Public Consultation: Nox & Nox-bashing Threads

RPGPundit · February 12, 2007, 03:02:51 PM

As you all know, I'm not pro-banning, and I'm not pro-censorship. But I did establish early on in the creation of this site's current incarnation that one thing I did not approve of, and might take action on, is direct personal attacks without any productive counterweight.

With that said, I have been watching with disdain the explosion of anti-Nox threads in the Off-topic site. They have gone from being direct addresses to Nox to try to get him to change his ways (which is good) to just blatant attacks on the guy (which is bad).

It seems to me that these threads are the product of a group of people who are expressing disapproval of the influence Nox makes on this site; I have to conclude that they feel he is destructive to the site, and would rather see him gone, and that in lieu of banning him they're hoping to drive him out with these threads.

So all that said, I'm taking a poll here, a public consultation. I would rather that we settle this one way or another. Either we ban Nox, or we put a stop to all the blatant attack-threads against him. You might say he deserves it, fine, but the problem is that this sets a precedent of behaviour that is not good. What's to stop someone putting up 20 threads on off-topic with nothing but personal attacks on Jimbob, or Cessna, or Levi or whoever; and point to the Nox threads as an excuse to why they should be allowed to do so?

So this is to be settled here and now. Give your opinions, and based on the results I'll decide what I do.

Note: the poll will be open for 7 days from the creation of this thread. Tell the people!

RPGPundit

PS: While I will strongly consider whatever the results of this poll might be; I will not be bound by it, and may choose a different course of action. I will particularly rely on my own discretion if the vote has no absolute majority.

Zachary The First · February 12, 2007, 03:28:14 PM

Merge 'em? Just thinking out loud...

apparition13 · February 12, 2007, 03:34:45 PM

Quote from: Zachary The FirstMerge 'em? Just thinking out loud...

I voted delete the threads, but this is a good idea as well.

Thanatos02 · February 12, 2007, 03:45:25 PM

I'm hesitant about asking to ban anyone, but I figure that if anyone here has risen to the 'ban-level', Nox is certainly the closest.

I'm afraid I'm part of the problem. I probably should have sent a PM, but I thought that a frank and open thread might do some good. I just want a stop to the threads from Nox that exist just to be violently rude to people, and I'm tired as hell of his one-man anti-Muslim campeign. We know he doesn't like Muslims already, ya' know?

I'd vote to close the threads attacking Nox, including mine. (Especially mine. It's not a high point of my posting career here, or anything. It's just taking up space.) If he doesn't get that his virulent trolling is just bringing people down, then, can someone talk some sense into him?

arminius · February 12, 2007, 03:56:03 PM

I voted "do nothing", but merging threads is an excellent idea.

Stumpydave · February 12, 2007, 04:06:05 PM

I voted for the middle option. I'm afraid I've been part of the problem, but then that was largely out of a combined sense of trying to get the guy to change his ways and utter disbelief at some of his views.

Do what you need to do to keep this therpgsite and stop from being thebeatuponnoxsite.

(For my part I'll try to post some rpg related stuff (not that any of you sods read my threads, miserable gits

)

HinterWelt · February 12, 2007, 04:10:02 PM

I would say, to the attack threads, merge, lock and post a message in it stating that the Nox bashing is done.

As to Nox, he is rude, bigoted and boring. That said, he has an interest in and some knowledge of RPGs. That is what the stated purpose of this site is about. I would suggest telling him privately not to post his propaganda. His threads would not last long if everyone ignored them in Off Topic. They would sink fast. However, that wont happen so appeal to his sense of self preservation and try to get him to stop posting threads that have no other purpose than to discuss his world view. This is not Tangency Open.

The above is reasonable but people are not always so. However, the above is a good first step. If he carries on beyond the warning then more serious actions should be considered. The question would be what is the "or Else" part of the warning. It has been stated that banning is not the preferable order of operation here. The alternative is to Sweedish Chef him, "Topic Ban" (I really hate that) or something far more devious than I can come up with.

