# Why aren't mods responding to insult report? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 28, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-mods-responding-to-insult-report/583571 "2011-05-28T16:04:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-mods-responding-to-insult-report/583571/21 "2011-05-30T13:56:47Z")
You notice that I at least didn’t use WTF in my thread title. I use it now. In a code\_grey thread a moderator, apparently not acting as a moderator, wrote: [quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:17, topic:583693”] Of course the price is “what the market will bear.” It’s that way in _all_ markets. I strongly recommend that you do at least some modicum of research before asking piles of highly-detailed questions and then arguing with the answers. [/QUOTE] WTF? How is that different from my suggesting that code\_grey take a course in economics to help him with his questions? And if mods can issue insults identical to mine, then why haven’t anybody gone back to the original thread and issued any comments or even warnings? There’s been plenty of time. WTF? ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-mods-responding-to-insult-report/583571/22 "2011-05-30T19:39:30Z")
> [@Garfield226](#): > > I think the problem is mainly that the question he wants an answer to isn’t the question he asks. Then when posters answer the question he asks, they get ignored and/or he gets snarky. > > In the ASCII printers thread, he eventually gets around to the actual question in post 35, saying he’s discussing ways to lower costs in low-quality on-demand printing. But he’s never actually asked, “what are the cost components in on-demand printing?” (and there’s a new question asking how much trimming, packing and the like costs) > > He’s done this a couple other times as well. It’s as if someone asks about how casinos ensure slot machines are random, and then three pages later it turns out what they really want to know is the best strategy for beating the house using any game. You’re not going to get useful answers that way. This appears to be exactly accurate. He starts with a detailed question based on assumptions that have been made and asks a question at that level and then gets annoyed when people with experience in the area explain why the assumptions are incorrect. As you say, later it comes out that his real question was not what was posed in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-mods-responding-to-insult-report/583571/23 "2011-05-30T20:40:03Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > In a code\_grey thread a moderator, apparently not acting as a moderator, wrote: > > WTF? How is that different from my suggesting that code\_grey take a course in economics to help him with his questions? > > And if mods can issue insults identical to mine, then why haven’t anybody gone back to the original thread and issued any comments or even warnings? There’s been plenty of time. Sorry about the confusion, **Exapno**. In the first paragraph of my post, I was addressing him as a member. In the second paragraph (which I should have split into a second post), I was suggesting a behavioral change, which would have been more appropriate with my moderator hat on. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-mods-responding-to-insult-report/583571/24 "2011-06-20T05:29:04Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > This appears to be exactly accurate. > > He starts with a detailed question based on assumptions that have been made and asks a question at that level and then gets annoyed when people with experience in the area explain why the assumptions are incorrect. > > As you say, later it comes out that his real question was not what was posed in the OP. [And again](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=613094). OP question: how often does RFID scanner query for the presence of a particular chip? Actual question (still far too vague to answer, but as much detail as I’ve been able to discern from his 5 posts (out of 7 total) in the thread): I have a scheme which depends on detecting the removal of any of a working set of several hundred RFID chips. Is this plausible and how much is it likely to cost? So the question is how do you deal with (or do you deal with at all, I suppose) a poster that refuses to ask questions in a way that will allow an answer? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-mods-responding-to-insult-report/583571/25 "2011-06-20T08:30:07Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > With flava beans and a nice chianti? Flava beans are my Fav-ourite [QUOTE=Garfield226] So the question is how do you deal with (or do you deal with at all, I suppose) a poster that refuses to ask questions in a way that will allow an answer? [/QUOTE] I don’t see how that OP doesn’t allow an answer. Granted, it was a drilldown process, and it ends up being that cg is looking for much more of a hardware shopping answer than a system design or RFID specification one, but it’s still a GQ-worthy question in the end. All that his poor OP phrasing will lead to is a bunch of people who might know just skipping the thread. That’s hardly a pillorying offense. Although I agree with the general thrust of this thread - dude needs to throttle it back some. ETA: Although, in his defense, he also participates in other people’s [inane](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=613020) threads too, so it’s a wash. ETA MkII: Not that I’m saying that other thread wasn’t GQ-worthy at all, it just seems like such a pub conversation 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-mods-responding-to-insult-report/583571/26 "2011-06-20T14:00:42Z")
> [@Garfield226](#): > > So the question is how do you deal with (or do you deal with at all, I suppose) a poster that refuses to ask questions in a way that will allow an answer? Either answer the specific question he asks, ask him questions to draw out the info that allows you to answer, or realize his questions frustrate you and ignore them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-mods-responding-to-insult-report/583571.md?page=1)