Boycot of TMP

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wkeyser
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2013 6:14 am

Boycot of TMP

Post by wkeyser »

Hi
I was just reading some postings on TMP (The Miniatures Page) on a supposed boycott of TMP supposedly started by TFL. If this is the case I would just like to hear their side of the story. In brief the allegation is that a negative comment by a poster on TMP has caused some here to urge a Boycott of TMP, I don't know anything more than what I read on TMP.

I really hope there is no substance to this allegation of a boycott. Are we not a small enough hobby to just get along, there are things I like by TFL and things I like about other games that does not mean anyone should push a boycott of site that offers so much to gamers.

Thanks
William Keyser
wkeyser
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Re: Boycot of TMP

Post by wkeyser »

Thanks for response Richard.

William
richard
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Re: Boycot of TMP

Post by richard »

I won’t say that it’s a pleasure. This does seem to be dredging up old issues. However, I appreciate you asking for the other side of the story. It may interest you to know that a number of companies subsequently got in touch with me regarding correspondence they received from TMP accusing us of a whole range of unpleasant things. Frankly, they found it laughable as our track record of promoting the hobby generally is well known and in particular our efforts to encourage newcomers. I chose not to make that correspondence public as I felt it was beneath contempt. However, it does suggest a pattern of rudeness, abuse, slander and misrepresentation of the truth.

Richard
Fairoaks024
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Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2018 12:54 pm

Re: Boycot of TMP

Post by Fairoaks024 »

For what it’s worth, I can confirm everything Richard said about what was public.
I followed along closely at the time, and witnessed first hand some of bills laughably childish, petty behaviour.

It’s funny that he’s on a money raising drive at the moment and feels under attack when only a week ago he was crowing on TMP about how great business was.
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sjwalker51
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Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire

Re: Boycot of TMP

Post by sjwalker51 »

Don’t think I can add much to what Fairoaks has already said, he beat me to it.

Several heavily redacted and edited threads remain on TMP from that kerfuffle, starting in September 2019 when Rich first queried TMP policy on the mentioning of new product releases (yes, I’m sad enough to check) and periodically resurfacing until summer 2020, if you want to get a flavour of the issue but frankly you’d be better off using the time spent reading them painting toy soldiers instead (and then watching the paint dry!)

But there were some childishly funny moments in the saga, though I guess you had to be there - the discreet wearing of snowflake badges at Partizan to show our support for Rich, and the whole “Friends of Kenneth” movement that took on a life of its own. Somewhere, I’ve still got the message from Rich that simply read “F&ck me, he has killed Kenny” after one thread about Infamy on the TMP Ancients Board suddenly disappeared in its entirety.
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Truscott Trotter
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Re: Boycot of TMP

Post by Truscott Trotter »

One has to ask why Bill is resurrecting this 2 years on and implying it is a current item?

Playing the victim card to raise money?

Rather naughty of Bill but it appears to have worked as his supporters are starting to froth again. Guess it shows their IQ levels if they are fooled by such a childish ploy.
Markconz
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Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2017 3:44 am

Re: Boycot of TMP

Post by Markconz »

Also had a recent bizarre experience with TMP's editor. Nothing to do with TFL. See here, and the comments are also interesting:
https://chasseuracheval.blogspot.com/20 ... ative.html
Thaddeus Blanchette
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Re: Boycot of TMP

Post by Thaddeus Blanchette »

Here’s a story that highlights the general weirdness of this whole thing....

I was run off of TMP in 2013 after Bill falsely accused me (see “bullying”, above). In response, I entered into a mostly fake “trolling” campaign that can be described as “talking shit about TMP on Frothers and loudly planning ‘drive-bys’ which were never carried out”. Basically, it was a larf to drive Bill paranoid and soon, every time something weird happened on TMP, Frothers in general was being blamed and I, in particular, was catching Bill’s wrath.

At one point, Bill sent me a personal e-mail saying, simply, “I hate you.” Then one of his editors launched a public, virulent, and incredibly homophobic attack on me in extremely broken English. (“Gay man Thaddeus” has since become a minor joke on Frothers.)

I’m not particularly proud of trying to drive Bill to distraction. I guess one could call it childish. But I was extremely disappointed that Bill had allowed what is one of the biggest public platforms in gaming, a place that pitches itself as “family friendly”, to turn into a site that routinely hosts things like conspiracy theoretization, COVID denial, suggestions that white supremacist literature be used for gaming scenarios, etc. I was also particularly disgusted by his “employment” of transpinnay editors at sub-starvation wages — editors whose English was extremely precarious.

In short, TMP was and is an ugly mess and I felt that if I could do my part to tweak Bill’s nose about it, I should. And I did.

All of this by way of introduction, because the “rule” TFL was supposedly breaking — talking about non-advertisers’ games — was supposedly suggested by me. :)

Seriously.

On August 20th 2019, “Thad Blanchette” logged into TMP and complained about how non-paying companies were getting a free ride on the board or some such. You can see the post here: http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=513660

Now, this was really odd.

Bill had spent the last six years permabanning anyone on TMP who he thought might be a sock puppet of mine or of other members of the Frothers’ “screw TMP” board. And, as I mentioned, he and his employees went out of their way to vilify me.

So, all of a sudden, “Thad Blanchette” makes this complaint and, instead permabanning “me”, four hours later, Bill says “Y’know, you have a point. From now on, no one can talk about non-advertiser’s games on TMP,” making an apparently sweeping change to TMP’s policies at “my” bequest.

Richard has already brought up that these new rules have never been seriously enforced. Instead, they have been used to go after companies — mostly small British companies — that Bill doesn’t like. Notoriously, he applied them against Annie Norman’s Bad Squiddo Games and really vilified that company because of its supposed violations of this rule. Meanwhile, however, companies that Bill likes or doesn’t want to offend have their games routinely discussed on TMP, whether or not they are advertisers.

As Richard mentioned, these rules are selectively enforced in order to bully people. Many other “rules” on TMP are similarly applied.

What I find interesting and relevant in all this is that it could only have been Bill who posted as “Thad Blanchette”, inaugurating the rules that TFL supposedly broke. No other person in the world could have used that name on TMP and not have been immediately banned by Dear Editor.

This is a bit of trivia — perhaps even sordid trivia — but it does illustrate just how screwed up this whole thing is and the strange and twisted games Bill Armintrout seems to feel he has to play in order to adequately moderate his site. The fact that the post by “Thad Blanchette” is still on TMP to this day shows how badly Bill covers his own tracks when he does something like this.

Richard, if you feel this post should be deleted, I understand. But given that Bill hasn’t deleted “my” suggestion for the rule you broke, I feel it is a relevant, if small, part of this whole thing, illustrating the strange path Bill’s logic seems to follow these days.
Last edited by Thaddeus Blanchette on Sun May 02, 2021 6:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
richard
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Re: Boycot of TMP

Post by richard »

I am afraid that, once again, this whole matter has developed into a total farce, with Bill responding on TMP with a whole raft of ridiculous allegations. As far as I am concerned, this simply reinforces my view that TMP is a negative environment which does incredible damage to the image that the hobby projects. It appears to actively attempt to promote conflict in order to drive traffic and generate revenue. I’m not prepared to get involved in any ongoing dialogue with MrArmintrout. I have said my piece and people can make their own minds up.

Richard.
Thaddeus Blanchette
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Re: Boycot of TMP

Post by Thaddeus Blanchette »

He seems to literally be saying that people need to give him money because nebulous enemies are “boycotting” TMP. And that this is a matter of life or death for the hobby.
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