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BTP · Feb 26, 2002, 01:09 AM

My suggestion is that the powers that be utilize some kind of anti-rating, like was done with JoeG4. I have a lot of tolerance for the Lounge, but when the trolls come out in the other forums, I'd suggest they be branded as such, ala the JoeG4 'barfing icon', or something akin to that for a troll A current troll in OS X General Discussion could use such an icon.

I am not infavor of having people censored, but when others disrupt the sole reason the fourms exist, some measure should be a taken. For what reasons trolls come around, I cannot say. Some cry for atttention, who knows?

Plenty of people have dissenting opinions on these fora and discussion can carry on. I suggest to keep it that way. This is a gentle suggestion, which will not censor the trolls but will call them what they are, trolls. Kind of like a 'gold star on the forehead' in reverse.

Cellery · Feb 26, 2002, 01:28 AM

A scarlet "A" perhaps?

I dunno if the mods will go for this, as there was such a big outcry about JoeG4 to get action taken. Trolls are a way of most boards unfortunately, and it seems like you really have to cheese people good to have any action taken against you. The good thing is that wiggles has gone away due to registered user only postings, although I wonder if he's among us registereds now... :rolleyes

[ 02-26-2002: Message edited by: Cellery ]

BTP · Feb 26, 2002, 08:23 PM

I never have come across wiggles, but from what others said, I am glad he's gone. I wonder if wiggles is the resident troll in OSX: General?

A scarlet "A"? Well, kind of. I am thinking along the lines of Slashdot. They will call a post Flambait or Troll, which is helpful, to the readership. Since we are a close community, that would be even more helpful. It would likely take away what they are seeking. Some of the posts are so trollish, it is obvious that they have no purpose. But I am sure the mods don't want to remove them or even have to resort to that. Simply rating them as a troll might correct their attiude. To be clear, there are plently of people that have strong opinions on various aspect of Apple, and yet they aren't trolls. I.e., Cipher13 doesn't care for OS X, others do, yet that is discussed and no one is a troll. Trolls add nothing, infact, they take away. Often the threads they create are locked anyway, so they serve no purpose.

Having "I AM A TROLL" screaming out at you from some post is going to have an effect. But does anyone think adding that will curtail the trolls? What would be a good animation for a troll? I laughed at JoeG4's animated gif he was given,,,

Mac Zealot · Feb 27, 2002, 12:06 AM

even after I cleaned up my act in major preportions, I still get complaints SIMPLY because I'm JoeG4.

Interesting, isn't it?

BTP · Feb 27, 2002, 11:06 AM

I can't say that's unexpected. You knew what you were doing, and that it annoyed others, and yet you persisted. So, no, its not really interesting, nor unexpected.

I am not discussing you or people that act(ed) like you, but people that are more disruptive.

seanyepez · Feb 27, 2002, 11:38 PM

So you're JoeG4.

Cipher13 · Feb 28, 2002, 05:20 AM

The problem with this is, I'm betting you'd brand ShyWizard, for example, a troll.

I, however, wouldn't.

It's far too subjective.

Justin W. Williams · Feb 28, 2002, 01:07 PM

Why brand them? Then they accomplish their goal of pissing you all off, and getting acknowledged for it?

BTP · Mar 1, 2002, 11:00 AM

Originally posted by Cipher13:
The problem with this is, I'm betting you'd brand ShyWizard, for example, a troll.

I, however, wouldn't.

It's far too subjective.

You are correct. I would. As for being subjective, it would be, if he were more subtle. He isn't. Look at his posts and see for yourself. Almost every thread he starts is a troll. Some of his posts are genuine, but, most are not. Quite often his threads just get locked anyway.

Even the moderators acknowledge (Millenium) he is a troll. I suspect that his often hysterical pitch posts that frequently highlight the shortcomings of OS X (real and imagined) and your dislike of OS X might be why. You and he are free to criticize OS X, I have no problem with that, but he is a troll, plain and simple.

BTP · Mar 1, 2002, 11:09 AM

Originally posted by Justin W. Williams:
Why brand them? Then they accomplish their goal of pissing you all off, and getting acknowledged for it?

Getting "called out" defeates their purpose. They make a specious post, which in reality is only intended to evoke a response, not discuss the issue. It works if people respond and take them seriously. Branding them a troll renders them ineffective and in doing so hopefully wil make them clean up their act or go away.

I'd settle for an 'ignore' feature on the forums. That would do the trick too.

gorgonzola · Mar 1, 2002, 04:26 PM

Unfortunately, it's way too subjective. Just because someone's annoying doesn't necessarily mean they're a troll. I think someone posting numerous threads that get locked for trolling is enough of a tip to the readership, but the best course of action is to entirely ignore trolls. People get attracted to them like a moth to a flame, which just leads to a self-perpetuating of trolling.

Ignore them, moderators will handle them, other than that- if Infopop adds some of that stuff to newer versions of UBB (we'll be upgrading to 6.2 eventually, it has some nice stuff), there's no way to really add that kind of thing to the software.

Sorry! Trolls are trolls, and every board has to deal with them, unfortunately. The JoeG4/MacZealot incident was unique in that he was so immensely and singularly obnoxious and annoying that pretty much everyone wanted him to be banned. Not surprising at all, but such things have to be dealt with per-incident.

cheers,
-gzl.

Apple Pro Underwear · Mar 1, 2002, 11:13 PM

Originally posted by gorgonzola:
 The JoeG4/MacZealot incident was unique in that he was so immensely and singularly obnoxious and annoying that pretty much everyone wanted him to be banned.

i like him.

just wish he'd realize he's not a mac expert.

neither am i, but i don't say the things he does.

Mac Zealot · Mar 5, 2002, 05:56 PM

Originally posted by gorgonzola:
Sorry! Trolls are trolls, and every board has to deal with them, unfortunately. The JoeG4/MacZealot incident was unique in that he was so immensely and singularly obnoxious and annoying that pretty much everyone wanted him to be banned. Not surprising at all, but such things have to be dealt with per-incident.

cheers,
-gzl.

gzl.. My case was unique since I never was a troll, I never had seen this board until then..