Question for anti gay marriage people.

[Adami]

You had to prove that?

Appearently none of you had the priviledge of discussing anything with former brother Disappear. Nothing spartan banana guy said was true. It was a brilliant troll.

No, apparently he was before my time. Are his posts still up somewhere or am I out of luck? 

If you go to our distant cousin site, he still posts there. But his posts there are lost in a sea of retardation. I don't know if his stuff here is still up, he was banned quite some time ago for the exact same kind of stuff sparta was. Only he gave off a super overly liberal persona, not an overly catholic conservative one.

[icysk8r]

Sometimes I forget that this is DREAM THEATER forums.  So I think trolls would just be an obvious and normal thing to have.  But then when I remember this is a site for Dream Theater fans, I wonder why the hell a troll would pick here.

[Super Dude]

Yeah it seems like an unusually obscure locale for trolls.  I dunno, maybe we've gained a reputation for tight moderation and they come to test the waters and rock the boat, darned if I know.

[Perpetual Change]

I have a hard imagining how anyone could have thought Spartan Banana guy was being serious toward the end, but whatever. Spamming the thread with a bunch of joke posts is just as bad as insulting someone once, I guess.

I like Spartan Banana guy, though. Hope he comes back after his vacation.

[Super Dude]

I have a hard imagining how anyone could have thought Spartan Banana guy was being serious toward the end, but whatever. Spamming the thread with a bunch of joke posts is just as bad as insulting someone once, I guess.

I like Spartan Banana guy, though. Hope he comes back after his vacation.

[Perpetual Change]

Superdude,

Take my hand. Come and see the wonders of homoearth with me.

[icysk8r]

[ariich]

[Perpetual Change]

Time for a new P/R poll: Homoearth: Utopian Paradise, Dystopian Nightmare, or neither?

Do you support homoearth? If the free-market brought it about, would you?

[soundgarden]

 

[icysk8r]

Actually, why don't we keep the gay people on this "obsolete world" and send the heteros to homoearth and just name it heteroearth?  If it's so great then why would you want to send gay people there instead of yourself and the people you are comfortable with?  Just wondering...(I guess he'll have to answer this when he comes back, although i don't know why I'm even asking the troll a question)

[Adami]

Actually, why don't we keep the gay people on this "obsolete world" and send the heteros to homoearth and just name it heteroearth?  If it's so great then why would you want to send gay people there instead of yourself and the people you are comfortable with?  Just wondering...(I guess he'll have to answer this when he comes back, although i don't know why I'm even asking the troll a question)

Cause why would us MEN want to go to some place called Homoearth? That's pretty gay.

As for renaming it, why not rename anal sex "almost vaginal sex"? Cause we don't rename things.

[bosk1]

And just so we're clear, constantly calling someone a "troll" and harassing them for every post simply because they have extreme views (even if you might personally consider them extremely dumb views) is, plain and simple, a personal attack.  And the fact that we have page after page of that exact conduct is the type of thing that is heading this board for a shut-down.

[Seventh Son]

And just so we're clear, constantly calling someone a "troll" and harassing them for every post simply because they have extreme views (even if you might personally consider them extremely dumb views) is, plain and simple, a personal attack.  And the fact that we have page after page of that exact conduct is the type of thing that is heading this board for a shut-down.

Maybe its the kind of home I grew up in, but if you said something really dumb, you were told "Hey, that was really stupid. Don't be a dumbshit". Do it twice and you got told "I thought I told you not to be a dumbshit, dumbshit." Do it a third time and it wouldn't be pretty 

I know this forum works differently and all, and I respect that but I think that's part of the average person's mindset to call someone out if they say something dumb.

[j]

People that never go near P/R were dropping in just to rag on the guy.  He hasn't posted in three days, and yet the thread lives on.

I'm sure he got the message that his opinions were pretty radical and unfounded.

-J

[El Barto]

Personally, I like people with radical opinions.  Extremists have actually made P/R more entertaining lately.  I agree with Bosk that the incessant troll badgering is more of a nuisance than the posters themselves.  I think he's taking it far too seriously, but his point is valid.  The regular posters here have been more disruptive than the so-called trolls. 

