Better to get it out of the way?

Trolling and Nastiness (Required Reading)

 
Post new topic   This topic is locked you cannot edit posts or make replies    tubgirl.com Forum Index -> General Discussion
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
TubGirl
fuck me :)
Remote Avatar
Currently Playing:
LOLOLOLOL
PostPosted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 12:54 pm    Post subject: Trolling and Nastiness (Required Reading) Reply with quote

[Edit: Tweaked to remove some specific naming for now, mind a few rough spots from that.]

"How dare he lecture me about trolling! How preposterous! I'm just better than everyone and want it known!" Yes, and if I've said something to you, you've "made it known" through nastiness, snide and insulting comments, personal attacks, and a general air of pretentious superiority that's, frankly, colored you as prick.

I don't know what "Internet Game" some people are trying to win, where if you're the biggest asshole of them all, your initials will be listed on the High Score table until the machine is unplugged. But this is a Message Board, a Forum, an Internet Community. We view the news and current events together, we discuss, we have fun. I'm sure you've already calculated back some sort of response about "having fun by taunting others," but just keep those knee-jerk reactions to yourself, because we've got a lot of ground to cover.

Let's hit the main point: some of you are thriving on hatred and arguments. SuitCase, while not the only one, has far and above been the most notable in this regard, and serves as an excellent example. For a moment I thought Suit was backing off on said behavior when he actually posted reasonable replies to the Ammar topic, telling Neil to steer clear of the topic if all he's going to do is play the elitist "I'm above this but I'm going to flame it anyway" card. Then he turns right around and pulls that on other people, seemingly unable to argue without personal attacks and any biting statement that crosses his mind without provocation. I can excuse a few instances of this, but this attitude from him and several others (I can name some people off the top of my head; Sabator, Neil, Sanius, gs68 to name a few examples) has become so prominent that it's affecting the feel of the forum, and slowly making it quite unpleasant for many people here. In fact, a few people who've been friends or close associates to me are staying here less, avoiding the place entirely, or have flat out left because of it, and I will NOT stand for this.

"It's just the internet. Cry and take your ball home if you have a problem." The thing is, this isn't your court. You don't get to say who stays and who goes just because you have an attitude and found the way to get at someone. You play the game by the rules of the court and the code of conduct. And if you're spending your time primarily acting as a flamer and little else, there are some MVPs that I'd rather keep around than coddle your habit of nastiness at a damnable pindrop.

Go on, keep writing your witty retort. Don't pay attention to what I'm saying, just analyze it for the snappiest respose back you can muster. Here, I'll give you one: "Running a little thick into the analogies, huh? Oh, wait, let me say it in a way you'll get, "Running into analogies like this post is a tree and you're a sap." Wow, I just got served. Hey, let's keep going, I'll give you another one: You're missing the entire point of this place.

Welcome to the Moogle Cavern. It's not the hub of the Sonic fandom, nor Mario nor Halo nor anything like that. It's not on the cutting edge of news for gaming, entertainment, world politics or anything of that sort. We have some creative people here, but we don't focus on creating any particular one thing; we're not a defined collection of fangamers, or musicians, or even the people that draw naughty bits over censored hentai.

So, why are we here? What's the point of sticking out out in a place like this when there isn't one particular common element to bind us all together? It's because we've had good experiences here. We found eachother to be friendly, intelligent, fun individuals and we wanted to stick around to enjoy more time together. It sounds sappy to say something that sounds like, "We're all friends," but how else do you describe it? Maybe not all close friends, but we're at our best when we keep this as a community and enjoy and discuss things together.

But some people are trying to "win" something. Arguments, regard, it's really hard to say sometimes. But they get so wrapped up in this, that they start the digs, the insults, the personal attacks and crudeness. Anything they can find to catch their target off-guard. This is already bad enough. But then some of them start actively seeking out the battles, not so much to prove their point, but for the actual battle. I've seen some of the individuals here actively dig up wars, and try to invigorate ones that seem to be cooling down. I have to reference PCO's resolution topic to the Ammar argument, because it was so ludicrous; I opened the topic because Ammar / 360 asked me to reopen it so he could post something, I agreed (and announced it so it didn't catch people off-guard), and in a short time, well over 20 replies were added JUST regarding the fact that people were predicting and putting down what he was "undoubtably" going to say BEFORE he had a chance to say ANYTHING! It didn't even relate to PC0's first post, people started flaming the very IDEA of 360 saying something. How ludicrous! Yes, there are trends, some people do exist as nothing but broken records, but I opened that topic because he asked me NICELY if he could say something, and it wasn't going to be a lecture about dating or girls or neatening your hair, or anything some of you lot presumed. He really did want to stick around, and was just trying to figure out how he could add to the community, instead of just being a faceless name. But some people just couldn't help themselves, flaming on the potential that maybe he could've said something that might've been annoying.

This happened with several people, including some newbies, and it's hard to go after someone when you know they haven't gotten much of a chance. Yes, some people are trying to help out and assist them, and maybe that newbie isn't listening yet (and maybe never will), but sometimes it's hard to listen when they're shouted down for opening their mouth, even when it's on-topic and might've been considered a decent reply if made by another member. People are pouncing on opportunities to look like the smartest ass the world saw, so what does this leave these newbies? Either become a permanent smartass themselves (Sabator, Sanius), or give up on the place and find another. That's not the type of forum I want to run; I refuse to have new entrants filtered that way.

Am I saying that the Thought Police is in town, and that everyone has to play happy or they get shot? No, of course not. I know to some of you this seems a bit "OMG TEH MC IS FLAILING CRACKING DOWN NAZI ARGHLE BLARG," but what this actually is is, "Hey, intelligent, fun people are leaving because there are some people here who won't stop acting like pricks 24/7." I've made it clear in the past that I don't run this forum to be a community of assholes, there are PLENTY of other forums out there like that, so if your only goal in life is to out-sarcasm anyone who dares hold an opinion that doesn't match yours, one of those other forums might fit your taste better, because if you keep it up to the degrees these gentlemen have, you're going to find your arse on the curb. You may not be able to escape, but you can sure as Hell be kicked out. I'm not trying to scare the people who don't deserve it and have treated this community as just that, but I am warning those who skirt the edge and pretend they're invincible because they think I can't do anything because they're being too vague or indirect, or that I won't ban someone so soon after someone else was just recently banned.

What's unfortunate is that the people this pertains to most, probably won't listen. Human psychology, it just works that way. "Well, you tell me not to do it, or change how I interact here, I'LL JUST DO IT MORE TO SPITE YOU!" *shrug* If that's how it goes. I've not formed final opinions on anyone in question in this topic, there is room for improvement; but force me to play out my administrative role, and I'll have no choice. That's just how it works, and no amount of posturing or claiming how superior you and your opinions are will do anything to change what will happen. So let this serve as a serious warning. This is no slap on the wrist. This is a last attempt to smack some reality into a few of you before I start going after the trolls and flamers. You can pretend you're not one, but that doesn't change that you're acting as one; intelligence or no, you have no right to be going after people the way some of you lot are. You need to change that behaviour, and do so NOW. There is nothing more that can be said.
Back to top
View users profile Send private message Send email Visit posters website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   This topic is locked you cannot edit posts or make replies    tubgirl.com Forum Index -> General Discussion Printable version All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

Jump to:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB 2.0.1 © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group