Essentially, punish him for not behaving.

I do not want to be his daddy, give him spankings and tell him to play nice...but then again, this is not my board. If it was, it would be a measure of his contribution to his disruption. I do not follow his posts (again, not my job) but I would not hesitate to ban him assuming his contribution is inadequate.

Bill

JongWK · February 12, 2007, 04:12:52 PM

Nox is the only guy I've ever put in my Ignore List, here or anywhere.

That being said, I'll go with #3.

One Horse Town · February 12, 2007, 04:39:09 PM

No change. He serves to remind me of the redeeming qualities of mankind.

Settembrini · February 12, 2007, 04:39:25 PM

Threads should be moved together.

If new ones crop up, put them there as well.

Apart from that, no further actions.

Brantai · February 12, 2007, 04:41:32 PM

I voted for no change, but I agree that merging the threads is a good idea. I'd be hesitant to endorse any sort of personal attack rule, especially one so ill defined, because I feel it's a slippery slope from there to tBP.

RPGPundit · February 12, 2007, 04:52:53 PM

There is already a kind of "personal attack" rule; its not that you can't make ANY "personal attacks" (because at that point you have to get into the bugbear of defining what the fuck counts or doesn't count as a personal attack), but rather that engaging in persistent attacks/hounding/stalking of another poster in such a way that it disrupts the site is considered verboten.

To me, I consider that this applies when you get someone going onto threads just to attack/threadcrap on a particular person, and obviously also if you start a thread with no other intention besides doing that.

RPGPundit

Brantai · February 12, 2007, 04:56:59 PM

Quote from: RPGPunditThere is already a kind of "personal attack" rule; its not that you can't make ANY "personal attacks" (because at that point you have to get into the bugbear of defining what the fuck counts or doesn't count as a personal attack), but rather that engaging in persistent attacks/hounding/stalking of another poster in such a way that it disrupts the site is considered verboten.

Oh yeah, I knew that. Duh. :duh:
Just kind of forgot about it since it hasn't come up at all.

The Good Assyrian · February 12, 2007, 05:20:43 PM

I voted to keep things the way they are. I would prefer to see a continuation of the self-policing of this community rather than banning him. The site is still small enough to use this model comfortably, and it will be a sad day for me when it ends. I would support merging these threads just in the interest of making the forum more readable.

In the end, I suggest we all ignore him when he isn't posting about RPGs.

TGA

Kyle Aaron · February 12, 2007, 05:45:27 PM

My thinking is along the lines of HinterWelt's. However, I'd say that, "but just ignore his off-topic blatherings" is futile. Someone will respond to him - if only someone who just joined the site and doesn't know any better. And that response will get a response, and so on, and we'll all go round again.

Is it possible, in the forum software, to restrict a poster to only see and/or post to certain subforums? As others have noted, Nox is not insane when talking about rpgs (or no more than any of us), so if he could be prevented from posting to the off-topic subforum, that could be effective.

And if that's possible, it might also be useful to make posting to the off-topic subforum a privilege, not a right automatically granted by joining the site. It could come only after (say) six months, so that the person will have talked a lot about rpgs, or at least lurked quietly and inoffensively for a while; or perhaps after 200 posts, or something like that.

In terms of his own posts here, Dominus Nox undoubtedly deserves a banning. However, I would be cautious about an outright ban for him, because coming in the wake of Nox-bashing threads, it's effectively an rpg.net-style Hyena Pack pile-on - "you are unworthy! Begone!" So that, if backed by moderator action, encourages cliqueishness and good old forum phobia of newbies.

An actual topic-ban, or subforum ban on him - may as well just ban him outright. It's human nature that if you're told not to go to some place you'll want to. So I'd only give him the Off-Topic subforum ban if the actual forum software allows it. Otherwise, lock the Nox-bashing threads and leave it be.

In general, though, making access to the Off-Topic subforum a privilege, not a right, will go a long way to preventing similar problems in the future. You could for example remove access to it from any people whose sole contributions have been to bash other posters there.