[Seventh Son]

Personally, I like people with radical opinions.  Extremists have actually made P/R more entertaining lately.  I agree with Bosk that the incessant troll badgering is more of a nuisance than the posters themselves.  I think he's taking it far too seriously, but his point is valid.  The regular posters here have been more disruptive than the so-called trolls. 

Problem is, someone who is posting radical opinions for the sake of shaking up the whole board and getting a lot of reactions is the definition of a troll (Not calling anyone out here.......) . And trolls tend to disrupt good conversation so there becomes a mentality to purge the forum of the troll so it can resume normally once more. After all, you don't see too much badgering between the normal P/R posters, do you?

I mean, I really can't blame others for calling him a troll given his actions. I've seen people act in the exact same way and stir up a lot of trouble like that very easily before on other sites. After all, what better way to stir up a bunch of atheists than to pose as a hard-lined evangelical (regardless if you actually believe it or not) in an atheist forum? You'll get a lot of attention before you even know it! Or vice versa, posing as a militant atheist in a heavily christian forum would pretty much do the same thing. You'll get called out for being a troll by the whole place anyway.

[GuineaPig]

I don't regret calling someone out on deeply intolerant beliefs, especially considering that it's this same type of casual cruelty which lies behind a lot of the recent suicides amongst gay teens.  

If he had come in here and suggested that all Muslims be rounded up and sent to "Terrarist" or something you can be sure he would've been banned in a heartbeat.

[Adami]

I don't regret calling someone out on deeply intolerant beliefs, especially considering that it's this same type of casual cruelty which lies behind a lot of the recent suicides amongst gay teens.  

If he had come in here and suggested that all Muslims be rounded up and sent to "Terrarist" or something you can be sure he would've been banned in a heartbeat.

To be fair I did jokingly suggest that all christians be rounded up and sent to a different planet, I wasn't warned or anything.

[j]

Personally, I like people with radical opinions.  Extremists have actually made P/R more entertaining lately.  I agree with Bosk that the incessant troll badgering is more of a nuisance than the posters themselves.  I think he's taking it far too seriously, but his point is valid.  The regular posters here have been more disruptive than the so-called trolls. 

I agree.

Problem is, someone who is posting radical opinions for the sake of shaking up the whole board and getting a lot of reactions is the definition of a troll (Not calling anyone out here.......) . And trolls tend to disrupt good conversation so there becomes a mentality to purge the forum of the troll so it can resume normally once more. After all, you don't see too much badgering between the normal P/R posters, do you?

How do you know his goal was just to shake things up?  On a board where most of us are pretty moderate about something like gay marriage, it's refreshing to have a different perspective to look at, even if you or I consider it totally ridiculous.  That doesn't mean the guy has nothing to offer, or that we have nothing to learn from him (potentially).  It's too bad that anybody with a radical view of something gets beaten into submission by a bunch of equally useless emotional posts instead of being given the opportunity to reasonably defend himself.

I mean not just anybody can mastermind something like project: homoearth.  SovereignDream, I hope we see you again one day, sweet prince.

-J

[Seventh Son]

Problem is, someone who is posting radical opinions for the sake of shaking up the whole board and getting a lot of reactions is the definition of a troll (Not calling anyone out here.......) . And trolls tend to disrupt good conversation so there becomes a mentality to purge the forum of the troll so it can resume normally once more. After all, you don't see too much badgering between the normal P/R posters, do you?

How do you know his goal was just to shake things up?  On a board where most of us are pretty moderate about something like gay marriage, it's refreshing to have a different perspective to look at, even if you or I consider it totally ridiculous.  That doesn't mean the guy has nothing to offer, or that we have nothing to learn from him (potentially).  It's too bad that anybody with a radical view of something gets beaten into submission by a bunch of equally useless emotional posts instead of being given the opportunity to reasonably defend himself.

I mean not just anybody can mastermind something like project: homoearth.  SovereignDream, I hope we see you again one day, sweet prince.

