Oedi,
Let me try to interject a voice of reason. Since you seem to respect me as reasonable person (only cause you never saw me mad - ) I hope you'll listen.
First of all IMHO Shane has always been Shane (more or less). Not all AW's (but a notable faction) have always uses a "make me shut up" method of taunting. Depending on the degree of the taunting, (and follow-up "whining" if the only way to shut him up is to gang-bang him with a 3v1 as opposed to a fair fight) it may or may not be viewed by some as obnoxious. Taunt the weenies has always been a passtime of some in AW (and prolly here too!) but I agree that Shane elevates it to what I'll very loosely call "an art form". Add to it that, because of some hearing impairment he's more adept than most of us at USING a keyboard and flying at the same time, so what we have is someone who can put out a great volume of text when he wants to.
But you know what? Beat him in a *fair* fight where the wager is that he'll shut up for an hour if you win - and he *will* shut up. No matter what else you can say about his style - he's *good* for his word. And I trust him. Now, I'm not a good enough pile-it to shut him up. So I would either listen to him - or squelch him. But he wouldn't *bother* me and surely wouln't occupy my thoughts when I wasn't playing.
Grizzly, is probably one of the people I respected the most in AW. He was a long time ranking member of the AW T.O.S. (disciplinary review) team, and as hard as you might find this to believe (at this particular moment) he was always one of the clearest voices of reason on any of the AW boards. He was one of the people that worked the hardest to the bitter end to keep the AW community intact - long after many had given up. What might seem to you as "over sentamentalism" for AW, is the fact that the grief (and anger level) runs deeper for him because he put his whole heard and soul into it. Please take my word that he was one of the most impartial, giving, people the game ever had. Does he have a temper? You bet. But it never got in the way of his decisions. Is he getting more cantankerous with age - prolly - but we'll still love him and understand why he comes from that place in the heart where he comes from.
A trait of the "classic" AW type personality is that they will argue to the death over a small point - but won't waste a breath on small people. If you re-read the thread (especially your treatment of me when I came in with an attempt to answer your question) you can see how you are not totally without blame in this little flamefest iether.
Think about it......
-W
