This is a Troll [meta-thread]

[Dave Blewer]

I type a very angry response to Baraendur, but when I review it I discover that it is far too personal and angry and delete it, and return to my resentful and bitter lurking...

My wife asks me what the problem is (my angry pounding off the keyboards has alerted her to my ire). I show her both Baraendur's posts and exclaim on how thay are wrong on so many levels.

She looks at me with a piteous look, but on reflection, whether that emotion is aimed at me or her long-suffering self cannot be determined.

 

[Alzrius]

I respond to the trollish response with greater anger, not bothering to be so polite this time. My responses are still tailored to get the proper point across, but are now liberally sprinkled with insulting remarks.

After this, I cease to post on this thread, content that other EN Worlders and the moderators will put the troll in his place, and because I realize that my last response made me embarrass myself somewhat, and that if I continue I may be reprimanded by the moderators.

 

[tleilaxu]

Having insulted Baraendur in my first post, I come back with an extremely long post that I have obviously spent the last half hour composing. Although at the beginning it seems to try to address the original point in a logical way, it continues to go further and further off on a Tangent (tm) which links the original controversial subject to another controversial subject, hopefully setting off two different discussions at once in the subsequent posts, increasing chaos and confusion. The futher along in the post you get the more insults pop in, although the post is so long-winded it is highly unlikely anyone will read the whole way through.

 

[MonkeyBoy]

I randomly decide that I can be a voice of conciliation and peace.

However I then entr into a long and rambling message centering on a side issue to the actaul thread, finishing with an irrelevant, yet deeply moving comment on the nature of cabbages.

99% of people ignore my post, yet someone out there is so moved by the cabbages that in some future post the thread will be thoroughly hijacked.

Unfortunately this results in a spurious and strangely tense cabbages debate interweaved with a few posts empty of either cabbages or the original thread subject, but instead filled only with bile - and thus the flame war achieves purity

 

[Skarp Hedin]

Adding nothing to the discussion, returns quickly to point out a spelling error in Baraendur's original post.

Makes smug superior remark, departs.

 

[Dave Blewer]

I still lurk, but now I skim the long posts and only bother to read the posts that are at the most 5 lines long.

As time passes I start to ignore the emails that inform me that somebody has replied to this thread - unless the replier is Baraendur in which case I return to the thread to either

a) Read his humiliating apology for holding such obviously wrong views

b) get increasingly angry at his responses until such time as the kids start giving me a wide berth when I am on the computer...

 

[GreyShadow]

Sends a PM to four different posters congratulating them on their position and to keep it up for all us lurkers.

Sits back happy.

 

[Darrin Drader]

No apologies are forthcoming, and I challenge the moderators to silence what can only be considered the only true interpretation of the issue.

I toss an insult at all lurkers for being too spineless to actually post anything.

 

[Dave Blewer]

I explode in incandescant rage and post a a long diatribe of rambling abuse...

I am unable to post again for a few hours for it seems that I have broken my keyboards spacebar such is the venom of my response. Further I cannot replace it for the wife and kids seem to have left the house (very quietly) and taken the car.

 

[Darrin Drader]

Laughs hysterically, switches to a well known and liked handle, and consoles Dave Blewer for letting the troll get to him. Makes a few rambling remarks about the subject matter that ultimately say nothing. Laughs again, switches back to troll's handle.