Signing posts is the sort of trivial issue that the membership should be allowed to settle by a vote.
Messageboard Democracy Now! 
After some discussion, we’ve clarified the signature rule; see last item in:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7697069&postcount=14
Short version: a simple signoff at the end of each post is OK. Complex sigs are subject to the more restrictive rules stated.
I’m not very keen on that Ed Zotti fellow. Who does he think he is, coming in here and throwing his weight about? He sounds suspiciously like a mafiosi type to me!
The Master Speaks!
Valete,
Vox Imperatoris
Yay!
Now can we all get back to bitching about posters we can’t stand, rather than harping on the fucking signature issue?
Me, I adore each every one of you, every moment of every single day. Except when you hijack a perfectly good potential trainwreck and turn it into a boring group hissy-fit.
Nevermind, folks. The Ignore function still works, so annoying, pretentious and/or patronising sign-offs can still go past unnoticed.
Yeah, that pretty much sucks. I guess I’ll be using ‘ignore’ for the first time. It’s a shame, 'cause at least two of these obsessive post-signing relics from Usenet are actually worth reading now and then.
It’s not that these are the Worst Blights to Humanity or anything. Just an annoyance – like a small stain on an otherwise pristine white shirt. (Kinda like that Seinfeld episode, where there’s a red dot on a cashmere sweater that no one notices at first, but once they do spot it, it’s all they can see.)
I just don’t understand why it’s so egregious to require these people to put their virtual scent-markings into the official signature area. But mine is not to reason why. The Master’s vicar has spoken.
I understand your desire to use your ignore function, but I hope you don’t. The posters that sign are some of the more interesting posters on this board.
Provocatively Bitten,
Nzinga, Seated
Shall I spear you in the side now, or do you want to hang there a bit longer? :rolleyes:
Aw, I think they’re allowed a bit of bitterness. They did after all convince some moderators to their camp only to have their angle of attack rendered null by a decree from on high.
If you’d only read The Barn House, you could have had a chance to memorize the map of Ed Zotti’s Basement Dungeon of Exquisite Perversions. Now you’ll have no chance of escape. We’ll miss you.
Good call, guys. It’s nice to know that both sides are being heard here and that issues are being weighed and considered in that light, and that efforts are being made to accomodate the board’s postership in a fair and reasonable way.
Nah, I’m personally okay with it most of the time, and even sign off some of my posts with “-BWP” if I’m really serious about making it obvious that The Above Is My Personal Opinion; No Warranties Expressed Or Implied. I just get … well, yes, *provoked *… by folks throwing it in there every single time.
I guess it comes down to how you view the board.
If you view it in a ‘pen pals’ kind of way, then a sign-off is sensible. I, however, view it like an ongoing conversation, so people signing off every post sort of strikes me as a Denny Crane kind of thing, only without the amusement value.
I really hate that one poster, the one who ALWAYS contradicts me. FUCKER!
No, you don’t.
stop it!!!
LEL!
Look, I come from a long line of anti-DIY’ers - wouldn’t having to read that be deemed a ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ in your country?
*You’re just saying that.
*
Thank you!
And, ineluctably, and with a giddy sense of release,
Regards,
Shodan
Yeah I was a week late because I had other things to do. Thank you for telling me I had other things to do. I actually already knew that. But it’s nice of you to say so. Would you like to take my dog for a walk when I get really busy?
Do you think I’m going to read every damned post in a 10-paged thread?
I have a job.