FHOP--Flaming House of Pancakes!

I'm staying out of FHOP for the most part. The flaming trolls don't really contribute to the intent of the board which is to discuss the Prius and they make the board look bad to the casual observer. If I had first come to this board lately I would have left and never come back because they make the board seem mean and quarrelsome with no real interest in the Prius. I have all of the trolls on ignore now and will start putting people on ignore who insist on not only arguing with them but quoting them as well. I'm going back to what I came here for in the first place, to learn and help others with their Prius experience. I'm not interested in arguing with goofballs who come here to incite big flamewars for their own entertainment. Do they own a Prius? Do they contribute to the original intent of the board? Or, do they seem only to push people's buttons and enjoy the negativity that they cultivate? If the answer to the first two questions is 'no' and 'yes' to the third, get 'em out of here. Profanity or not, they're worthless.

 

I must be naive, but what exactly is a Troll?

 

I love the idea. I didn't refresh before I put in a post almost like yours. However, now there are 2 posts requesting what I would name the "Gladiator" forum.

Are the moderators receptive to this idea?

 

Troll - From the fishing term. As a noun, synonymous with flamebait. As a verb, to post controversial or provocative messages in a deliberate attempt to provoke flames.
source: http://teladesign.com/ma-thesis/glossary.html

 

A smelly brutish creature that would turn to stone if it came out of its cave in the light of day.

 

Why bother?
There are plenty of forums on other sites out there for just such activity.
I wouldn't want to see something like that here unless the rest of us could turn it off in "Controls".

 

We have controls which allow us to ignore posts by a member.
Is there any way to mark a thread or forum to be ignored?
It would be much easier to ignore unpleasant threads if we could control whether they show up when we press "View New Posts".

 

i agree with kiloran. blocking FHOP would probably be of use to many of us.

wow, i must have missed a lot last night. the whole thread got deleted? whew. could it have gotten any worse than it was at 5 when i left work? it was pretty ugly then, although there was a bit of calm conversation going on for a few minutes in there around the time i took off.

hopefully things get less nasty now that it seems everyone's had the ultimate blowout.

 

C'mon let's fact it, people love this stuff. People are glued to this stuff as much as the who shot jr episode of dallas. lol

Besides, given the stated rules of FHOP, most of this is perfectly acceptable, anyway.

"is the Off Topic area which means that you are free to discuss just about anything you want - so please keep any bashing, flaming, or soapbox rants to this OT forum. However, try to make it a discussion not just a bash session. "

As you all know, I, of course, tend to take the opposing side of whatever argument. I love to defend unpopular topics, for what fun is it to agree? This, for whatever reason, tends to bother a lot of people, particularly when it strikes at their core values/beliefs. It really is amazing how people react when you simply don't agree with them for almost ANY reason, regardless of how rational or not.

So, whatever happens, happens, if I get banned, I really don't care, and you can all go back to reading about what someone had for dinner last night, and how the mash potatoes were slopped down in a manner such that it reminded you of a Prius...

 

I frankly wouldn't care what gets discussed in FHOP if I had a way to effectively filter.
I think the following four new controls would suffice: Ignore user, Ignore Forum , Ignore thread, Ignore threads started by user.

A simpler, short term solution would be to exclude threads in FHOP from the "View New Posts" feature.

Not everyone is "glued" to FHOP and many of us would prefer to not have half the threads returned by "View New Posts" be FHOP culture war battle threads.

 

see this is exactly why at our counter strike source forums, I had to start a freaking rules thread pinned to the top of every forum, shut them down, archive a BUNCH of posts.

My forums: http://ackin.proboards36.com/index.cgi

My rules:
just like the server its obvious that we need something here.

1) RESPECT EACH OTHER. no flame wars, and arguments MUST be kept clean (ie, no saying you're a shit head to someone that has backed up an opinion)

IF an argument is to be had you should read this: mannerly art of disagreement and FOLLOW the rules.

Flame wars:
http://members.aol.com/intwg/flamewars.htm

if you're new to chat/message boards, I suggest you go here:
http://www.intwg.com/

2) Don't FEED THE TROLLS
Trolling definition:
http://members.aol.com/intwg/trolls.htm

3) remember that although you write something with an intended tone, someone else reading it might apply the wrong tone to it. Always clarify if you read your post and see people responding to it in a way that they shouldn't be.

4) don't post for the sake of posting, we have an edit function for a reason

5) be kind to newcomers.

6) don't steal copyrighted/patented information/ideas without giving due credit to those that posted them first/invented them (the exception to this is the "name the quote thread")

7) refrain from using all capital letters as you are considered to be "screaming"...

8) Keep the illegal activites off the boards. (if underaged drinking is done, one shall assume that parental units were involved/present thus making it legal)


For People Who Just Don't Get It: If you have nothing constructive to provide to said forum (determined by any of the board moderators/adminstrators), your posts can be removed/locked without warning. If you continue to make posts that offend the group, you may be banned, again at the discretion of the moderators



I think a lot people might benefit from reading the mannerly art of disagreement. Makes for better more interesting fights. ^_^

 

Then clarify your rules.

"is the Off Topic area which means that you are free to discuss just about anything you want - so please keep any bashing, flaming, or soapbox rants to this OT forum. However, try to make it a discussion not just a bash session. "

 

So why is it the burden of the message board?

 

One quick thing before I pop off of here, I have and still do respect the admins here. If there are problems they are dealt with in a timely fashion-- look at how many registered members there are, and think how many admin we have in here on a regular basis.

I honestly don't know how you guys handle it reading all the new posts (with Tony still on dial up!!!) and scanning everything. I can barely keep up with mine at times when we get busy (there are more hidden forums for clan members in our section)

Thank you Mods for doing what you do, without you this place wouldn't exist.

Amy
(hate me if you want, but I'm thankful we don't have a karma feature here!)

 

I wonder if perhaps a posting limit could be automatically enforced. Eg - you're not allowed to post more to FHOP than the rest of the site. That might slow up some of the people who seem more interested in arguing than Priuses.

 

Before I get banned, someone please make sure Jack06 is ok, as it was a pretty bad meltdown...

h34r:

 

I don't understand your question.
People who support unrestricted free expression in FHOP have been advising others to just ignore these threads.
My suggestion would give them the tools to do so.