Grammour Boy said:
Yeah, many of the current members seem to be only interested in kissing each other's asses. Did you notice how much asskissing you got upon your return? You were instantly accepted based on your join date and a couple of the newer members were falling over themselves to kiss your ass. I'm glad you weren't that impressed.
No, several of the newer posters recognized that Mal was old-hat and that all of the other old-timers recognized and welcomed him back with open arms. Since the newer ones (assuming they don't go back to the archives and read EVERYTHING) didn't have a frame of reference to judge mal as to whether he was good or bad, and a lot of the older folks showed signs of amicability towards him the others immediately trusted us and joined in welcoming him back to the fold.
There was no bowing or scraping going on to gain his approval. They saw that he was a cool guy and treated him as such.
Loki said:
There's no reason Mal shouldn't have been welcomed back in a grand way. Anyone who had/has a problem with it is just coveting the attention.
Loki is exactly right.
If a poster dares think for himself or refuse to get on what passes for the current bandwagon, she/he is vilified for going against the grain or the norm (whatever that is).
Totally unequivocally INcorrect! Anyone who purposely disrupts the flow of discussion or maliciously decides to combat people for no reason at all are villified. I'll address why you shouldn't refer to my spamfests as a rebuttal in a bit.
And the karma system is useless and is the root cause of much of the board's ailments. The majority of posters is posturing for green karma and post count. Now it's all about posturing to remain in the good graces of the "IN" crowd. As a result, if a member doesn't "go with the grain", he is bullied and no one comes to her/his aid against the bullies because they are afraid they will get negrepped.
OK, one good example of how you're totally incorrect is the Comicon invaders. Upon thier arrival they were negrepped to hell and back. When they were done invading and realized that they'd been total asses, they requested that their negative rep be reversed and mm gladly did so. Also, ask several posters if their rep means anything to them. I'll bet you that those with the most to lose will say it means nothing to them. Myself and Gagh sat for several weeks with a totally reversed rep. I thought it was funny. I even geared my avatar to match my red.
The only thing that rep is good for is playing in the arcade. And if that is so important to you, create a dual, notify an admin, ask nicely that the dual be turned green and then go play in the arcade.
Don't go demanding to the admins that they give you 10,000,000 karma points. Oh! That little bit of "ass-kissing" is priceless. Hypocrite.
There have been so many recent instances of bullying, it's laughable. It's like a sport or something.
Making fun of people is a TK member's absolute right. Most of the time it's done in a comical and tongue-in-cheek way. Take the Spyda 'greetings' thread.
http://www.trollkingdom.net/forum/showthread.php?t=66711
That was a hyserical thread that could only be construed as bullying by someone who has absolutely NO sense of humor whatsoever.
Right now, I am the object of the bullying because I dare think differently.
No, you're the object of bullying because NOBODY on TK wants you there. Nobody comes to your rescue because none of the posters there think you're valuable to TK in any way, shape, or form.
I dare to speak against necro'ed bump-fests which are against the rules and punsihable by a stint in daycare. As a result of speaking out I have a reputation for being a "deviant".
No, for your taddle-telling you have a reputation as a teacher's pet and a suck up. Even you don't like suck-ups according to this giant speech. So, who's contradicting themself? Not me.
Even though necro'ed bump-fest are against the few rules of the board. Apparently, following the rules is considered deviancy.
OK, where do those bump fests and spam sprees occur? Does Gagh, Menty, Jack, Wacky, or myself perform such actions outside of the spam-permitting zones? Uh, no. We keep our floods out of the on-topic forums. Therefore, we're not making the board useless to anyone at all. In fact, several people were using TP as I was flooding the whole thing. If anything I did something to bolster the posting in the non-spam areas. So, reconsider where you aim your attacks on the breaking of the rules, mr meme/smiley guy.
Sometimes, I think it's a big giant circle-jerk of duals and others patting each other on the back.
Where is this circle-jerk? Honestly, show me examples. When someone does something truly funny and another compliments them for it, is that jerking eachother off? How is paying a compliment to someone considered ass-kissing? Wow, if this is how you view the real world and someone pays you an honest compliment, do you immediately say, "FUCK OFF ASSKISS!"? What you need to realize is that compliments and congratulatory comments are NOT kissing eachother's asses or circle-jerking. That type of behavior is simply people getting along in a friendly and respectful manner.
Many of the members that have been there since 2002 behave in ways that indicate infliction with mild to severe mental instability. Either that, or they're going on drunken or rude obsessive tirade taking a crap all over the board which makes the whole thing unwelcoming to new members or visitors.
