As many of you have heard, the Olympic Events have been turned into just as much of a shamble as they were when I was trying to juggle them by myself. The following is the behind the scenes story as to why the events are in such a shamble, why certain sites have been hacked recently, who the "lead suspect" in some of the hackings is, and the solution that is being put into action to see the events live on.

As almost every member of the community knows, I recently retired, not only from the Olympics, but from RCT Resource aswell. Wanting to somehow keep Resource alive, I approached Hawk about RCT Depot taking my content. He agreed, and assured a quick and flawless transfer (after all with all the eating away of smaller site's they've done by merging, we all know they're experts at it). I then handed over my passwords for the main admin accounts to him for my FTP, Old Forums (Olympic Ones), New Forums, and paFileDB. By handing over main admin accounts on the forums, I mean I made him an admin on both with full and complete reign of power.

I then leave the community on vacation for spring break, come back, and find that my forums (both sets) have been hacked, the Olympic site moved from my server, and everything for the Olympics pointed at Hawk's server. I had specifically told Hawk I wasn't giving him the Olympics, they would go to the next site in line as determined by the Olympics Charter & Rules. However, being on the busy schedule I have, I decided to just go on, hoping Hawk would be dedicated and bring the events to life just as well or better as any other site would have. It then occured to me that Hawk was one of the 3 people (including myself) with the information to my web server, the 3rd person being unseen for almost a month (RCTmike). I was then told by Brad after he did a check-up on the problem, that a file (one of the main configuration files) was completely emptied, something only someone with FTP access could do. Sure enough, the file was empty. While I have no more hard evidence on this, it gives me Hawk as my lead suspect for who hacked RCT Resource.

Now, while his spelling gives him a look of lower intelligence, Hawk is not new to hacking. I am very ashamed and embarrassed for not coming to Brad and RCT*Mart with this sooner than I did, but with my site getting alot of traffic from RCT Depot, I didn't want to terminate that at the time. Hawk has indeed launched a hack attack at RCT*Mart before, and succeeded. Using a program known to quite a few called WWWHack, Hawk illegaly used this software expirament to illegaly knock RCT*Mart off the air for around 10 minutes. This took place around late January - early February, and sadly, I don't have any hard proof of this due to it occuring so long ago. However, during a recent arguement held with Hawk about the Olympics (which we'll discuss farther into the post), I managed to get the following out of him and take a screenshot before he swore at me and either signed offline or blocked me (though I'm sure its the later of the two). Here is the screen of the IM box on Trillian Messenger:



Now, I understand that I was unable to get Hawk to say "Yes I remember giving you the software and hacking RCT*Mart", but you the public can take what he said how you want. As for me having the software, yes, I do still have the software, it's in a zip file, however, I tested it on a remote server of my own just for the fun of it and haven't used it since then.

Now, incase you're wondering why I am going on and on about Hawk and his hacking in a topic that's supposed to be about the Olympics and the solution to them, it was part of a threat I made to him if he didn't hand over the events. I do assure you all that this threat was made after an hour of discussing the events with Hawk, most of which was friendly talking with him, trying to solve this in a calm manner and without upsetting him. However, 45 minutes or so into the conversation, Hawk begin swearing (at me and not just Brad and RCT*Mart) and completely refused to hand over the Olympics, so it was then I moved to more aggressive actions and made this threat.

I would also like it to be known that I was not trying to regain control of the Olympics. I have even less time now than I did when I retired, as I'm sure you all can tell by my inactivity (another reason I'm going public and forcing the events from Hawk instead of waiting for him to cool down and take another friendly approach at it). I am taking care of this right now, this way, because these events are sort of my legacy to the community, something I had hoped would go on after I retired, and possibly check back in 2-3 years from now and still see going, and I wont have time later on in the year to take care of seeing the events are put into the hands of a responsible overseer of next year's events. There was indeed two people lined up to take the Olympics for next year, however, one works for Hawk and saw it as a conflict of interest to still run them, and the other was to help run, not run it soley. So, if you are interested in running next year's events, please e-mail me at webmaster@rctresource.com with your name, site name (if you have one), webspace the events would be hosted on, and stating that you have atleast $10 to buy a new domain name for the events. You would then be expected to put together a committee for next year and then oversee the events when the time came.

Going on further into this twisted story, with Brad and myself expecting Hawk not to turn over the events, we devised a plan B. The reason whoever next year's "overseer" is needs to have atleast $10 for a new domain name, is because Plan B is to buy a new domain name, and simply switch the events to that domain, hosted by a different site each year, and on that site's server, each year. We do this because Hawk was the one to buy the domain RCTOLYMPICS.COM, and we cannot manually move the domain to a new host. After the new domain was bought and the new site opened, you the public would be notified so that you could find the true Olympic Games Site, and continue on.

Another reason that pushed me to do all this was Hawk's constant reminding me that RCT Depot now covers The Sims, Zoo Tycoon, and one or two other games besides RCT, so he believes that the RCT Community turning against him wont hurt RCT Depot. Basically, he was just stating he didn't see a reason to give up the events and didn't plan on it.

