I know that this convention has a reputation of nothing being sacred and of generally being "in your face" about just about anything, but this weekend some people were seriously offended and seriously hurt by these actions.

I know it goes against everything I beleive about freedom of speach to say this, but I would like everyone to stop making fun of furries on these forums and at this convention.

I would also like to state that as soon as I get in contact with the Pokemon fur suited cosplayer who was at closing ceremonies, I'll be issuing an official apology on behalf of myself, my staff, and the convention at large.

From here on out, fur bashing will not be tolerated on these forums, and any offending posts will be recorded and deleted.

Also, it has come to my attention that there was an incident where someone acting "on the behalf of the conchair" pretended to shoot a fursuiter in the head. If anyone knows who this is please let me know immediately. I never told anyone to do anything like that, and I consider that a legitimate threat rather than a joke gone wrong. I also don't like being misrepresented. If anyone knows who that staffer was please tell me, so that they may be dealt with properly.

Please rethink policy of banning comments and asking people to go easy on furs at the convention - it just feels like all the furs are in kindergarten and can't take a little taunting. I'm going to make a few assumptions and say that I don't think the majority of people are worried about random jerks at a con saying nonsense or trolls on the net just being trolls.

I think why this incident flared up and resonated with so many people was that there was an appearance of staff endorsement of those types of feelings. It's one thing to deal with con-goers that feel that way, and everyone deals with them - even at furry conventions you'll run into anti-fur furs. But when you get the impression that the people representing the responsibility and safety of the convention aren't acting responsible or safe, that's when people get nervous.


To deal with this issue, do as you've done - be very public that you're not singling out a certain group and that the misunderstanding at closing ceremonies was based on loose rules concerning who is brought into the skit - and that that will be changed. I think the matter will die out on its own, but with stuff like this there's always a period of days where the flame-wars burn pretty bright.

Idiot. Neither side of this battle likes you.

http://www.lolfurries.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=25993#25993

Cry me an emo tear. What made you think I came to either forum to make friends? I came here and to LOL Furries to give my opinion, too bad you feel forums are only for people that already know each other and pretty much share the same opinion. That's... quite boring frankly and I'm more than happy to say I don't know you - since you seem so interested in that cliquish crap.

Mike, maybe culling the mean-spiritedness would be more neautral than disallowing it entirely. If you make this move, you may as well stop bullying doll people, video game cosplayers, and Kamon too.

FreakyLynx: To some extent, we have to treat the furs like little kids, thanks in large part to a small but exceedingly vocal minority that have nothing better to do than feel slighted and bitch about it. I wish that weren't the case, as that vocal minority of any fandom gives the rest a bad name, but we can only do so much.

LexingtonBoi: We, the staff, didn't ask for your opinon, nor do we appreciate having your opinion asserted upon us. Kindly get bent.

SOME of those LOLFurries guys are militant trolls. I think they have their own version of Lilith and the dude is an admin. Thats some scary shit right there.

Are you stupid or are you just playing the part?

Yes, you should like them alot. They are alot like your con chair.

Kaisermikeb,
Freedom of speech is one thing. But when we signed up for this forum, we clicked "I AGREE" to this:

So bashing anyone, furry or not, is against your policy here.
All this boils down to is the Dork Pecking Order, anyway. Every freak of nature involved in any fandom, including myself, has been ridiculed in some way, shape, or form. A lot of us dorky kids will take any chance to make fun of someone to make themselves feel bigger. You feel bad for fapping to tentacle pronz, so you make fun of the guy wearing the adult diaper and bib, or Klingon sitting at the bar speaking his fake native tongue, or possibly the chick in the giant pokemon suit.

I also want to say that I don't want an "official apology", just a sincere one.
If you don't mean it, I'd rather not hear it. I will say that at least you're apologizing. I don't, however, feel that you really mean it, as I've read some of your responses to people about this. That's fine. Everyone has a right to their opinion.
Good to see that you're trying to act at least somewhat professional about this.

As for your staffer that threatened me Saturday evening, I can't give you a good description of that person. My vision is obscured in costume.
It sucks that someone would say you put them up to it, though. It's just another one of those guys that thinks it's big lulz to harass a mascot. I know that for some reason, some guys feel that their balls are really huge when they attack a giant foam cartoon character. That's what happens in the business. (I'm a professional mascot) They don't realize that most pro mascots are 5'5" small-framed females. So joke's on him. (Hope you feel nice and manly, buddy!)