Again, you couldn't be more wrong if you tried. If you're an asshole, we treat you like one. If you're providing an insightful addition to discussions we appreciate it and welcome you. Simple as that. Also, the spam stays in the spam forums. I strictly adhere to that rule.
I, myself, was recently threatened by a member who proposed that he would rally all of his friends to wage war against me on the board and that I "had no friends and therefore I had no protection"---whatever that means.
That means, either you stop being a dumbass or we start getting truly ugly. That means personal info and interfering with you off of the internet. Somewhere where your memes and smiley faces won't work to negate the argument.
But I can take care of myself, I have been on the net for so long and I have been in shark-infested corners of the net where posting on message boards used to be considered n00bish. I have the knowledge and the maturity level to run circles around these nincompoops that try to attack me. I've been repelling their lame attacks for a few months now and I don't tire of it. This is kidsplay as far as I'm concerned and compared to where I've been and what I've done in cyberspace in the past.
All I can say to this is 'yeah right....' Please do post examples of these shark-infested areas. Or even examples of how you've been running circles around us because this entire post of yours shows that we've been getting under your skin. You're not as invincible as you make yourself out to be. In fact, you contradict yourself merely by mentioning us.
The thing that bothers me most, however, is NOT the bullying, per se, but the reaction--or lack thereof--of other members who stand idly by and allow non-conformist members to be bullied and run off the board.
They don't defend those people because as I mentioned before, they don't see the need to. If someone is worthless and being a total spaz, people are actually DISinclined to help them. You're upset because NOBODY on TK tries to defend you. Go ask them why. Seriously. Go ask. See what response you get. I'll bet it'll be a resounding 'go fuck yourself'.
For example, there was a member named BlindGroping who was posting around the time I first registered there. I watched him get bullied by a clique of miscreants until he left the board. Why was he bullied? Because he wouldn't join the bandwagon.
No, he was bullied because he was a worthless spaz who detracted from the board productivity.
I, myself, have recently come to the aid of a member named Starguard who was also constantly being bullied for no other reason than his posts are different but not against the rules. He likes to post jokes and other stuff that the clique considers retarded (as if necro'ed bump-fests for hours on end aren't retarded :rollseyes: ). I was the only one to stand up and say something against the bullying of this member--no one else did. And I'm a newbie--I joined a few months ago--who dared to speak against unfair treatment of another member. Who do I think I am? :rollseyes:
You defended starguard ONE TIME. And you defended him against ME. I remember it. I'll go find a link to that 'defense' later. But the defense was laughable. You know why? Because I actually enjoy starguard on TK. Yeah, he may be a fool, but at least he's a loveable fool. A good percentage of what he posts is really rather funny. Though, I really don't see this whole 'save the starguard campaign' that you seem to be waging and puffing your chest as a hero for. I see you making one comment in his defense and calling that a victory for those who are bullied. Yet, in reality you defended him against someone who ACTUALLY ENJOYS HIS WORK. Talk about rolleyes....
I guess I rubbed the clique the wrong way. I am constantly asked why do I not join the grain or the bandwagon. Here's a quote from a member asking me why I don't join "the grain":
Why will you not post on TK as a regular person? Why do you insist on acting like a prick and a fool? You're obviously a smart guy who choses to be hated here. To me, and a few other people, that's just sad. You could be a valued member here, but you refuse to join for some convoluted reason. That's what I'd like to know: Why.
Honestly though... do you enjoy being a dick? I'm asking seriously. Why do you insist on going totally against the grain here? Do you enjoy the abuse?
Are you blind to the compliments I paid in that statement? I was being totally honest. You are a smart guy. You could be an incredibly valued and wanted member of TK, yet you're fighting against this imaginary 'groupthink' you've concocted for no reason at all. It's truly baffling why you act in such a way. I thought, maybe he only acts this way on TK and elsewhere he's an OK guy. Come to find out, you're no less of a prick anywhere else. This whole thread goes to prove that.
I am dumbfounded that a supposedly free-speech board would require that members "go with the grain" or else face group-scale bullying. That is such an oxymoronic concept. I am embarassed for the member who uttered those words. That's so sad but that's the current status quo of the board. :sighs:
'Embarrassed'!? LAUGH MY FUCKING ASS OFF!!! That's a comical statement if ever there was one.
missmanners, the board owner has mentioned to me on several occasions that she is trying to move away from the whole 'free speech' idealism that everyone on TK clings to. It's part of the reason why the forum Speak Freely was renamed to Troll Playground. She is tired of people claiming that TK is a free speech board and that gives them license to be annoying pricks like yourself. TK is NOT about free speech. Period. This makes your argument here moot.
