Is some movie that this guy I know was telling me about this one time...
*eyes dart around nervously*
Sorry guys, I'm not sure if I can talk about this here. I will hide messages inside my j-pegs and PM passwords to you as previously discussed.
Viva La Revolucion!
Oh, I thought this thread was about the other lockdown.
doubleKO said:
Sorry guys, I'm not sure if I can talk about this here. I will hide messages inside my j-pegs and PM passwords to you as previously discussed.
This thread is not an approved Illuminati Clique thread.
doubleKO is hereby [REDACTED - FOR ILLUMINATI CLIQUE CONSPIRATORS ONLY].
Michael Bluth said:
"You gotta lock that down."
Ziggy Stardust said:
Oh, I thought this thread was about the other lockdown.
It was. In a tongue-in-cheeky sort of way.
I created this so if anyone wants to talk about the locked threads they can do so here without worrying that our 'Random Thoughts' thread will be locked too, as some of you seem to be. I don't believe discussing this is in violation of any rules, and I don't see why it should have to continue through PMs.
In agreement with what some other members have said - locking Off Topic threads isn't a solution. If the mods are unwilling to read enough posts to determine the problem, you guys should leave Off Topic unmoderated as it has been, or find someone willing to moderate it to the same standard as the rest of the site. The sticky is vague and it is now unclear what we can and can't post in Off Topic. Does it mean that all the rules now apply here, or only some of them?
I would suggest simply reinstating the 'no personal attacks' rule for Off Topic, which mods can then ignore until someone who feels personally attacked makes a legitimate complaint. If it is virtually impossible to get banned through your actions in Off Topic then the 'pledge thread' and others like it should not only be allowed, they are practically necessary.
I kinda like my post being the last one on that thread - makes for a good résumé ;)
Having that said, making a thread (or 6 threads) aimed against a specific user, is practically asking for trouble. Not that I'm saying it SHOULD be locked, but it seems to me if there's a line anywhere, this is it.
As for necessity, why not just start acting mature instead of announcing it loudly?
The pledge thread was silly (as were the anti-Frink threads earlier).
If a large number of people post stuff against your chosen idiom it should give you pause for thought.
Weigh up if they have a point and if you genuinely think they haven't, carry on regardless and see how long you last.
I welcome a bit more moderation in this paddock.
Self moderation and official moderation.
As someone who frequently posts a load of rubbish, often for failed dramatic effect it's helpful to get a cup of cold water in the face once in a while.
Bingowings said:
If a large number of people post stuff against your chosen idiom
What does that mean?
and if you genuinely think they haven't carry on regardless and see how long you last.
We both have particular posting styles.
We are both pedants (most nerds are).
I think you know what I mean by idiom.
If a lot of people take offense at how you say what you say it should be a sign for having a think about if they have a point and if they haven't just carry on.
You may not last long but at least you took the time to consider if they had a point.
If upon reflection they do have a point making an effort to adjust your idiom so you say the same things but in a more palatable way makes a lot of sense to me.
Not that I always do it.
Bingowings said:
The pledge thread was silly
No, it was necessary. And it seemed to be working.
Bingowings said:
The pledge thread was silly (as were the anti-Frink threads earlier).
If a large number of people post stuff against your chosen idiom it should give you pause for thought.
Weigh up if they have a point and if you genuinely think they haven't carry on regardless and see how long you last.
I welcome a bit more moderation in this paddock.
Self moderation and official moderation.
As someone who frequently posts a load of rubbish, often for failed dramatic effect it's helpful to get a cup of cold water in the face once in a while.
Tee hee hee...
<span style=“font-weight: bold;”>The Most Handsomest Guy on OT.com</span>
TV's Frink said:
Bingowings said:
The pledge thread was silly
No, it was necessary. And it seemed to be working.
If you've reached a point where making loud, hammy pledges regarding some internet guy you don't like (i.e. pledging to ignore him to prevent yourself from derailing threads) becomes a necessity, you know you've already long crossed the line of silliness.
Bingowings said:
I think you know what I mean by idiom.
I know what it means normally, but I can't comprehend what it means here.
I often use "idioms" in my speech... I have no idea what "my idiom" is with regard to my posts.
If a lot of people take offense at how you say what you say it should be a sign for having a think about if they have a point and if they haven't just carry on.
You may not last long but at least you took the time to consider if they had a point.
Ah, yea, got it (I think you forgot a comma last time or something).
Well, as far as I'm concerned, I'm fine with people taking offense, or getting rubbed the wrong way, by someone acting sarcastic, or condescending, or arrogant.
I don't think much about political correctness if I find something stupid, so that's a welcome consequence.
However, if people decide to blow it up to the point that they declare someone a great enemy of the board, derail every second thread he posts in with personal attacks, and then start making "pledges" to make a stop to their obsessions, then yes, it's definitely an over-reaction and I find it to be absurd, childish and laughable.
If, on top of that, they actually can't see the problems THEY'RE causing, fully convinced that the guy who expressed himself in a blunt way in some debate, is the sole source of the trouble... then it's becoming a circus.
Certainly not opposed to that, but don't mind if I mock and ridicule this nonsense at every opportunity.
In a way, I can sympathize with the defense mechanisms, though. It feels so much more comfortable to say "this guy is a troll and is causing trouble, let's turn away" than "this guy tends to be blunt about his opinions and we make a huge deal out of it every time, so let's grow up and stop".
I'm outta this thread.
TV's Frink said:
Bingowings said:
The pledge thread was silly
No, it was necessary. And it seemed to be working.
The pledge thread was silly, but it also became necessary after your prolonged abuse of the ignore function ;) It does seem to have been successful despite the locking.
