Otis was, as far as I remember, the first creep on the site who actively admitted he was into it. Like, no holds barred, we knew for a fact he lusted after little girls cause he talked about it all the time.
He got away with it because there was always plausible deniability that it was a bit and that he was just trolling. But as time went on and he said more and more, even if it was a bit he was eerily committed to it.
Being 14 and not really knowing anything, I always said nothing and just hand-waved it as "silly internet people being silly." To look back on it now, I only wish I had the convictions I do now as an adult then. Sure, it was an era where most of us would have just called me an SJW or whatever, but I dunno man, I'd rather be the brunt end of the joke on some dumb lego forum than let the groomers continue to operate on the site.
What I'm saying is, we should have bullied Bisjac and Otis (and whoever else) off this site for being creepy weirdos who like underage girls and maybe we wouldn't have normalized it so much that closeted creeps like Plastiware wouldn't have felt safe here so that they (and I don't know if Plasti actually did anything to anyone, he probably just had research which is bad enough) and others wouldn't have groomed the oh so many young and impressionable users who of course flocked to a lego forum.
I was always an older member, joined when I was in high school when a lot of you joined when you weren't even in middle school so I feel like I failed some of you who had to endure the grooming of the weirdos (I know I didn't, I'm saying in like a grand sense for not catching it sooner)
Really sit and digest the 4th paragraph.
It's interesting because I feel the same way often - I'm sure many of you older players do too, like a guilt or accountability for the amount of abuse that happened here? I'm not saying we aren't accountable, and a lot of us contributed or were apathetic, but I truly hope none of you ever feel shameful or like the fault falls heavily on you.
I came across that post earlier and it really hurt my heart.
We were obviously all children, but we were also children on an internet who's role in our lives was rapidly expanding into territories unknown, and yes I do give Badspot some sympathy for having to navigate that but the blame ultimately falls on him for the harm this community caused. He encouraged (look at how he talked to customers) people to be richards and tolerated child enthusiasts and groomers, bullying, loveual harassment, misogyny, racism, national socialist imagery (not surprised - just look at
his twitter) private investigating etc.
Literally all he cared about was money and the idea of power (over children mind you).
There was never any attempt at hiring moderators or moderation in general outside of the rules which were judged VERY arbitrarily (as were permabans/unbans) and he made little to no effort at keeping out repeat abusers until it became clear that his the same toxicity that he festered in had projected onto his community and made it impossible to
sell get into the game and then boom suddenly we get modera- NO wait that never happened, you just had to
buy the game to post. I guess if it's the trolls or the gp at least youll know the trolls will keep paying.
He had people who were so passionate about this game churning out content, hell Ephialtes and then ran an
entire dedicated server rental service and created an
entire client to do what Badspot was too uninspired to do, and he managed to drive them away
by being a gigantic starfish.
Badspot created a fairly successful game in a time when there weren't a billion other lego or even building or even online indie games out there, and yet he went nowhere. Why? Because he is not a good or nice person, and that is why his community was known for being not good, for being not nice, and it's why this game died when it did and it's why over a decade later he has 600 followers on twitter. It's why he still mentions almost 20 years later that he "made a game once."
I don't blame any of you for how this forum operated, but Badspot I do blame you for the traumatization of dozens of children.
This forum is, and I don't mean this as a compliment, a monument to what could've been.
if anyone has the time it would mean a lot if you could email me your story. Just some basic stuff, how long you played, what got you into the game, what your life was like at home, what kept you here, your experiences here good and bad, tell me about yourself and where you are now. Whatever you are comfortable with. Feel free to leave a contact. You can also do it anonymously or with a burner if you want. Maybe I can make something out of this.
My email is coltenBL [a][t] g[mail] [dotcom]
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