[9-30-11] Incredibly Lesbian Comics

[oenone]

I kinda like nymosy's posts. While I only rarely agree with what they're saying, I thought some of their posts on the end of the comic (like about the closing song being "teen spirit" by nirvana?) was kinda funny.

I don't think they're a troll.

[TCampbell]

T's right, though. His rules state that we can say whatever we want about his work as long as we're not attacking other forum members (or attacking him, Gisele, or Jason on a personal level).

So, for instance, I could say, "T, your writing is terrible, Character X would never say that to Character Y, this is stupid." Is it a useful, critical review? No. But it's allowed. The rules say so.

I could not say, "Shadrach, you're such a suck-up, omigawd." This would at least get me a warning from T, because it's not polite in the slightest, and politeness to other forum members is in the rules.

It's T's forum. We might not agree with all of his decisions regarding it, but this isn't a democracy, it's a cheerocrac-- I mean, a forum, with, like, two mods. If T wanted us involved in the mod-related decisions, he would give us mod powers.

While I'm sure many of us sympathize with Sgt. Rock's feelings on nymosy, the bottom line is that nym is within the rules while Rock isn't. Not to mention... Well, the post that annoyed Sgt. Rock so much is like a month old, so it could easily be seen as dragging up an old problem (though I don't think he meant to).

But the biggest thing here is that it's... a little immature. I don't mean to offend, but this is on the same level as... Well, I got into an argument with my cousin once and hung up on her. She immediately called me back and said, "You don't hang up on me, I hang up on you," and hung up. It was actually pretty hilarious, honestly, but not the least bit mature. It's very "I'm going to take the high road while having the last word anyway, nah nah."

This sums up most of my feelings on the matter.

Do I feel like some posters have tried to do an end run around the rules to be as irritating as possible without getting banned? Sometimes, but it's hard to measure intent. I think real trolls generally cross the line into personal attack themselves, if they fail to get the negative attention they're secretly craving.

Do I think the rules are even always fair? Hell if I know, really. But I stick to them, because they seem to work: because they seem to result in a fun community that I generally enjoy hanging out in. I'm sure there are other ways to encourage such a community, but this is mine.

[oenone]

T, you're a really great forum mod. <3

[sgtrock]

T's right, though. His rules state that we can say whatever we want about his work as long as we're not attacking other forum members (or attacking him, Gisele, or Jason on a personal level).

So, for instance, I could say, "T, your writing is terrible, Character X would never say that to Character Y, this is stupid." Is it a useful, critical review? No. But it's allowed. The rules say so.

I could not say, "Shadrach, you're such a suck-up, omigawd." This would at least get me a warning from T, because it's not polite in the slightest, and politeness to other forum members is in the rules.

It's T's forum. We might not agree with all of his decisions regarding it, but this isn't a democracy, it's a cheerocrac-- I mean, a forum, with, like, two mods. If T wanted us involved in the mod-related decisions, he would give us mod powers.

While I'm sure many of us sympathize with Sgt. Rock's feelings on nymosy, the bottom line is that nym is within the rules while Rock isn't. Not to mention... Well, the post that annoyed Sgt. Rock so much is like a month old, so it could easily be seen as dragging up an old problem (though I don't think he meant to).

But the biggest thing here is that it's... a little immature. I don't mean to offend, but this is on the same level as... Well, I got into an argument with my cousin once and hung up on her. She immediately called me back and said, "You don't hang up on me, I hang up on you," and hung up. It was actually pretty hilarious, honestly, but not the least bit mature. It's very "I'm going to take the high road while having the last word anyway, nah nah."

This sums up most of my feelings on the matter.

Do I feel like some posters have tried to do an end run around the rules to be as irritating as possible without getting banned? Sometimes, but it's hard to measure intent. I think real trolls generally cross the line into personal attack themselves, if they fail to get the negative attention they're secretly craving.

Do I think the rules are even always fair? Hell if I know, really. But I stick to them, because they seem to work: because they seem to result in a fun community that I generally enjoy hanging out in. I'm sure there are other ways to encourage such a community, but this is mine.

OK, ok. mea culpa. It's your forum, T, after all.

By way of explanation and apology, let me say this, though. I'm a big believer in freewheeling conversations that go in lots of directions. I enjoy a strong debate when the subject is warranted as long as everybody treats everyone else with respect. That's the kind of forum that I have moderated in the past and a big part of why I hang out here. In general, you do a great job of keeping the conversations at that level.

Sometimes, though, my long, LONG history on the Internet gets in my way. When I see such an obvious troll doing his best to spoil everyone else's fun and the moderator ignoring it, I have been known to revert to UseNet solutions. Killfiling this guy was definitely warranted because his posts were getting in the way of enjoying everyone else's contributions. Announcing it as we used to back in the bad old days? Maybe not so much.

P.S. Val, while it may have been an old post of his that finally got under my skin that day, the fact is that I haven't seen ANYTHING from him that I saw as a positive contribution to this board in a very long time. In fact, I think that was the 3rd negative one of his that I'd read in 20 minutes as I was catching up. That's why I was so annoyed.

