Faux Pas Request

[Kellogg]

Hi Folks,

I got a really shocking note this morning:

Apparently the Carspeckens of Faux Pas got some hate mail.

That's just AWFUL.

I'm not sure what it's all about, but it sounds like it was something
to do with the competition on the Top Clean Comics listing, so they
decided to disable the voting for Faux Pas.

Anyway, stuff like that can really hurt. If any of you read and enjoy
Faux Pas, it would be really nice if you'd send them a note.

If you *don't* read Faux Pas, I have to tell you you're missing
an enchantingly lovely comic strip. Please give it a try.

http://www.ozfoxes.com/fauxpas.htm

New readers: The fun starts here:
http://www.ozfoxes.net/cgi/pl-fp2.cgi?1

Thank you,

Scott

[Matt Trepal]

Sheesh, some people. Faux Pas is one of the least offensive comics on the Internet. Even if you don't like it you could hardly find something objectionable in it. They were probably accused of stuffing the ballot box, or something. On the other hand, there are always people who will attack whatever's popular. Still, ripping Faux Pas for anything seems like the equivalent of kicking puppies.

I took down all the voting buttons on my site when I realized I was getting a little too caught up in where I ranked. And when they were gone, there went an item that I didn't worry about any more.

[Mako]

Hi Folks,

I got a really shocking note this morning:

Apparently the Carspeckens of Faux Pas got some hate mail.

That's just AWFUL.
Scott

What you and Matt said, that's just stupid. Some whiney 17 year old brat more than likely. I do wish the Carspecken's would just /dev/null Email like that and not let it effect them or thier excellent Faux Paux strip.

I thought the voting thing was a fun game to participate in, no more or less. Hell we don't even know who came in #1 last month, nor do any of us likely really care, it was the participation that was fun.

Having people drop out of the Clean Comics list devalues the entire usefullness of the Clean Comics page to the rest of the web users out there.

If that trend continues, all the quality people pulling out the game, all that's going to be left there is dreck stuff for families to find. That will set both kids and parents perceptions that web comics all suck.

I do hope the Carspekens re-consider and just trash the whiny adolecent rat's Email into the dust bin where it belongs....

CYa!
Mako

[Icefox]

First rule of the Internet: IGNORE the flamers...
Second rule of the Internet: DON'T give up...
THIRD rule of the Internet: see first rule...

Life goes on, my friends.

[Olick]

Hi Folks,

I got a really shocking note this morning:

Apparently the Carspeckens of Faux Pas got some hate mail.

That's just AWFUL.
Scott

What you and Matt said, that's just stupid. Some whiney 17 year old brat more than likely. I do wish the Carspecken's would just /dev/null Email like that and not let it effect them or thier excellent Faux Paux strip.

I thought the voting thing was a fun game to participate in, no more or less. Hell we don't even know who came in #1 last month, nor do any of us likely really care, it was the participation that was fun.

Having people drop out of the Clean Comics list devalues the entire usefullness of the Clean Comics page to the rest of the web users out there.

If that trend continues, all the quality people pulling out the game, all that's going to be left there is dreck stuff for families to find. That will set both kids and parents perceptions that web comics all suck.

I do hope the Carspekens re-consider and just trash the whiny adolecent rat's Email into the dust bin where it belongs....

CYa!
Mako

*AHEM* Whats this about a whiny adolescent rat...

I would like to point out that a lot of adolescents, MOST adolescents aren't whiny rats. It seems that a rather stupid bullheaded person decided that the competition between his favorite strip and this other strip was so important that he decided the Carspeckens(which I understand to be very nice people) inoffensive comic strip was offending him, merely by being successful.

I would like to point out that (if indeed this individual was an adolescent) that he would constitute an approxamately 5% minority of the adolescent community (this is only an estimation based on my experiences though), and should not affect anyone's opinion on adolescents in general.

And for the record...
What a JERK!

Thank you.

[Kellogg]

Aloha,

Well, I don't know who or what was said.
Honestly, I don't want to know, either.

I've never met The Carspeckens, but from
their comics, and their writings, I believe
that they're genuinely lovely people.

Matt put it very well: It's like watching
someone kick a puppy, or strike a lady.
It's shocking.

It is true, that you have to blow off just
about anything negative you see on the
net. Words on the internet are seldom
worth the paper they're printed on.
I don't think this little incident will stop
them by any means.

Still, words can hurt, and words can heal
too. Which is why, if ever you wanted to
write them a fan letter, now would be a
very nice time to do so. We've all been
in the dumps over what someone said at
one time or another. We know we shouldn't
be, but it still hurts somtimes. A little
thank you, and a pat on the back goes a
long way. In my experience, it goes Much
farther than most people think it does.

To whoever wrote the note to them:
I don't want to know who you are.
Please don't tell me.

All I'll ask is this: Please take a good
look at Faux Pas. It's a nice story, very
well drawn, with some of the most likable
characters on the net. You might decide
that you like it after all. If you do, please
consider apologizing to them. If you still
don't care for it, just forget about it and
move on. Life's too short to complain that
you don't like the free stuff someone offers.

Thanks everybody,

Scott

[Kellogg]

I would like to point out that a lot of adolescents, MOST adolescents aren't whiny rats.

Quite correct. Adolescence holds no monopoly over rathood.
There are plenty of adult rats out there. And, in fact, the
adult rats are pretty much set in their ways. An adolescent rat
at least might be receptive to become something else with an
offer of cheese.

Scott

[Edward Sanhusky]

It would be a real shame if it were over the voting. If I recall correctly, they had quit the list once before because of the unwanted competitivness of it. They do seem to be good people that just want to publish a good, clean strip

[VixenFetish]

I first saw a Faux Pas strip, but it didn't look that interesting. A few years later, i looked up "anthropomorphic vixens" on the net, and i received the link to a site. But it was under construction, so i went to the next best thing: OzFoxes.