-J

If I made a topic saying that we should send all Christians to another planet and leave this one for all the non-believers and presented it in a serious fashion, I can guarantee you that I would be banned.

Sometimes, you just "know". After you've seen many trolls in a lot of political/religious arguments in the past, you just get to the point where you know when someone is only there to get a rise out of everyone and nothing else.

[icysk8r]

It isn't his views, it's the matter in which he states them that pisses me off.  I know people disapprove of gay marriage and/or gay acts and give a perfectly articulate statement as to why without pissing people off.  Whether that opinion is bullshit or not is irrelevant.  You have to get your opinion across without calling someone a 'little sissy' or other names because it makes you look like an idiot.

Problem is, someone who is posting radical opinions for the sake of shaking up the whole board and getting a lot of reactions is the definition of a troll (Not calling anyone out here.......) . And trolls tend to disrupt good conversation so there becomes a mentality to purge the forum of the troll so it can resume normally once more. After all, you don't see too much badgering between the normal P/R posters, do you?

How do you know his goal was just to shake things up?  On a board where most of us are pretty moderate about something like gay marriage, it's refreshing to have a different perspective to look at, even if you or I consider it totally ridiculous.  That doesn't mean the guy has nothing to offer, or that we have nothing to learn from him (potentially).  It's too bad that anybody with a radical view of something gets beaten into submission by a bunch of equally useless emotional posts instead of being given the opportunity to reasonably defend himself.

I mean not just anybody can mastermind something like project: homoearth.  SovereignDream, I hope we see you again one day, sweet prince.

-J

If I made a topic saying that we should send all Christians to another planet and leave this one for all the non-believers and presented it in a serious fashion, I can guarantee you that I would be banned.

Sometimes, you just "know". After you've seen many trolls in a lot of political/religious arguments in the past, you just get to the point where you know when someone is only there to get a rise out of everyone and nothing else.

this too.

[bosk1]

If I made a topic saying that we should send all Christians to another planet and leave this one for all the non-believers and presented it in a serious fashion, I can guarantee you that I would be banned.

No, you wouldn't.  I don't think you would be very well respected for posting such a silly thing, but you wouldn't be banned for it provided your posts follwed the rules.  But that's beside the point.  Bottom line is, you may think you "know" when somebody is trolling.  If you think someone is trolling, and it's to the point where it is bothering you and/or disrupting discussion, your job is to report it.  Your job is not to yourself attack the person posting or add to a pile of "loltroll" posts.  It is up to me (and the mods), not you, to decide whether to ban someone for trolling (or other violations).  If you insist on attacking the person yourself, you are likely to be the person to get warned or banned.

[Seventh Son]

If I made a topic saying that we should send all Christians to another planet and leave this one for all the non-believers and presented it in a serious fashion, I can guarantee you that I would be banned.

No, you wouldn't.  I don't think you would be very well respected for posting such a silly thing, but you wouldn't be banned for it provided your posts follwed the rules.  But that's beside the point.  Bottom line is, you may think you "know" when somebody is trolling.  If you think someone is trolling, and it's to the point where it is bothering you and/or disrupting discussion, your job is to report it.  Your job is not to yourself attack the person posting or add to a pile of "loltroll" posts.  It is up to me (and the mods), not you, to decide whether to ban someone for trolling (or other violations).  If you insist on attacking the person yourself, you are likely to be the person to get warned or banned.

Well given that I'm not a Christian, I would assume the topic would be taken as a personal attack against Christianity and thus, trolling. But I guess not.

I suppose its the byproduct of too much exposure to trolls because when I see that happening, that's exactly what hits my thought process is "lol this guy is so trolling, *grabs popcorn*". Nearly impossible to find a place on the internet without having someone decide to start trolling the place, so I'm just too incredibly used to saying "lol troll".

[Super Dude]

In the defense of P/R regulars, he was doing more than posting controversial views in an inflammatory manner. He was also personally demeaning to people on the other side of the argument, and bordered on defamation of gays and lesbians.

[PlaysLikeMyung]

In the defense of P/R regulars, he was doing more than posting controversial views in an inflammatory manner. He was also personally demeaning to people on the other side of the argument, and bordered on defamation of gays and lesbians.