I would also like to remind everyone it was Hawk who deleted all the e-mails from the account that held all the entries, not me. This action looks as if it was to sabotag (sp?) this year's events so Hawk could get a jump-start on planning RCT Depot's hosting of the events. It was also Hawk that flipped through the emails, and uploaded them for the judges, so if your entry didn't make it to judging, it was Hawk's fault, not mine. Hawk was the one who made changes to the perfectly fine Olympics website, and who swapped the forum skin atleast 3 times instead of helping Brad and myself try to get the Judge's opinions on all the entries recovered from RCT Resource's hacked forums. (It was also Hawk who pushed for me to just forget last year's events and not to try and recover the judge's opinions. Sounds like he didn't want me snooping around to see if he had left any trail of where he had possibly hacked RCT Resource.) It was Hawk that constantly changed the link to the Olympic Forums on the Official Website, from the forums everyone had been directed to go to, to the ones he had made, hosted by him.

I hope everyone see's why I am doing this. I want my idea, that could be a great one if run by the proper people, to live on, and it just can't do that if run by Hawk. This is the true side of the story, this is Hawk behind the mask. A hacker, a sabotager (sp?), a crook, a thief. A man that has no respect for anyone but himself.

Please, if you are interested in keeping this event going, e-mail me at webmaster@rctresource.com.

-OJ

*As a sidenote, a majority of 6 votes were cast in favor or me being granted temporarily my "overseer" rights again. This is just a temporary thing, but I thought the public should know we did go through proper etiquette before doing all of this.

Well, thanks for your openness and honesty, OJ. That would explain why we were having problems in January... problems that led me to change hosting companies, which now it seems may have been unnecessary. And this would coincide with the story I got from Devious as to being asked by Hawk and SoSweet to hack us in January.

As I've said to OJ in our brief conversations recently, I think the Olympic idea needs some time to cool off. Right now it's a big pile of stink that no one wants to touch with a ten foot pole. Clearly Hawk isn't relinquishing his hold on the domain, and that's fine. No one ever really expected he would. He's welcome to play with his toys in his sandbox all by himself. Given how he's behaving (having also blocked/banned RCT2.com's Olympic representative), I doubt he'll be able to do much on his own anyway.

I have no problem with the two people who OJ mentioned organizing an event. While one works for the Depot, he seems to be neutral enough to handle himself professionally. Plus I have great respect for his organizational skills and he's well liked and respected for his work in RCT.

I too would like to see an inter-site competition get off the ground, but it's going to need a lot of planning and time, neither of which I can contribute. If there is to be another competition, however, someone else will have to spearhead it. I simply don't have the time, energy or desire to be involved in the organizational level myself. And as I said before, RCT*Mart will boycott any events hosted or controlled by Hawk or RCT Depot.

Them's just the facts, folks.

I think OJ's post further justifies why I've taken that position.

Also, as a note to our more, shall I say, 'die-hard' members, do not take it upon yourselves to defend us agaisnt these kind of actions or threats nor do I want anyone to try to enact any retribution upon the other site. I am leaving this open to the public so they may see the case against the guilty parties (who have not been banned here and are free to defend themselves against the accusations), however I feel it's best to let the court of public opinion decide their fate.

So again... do NOT go to the Depot and engage in any negative behavior. I trust you guys to maintain civility and to handle this in a professional manner.

Besides... I like to think we can operate at a higher standard than the one they have been engaging in, and causing trouble on their site only lowers you to their level.

Can't belive on this

Hawk ..

Interesting to note that once again Hawk accuses MidwestBoyInLA (Brad) again of 'turning' someone against him. Out of the several dozen former Depot staff members I'm aware of I've heard the same claim being made over and over...even when some of them left BEFORE Brad was at the Depot. How is it that everyone of them was wrong and Hawk was right? I don't think so.

I also read with a great deal of interest a post made at the 'new' Olympics site by Hawk when I posted questioning some of the moves he had made with the site, move's that were never approved by the Olympic Committee, including wholesale changing of the charter and rules allowing the Depot to host the next event.

In his responce to me I believe his words were something to the effect that I 'shut my mouth' and 'go back to the rock I crawled out from under...' and he accused me of being Brad's "lackey" in daring to question Ray's actions..

Let me assure you that I am no one's lackey...evidenced by the mere fact that I left the Depot site a long time ago. As a member of the community which Hawk claims to 'serve', I have every right to question his actions, and I reserve those rights since I have also been named as an official representive to the committee.

I will not address the allegations made above, however I will say it is not the first time I have heard of similar things. It is a sad reflection on the hard work and dedication of those people who have worked hard on the Depot that the site owner has so little respect for their efforts.

Well, after being unblocked and having a very, umm, futile and aggressive convo with Hawk, he is deleting the site from his server, cancelling the domain, and is allowing us to begin rebuilding. He isn't complying, just simply making it to where if he can't have it, niether can we, so we will still need to buy a new one.

However, please all look in your local newspaper daily for the headline "Pastor Sues 15 Year Old for Slander". Apparently Hawk is off filling a lawsuit against me for slander, not realizing it isn't slander when it's the truth. I hope you all share my humor in this.

Also, please keep a lookout for any of RCT Resource's content on RCT Depot. The actualy deal was he buy me a domain for my web design company (incawebsolutions.com) but is now cancelling it. The way I see it, he cancels the payment, he doesn't recieve the goods, so please, just keep a lookout for Resource's content on Depot, as it doesn't belong there.

