TC: Bring It Back... to the Authors

Scott Hardie | February 7, 2005
In case you missed it, I closed down Tragic Comedy a few days ago. Because of the constant bickering between certain authors and the frequent hostile emails about them in my inbox, all enjoyment of the site had gone away for me. What I failed to give due consideration was that the enjoyment of the site had not ended for other authors. I have reluctantly been convinced to give TC another try, with some new conditions that will make my job easier. I cannot make guarantees about TC's future, and I fear that my own depression about the state of the site might contaminate other authors as well, creating a self-defeating situation. But if I'm truly the only one who wants to call it a day, there's no reason why I should take away everybody else's fun with me. Enjoy TC and get the most out of it; perhaps this brush with cancellation will renew everyone's desire to keep the peace.

I mentioned that I have restored the site under new conditions. There are four of them:

Hide an Author's Comments: You now have the power to silence another author when you're logged in. Click the "hide" link next to a name if you no longer want to read comments by that person. You can always click "show" next to the same author if you change your mind. I have created this tool for the hotheads among the authorship, and I expect them to use it! If another author pisses you off regularly, then hide her ass, don't go griping to me in email and get me angry as well. I really don't need to hear it.

Rules of Participation: I won't lie to y'all; I'm sickened by the need to do this. But in the interest of saving the site, let's give it a try: I have created a set of rules that govern participation in Tragic Comedy, mostly just stating explicitly the things that we have tended to agree are off-limits. There are four specific no-nos listed. You have to agree to the rules before you can participate in TC from today forward.

Suspensions: Here's the tricky part. I can't maintain TC because I get about twenty minutes at my computer most nights. And despite getting some volunteer offers, I don't feel comfortable establishing moderators to govern the forum either; that puts certain authors above certain others. So here's the best solution I can offer: If you believe an author has violated one of the rules, you can "report" them using a link next to the offensive comment. This temporarily suspends that author until I can review the complaint. If I agree with you, I'll issue that author a warning and release them. If I disagree, I'll just release them, but if I find your report to be truly unwarranted, I might give you a warning instead (just to keep people from freely reporting each other all the time). On your sixth warning, your account is suspended permanently, which can only be undone by a majority vote of active authors, and after five warnings I highly doubt that will happen. This is a treacherous tool that I'm putting in your hands, the ability to suspend other authors like this, but I do it in the interest of maintaining the peace. If another author gets on your nerves, I strongly suggest hiding them instead of reporting them; it can't come back to bite you, it lets them go on writing in peace, and it doesn't waste my time. Speaking of which...

Lesser Participation from Me: I'll still be around. I have a couple of discussions I want to start after this, in fact. But whereas I had been posting three or maybe four nights per week, that rate is going to drop to approximately one night, until my interest goes back up. I don't like the idea of there being a section of my site in which I'm barely participating, but again, I'm bringing TC back for the authors who want it, not for myself. However, this isn't going to work if i keep getting emails every night about TC and authors keep reporting each other all the time. I remain available if you ever need assistance, but please, try to resolve your issue peacefully on the site, or by privately contacting other authors as appropriate. I thank you.

That's all. I do apologize for the melancholy tone of this message, but if I can't even work up some excitement over the restoration about improved functionality of TC, I think that suggests my state of mind on the matter. I hope that no one else also feels this way. To everyone who encouraged me to keep the site going, both before and after I shut it down, I thank you greatly for your consideration and kindness. As far as I'm concerned, TC belongs to you now. Take good care of it.

Scott Horowitz | February 7, 2005
Woo, TC back. Does that mean I can't complain about Mitzman yacking on my stuff now?

David Mitzman | February 7, 2005
Dude, one more time and I will purposly yack on your stuff , and by stuff I mean you, and then I will report you for being a moron.

Scott Horowitz | February 7, 2005
This isn't insulting, this is the definition of friendship!!!

Scott Horowitz | February 7, 2005
Here's a little suggestion: send a mass email to the active TC authors, jsut to let them know it's back.

Scott Hardie | February 7, 2005
I intend to give everyone a day to discover it on their own. Tonight I'll contact anyone who hasn't seemed to notice.

Dave Stoppenhagen | February 7, 2005
Glad to see it's back Scott, I hope you regain interest soon.

Lori Lancaster | February 7, 2005
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Jackie Mason | February 7, 2005
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