Ah. Thanks, Darwin.
Oooooh…yes please…my bum is bared. 
OK. I have been suitably chastened, and I will not FTT again. I promise. 
(Hang on, does not FTT’s mean that I miss out on a spanking??)
Bugger that…Here Trolly Trolly Trolly…
Personally, I think that DNFTT is an unrealistic and ineffective policy. How did the responses to the thread linked in the OP hurt anything? King Nifty was banned. He can’t go on to post more attention-seeking threads, regardless of whether or not anyone responded to his lame OP.
Frankly, I find the chorus of people telling me not to post in certain threads far more annoying that the troll threads themselves. Many times the (non-pie-related) troll responses are witty and barbed, and make the troll look even more foolish than he/she did already. I think this is a good thing.
We have mods. They do a good job. Trolls are banned. We really don’t need users telling each other who needs to be ignored and who doesn’t. The OP is wrong, in my opinion.
[sub]P.S. Thanks for the compliment, Dooku.[/sub] 
I think this thread and the ATMB FAQ are going to be as effective as anything else we could do.
Nevertheless it is the board policy. Are you saying that you know what the policy is but you will ignore it?
If I ignore it, will I get another spanking?
MHO is that DNFTT is an extrodinarily poorly thought out policy. Lets look at the posibilities:
Troll posts a trollish thread. Said thread will closed shortly, because the Mods do a bang up job for the most part. Before that happens, one of two things will occur.
Posibility “A”. Every poster who happens on that thread recognizes it for what it is and dosen’t respond. What does the troll do? I imagine he’ll post more threads seeking the recognition he craves. He may get crafty, as in Scotti’s example above. He’s going to do his best to cause more problems, that’s what trolls do. The likelyhood of every poster not responding to every thread is nil, so a policy of DNFTT prolly makes the situation worse in the big picture.
Posibility “B”. People respond. Some may respond with overused cliches-“My cat’s pie smells like a cite”, others with truly witty rejoinders, some with entertaining arguements. These threads are often the funniest or most entertaining on the boards. The posters who reply are happy to display their wit or their flaming ability. The posters who read are entertained and amused. The troll is amused, sure, but who cares? Really, if his life is so empty that this is what he does for amusement, why not throw him his bone if it amuses us too? The thread will be closed soon enough, but meanwhile the troll is not off stiring up trouble elsewhere. People say “That’s just what he wants!” I respond “So?” If I’m entertained at the same time, why should I care if he gets what he wants? In the vast scheme of things, he’s still a miserable little troll who bothers people because nobody IRL wants anything to do with him. That’s sad and pitiful, and frankly benieth my contempt. HE’S gotta wake up in his pathetic life tomorrow, not me.
Let 'em troll. They never last long, and often it’s good for a laugh.
Your points were criticism and that’s GOOD, chique. It’s valuable and needed, in fact. And not taken personally in any way. So no harm and no foul all around. (And y’betcha The Pit’s exactly the correct place for it.)
We’re having a discussion here.
My point is that there are degrees of “troll crying”. Serious offenses are public accusations, which can range from “I don’t agree so you’re a TROLL” to casual speculations about sock puppetry, etc. Those are heavy-duty no-no’s, serious accusations. (Cardinal sin?)
Disciplne for posters reacting to provocative posts? Tricky, very tricky. This place is built around provocative ideas and sideways intellectual cussedness. We do NOT want posters to turn troll baiting into a blood sport, tempting though it is. But imposing discipline for responding at all? And how? Urk.
Except for Ike and his paddle, of course. (He was like that before the initiation, btw.)
Veb
Weirddave, even if you personally find troll-baiting threads to be amusing, that still doesn’t change the DNFTT policy. I trust that you will respect the board policy.
Concerning your other argument, that ignoring a troll will just cause additional trolling, I will refer you to this excellent post by Triskadecamus on the subject.
Of course not. I’m simply offering my opinion.
I think you’re a bad girl, Scotticher.
[blush]
When have I ever not? This is a discussion of weather that’s a good policy or not, that’s all.
I’ve read it before, and while I acknowledge Tris’s expertise in behaviorial science, I believe that his scenerio is only possible in the controlled envirnments of a lab or with a much smaller group of people. With 28K plus members, someone is going to respond to a troll, which blows the entire scenerio out of the water. He’s hoing to get his responses, IRL it’s inevitable. Given this, why not enjoy it while it lasts?
Because the more people ignore the troll, the more quickly the thread would drop out of sight. As you say, “Said thread will closed shortly, because the Mods do a bang up job for the most part.” But the staff would vastly prefer that they not have to monitor the board that often. And if more people respected the board rules and guidelines we wouldn’t have to.
You know what? When I posted in that thread, I knew I was kind of feeding the troll. But I gave into temptation. And then here I was snide to Chique about it. I’m sorry about that. I’ll try not to do it again.
[hijack apology here]
LARRY! DARLING!!!
This just perked up my day considerably.
Thanks!
[/hijack apology here]
Ooooh! I wasn’t in the thread when you posted this, but can I get a paddling anyway?
Hee hee!
Um. I’m in this thread too, Uke.
You sure you want me to drop trou and bend over? I ain’t gonna be your bad girl no matter how purdy you ask and frankly, I suspect my ass is too hairy for your tastes.
Fenris
PS: what Francesca said. I apologize too: I thought it was more of a guideline than a rule and I’d forgotten my discussion in the linked thread where Trisk posted. I’ll do better in the future. Sorry all.
Being one of the “feeders”, I admit, I should have known better. At the time though it really didn’t strike me that I would be feeding the troll. I was just very frazzled that someone would take pride in that-you know?
In the future I (hope) will correct this error.
Now where’s the line for the paddling **Ukulele Ike ** ?
Be gentle, it’s my first time…
I agree, especially about this thread. At least 3-4 long-time posters have publically stated they will refrain from feeding in the future. Every little bit helps, right? So good job to you and the other Mods/Admins, you guys really do a bang up job.
It was a classic!!