TROLLS!

[p1ngpong]

Ok guys this problem has been bothering me for a while now, so I thought I should make a thread about it in site discussions.

I have seen many instances since becoming a mod of people quoting obvious trolls, quoting posts that are obviously going to get trashed and replying in other ways to posts that will inevitably get trashed along with any responses to them. And the most frustrating thing is that I don't just see this from newcomers I also see this from members with thousands of posts here who issue reports all the time, and usually report the offending post after replying to it.

Now this acknowledgement of trolls not only perpetuates their trolling and bumps it to the top of the latest discussion box, it also multiplies our workload by a vast amount. Instead of having to just deal with the problematic post itself we have to clean up all the responses to it as well.

So what I would like from all you guys is to think before you hit the reply button. What will a response from me achieve when it will just end up being trashed with all the rest? So instead of hitting the reply button, just hit the report button instead.

Thanks guys.

 

[Rasas]

I'm not exactly sure about how many posts are made on the website but if it makes your job easier I'll try to follow it. Though I think I rarely quote anyone. Don't feel like you have to respond to it I felt like making this post not sure why.

 

[The Catboy]

I often try to avoid quoting a troll, but I will try harder next time

 

[_Chaz_]

I do this all the time.

 

[p1ngpong]

I do this all the time.

WELL STOP IT!

 

[Scott-105]

Not gonna lie, I'm guilty of that.

 

[Rydian]

A lot of time I can recognize a troll but don't believe what they posted is enough proof to get them taken care of so I play innocent for a post or three until they let loose an unmistakeable troll post. >>;

 

[gifi4]

I do this a lot, I reply and then report, from now on, I shall only report and not quote the messages.

 

[_Chaz_]

I do this all the time.

WELL STOP IT!

 

[Apex]

Remember, report trolls when you see them.

 

[Zetta_x]

Funny, I was a moderator for a mass MMO and I asked the main people managing the forums to let us take actions with this type of thing (obvious trolls replying to obvious trolls responses with quotes and such). Guess the response: "You are a volunteer moderator, if you do not like your position then I will accept your resignation." Needless to say after 3 years of moderating those forums with a 1: 2000 moderator to player online activity, I quit =P

I do agree, it does make workload tedious to have to destroy all the posts infected with troll aids (or TRaids!!!)

 

[Sterling]

I actually have trouble figuring who is a troll, and who is just stating an unpopular opinion. Usually it's only the latter, and only the mods can see the fine trip wires... Then an explosion happens, and a warrant for Holmes arrest comes into light. Anyways, I will do my best to not trip these wires, and use the report button for good, not evil.

Sorta off-topic: Which is worse, trolling or flame[bait/ing]. Or is there no distinction between the two.

 

[DigitalDeviant]

Will do p1ngpong!

 

[Phoenix Goddess]

I'll try my best not to, I do it quite often, so I'll keep this in mind.

 

[p1ngpong]

I actually have trouble figuring who is a troll, and who is just stating an unpopular opinion. Usually it's only the latter, and only the mods can see the fine trip wires... Then an explosion happens, and a warrant for Holmes arrest comes into light. Anyways, I will do my best to not trip these wires, and use the report button for good, not evil.

Its a fine line between being able to tell the difference between someone who is merely voicing an unpopular opinion and someone who is flame bait/trolling. Basically if you think a person is posting just to cause maximum disruption or the discussion deteriorates into a petty argument don't get involved, just report. I am not trying to discourage people from having constructive debates on the forum or anything like that.

I lost count of the amount of times people quoted obvious trolls and responded to them during the pokemon flood for example. We had one guy who kept making accounts and posting the same picture twenty times in one post. People would quote that, which led to a further twenty images for each quote with responses such as "inb4 ban" and "reported" and so on. This resulted in literally walls of trashed posts from just one original troll post.

And you know Im not just talking about blatant trolls either. Im talking about any obviously inappropriate post you may see such as pornographic images and the like. Its astounding how many people feel the need to quote and reply to these kind of posts.To give you an extreme example from before I was a mod and was just irc staff we had one instance of a spambot who was advertising soft core child porn sites. I reported this and did not reply, but that spambot got something like twenty responses to its thread before it was banned. Replies such as "fuck you" "die" "banned" and so on. All that these people achieved by replying was to constantly push this guys thread to the top of the latest discussions box so more people could see it.

Sorta off-topic: Which is worse, trolling or flame[bait/ing]. Or is there no distinction between the two.

Both are out to achieve the same goal, to disrupt threads and piss people off. I don't see that much difference between the two myself.


QUOTE(phoenixgoddess27 @ Oct 11 2010, 06:01 AM)

I'll try my best not to, I do it quite often, so I'll keep this in mind.

Yes you do!

 

[Phoenix Goddess]

I'll try my best not to, I do it quite often, so I'll keep this in mind.

Yes you do!

I can't help it, I think of you and I suddenly rage >=O

But I'll do my best, that's all I can promise.

 

[[M]artin]

Trolling is an artform.

I somewhat agree with p1ngy here... if you suck hard at trolling then its time for you to GTFO.

 

[sstomouth]

And trolling is stupid.

 

[antwill]

And trolling is stupid.

Almost as stupid as the posts that space out the sentences like yours. (Yes I know it's in the image, but it's a good example of what I mean.)

 

[alidsl]

pingy is a troll