Okay...because I'd like the subject to be discussed somewhat respectfully...

[Saelune]

Wew lad. I was only joking 😮 It's not like le hydra is much of a pain in the ass anymore is it, he's pretty easy to spot by now.

Who is Le Hydra? 'Tis a kewl name if nothing else.

The banjumper who won't leave. Think they had 2 accounts banned just last week, at least. First account years back was Aelinsaar or something. I don't know if it started in WW but lots of folks refer to them as just "the hydra."

Edit: Heh, no, it was two accounts banned in this very thread. What a pest.

Double edit:

Is the solution actual aggression? If the rules aren't enforced there, then I can't imagine that improves the level of conversation. Instead of arguing, you can just insult people, and that just makes everyone salty, especially since it's attached to a name.

Maybe a better solution would be cracking down on posters who are baiting and trolling.

Then again, it doesn't look like the forum is a result of a long term forward strategy.

Actually, if there's a difference it's actually towards being more relaxed. The fights are more tense, but outside of when two people start lambasting each other in a thread, everybody around them is more loose. And let's face it, even within the rules threads have catfights all the time. Only difference I've seen so far is in language used.

Hell, even with no rules and a paywall, something like 80% of folks airing grievances refuse to name names. There's a fair amount of respect there even without mods watching over conversations.

I think a fair amount of it is conditioning. When you are so used to following rules, being allowed to break them feels weird.

Plus since a lot of Premium members are actually people who got it free for being here for awhile, and not getting in too much trouble, there is likely a higher number of good eggs.

And perhaps that alone will keep WW from turning into a shit-storm. But we're in the testing the waters phase. When people get used to it, maybe people will be less civil when they realize they don't need to be.

 

[runic knight]

Snip

Calling someone an idiot is mere self-gratification. It doesn't prove anything and the other guy can always do better, especially if it simply rolls off his back. Since the object was to have a conversation, being the poo-flinger just kills whatever you were trying to prove. Whatever point you had disappears in an instant.

Considering how badly the forums are viewed.

The way this forum is viewed? By who? Forums that are run worse? Reddit and other social media outlets? Hardly worth considering.

Well, despite the way it was worded, Einspanner hit the nail on the head. The people who grew sick of the way the forums are, the people who still post here but wish for it to be better, the people who look at the site and don't join because of the nightmare it is to deal with, and the people who are on other social media sites that look upon the way the forums are handled with a mix of hilarity and disgust. While you may wish to handwave the majority of them all away, it would be prudent to concentrate on perhaps the most relevant of them, that it is the voices of many active or now formally active members of the community who view the forums themselves as horrible.

 

[Cati]

Wew lad. I was only joking 😮 It's not like le hydra is much of a pain in the ass anymore is it, he's pretty easy to spot by now.

Who is Le Hydra? 'Tis a kewl name if nothing else.

As Supahewok said, hydra is the affectionate name prolific banjumper has been given. I know Pip's have been using it for a while because it seemed like as soon as one account of his was discovered and banned, more would pop up (much like hydra heads).

 

[FalloutJack]

Snip

And I suppose at least some of that opinion is valid enough. Certainly, there's a bunch of 'em that didn't deserve the treatment, to be sure. Not the ones that were just blatently out of line, of course, but the ones who fell victim to the questionable modship, yes.

That said, we're talking about the actions of the overzealous here. I've been here for years. I'm aware of the issue and I've been the victim of some of the same problems. I'm also still here. I've yet to hear about a better place. There wouldn't be a horde of disgruntled users chomping at the bit if they had better places to be. I get fed up with a place, it goes away from my life, forever.

Ein might've made a point if he had, in fact, put it better. For the effort, though, let's call this YOUR point. Nobody's perfect. That's life. I can definitely say that mods make mistakes and there's a buncha' people who didn't deserve this. Mods are human, after all. On the other hand, users make mistakes too. There's plenty of sites that aren't like the Escapist, if that's what people want, but I dunno if they're all that great. As I said to another guy, I'd rather the aggressive side of things - which is far more lax elsewhere - be enforced against so that people have to think about what they say. ANYONE can flame, and that's not good.

 

[IceForce]

However, this would have the effect of ending all new members coming to the forums, since from their perspective they would appear completely dead.

Mate, it's already like that. In fact, it seems pretty much like the vast majority of "new" users joining are just that one banjumper guy over and over and over again.

In fact, it's reached the point where I automatically assume every new user is him, until they prove themselves otherwise, (that can't be a good thing...)

 

[anthony87]

However, this would have the effect of ending all new members coming to the forums, since from their perspective they would appear completely dead.

Mate, it's already like that. In fact, it seems pretty much like the vast majority of "new" users joining are just that one banjumper guy over and over and over again.

In fact, it's reached the point where I automatically assume every new user is him, until they prove themselves otherwise, (that can't be a good thing...)

Shocking Twist!

We're all the banjumper

 

[FalloutJack]

However, this would have the effect of ending all new members coming to the forums, since from their perspective they would appear completely dead.

Mate, it's already like that. In fact, it seems pretty much like the vast majority of "new" users joining are just that one banjumper guy over and over and over again.

In fact, it's reached the point where I automatically assume every new user is him, until they prove themselves otherwise, (that can't be a good thing...)

Shocking Twist!

We're all the banjumper

God dammit, Escapist, stop with the Captchas! I AM NOT A BOT!!

 

[Caedite Eos]

SNIP

None taken. My mouth has been getting me into trouble since I was a kid.

And yeah, pretty much. If you didn't get a freebie, there's a paywall to use Baby's First /b.

"Baby's First /b"

I like that.

 

[FalloutJack]

Also, is it just me, or has there been a rise in warnings lately? Besides Hydra banjumping I mean.

Funny story. I've been observing that for a while now. There is some sort of (And I'm honestly sorry to the mods for bringing it up in conversation.) series of grumblings at the staff where - because of situations being what they are with the site - they're short-handed and people think they're not doing their job, crossing it with all the issues of the past which some of them may not even be responsible for. For instance, I was pissed at Susan Arendt (when she was on staff) for calling me a dick, threatening Caramel Frappe when he was trying ro ease a situation between her and myself, and banning a random user who jumped to my defense by saying she was overdoing it. Well, she was overdoing it. And now, she's not on staff for...whatever reasons. I don't care. I'm never going to forgive her, but at least she's no longer an issue, and it is likely that none of the current staff on mod duty have caused me any lasting grief. SO! In all fairness, given that the site is in this recovery state, I'm giving them a break. Not everyone thinks like me. Some have gone far enough on that road to get warnings or bannings, depending on how much they continued to mouth off.

The Hydra, meanwhile, is "Oh look, he's banjumping to annoy everyone again. Yawn.". Not exactly a banner event.