# Proposed: New Board Rule, and Traffic Law **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 12, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438 "2011-03-12T18:26:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/21 "2011-03-13T17:21:03Z")
I really can’t see a good way to enforce this rule. And I can’t think of a good reason to make it a rule, either. Yeah, it’s annoying behavior. However, the people who tend to do it tend to do it frequently…so just note who does it, and if it bothers you THAT much, then don’t reply to their threads or posts. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/22 "2011-03-13T17:48:38Z")
Some questions don’t deserve answers. If there was a rule compelling people to answer questions, it is only fair to have a rule banning incessant repeating inane questions. “Didja?” “Didja?” “Didja?” “Well, Didja?” Somewhere around the third iteration, a reasonable person will realize an answer will not be forthcoming; but that does not stop some stubborn souls who are convinced they are entitled to an answer, and simply Will. Not. Quit. until they have receive satisfaction. Those malletheads should be subject to sanctions if we start making rules for every little thing annoys us. For the record, I am against such rules. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/23 "2011-03-13T17:59:25Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Of course, everyone will think you’re a wanker if you won’t answer a simple question like why you had to defrost two chickens. Maybe he was setting out on a mission of revenge. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/24 "2011-03-13T18:22:42Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > How about a proposal that if you ask a question and people go through a lot of trouble to give detailed answers you at least come back to thread and comment/say thanks! (and yes, I know teh OP was wasn’t really suggesting there should be such a rule and neither am I). While i don’t have anyone on my actual ignore list, that are a few Dopers whose threads (especially in GQ) i tend to ignore for precisely this reason. Not only do they often fail to return to their own threads to clarify information or to thank people for helping them, but they also tend to use the board as their own personal search engine, asking hundreds of the most stupid and easily-searchable questions, and often relying inaccurately on some misremembered piece of trivia or on some completely spurious assumption. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/25 "2011-03-14T01:50:36Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Of course, everyone will think you’re a wanker if you won’t answer a simple question like why you had to defrost two chickens. Or maybe, just maybe, you have other things to do than replying to every question that comes up in the thread. Hard to believe, I know.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/26 "2011-03-14T02:07:02Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Or maybe, just maybe, you have other things to do than replying to every question that comes up in the thread. > > Hard to believe, I know.🙂 The words are English but… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/27 "2011-03-14T02:20:51Z")
It is a really terrible idea. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/28 "2011-03-14T03:13:03Z")
Would it apply to moderators? Seriously, though, it’s completely impractical. How would we enforce it? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/29 "2011-03-14T11:30:19Z")
It can be annoying when people do this, and I can think of one or two times when a poster was doing this so often that the mods stepped in and told him or her to start participating in his/her own threads. But those are extreme cases. First off, the OP’s proposal would require us to create a hack of the vBulletin software to make a reminder for people, which is something we try to avoid doing. Even if it were enforced another way, it would be a lot of work for the mods since we would be reviewing the posting habits of a lot of people. And more importantly I don’t think it would improve the board for most people. This board is supposed to be fun and we don’t want to ask people to treat it like a job. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/30 "2011-03-14T11:50:49Z")
I vote no. But seriously, when are we going to learn the fate of the chicken fiasco? Gggrrrrr… ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/31 "2011-03-14T12:32:42Z")
If there’s one thing this place needs to make it more fun, it’s another rule, preferably one with virtually no chance of being enforced. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/32 "2011-03-14T13:22:32Z")
The frozen chicken thread prompted this? I would have thought that there were other, more pressing, threads, like the guy who found the diary in his wife’s underwear drawer, or the guy who’s getting an opportunity to impregnate a woman on the side with no strings attached. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/33 "2011-03-14T14:45:34Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > the guy who’s getting an opportunity to impregnate a woman on the side with no strings attached. Must be an alien. Humans get pregnant on the front! ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/34 "2011-03-14T15:29:39Z")
This thread started out in MPSIMS and I don’t think was ever meant as a serious suggestion. Perhaps the OP will come back and answer that question? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/35 "2011-03-14T19:45:02Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > \ I would have thought that there were other, more pressing, threads, like the guy who found the diary in his wife’s underwear drawer\ Thanks for reminding me. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/36 "2011-03-14T20:25:58Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > The frozen chicken thread prompted this? I would have thought that there were other, more pressing, threads, like the guy who found the diary in his wife’s underwear drawer, or the guy who’s getting an opportunity to impregnate a woman on the side with no strings attached. Not to mention the latest “riddle” in The Game Room, and what the answer to “14 k of g in a f p d” is. Mind you, the threadstarters in both cases appear to have left the board, so the proposed “punishment” suggested by the OP wouldn’t help there. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/37 "2011-03-14T22:31:57Z")
Only if this rule somehow brought back the Ron Thread would I be in favor of it. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/38 "2011-03-14T22:48:01Z")
I haven’t left, I just had a busy weekend and didn’t see the thread had moved. And yes, it was meant as a JOKE! That’s why I posted it in MPSIMS! And for the record, the question **SuperHal** refused to answer was “What did your WIFE say when you asked her why she had defrosted two chickens after being asked to only defrost one?” I can hardly believe you all thought I was serious about having that type of a rule. I was just trying to humorously express my frustration after reading 2 pages of posts asking for clarification of that point, and seeing that the poster in question had been on the boards posting after that point so clearly hadn’t been stabbed with a carving knife by his wife. And as for the second proposal…yes,I know it wouldn’t be practical, effective, enforceable or safe. I was thinking more about the psychological satisfaction. I will try to never post anything amusing again. Or today. I like the rules just as they are. I adore the mods. Cecil is my hero. I’ve had a secret Doper crush on **BoyoJim** for years and now he thinks I’m an idiot…but thanks to those who realized it was tongue-in-cheek. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/39 "2011-03-15T01:31:00Z")
I don’t care that much about the first part, because you can just post some nonsense. I don’t like the second part because speeding is less fun if it’s legal. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438/40 "2011-03-19T16:44:20Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > While i don’t have anyone on my actual ignore list, that are a few Dopers whose threads (especially in GQ) i tend to ignore for precisely this reason. > > Not only do they often fail to return to their own threads to clarify information or to thank people for helping them, but they also tend to use the board as their own personal search engine, asking hundreds of the most stupid and easily-searchable questions, and often relying inaccurately on some misremembered piece of trivia or on some completely spurious assumption. Yep. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read a thread title and thought either “Wow, that’s a simple question to answer” or “Why would someone ask this” only to go :smack:, it’s that guy again. No need to even open the thread, and I can’t believe that there are people who let those guys yank their chains. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-new-board-rule-and-traffic-law/574438.md?page=3)