Any chance of banning IBTL?

[Aberzanzorax]

A personal irritation of mine is when people write IBTL or "In Before the Lock".

Frankly, I see it as threadcrapping, and don't really see a positive side to it.


I'll also note several threads have had IBTL posted at some point and have never been locked...or have gone on for quite some time.


I dunno....I just find it kinda passive aggressive..."your thread is inflammatory and I'll say it publicly in a snide way...but won't actually contribute to addressing any problems I see or simply ignoring them".

 

[jaerdaph]

 

[Umbran]

I dunno....I just find it kinda passive aggressive...

It does not fit the definition of "passive aggressive" as I understand it. Passive aggressiveness is characterized by ambiguous or cryptic speech - with a P-A statement, you can question what the person is talking about. This is most definitely not the case with "IBTL" - they are quite clear they think the thread's destined to go downhill.

"your thread is inflammatory and I'll say it publicly in a snide way...but won't actually contribute to addressing any problems I see or simply ignoring them".

Reporting a problem is probably more constructive than "IBTL" statements. However, it is not so disruptive that we're apt to ban (and thus discipline people for) saying it.

 

[Alzrius]

In before the polite response!

 

[Aberzanzorax]

First....lols.


To address Umbran, touche' my terminology was lax.

Not "passive-aggressive". What I was attempting to capture was that it is often used in a somewhat joking fashion ("ha ha, we all know this thread's going to be locked") along with deriding the thread itself. Sarcastic? That's not right either... It's aggressiveness with a hint of humor that disguises how aggressive it actually is.

A direct, and nonhumorous version might be a post of nothing other than "This thread is inflammatory." Come to think of it, that's not SUCH a bad thing to say, I suppose.

In any case, I guess you're right, no need to ban it.

 

[Piratecat]

I see your point, but if I were lining things up against the proverbial wall to dispose of, IBTL wouldn't be in the front of the line.

 

[RangerWickett]

I see your point, but if I were lining things up against the proverbial wall to dispose of, IBTL wouldn't be in the front of the line.

Yetis, though . . . they're a menace. Put em up against the wall.

(Gainst! The! Wall!)

 

[Henry]

I see your point, but if I were lining things up against the proverbial wall to dispose of, IBTL wouldn't be in the front of the line.

Bunnies, though... those shifty furry bastards need to go.

 

[TheYeti1775]

Yetis, though . . . they're a menace. Put em up against the wall.

(Gainst! The! Wall!)

Whatta got against Yeti's?????

 

[renau1g]

I had someone say IBTL in a thread I started about cuisine utilizing monsters from the MM and I didn't even understand what it was until I googled it. I was like WTF? I'm looking for some cool ideas on how to add some flavour (pun intended) into an adventure I'm working on. A sample I pointed out where gelatinous cube glaze on Bullette steak to soften the normally tough meat.

Maybe I don't understand the interwebs too well, but why would someone even care about being IBTL? Is it like those idiots who post "First" after a thread is started (usually when like a dev posts in video game forums or WoTC when 4e was in development)