Let me get this straight yall think this is me?

oh yeah sorry awesome guy

No problem :)

Fizzer said on Bais' thread that it was a member who is doing this. If I had to guess who it was, I would go for Gui/Zoso, who is also apparently Mal, according to the chat of a game posted elsewhere. I can't think of anyone else.

While we have certainly butted heads in the past, Gui never seemed like the type to stoop to this level. Always seemed to have more maturity than to imitate other users but perhaps I gave him too much credit.

Given his admission of having ~10 accounts, I probably ran up against one of his fake accounts and upset him without even realizing it. Seems the most likely cause (if it is indeed Gui) since I haven't dealt with him in months otherwise.

He might have been lurking the forums, quietly building up resentment against you.

It is immature, but on the other hand it's quite funny. I'd say it's quite feasible that Gui would be behind it. Moreover, I can't think of a single other person who might be responsible.

I first thought J Russ. But it was too subtle. And too much work.

But then I thought Gui. Gui likes points systems for posts. If it is Gui, I don't think it is any personal resentment. I think he was just ITCHING to make snide comments on the forum, but was blocked because of his "I WILL NEVER POST HERE AGAIN!!!1111" rant. In any case, I found this very funny, especially because Richard Sharpe didn't take it personally. It's probably a good think to have a strong hand for punishment against impersonating somebody, but this was comedy.

Could very well be the case. Without knowing all his alter-egos I have no way of knowing if or when I would have upset him. I was barely involved in the Mal clan challenge conversation so it wouldn't have been there.

It certainly was amusing though. I'm just sad I didn't act quickly enough to challenge my little acolyte to a game. After all, it's not often you get the opportunity to match wits with yourself...

Richard Sharpe #2: At first I thought it was Richard Sharpe himself. But then it wasn't. Next I thought it was Gui. But Gui changed his name. So that couldn't be correct either. Finally I decided it must be Fizzer, because so serious all the time with a PG13 game must be a little boring.

Mal: At first I thought Mal was a newcomer trying to make a splash. Then I kept reading the posts. Next I thought Mal was Richard Sharpe #1, but Mal was too clever. Later I discovered Mal was masking his identity behind occasional, deliberate foolishness. So I knew it must be a certain person. But now I am Mal too, so that couldn't be right either.

aghhh, a troll

I'm pretty sure that's a fake Mal. A second account of a second account, hmm. This forum is becoming like F For Fake.



"Gui likes points systems for posts."

Oh yeah. Good work, Detective Typesomething.



"It's probably a good think to have a strong hand for punishment against impersonating somebody, but this was comedy."

I'm sure the same thing could have been accomplished if the name of the account was 'Ricard Sharpe' or 'Richerd Sharpe' or something like that. That would be about as noticable as the missing 'M'.

I first thought J Russ. But it was too subtle. And too much work.

What? What?? Oh, it's on now.

While I thought this was funny, it's not my style. I'm trying to build my name, not besmirch it. I never do anything anonymously. If I was gonna imitate someone it'd be more like...

My name's Dr. Typesomething. The application form said "type something" so I wrote Typesomething. I'm a comedic genius. And I spent eight years contributing nothing to society, now everyone has to call me doctor so they know I'm better than them. And I'm the fifth best player on the ladder. If I were an Olympiad, I'd be marketed as the athlete nobody cares about.

BOOM. Roasted.

J Russ out!

Oh now it's REALLY on!!!!

Er... well your name has a J in it! And too many s'es!

But yeah, subtle is not your style.

I AM SUPER SUBTLE!!!!

wow, there are a lot of fake accounts. Has this every been a problem in the past?

If it is obvious who a person is, the account's name becomes makeup and costume for the parody.

So why parody Richard Sharpe?

Because it would be good if he realized his negativity is making the forum a less welcoming place.