Also, according to Hawk before I was re-blocked by him, the RCTOlympics domain can be re-bought from Hawk at the price he names. If anyone is rich enough to pay off the self-esteem taken away from Hawk, please do. However, before doing so, be prepared the prices are in the millions. Quite funny how adults can act like kids on a playground playing finders keepers isn't it.

As a final note, please all take note to my new quote I have created...



Hope someone gets it

EDIT: Funny how I can get accused of acting childish when...
-I use proper grammar and properly use the period.
-I don't swear with those famous 4 letter words.
-I don't threaten to sue someone less than half my age over something I can't sue for.
-I use proper etiquette of actually having the committee vote on things before I take actions.

Just to publically announce that the domain name RCTOLYMPICS.COM has been cancled, and I no longer own this domain. the reasons are because I have been threatned, my staff has been harrased & threatned Enough. and bugged and abused.

I will not deal with the children of this community. who demand things to be done their way, and only their way. I want nothing to do with the olympics anymore, and I request that no one contact me on anything in reguards to the olympics, or any other rct matter from this day forward.

I will still keep in touch with my friends on this site and a few others. but I have had it with the childish ways the community has taken of late.

With respect to all
Hawk

PS: I request this topic be closed

If this post offends, please delete, or edit.

I would just like to remind everybody of all the people Hawk has harassed, threatened, and abused. He has threatened to sew more than OJ. I have contacted many staff members and not heard a single thing about people threatening them. Their names will not be mentioned, so no need to ask.

I am glad the truth has finally been relealed.

Mike

P.S. Please keep this topic open. People deserve to express their opinions.

You are the owner of what you claim is the best "RCT SuperSite" in the world, yet you specifically request not to be contacted about any RCT matter? Please take a moment to share with me your philosophy some time - I think it would make for an interesting discussion!

Also, it's interesting that you want this topic closed. You haven't responded to serious allegations made about you, and in any case you are not the topic starter. There appears to be more room for debate I'd say...

I agree Doc.

Miek

Closed, what for? because it shows that YOU are behind 99.9% of the problems going on with the olympics, mart & depot, and BTW WWWHack is a VERY stupid prog, anyone with [EDIT] slight skill in vb/c++ can make an easy ADFW or Blocker

"Deal with the children of this community"? (word automatically removed)? i'm 16 and responsible enough to see whats going on, you are attempting to throw the blame at anyone possible including OJ, Go ahead, sue him. you will only hurt yourself, as he has PROOF that you have hacked sites before, he has PROOF that you are causing the problems

"I will still keep in touch with my friends on this site and a few others. but I have had it with the childish ways the community has taken of late." [EDIT] i request that this topic reamins OPEN TO ALL so they can see what you have been up to, and so they can make an informed & non-biased decision

"the reasons are because I have been threatned, my staff has been harrased & threatned Enough. and bugged and abused." [EDIT],i've had it with you hawk, [EDIT]
Just my $20.50

p.s. Mods, if it becomes necessary for me to edit the extreme harshness of this post, i will

EDIT - Edited for admitted 'extreme harshness'.

I agree, the topic needs to stay open.

Truth should not be silenced.

The Truth should never be silenced in matters like this, and i will lay the smack down on anyone who attampts to hide the truth about anything, especially in things like this

and now for one of my favorite quotes:

"Arguing on the internet is like running in the special olympics, Even if you win your still retarded" - Unknown Author

P.S. that was not to insult people who may suffer from those ailments, but just to make a point

That's a mean quote! It's really true for the internet though!

I'm really sorry for thinking you hacked Devious. I feel like such an idiot! I'm glad this is all coming together now.

Mike

I've long been advised by many in the community to keep quiet and not cause a stir in regards to Hawk, the Depot, or my disassociation from both.

Out of respect for those who have advised me of this, I have kept quiet despite many reasons not to be (rumors, sabotage, hacks not the least among them). Most of those advising me knew the truth and that has, until now, been enough for me.

However I do agree that there needs to be a place for these things to be discussed. In the past I've been told not to do that here, as it only fueled the supposed 'war' between RCT*Mart and RCT Depot. Well, given recent events and the fact that it's now involved more people than just us here at RCT*Mart, I don't feel at all compelled to close this topic.

My goal in all this is not to badmouth Hawk or the Depot. Goodness knows he's able to do that well enough on his own. Nor is my goal to get the Depot shut down, contrary to Hawk's lucid rantings posted over at RCT2.com's Olympic topic.

My goal is to let people see the crap I've been dealing with for almost a year now. Ideally I'd like to see Hawk wake up and realize what he's done; and not just what he's done to me, but to countless others who've left the Depot (and as Wagi suggests not just since my departure): Wagi, Stoogecat, rct2nut, Nobleeagle, Tonks, Spunknit, Travesty, Mousing, Gladiator_2, Rohn Starr, Jampri, RNRMontux and many more.

But I suppose it's just easier to blame me for turning all those people against Hawk (assuming I had that power in the first place), for ruining his life.

Yes, this is just a game, and this is just a silly website. But it's our silly website and I love our community here. I also care for my staff and it's been painful to see some of these people treated as they have been. So naturally I've welcomed them with open arms when they came to me (whether from the Depot or not).