I noticed this too, and he was baiting those on the opposite side of the argument to attack him (at least that's how I saw it).

This is off topic at this point though

but yeah, I think that the gay community should be able to do whatever it wants with regards to marriage

[ariich]

In the defense of P/R regulars, he was doing more than posting controversial views in an inflammatory manner. He was also personally demeaning to people on the other side of the argument, and bordered on defamation of gays and lesbians.

I pretty much agree with that, but bosk makes a very good point, if you suspect or even "know" that someone is trolling, posting "loltroll" is childish and makes even less contribution to the discussion than the alleged troll. Just report them and let the mods take action where necessary.

[Super Dude]

Yeah, I concede it should've been reported, although I'd argue 73109 and Icy tried to engage in legitimate debate, and it wasn't immediately clear that SovereignDream was trolling.

[ariich]

Yeah, I concede it should've been reported, although I'd argue 73109 and Icy tried to engage in legitimate debate, and it wasn't immediately clear that SovereignDream was trolling.

Indeed. Although sadly Cole's ability to argue coherently over something he feels strongly about leaves something to be desired.

[El Barto]

Problem is, someone who is posting radical opinions for the sake of shaking up the whole board and getting a lot of reactions is the definition of a troll (Not calling anyone out here.......) . And trolls tend to disrupt good conversation so there becomes a mentality to purge the forum of the troll so it can resume normally once more. After all, you don't see too much badgering between the normal P/R posters, do you?

How do you know his goal was just to shake things up?  On a board where most of us are pretty moderate about something like gay marriage, it's refreshing to have a different perspective to look at, even if you or I consider it totally ridiculous.  That doesn't mean the guy has nothing to offer, or that we have nothing to learn from him (potentially).  It's too bad that anybody with a radical view of something gets beaten into submission by a bunch of equally useless emotional posts instead of being given the opportunity to reasonably defend himself.

Yeah, therein lies the problem.  Having an outlandish opinion isn't trolling if you're intention is to promote and defend it.  My take on trolling is that the intention is the key.  If you're only looking to rile people up for LOLs, then it's problematic.  I didn't get that out of him.

Epicview was a better example.  I considered his posts to me no less misguided, but he was eager to defend them.  Yet the same problem with him being dismissed as a troll every other post existed. 

Furthermore,  while I didn't feel interested in reading through 5 pages of silliness,  I didn't see any baiting or personal attacks from him in what I did read.  I thought his weightlifting comment to Icy was pretty amusing.  The problem was that he wasn't in a position to pull off facetiousness, yet.  I suspect that if I'd said that to Icy,  he would have made a joke about it and all would have been kosher. 

[bosk1]

Oh, so now it's okay to derail the thread with anti-Semitic comments?  Barto, consider this your final warning.  Next time is a perm banfrom every Jewish deli in town

[icysk8r]

I suspect that if I'd said that to Icy,  he would have made a joke about it and all would have been kosher. 

Yes.

[ariich]

Oh, so now it's okay to derail the thread with anti-Semitic comments?  Barto, consider this your final warning.  Next time is a perm banfrom every Jewish deli in town

Nicely done.

[PlaysLikeMyung]

Oh, so now it's okay to derail the thread with anti-Semitic comments?  Barto, consider this your final warning.  Next time is a perm banfrom every Jewish deli in town

I lol'd

[j]

In the defense of P/R regulars, he was doing more than posting controversial views in an inflammatory manner. He was also personally demeaning to people on the other side of the argument, and bordered on defamation of gays and lesbians.

I noticed this too, and he was baiting those on the opposite side of the argument to attack him (at least that's how I saw it).

What?  We all do this kind of stuff all the time.  He was saying dumb stuff and so were 90210 and everybody.  Eventually he took it too far, but there were quite a few people contributing to making the thread shitty.  Possibly including myself.  And at this point, *definitely* including myself.

I understand there have to be rules, and I appreciate them.  But it seems like a lot of people here are just overly sensitive and need to lighten up.  It's an internet forum.

-J