[Lia S]

If you're running Firefox or Chrome, AdBlock Plus is fairly handy for avatars that are offensive, annoying, or otherwise eye-hurty. (I'm afraid I don't know of any options off the top of my head outside of Greasemonkey for people running IE or Safari, but I'm sure they're out there.) Adblock Plus can be found here, and all you do is left click on the image, go to "AdBlock Plus: Block Image," and then edit the filters to your heart's content.

... and the content blocker in Opera can do it too, although you have to be a bit careful to avoid blocking all avatars. On the other hand, Opera has this nice feature: press F12, uncheck "Enable Animated Images" . But I'm not sure I even want to get rid of the blinking avatar -- if someone needs that to get attention, that probably means there's nothing in the contents of their posts that can catch my attention with quality. Nothing wrong with a blinking warning next to something I don't need to read .

[Pink Freud]

I hate blocking people, and normally never do it, but when something's quite so distracting and headache-inducing as a quickly-blinking avatar, I have to. I have enough trouble reading the boards since the changeover with my R-G color blindness, I don't need someone trying to give me epilepsy on top of that. And I'm not loading some buggy third-party software to slow down my machine just to compensate for someone else, either.

[L'HommeQuiRit]

So, T. Here is what you need ask yourself:

Is the forum in place for the sake of nymosy?

Or is in place for the sake of THE MAJORITY of forumgoers?

If you care more about nymosy's right to annoy and cause strife and to possible give people grand mal attack, than you do about what MANY readers have expressed concern, than say so, and we will go elsewhere to discuss the comics.

Who's with me here?

[Ollie]

P.S. Val, while it may have been an old post of his that finally got under my skin that day, the fact is that I haven't seen ANYTHING from him that I saw as a positive contribution to this board in a very long time. In fact, I think that was the 3rd negative one of his that I'd read in 20 minutes as I was catching up. That's why I was so annoyed.

i love everything nymosy has ever said, ever

or almost

:C

edit* wow I didn't see there was a whole 'nother page after this comment, whoops.

[Alice Macher]

Really didn't want to get involved in this, but...maybe it's time for a thread-lock? Before this discussion centered around one particular person gets any more out of hand? Just suggesting. Okay with me if you don't, etc.

[Ollie]

I agree, but I have to comment on one more thing.

So, T. Here is what you need ask yourself:

Is the forum in place for the sake of nymosy?

Or is in place for the sake of THE MAJORITY of forumgoers?

If you care more about nymosy's right to annoy and cause strife and to possible give people grand mal attack, than you do about what MANY readers have expressed concern, than say so, and we will go elsewhere to discuss the comics.

Who's with me here?

Oh, for fuck's sake. What are you doing here, trying to stage an e-coup? That was way too dramatic.

Nymosy is, at most, a bit irritating. The few times they've actually broken a rule T has stepped in and issued a warning and Nymosy would immediately back off. The problem I'm seeing most people have with them - him - her - whateva, is the tone used, though the sarcastiest of sarcasm I've seen was used (at least mostly) towards people who said some pretty stupid and often offensive things, and honestly I've appreciated the lack of sugarcoating. (I'm intentionally ignoring people complaining of how N criticizes T's writing and Jason's art - this is a discussion forum, not a forum for praise, and negative commentary should be allowed, which T has stuck to fairly well. While i do agree N's comments aren't always the most constructive, they've definitely managed to explain problems I've had with the comic but didn't know how to explain, though i can't speak for anyone else.)

Seriously, although I'm sure T will be taking these comments into consideration, the end remains the same: if you have a problem with how T runs his forum, then rather then demanding that your desires be fulfilled and/or people you dislike are removed, you can leave.

[L'HommeQuiRit]

Or maybe YOU can leave, defender of troll and seizure-causer. Don't you lecture me, mademoisellle.

[Shadrach]

Really didn't want to get involved in this, but...maybe it's time for a thread-lock? Before this discussion centered around one particular person gets any more out of hand? Just suggesting. Okay with me if you don't, etc.

Couldn't agree more. This isn't what the forum's supposed to be about, singling out particular posters like this. T's made his decision and yes, Ollie's right, if anyone isn't happy with how the forum's run, they're free to leave. Preferably in a polite manner. (Some forums have a "if you leave, just leave, don't post about it" rule. I don't think that's necessary myself; it's possible to announce one's departure, and the reasons why, in a polite and matter-of-fact way.)

[Pink Freud]

T. also can't restrict one user for the sake of the rest of the board, either. I've never really had any problem with anything that nymosy's ever said, I just don't want the headache that comes from that avatar image, and my end of it was easily solved with no one having to abandon their little internet affectations. Nice and simple. But if you're implying that someone should be removed simply because their opinions don't jibe with others then yeah, I'll have to stand on the other side of that one.

[Shadrach]

I just don't want the headache that comes from that avatar image, and my end of it was easily solved

Out of technical curiosity, how did you solve it? I ask only because you'd said you didn't want to rely on third-party software to do so.

[Zanosuke Kurosaki]

I'm in agreement here. I would prefer the avatar be changed to something non-flashing, and maybe just a tad less unconstructive criticisms from the user of said avatar, but I draw the line at people thinking anyone needs to leave because of differences of opinion. That's not how T. runs his board, and that's a big part of why we're all here.