In the end, I - along with rct2nut - have tried to run this site the way I believe a RCT fan site can... and SHOULD... be run: openly, honestly, with a liberal sense of humor, and with respect to our members, even if they do drive us crazy at times.

Doesn't mean I'm perfect, but then I've never tried to imply that I was.

Thanks to those of you who've posted here, or messaged me privately. And thanks, as always, to the staff here. Together you all make it worth logging in in the first place.

Well said brad!

Well Said.

We must respect each other, besides the differences, we are all humans, make mistakes.

We have the right to express our own opinions, but remember to not offend each other.

I would also like to note I'm not here to badmouth Hawk or The Depot either. My goal was and still is just to get the Olympics in some good hands so that my event may go on.

This is simply what it came to, even after my conversation with Hawk became hostile, I still gave him a choice, asked, begged him to go the easy and polite way, but he chose this way. So, as long as this topic goes on and the community sees what he's done, I wont feel a bit bad, as I see it that he's getting what he asked for.

Keeping to the general "Olympic" attribute of this topic, we have only had one person send an e-mail, but this person has a whopping resume` (sp?) and I am 100% positive that he could turn these events into what everyone wants to see them. I'm even more positive the community as a whole would be quite thrilled to hear that he be over them. However, the "overseer" or possibly "overseers" of the next events has yet to be decided.

while i do not have the means available to run the olympics myself, i will be glad to help out with them in anyway i can

for not going psycho on hawk, you get a cheering section:

p.s. it shows you have the ability to not be molded into one of his little pawns, like the other fine members here

Thanks Devious...

Sadly, I doubt it will ever happen, but I would like to remind Hawk that this is a somewhat of a forgiving community, and I think that if he were to have a change of heart and go ahead and just apologize for everything and kindly hand over what does not belong to him, half of the problems he is having would probably go away.

On the off chance that they didn't atleast that way you could walk out of this with your dignity, your respect, and you could walk out a man Ray. There's alot to be said for a good ole fashioned, full hearted, sincere apology.

the only question i would have about that is:

How long would it last?

we've seen what he does when he "Apologizes", anything less than his full retirement from RCT and he would probably be back to his old tricks again

Once again, I want to make it clear I've never wanted to force Hawk to retire or the Depot to shut down. Nor have I asked any members to resign from staff or as members there.

There's really no need for any of that.

However Hawk continually threatens to shut down or to retire from RCT (or now to change the focus of the site from RCT to other games), and that's just one more way to try to gain sympathy, divert blame, and to avoid owing up to the truth of what has happened in the past. If the site is no longer RCT affiliated, he seems to think that absolves him of any responsibility for his actions.

I'm simply calling for responsibility and accountability and to owe up to the truth of what has happened. Despite plenty of opportunities in the past (and now the present)... we're still waiting.

> However, please all look in your local newspaper daily for the headline "Pastor Sues 15 Year Old for Slander".

This guy is a pastor, for real?

Claims to be. Quiet shameful to the Christian Community isn't it?

Sidenote: I am a Christian and didn't mean this post as disrespect to the religious community, nor to turn this topic into a religious debate, so please dont use it as one. I was simply stating it's sad that we could have someone act like this and have a degree (so Ray claims) in clergy.

Yeah, that last post was really uncalled for OJ, don't ever make such a statement. What you think of him on the internet is one thing, but until you truly meet a man, you never know. Trust me.

I will say here that I have too left the Depot, but I don't seem to harbor anywhere near as much of the ill-will that some people do.

OJ and Mikecoolguy have actually disappointed me the most in this topic and in other places. I've seen PMs and all sorts of stuff.

Whether or not Hawk did any of this shouldn't be enough for people that claim to be mature to act like they do. If what happened happened, then be the bigger man and, as the the Bible says, turn the other cheek.

Now I'm not trying to create enemies here; that's the last thing I want. But after being in this community longer than most, I can guarantee that posting with proper grammar and punctuation doesn't make one mature.

That being said, even I have grown tired of Ray's wanting to "play." Even so, however, I do not want to make it seem like I hate him. I think he's a good guy, and I think everyone shares responsibility in this matter, some more than others though.

Hope to become a regular member here as well though. A team player I am.

- Freak =)

I agree that a person is not defined by their profession, and a profession is not defined by a person.

As a moderator I am asking that everyone stay on topic, and not digress to flaming and secondguessing the career choices or personal habits people involved may or may not have, as it has no bearing to the topic being discussed.

Please.

I have met Ray, face to face, but I will not go into detail of that meeting.

I will say that some people will believe this and some wont. This is not being done to pit one side of the community against another. Everyone can make their own minds up. OJ felt that this needed to be said and I agree with him.

I really feel like crap about the PM I sent Hawk. He was kind of asking for it. But I never meant for it to be used against anybody, or to be used as "proof" of anything either. I can promise I won't do anything like that again!

Mike

I will just say this about this so called program I was supposedly given Oj on anything, and the wonderful hacking of that I'm. very good OJ, I'm impressed that you would even try to put me at more odds with brad. so go ahead, its fine, I'm out of the general rct community so bash away.

as for leaving the community per say, its my call. and no one else's. we did discuss this in staff conversations off and on and mostly in I'm, but decided to leave. and not because of reasons that you all think. and not because of brad. believe it or not you people think the world revolved around you all, but it don't, grow up and deal with real life. get off the computer and deal with real life.

