I've a suggestion that will cut down on the trolling, temp locks, bans, trollbaiting, and shitposting in GD...



Enforce the fact we have a Religion sub-forum.



Several times a year, every year, I see the same thing play out in GD.  Religious folks start religious threads, non-religious folks either cross a line and get slapped for it or allow themselves to be trollbaited in to getting themselves slapped.  Half the religious threads in GD right now are clearly only there to rile up GD.  I'm watching one user right now quote people that received a mod/staff edit, and edit in his own insults to them and he's been getting away with it.



This has happened so much in the past that staff/mods know this shit is going to happen before it happens, yet it is allowed to continue.  How can you not acknowledge the problem after what we've seen in the past, or even after Aimless has to post a blanket rule thread in GD to protect those threads?  You're inviting the problems in to GD.



Move those threads to Religion, problem solved.  It's really that easy and causes far less headaches than having to create protected classes in a general discussion sub-forum.

You have an axe to grind.
I saw staff edit one of your posts.

Unless site staff starts moving every thread out of GD that could fit into an existing sub-forum, you are asking for unequal treatment.

If the religious threads bother you so much, don't click on them. If you can't stop yourself from reading them and starting trouble, that's a personal problem, not a General discussion problem.

Agreed.

Subforums exist for a reason, true.

GD can also be a great place to discuss things.

I post a lot of photography related stuff in GD.

Can I post them in the photography forum? Sure, and I do. But GD has higher traffic and more lively discussion.

To satisfy my curiosity, and to stop any denial right in it's track, I thought I'd find which thread johnny "trollbaited" and "shitposted" in.

It was the ONE THREAD that Aimless told everybody to behave in.
Knowing that, you had to go into that thread on Easter day and post something that was offensive to most of the people reading and posting in that thread.

HE IS RISEN!

Then you come here a half hour later with your "suggestion".
You're lucky you didn't get a vacation.

I lol'd at that and the fancy detective work.  Could have saved yourself a lot of time if you had just asked me about it.



First, let me preface this by once again pointing out that I'm not an athiest, nor do I have an axe to grind.  I don't have a problem with athiests either.  I'm not involved in this constant religious vs non-religious war that happens every Christmas and Easter in GD.  Frankly, I'm just tired of looking at it.  On the one hand you have some of the religious folks that are clearly trollbaiting in GD because they know, without a doubt, that they will bait people in to getting slapped.  On the other hand you have some non-religious folks that only have the intention of trolling the religious folks.



There is a pattern to this.  It plays out the same way every time.  Staff knows it's going to happen in advance, but it's still allowed to happen.  I understand the logistics behind forcing all content out of GD in to its respective sub-forum if one is available.  That would be a pain in the ass to enforce, and just plain silly.  Though if you have one or two specific hot topics that always cause a fight and a big sweep of temp bans/locks, then maybe it would be in everyones' best interest that those topics are put where they belong.  This issue is only emphasized by the fact that Aimless has to create an emergency protection order for Christians in GD on Easter.  At that point you're fully acknowledging the problem but choosing the worst way possible to resolve it.  Why waste your time?



And if you were curious about what I posted in that Easter thread...it was a photo of the flying spaghetti monster.  A mod edited it and PM'd me to let me know that I probably shouldn't do that due to the Aimless thread. No warning or punishment, just a friendly tip.  We PM'd back and forth a few times about some concerns I had and then I created this thread, which I even linked to him so he could check it out.  It was his suggestion that I post it, and I'm glad he suggested it because it's a valid list of concerns.  10+/- hours later VA-gunnut apparently went back over that Easter thread, over stuff already resolved by a mod, and temp-locked people including me.  No idea how many people he got.  An Easter thread participant quoted my mod-edited post to flame me and never got in trouble, as far as I know, and eventually re-edited the quote to make it CoC compliant...another thing emphasizing the point behind this thread.  This is all while my original photo went unnoticed due to the speed in which the mod removed it.



The pic was initially intended to be a joke more than anything else and at the time I was sure it was harmless, but the series of events that took place afterwards made me really take a step back and see what's going on in GD, hence this thread.  Looking back, was the pic a bad choice for that thread?  Yes, but only because of the issues I've outlined in this thread.  People are constantly reminded and warned that GD is a free for all, and as a constant Team Member I especially see other Team Members warned about this and that if they want a serious reply they need to post it in the right sub-forum or in Team.  So why is the same not said for the religious threads that are guaranteed to cause problems?



So no...no axe to grind here.  No negative history on this forum either.  Never been warned(except for a misfire by TBK1) or banned until that post.  I'm sure if you took a moment to set aside your ridiculous assumptions about me you'd see what I'm pointing out.

There is nothing wrong with that sort of content being in GD even though it has a sub-forum.  The problem is specific content that is guaranteed to cause problems that also happens to have a sub-forum.  In those specific cases those topics should be kept where they belong and can be properly protected there.  Doing that in GD is pretty much just creating a protected class of people.



 

The bottom line is you intentionally broke the CoC because you are not adult enough to control yourself. Writing an essay trying to deflect blame changes nothing.

Why don't you ask that all political threads be restricted to the proper forum? They cause much more strife and contention than religious threads.

General Discussion is General Discussion. If you can't handle viewing a wide variety of topics without acting like a juvenile perhaps you should stick to the technical forums where you will not encounter topics that offend you.

OP wants to restrict religious topics out of sight to remove any temptation to cross the CoC?

I guess he supports burkas, too. Better to hide stuff away, right?

I think he's saying if you want to post in GD, and then get all hurt about GD being GD then you don't have a leg to stand on, especially considering there is a well respected, well trafficked, and well Modded sub forum for the purpose.

