On 8/2/07, Matthew Brown morven@gmail.com wrote:
On 8/1/07, Andrew Gray shimgray@gmail.com wrote:
This is a problem that could be solved not by "appeasement", that loaded but meaningless term, but by a simple and pragmatic decision by a handful of [already-pseudonymous] users to stop editing for a few weeks and come back under another name. I don't care who you think "wins" if that happens - it's the best solution, inasmuch as it stops this vast amount of noise and disruption.
Unfortunately, this is not possible. You can't easily come back to Wikipedia under another name and not be recognized, if you're recognizable, if people already know you and your writing style and your interests and your behavior.
It's been tried over and again by people trying to escape their reputation and start afresh, and it fails often enough that I must conclude that it's not a winning strategy.
Indeed; I can think of at least a half-dozen off the top of my head who have tried and failed. And it especially doesn't work if you have a pack of obsessive Wikipedia-watchers hovering in the sidelines trying to foil any such attempt.