I have no ill will to brad and I will say it here and public, I do respect him as a person, we may not have agreed on a lot of things in rct or how to do things, but that was settled long ago, but as a person brad is a good person. but it seems that others wish to keep dragging it though the mud like always. just to sit back and watch him and myself go at one another. if it gets you off then keep going, not a problem. I just don't care about what you all say to brad about supposedly what I said or great copies of pictures of supposed IM's. I know how good you are at hacking graphics.

as for others I say this, if there is anything between brad and I it should stay between brad and I, not between yourselves and what you have to try to do to stir up trouble cause you like to see us at one another. as I said if it gets you off then more power to you.

there are some that should keep their mouths shut, because it don't involve you at all. and no Kris its not you, nor freak, I still have respect for the both of you, and brad that goes for you as well, despite our differences in the way we do things. but the rest, it amazes me that you have to stick your noses into something that you should not, and that's sad grown people, acting like children of 10 yea old kids not knowing anything else but to open your mouths and cause trouble.

Many times I have kept my mouth shut because of I never believed I needed to defend myself to anyone on how I do things. and I am not here either, but the time has come to say enough is enough. and deal with each one on a one to one basis. and dealing with this, in this way is my way to tell you its not your business. want to act like fools go right ahead, because you will not se me around much anymore, and nor my staff in the rct community. not because you won anything, but because of children like you who want to stir up more trouble. (again not including brad, Kris, or others on staff here at the mart whom I have worked with before)

but for others, If I were not around I am very sure that you would find some other patsy to bother, and blame them from this and that, and why the world is as it is.

The domain is canceled, and its up for grabs, also Oj, if you really want me to post the conversations that you have said in the past about people, then I can do that. but, I will not stoop to your level of trying to get back at others. so go ahead make a fool of yourself. modify any IM that you wish to. or graphic or what ever that you think will cause more problems. or will get you off. I will not be a part of your game to try to cut me down. cause it will not bother me any.

I wish the Mart, and his staff the best of luck in the future. as those others, I would suggest that you grow up. life is way to short to even deal with babies.
I did make a mistake on the paste I did her in my first post, I just did a copy and paste from rct2.com and forgot to take out the ""close this topic" so that was my fault.

But for the record again, I have no ill will towards the staff I worked with before that is on this site. and wish the mart the best. and I will be pulling out of the community. we are only going in a direction we have been moving to for a while , moving to a site that takes care of designers not just RCT but of all similar platforms something that we have been in discussion about for a long time. RCT will stll be aprt of our site, thats not changing but activities that include all sites we are interested in. Also no one is forcing me to, its because I am tired of the bashing going on, and the non intelligence of some who want to carry things on forever and ever. and despite 1 big mouth, I will be around but not like before. this is the last thing I will say here, I will stop by to see how things are from time to time, and see how things are going. but don't expect myself or my staff to become involved in any rct things. the whining is not worth it anymore.

Good luck brad. and to your staff as well.
Hawk

PS:

mike, I understand, it was the ""passion of the monent"" and someting that you felt like saying to me. I hold no Ill will towards your in your statement in the PM sent to me. thinks happen, and unfortunatly we all fly off the handle at time. and all is forgiven. thats why I didnt respond to you, because I knew that you wished to get something off your chest. and I honor that fact. I really do.

Best of luck to you
Hawk

Hacked image? I struggle with that claim. If OJ wanted to hack an image to implicate you in your involvement with hacking, then I should think that he would have made it more obvious including quotes such as "yes, I remember giving you that software" and "yes, I hacked RCT*Mart". No such quotes were included, and to be fair, the image doesn’t give much away. I believe OJ because he has no reason to lie about it, and because of the mature way that he has approached this issue (plus your past record…)

Some of your comments, Ray, genuinely concern me since I know full well that you are the 'Pastor' of an 'online church' (as ridiculous as that concept is). Whilst I do not wish to judge you, and I accept my own failings, why don't you ask yourself "WWJD?", because I am certain that it isn’t what you’re doing…

I'm not going to get invovled in the was Hawk wrong or not debate. However I do think you need more than one person to run the olympics. No offense to you OJ, but while your idea was great, I think you bit off more than you could chew trying to run it on your own. I personally would prefer at least three people on an Olympic hosting team to ensure that if one person does have an unforseen problem, such as a holiday or death in the family, there is someone to catch the ball as it were. Thanks.

I don't want this to turn into a 'dump on Hawk' topic, although I'll point out that he is bound and determined to make it look like one, and while I'm happy that Hawk says this is not something personal with Brad and rct2nut and others, however...

This isn't about how Hawk runs the Depot...the virtual revolving door there featuring some of the most talented people in the community is proof enough that there is a problem.

This isn't about the unbelievably stupid things done there that Hawk seems to think no one notices...the incredible jumping membership numbers come to mind (they once jumped by 300 people in a period of four days...). Let me assure you that people DO notice.

This isn't about any supposed 'hacking', although it's interesting to note that that is not the first copy of an conversation with Hawk discussing this subject to show up, and since they took place on different messenger services and were copied by different people...I can't quite figure out how one person could use their knowledge of graphics to doctor so many different convos from so many different sources...

