Last night while on this board, I noticed Dais' sig was:

"Patrick Gann: Because not knowing what the f--- you're talking about doesn't mean you shouldn't talk at all."

Personally, I had no idea how I had pissed the man off so harshly. Had I argued with him in a thread? What had I done? I simply didn't know.

Also, I was kind of bothered that he would have the nerve to post my real name in his sig, as if he had the right to. I'm not here trying to start some war, making my sig "Chris Culb: because the 1st amendment protects my right to be a dick" or something along those lines. I just want him to come clean and tell me what it is I did to bother him.

So I emailed him last night, and essentially asked "...I'm Patrick Gann. I'm confused. Can you tell me, what does your signature mean?"

I was polite about it.

Here's the reply I got this morning:

"Sorry, no."

Dag.

I noticed today he changed his sig, possibly to avoid me calling him out to mods for the harsh language directed towards me. But he did give me a clue as to why he dislikes me so much.

"Patrick Gann: Because it's not a review if people can't disagree with it."

I don't quite get it. The statement infers that a review IS a review if people CAN disagree with it. Which is true. Of course they can. And of course people can disagree with my reviews at RPGFan.com. That's fine. But why is the man so hellbent on using my real name and talking about me as if I'm some menace to the gaming review community?

If anyone has any knowledge/answers/etc as to what Dais' problem is, or if Dais would like to speak for himself, that's fine with me. I'd just like some answers because I'm not quite sure where I'm at fault here. Make your complaints, and I'll try to be a better reviewer. Otherwise, this is just going to turn into a mighty big flame war, though I suppose some people might *enjoy* that sort of thing..........

Ramza

Dealing with Dais can be downright schizophrenic at times. I've seen him post extremely useful info, or ask a very insightful question. But more often than not, his output is pure trolling. It's what got him the axe at the Castlevania Dungeon, and dipped him into the danger zone at GameFAQs several times.

Just look him up in the archives.

Thankfully, we are now in a position on these new forums to report troublemakers. If enough people do it, maybe he'll get the picture.

Why do you care? I'm never reading signatures and have them disabled wherever I can. And if one is taking internet personally it's the wrong place for him.

Taking it personally? Real names is as personal as it can get on the internet and I would consider it out of bounds. I can totally understand Ramza being pissed about this. I haven't seen it though as I also turn off sigs.

Look at it from Ramza's perspective. If you were cruising along and *BAM* out of nowhere an entirely slanderous statement about you pops up, wouldn't you be the least bit curious about what's up with that?

And in most cases, "hatred" is well-documented on the forums...members will not be shy about why they're mad about so-and-so, and will say so in no uncertain terms. But that's not what's happening here.

Of course, it's no secret that I despise Dais's antics. Be that as it may, this is a new low for him. To have something inflammatory as a signature, and NOT give a good reason why when asked NICELY, isn't just your typical trolling...it's yellow-bellied cowardice.

My point exactly. If some guy wanted to mock me under the name "Ramza", or just mock RPGFan because we gave DDS2 a 99% or something along those lines, I'm not going to get bent out of shape over it. But when you pull out my real name because you're trying to bait me ... that's just screwed up.

Yeah. I'm glad I made this thread so we have a record of Dais's recent antics. Dais, I'd like a straight answer from you. If you don't want to give it, I'll be glad to file a report to STC moderators.

Ramza

What's wierd is that I glanced at the sig in question the other night and just assumed Dais was Patrick Gann himself and interpreted it as amusing self-deprecation. Names aren't me strong suit, what can I say?

I take issue with how incredibly dismissive you are of any soundtrack that doesn't immediately curry your favor. I'm not going to pick examples because it's honestly not worth the time. However, I still feel the need to express my distaste.

I did not know you were Patrick Gann. I just knew that a guy at RPGFan who signed his soundtrack reviews "Patrick Gann" kind of seemed like a dick.

I really would appreciate you picking an example or two. I actually consider myself fairly approving of a variety of genres, and have been regularly criticized for being overly enthusiastic and approving of "mediocre" VGM. And I'm not sure you would know if a soundtrack "immediately" curries my favor or not, as I rarely listen to an album just once or twice before a review. I give every soundtrack I review a second, even third chance over a fair span of time before I write a review.

If you are truly concerned that I have unfairly bashed a soundtrack that is worthy of praise, rather than take it out in your message board signature, you could simply submit a review in defense of this or that soundtrack, which I suggest people do regularly in my news posts. As head of the RPGFan soundtracks section, I would gladly post whatever you have to say.

I hope an apology is not beneath you. I've gone out of my way to be humble rather than start a fight. Please return the favor.

Patrick "Ramza" Gann

PS - Thanks for changing your signature. ^^

You greatly overestimate my willingness to defend or even accoutn for my impulsive actions and words. (most people do....)

I will not give you an apology per se, insofar as I don't have the kind of emotional stability to offer any statements of a sincere nature, but I will say that I would never have made that signature if I had realized that "Ramza = Patrick Gann", and I am also sorry for upsetting you in this manner.

There we go.

That'll do for me. Apology accepted. We're all prone to impulsiveness sometimes. ^^

Ramza

Wow, these are loaded statements, but it's nice you're willing to talk about it, as that's the first step towards resolution.

This is somewhat of a plea of insanity, signaling that you could benefit from some mental health counseling.  Please consider seeking some real-life counseling help, as mental health is very important to your own well-being.

What if you had robbed a bank or killed someone on an impulsive urge, you wouldn't take responsibility of your actions, or believe you're not accountable for that?  This mode of thought could be dangerous to yourself and others, so I hope you can seek professional counseling.

The way you talk about it you ought to follow your own suggestions for taking something on the internet that seriously...

Yeah I'm with Datschge on this one. Being impulsive about your words and being impulsive about major criminal offenses (rape, theft, murder) are two different things. While I agree that Dais' first sentence sounds like the "insanity" plea, I'm guessing he just didn't feel like taking the time to explain himself. Which is certainly a valid feeling. It's not like he's saying "I'm insane so I can do what I want on the internet." He's just saying he's not going to defend his previous actions. And I'm a-okay with that. You should be too Carl!

I just wish the thread could have died with "apology accepted." I'm worried that you're just flame-baiting, sir Carl. And that would be an awful thing.

Ramza

As someone who freaks out over nothing on a regular (hourly) basis, and also someone with mental quirks of the medically notable and controversial kind, I too am worried over what Carl is saying.

Is his dark imagination indicative of something far more disturbing? Does his quest for rare video game albums point to a troubling and fearful search for his own fleeting sanity? Perhaps his is the real plea......?

Oooh, ooh, can we have a mental health witchhunt?

At least we now have a better insight, since you've never mentioned anything about Autism before, so even that disclosure alone is helpful in understanding your behavior, Thanks.