hypothetically, though, the more you care the more it hurts when those you are devoted to are unappreciative
Very true. And sometimes people don't take the time to actually consider that Mike Portnoy is genuinely hurt by some of the unfair criticism he receives. I understand the argument that "if you are a public figure, you shouldn't be overly sensitive about people criticising your work that you put out in the public domain." But to me, whether he
should be sensitive to it isn't really the point. The point is that he
is. And since I am a fan of Mike Portnoy and various projects of his, including Dream Theater, to which this site is primarily dedicated, I continue to want to run this place as if it is, in a sense, Mike's house. As I told Mike when I met him, it is sometimes really difficult to perfectly strike the balance between allowing peole to constructively and respectfully voice criticism and voice their opinions when they don't like something on one hand, while also keeping the overall tone of this site as a positive reflection on the band that promotes and doesn't detract from DT's image on the other hand. I'm sure I often fail on one side or the other of that balance. But it is my hope that this place is seen by the band and the fans alike as something positive that rightfully expresses appreciation for the things Samsara pointed out in his initial post in the thread.