I second this motion!
It would only give the trolls one more place to get their rocks off from attention they get.
Exactly.
Also
It certainly would enforce DNFTT. You guys are no fun, being all practical and stuff.
I’ll just add that some of the stuff we cornfield is truly vile. Sometimes it is directed at specific members of our community. It would be a travesty to leave such things in public view.
The 2 worse serial trocks haven’t been back for a while. They posted some really awful stuff. Often about other posters. I’m glad we’ve gotten good at getting rid of them fast and thoroughly.
It would be great if you could make the trolls write-only. They can post but nobody (except them) can see it and they become frustrated over nobody replying to them.
“Troll traps” have been discussed before if, if I recall correctly. Not sure if it could be done in Discourse, and the mods wouldn’t be saved any work in cleaning up responses by troll-feeders. And allowing a malicious user continued access still seems like a risk. I wouldn’t rule out the ability to do some kinds of technical vandalism, like shitflooding and running the site out of storage (or other kinds of denial-of-service attack).
There was that guy who put the vile stuff in his username, I recall
I completely understand (and share) the desire for the opportunity to rubberneck, but it would indeed be counterproductive.
If you miss one, another one will be along shortly anyway.
Or maybe even the same one.
Was it in the username or in the avatar? ISTR some troll posting some graphic porn video years ago.
I’m thinking of a guy who used the user name to insult one particular user- don’t remember the avatar guy
One trock did that trick several times. But no more details is probably best. Talk is what that type wants
Agreed
Seconded. I do understand why we don’t do it, but I also admit to curiosity. I guess I just need to visit more often. 
One thing about being a Mod is you access to the cornfield.
Let me tell you, it ain’t interesting.
Mostly just sad.
About “The American Experiment” thread (and quite a few others)- How about a one month experiment banning “So what you’re saying is…”, “In other words…”, “If I’m hearing you right…” etc. bullshit rephrasings obviously used to create strawman arguments? I know it would be pretty much impossible to eliminate this trollish behavior…but it sure would be nice.
I think I know what you’re referencing, and yes, I agree. Firing off a straw man, then declaring victory after the target refuses to take the bait—ugh! If you need to rejigger a post to create a nice, tidy target, maybe don’t…
More than once I have made a polite request for people to quote me directly and respond to what I have actually said…and it never works.