since brent dill is a topic of conversation again.... my firsthand experience of brent came through playing his rpg, mostly online, though we've hung out a few times irl when he was in town. the games were a good time and i feel he's always been open and honest with me, if also sometimes emotionally intense. this doesn't erase other people's experiences, but their experiences aren't mine. i don't pressure anyone else to befriend him nor to invite him to events; i wish people didn't pressure me to hate and ostracize him. in part because my impression, drawn from conversations with many rats who were there at the time, is that brent is the scapegoat for widespread bad behavior in the bay area rat scene before his ouster, and i think the ongoing campaign against him is in part to prevent him from being taken seriously when he talks about other people's misdeeds.