FIBS is taking a day off

[diane]

I had thought the overall tenor of FIBs shouts had greatly improved and was much more friendly than in the past.

Me too..but that might dependent on time of day you visit and I think there is a lot more going on behind the scenes - emails and tells etc.

[garp_02]

May I take this opportunity to applaud Patti for the stance she has taken.

She has tried everything else - banning people from shouts, from Fibs etc etc and still it goes on.

Let me offer a little comparison and let you draw your own conclusions.

Three years back, my wife and I decided to join a lawn bowls club - I know quite sad but hey. I was a bit sceptical to begin with but soon found that I was drawn into the tactics and skill involved in the game.

The comparisons I would like to draw on are based on the points Patti raised in her initial post on this thread and my intention is to show both the similarities and differences between real life organistations and internet organisations.

In my bowls club, there are little cliques where people talk about how they would do things differently from those on the committee, how some members don't support the club as much as they etc etc.

What they don't do, referring back to Patti's original post is:

a) Walk off the green halfway through a game and refuse to  finish it.

b)Turn up in a  mask and pretend to be someone else. Even sometimes taking the mask off after each shot to play themselves.

c) No-one, myself included, ever has walked up to another member and called them a f***ing b****ard or w***ker etc etc

I'm sure everyone can relate this to some organisation they are involved with, or indeed, life in general.

So where does the problem lie? Is it because people sitting in the comfort and safety of their homes, communicating only over the internet, feel more empowered by being able to abuse, drop etc etc? I think so.

What can be done about it is another matter and it is more  than just a problem for Fibs,; it is a global and increasing problem.

[DavidK]

That way I see it, the issues leading to Patti's dummy-spit could/should have been rectified long long ago.

FIBS seems to be run as an ego-trip by a small clique.

This in no way diminishes the respect and gratitude due to those who devote their time and energy supporting FIBS.
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It's just that if people hold something close to their chest, run it their way (or the highway), don't allow the wider
community to contribute, etc - who is to blame when their policies plainly have not led to good results?

There are many obvious things that could be done to eliminate anti-social behaviour.
FIBS has been moribund for many many years. Some slight movement recently but not nearly enough.

AGAIN - for those who shoot the messenger - this in no way diminishes the respect and gratitude due to those
who devote their time and energy supporting FIBS. Thank you Patti.

[dickbalaska]

@DavidK: "...time and energy supporting FIBS."  And money, you forgot money.  It costs >$0 to host a server of any kind.

@garp_02: You should play at our (Town of Guilford CT USA) lawn bowl courts.  They overlook the harbor; beautiful. (and so does one Little League field).  In Prague last month, I watched a Bocci tournament with some world class players, it was truly amazing.

I usually don't watch the shouts.  They have been better lately (the past year or so) but do occasionally veer off.  I'm here to just play.  One of the first config options I added to my client was "Ignore shouts".

I am guilty of having multiple accounts and I apologize for that.  I used to be dickbalaska.  I created BuckoFIBSa to test my client and it seems I am now stuck with it, as I try to get to 10K experience with it.  Once in a blue moon I will launch dickbalaska on JavaFIBS and start a 13 point match against myself; like if I can't work out some protocol issue (undocumented messages, there are many).  I never finish that match, which I would consider cheating, and let it roll off.  Mostly though I do my testing on my own jIBS server.  I actually did a lot of work on jIBS because I felt too guilty running the two accounts on FIBS.

I will add my thanks to Patti too, but that is not what she is looking for.  I believe she is looking for civility in the lawless Old West of the Anonymous Internet. (Hey, did you ever notice that the Padgammon users are a polite bunch )

[Broncowolf]

Wow!  I tried to log in last night for a little backgammon and found I couldn't!  I almost never have peeked into the 'shout' area and I bet I'm with the majority of FIBS users in that respect so I don't really know what's going on with that but it sounds like it's a pain so maybe I'll continue to keep away.  My only dealing with Patti has been stellar and she's tops in my books.  I only have one account and not sure why you'd want others.  I win some, lose some and I finish all my games unless someone else drops out on me.  They are GAMES.  It's fun, win or lose!   Can't wait for FIBS to come back today! 

I do look at Repbot and try to keep away from some of the people that don't have good reps and also people that look like they drop a lot, as I'm sure most of you do.  I'm glad it's set up so you can check!  I also make notes on the complainers that make little snide comments all the time if you make a good roll and whine and complain throughout the game.  I just don't play them again.  Who needs it?  But the vast majority of the FIBS group are great fun and you don't really have to worry much about finding a good fun match.

Keep up the good work!  This group of people are the best and a lot of fun.

[MichaelP7]

I just couldn't login to FIBS today and I thought I was giving it a wrong password. Since I couldn't find where i was wrong, I tried to create a fresh new account. Am I now guilty for having multiple accounts or do I get some discount for just "attempting to do so" like we say "attempted murder"

I would suggest Patti to take not only one day off but perhaps a few weeks off from FIBS. Then everything will be just fine

[garp_02]

The problem with owning the site and making statements is that if you don't honour those statements, you look silly and unprofessional and, to be honest, as bad as all the muppets who shout abuse at each other.

No offence intended