Sometimes, I think that board could have gone much farther than it has. Every so often, since I've been there I've seen many smart, intelligent members just leave after only a few weeks or a couple of months of posting.
TK has always attracted the intelligent and creative people. It always will. What it won't do is pander to those whiny idiots that complain to mods that people are being mean to them. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Also, If all they're seeing is spam, they're not filtering their 'new posts' options in the CP. Or, all they're looking at are the spam fora. TK has some incredibly insightful and fun people who welcome others of like-minded thinking. No, I didn't say exact cookie-cutter thinking, or 'groupthink' as you say, I said like-minded.
Let's take Archibald Nixon for example. Here is a member who has been at TK for less time than you have. He has a better read on the people who post at TK than you ever will. An incredibly good example to compare you two would be the TK flick thread. You displayed that you had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA how people truly are on TK. None whasoever. Zero. You were so wrong in your assessment of who should play who that it was truly sad. And don't lie and tell me that those selections were facetious. They weren't. Those where honestly what you thought. You don't understand TK at all and that thread is an incredibly obvious example of such.
It is the same hard-core group of self-congratulating minions that are prevalent and in my opinion they are an obstacle to the progress of the board. The administration tries but it appears to me that their hands are tied because: 1) they are friends with the miscreants, and 2) the owner of the board often sides with the miscreants over her own admins/mods. Unbelievable. How would you like it if your boss gives you responsibility but doesn't stand by the decisions you make? Not good at all.
I'm passing this off as an indirect statement attempting to kiss Loki/Eggs' ass. It was completely geared toward him, and only him. You, Grammour Boy, are a giant hypocrite. I consistently prove this time and time again.
Recently, there were some aesthetic enhancements to the board's front page by way of rearrangement and archiving of old forums. As a result, a few members who had left started returning and posting, but that lasted only about two weeks before the board sank back to its status quo of circle-jerking and all-around childish acting out and throwing of temper tantrums by flooding and necro'ing threads.
Again, I ask, where did all of this flooding and necroing take place? Did we misbehave outside of the fora where spamming and flooding are acceptable? No, absolutely we did not. You're pointing to only one case and dismissing the rest. You're concentrating on the behavior that goes on in the spam and TROLLING fora. You seem to neglect entirely the on-topic areas. Hell, I rarely see you posting in the non-spam fora. When was the last time you honestly contributed to the Armchair Philosopher's forum? Really?
Recently when loki went on holiday, for instance, one member in particular, whom I believe is inflicted with some form of OCD (not making fun of that), decided to necro a whole forum--the largest forum. He proceeded to bump all threads starting with the oldest ones and ending with the newest ones, such that when he was done after a few non-stop hours the forum looked as if it had not been necro'ed since he did it in reverse. But still, while it was going on, board activity ceased and many members got turned off. And thus, began our latest exodus of returning members. Now for the most part, old members that had returned after the initial facelift have largely disappeared once again.
Why not make fun of my incredibly light OCD? I do. It's funny. Yet, my spamming of TP had nothing to do with my OCD. It had everything to do with the fact that it was at a time when there were barely any posters on TK and I was bored and suffering from insomnia, as is my curse at 4am on a weeknight. In my defense, I took breaks, one of which in the middle lasted for over an hour and a half. At which point I had gotten bored with the whole idea of flipping the whole forum and stopped to go do other things. When I reconsidered the idea I came back and finished what I had started because it was entertaining to me.
As I said earlier, people weren't NOT using TK. People that can't handle flood spamming were forced into the non-spam fora to read what was going on in there. Seriously, I saw more activity elsewhere on TK than I do on a regular basis. So, in a way, my making useless one of the fora on TK improved the level of participation and posting in every other section of the board. And to drive home my point, I did NOT spam any forum that was a non-spam forum.
Oh, and TP is the largest forum smart guy. That title belongs to the Mine Field and the Badlands. I merely bumped a little over a thousand threads. Something Gagh, Jack, Messenger, Mentalist, and myself could do in their sleep.
And I hate mindless idiots who don't understand something yet claim they do.
If you're still reading...thanks for taking the time to read this. I had to get this off my chest.
Ditto. And I'm not done yet. I still have one more of your posts to dismantle, buddy boy.
