Calm?

Steve Shaw wrote "I say what I think here and the only thing that reins me in is the fact that I use my real name and make no secret of where I am."

15+ years ago people set up accounts with monikers because they feared being picked upon based on their gender, or because they feared predatory behavior if their real information was out there. It was commonplace. By now many of us are so well-known to each other under these monikers that we'd have trouble figuring out who we were speaking to if we switched to our real names.

Since then many of the outspoken mudcat members have dealt with a stalker who set up fake accounts at mudcat and elsewhere. There are still reasons for using monikers, but members who use monikers are registered with the organization and contact information exists. Guests who swing through using a proxy server only to cause mischief, with or without a consistent guest name, are the ones who are under consideration here. Members who come though as guests often have the same IP information and are confirmable by moderators if something doesn't seem right.

You may simply be the fortunate person with a commonplace name. The troll doesn't bother with common names because it is too difficult for the victim to realize they are being spoofed with many other people named "Steve Shaw" in the world. Consider yourself lucky.

SRS