I have more to say, but you'll find out later when I've written my formal response. I just want to let you know that I've been watching what's happening.

Oh yeah, re-read your TOS.

"..., thanks in large part to a small but exceedingly vocal minority that have nothing better to do than feel slighted and bitch about it."

Thank you for demonstrating adequately just what I'm talking about. Taking quotations out of context gains you nothing but a mark as one not to be taken seriously.

Re-Read your TOS.

So far, you've told someone to get bent, and you've called someone else stupid.

You have awesome Public Relations skills, my friend.

hahaha.... and ummm.... hahahaha...

I am not here to be taken seriously.... I am talking to people that dress up like cartoon characters.

Actually I was cutting you a break by excluding the part that made you come off like a total moron.

Wyatt, what the fuck?! There is a time and a place.

Sorry, I just thought if I acted like an ass, everyone here would love me.

I really hate to do this but this is drama on the proU scale, time to put on the serious hat... errr helmet and accompaning tactical assult suit.

I'm going to back track a little bit...

First order of business. Regarding what Wyatt said eariler (i feel i don't need to quote this). He's right, whether you like it or not that is the state of affairs with the whole furry deal.

Kattywampus, when was the last time you went to a forum that actualy enforced the ToS except in the most blatant cases? Do you even realize that if you actually tried to go to court on that that it'd probably get turned down since it'd open a can of worms so large the justice system would shut down for the next decade as everyone who has ever been flamed tries to sue everyone else. All i have to say there is get over it, trying to argue the ToS is a moot point since its suicide all around, since i could get the entirety of that furry website nailed for the same thing simply by me waltzing in and stating i don't care for furries. You really aren't going to get anything productive done until you get over that little bump.

TeGaRSt, shut you mouth, you aren't helping things and only making yourself sound like a petulant child crying because the big kids in middle school told you santa didn't exist.

I refuse to be silenced by a lawbster :D

Now where is that pot of boiling water....

(btw, your con chair set the bar for discussions at the jr. high level so I am just following suit. I thought you all loved assholes)

Mike isn't particularly found of ass holes, since i get told to shut up all the time around here.

I'd have to say that this kind of thread needs to have an absence of assumptions for things to not... self-destruct as it were.

Mike is a self professed asshole. Also I have seen numerous posts on this forum and on cosplay.com where others, including his friends seem to mention fondly as if it is something to be proud of.

but whatever...

Mike is not an asshole, he just pretends to be one.

That or my stanards are way to high...

Now I know why people admire you. :)

So you're saying that I, a 29-year-old who happens to like furry things has to be treated differently than other folks because of that? I just wanna get that straight.

To answer your question, I've been to plenty of forums where the TOS is enforced. Are you calling me lawsuit-happy? I have better things to do than bother my lawyer over the TOS of some random anime forum being violated. I'm just saying that there are rules that we agreed to that aren't followed, pal. And "that furry website" has jack squat to do with this. We're on Neo_Battle_Peasant, and that's what I was talking about. So get off yer high horse, buddy.

Mike is an asshole at times but everybody is at some point.

I never am :) maybe a bit annoying when I am semi anonymous on a forum, but in RL I am a happy go lucky playful guy. You would never recognize me.

I don't recall writing that anywhere, but oh well. You don't have to be treated differently, but at the same time you shouldn't be treated prefentially. If people don't like what you for what you like then theres nothing you can do about it, and if they want to rant and bitch about then there is also nothing you can do about it, just like how they can't do anything about you may say.

Neither do i recall calling you 'lawsuit-happy'. If thats what you got out of what i wrote, then it ceases to be my problem and becomes yours because i meant no such thing.

I brought up the other website in an analogy. If you can't understand from just reading it, spelling it out isn't going to help either.

I'm just ranting about you bringing up the ToS because you are making a big deal there out of something completely irrelevent and pointless, and if I've manage to learn anything out of my life, getting caught up on shit like that is only going to make things worse for both you and Mike.

This reminds me of a Penny Arcade comic, I don't feel like looking for it right now, but you probably all know which one I'm talking about.

Normal guy + internet anominity= COMPLETE ASSHOLE.

It's definately quite true for some people...

oh that one, good old 2k4 and its VoiP.

