Flamebait allowed?

[Quasqueton]

What would be said of a person going to a Dog-lover forum and posting (repeatedly) "Cats rule, dogs drool." Or "Cats rule, dawgs drool."?

What would be said of a person going to a Chicago forum and posting (repeatedly) "Chicago is a stunted version of New York." or "Chicagone is a stunted version of New York."?

What would be said of a person going to a Lord of the Rings forum and posting (repeatedly) "Tolkien was a hack." or "Tolcan't was a hack."?

What would be said of a person going to a Rolemaster forum and posting (repeatedly) "Rolemaster is a poorly designed rip off of D&D." or "Chartmaster is a poorly designed rip off of D&D."?

What would be said of a person going to the Dragonsfoot forum and posting (repeatedly) "O/AD&D are an ill-conceived and incomplete attempt at a game system." or "EG&G is an ill-conceived and incomplete attempt at a game system."

Would those posters be called out as trolls trying to start arguments? Would such comments be allowed constantly?

Why does this D&D/d20 board allow some people to constantly say, "d20 is not D&D." or "d02 ain't D&D."? And all the variations of that kind of trolling comment. "Third edtion killed D&D." "The game has gone downhill ever since AD&D1." etc.

Such statements are nothing more than "forum grenades" thrown into conversation to prompt a flame war. Such statements do not further discussion; do not add interesting information; serve no purpose other than flame bait. It is an intentional insult. Even if no one is actually insulted by the comments, the intention is there.

Yet, here, such trolling comments are allowed. It's not like saying the current game is "too/more complicated." Or that the art is "too spikey". Such things are topics for discussion. What I'm talking about are those comments that have no purpose or value other than to slight, insult, and bait the people of the forum.

Why are such "grenades" allowed here? [And it's not just one person, either.] It just seems odd, that given ENWorld's other pretty tight restrictions and guidelines for decency and politeness (which I agree with and appreciate), that such flamebait is not warned off.

Quasqueton

 

[Morrus]

If you see a problem thread, the best thing to do is report it by using the report post button.

 

[Hand of Evil]

There is a 'report bad post' button at the bottom of the user field, this alerts mods to a concern you may have on a post and allows them to make the call.



I hope I have not cause issue somehow.

 

[Umbran]

I can think of at least one such poster who's words have always been tolerated (including by myself).

The thing is that the analogy breaks down - this isn't like a Chicago forum unless there are a number of different Chicagos out there that share at least passing similarity to each other. The site may have a focus on 3.x D&D, but it is not limited to it.

All in all, I think flat statements "My favorite is good/real, all others are not good/real" are thoroughly non-constructive. But non-constructive does not equate to actionable. The question isn't whether the grenade gets dropped, but whether the grenade contributes to general destruction.

 

[Quasqueton]

The thing is that the analogy breaks down - this isn't like a Chicago forum unless there are a number of different Chicagos out there that share at least passing similarity to each other. The site may have a focus on 3.x D&D, but it is not limited to it.

I gave 5 examples. Even if one (arguably) doesn't fit, the other 4 support my point.

Say, instead of a Chicago forum, it is a "Big City" forum (for cities with over a million population). Someone says (repeatedly), "Big City 12 [with 1.01 million pop] isn't really a Big City." or "Almost Big City isn't really a Big City."

The question isn't whether the grenade gets dropped, but whether the grenade contributes to general destruction.

Drop a grenade in the command tent, and it doesn't matter that it turned out to be a dud. If I post an obvious troll, but it doesn't start a real flame war, am I still being a jerk, and need a warning?

Quasqueton

 

[Crothian]

Sometimes in the context of a thread certain comments are not as bad as they look when they are just seen without the context they were written.

The Mods cannot be everywhere all the time, so just report the post that may be flamebait. That's what I do.

 

[EricNoah]

It takes two to play the game -- one to be a troll and one to rise to the bait. For the most part, EN World users do a great job of not rising to bait; if anything, they respond to an "unreasonable" statement with good questions, requests for clarification, etc. That's the best defense -- douse the flame with the cold, wet blanket of decorum.

I guess I must be missing the person/people who are doing this a lot. Sure, there are members here who are D&D players who don't love 3rd edition. They're welcome to say what they like and what they don't like as long as they're not making personal attacks and violating the rules.

Beyond that ... point the mods to a thread/post where it actually happened when it happens is all I can suggest.

 

[der_kluge]

I think EN hit on it.

Above all else, I consider this a D&D forum, and secondly I consider it a role-playing forum. I think thirdly I consder it a d20 forum. Some might disagree with me.

I think given my choice, I'd rather play HARP over D&D, but I still hang out here, because I enjoy the forums, and can still bounce game ideas off people. So, yea there are people here who despise d20, but even those who constantly complain still offer nuggets of wisdom because good ideas are system-independent.

 

[Quasqueton]

It takes two to play the game -- one to be a troll and one to rise to the bait. For the most part, EN World users do a great job of not rising to bait; if anything, they respond to an "unreasonable" statement with good questions, requests for clarification, etc. That's the best defense -- douse the flame with the cold, wet blanket of decorum.

So a troll is OK so long as no one rises to the bait? That's like saying it's not a foul unless you punch back.

Quasqueton

 

[Crothian]

So a troll is OK so long as no one rises to the bait? That's like saying it's not a foul unless you punch back.

Actually, that's no blood no foul, play ground rules.

I think if no one takes the bait and the troll is ignored it doesn't matter. You can still report him though. Your orginal post seems to suggest this type of thing goes on all the time by many posters, but I'm not seeing it. It also looks like you want these people banned or something to prevent them from posting here. I think that might be an over reaction.