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Rarely do we ask for input from the users, because honestly, we don't care. We're crabby, we're tired, get off our lawn. (Just kidding) We actually have solicited opinions on wording to make sure changes we are implementing are clear. A question has arisen in this process, and I am seeking to know ... how annoying is it when people go deliberately off-topic on a thread and hijack it? I am not talking about natural evolutions where-in you start talking about "Is the Graffito Jack's" and end up talking about the route for the killer to walk there, and then with a discussion about Eddowes being found where she was and something else relating to timing, and then there's another natural tangent, which all kind of links back to "Was the Graffito Jack's". It's like a chain where the last post is very far away from the first post, but there's a natural chain of events connecting them together.
We understand conversations wander, and we have no intention or desire to curtail natural evolutions of discussion. However. We do have instances of posters who will take ANY opportunity to shoe-horn in their pet theory. Whatever that theory may be. The conversation doesn't evolve naturally, they jump in to tell you about "their pet theory". At every random opportunity. Every conversation becomes how THIS supports THEIR theory.
So a conversation about is the Graffito Jack's that leads to Eddowes' body positioning becomes "Well this is exactly how the death cult Demon Worshippers (who were operating at the time making organ smoothies to increase their death magics) would have laid out the body to both harvest their repast AND to thank the Dark One for this bounty". This is not a natural evolution. This is a "Look at my genius theory" interruption.
Currently, we treat these issues as minor nuisances. However, we have noticed that because the Dark Lord Nutter is usually universally annoying to all around them, when discussing their cultist theory nonsense, everyone then jumps on them to tell them what a moron they are: "Clearly this would have been an offering to "The EVEN DARKER LORD" if it were an offering because the hand positioning wasn't facing the precise degree North that A Dark One offering requires. Any imbecile knows that". And then what happens is the Grafitto conversations gets dragged off into the 49th 3,000 post argument over whether it was the Dark One cultists or the Darker Lord cultists who were making organ smoothies in the autumn of 1888.
And yes I realize that the above is appalling and ridiculous but sometimes, honestly, some of the crap y'all write seems just as ridiculous to us. Not YOU of course. You know who I am talking about. THAT guy. I'm sorry, I've taken a buttload of headache meds today. Where was I? Oh right...
Off-Topic Tangents. HOW annoying are they?
Currently "hijacking a thread with suspect or theory bias" is considered a Minor Rule. That means, the most they ever really get is a warning. But should we be considering this a minor thing. When a poster, deliberately HIJACKS a thread, knowingly, with THEIR pet theory purely to promote it, should that be taken more seriously? Once again, NOT talking about natural evolution of threads. We are talking about DELIBERATE hijacking of threads.
So we would like to know what YOU the posters think? Since you use the boards the most, how annoying is it when it's done? How intrusive do you find it? How many threads have you been enjoying til they got dragged off into another one of "those" arguments? Conversely, how often do YOU do it? Like yeah, do you think about how annoying it is when the Cultists are butting in everywhere while you merrily jump in with your, "It was Aliens, y'all!" theory. You're all equally nuts to everyone around you. So, do you hijack, with your own suspect bias? Cause if I smack their hands, I will be smacking yours to.
I would actually like to know your thoughts. Should we keep it as a minor rule with just a warning and no real penalty? Or, should we treat it as an infractable offense? Not as severe as a personal attack or threatening to sue us, but you know... Like a 1 pointer. Or do you think it should be treated as a major offense, it's a hostile take-over of a conversation you were enjoying and dammit, that's a two-pointer at LEAST. Banned for LIFE for multiple offenses. I would like to hear from all sides. Is it "not serious, don't infract", "a little bit serious, maybe a small penalty to reduce the frequency", or "scourge them from the earth".
I literally don't care on this one. So I am going to let you all decide. Well, one of you all, will decide. The best persuasive argument will win me, NOT the majority. Although I am interested in knowing what the majority would want, I have seen what the majority vote can do, and no offense, but the majority of people are often, really, really stupid. See the fact of who is running in our current elections as evidence of the previous claim. So best argument wins. Please feel free to PM me if you are shy, or worried about being judged or if you really want to rip into people without violating forum rules. Which will still apply to posts on this thread, so no singling out how it so annoys you that "Bob Smith" does it all the time and HE'S the worst offender. That's still going to be a personal attack. And we don't do those anymore. So if you want to heap on the invective, in your response, do that in a PM. But that won't be considered a persuasive argument. Just an amusing gossip session, so I'll read those with a glass of wine.
