I am pained that the X0 project is dead. I was looking forward to it not just on its own merits, but knowing that it would become the source for so many other cool projects going on. I only read this thread yesterday -- in its entirety -- and was jazzed about the project and the new source for all forthcoming restoration projects. I was looking forward to this truly un-f'ed with OT as much as I was MBJ and Zions restorative projects. MVerta's project, which we're never going to see, has nonetheless inspired me to make my own reduced SE that I can tolerate, and his postings have helped to be a guide, along with some of Grisan's previously posted work.
What I've read so far this morning shows some of the most venomous bile ever seen on this board. I didn't think that was possible after the last meltdown, but here we go again, and the same user is largely the source of it all once again.
Never since Germany in the 1930s have we heard somebody so passionate about purism that he felt all voices who deviated from that should be either silenced or sent elsewhere. If you call me a capitalist, I'll call you a Nazi in return. Both labels will be appropriate. The offshoots of OT purism are still a part of the ongoing conversation on this board and are highly appropriate to the subject matter. As one who has been hosting a similar forum (on an entirely different subject) for a decade, I can tell you that the community grows when the conversation is not stifled. I can also tell you that sometimes the conversation DOES need to be quelled, but usually when a disruptive member needs to be disciplined. As a result, my forum has built a true community who has get togethers, input from the subject about whom we discuss, and we bond together in the face of personal tragedies.
Back to this board, this thread, and its current state: For all the apologies given in the latter posts, it does not take back what was said in venomous hate in the first place. Rikter has rightfully asked us in the past to contain our language because youngsters do visit this board too. I've asked us not to take the bait provided by the god of dischord and I emplore that once again. Mind you all, everybody has a right to their anger when it produces results such as these, and all I can say is to take it out in PM -- or in another method altogether. Working out at the gym is fairly constructive. If we put half as much energy into improving ourselves (not to mention our particular visions of an ideal OT) then we'd be better people, happier with what life has provided us. When you wish to impose your anger on the collective audience, ask yourself, What Would Yoda Do?
I hope to end the ranting with this important thought: Does one, single person along the coast of the Indian Ocean care right now whether or not the OT has been restored at all? Does anybody in Iraq care about any changes in Star Wars or E.T. or my son's birthday videos? Does anybody in East Timor feel like debating till the wee hours of the morning on PAL vs NTSC formatted source material? Let's put some things back into perspective folks. The world is full of real pain right now, but we all are here out of a labor of love. If Star Wars, in any format, gives us some collective enjoyment and entertains us in new and exciting ways, why must anyone resort to tearing down anybody else for taking part?