Monday, July 28, 2014

Another TMP crisis!





Oh dear!  I don't look at TMP very often any more because I really only use if for news articles and now I find Wargame News and Terrain much better and more up to date for that.  However, over the weekend I was scanning through it and it seemed that they were in the middle of one of their regular crises with members being expelled and others resigning (well, not many).  They were all getting in a tizz over a story on Frothers Unite; a site I don't look at all because it is almost completely useless as a wargames resource and seems to be populated by people who speak as if they were thirteen year olds who have just discovered swearing (which I find tedious, unimaginative and slightly tragic).  The whole story (you can research it yourself) is hilarious and reminds me of a Carry On film more than anything else.  Both sites have people sniping at each other in a quite ridiculous way.  I'm just waiting for it to get picked up by The Sun.  

Most of the problem, I think, has to do with a clash of cultures between the largely American TMP and the largely British Frothers.  Nothing will sort that out; we just have to get along and agree to be different.  As I have said before, there is much that is annoying about TMP and certain people really wind me up on it.  I just ignore them.  This is what British people do.  I remember an incident at college when a really annoying graduate joined in the second year.  He desperately wanted to make friends but because he was Canadian, five feet tall and spoke exactly like Mickey Mouse we just ignored him in that callous way that British people have.  One day he came up to a group of us in the College law library and said: "Why do you all ignore me, not speak to me and not sit with me at mealtimes?"  We looked at him in silence and turned away, his outburst having confirmed all the things that we thought about him.  Cruel, but you don't conquer one sixth of the planet by being nice. British people (at least of my generation) aren't nice (unless to other British people and then only if from the right part of Britain).  We are, however, very good at pretending to be nice.  Some of this not nice behaviour looks more aggressive than it is meant to be to outsiders but equally sometimes it is meant to be aggressive and is disguised by the appearance of reserve.  You can't win, Johnny Foreigner!  

Anyway, if it was a forum I was running (and there is an argument for a better wargames forum) the main thing I would do is not permit any postings unless they were about wargaming or military history.  None.  If they were posted they would be deleted.  This would go a long way to getting rid of all the egostistical, irrelevant verbiage that clogs it up like literary cholesterol.  Remove all the boards that talk about sports, TV, politics and TMP itself.  If you want to write self-indulgent nonsense about your life that is what blogs are for (as I continually demonstrate!)  Oh, and while they are about it add a search function to the news boards!

Without going into sordid details what really makes me laugh is remembering the simpering, slightly creepy comments from some of the members when the first Filipina (er...) sub-editor was appointed.  Had these people never met a woman before, I wondered at the time?  I imagined them rubbing their thighs in excitement, like Vic Reeves.  Maybe some of them will have a Some like it Hot moment, although somehow I doubt it!

29 comments:

  1. Hi Legatus,
    I just realised this last night when AngelBarracks announced he was leaving, and checked out a couple of threads in TMP Talk, which isn't an area I normally venture to (as it isn't about wargaming). Once the shoe dropped a lot of things made sense and I fell about laughing. I mean if Bill is into that kind of thing good luck to him, I don't care.

    But I did find the "exploitation" allegations amusing - I'm sure most of those getting into a lather about the whole thing wear trainers and other clothes made in third world countries and what do they think that is?

    I completely agree about the British being very good at pretending to be nice - although I'm struggling with one of my neighbours at the moment (living next door to this woman is like living next door to an Eastenders episode you can't turn off) - I've clearly spent too long in the US!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have to laugh about your comments about the Canadian. I was attended college in England in the early 80's and am a Canadian. It is funny that I really had a great time and always felt that the English were truly"nice". I still have friends who I am in contact with 30 years later, they are from all strata. Maybe this was because I am 5'10" and have a very neutral accent (as I am from Newfoundland, I was occasionally mistaken as being Irish, but that is another story all together). It might have also been because I had multiple close relatives in Yorkshire including my grandmother, so maybe the British thought I was sort of British.

    I have to say also that I actually found Americans from southern states (I lived in the deep south for 3 years) much more likely to have the attributes you give to the British then the British!

    John

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Always got on with Newfies (in fact I usually get on well with Canadians - he was the first I met). He was from one of those cities in the flat bit in the middle which are "full of dirty snow and drunk Indians" according to my friend from Vancouver.

      Delete
    2. Never been there. I think it was the one which sounds like a sneeze. Been to Yukon, NWT, BC, Alberta, PEI, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec but not the prairies (except for some flat bits of Alberta).

      Delete
  3. I believe I'm technically a member of TMP but the only time I view it it through Google searches about particular wargames subjects so don't have any notion of what you're talking about. I though about researching it but then I realized what's the point I don't care anyway. I do find your preoccupation with TMP kinda cute.
    You could join a real wargames forum http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php

    ReplyDelete
  4. The recent 'interview' with the latest editor (seems like a nice chap) is one of the most bizarre things I've read on TMP for quite a long time - and that's saying something.

