, personal history, it makes bonding and communicating a very easy task.  Now introduce 10,000 new fans who want info, freebies, and to mini-blog about their new favorite music and you have the original members feeling not that important anymore.  It sucks and it's not fair but welcome to the newfound success of your lil' band.

An easy way to prove my point:
Mr Anonymous had some super valid points of contention but the only thing the SENIOR MEMBERS did (tracy) was attack him for being anonymous and brag that the band pays you to asshole-up the forum.
You totally reap what you sow, Trace.

It seems there is a concerted effort to keep change from happening.  Which is a direct opposite affect to what this band is doing with their career right now.  It's the age of the interweb.  You can't just hope that things stay stattus quo and bitch when they change. You'll run yourselves out of places you love if you do that.

If this pisses you off, sorry.  I won't be shamed into leaving like the Dylan guy.  He was always nice and generous to me so I guess i had a different experience with him than many of you but we all agree that it sucks that his knowledge/resources are gone.

Also, learn to take a tounge-in-cheek statement as that.  Sometimes, people try to use the forum to get their personality across.  Don't always get so pissed of about lil' statements.  It makes ya feel older than ya are.  It also ruins the vibe.

Oh yeah, one last thing.  I want to point out that this is MYMORNINGJACKET's forum.  No one should be allowed to come on this forum and BASH the band/music based on opinion.  That shit is disrespectful and should be squashed immediately.  If someone has valid facts, fine.  But saying"Highly Suspicious" is gay and Jim must be stupid for penning it", should warrant a verbal thrashing.  Please take your negative reviews to Pitchfork or Stereogum, jerky!  You wouldn't go to your new inlaws house and dog them for their cooking or furniture, would ya?
Be respectful.  all will be "oakee-doakee"!!

I write alot and forget most of what i've written so if I contradict something i said previously, i apologize.  

this is how i feel right now.

[Angry Ewok]

Mr Anonymous had some super valid points of contention but the only thing the SENIOR MEMBERS did (tracy) was attack him for being anonymous and brag that the band pays you to asshole-up the forum.

I think it's a stretch to say the only thing senior members did was attack him, when I wrote a fucking thesis of a response... but I have to say it is freaking hilarious that you note Tracy as a senior member... you know... 'cause he's really old.

:D ;D

[shockadow]

Sorry ewok, I wasn't speaking about you.  I should have been more clear.  
You get my point, though.
Right?

[Angry Ewok]

Sorry ewok, I wasn't speaking about you.  I should have been more clear.  
You get my point, though.
Right?

Absolutely. I'm just having fun with this thread at this point.