Well, you would be incorrect in this case. The avatar was fine until a select few whined to Excal about it. I was asked to remove it because there had been some complaints. That is fine, Peter asked and I took it down when I received his PM. No fight, no bitterness it was simply removed.I do not think "whiners" had anything to do with managements request for you to remove your avatar
I still think it is sad because she was no more offensive than the TV at any time of the day. That said, there will always be someone bitching and whinning about something and unfortuntely, these people were able to make a big enough deal out of it that Excal felt that needed to politely ask for me to change it.
As for this being a dictatorship, it may technically fit the definition but they allow alot to happen on this forum that many other companies wouldn't dream of. I had this argument a few years ago with a couple of squareheads who were crying "censorship" because they were asked to remove certain material. The fact is, Excal allows people to sell new/used ANYTHING here, including crossbows on their site ( some not even excal). Can you show me another archery manufacturer out there that allows that? Not bloody likely. We are lucky to have such understanding moderators that they allow what could possibly be revenue stealing deals to take place on their site. I think it shows the depth of the company and it's ability to sell products and have the confidence that a few deals on the side won't hurt their business and may even help it in some way shape or form. The fact is, the public can come on a read this forum at any time and if it becomes a black mark on Excals reputation, they would be forced to either moderate the hell out of it or shut it down. Either way, that would be a losing deal for us. Dictatorship sounds so ugly. We have a great forum and are allowed an unequaled amount of freedom here.
It is just too bad that a couple of soft skinned Liberal types had to take away what was pretty much an forum Icon (face it, everyone knew the dancing girl)!