one of my friends known here as shadowdragonlord has been officially and permanently banned form this site where all his artwork was located at. i dont think it will do any good but heres my official protest for the removal of this artist. i cant believe he was malevolent enough to justify such a thing, and he is terribly hurt that people found him that way. whats he going to do now? i'm his friend in real life and i only set up this account a while ago to see his and other peoples artwork that he recommended. i loved his stuff but now hes gone and so are his pics. i wouldn't even have known about bryce without him. i hope anyone involved feels horrible, you should because there are always many sides to any story. - Lindsey Pritchard

I don't know why he was banned. SDL was one of the first to comment on my work and he was always honest, frank but helpful and I'm sure I owe my progress in at least some small part to him. I hope he had backups of everything and can repost in another site. It would be a sad loss if his work has just been deleted. Send my regards.

I'm guessing this is fallout from the last hot20 thing (and thats all this is, a guess). I agree with Phil - it'd be a shame if he was lost to us. Hopefully he'll show up at another site.

I am sorry he is gone and would surely like to know why.

I did a search using his name. The locked thread could surely be the culprit, he got pretty harsh in that one, and from what was self proclaimed wrote some things to another member that probably compounded the matter. Losing him sucks, but it is their site & TOS.

If this is a community, as it seems Renderosity wants it to be, rather than just another website then I really think that if one member is banned, especially permanently, the rest of us should be told why. We can then make up our own minds as to whether the action seemed justified. We may not be able to influence the decision but then at least it wouldn`t seem quite so like one of those "disappearences" that are common in certain parts of the world.
Obviously Shadowdragonlord violated the TOS in some way but all these things should be open to interpretation. I find it sad that he has gone. And I would rather like to know why.

That sucks...a permanent ban seems harsh unless there is a very good reason for it. I got to give SDL credit though, he speaks his mind LOL...I like that. Hopefully he will post at another site and we'll be made aware of it. Doug

Can someone IM his email to me? I have an addy for him...Anyone else wanna IM me for this address, feel free. Very friendly place, tho smaller.:)

If he was banned because of comments he made then i hope he was given 2 warnings before being banned. Thats according to the TOS.

I protest also, warnings are definately in order before a banning!

SDL has always been a talented and respected member of this community and it truly is sad that he has been permanently banned. Surely in some instances where you have a long standing and contributing member, whom for whatever reason has fallen outside the boundaries of the TOS, some measure of leniency can be extended where a warning would be more in line than total excommunication. Now I dont know for certain what miscarriage of the TOS he is guilty of, or even if he had been forewarned on several occasions but certainly, as a respected community, we should be entitled to know the reasons and the conditions of such a harsh and permanent disposition to our longtime and well-appreciated online colleagues. To be kept as mushrooms being fed manure in the dark while our associates get picked off, falls under the tenor of the Third Reich in Nazi Germany during WWII. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and such communal vanquishes should be openly questioned and dissected publicly to impart a sense of community. If we are to be treated as mushrooms in the dark, then perhaps our sense of community is a false one. If we are to be manipulated only for the sake and the interest of the powers that be, then surely we are as cattle being led to pasture. If it werent for Yark17 we never would have known what had happened to ShadowDragonLord. Or if it werent for Ehlana we wouldnt know what happened to LunarTick. Theyre disappearing and we dont even know whyso much for being a community. Quest

I don't know wh........(dead silence, then chirping crickets..;)

Hmmm...not sure it is as harsh as all that...he was/is a passionate guy and he may have gone off in IMs so it may be within their bounds and the TOS to Ban. On the other hand a quick note to the forum from those in the know would probably be good. I'd like his email addy if anyone has it.

Pakled, to what are you referring? Can you possibly be more explicit least I misunderstand your inferrence?

I dunno..I'm concerned that if I'm more explicit, I may be more absent..;)

Oh...I think I get your meaning...no Den for you.

I, for one, think this is crazy. SDL was definitely a contributing member of the community, and such a one should NEVER be removed from the flock without an explanation. If R'osity staff cannot allow his return, it is understandable. I don't expect administrators to de-punish someone just because it's unpopular, we would collapse into flame wars and chaos. Is it too much to ask to be treated as equals? I understand that there is some element of sensitivity surrounding a decision to ban a member of a community, but I understand, also, the importance of communication. Even if we cannot bring SDL back to the community, which I expect is the case, it would be nice if the admins took the time to create a post simply saying, "We were forced to ban him. This is, in a nutshell, why we had to do it. We are sorry that it had to come to this, etc. etc." Maybe even leave an e-mail address for people who spoke with him often to get in touch with him. I don't expect admins to change their decision, but at the very least changes need to be made in the workings of this forum. If the administrators must ban someone, so be it, obviously the TOS was broken and the only proper solution is banning the member. But please, let the people KNOW why their colleagues and friends are disappearing from the Bryce community!

