Michael Barnes: Still raising ire after sixteen years in exile

This post is an appreciation.

So a BGG kerfuffle came percolating to the surface over on the boardgame subReddit. Apparently a UK user discovered that BGG runs an automated script that changes any/all Amazon links that people post there over to affiliate links that BGG makes $$$ from, without expressly informing whoever originally posted the link. Apparently this fun little factoid is buried somewhere in the BGG terms-of-service, but the UK user insists this is a violation of Amazon's affiliate program (you need to be transparent about doing it, he sez.)

But because this UK fellow made the GRIEVOUS ERROR of ***GASP*** creating three posts in different forums about said issue, 2 of the 3 threads were removed and he was banned/suspended for a time (which has been lifted as of this morning, presumably because of the backlash.)

And out of nowhere, during the Reddit discussion about BGG's heavy-handed moderation, came this fun exchange:

---

moxxon:
--- but I've seen this complaint and concern about the heavy handed, censorship-laden ways BGG moderates things for awhile. Isn't this
--- basically their modus operandi?

That was my experience, but I stopped participating at the site shortly after the Michael Barnes ban. Maybe things have changed since 2007-ish...

I never was a fan of how oppressive their moderation was amongst a few other minor gripes.

lessmiserables:

I get the sentiment, but I want to remind everyone that Michael Barnes was a cunt troll and deserved to get banned.

I have no opinion about their moderation behavior now, but I was there and he's no martyr. He's a right cunt who just wanted to piss people off until they reacted and then cry when they reacted.

ArcadianDelSol:

I was there. You are 100% on the nose with your description.

He was virtually DARING to be banned and I believe his plans to make his own site were already well underway and he needed some kind of BGG spectacle to rally people to jump ship with him.

In the weeks after he was banned, things were noticeably more civil and I say that as someone who liked the games he liked (Ameritrash) and found his own site to be a better source of news/articles than BGG.

lessmiserables:

Pretty much. He was EVERYWHERE back then, and I agreed with his type of games and even his commentary.

But then, slowly, he got more and more abrasive. People who supported him, gently, told him to dial it back, while his fanboys encouraged him. It got to a boiling point where seeing his name made me just close the thread because I knew it was about to go somewhere bad.

He's like the class clown in elementary school that got a big laugh when he stood on his desk in homeroom one time, then proceeded to stand on his desk every day from that point on despite the silence in the room.

lemon31314:

Yea he was a real penis.

---

So SIXTEEN YEARS after being banned from BGG, some folks are still BIG MAD about good ol' MB. And I think that is an achievement.
Therefore I hereby salute Mr. Barnes for being "a real penis."

The exchange referenced occurs near the top of the Reddit thread in question:

https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/10k5fa4/boardgamegeek_changes_appends_all_amazon_links_on/

The hatred these people hold onto years later over forum posts about board games is really fucking sad and a bit scary.

Also, "cunt troll" is a stupid insult. Say it out loud and you'd be calling someone a control.

bgg gonna bgg. I'm banned too now and have discovered we don't miss each other.

Some will pass into obscurity, others will leave a lasting legacy and become legends.

That was a golden era of internet fun while it lasted .

I parted ways with BGG the 2nd or 3rd time one of their talking heads spent 7-8 paragraphs telling me I was an ingnorant ass/jerk whatever.(in a discussion over board games no less) but when I told them off in return in one sentance I was suspended,

So I learned that
A: thinly veiled passive aggressive was the preferred tone
and
B: don't disagree with anybody helping make the site money.

I think there's a correlation between those passive agressive shits and the boring games they love, and people that get straight to the point with their insults and the games they love. My group would never get through a game of Supremecy, RISK 2210 or whatever if it took us a 7-8 paragraph dialogue to say "Why'd you attack me you doosh?" And then you gotta be able to smile and move on, which none of them can, made obvious above.

Years from now, that "lemon31314" guy will be on his deathbed, somewhere in rural Georgia. One of his relatives will notice that his lips are moving, and leans in to hear what he is saying, just before he dies.

Relative #1: Shhh everybody, he is trying to say something. [leans in]

Relative #2: What did he say?

Relative #1: [looking puzzled] He said "Michael Barnes." Who is Michael Barnes?

Relative #3: Did he say anything else?

Relative #1: Something about a real penis.

Hijacking Amazon links is diabolical. Also a bit funny.

That site is something else. I'm not looking forward to the inevitable Phantom Division rules questions. Maybe this time I'll only engage with the reasonable ones. Some of the SEAL Team Flix questions pushed me to my limit.

ChristopherMD wrote: The hatred these people hold onto years later over forum posts about board games is really fucking sad and a bit scary.

Matched only by the zealotry of the predictable brigade of BGG bootlickers proudly proclaiming how they don't care that BGG makes money off of user content without anyone's express consent, and how they're glad BGG does it, and why do you care, and why do you have to make this such a big deal, and of course BGG has the equivalent of a giant year-end telethon for what is a for-profit website, and they give plenty of cash then, and they're glad they do that too, and they love it there, and you can just leave if you don't like it.

"SAY SOMETHING NICE!"

I appreciate BGG as a database of games. I wish they would take the forums and burn them down.

Same, it's a tool that I use to track my collection and to make trades out of it. I occasionally check in to various spots to see if Cole Wehrle is posting one of his lengthy designer diaries or to answer a rules question, but the time for interesting discussion there is long, long since passed.

Shellhead wrote: Years from now, that "lemon31314" guy will be on his deathbed, somewhere in rural Georgia. One of his relatives will notice that his lips are moving, and leans in to hear what he is saying, just before he dies.

Relative #1: Shhh everybody, he is trying to say something. [leans in]

Relative #2: What did he say?

"He fucking dick and then bullshit."

This is like that meme with the guy crying behind a happy mask.

I don’t even remember how many times I got banned from there, and how many sock puppets I had solely for trading.

Ultimately, that site is perfectly designed for the kind of people who the site caters to. I found most of the hardliners to be so boring that their dicks would fall asleep while fapping. The passive aggressive whining and snobbery was beyond annoying to the point that it became amusing to see just how far around the corner someone would go to call me a cunt without saying it.

Honestly, I don’t miss it, or the reviewing, or any of it. If BGG was a person I wouldn’t cross the street to piss in their mouth if their guts were on fire. I would literally be THAT GUY filming as they choked on a piece of steak. Hell, I’d probably be the color man for the broadcast

I never got banned at BGG, or even got a warning IIRC. But at some point, I realized that I could hide all posts from specific users. I did that to several annoying high-profile users there. Then I arbitrarily did it to a bunch of people who gave Arkham Horror 2nd a really low rating, like 3 or less. After that, certain discussion threads became almost unreadable due to the high percentage of hidden comments. Now I usually only go to their forums to look for answers to specific rules questions.

I was briefly banned for trying to sell my Golden Geek vote for geekgold when they first invented that award. It was meant to be permanent but a friend who was a BGG Admin stopped them.