Genuinely curious what you all would prefer. Obviously, based on feedback, I am considering upping the penalty. But would that be a change most people would welcome? Let me have it.
We understand conversations wander, and we have no intention or desire to curtail natural evolutions of discussion. However. We do have instances of posters who will take ANY opportunity to shoe-horn in their pet theory. Whatever that theory may be. The conversation doesn't evolve naturally, they jump in to tell you about "their pet theory". At every random opportunity. Every conversation becomes how THIS supports THEIR theory.
So a conversation about is the Graffito Jack's that leads to Eddowes' body positioning becomes "Well this is exactly how the death cult Demon Worshippers (who were operating at the time making organ smoothies to increase their death magics) would have laid out the body to both harvest their repast AND to thank the Dark One for this bounty". This is not a natural evolution. This is a "Look at my genius theory" interruption.
Currently, we treat these issues as minor nuisances. However, we have noticed that because the Dark Lord Nutter is usually universally annoying to all around them, when discussing their cultist theory nonsense, everyone then jumps on them to tell them what a moron they are: "Clearly this would have been an offering to "The EVEN DARKER LORD" if it were an offering because the hand positioning wasn't facing the precise degree North that A Dark One offering requires. Any imbecile knows that". And then what happens is the Grafitto conversations gets dragged off into the 49th 3,000 post argument over whether it was the Dark One cultists or the Darker Lord cultists who were making organ smoothies in the autumn of 1888.
And yes I realize that the above is appalling and ridiculous but sometimes, honestly, some of the crap y'all write seems just as ridiculous to us. Not YOU of course. You know who I am talking about. THAT guy. I'm sorry, I've taken a buttload of headache meds today. Where was I? Oh right...
Off-Topic Tangents. HOW annoying are they?
Currently "hijacking a thread with suspect or theory bias" is considered a Minor Rule. That means, the most they ever really get is a warning. But should we be considering this a minor thing. When a poster, deliberately HIJACKS a thread, knowingly, with THEIR pet theory purely to promote it, should that be taken more seriously? Once again, NOT talking about natural evolution of threads. We are talking about DELIBERATE hijacking of threads.
So we would like to know what YOU the posters think? Since you use the boards the most, how annoying is it when it's done? How intrusive do you find it? How many threads have you been enjoying til they got dragged off into another one of "those" arguments? Conversely, how often do YOU do it? Like yeah, do you think about how annoying it is when the Cultists are butting in everywhere while you merrily jump in with your, "It was Aliens, y'all!" theory. You're all equally nuts to everyone around you. So, do you hijack, with your own suspect bias? Cause if I smack their hands, I will be smacking yours to.
I would actually like to know your thoughts. Should we keep it as a minor rule with just a warning and no real penalty? Or, should we treat it as an infractable offense? Not as severe as a personal attack or threatening to sue us, but you know... Like a 1 pointer. Or do you think it should be treated as a major offense, it's a hostile take-over of a conversation you were enjoying and dammit, that's a two-pointer at LEAST. Banned for LIFE for multiple offenses. I would like to hear from all sides. Is it "not serious, don't infract", "a little bit serious, maybe a small penalty to reduce the frequency", or "scourge them from the earth".
I literally don't care on this one. So I am going to let you all decide. Well, one of you all, will decide. The best persuasive argument will win me, NOT the majority. Although I am interested in knowing what the majority would want, I have seen what the majority vote can do, and no offense, but the majority of people are often, really, really stupid. See the fact of who is running in our current elections as evidence of the previous claim. So best argument wins. Please feel free to PM me if you are shy, or worried about being judged or if you really want to rip into people without violating forum rules. Which will still apply to posts on this thread, so no singling out how it so annoys you that "Bob Smith" does it all the time and HE'S the worst offender. That's still going to be a personal attack. And we don't do those anymore. So if you want to heap on the invective, in your response, do that in a PM. But that won't be considered a persuasive argument. Just an amusing gossip session, so I'll read those with a glass of wine.
Genuinely curious what you all would prefer. Obviously, based on feedback, I am considering upping the penalty. But would that be a change most people would welcome? Let me have it.
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