AS? Zhann? (Not to put you on the spot before you're even officially listed or anything heh heh) Thoughts? Well said Slakker.

Ditto Claymore/Slakker. I find it odd, this sudden banning of folks. Obviously, I can't keep up with every forum (having been ignomiously passed over for coordinator) but I really haven't seen anything from Lunartick or SDL that would warrent expulsion. Espeially after all those heated "Pumeco" posts. "Methinks I smell a Rat."

Attached Link: http://www.eyeoftheart.com/jaredmagneson

If any of you want to contact him, here is the link to his online gallery, just sent him my message, dunno what to say, I guess we all should do some formal complaint or petition to mods and go from there... (warning: use your junk email account, cuz it is html mail form, so your email address could be exposed to spam)

I finally have a path cleared from the 640 e-mails that were waiting on me when I got back... One is from SDL, I'm going to find out what happened, and what is going on, I'll update here when I find out! AgentSmith

Yup this surely stinks, We want SDL back! A couple of friends have voluntarily left here because of some of the shenagans that take place. I would hate to feel I had to join them, because after all this is home from home.

I agree SDL was a good member of the community let him back in!

I think it would be nice to know when things like this happen - rather than people just disappearing from sight. :(

I vaguely remember there used to be thread postings when someone was banned etc. I believe the reason was in the post also. It was similar to Public Notice in your local Paper. Is this still available?

Sorry AS, but since you're checking on SDL, are there any others that we are not aware of who have also been ousted?
I seem to remember a few others who were very outspoken in some of those heated threads and they have not posted recently either!
Thanks

Message edited on: 12/15/2004 07:33

"I wouldn't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member" Groucho Marx. I've read many of those threads that were supposedly nasty, and they didn't seem that bad to me. SDL and LT were both honest in their comments and not intentionally malicious. Maybe after receiving their warnings they mouthed off to the admins. That might get'em kicked.

Lunatick made a comment on one of my pictures at 3dC, so I wrote to him. He asked me to pass on his best to everyone.

Aye, I don't know what happened to LunarTick. Perhaps we'll see him over at 3DC, or perhaps he'll make his way back here? I want to apologize to the people I was mean to. I received my just punishments, which included some time off and my gallery being deleted. In the future I'll just stick to being helpful and leave the criticisms for sites like DAZ, where you can't just post whatever because their site is also their product showcase. Truly, Renderosity is NOT just a product showcase, but a community of artists. I don't think the staff acted unceremoniously, although I admit I was a bit perturbed about the situation. But I WAS mean to some of the newer artists, maybe I was just having a rough day and took it out on them. Regardless, I wish them well, and progress, and all that stuff... The Admin Team has decided to let me post here, only I had to come up with a different name. Lordstormdragon (LSD) has been my long-time yahoo name, and it was made known to me that "shadowdragonlord" had SIXTEEN letters in it! So, here's the new me, the FIFTEEN-letter version of Jared. Please don't be angry with the staff, I clearly violated their TOS. What it comes down to is I don't agree with or like the Hot 20. But, it's not worth losing my account over. So I won't participate in that section of this site. Simple enough! I'm amazed at how much response I saw in this thread, it really makes me feel good. I still can't believe Lindsey posted something on my behalf, or that it was so well received! I hope all is well in your various worlds, and I'll see you around the forums, everyone... - Jared

Still, aside from all that, I'm very very glad that some other schmuck didn't take my yahoo-flavored ID. This schmuck here really couldn't think of anything quite as obnoxious or egotistical as shadowdragonlord, but I suppose lordstormdragon does have some measure of prestige or idiocy that I can live with... (grins)

Jared, Glad you're still part of the Family!! (e-mail comes up, saw the name...YUP, no second guessing!!)

Even my meager cryptographic skills managed to crack that one. SDL is dead, long live LSD (To paraphrase John Lennon)

Hey, welcome back, sir, glad you are with us again !!! :D

Welcome back, SDL...er...LDS! :)

It's good to have you back, Jared. I don't know if it was really true ANGER towards the staff, but as a community we feel that if we must lose a valued member for a while, someone should at least have the heart to tell us, and let us know why. Think of the community as a living body, and each member is a part of that body. Not all necessarily vital organs, but each important nonetheless. What body in its proper state of mind is willing to have one of those parts removed without so much of an explanation, let alone having something amputated without NOTICE?

Wait.... you can get BANNED? But I like you!

Whoa. At first, if you say your name aloud, it sounds like you're gonna say, Lord StormDrain. Which is actually kinda cool.

SDL is gone, long live LSD, rotfl :) glad to see you back Jared, just be a good boy now! :)

Aye, I've always thought that Stormdrains sounded particularly demonic, for some reason... All a-gurgle, and whatnot. Thanks for the support, my friends.

Glad to see you made it back. 8)

Welcome back Jared!