When at the computer and in a dialogue..Do I ever...

The Cove · Post by **The Cove** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 8:27 am

I think he was testing the waters - to see what he could get away with. Guess he found out. I have become more troll like myself - or rather - I have less patience for certain aspects of the online occult community. So for me, it isn't trolling rather standing my ground in regards for what I think to be a valid form of communication, containing what it contains in it's way, relevant as anything else.

I also am a admin on S... - the news/link site that used to be on the T... front page - when it still existed. The site has seen better days with traffic and so on - but if you want to see some over the top trolling - it can happen there, almost anything can be written there - the comments section is traditionally a troll pit and no one is safe - well maybe me - being a Troll King. I just realized this post may seem as a spam thing so will delete the names of the two sites just leave the first letter as a hint. Those who are torrent pirates will know what I am referring too. The reason I mention this at all is Kath's reference to trolling as an art.

Too bad about 1911 though - he was old school - and should of been given his moment to vent his spleen. I have been greatly frustrated by the draconian posting policies on other occult forums - sure he ran into it too, and did what he did, I am sure, for that reason. He is/was a troll - but not only that.

(Well, someone's gotta defend the old school.)

Kath · Post by **Kath** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 12:20 pm

He is/was a troll - but not only that.

in the distant past, 1911 made some interesting posts on the old OF.
But at some point he completely stopped adding anything constructive to any thread, like ever. For the last year or so of the old OF, I can't think of a single instance of a non-trolling post made by him. And yeah, people actually looked for an example of such a post. And I can't remember for sure (I was kinda busy), but I think he finally got banned for trolling before the end of the forum.

Some of the posting policies were draconian, I was never a fan of locking new threads because of ancient threads existing with similar titles. I expressed as much, privately in the mods section, but I was a minority view on that

Other than that though, I don't think that the old OF was draconian... more like anarchic. I can say that about 9 out of 10 people who left the old OF left because of rampant poor behavior & lack of policing (the other 1 in 10 were typically banned people who hated the evil rule enforcing nazi's). actually I can think of one person who left just because they thought getting banned would be cool and/or their patron deity said they should. But pretty much everybody else was in those 9/10 & 1/10 categories.

Unfortunately there was an entire troll community on the old OF, so as soon as you banned one for especially bad behavior, 50 others would decry the evils of the forum for being so harsh and unfair. Half the time the ringleaders of this outcry were in fact the banned member using proxies to reconnect. Towards the end I think the forum was much more about attention whoring, bravado, conflict, and cults of personality, than about the actual occult. Thus my own absence towards the end. Sure I was in the hospital, so I had plenty of reason to be gone, but I could have been around a lot more than I was. But for me, occult forums are R&R time, if there's no actual enjoyment involved, I'll just do something else.

But I think maybe you were speaking of of TEL? I saw that over there. I agree with you that cussing is part of human expression, and arguably that the very idea of being wary of cussing & taboo speech is a sort of narrow-minded archaic western thing. Still, Tom can have his forum however he wants it. Forums are privately owned things, people can run them however they want. One can't go into someone else's house and argue with them about their house rules. There are a few places on the net that I simply left because I strongly disagreed with the staff, but I didn't make a scene, or play my own violin in a fit of persecution. They can run their thing however they want ...and I can just be somewhere else

The Cove · Post by **The Cove** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 4:39 pm

You are correct, I was not referring to the old OF. In regards to 1911 - you were a mod so more aware of his general activity then I was so will desist in any defense of him.

I also agree with what you state about other Forums doing it the way they want. I also just left - I wasn't banned from any of them - just chose not to continue posting.

But, this being 'The Troll Pit' - I feel it is my god given duty to jump out from under the bridge and type to everyone on this forum:

OMFG STFU or GTFO!!!

This would be a blanket insult pertaining to nothing at all. A sort of Zen Moment in Trollism.

You read it here first.

