People come and go, users post and pass, issues wax and wane, but one thing is eternal: Drama. Whatever the current pet peeve of the community at large - or some individuals specifically - is, there will always be drama.

Now there are several things that one must know about drama. Firstly, it is usually accompanied by bad acting; second, the art direction is usually equally horrendous; and lastly, the script is just lousy. All of these things add up to something you just want to ignore. It shouldn't exist - it is an affront to intelligent society. But somehow, and you don't know quite why, you find yourself compelled. Enchanted. Entranced. You can't look away, and you keep watching. When the next episode is aired, you tune in again. There's something there that reaches out to the human soul and grabs it by the testicles.

I was once an admin, or at least a security officer. It is a horror and a shame that I have to live with every day, and I sincerely hope that the users of this site can forgive my manifold transgressions. I am sorry to have given so much of my time to this site. It pains me that I had nothing better to spend it on.

That being said, and all jest aside, I would like to say a few things about the current situation, the past as I saw it, and how the two are related.

I became an approval monkey way back when - I might have been one of the first batch, or the second, I don't remember. In any case, when the security officer badges where being handed out, I was the last person to be appointed in the first group of security officers. Last of the first - I don't know if I should be proud or not. In case you've never heard of me, my co-conspirators were people like m0nty. Yes, young one, you have much to learn.

Now even back then, this site was not free of drama. I remember many conversations with Cusi (even if you never had the pleasure of talking to him, I'm sure you've heard of him) that had the illustrious subject of m0nty's nefarious plans to take over the site. We laughed, we cried, we were idiots, we weren't doing anything new.

Later, much later, when m0nty had left and a lot of new people had joined the crew to replace him and other absentees, I found this accusation leveled at me as well. I was rather hurt. Nevertheless, these sorts of sentiments are understandable when we cannot truly divine the intentions of the people we work with. I am happy to say that those people are still my friends. I know, I have met them, shaken their hands and drunk a beer with them.

But now we swiftly approach the present day situation, where complaints are no longer limited to private conversations. Battle is no longer waged in the privacy of one's own chat room. The doors are no longer closed. Enter the forums and be afraid.

Ah yes, the forums. What a lovely tool. (Yes, shadow, you are lovely too.) Now as long as man can remember - I blame television - forums have acted as a mouthpiece for those who have been treated unjustly. The Team Strength formula was once much maligned. Oh! how users lamented that Lizardmen were unfairly discriminated against. And why is my +MA Halfling rated with a higher TS than someone else's rookie Goblin, when clearly the Goblin is still better? Surely this cannot be!

Yet even sarcasm cannot always fully obscure the truth in the words of some users. When reasonable suggestions are made, changes usually happened. In due time. Yes, Christer cannot do everything immediately. No, the admins cannot do everything at once. And if you will excuse my rambling, this brings me to my next point.

I can remember, back in the day, that the admins were just a bunch of guys doing their thing. Then they were a bunch of people doing it (don't you just hate gender equality?). So what did we do when we were faced with these complaints, reasonable suggestions or unreasonable tools requiring a swift kick in the butt (you know who you are)? Usually nothing, although a swift kick was swiftly allocated as and when required. Why? Because nobody had the will or the inclination, or indeed the power. This caused much wailing and, indeed, lamenting. The admins are useless! Why are they even there? Well, for one, to handle day to day stuff. In this case, though, a lot of stuff just plain could not be done because we all required one thing: Christer's approval. Nobody had the power to do anything, and that was a problem.

The irony? Today it appears that users are complaining about the opposite problem. Someone does have the power, the will and the inclination to do things. If I was a cynical man, I would laugh. Who am I kidding - I laughed until the tears came.

Nevertheless, this does not mean the users are wrong. When one man claims something to be right, that means nothing, but perhaps this man is Galileo Galilei. On the other hand, he could be BigMac. When a large group of people claims something, they might have a point. Again, possibly they are rioting against women being given the right to own things. People can be silly like that.

In the end, we must not forget two things: One, we are dealing with people. Flesh, blood, sweat, tears - you know the drill. This requires some tact and respect - which I am glad to say many people are showing - which should go both ways. Nobody can claim to be the better person here (except, possibly, me). Two, we are on a site dedicated to a game. If you find that you are no longer enjoying it, take a break. I did, and it did me a world of good. Yes, FUMBBL will continue without you, for it is greater than any one person (with one notable exception).

Beyond your keyboard lies a whole other world. One site cannot possibly be worth all this drama.