Religious threads in GD are fine. Folks whining about what happens in GD are the problem.


I am willing to bet once some of those threads are moved to the proper sub-forum the regular whiners will leave and go back to GD... and those threads will die.


Y'all are like a bunch of girls that join men's vocations and sports and then want the bar lowered because it isn't fair. You chose to going that particular game, fully knowing what it is and what happens there. Take some responsibility for your own actions how bout that.

The Religion Forum has more stringent guidelines, but that doesn't mean that GD has no rules.

The CoC applies everywhere. A CoC violation is a CoC violation,  no matter where you post it.

No. They just want the rules (CoC) enforced.  The same rules that apply to every other thread in GD.

So (by your logic) will all election threads be forced into the politics subforum?

If they cause a war between two or more groups and a product of that is the creation of protected classes in GD...then yes.



 

No, actually, I broke a blanket rule posted in an emergency thread posted on Easter.



At this point you're pretty much doing the equivalent of holding your hands over your years, stomping your feet, and repeating "la la la i can't hear you" while making stupid assumptions and tossing out thinly veiled insults.  Did I back out of my driveway and hit your cat or something? You sure do seem to have it out for me.



 

Threads don't cause trouble.  People who can't behave themselves behind a keyboard cause trouble.

Follow the CoC, and you won't have any problems.

Pretty much.



I've been around here a while.  This is my second account because I forgot my first username/password(approved by TBK1).  I tend to keep to myself about anything I may dislike about ARFCOM because their forum = their rules, but this Religion war that takes place in GD several times a year is an easily avoidable, easily resolved problem which is why I created this thread.  It's at least worth some discussion, and if nothing changes then so be it.  It is what it is, at least I offered my opinion on the matter.



Apparently the creation of this thread has seriously upset some folks.



 

If you read through the big Easter thread take note of how many people got sniped out of it, then look at some of the replies from the people participating in that thread.  There was blatant trollbaiting going like it does every time Religious threads flood GD.  Same goes for certain politics threads.



I wonder if staff would ever tell us how many people were punished that day.  We're not talking one or two people getting locked because they couldn't behave themselves.  I would bet a few dozen folks got in trouble, and they were probably all on the same side of the debate, and many of them were probably already spoken to by a mod before their punishment was later handed down by a staffer.





 

Hey, people getting themselves banned is their problem, not mine. If they can't handle the topic, don't open the thread.

Have some self control. I rarely even click on abortion threads anymore. No reason for me to engage the nonsense.

If you or anyone else can't control themselves, tough. Maybe this forum isn't for you. Find somewhere without rules.

My point is, when it results in a lot of people being punished then there is a bigger problem than a few people not behaving themselves.  The entire thing could be avoided by simply saying "Listen guys, post these threads in the Religion forum.  It'll cut down on 99.9% of people shitting in your threads, and greatly cut down on the amount of people in GD getting locked."



The true trolls will find some other way to get locked.  The folks posting religious threads will get the protection their very own sub-forum can offer.  Staff won't have to post emergency threads putting a restraining order on half the forum.  The mods/staff won't have to put in overtime babysitting a certain thread(s).



 

The true trolls are finding ways to get themselves locked. So the system is working, why change it?

Doesn't stop the shit show that happens in GD on Easter.  I'm just repeating myself at this point.



 

No, you intentionally broke the CoC.
You can twist it this way and that, but the truth is the truth. You posted a picture that was guaranteed to upset people, and you did it to upset people.

Now you want the site to be changed so you are not required to use self control.

Hey guys, this is obviously getting out of control. Let's move this thread to the site suggestions forum before somebody gets banned.

This thread is trollbait!

No, actually, I broke a blanket rule posted in an emergency thread posted on Easter.





If a CoC compliant photo upsets people...which it didn't because it was removed before anyone saw it...then this only further emphasizes the problem of those threads being posted in GD where you yourself said "General Discussion is General Discussion."





I already pointed out that I have no negative history here.  I'm not sure what's so hard to understand about that, or why you're so bothered by me or this thread.  Is it really that much of an issue for you?  I just wanted to open some discussion about this.  If you and the fellow above this post want to up your post counts by shitting in this thread then that's your deal.  I don't mind.





 

I'm sorry, I have no self control. I must post. Posts....Posts...Posts....

If only there was a safe place, more heavily moderated, that would magically stop me from posting. Oh, woe is me.

 

I don't know which is more bizarre.
The part where you can't recognize a CoC violation, that you decided didn't apply to you, is still a CoC violation, or the part where you accuse me of shitting in your thread when we are discussing the fact that you are mad because some mod sanctioned you for shitting in a thread.

I am not "shitting it your thread". We are discussing the absurdity of taking one subject, and banning it from GD. That is what you want to do. But the other topics that also have forums devoted to them are fine to talk about in GD.

It is not logical.

I already explained the difference between the two.  It's not my fault that you either chose to not read it, or couldn't understand it.











 

I read everything posted.
I understand your problem.

I stated my opinion.
I won't continue feeding you.

I don't understand where you're getting this idea that I'm a troll on here or "can't control myself."  It appears that you're the one that can't control yourself.



 

OP don't mess this up for the trolls

You mean to tell me that several times every year, there are arguments with a religious origin?

God help us all...

By the way, you're original post... clearly you just don't want to hear the other side of the argument as a way of winning the argument. Why is it a problem though? After all, it takes two to tango. I think you might be insecure in some area relating to religion. Does it frighten you?

I'm actually a godless heathan, so no real horse in this race.

Also... GD oozes out of it's section, thanks to the 'Active Topics' link... if site rules were enforced, we'd send half of the topics in the tech forums to GD.