After reading this, I must admit that my posts do exhibit some 'trollish' traits. Being less belligerent and provocative would do no harm, I suppose. But if I was a real troll, you'd find me also posting in the D2 and WOW forums, explaining why I don't like those games :whistling:
If the name of this site was 'Patriot Lounge' or something like that, you would be absolutely right to accuse me of trolling. But it isn't.
I don't come here to start flame wars. It should be obvious from the subjects that I respond to that there is no hidden agenda, and that I'm really in it for the subject matter itself. Sure, these things happen to be 'hot' topics, but I didn't start any of those threads.
In other words, if you would consider the following LL Forum Rule more often, you would see a lot less of my 'trolling';)
"Avoid hotbutton issues. Basically put, there are some issues and topics that are useless to debate on an Internet forum. You'll never be able to change people's minds on hotbutton political issues such as abortion or gun control. Yet, various people always try to do just that on every forum out there. Here's the deal: many posters try to make a name for themselves by starting a thread on just such an issue just so they can have a special thrill over watching a hundred posts spring up from their inciting topic. They'll then feed the conversation along by constantly nibbling at other posters' arguments. Once the topic has dried up, they'll move on to the next one, and keep doing it for weeks, causing gargantuan threads over and over. This is known as trolling, and the moderators WILL put a stop to you if they catch you in the act."
PS. Personnally I don't always agree with that rule, I only try to respect it as a member. Some topics deserve to be brought up, even if they are likely to cause some unpleasant situations. The current thread is an example to that, imo. Also, real trolls would start such topics to spark controversy while you, I believe, are simply trying to win others over.
If the name of this site was 'Patriot Lounge' or something like that, you would be absolutely right to accuse me of trolling. But it isn't.
I don't come here to start flame wars. It should be obvious from the subjects that I respond to that there is no hidden agenda, and that I'm really in it for the subject matter itself. Sure, these things happen to be 'hot' topics, but I didn't start any of those threads.
In other words, if you would consider the following LL Forum Rule more often, you would see a lot less of my 'trolling';)
"Avoid hotbutton issues. Basically put, there are some issues and topics that are useless to debate on an Internet forum. You'll never be able to change people's minds on hotbutton political issues such as abortion or gun control. Yet, various people always try to do just that on every forum out there. Here's the deal: many posters try to make a name for themselves by starting a thread on just such an issue just so they can have a special thrill over watching a hundred posts spring up from their inciting topic. They'll then feed the conversation along by constantly nibbling at other posters' arguments. Once the topic has dried up, they'll move on to the next one, and keep doing it for weeks, causing gargantuan threads over and over. This is known as trolling, and the moderators WILL put a stop to you if they catch you in the act."
PS. Personnally I don't always agree with that rule, I only try to respect it as a member. Some topics deserve to be brought up, even if they are likely to cause some unpleasant situations. The current thread is an example to that, imo. Also, real trolls would start such topics to spark controversy while you, I believe, are simply trying to win others over.