Just how many trolls are we supposed to put up with on this board before the mods do something about them. We now have Uzi. Commissar and DTC.
Every single damn one of them obvious trolls.
I just don’t get trolls. How can that possibly be entertaining? Yet, they do exist.
Maybe you should just read a book or something. It looks like the internet is not for you.
“Dio disagrees with me and that makes me angry!”
I don’t think Dio is a troll. But if he is you’re making it really fucking easy for him.
For a great many posters, one person’s troll is another poster’s entertaining contributor. There are clearly posters who are irritating or who hold irritating positions at great length, however, a contrary position, even when defended maladroitly or obstinately, is not the sole province of trolls.
We routinely get reports that the following posters are trolls, (and that is only in GD):
Der Trihs
Diogenes the Cynic
Finn Again
Qin Shi Huangdi
Rand Rover
Red Fury
Sevastopol
Shodan
Valteron
and a few dozen more.
(The above names were grabbed from memory and listed alphabetically and do not reflect either the seriousness or frequency with which such complaints are lodged.)
In addition, the OP is the first time that I have encountered an accusation that Uzi is a troll.
I do not agree that any of them post on the SDMB strictly as trolls, (although several provide easier interaction than others and I have a higher personal opinion of some of them than of others). We do try to be careful to avoid banning posters simply for being unpopular and if a real troll survives a week or two longer while we consider its behavior, I think the SDMB will survive.
Dio is not a troll, he just annoys a lot of people, there is a difference. I mean he has 50,000+ posts I think. That is not a troll. Might be something else.
I think that almost all the mods are trolls–they consistently post such stupid shit (both as posters and as mods) that they must be doing it to intentionally annoy.
I think that the “troll” accusation is wildly overused. I couldn’t believe some of the people on the list provided by tomndebb.
Shodan and i disagree on just about everything, and it’s clear that his whole “Regards” schtick is chiefly masturbatory, but i don’t think he’s a troll in any way, shape, or form, and i think the board’s a better place for him being here. Similarly, while i’ve gotten annoyed with Dio on occasions recently, and find his mode of argumentation (or, should i say, reflexive contrarianism) rather unproductive, i don’t think he’s a troll at all.
Same for basically everyone else on that list, both those i like and those i don’t.
I’m not a troll, and I don’t think any of the other names mentioned here are trolls either.
The thing currently posting under the names Assi and Bodhi is a troll, though.
Its all about different definitions of troll.
For most of those listed above, yes they are trolls, because I have absolutely no doubt that they frequently post words, lines, posts, that they know damn well will piss people off. They know, as they type, that what they are writing will annoy other posters, and that is WHY they are typing what they are typing. They are trolls.
The question is though, the ATMB question, is what the Mods should do about it. And the answer is…nothing. The mods should ban spammers. They should ban lazy trolls, who are pure one trick ponies. The mods should ban peados and rapists. But the 50,000+ post trolls? They are not the mods problem. They are the boards problem. The community should see them for what they are, and as long as members of the SMDB will come into Pit threads to state, “Well I for one think whassisname has a lot to offer”, well then we cannot start ATMB threads asking the mods to do our dirty work.
A troll says inflammatory things just for the sake of being inflammatory, right?
None of the people on Tom’s list are, IMHO, trolls (I don’t know Uzi well from the OP, but certainly DTC isn’t a troll). I’d say that currently Commissar is highly suspicious and Le Jac is certainly a troll, but I don’t believe that simply being a troll warrants banning. JMHO and all that. Personally, I think these guys and fellows like him provide a valuable service…they provide targets that our usually fractious and contentious regulars can agree with each other on in the never ending struggle to make people posting complete horseshit look like the fools they are.
Then tomorrow the regulars can go back to each others throats, but with the sense that at least for a time we could stand mostly shoulder to shoulder in the fight of true ignorance.
-XT
Yeah, that’s not trolling. You’re allowed to post things that you know will piss people off. In fact, it’s pretty reliable that certain facts alone will drive some people into an absolute frenzy.
I’m curious as to why anyone thinks that Finn is a troll. I understand he’s extremely…shall we say “passionate” about the subject of Israel, but I’ve never seen that as trolling, just highly defensive and opinionated.
Because people seem to associate ‘troll’ with ‘someone who pisses me off’. That’s not really what a troll is.
-XT
I actually met a troll in real life. I ran into him at a party, where he was trying to convince my friend that they should team up and troll the IMDB forums. He was loud-mouthed, abrasive, and kept laughing at his own jokes - which I suppose is forgivable, since no one else was going to laugh at them. I didn’t confront him directly about it, but I did take the opportunity to cock block him when he was hitting on a girl out on the balcony. (She was grateful, but, alas, not that grateful.)
I understand from the host of that party that he’s currently serving time in Arizona for multiple DUIs.
There was one thread I vaguely recall where he was hurling anti-semitism accusations like there were counterspells in Magic The Gathering. I could see some people taking that as trolling.
tomndebbThank you for your response.
The folks I mentioned often throw their inflammatory hook in the water with the hope that someone will take the bait. Once taken they twist and turn the line until any original meaning is lost and those that try to address the hook or statement give up. Sometimes ruining an otherwise meaningful thread. Warnings have been given out for less.
Hence - Trolling. Trying to catch fish with nothing of substance for their own amusement. They believe they have won when in fact the fish just loses patience and swims away. The change of subject, redirection and flat out lies from these folks is aggravating at first, then tiresome, then just boring and predictable. Yet it is hard to ignore.
tomndebb You state that these folks don’t post strictly as trolls. That is an interesting statement in itself. Is there a number of troll posts that are allowed?
I certainly agree that all honest views should be represented on the SDMB. Throwing out a contentious statement or subject should be welcome as well. However, doing so will likely bring serious questions requesting support of such statements. Requests that are usually ignored, sidetracked or redirected into yet another strawman.
Oh well, I suppose our little class of almost but not quite trolls are entertaining. If a little bit disturbing.
Merrily we troll along, troll along, troll along…
What are you talking about?
I’ve never seen a poster named Assi or Bodhi, therefore they are not posters on the SDMB.