100% True Story

Was anyone else under the impression that this thread was never intended to turn into a discussion, like, at all?

I mean, come on. Mike's simply asking us to shut the hell up about the furries already. Not only is it completely inappropriate at this juncture, but it's gotten old. And absolutely nothing in regards to the incident will be accomplished by bantering back and forth this way.

Yeaaahhh... Which is why I decided to sit this one out. XD

EDIT: in retrospect, I didn't have anything else to say, so this post kinda...sucks. XD

LDS, Drop it for now. I consider this a private issue.

delete

I normally really hate drama but I gotta say this:

I'm sorry to hear that the mascot costumers were treated so badly. I know nothing about the fursuit/mascot community but I *DO* know that harassing people that are PAYING to be at the con you're running is absolute bullshit. Yeah, I know it's "an AP thing" and all that but really...why do it at all? People go to cons to hang out with people of similar interests. Encouraging people to be jerks to each other is kinda making the entire point of cons moot.

This was supposed to be a con geared towards college age people yes? I always kind of thought that would draw a more mature crowd. Guess not.

Bottom line: If this con continues to be run in this fashion it's going to be die pretty quickly. A *lot* of people have expressed being upset about the con staff's behavior. Rules not only have to be established but they must be followed by staffer and congoer alike.

My :2cents:

Rules are what seperates AP from all the other cons. I feel AP has all the needed rules and that if they start making a ton of rules and enfore them like hardasses it will ruin the con. Yeah the drama does need to stop. I didn't have any negative experiences with the staff but I'm sure a few might have been a bit rude at times due to overwork and a lack of sleep but you really can't blame them for it. As far as I can tell unless you acted like an ass the staff didn't bother you.

Things are not looking good here, guys. The diplomatic ties are undoing. If this goes any further, anime fans showing up to furcons in their loli-suits will be subject to the same treatment.

Can't we accept we all fail in the end?

This kind of discussion is getting us all nowhere fast. I feel terrible about this because it will be a stigma on the con for a long time.

To Kattywampus: I am sincerely sorry for what happened Sunday evening, it was a terrible misunderstanding on the part of the convention staff. For my own part, I don't blame you for still being offended.
I wish that I were more representative of the con staff in general. It seems that even with the benefit of hindsight, some of us can't seem to see the wrong in our actions.

While I can't speak for other members of the con staff, I can promise that I will take my role as staff member more seriously next year in order to keep things like this from happening again.

I hope that this whole unpleasant mess ends amicably for all parties. I'd hate to see the armageddicon go under because of anything more mundane than a killbot rampage.

LOL

Yeah, I think I'll have to cancel my plans to go to morphicon dressed as Card Captor Sakura.

Tonight's episode of South Park made me think of furries teaming up with Keyblade Jesus to random battle an army of stateless statists wearing red arm bands.

I just thought I'd put this in perspective for the furbashers who go to anime cons:

You dress up as CARTOON CHARACTERS. You live in basically a fantasy world where everything from Japan is the shit. You're all pretty weird. I'm pretty weird. Most of us are fetishists in some way.

So where the fuck do you get off making fun of somebody who has a different thing to dress up as than you? Honestly, how pathetic is that? YOu're already almost to the bottom of the weirdness barrel, so you just have to find somebody else to make fun of? I'll admit, the internet furry community is rife with more drama than 7 cons put together but so's 4chan! Give up! Quit being a bunch of childish idiots getting your jollies out of making fun of somebody who made a costume that I SINCERELY doubt you could have made. Fursuits are a difficult sewing project. And I never see anyone harrasing the people dressed up as Menchi, now do I? You guys are pathetic. Grow up. End. (for the record, I'm not a furry.)

Oh, btw, all those catgirls and catboys you furbashers love? Hmmm....

hehehe

as long as you abide by the Morphicon Policies

http://www.morphicon.org/policies.htm

most will not care. well you might want to incorporate ears and a tail for insurance but yeah. Probably 75% of furs are also anime fans at some level.

And yet the point that very few of us were actually harrassing, or even dislike, the furs is STILL BEING MISSED. Could you all PLEASE be bothered to read the threads before you start to tell us all what horrible human beings we are?

Congratulations. You're making me feel like absolute shit for something I did not do, are you happy?

Am I the only one who thinks it would be hilarious to see Mike cosplaying Card Captor Sakura? Then again its one of those things where you want to see yet don't want to see it.