    Totally agree with the need of a new forum that deals simply with just military history/wargaming etc. perhaps the Lead Adventures forum is the way to go.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I went and had a look at it and found I registered five years ago but have only been on there three times since then. It looks quite good although the layout is a bit busy.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I go to TMP a lot but it's not what it was, because so many good people have left. Has more than its fair share of crazies!

    Lead Adventures is a friendly place, I go there, quite often. A bit more "skirmish" than "big battle", though.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am one of the several previously enthusiastic TMPers who have left that forum over the last few days. A shame, as I actually enjoyed TMP, from which I've had loads of information and good friends over the years.

    But life will go on ... I just have to find another good virtual hangout now.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've never bothered with Frothers - your description seems to me to be 100% accurate. There's clearly "history" between a few people on that forum and the proprietor of TMP. I've seen on other forums too a rather unhealthy obsession with TMP, almost always from people who've been banned from or have chosen to leave TMP. Which goes to show that a forum is only as good as its posters, and TMP certainly has a fair few narcissists who treat the place as their own private blog. But TMP is also a victim of its own success, with a huge membership and lots of valuable members who contribute a great deal (Roly, you'll be missed).

    I understand that Bill has a Filipino wife (doesn't bother me - I have a Kiwi wife) so it doesn't really suprise me that he might want to employ other Filipinos. But as Malc says, in my view it doesn't matter and it's none of our business really. What does annoy me, however, is when people push a private agenda and dress it up as a public service concern - from what I've seen, I strongly suspect that is what's going on here.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I caught on to this so called 'story' a couple of days ago and my only reaction is that I can't be bothered to read any more about it. I'm a long time TMP'er, a regular lurker and occasional poster there but it's definitely not what it was. It seems to be clogged up with a lot of off-topic discussion and pointless pontificating from what Loki rightly describes as "self righteous buffoons in the main". The site could also do with a major overhaul and modernisation, but that's another issue.

    ReplyDelete
  10. We will miss TMP when it has gone. It is starting to feel like it could implode in the next year or so. Traffic there is dropping off, I blame all the Bloggers! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There may be an element of that! I often feel like posting (except I am too polite) after yet another rambling post about their tedious weekend, their disgusting food, their horrible boss, their sick friends that this is a wargames site - get a personal blog to put all your rubbish on! That's what I do!

      Delete
  11. http://theminiaturespage.net/

    That's why there is such an outburst. It's actually about years of what has been going on behind the scenes. Unless you have been on the receiving end of Bill's changing of history, you won't understand.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Must admit I don't really follow the action on TMP, though do post up links to my blog, if it hadnt already been Tango-ed! ;-) I'll have to have a peruse and see what the fuss is about... ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To find out what the fuss is about, try the thread in the Frothers' "Froth Pot" called "TMP Antics Summary". Most other threads there are so bloated with inane rubbish you can't follow anything.

      Delete
  13. It will be hard to work out (and probably not worth the effort) as everyone is talking around the subject.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Skimming that thread, life is definitely stranger than fiction!

    For all its faults, I'd miss TMP if it was to go.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Legatus

    Echo the thoughts about Lead Adventure Forum...much nicer place.


    ReplyDelete
  16. Thanks for the link, Legatus. Glad you appreciate the hard work of daily posting up to date news. I would also want to refer to The Lead Adventure Forum, the best miniature forum in my humble opinion!

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  17. It's been a strange few days on both TMP and Frothers. I've found myself visiting TMP less and less, partly to do with the Tango-spamming but also that I find less there that interests me and increasingly more that is a bit annoying. The recent 'revelations' are all a bit ho-hum to be honest... both sides seem to be getting a bit over-excited about everything and no one seems to coming out of it well... sad really...

    Frothers does have some good stuff tucked away but it seems to have dried up a bit over the last year or so with most of the posts being in the 'Froth Pot'... I don't particularly mind the tone there but there isn't much that interests me.

    As others suggest, Lead Adventure is fast becoming my regular site for wargamey goodness.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Indeed. I find all the argy bargy quite stressful, and try to keep well away from it.

      Delete
  18. Must admit I am so intrigued I am off to TMP looking for all the fuss!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Yep, spot on.. I don't frequent TMP often, and I don't think I will bother in the future. Frother yes does seem a bit too sweary nd low on actual content. LAF does it for me for the very reasons you state , keep it to the gaming , painting etc and s you say if you want to make statements do it on your own blog!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I just stick with the Steve Dean painting forum, or post up a relevant picture onto the Crooked Dice forum when warranted. Other than that I stay away from trouble.

    ReplyDelete