RolStoppable said:
If that kind of ruling was applied, then people would be free to say whatever they want. It would be empowerment of jerks and that runs contrary to the goal of having intelligent discussions. The effect of this can be seen in political threads where moderation is laxer than in the other forums, because most members of the mod team are hardly interested in politics and are unsure when and how much they should interfere. People whose opinions are suppressed in gaming discussions have a tendency to express their true self in political discussions because of the greater leeway. There's quite a strong correlation between troublemakers in politics and troublemakers in gaming, or would-be troublemakers in gaming. Your suggestion is that people should grow a thicker thin, but the better course of action is to force people who are repeatedly trolling to think more about what they post. Not everyone in the community can be pleased, so what needs to be considered is who and what is the greater loss. Option 1: Ban a troublemaker repeatedly and the worst thing that can happen is that it ends with a permaban or that the troublemaker leaves voluntarily; the latter may also apply to supporters of the troublemaker, provided there are any. Option 2: Don't moderate and you risk that people who are interested in good discourse retreat from discussions or don't bother entering them altogether. Both of the aforementioned options also come with a ripple effect; they determine which kind of new members are going to be attracted to post in the forums. |
No. People would be able to say what they want within the normal rules unless they clearly step over them or using a proxy. I have a problem with splitting hairs to find a meaning that might be there and using that as a cause to ban someone over something that doesn't break the rules but offends people for whatever reason like Kerotan's post. A controversial or offensive-only-to-a-small-group opinion spoken a few times doesn't make it trolling so saying the same things a hundred times more doesn't make it trolling regardless if it infuriates a group or not. Especially if the comment is related to the topic, you shouldn't be able to conflate a post that doesn't break any rules outright with trolling. At that point, you can permaban someone because they can't walk a tightrope. Do you really think this sort of shit is a big deal? How much time do you think the mods waste dicking around with trying to figure if an innocent post is indeed trolling or just a user giving a controversial opinion?
There's a huge difference in between the level of chaos just giving an opinion that's not liked repeatedly and people indirectly attacking others using loopholes with the intent to troll or flame. I think users using loopholes to attack others is a bigger problem and it's tolerated to the point of being ignored.
Attacking others' character by attacking public persons or groups or other person's character traits but because the groups or persons are of the outside of gaming it's not seen as a trolling or flaming. ugh. It's an asisinine loophole that a lot of people use to jab at eachother especially the users who been here awhile. *wink wink An easy example of this is "People who voted for trump are idiots". You can call anyone anything using that method. Another example of this "If you were a video character, I wonder if you would be related to Sandel...". Sometimes, this stuff is moderated and often times it's not. It just depends on far it's pushed.
Another practice that I've noticed but it is allowed is a user (an alt likely) says something that gets them banned or moderated that's really bad but 50 people reply to it say they agree to the post or expand on the spirit of it without any risk of moderaton. They are more saying themselves but the proxy took the fall for it. This is related in a way to posting videos or articles with things in them if written out in the forum would get them banned but because it's someone else's opinion or content, it's given a pass.
Here's an example of that.
People love this spanish guy meme. I remember it was a little way back but this one (below) was used in a spiderman thread and it was not taken well.
This stuff is actual stealth trolling because it's safe from moderation thanks to the rules framed and the intent behind them is often to cause mischief. To be honest, the mods could have changed some of the ways they've handle those but definitely not all. i don't know how arguing over numbers or sales predictions could be seen as trolling but me calling someone an idiot is a roundabout way or using a vid to do it is not.
People should be able to handle disagreeable opinions (especially if they are civil) on the internet without being offended or feeling compelled to flag or moderate a person. That's not a perfect or ideal world but a very rational and sensible one. If they can't then yes they should grow some thicker skin. I rather the community be able to express any opinions just so long as they are not attacking or indirectly attacking others. It's the least toxic with the best chances at geniune discussion and it doesn't favor any groups who report excessively. I don't care if someone is wrong and they want to say that thing a hundred times but it bothers some people. Tough titty.
I have more faith in the community than what your worst case scenario implies about them being unable to handle opinions. I think they'll get used to it, adapt, debate and converse with others. The whole point of coming here is not for numbers or getting into a circle jerk echo chamber but to converse with others who have a similar hobby. Debating and disagreeing is a part of that.
