Re: packets in #packets and ^%^&^*( censors

ZAMM_Phaedrus <*no_reply_at_yahoogroups.com*> · Tue, 06 Aug 2002 04:01:33 -0000

--- In quizbowl_at_y..., thefool75 <no_reply_at_y...> wrote:
> It appears that since most packets are now read in #packets as 
> opposed to #quizbowl (which is understandable) that certain 
> individuals have taken it upon themselves to ban anyone with 
> roadrunner access from participating.  How and why this arbiter(s) 
> was chosen is beyond me but I'm pissed off.  If there's an 
> explanation I'd like to know it.

The order of events follows roughly along this line:

1) Yahoo moves to a stupid chat system.
2) Someone suggests IRC.
3) A regular IRC chatroom is set up on Undernet. People use it.
4) Some people claim that other people abuse ops in the chatroom and a 
movement is register the channel #quizbowl set to create permanent 
ops.
5) Because Undernet is being "renovated," and channel services are not 
available and there is a desire to do this quickly in order to create 
permanent ops and take ops out of the hands of certain people, or to 
avoid occasions when no one has ops, and the chatroom is migrated to 
the server irc.wewt.org and registered.
6) Throughout this, while some come to the chatoom primarily to play 
questions, others want to just chat with quizbowlers about things not 
necessarily quizbowl. 
7) The flexibility of IRC allows people to form and exist in multiple 
rooms. People had already made use of this ability to create ad hoc 
rooms with names including #packets on a temporary basis. 
8) One room permanently registered by people is #packets. Others 
registered at various times include #hugefromtugging. #packets is 
registered by certain people who feel that #quizbowl was moved to 
irc.wewt.org by someone as part of an extended hissy fit at not being 
granted ops by others when the room was more first-come-first-serve. 
#packets is treated as more of a clubhouse and, despite its name, 
involves much non-packet conversation. 
9) As the most populated permanent room besides #quizbowl, #packets 
becomes the de facto place for reading packets despite it not really 
being the "official" place for packets to be read.
10) The people behind #packets attempt to become a parody of 
#quizbowl, with irrelevant topics being set, and examples of ops 
abuse. Opinions conflict as to whether or not this is some form of 
high art or a raunchy, personal wankfest, the same as some say about 
South Park.

That's hitting most of the high points. Others who have been there are 
free to add, elaborate, or dispute these points, but this is one 
possible interpretation of events.

--Anthony de Jesus