Visit the NEScene (http://nescene.brinstar.com)! //\\ //\\ ///\\\ ///\\\ /// \\\ /// \\\ /// \\\/// \\\ /// \\\ ALLRAT. The evil newbie. Or not... The NES Nation newbies. They don't say please, they don't say thank-you, and they think they own the place. That's just how they are, there's no changing that. But what are you supposed to do after someone cleans up their act? Forgive them, of course. But that not's how it was with the Mallrat controversy. Mallrat joined the NES Nation in the spring of 1998. Like we all were when we first joined the Nation, he was eager to become a big part of it. But he went about it the wrong way. He posted tons of messages on the NES message board, literally clogging it. He (gasp) stole artwork from other peoples NES sites. Normally you wouldn't think twice about doing something like this in the NES Nation. We were a dedicated group of individuals who took pride in our sites and our little "community". So we expressed ourselves on the MB. We yelled at him throwing little hissy fits about the whole thing. He defended himself when people started to diss him (and rightfully so). But the posts continued, day after day. Finally something got into that rat's head. He took down the bootlegged artwork from his site, and eased off on the MB posts. That should have shut people up. But people didn't stop there. They constantly criticized him for his past. And many of the "older" NES Nation members flamed him publically on the MB. Mallrat had to put up a fight. He defended himself, dissing the members who dissed him. He wasn't afraid to fight back, saying he was a NES fan like the rest of us, and we shouldn't hold his past against him. He flamed those who flamed him. But still, more and more people turned on him. Even those newer than him, who had no idea what was going on turned on him. There was no way he could fight back. So one night in #nes98, after ChanServ split, mallrat spoke out. He said there was no reason for us to act the way we had been twords him. He commited his sins and paid for them. We had no reason to pick on him. I and a few others agreed. Mallrat had been in the wrong at first, but he cleaned his act up. I defended him the best I could by standing in front of my new friend, and directing the insults twords me. There was a forgive but not forget thing going on in there with half the chatters, and finally it ended abruptly with one final message by Mallrat saying that he hated the way those people in there and in the Nation treated him, and told us that this would be exactly how our "NES community" would fall apart. I realized, and so did everyone else, that he was right. Some cared, some didn't. All I know is that's how the NES Nation is dying. How, you ask? 1. By assholes not giving people a chance. When I first joined the Nation, I was looked down upon because I couldn't build websites. I stood up for myself and that just pissed people off more. I disappeared for awhile, learned HTML, and presto I was accepted. 2. By not forgiving. Mallrat fixed his errors, and still noone accepted him, until it was too late. He was a nice guy who loved NES. Some (you know who you are) people ruined it for him, and we lost yet another NES fan. 3. And by thinking we're better than everyone. People were created equal. I don't care how old you are, what color your skin is, or even what friggen browser you use. We are equal in the NES Nation too, you know. If someone says something you don't like, ignore it! It's none of your business to try and correct someones opinion anyway. And on IRC. Maybe we can't all be ops, but if we are we can't just kick people we don't like! I'm a aop in (gasps) #emuroms, and I do the best job I can there making sure people are treated equal and given a chance to speak up for themselves. That's about all I have to say. Mallrat, if you read this, you are a cool NES fan and I would be happy to give you a place here at the NEScene, where no NES fan is excluded. 3:24 AM 8/4/98