No, this is about the Olympics. It's about one man's actions and his attempts to cover up his actions by blaming others, and by even turning his back on and blaming the very community that has supported him throughout his sorrid history. Claiming no ill will against people he mentioned here just doesn't ring true when one considers his actions up to this time. We've heard those words time and time again, and they ring just as hollow now as they did before..

You can turn your back on the community here and brag that you're off to conquer other game communities Hawk, but until the day comes that you look in the mirror and acknowledge the problem is looking back at you, there will be other Brads, other Wagi's, other Rohn's...and the dozen's of other's who have left. Just because you decide to do something doesn't mean that no one can ever question your actions, life doesn't work like that.

You can say it's nobody's business and the Olympic's site, like the Depot, is yours (although I'd say it belongs to the people who actually worked on it and the Olympics site belongs to the Community.), but when you treat people the way you do, with the games you play, the merry-go-round will just continue.

One day you will run out of new communities to insult and people to use, and that will be a very lonely day of reckining for you indeed. You have my pity.

I really don't know if I could add anything on to what Wagi said.

Quoting Hawk's post from rct2.com


I don't see where hacking my site aswell (I will mention there's no hard proof, but, can that big of a coincidence really happen), and constantly screwing with the Olympics files is saving it.

The people of RCT do have lives, I will remind you Hawk, that's why I was forced to retire. Many have kids they raise, their children, their nieces and nephews, their grandchilden. They actually have spouses, whom they spend time with, do things with, and love dearly. They have friends out of the community, whom they talk to on the phone while playing RCT, go out to lunch with, and go do things with. They have jobs, bosses to report to, co-workers to deal with. These people in the community are real people, they are part of reality, with alot on their plates. This community and RCT is their hobby, sort of like fishing, hiking, ect.. It's their escape from reality, where they are allowed to rest, forget about the hectic lives they live, and where they can just have a brief alone time each day.

You really just lowered yourself to me, claiming we need to wake up to reality. We are all extremely aware of reality, and extremely aware that we need that secret place of this community to escape it from time to time. So Hawk, I applaud you for deciding to leave this community, because after thinking about it, someone like you who constantly ruins and disrupts our humble place of rest and fun (word automatically removed) well isn't welcomed.



On a final note, that's Mr. OJ and 15 year old to you.

While I think the thread should stay open, we need to all keep civil exchange going.

OJ is right in one thing. The community is diverse and yes, RCT is my sanity. I am in my late 50's, teach all day, and then take care of my stroke patient, 93 year old father the rest of the day. The minutes I spend playing the game and admiring the great creative minds on this forum provide me with about the only break I get. This is in between feeding, cleaning, medicine, and general all things involving dad's care.

I love the fact that this community brings together an international group of all ages. It is like taking a vacation without having to leave home.

I know that gradually most of the people I met while working on UCES migrated here. I also know from the work, and it was work, done on that project that these are all people I can trust, respect, and depend upon. While the finished product might look easy, that was a ton of work. Even with a great support cast--it took Fossil and Kat tons of effort just to hold things together.

I agree with Wagi and that Olympics are a project for a committee. Even the greatest person is not large enough to hold this size operation together.

I am never going to be "good" enough to be a competitor--but just like watching the real olympics every four year--I really enjoyed seeing the winning efforts.

I hope a new Olympic Committee can be formed and perhaps a new name given to the project since it in truth did not hold together in the Olympic Spirit.

Trust me, it shows. Your ignorance and feeble attempts at trying to regain status after everyone pointed out that you took on too much is pathetic. So you took on too much at one time and you got called on it, so what? The only way you can make yourself look better is by slowly regaining respect through posting and taking on larger tasks gradually. Trying to shift blame so that NONE of it rests on your shoulders is sad and pathetic.

I'm 17, I just recently won senior class president at my high school, I'm active in two choirs there, I've done 3 theatre shows at my school that take 2 months per show, I am on the school's varsity tennis team, I'm an honors student, fourth in my class, and there are probably other things that I'm forgetting here. Oh yeah, as Brad knows, I'm also a full-time diabetic, testing my blood sugar at LEAST 10 times a day and also taking several shots per day.

Don't get me started on having a tough/busy life, because that's (word automatically removed). Look at that large list that I just posted. I didn't do it to brag, but to instead show you that if you are gonna take on huge projects like you do, you have got to measure it against what you have going on in the outside world! EVERYONE realizes that people have lives outside of this community.

But for someone who is so adamant about a peaceful and fun community, these types of large accusations in order to turn the community against ONE person is PATHETIC!

Enough (word automatically removed) has happened to make people turn against Ray, and if they believe that he did it, they won't go to his site. People are smart enough to figure things out on their own. This kind of post only digs up things that most people in this community shouldn't really even be a part of.

ie. The whole pastor thing. Whether or not you like it, it's really none of your business.

(word automatically removed), just grow up OJ. People can make informed decisions without having you there to help guide them along. For goodness sake, you're 15! 17 might not be much older, but I've lived long enough and been around this community enough to know when to draw the line.

Don't keep trying to prove you're the better man and totally mature by demeaning someone so that you can run them over and over and allow the whole community to see them splattered on the road. If you TRULY feel you're at no fault or guilt here, then don't post and show you're the better man by NOT going around trying to stir up more trouble than there already is.