Kath · Post by **Kath** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 3:45 pm

heeee

pics or it didn't happen

Shades · Post by **Shades** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 3:59 pm

Kath wrote:heeee

pics or it didn't happen

mmmhhh ?
I suppose that you wanted to post here http://www.occultforum.org/forum?task=v ... =27823&p=2
Am I wrong ?

DestroyedBySet · Post by **DestroyedBySet** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 5:30 am

Ah, the semantics of defining what constitues "a troll". A new subject to be sure. Back when the internet was first around, a troll was very obvious. There was no joke involved. No prank. There was defintely no subtetly involved. In a way it saddens me to see people accused of being trolls when they are not, because I've been on that end of the stick before.

It used to be a troll was very very blatant. A troll went into a forum and posted links to porn sites, or even virus downloads. After some time passed, trolls became more advanced, and more specific to the forum or website they visited. Indeed, trolling is a respectable art imo. There is nothing really like a well executed troll. I've had some of my best laughs chuckling at a well executed troll.

But somehow the definition of troll has changed over the years. Suddenly it's becomes just someone "who tries to stir up drama". Now it's even gotten to the point who anyone who has a passive agressive personality is considered a troll. At the most extreme, the modern defintion of trolling is anyone who disagress. Which is shame, because there was a time where people openly debated issues on the internet. They did it because they could. They could openly debate controversial issues on the internet because they were sitting behind the comfort of their computer sipping on green tea and no REAL harm would come.

Thats what the internet used to be about imo, talking about stuff you couldn't comfortably talk about face to face. Now internet is too PC imo. Now, if you have an honest disagreement with some viewpoint that is being spewed, and you vocalize it, suddenly you're a trouble maker and branded a troll. What a shame. That kind of attitude only inhibits honest and open communication, which is what the internet should be about imo. Too often someone who is merely passive agrresive or some such is labeled a troll, when they are not trolling, that's just their personality.

I think a lot of times there is a "good member" every once in awhile, and suddenly everyone expects everyone else to act like that, instead of embracing diversity, and diverse viewpoints, diverse people, and diverse posters. But, whatever. In my observation the most successful sites are the ones that are laxed. just imo.

Post by **Venefica** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 8:25 pm

Sometimes the word troll is thrown about like an insult, much like fluffy are, if someone say something you do not like, then they are a troll. However the people saying these things are just using dirty tricks to discredit someone they can not win over in a debate with logic and reasonable argument. However to me a troll is someone that go into a forum for the sole purpose of stirring up trouble. Like for example Wiccans going into the forum Christian Fundamentalism dot Org or something like that, the person's posts can not possibly lead to other things than arguments and a mess. Another form of troll is people that go into a forum and but into every tread just to tell folks that they are better than them. Like one we had at old OccultForums who claimed to be the only sort of twue magician. Basically a troll is someone that annoy and argue and sir up arguments just for the hell of it and that contribute nothing useful to the forum.

Mist · Post by **Mist** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 6:54 pm

Kath's original reply to the troll => TouchÃ© o.o

On topic: I rarely get angry at all besides at excess moments of stupidity and/or negative childishness, thus I perform number 1 or 3 occasionally.

Kath · Post by **Kath** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:14 am

mmm, getting angry isn't worth it really. I'm not getting paid to visit a forum & read/write posts. its R&R time for me, its pretty much strictly for enjoyment purposes. if I'm not enjoying it, i'll just go shoot some zombies for a while or something

besides, if someone wants to make you angry, nothing could be more frustrating for them than their failing completely. well, almost nothing...

Spinel · Post by **Spinel** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 12:43 am

I tell you what, one forum I use to go to had people who seemed to be there only to cause arguments. Basically many of the posts involved anything that they believed was incorrect and asking for proof, even with beliefs. Which I find amazing in a forum that's partly to discuss religion. I found the only way to diffuse such a situation was to either ignore, or ask many questions back at them, and if they're not there for discussion, then that probably won't be to their taste.

Kath · Post by **Kath** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 4:30 am

*nod* cynicism, if overdone, can stifle any actual 'discussion'.

Shaam · Post by **Shaam** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:07 pm

Best thing to do is:

Don't feed the Troll!