No, I'm sorry, but you're plain wrong. Talking about a troll is giving them exactly what they want. When we do it, we reward the troll for their behaviour, and encourage them to do it more. The more a poster - however unwittingly - gives a troll their attention, the more they contribute to the disruption of the forum. It's important that RPA - and everyone else here - understands that.

...but anyway my post was humour.

And it was appreciated. ;)

I agree.. a "heads up" is appropriate, but anything beyond that (like making 90% of one's post about a troll (that's not even posting!) or urging people to post private messages from the troll on a public forum) is more aiding and abetting than helpful.

Grey Wolf wrote:
...but anyway my post was humour.

This entire situation has been yet another turn of the bizarro-world of online interactions, SSDD.

No, I'm sorry, but you're plain wrong. Talking about a troll is giving them exactly what they want...

[sarcasm]Well take your own advise and stop talking about it![/sarcasm]

Yes the signal to noise ratio can get a bit ludicrous but people have the right to talk about what is upsetting them and maybe out of it get some resolution to the issues. Unfortunately this may lead to a bit of troll feeding in the short term but it is better than letting it fester and having members leave because of it.

For me, crap in my inbox lead me to turn off PM a long time ago. I turned it on the talk to another member and got crap within 24 hours. If were a new member I would not stick around long.

So do we need to do anything?

@Grey Wolf,

I have my PM inbox unblocked and I have gotten 2 types of spam messages: 2 from those wanting to be "cute," and quite a few pleas for personalized assistance from noobs.

In both cases I've deleted the PMs without hesitation or a reply.

If someone really wants me to help them, then doing in the public fora will benefit them as well as others in the future who might have the same/similar problems.

Besides, I am not the best source for help. I am not much more than a questing noob myself.

Calm down people, last thing we need is a flame war. I agree with Grey Wolf, we can talk about the troll if we want, it's not like he's going away until the admin gets back from where ever.

Also, for the sake of lighting up the mood, this is the forum right now -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oynJcSnLSI4&ab_channel=outofcrack

[sarcasm]Well take your own advise and stop talking about it![/sarcasm]

Your sarcasm is misplaced. My hope is that, by addressing it now, we might be able to avoid going down the same route I've seen countless other forums go down before, where well-meaning but naive people respond to trolls by giving them exactly the reward they're looking for - leading to those trolls upping their activity and making the forum worse and worse.

I've been using online fora for more decades than I care to think about, and I've seen it happen over and over again. Sad to see so many people here wanting to go down the same road.

MikeyBoy wrote:
Your sarcasm is misplaced.

Sir, I mock you for protestation of issuing of sucker to the vial churl and in so doing issue such thyself. Thus I bid, stand you awhile apart. Confine yourself but in a patient list.

Grey Wolf I lost you. Please translate to late modern english xD!!!

S/he's accusing me of being a hypocrite, because by explaining why it's a very bad idea to feed trolls, I must necessarily mention trolls.

(Whether s/he's genuine in that accusation, or being disingenuous because s/he thinks it's funny, I'm not entirely sure.)

And with that, I'm backing out, because it seems another troll has decided to latch onto this discussion. I've made my point, and I hope the readers of this forum value this forum enough to behave in ways that don't encourage further trolling.

MikeyBoy, No not a hypocrite...pointing out the irony in what you are saying...and ask you to be patient with this thread...in a manner that is jovial. I apologise if you mistook humour for trolling.

Now, as we must mention trolls to point out it is a bad idea to feed troll, we must also mention trolls to say there is a problem with them. If it turns out there is a problem we need to talk about strategies to mitigate the issues. This site has always talked about how to improve and long may it continue.