The mass exodus

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New England Fire Squad
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Re: The mass exodus

#101 Post by New England Fire Squad » Sun Feb 10, 2019 3:20 pm

Octavious wrote:
Sat Feb 09, 2019 11:18 pm
Because amongst the trolling you would find some of the finest and most diverse debates on the internet, and a remarkably strong community of diplomacy players passionate about the game and the site.

I don't think you appreciate how much the site has lost over the years. We used to have several live games of full press diplomacy every day. When the monthly ghost ratings were published it was a big event with scores of people waiting for them and asking about them if they were a day late. When the site was in trouble huge numbers of members stood up to volunteer donations. WebDip used to be by far the best place to play diplomacy on the internet.
Is this due to a possible overactive banhammer or is this due to the eventual slow decline and eclipse of trailblazers by younger and fresher competitors? Also, if trolling is needed- I'd be quite happy to help.
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Re: The mass exodus

#102 Post by ILN » Sun Feb 10, 2019 5:46 pm

New England Fire Squad wrote:
Sun Feb 10, 2019 3:20 pm
Also, if trolling is needed- I'd be quite happy to help.
I see you are a man of culture.
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Re: The mass exodus

#103 Post by flash2015 » Sun Feb 10, 2019 6:29 pm

New England Fire Squad wrote:
Sun Feb 10, 2019 3:20 pm
Octavious wrote:
Sat Feb 09, 2019 11:18 pm
Because amongst the trolling you would find some of the finest and most diverse debates on the internet, and a remarkably strong community of diplomacy players passionate about the game and the site.

I don't think you appreciate how much the site has lost over the years. We used to have several live games of full press diplomacy every day. When the monthly ghost ratings were published it was a big event with scores of people waiting for them and asking about them if they were a day late. When the site was in trouble huge numbers of members stood up to volunteer donations. WebDip used to be by far the best place to play diplomacy on the internet.
Is this due to a possible overactive banhammer or is this due to the eventual slow decline and eclipse of trailblazers by younger and fresher competitors? Also, if trolling is needed- I'd be quite happy to help.
I have only been around for a few years (see my user id). Perhaps I missed the "golden age" which Octavious refers to. But at least from my recollection of the old forum, it was quite nasty. I don't see why it is so hard to have a discussion without at least some level of decorum. Octavious said it used to be "the best place to play diplomacy on the internet" but the random forum discussion and the trolling have absolutely nothing to do with the game itself.

I guess his argument is to bring people in with free-form trolling and hope they play a game too? I don't know about everyone else but the nasty trolling scares people like me away. Even if he is right, unlikely as that may be, I can't believe we should solely focus on free-form trolling to grow the site.
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Re: The mass exodus

#104 Post by dyager_nh » Sun Feb 10, 2019 6:33 pm

New England Fire Squad is a bad name.
1. I assume thats your occupation but it should not define you
2. Squad implies multiple people
3. It is too long

Is there a process for name changes?
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Re: The mass exodus

#105 Post by flash2015 » Sun Feb 10, 2019 6:49 pm

dyager_nh wrote:
Sun Feb 10, 2019 6:33 pm
New England Fire Squad is a bad name.
1. I assume thats your occupation but it should not define you
2. Squad implies multiple people
3. It is too long

Is there a process for name changes?
You have to be very special to get that sort of privilege...

There is no UI function on the mod screen to do this. It requires manual SQL calls to do the change.
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Re: The mass exodus

#106 Post by Durga » Sun Feb 10, 2019 6:49 pm

I'm very special.
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Re: The mass exodus

#107 Post by Your Humble Narrator » Sun Feb 10, 2019 7:07 pm

I didn't realize D who must not be named wanted to sue the site. That's a shame. He was a highly entertaining, psychotic, cigar-smoking, woodworking, (near?-) retiree. I miss Krellin too, and I'm sure there were other characters I'm forgetting. I share the sentiment that insane trolling and lively discussion often go hand in hand, though I know we had plenty of engaging discussions that didn't devolve into shit slinging. Wasn't there a well-reasoned debate over religion that went on for years?
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Re: The mass exodus

#108 Post by ILN » Sun Feb 10, 2019 11:00 pm

Crazy Anglican's bible study thread was a webdip feature for sure.
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Re: The mass exodus

#109 Post by New England Fire Squad » Sun Feb 10, 2019 11:03 pm

ILN wrote:
Sun Feb 10, 2019 5:46 pm
New England Fire Squad wrote:
Sun Feb 10, 2019 3:20 pm
Also, if trolling is needed- I'd be quite happy to help.
I see you are a man of culture.
Nothing quite like salty tears to go with a coffee in the mornings- it's good for the soul.