Because he provides unlimited material for comedic purposes. Among the serial posters, who else is so negative, so authoritative about subjective matters, so unproductive (on average, I bet he plays only 1 game for every 50 posts he writes), so reactionary (has he ever created a thread or does he just respond and criticize others?), so nonconstructive and timid (has he ever put forth a constructive idea of any sort or is his world already so certain that his status quo is the best of all possible worlds?), so cruel to newcomers, and such an all-around ass? For parody purposes, Richard Sharpe is the George Bush of Warlight.

Because he deserves it. Everyone uses the reference troll. But what exactly is a troll? Trolls live under bridges or near crossways and emerge to bother passers-by. In internet jargon, trolls have taken on many meanings, but even sociologists who study the phenomenon of 'trolling' have differing definitions. If the purpose is comedy, is it trolling? If the purpose is to make a larger point without invoking preconceptions tied to one's main user ID, is it trolling? In my eyes, Richard Sharpe is a professional troll and forum squatter who disrupts forum traffic with his negativity, and he deserves to be smacked on the head so more intelligent people can use the forum without fearing that some troll from the woodwork will come out to attack them unjustly.

Because it is easy to do. When Richard Sharpe turns negative and goes into attack mode, his language is formulaic and his posts are structured. For example:

1. Overuse of transition words.

2. The "while (false) contrast" attack: "While I recognize and understand the reliability concerns, wikipedia is a good source for straightforward facts that aren't a matter of public debate."

3. Poetic attempts as if his name were William Sharpespeare: "willy nilly," "pray-tell," "Methinks," etc.

4. Absolute certainties about subjective and/or uncertain matters: "The real reason is that people are sheep and won't actually take the time to research anything themselves but instead merely repeat that which they read or hear as fact." "Frankly, it's pretty obvious that it was Agressive, not that he will be punished for it." "I can't even continue the conversation with [t]hat kind of ridiculous logic." One minute later he continues the conversation: "If anything, the fact that it took private entities DECADES to match what the government did is proof that the government spending on such matters is necessary and valuable." "Really no justification for having such limitations other than wanting easy victories."

5. "Awareness" condescension: "RvW... you are aware that hundreds of thousands of jobs are made by that 'unproductive' spending, right?" "I am aware where the quote is from." "I am sure you can see the difference." "I am well aware of that fact. It changes nothing."

6. Over the top reactions and insincere apologies: "I apologize for not having memorized every quote from every historical figure in the history of my country and the world." "Sorry, but I deal in the more practical aspects and not just hover along up in the theory." "Sorry Fizzer, I'll make sure not to provide my opinion in the future if I fear it will be contrary to the will of the people..."

7. Attacks on clans (due to loneliness?): "And no one but those clan members gives a rat's ass..."

8. "I know what you are thinking, even though I am not you" attacks: "You mistake my disdain for interest..."

9. Attacks on subjective matters he does not understand or like: "Why would a rating system be based solely on single-player games against the AI? That seems utterly ridiculous and boring."

10. False logic couched in logical terms: "It obviously matters to you given your demands for proof so why shouldn't it matter to him?" "Always brilliant to inform the target that you are going to attempt to screw with him..." "Always ironic when you call someone a coward for refusing to accept YOUR challenge AFTER refusing to accept THEIR challenge..."

11. Wanna-be dictator: "Wouldn't this make a whole lot more sense to be done in a game/tournament rather than the forum?"

How long did typing that take you :O

But I agree with many of zoso's points. :P

Oh, Don Guixote, you're such a bitch. Don't you have a diary you can write your character assassinations in? Because you're the only one who cares about this shit.

And that way, you wouldn't seem like such a hypocrite. Yeah, "who else is so negative, so authoritative about subjective matters"? Certainly, no name crosses my mind. "So unproductive"? I wouldn't have agreed to fix the borders on your map if I knew that this was where you were redirecting your time.

lol. I wasn't able to get on the flight to NY my wife was working to spend my 5-day vacation with her. So I'm replacing visits to museums in NY with sake and Warlight. Life isn't always fair.