I realize I'm not making a great impression upon some people at this forum, and I'm sorry for that. But the fact is, a good majority of the people here don't know ANYTHING beyond what they are being told, and I just find it unfair to have them dragged into this when they haven't been able to get both sides of the story.

I'm not Ray's lacky, nor am I Brad's. I'm neutral in this entire matter, I just hate to see an entire orgy of hatred against one man who doesn't control the way you live your lives or act on the message boards of the community. I'd do the same thing for Brad if the tables were turned.

- Freak

Wow, I'm gone for three days to IOA and this is what I come back to? Great reading, but George Orwell's 1984 was plenty for me.

Personally, I really could care less about ANYTHING that's been said in this topic, and I think it's one of those points where you just need to say: "If the arguing is going to keep continuing like this, then it's not worth it to argue. Seriously folks, this is a f***ing game! A GAME! None of this is real, it's a stupid game that you're all complaining about! Think about what you're cracking this up to be here, and smack yourself in the forehead.

I, like Freak, remain for the most part neutral now. I've talked against every single person in this community in one way or another to defend a viewpoint of another. Right now, there really is no viewpoint I think has gone un-noticed other than a lowlife non-webmaster so-so RCT player like me. And as much as someone's viewpoint may be overlooked, I repeat that phrase. "It's a game."

If Hawk doesn't want to continue with the Olympics, then he doesn't continue with the Olympics. Cry about it, scream like a baby to your mommy. You're not going to change anything. If Hawk tried/succeeded in hacking the site, then that's Brad's matter to deal with, not any of ours. We play a game folks, and look what it's got us doing: arguing with people that we will never meet in real life over something as petty as an electronic reality.

One last not before I end this reply, and I, more than most of you, can say this too: leave the Bible and religion out of this. I, for one, am not religious at all. I do not follow any religion nor will I. Using the Bible/Torah/other sacred book and any religion to prove your point is only going to piss people off, and quite frankly it makes me very angry that some of you bring anything like that up. Religion should play nothing in this, and if it does, you don't belong here. Connecting religion to a game is just plain moronic.

A few of you saw me post this at COASTER-net the other day in response to a little moron who runs his own Hersheypark website, but I post it again here because it seems to fit quite well:

Sit down and shut up. Turn off the computer and go outside. None of this is real, get over it!

Thank you,

-Phix

*applause*

No one is trying to bring religion into this topic. I know it may seem a little odd that Ray is a pastor of a online church, but then again, the first online chatroom was probably odd, back when it was first released, many years ago.

It is not really our problem whether Ray runs a online church or not, that is not what this topic was created for, so it shall not be discussed here. We are trying hard to keep this topic clean, and flame-free.

Where to start, where to start.

Freak, let's see, I'm 1st in my class, have a perfect 4.0 GPA, take part in Key Club, Beta Club, Student Council, SADD, FCA, play on the Varsity Basketball and Track teams, I take part in almost every event at church, am a student counselor, my school isn't big enough for honor's classes but I'm on the Advanced Diploma, and while you may check insulin and take shots 10 times a day, I have an overactive bladder (see the humor there please).

When I first took on the Olympics, I didn't see half of this coming my way, nor did I see Biology class jumping from 1 test a week to 2, nor did I know I'd have weekly reports due, nor did I know I'd have Basketball Spring Training come up (well, to be honest I didn't think about that one), I also didn't know my math class would start covering 3 sections a day instead of 2. So excuse me, I'm sorry, next time I'll look into my crystal ball and see all the hectic surprises life might throw my way before I start something.

Also, I never shifted blame, I screwed up the Olympics, I admit it, however, I started and founded them, so, it was in my right too, even though it was the greatest thing I could do. One man can't run them, that's been proven the hard way, but you know what, I handed them over to Brad who did manage to finish them up on a less bumpy road than what I had them set on. However, as Brad has stated, after handed over, much of the additional trouble (that was caused after they were out of my hands) was caused by Hawk. There were only two people two screw them up, Brad and Hawk. Brad was the one trying to fix problems, why would he screw something up purposely if he was going to spend hours fixing it? Guess that means we're only left with Hawk to blame for the rest. Hey! There's you a lesson in logical reasoning.

I'm not trying to make myself look better. I've left, retired, as in, ta-ta. I only come back for this because A.) I was requested to, and B.) I would really enjoy checking in 3 years from now and seeing a RCT Fansite hosting the Olympics. So, because of my new busier than ever schedule, I made this topic. Hey, it got the job done didn't it? So, as far as I'm concerned, the topic is over, however, the PUBLIC requested it stay open, go back, read the replies, they want it open. Maybe that means that the one or two people against it should realize that and just ignore the topic if it they don't care about it. Anyways, once Monday comes I'll be off again, unseen and unheard of for probably another week, maybe more.

Once again, I didn't do this to turn people against Hawk, I did it to simply not waste time in getting possesion of the Olympics into next year's host. Once again, it worked.

Also, you're right, 17 isn't much older, and just because you've been around two year's longer, doesn't say a whole lot. Obviously, you don't know how things work, otherwise everyone would be agreeing with you, don't ya think?

