# What's wrong with provoking board-wars? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 30, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858 "2012-06-30T22:53:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/21 "2012-07-01T16:13:05Z")
There is some discussion of the Stormfront thing here: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=115540](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=115540) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=139768](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=139768) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/22 "2012-07-01T16:38:22Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Board-wars are **fun!** No they aren’t. > [@](#): > > What are we so afraid of?! Being annoyed beyond my usual quota. Also eyestrain from rolling my eyes too frequently. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/23 "2012-07-01T17:18:04Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > If by “getting your ass handed to you” you mean “instantly banned when you dare to politely disagree” then I concur. I did try FR once and that happened inside of a day. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/24 "2012-07-01T17:19:10Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > You mean like the time you invited a bunch of Stormfronters over here? Yeah, that was a barrel of fun. :rolleyes: Yes, it was. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/25 "2012-07-01T17:21:25Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > Link, please. [This one.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=244236) 2004. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/26 "2012-07-01T17:53:38Z")
Are you really saying we should get rid of this rule because you enjoyed one thread eight years ago? I don’t think you’re going to have a rational or enlightening discussion with people who post to the board mentioned in that Pit thread, and it sounds like the disputes with the Left Behind boards and Stormfront produced much more aggravation than rational debate. ---
**Author:** ![mister\_nyx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@mister\_nyx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_nyx)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/27 "2012-07-01T18:08:16Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Yeah…let’s you and him fight.:rolleyes: > > If you really want to engage your “enemies”, there is nothing to stop you from visiting conservative boards. I strongly suspect you’ll get your ass handed to you in debate there, just as you usually do here, but hey, feel free to try. > > On the other hand, if what you want is a safe, comfortable place…ie, here, where you can lure members from other boards, only to provoke them and then run to hide behind the mod’s skirts, that would be a pretty lame ass thing to want. He says he wants to start a fight with posters from a board called n\*\*\*\*\*[mania.net](http://mania.net). This, to you, is an example of a “conservative board”? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/28 "2012-07-01T18:11:38Z")
Board Wars are more for places like Something Awful, or 4Chan. Places that have a history of that kind of thing. I once participated in a retaliatory attack at SA when I was a mod at another board. However, it was a completely different atmosphere from here, and it wasn’t about “serious discussion”, but trolling, plain and simple. (Do a search for “something awful huggy wars”) Unless you’re looking for an out and out trolling opportunity, it’s not going to work. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/29 "2012-07-01T19:12:54Z")
> [@mister\_nyx](#): > > He says he wants to start a fight with posters from a board called n\*\*\*\*\*[mania.net](http://mania.net). > > This, to you, is an example of a “conservative board”? He does not mention any particular board in this thread, and I can’t be arsed to follow him around to see what has put a bee in his bonnet this time. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/30 "2012-07-01T19:16:15Z")
The worst thing about board wars it that you get drive by posters who just copy and paste from articles and then just post that, instead of offering opinion or analysis. Post after post of walls of text just copied from elsewhere. Do we really want to encourage that? ---
**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:** [July 1, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/31 "2012-07-01T20:03:21Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Yes, it was. 🙂 You’re not a mod who had to chase down and ban the miscreants that you invited onto this MB. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/32 "2012-07-01T20:47:13Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > … Board-wars are **fun!** Especially against mentally-unarmed enemies! Nobody actually gets killed. And it’s all free publicity for the SDMB! And it’s against basic SDMB fighting-ignorance principles to care that it’s also free publicity for the other dumbass board – all ideas should be confronted. So why not do it?! What are we so afraid of?! Well, if your idea of fun is going around poking hornets’ nests with a stick, then maybe. And even if they start as fun remember nanny’s wise words, it will all end in tears before bedtime. The problem with ‘mentally-unarmed enemies’ is that they tend to get very angry very quickly, their sheer frustration with their inability to string a coherent sentence together, let alone an argument, soon manifesting itself in rage AND CAPITAL LETTERS. They can also become unpleasantly fixated on ‘getting even’, which can lead to all sorts of annoyances - post flooding, spam attacks, amateur hackery. War, as the man said, is hell and board wars are no different. The staff do wisely to forbid them. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/33 "2012-07-01T21:03:28Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > You’re not a mod who had to chase down and ban the miscreants that you invited onto this MB. I guess the OP is a board war chickenhawk. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2012, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/34 "2012-07-01T23:59:57Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > There is some discussion of the Stormfront thing here: > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=115540](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=115540) > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=139768](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=139768) Thanks. Heh, searching back on usernames and phrases that seems like it would have been a bit of a load on the mods. Not at all unlike what is happening right now, oh no. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/35 "2012-07-02T00:18:04Z")
Well that’s the problem - people talking about board wars always want to go after the Nazis. If you take on a board loaded with loud-mouthed fanatics the collateral damage is going to be severe. But we could start with a more reasonable opponent, say a small forum dedicated to watch repair or pottery painting or something like that. We would totally kick their asses. And they would probably just be like “what the hell are these people doing?” and not even attempt retaliation. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/36 "2012-07-02T00:30:19Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > If there was a way to keep the war neatly bottled up in one or two threads, I’d be all for it. Instead, it can easily spill over to any number of threads, and then I, as a poor innocent bystander, have to wade through the carnage. > > In other words: it’s a pain in the ass to most of us, having to read the idiotic comments that make up a board war. I guess you’re right there. I’m annoyed enough by the racists we’ve got here now, who are sharp enough to stay inside the rules and avoid banning, and **just won’t STFU.** ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/37 "2012-07-02T00:32:03Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > **just won’t STFU.** There’s a lot of that around here. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/38 "2012-07-02T00:42:08Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > Well that’s the problem - people talking about board wars always want to go after the Nazis. If you take on a board loaded with loud-mouthed fanatics the collateral damage is going to be severe. But we could start with a more reasonable opponent, say a small forum dedicated to watch repair or pottery painting or something like that. We would totally kick their asses. And they would probably just be like “what the hell are these people doing?” and not even attempt retaliation. I vote for an attack on philately forums. These people must be stamped out. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/39 "2012-07-02T08:08:16Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > Well that’s the problem - people talking about board wars always want to go after the Nazis. If you take on a board loaded with loud-mouthed fanatics the collateral damage is going to be severe. But we could start with a more reasonable opponent, say a small forum dedicated to watch repair or pottery painting or something like that. We would totally kick their asses. And they would probably just be like “what the hell are these people doing?” and not even attempt retaliation. Nah, Those small forums are dangerous, the only people there are the real fanatics, the crazies with a deep passion for their chosen subject. You don’t want to mess with fanatics, far too much trouble. What you want is a larger board, where people aren’t as invested in things. Like 4chan, or its Mexican equivalent. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858/40 "2012-07-02T09:19:42Z")
Landover Baptist must be stopped! I say we go over there and kick their asses! Who’s with m… satire? What the fuck’s satire? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-provoking-board-wars/626858.md?page=3)