I would agree with you if Dustin had actually just become the "fan club president". He didn't. He received an honorary title as a prize for selling magazines.
I guess I'm of the opinion that Phillip and Dustin have much greater plans for the Presidency than the few paltry freebies and honorary title that is all that is technically included. Since Dustin would've likely been at SDCC anyway, and doesn't need the freebies at all, and could probably write an article in the Insider if he'd like, I don't see why they all went so agro on the campaign trail, if not for probably having some greater intentions for it beyond those specified (and beyond just the fact that RS/TFn could brag/advertise that it was the home of the Fan Club Pres). Their insane efforts to win that "election" makes me think they'll be pushing for more power than just what's listed in the contest. I guess time will tell...
Not to gang up on you, Josh, but I'm sure you understand - we don't have many folks around here who are in many ways neutral regarding Rebelscum, Philip Wise, or even Dustin, so you're sort of on your own at the moment.
I often times see you say, "Well, they haven't done anything to me - so why should I be upset?" And that always bothers me. God damn, Josh - If you can remain totally passive about all that has gone on over there in the years we've been pals... I can't help but ask, at what point will you care? What is it going to take, man? I know it isn't true, or at least I hope not, but it just comes off as if you really don't care about anything or anyone else, so long as you've got what you want
I have a feeling that Phillip could drop a nuclear bomb on Seattle, and Josh would be the first to jump out of the ashes and support Phillip's actions...
Legal matters aside, I'm not so sure I agree with you here Matt. As you pointed out, Dustin surely fits the criteria of being a fan himself. I've always felt that you help out with a fan/collecting site for one of two reasons: either you truly want to help out the community or you are looking for an ego boost. Dustin has been volunteering for what ... 7-8 years, maybe more, going back to his days at Yak? I don't know that anyone could volunteer for that long simply for an ego boost.
I pointed out a few pages ago that Dustin has certainly done a lot for the online collecting community over the years, and all of his work, time, and energy has gotten him to where he is today. I certainly don't deny him that. I'd even go so far as to say he was doing it for the love of the hobby and to help people out for the first three-fourths of that tenure. I would say it's more of an ego-trip and about power over the last year or two though, as RS has shifted gears towards being more of a totalitarian regime, and giant corporation. In the process, I think Dustin's boss has been wearing off on him quite a bit. I thought he was a perfectly cool guy too, prior to that, actually...
I know I've read a negative comment somewhere from someone about meeting Dustin at one of the cons, but I think you'll find a vast majority of people that have met him describe him in pleasant terms.
I'm sure if Dustin was approached anonymously, or by a Rebelscum member, or by someone he's never had contact with, that'd surely be the case. But for anyone who's been turned off from RS, or banned, alienated, demeaned, or admonished by any of the powers that be at RS, that'd likely not be the case. I can assure you that no one from this site would be able to have a cordial (and not fake) conversation with him, and I'm pretty sure that'd apply to some other folks at other sites as well. I've definitely heard of a number of situations like that just from the past couple of years.
Heck, I met him briefly at C2 (by that point, we'd had a couple of disagreements about the forums there after CSW and RS merged and both of us were admins, when both of us were used to being the only admin and in charge of our respective forums before the merge)
Please, you're not actually suggesting that the 19 or so members registered in the "Rebel Lounge" constituted a
forum, are you Matt?!
Unless there is some proof that he is doing all this while somehow being a major prick about it, he's more than worthy in my book.
Well, opinions definitely vary there, and yes, I'd say there's a ton of evidence that he's been a prick to a whole lot of people, both throughout the boards, in his local area, and in person. Heck, JD owes much of it's success to the fact that Dustin was a prick to a lot of people here (and Phillip), and banned them for no reason, and/or just drove them away. He didn't even give a number of us ANY reason for our bannings, other than "you should know". Not to mention, he's so petty he went and locked up my completely inactive feedback thread at RS (at 100 posts), just because. Odd that nobody else has had that happen to them. Like has been mentioned numerous times earlier in this thread, Phillip's motta, and therefore Dustin's, is "You're either with us, or against us." Phillip of course reiterated that the other day, and told anyone who didn't like Dustin, and/or didn't like Dustin winning, whether they said it aloud, or just thought it in their heads, to get the hell out of RS and never come back. Very Orwellian motto to live by there, and certainly not something I'd ever be supportive of, thats for sure, which is why I've repeated over and over that these two jerks don't represent the whole community, and should have nothing to do with the Presidency of the Fan Club, whether it's as an honorary figurehead, or more.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to hear why the last unofficial tally and the final result seem to be so contradictory, but isn't it much more likely that USCwannabe was disqualified for some reason rather than Philip/Dustin pulled some major shenanigans?
I would hope so, but I honestly don't think that's the case. Phillip wanted that title way too much to sit idly by while someone else apparently won it. I think he was in the Fan Club's ear throughout the latter portion of the race, when Dustin started losing by a large amount. Besides, Dustin shouldn't have been eligible anyway, so it's a moot point. They should just give it to the fella from DC instead.
Outside of the first point listed above, Dustin is none of those things, and neither is his "master" Phillip. Why in the hell would anyone want a Fan Club President who from the get-go will automatically want to exclude anyone and everyone who may participate at another website, or some other entity who they'd take "competitive issue" with? I wouldn't be surprised if when Dustin gets in there, he searches the Hyperspace subscription database, and starts cancelling all the subscriptions for anyone who's a member at JD, GH, SSG, Yak, etc. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to expel any members who may also be fans of other movie or Sci-Fi franchises, like Star Trek, LOTR, Battlestar Galactica, Pirates, etc. These two guys are exactly that kind of petty. That's not the type of Fan Club President we want to have - someone who immediately hates half the Star Wars community because they don't belong to Rebelscum... That's total bull****.
Matt, I've read much of what you had to say on the general topic of Rebelscum and what not and have respected it, but I gotta say that the above quote makes absolutely no sense. Even if Dustin as the "Fan Club President" had that kind of power, which he doesn't based on the rules set forth for the sales drive that was this "presidential race", the Fan Club would never let him do what you just suggested. By singling out and removing such a vast group of subscribers to the Fan Club, they lose all of the money making potential from that group.
I think you're taking me a little too literally there, Jason. I don't think that would/could ever happen, I'm just saying the "You're either with us, or against us" totalitarian, and even Orwellian now, attitudes of the RS higher-ups is just spiteful and vindictive enough to want to do something as stupid as cancelling people's subscriptions that they didn't like. Obviously they don't have that kind of power, and IDG wouldn't allow it (beyond just for financial reasons). I'm just saying those guys and their attitude are just that petty to want to do something like that, and that attitude unfortunately then extends out to other areas beyond just the Insider subscription, as I've mentioned above. They're alienating many Star Wars fans (I'm not just talking about collecting here, as the TFn community has had major problems with Phillip as well) who should otherwise be embraced by someone at the head of their respective Fan Club and hobby. That's all.
I obviously don't expect everyone to feel the same way, so it's not that big a deal. Some folks are just fortunate enough to not have seen the "other side" of these guys, I guess... Teaches us for allowing RS'ers to have freedom of speech over here to discuss what they can't discuss over there. That's basically the root of some of the problelms for folks affiliated with this site anyway.
I think I'll just shut up now...
- M