Anyways, please stray of anymore posts that are just personal attacks on me. Instead, PM them to me like you would be asked to do by staff on almost every forum, and let this topic stay on track.

As for Phix...

Yes, when the day is over, it's still JUST a game, and JUST a website, and JUST an event. However, there's another side that is of the hours of hard work put into something, of enjoyment, of happiness, of value, that makes it a little more than just a game. As I explained to Hawk, it's our "perfect world" to escape from our "not-so-perfect world" and when someone comes along and disrupts it in a way we don't like, we tend to get angry, it's called human nature.



No, the Olympics don't belong to Hawk, therefore, whether Hawk wants to or not, he doesn't get to continue with them. The Olympics are like a personal posession, they're an idea, they're not his. Also, as I've mentioned many times, we have changed it, so the purpose of this topic has been fulfilled.

Finally, religion wasn't really brought into it, I made the comment "Pastor Sues 15 Year Old" as a humorous remark, someone asked about Hawk being a pastor, someone answered. That's the extent of it. As for connecting religion to a game, followers of Christianity are supposed to base their entire lives around the religion, so it's only moronic to you.

As for turning off the computer and going outside, if that was aimed at me, look at the top of this post, and also look at the times between this post and my last and the one before that. I've been at town for a good 4 hours of the day, and outside most of the evening doing yardwork thankyou very much.

As a final note, please all realize that its almost 12:00 my time, and I'm known for being cranky when it's late and I'm sleepy. For the most part, my comments aren't meant to be taken personal, it's just late on my end.

Edited as requested

Topic closed (at least temporarily) until I can read and get caught up. I've been busy today and haven't read most posts since page 2. Just want to give everyone a Time Out and time to cool down... and me time to gain the patience to read through 2 more pages of this stuff.

Ok... I've had a chance to read through the last couple pages.

I have to say... taking a weekend off was a good thing.

I want to make a few comments and then will open this back up in the event anyone else has anything to contribute to the discussion. And again, please keep the discussion civil.

1) I don't think anyone was attacking Hawk's/Ray's religion. The fact that he's a pastor was brought up to counterpoint the un-pastor like nature of his behavior and actions.

2) I greatly appreciate Hawk's reply here earlier in the thread. I just wish the actions behind the words were true. As of this posting I am still IP blocked from the Depot (despite never having violated the TOS there nor posting anything inflamatory on their site) and even when I can get around the IP block (when I'm working my IP changes when I log into my office's network) my access to read or post in the forums is restricted (I can't view or reply in any topics).

In addition, apparently it's forbidden to speak my name there, as "MidwestBoyInLA" has been added to the 'bad word filter' and now shows up as "(WORD AUTOMATICALLY REMOVED BY SYSTEM)". Given I'm no longer posting updates on the Olympics, I really don't need access to post in the forums, however it was helpful to have access to keep on top of unauthorized uploads/downloads of some of my scenery that were happening there.

Again, if Ray holds no ill will against me, I fail to see the point of these blatantly hostile actions.

Despite my differences with Ray, I have not altered or played with his permissions to post here at RCT*Mart. He has full access just as any member does.

3) Yes, in the end this is just a game and just a silly website. But as I've said, it's our silly website that a lot of us have put a lot of time and hard work into, and when I find out people have been hacking us (and asking others to hack us), it upsets me (as I trust it upsets others). While I don't have the financial recourse to handle this in civil court (not that I would want to anyway) I do believe in the court of public opinion.

Thus, this topic and the ongoing discussion.

I just want to say that I also use the RCT Community and the game RCT as an escape from the monotonous drudgery that is reality (no offense to anyone that actually likes reality ) thus the reason I spend so much time on your site, Brad, and on many others around the community; and the reason I release so many of my creations to the community.

And as some have said, this fighting is putting a damper on the enjoyment I usually get from my #1 hobby.

Just wanted to publicly state that I wish everyone would kiss and make up , no matter how unrealistic of a hope that is.

Well at least your name wasn't filtered out here: http://www.rctdepot.com/invision/index.php?showtopic=940
I'll keep an eye on it and will protest if they dare filter your name out.

For the rest, well said Brad.

"Sorry, the link that brought you to this page seems to be out of date or broken."

I don't understand. I can come to the page by following the tree in the forums. I actually did so when making my former post and copied and pasted the URL. Yet the link doesn't work.

I just copied the post and now will paste it here:
I'm working on a new scenario using the spanish style (suburbia) building set by MidwestBoyinLA. ChuckS' country style and jungle shops will be included. So the player won't need to place the shops inside buildings for good looks. emot-shakehead.gif
The map is 100 x 100 and pictures a Spanish vacation resort with swimming pool, bungalows for rent and more. Look in my gallery for some pictures

So you see I'm serious.

I just posted a new topic in the greeter area over there. MidwestBoyInLA is a banned word.

http://www.rctdepot.com/invision/index.php?showtopic=9965

I'll bring it up in the staff area but I probably won't get very far with it. Ultimately it's Hawk's site and he can do what he wants with it.

It's hard on RCTA since we use a lot of MWBILA's objects and it will be difficult to properly give credit for using those objects. Hopefully it won't get to the point where we can't post our releases on our host because we can't give credit to the object makers.

Smoothly done there, Jon . I love the way you worked MidwestBoyinLA in.