Hi!
Duke 2.0: Thank you for your support. It is appreciated.
Sir Pseudonymous: As Karnewarrior quite correctly points out, these are two completely different issues: My posting style does not try to pretend to copy the style of someone else and it only involves items of either common speech ("Hi!/Greetings!/Hello") or my own username/pen name. In addition, my actions are not singling out any single person for a special treatment.
In the Armok affair, people copied the avatar of another member, sometimes modifying it slightly. Thus, they are not limiting themselves to common objects or their own items but actually used items owned by or linked to another person (I am not sure whether Armok created the avatar himself or obtained it from some other source). And in doing so, that action was clearly linked to and directed at a single person who got special treatment.
So, you as a group are giving a single individual a special treatment. And I am pointing out that regardless of whether you intend to hurt their feelings or not, there is the distinct possibility of doing so. Of course, if and as long as Armok is okay with it, there is no problem. But if it becomes a burden for him in any way, we ought to respect that as these are things that are clearly in his personal space.
And because of that, I think this is something we need to make ourselves aware of. Seeing how the discussion after the moderator intervention included people voicing dismay at the intervention, I felt that that point should be stressed.
As for my salute and signature, I already explained in this very thread my personal reasons for doing these. And I have taken note of the critical statements that have been around (actually, my introducing that topic in this thread was meant to deescalate things before something unfortunate happens again). However, none of the arguments by some members have convinced me that a change is necessary, which is why I stick to my habit, which I actually use on other forums as well with no anger like that (except for one case where it posed a technical difficulty which did force me to abstain from it there).
And truth be told, the way I see some of the arguments and statements, giving in to those arguments now would only encourage a culture on the forums I would rather not see.
Caesar: ToonyMan is absolutely right: Are you not a participating member of this community? I also agree that you have a chance to improve at those things you feel insecure about.
Deathworks
P.S.: Given how fast people write (or how slow I type), I take the liberty of not incorporating the last few responses in this thread into this post - otherwise I will be typing at this till Monday (T_T)