This happened to be a link to the Faux Pas strip. That was when i saw Cindy. So i went all the way back to the beginning. (As did i in Ozy & Millie, Limpidity, Vicki Fox, West Corner of the Park, CoyoteVille, and of course, 21st Century Fox, your strip.)

I'm not asking you to have characters from them to make cameos as well, because if i was, you'd be sued for copyright infringement if used without permission. But with permission, you could get more hate mail from the comics' fans.

Then again, do what you gotta do.

And another thing, i'm also a Sabrina fan.

[ZOMBIE USER 10915]

I agree!

Comics on the web are free, if you don't like it don't look at it.

E-mail and forums are a difficult medium for most people to convey their meaning, but intentional flaming is uncalled for.

Regardless of age it is childish to go out of your way to hurt someone.

No one ever deserves hate mail, even constructive criticism should be offered carefully.

Even the comics that are new, not updated frequently, don't have allot of content or the best graphics and the fanciest websites are still a labor of love for their creator.

I have been enjoying Faux Pas for over a year and agree that it is one of the highest quality comics in any format.

Another strip that I recently stumbled across http://foxtales.keenspace.com/ has had the same problem and he almost threw in the towel.

Lets all try to do what we can to let our favorite artist know how much we appreciate all the time and money they contribute just to offer their work to us for free.

I would like to start by thanking Scott for his fine comic, everyone on the forum for helping him, offering their own work and just hanging around making this one of the best forums to visit!

Sheepdog

[ZOMBIE USER 6611]

No one ever deserves hate mail, even constructive criticism should be offered carefully.

Indeed. You and I have observed a recent "constructive criticism" for an artist who went seriously obscure.

Lets all try to do what we can to let our favorite artist know how much we appreciate all the time and money they contribute just to offer their work to us for free.

I would like to start by thanking Scott for his fine comic, everyone on the forum for helping him, offering their own work and just hanging around making this one of the best forums to visit!

Hear, hear!

I second that motion! Thank you, Scott Kellogg, and thanks to all the 21st Century Irregulars!

[Kellogg]

Thanks guys,

This forum is a lot of fun for me, even if I am obligated occasionally
to keep my big mouth shut.

Actually, today's a pretty good day:

I finished up all this coming week's strips on Friday and had
everything set up to go.

Then disaster (otherwise known as inspiration) struck:
I thought of a strip that should come before next week.
So, I drew a new strip for Monday and then the rest will follow.

So, now we're loaded up all the way to the 18th.

Scott

[Mako]

So, now we're loaded up all the way to the 18th.
Scott

Well maybe you are, but I don't have enough booze in the house to stay loaded past Tuesday, maybe Wednesday at the latest...

CYa!
Mako

[Kellogg]

Well maybe you are, but I don't have enough booze in the house to stay loaded past Tuesday, maybe Wednesday at the latest...

HA! LOL (Honest, I really did laugh out loud.)

But, I gotcha beat there! I've got me 'nuff booze to last me to the
grave!

('course, I don't actually *drink*, but that's beside the point)

Scott (sufficiently silly already) Kellogg

[Mako]

Well maybe you are, but I don't have enough booze in the house to stay loaded past Tuesday, maybe Wednesday at the latest...

HA! LOL (Honest, I really did laugh out loud.)

Scott (sufficiently silly already) Kellogg

Heehee

CYa!
Mako

[Daniel Cougar]

So, now we're loaded up all the way to the 18th.
Scott

Well maybe you are, but I don't have enough booze in the house to stay loaded past Tuesday, maybe Wednesday at the latest...

CYa!
Mako

Hmmm.... Yah know, I have no idea how long it would take me to get through 15 gallons of mead. Be fun to try though.

[Mako]

So, now we're loaded up all the way to the 18th.
Scott

Well maybe you are, but I don't have enough booze in the house to stay loaded past Tuesday, maybe Wednesday at the latest...

CYa!
Mako

Hmmm.... Yah know, I have no idea how long it would take me to get through 15 gallons of mead. Be fun to try though.

Hey, are you a home brewer by any chance???

CYa!
Mako
Zzyxian Yeast Farmer

[Daniel Cougar]

Hey, are you a home brewer by any chance???

By several chances, some successful!

[CPOK]

CPOK eyes the hate mail sender...not a smart move boy

[Weird Kid]

I think I got the same contact. I got an email that accused me (and several other web comics, including yours) of cheating to gain position. It did not ask if this was the case, it simply assumed it.

I responded quite strongly, but appropriately, pointing out that the sender has not identified himself or his comic, and that I do vote for myself daily. I also pointed out that I do not make money from my site (I don't even have ads), so I have no advantage to "cheat" for higher ratings. Rather, I use my comic to support several non-profits by donating original art to them (or donating art to people who donate to those organizations directly--see my "original art" page), and thatseveral of these organizations support me in turn by voting for me daily. As such, I average about 10-12 legitimate votes per day or so. I even named the organizations who support me:

Amnesty International
a local domestic violence shelter
St. Anthony's Hospital counseling program
and others, plus my friends at the Men's Healthweb page board vote for me daily. And my mom.

I got a reply accusing my defense as being "NASTY," and reiterating the accusation, along with "open up your eyes!" and using, incidentally, 20th Century Fox (given it's ranking at about 2-3 times the votes of nearest competitors) as evidence of cheating.

So I can understand what Faux Pax is going through. I didn't know they'd received hate mail; I even wrote them some gushing fan mail recently (but got no reply).

Oh well. I guess status means everything to some people, even when it wins us nothing.