Thanks to the moderating staff here at the official site, we posters are in a protected fortress, largely unaware of the more unsavory elements of the online fan community that exist, and in some places, dominate.

But out there on the fringes, there are elements that are so caught up in their desire to be right and tear down those thet they disagree with, that they fail to see the damage they cause for the online Star Wars commuinity at large.

In the past, I've criticized Wookieepedia, and how its authors have an axe to grind and make up all sorts of things about various SW licensees, and because it's in an "encyclopedia" many believe it or at least lend some credibility to it. Why do they do this? Are they truly "evil at heart" as Faramir once said? I doubt it. They are merely victims of their positions of power, victims of their desire to be right, victims of their desire to tear down those they criticize. I pity them, I do not hate them. They merely lack the maturity to separate criticism and debate of works of fictions with slander and personal attacks upon the people who create those works.

But Wookiepedia is a lesser offender compared to what else I've discovered. There are bloggers and fan sites that dedicate huge chunks of material to persecuting some SW content providers and even lambasting said providers' attempts at self-defense. They decry that those providers are blowing things out of proportion, and should provide evidence of offenses committed against them.

But, you know what? When VIPs are nice enough to spend time online with fans not only at TOS but elsewhere, the burden of proof as far as flaming and trolling goes is not on them, like they were random posters, it's on the accused offenders.

I've even found evidence of criticisms and personal attacks on the web concerning moderators on TOS! They are attacked just for doing their job and protecting VIPs from trolls! And sadly, beyond the realm of TOS' domain, these bloggers and sites are free to write such things without fear of reprimand.

Why should this concern any of you?

Because these individuals, even if they are outside of the TOS, are giving us fans a bad name. They scare away VIPs from coming online. They destroy the fan experience online as a whole. And that's not good.

Several authors who were nice enough to spend time online at various sites have been driven into the hills by people who felt that slandering them and tearing them to pieces was the order of the day, all to satisfy personal ego and bloodlust. How do you think that makes the authors view online fans in general? How encouraged are they to come online anymore?

When some fans are ready to butcher authors and fellow fans on the altar of self-gratification, it's becomes a problem. Troll, flamer, talifan....whatever you want to call them, the issue is the same: these people pose a threat to the fan community.


These aren't practical jokers or ordinary trolls. These are serious SW fans who are dedicated to the destruction of those they disagree with. These are true fans who have fallen from the good path.

All of this makes me very sad, because it has personally impacted my fan experience. Don't people have better things to do than take up crusades of slander concerning th numbers in a fictional army in a fictional war? Don't people have better things to do than crush others to make themselves feel better?

Apparently not. But while such injustices exist, I will not lay down my sword.

Sometimes it is necessary to challenge the propagators of such things. And sometimes, their own doings will destroy them.

Look at wookieepedia: an otherwise fine site has lost all credibility because of its Gestapo policies of writing biased articles on VIPs and keeping track of their statements.

You reap what you sow.