Well, when I whip out my humongous eDick, people get ehurt. So I'm learning to control myself...
There had also been a PM from Darth, between that comment in the thread and this post. A pm that specifically got me thinking along these lines, which I've thought of at times before. I am not sure why this would be considered a passive-aggressive attack - or...
I guess maybe I kind of get it, but it's just more of this crazy thinking on my part. You go into something (the generic you) thinking someone is a certain kind of person, and that is how you start reading everything they post.
In reality, you can do that to anyone, twist anything anyone posts no matter how hard they try, if your intent is already to do so - consciously or not.
Troll paranoia, dear. It's the #1 cause for online feuds these days.I just wish people would stop assigning sinister motives to things I say that are not, and never have, existed.
Trolling is kind of a fine art some people confuse with general boorishness or asshat behavior. It is a deft practice designed to let the wind out of the sails of those who desperately need it, and at the same time giving everyone a little chuckle. For example: changing certain forum options, no matter what the stated intent, is a fine troll because there are those who take such things a little too seriously and need to be reminded that not all is as lifeshattering as the color of karma stars.
On the other hand, the "boogeyman troll" is equally fine when handled correctly, such as Darth occasionally jumping out of the ExIsle bushes and yelling "Booga booga" at them so they'll continue to be frightened of him. Done well, this is very effective and requires very little effort (and let's face it, if we weren't ALL lazy bastards our hobbies would be hiking and hanggliding, not the fucking internet) however, done incorrectly it becomes a Comicon Jackdancer wandering back in after a long absence to find a disinterested audience. It's all about timing.
At any rate, the perfect Troll is a lot like Shakespeare's Fool; wise enough to tell a king from a codpiece, ingenious enough to get away with deliberately confusing the two, and likable enough that he or she can say with impunity that neither the king nor the codpiece is a more useful tool.
Which would imply that the goal of a troll is to not get banned. So:the perfect Troll is a lot like Shakespeare's Fool; wise enough to tell a king from a codpiece
Hey, knock yourself out. But please try to restrain yourself from rambling on endlessly - it's so tedious to read walls of texts spanning over 6 or 7 paragraphs....After reading this thread I've come away with a strong desire to say something smart.
I do understand something now that I didn't then - and that contributed in part also. For a long time I did not understand the minefield.
Do not get me wrong, I never had anything against it, even found it amusing. What I didn't understand was what it was really all about.
To most of us, a board is a place we go to hang out and blow off some steam or whatever. But for some of the minefielder's, I think the forum serves a very real need in their lives, more so than I understood.
The result of this - when I was playing with the board and mods and hacks - though I think a lot of good came from it, I was disrupting the posting in the minefield. And I didn't realize why that was a big deal. Now I do.
Though, perhaps not as bad as the misunderstanding that led to the CU/Messy/Jack war, it seems to have left a scar on my relation to the minefield. That's okay, but kind of unfortunate. Because now that I understand what it really is, I kind of could use it.
Anyway, I am here to hopefully, this time, do no harm intentional or otherwise. TK has grown too small for this. I think it's time for us to stop fighting with each other.
Full disclosure - I'm in the middle of a brutal benzodiazepines withdrawl: which has been driving my overly emotional posting lately. Due to this, I think it's best if I minimize my time online for the next 3 or 4 weeks.
Whoa, wait...what? I remember a number of conflicts between any two or even three of the above mentioned parties, but not something that involved all four (if you include Hambil.) What'd I miss...? Links? Keywords?Though, perhaps not as bad as the misunderstanding that led to the CU/Messy/Jack war,