About Reveille

[xechnao]

Perhaps Rev has a real and actual problem. What he did might have been a way of expressing this.

It is true that what he did has offended the standards of the code of conduct, but remember that the code of conduct runs on artificial time intervals. We must judge his offense in respect to reality, not in respect to the code itself. This is why he has to have the right of a chance of defending himself. So, I think that any decision regarding his penalty has to be made after judging Rev's reaction with the chance given to him.

This helps to judge better and it also helps to reveal what ever other things might hide behind what has happened. A necessary condition for this process is that Rev must understand before defending himself what the penalties might be.


EDIT: I see that moderation has addressed this already.

 

[Eridanis]

I suggest in a future similar situation that those with particular expertise or knowledge contact the moderators, who may then be able to make enquiries and confirm or refute suspicions. If they are able to determine it's a hoax, they can then take action to end it before it runs so long and hurts so many people.

Exactly right. "I think he's lying" is not helpful; "I think he's lying because..." will make us think about it.

For my part, as soon as the first post was made, I checked IPs to see if someone was trying to hoax us. When the IPs for the two accounts were the same, I figured that made sense. (If there's engaged, they certainly could have been living togehter; I'm not privy to anyone's living arrangements!) That allayed my suspicions. But it didn't occur to me that someone who had contributed so much for so long would feel the need to do this.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Meh. It's a jerk thing to do, but I think I'm proud to be a member of ENWorld. It brought out the best in the boards, even if it happened for the most deceptive of reasons.

This place is awesome, and that thread shows it.

It's a dick move, but if you're fabricating comas on D&D message boards, you've probably got more significant issues than lying on the interwebs, so here's hoping that the outpouring of karma Rev got helps him through whatever issues he's embroiled in. Dude obviously needs to re-examine his behavior.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I don't know why Reveille did what he did, but it was a bad idea. A lack of judgement, an emotional problem, I don't know.

Just as we showed our support for when he seemed ill, it is appropriate for us to show our disappointment. Frankly, I don't know if I would have banned him or not, but I clearly could never talk to him like I could before. I am often in the hive, and I wouldn't know how to react to him. It couldn't really "trust" him, nor would I be interesting in confronting him. So I do not disagree with the mods decision.

On the "bad joke" matter - I tend to think there are no bad jokes just because they might or might not offend someone. I think the intention matters more, and at the moment I can't believe of an intention that is "harmless" and doesn't indicate a personal problem.

That's my thoughts precisely on the matter. If a serious medical condition happened to anyone else on EN World in the future most people will now be very suspicious initially. That's not fair to the person that actually has the serious medical condition, or the rest of EN World.

Olaf the Stout

And it's not like it didn't happen before that community members got _really_ ill - and even died. I still remember the case of angelsboi - it was in a time where I was more a newbie, so I don't have such a deep connection to his case than others might have, but... it was a sad moment where the community showed its strength. And we wouldn't want a "joke" like this destroy that. Well, I wouldn't want to.

 

[Jack99]

Several people have posted how it brought up their own painful experiences, they put their trust and time into good wishes for him and, now, to find out that it was a hoax is pretty harmful IMO.

Trust is a valuable resource and squandering it is a Bad thing...

Please do not get me wrong. I am not in any way advocating that Rev didn't do something wrong, nor that there shouldn't be some sort of punishment. I guess I just do not equate "bringing up painful experiences" with "emotional harm". Emotional harm is something much more lasting and dangerous.

Cheers

 

[The_Fan]

I'm only a peripheral member of "the community." I've been lurking here for years but only a rare poster (Note the odd combination of low post count with ancient join date), so I only followed this from the sidelines. I didn't feel like I should say anything because I didn't know him, had probably never even replied to one of his posts, so it wasn't my place to say anything.

I was curious, though. I work in the medial field (not a doctor, just an army medic staffing a hospital), and the whole thing just seemed a bit off. I wanted to ask all sorts of questions, maybe even take it up with my local doctors to see what they said, but again, didn't because I figured the doctors outside the army are probably better than those in. However, when she talked about his talking in the coma that was when my BS detector went off. I was not surprised when not too long after the thread was locked and the truth revealed.

I wonder what would possess a longtime member of any community to act in such a manner. It seems very uncharacteristic from what everyone has said about him and what I have observed in the past lurking. Then again, people do strange things. Maybe he never intended it to go as far as it did. Maybe he felt the need for attention. Maybe (hopefully not) he thought it was funny. Given the moderators have already made their decision and don't wish to share their private conversations with him, it is all just pointless speculation and venting of collective spleens.

I say we should take the response as a sign of a healthy community. We should be wary in the future, but that doesn't mean cynical. Use this as an opportunity to forge a stronger bond in this online community.

As for the person that started it, I hope that Rev can find a more healthy outlet for his issues in the future. Whatever drove him to do this, I hope that he can seek the help he needs to deal with those issues.

 

[Mallus]

I think banning him was a good idea, for any number of reasons.

I also think continuing to pray for him, for those inclined to pray, is also a good idea (at least once the anger subsides). This doesn't seem like a joke to me. This seems like a desperate attempt to find some validation --albeit at the expense of others.

I believe he's still ill, just not in the way his hoax claimed.

 

[Voadam]

Has anyone met Mandy and the kids or are his internet postings the only corroboration of his fiancee's existence?

 

[Shemeska]

This sucks. My worry and good will feel used, and to be honest I start to doubt literally everything Rev has ever said here on Enworld. What would "Rev's Mandy" think of this stunt? Do they even exist in the first place or are they entirely made up as well?

Whatever the reason for hoaxing and exploiting the community's faith, Rev needs psychological help. Please get counseling.

 

[DonTadow]

We have a policy of never discussing moderator action. In this case, though, I'm going to make an exception because we'll need to talk about this. It's a community issue that affects many of us.

It has come to our attention that Reveille wasn't sick. He created the 'Rev's Mandy' account and fabricated his illness. I'm honestly not sure why; maybe he wanted attention, or needed to gauge how people felt about him. I don't want to guess, and I'm not sure I'm fit to judge, but there's no doubt about this and no possible mistake.

I feel really betrayed and manipulated by someone I liked and considered a friend. Mostly I feel disappointed and used. I probably won't be the only one. We have decided to ban Reveille, as this sort of behavior - this sort of lying - can not and should not be condoned. I apologize to the many people he's friends with and who have enjoyed his posts. If you wish to discuss this decision by the moderators, it's like any other moderator call at ENW: email me, don't discuss it on the boards themselves.

If you want to talk to him, he can still be emailed through the boards. Do not send him harassing emails. I figure he has enough problems already if this was necessary, and doesn't need abuse. Likewise, our rules about personal attacks still apply. That's a little tricky, though, because folks are going to need to talk about this for a while. Please use good judgment when you do, and report any posts you see that break our rules.

Finally... well, crap. This is one of the most frustrating and disappointing days I've had as a moderator over the past nine years. On behalf of our entire community, I'm sorry.

1st, wow that was a jerk thing to do. Especially if you've been here for a while and have seen people battling difficult illnesses. It seemed like areal bonehead thing to do.

Trying to figure out his motives, Wasn't it Reveille who ran a social experiment (not as crude) a few years back that upset everyone because it wasn't based on a real situation. For some reason i remember it being d and d related but delving into serious moral issues.

Last, we all made dumb decisions and then pressed enter, everyone whose been banned before raise their hand. Sure Rel continued to do it, but I"ve learned that you never know what is going on in someones life that effects their bonehead actions. Not giving anyon an excuse, just trying to understand why i would forgive him.