Don't Feed the troll...

A

Anonymous

Guest
Alright people. I'm getting fed up.
There is an alarming increase of troll activities on this board. I'm sure you all have noticed this.
I think the moderation of the Maidenfans BB is excellent, but I am somewhat disappointed by the lack of action against trolls (except for the standard message "don't feed the troll", which sadly does not always work).
Trolls should be BANNED. That's my point of view. I'm not going to say I lose my faith in the moderation of this board (which I don't), but I think this issue should be extensively and publicly discussed. Nobody likes trolls, so why tolerate them (which is what you're doing by ignoring them, sad but true)?
If we let trolls do what they want to, they will ALWAYS find some victim which will feed them.

PS: I am aware that this post has some structures of troll posts, but my aim is not to provoke a flame war, but instead to provoke a serious and fruitful discussion.
 
[!--QuoteBegin-Perun+Jun 2 2005, 02:13 AM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Perun @ Jun 2 2005, 02:13 AM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]I think the moderation of the Maidenfans BB is excellent, but I am somewhat disappointed by the lack of action against trolls ... Trolls should be BANNED.
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The main reason you see a "lack of action" is because most of the mods (including myself) are hesitant to take drastic action based on trolling. We want this forum to be open to all as much as possible, and that means that we don't want to ban anyone frivolously.

There are many established members here (again, including myself) who make wiseass posts which could be considered borderline trolling. That's part of the nature of this board, it seems. So we have to be very sure about an offender before action is taken.

Also, there have been several members who acted in extremely annoying ways when brand-new but have since matured into valued contributors. Therefore, we want to give all new members ample chances to mend their ways before banning them.

In short, we like to err on the side of permissiveness rather than establishing a dictatorship. We don't want to set precedents which may, in the long run, slowly eat away at our community.

A secondary reason you see a "lack of action" is because regular forum members aren't privy to all the details of moderation. The mods are constantly discussing the state of the forum, and most major decisions are thoroughly debated before action is taken. You also don't see the many PMs that go out to members who need (for lack of a better term) correction. Finally, you don't see where all the member's warn bars are at. In other words, action is happening all the time, but it's mostly hidden from view.

And a final disclaimer - this post reflects the thoughts of SMX only*. Other mods were not consulted, and may have more to add on this subject.


[span style=\'font-size:8pt;line-height:100%\']*Dear H, I just talked about myself in the third person. I swore I would never do that. Someone slap me, please.[/span]
 
*Slaps SMX*

I still think there should be something like a broad anti-troll campaign to tell users not to feed them.
 
SMX is right, we all take action and anyone found to be ruining the nature of the forum for everyone else is dealt with. We would rather warn users about their conduct before banning them as some people dont understand/know about the rules here.
 
[!--QuoteBegin-SinisterMinisterX+Jun 2 2005, 09:32 AM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(SinisterMinisterX @ Jun 2 2005, 09:32 AM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]Also, there have been several members who acted in extremely annoying ways when brand-new but have since matured into valued contributors. Therefore, we want to give all new members ample chances to mend their ways before banning them.
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[!--emo&:howdy:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/wavey.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'wavey.gif\' /][!--endemo--]

A compromise is to give them a chance as you say, with some time period on them to 'mature'.
 
I think SMX has explained the situation perfectly. [!--emo&:)--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/smile.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'smile.gif\' /][!--endemo--]

Cheers
 
~slaps SMX again~

Perun, you have my word that the mods are following established procedure, and that we're just as against trolls as you are. Aside from that, SMX said it all.
 
[!--QuoteBegin-LooseCannon+Jun 2 2005, 09:33 AM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(LooseCannon @ Jun 2 2005, 09:33 AM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]~slaps SMX again~
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Now that was uncalled for. SMX only asked to be slapped once. [!--emo&:P--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/tongue.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'tongue.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
I will have no more of this slapping on my forums damnit. You're acting like trolls! [!--emo&;)--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/wink.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'wink.gif\' /][!--endemo--] [!--emo&:P--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/tongue.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'tongue.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
/me gets off high horse
 
I'm going to step up and take responsibility here.

Alot of the sour grapes here as of late are due to arguments in which I am involved. I like that sort of thing sometimes. Sometimes I'll argue something I don't agree with just for the sake of arguing. It causes bad blood, and it gets some people pissed at others.

For that I apologise. I'm going to tone down my non-maiden related posting for a while. I really do feel bad about being an ass guys.

Duke
 
I don't think you should apologise for promoting discussion in the forum. Honestly you are not responsible for the actions of others, yes, you might have created the thread but it is very hard to keep control of the discussion as it sometimes takes a life of its own. Plus I'm not too proud myself of several incidents as of late and personally I'm glad the mod squad has the philosophy and procedure it does if not I would be one of the banned "trolls".

So many factors go into a post; is the person in a good or bad mood? are they venting aggresion they can't in the "real" world? They are new and don't realize this is not your average "say anything it doesn't matter" board online? If any of those are the case than giving the person time to cool it is a great idea.
 
I've only noticed one troll on the board, whom of which deserves a temporary ban by now.

There's a difference between arguing and trolling. If there's no arguments, there's not much fun in posting.
 
[!--QuoteBegin-StrangerInAStrangeLand+Jun 10 2005, 03:35 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(StrangerInAStrangeLand @ Jun 10 2005, 03:35 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]There's a difference between arguing and trolling. If there's no arguments, there's not much fun in posting.
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There's a difference between discussions and arguments. Discussions are welcome here; arguments, in the sense of ill-mannered and mean-spirited fights, are not.
 
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