In any case, I would rather have complete anarchy or complete moderation than the random locking of threads that are contentious at a glance. As it stands, it seems I could spout off some crap in a thread I don't like in order to get it locked, with no repurcussions.
Sometimes silly things are necessary.
It showed that there were a lot of people who for various reasons twooffour had got up their nose.
As to if he shovved himself up there or was to some degree snorted is another matter.
As I said in my post the threads and huge chunks of threads calling for Frink to be banned were also silly.
People say stuff.
They usually stay stuff in a particular way.
When I read twooffour I read him as a self important, obsessive person who will pick any post to pieces even if it doesn't need to be.
Sometimes that's a good thing and it pretty much describes a large number of the people posting here, including myself.
It's my perception of his posting style and nine times out of ten I moderate my reaction based on that subjective reading of his style (which may not be anything to do with the actual person typing the words).
Once in a while the accumulated limescale of reading his posts provoke me to drop a bomb (usually with no effect).
He rubs against the grain perhaps a little too much too frequently for anyone's good (including himself) but if he goes too far eventually he will be as stopped as any of us can be.
However sometimes what he posts is stimulating, either as food for thought and further discussion or just as an example of how looney we all are.
doubleKO said:
As it stands, it seems I could spout off some crap in a thread I don't like in order to get it locked, with no repurcussions.
This is my problem with the way things were handled.
Bingowings said:
Sometimes silly things are necessary.
It showed that there were a lot of people who for various reasons twooffour had got up their nose.
As to if he shovved himself up there or was to some degree snorted is another matter.
As I said in my post the threads and huge chunks of threads calling for Frink to be banned were also silly.
People say stuff.
They usually stay stuff in a particular way.
When I read twooffour I read him as a self important, obsessive person who will pick any post to pieces even if it doesn't need to be.
Sometimes that's a good thing and it pretty much describes a large number of the people posting here, including myself.
It's my perception of his posting style and nine times out of ten I moderate my reaction based on that subjective reading of his style (which may not be anything to do with the actual person typing the words).
Once in a while the accumulated limescale of reading his posts provoke me to drop a bomb (usually with no effect).
He rubs against the grain perhaps a little too much too frequently for anyone's good (including himself) but if he goes too far eventually he will be as stopped as any of us can be.
However sometimes what he post is stimulating, either as food for thought and further discussion or just as an example of how looney we all are.
Bingowings said:
However sometimes what he post is stimulating, either as food for thought and further discussion or just as an example of how looney we all are.
I agree that he posts some fairly decent ideas from time to time, but he pads out those ideas with so much bullshit and manual pleasuring of himself, finding those decent ideas is a bit like digging through large heaps of reeking diarrhea to find bits of mediocre tasting (and now shit laced) chocolate.
Furthermore, honestly what is the point of having someone bring decent ideas to the table, when they themselves are not willing to listen to the ideas of others? This works great for someone who is an authority in their field worth listening to, but when it comes to discussions on discussion boards, it really is a rather worthless way to behave. Especially when the vast majority of the time that person is just talking out of their ass.
I know it is trendy to come to the defense of things that are unpopular, but I think those coming to the defense of twooffour's behavior really need to take a moment to really think about whether or not his behavior really merits any defense. Read back over his old posts, the kid keeps his boxing gloves on at all times and is constantly chomping at the bit to use them. Not just sometimes, not just on a bad day, literally all the time.
Bingowins said:
When I read twooffour I read him as a self important, obsessive person who will pick any post to pieces even if it doesn't need to be.
...
He rubs against the grain perhaps a little too much too frequently for anyone's good (including himself) but if he goes too far eventually he will be as stopped as any of us can be.
I don't think Bingo was defending him at all. I think his point was 'this is only a message board' and we may be getting ahead of ourselves.
I think we can all ignore him and carry on without much further discussion.
If you perceive a pile of manure in the road (which may or may not contain chocolate).
You don't have to get your hands dirty.
You can walk on by.
It's not always easy (especially if you are hungry enough for chocolate that even the prospect of a dungy aftertaste loses it's power to deter).
But you can either hit the ignore button or just turn a blind eye to it.
I tend to get wound up by items I find truly offensive but I've never pretended not to be a hypocrite.
Jay's tougher line on moderation has had some beneficial effects on the other boards but I think it has shifted the human desire for mischief even more over here than it normally would be.
While I wouldn't like it to be as strict on the Off Topic board, once in a while a little outside reminder does us all the world of good.
Ah, I see what you are saying and I agree. I think most of us have twooffour on ignore now, and I haven't seen any replies to him in a while, and it feels very nice and peaceful. I am perfectly happy with this solution. I just find it amusing that Moth3r bothered to lock down nearly every active thread the other day, but doesn't give a shit about how anyone behaves. To use your pile of manure in the middle of the road comparison, it is like Moth3r placed a bunch of roadblocks to prevent interaction with the manure on a few particular roads, which effectively blocked people off from using those roads for legitimate means (their original topics) just because they had a small pile of manure on them.
Meanwhile, nothing is going to stop the cows from dropping fresh piles of chocolaty sprinkled manure on all the other unblocked roads.
Kind of puzzling to leave the cows out, say definitively that he doesn't care about the cows and nothing will be done about them, but yet still making an effort to place roadblocks to prevent access from the messes the cows are making. And in one case, even shutting down an organized effort to clean up and prevent more cow manure from accumulating (almost felt like he was saying, I won't be bothered to do anything about trolling, and I'll be damned if I let you try to do anything about it yourselves!).
Some of use dung to grow roses :-D
Since the immediate problem is solved (at least in my mind), my larger concern now is the moderation of off-topic. Or rather, the selective moderation, as has been alluded to.
C3's dung analogy above (adapted from an original Bingo work) is right on.