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Re: The mass exodus

#110 Post by New England Fire Squad » Sun Feb 10, 2019 11:08 pm

flash2015 wrote:
Sun Feb 10, 2019 6:29 pm
New England Fire Squad wrote:
Sun Feb 10, 2019 3:20 pm
Octavious wrote:
Sat Feb 09, 2019 11:18 pm
Because amongst the trolling you would find some of the finest and most diverse debates on the internet, and a remarkably strong community of diplomacy players passionate about the game and the site.

I don't think you appreciate how much the site has lost over the years. We used to have several live games of full press diplomacy every day. When the monthly ghost ratings were published it was a big event with scores of people waiting for them and asking about them if they were a day late. When the site was in trouble huge numbers of members stood up to volunteer donations. WebDip used to be by far the best place to play diplomacy on the internet.
Is this due to a possible overactive banhammer or is this due to the eventual slow decline and eclipse of trailblazers by younger and fresher competitors? Also, if trolling is needed- I'd be quite happy to help.
I have only been around for a few years (see my user id). Perhaps I missed the "golden age" which Octavious refers to. But at least from my recollection of the old forum, it was quite nasty. I don't see why it is so hard to have a discussion without at least some level of decorum. Octavious said it used to be "the best place to play diplomacy on the internet" but the random forum discussion and the trolling have absolutely nothing to do with the game itself.

I guess his argument is to bring people in with free-form trolling and hope they play a game too? I don't know about everyone else but the nasty trolling scares people like me away. Even if he is right, unlikely as that may be, I can't believe we should solely focus on free-form trolling to grow the site.
I get why you and a lot of others don't want trolling (though some would argue that being able to speak freely would in turn stimulate growth due to actually wanting to spend time on the site). I know I don't spend much time on the forums other than to advertise live games because quite frankly I feel if I did politics board write ups, due to the somewhat overwhelming political slant of the site (which is fine by me, don't care)- it would probably just stick a target on my back. At least that is the impression I get. Imo, the more sanitized and corporate workplace approved our speech becomes, the more people drift away. A lot of people already have to deal with nonsense at work, why would they want to deal with it for a hobby?

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Re: The mass exodus

#111 Post by New England Fire Squad » Sun Feb 10, 2019 11:10 pm

dyager_nh wrote:
Sun Feb 10, 2019 6:33 pm
New England Fire Squad is a bad name.
1. I assume thats your occupation but it should not define you
2. Squad implies multiple people
3. It is too long

Is there a process for name changes?
It's a mouthful, but it makes me more memorable. Now instead of being just another name with numbers and dots, I'm that annoying dude who stabbed you whose name is frustratingly long.

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Re: The mass exodus

#112 Post by ILN » Sun Feb 10, 2019 11:14 pm

That coffee better be a fair trade organic coffee that helps one legged lesbian women entrepreneurs in Somalia.
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Re: The mass exodus

#113 Post by New England Fire Squad » Mon Feb 11, 2019 12:10 am

ILN wrote:
Sun Feb 10, 2019 11:14 pm
That coffee better be a fair trade organic coffee that helps one legged lesbian women entrepreneurs in Somalia.
I specifically go to the Wesleyan College coffeeshop so I can buy this and only this variety.

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Re: The mass exodus

#114 Post by flash2015 » Mon Feb 11, 2019 2:09 am

New England Fire Squad wrote:
Sun Feb 10, 2019 11:08 pm
I get why you and a lot of others don't want trolling (though some would argue that being able to speak freely would in turn stimulate growth due to actually wanting to spend time on the site). I know I don't spend much time on the forums other than to advertise live games because quite frankly I feel if I did politics board write ups, due to the somewhat overwhelming political slant of the site (which is fine by me, don't care)- it would probably just stick a target on my back. At least that is the impression I get. Imo, the more sanitized and corporate workplace approved our speech becomes, the more people drift away. A lot of people already have to deal with nonsense at work, why would they want to deal with it for a hobby?
I don't understand. Nothing to my knowledge here is stopping you from speaking freely. I thought the restrictions pretty much amount to "don't be an a**hole" and no personal attacks. Is it really that restrictive?

Are you concerned that most people would agree with your opinions? I don't know about others but I like reading/watching a well thought out contrarian opinion, especially when backed up with factual information.

I think that this website though is a little different from random news trolling site...where you can insult $RANDOM person who you may never interact with again. Webdip is a community. The person you have the abusive argument in the forums may be the person playing France to your England in the next game of dip...or joining you in one of the forum games. You don't want that sort of stuff poisoning everything on the site.

Perhaps I am missing something. If you can clarify what exactly is so restrictive I may understand better where you are coming from.
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Re: The mass exodus

#115 Post by New England Fire Squad » Mon Feb 11, 2019 3:25 am

flash2015 wrote:
Mon Feb 11, 2019 2:09 am
New England Fire Squad wrote:
Sun Feb 10, 2019 11:08 pm
I get why you and a lot of others don't want trolling (though some would argue that being able to speak freely would in turn stimulate growth due to actually wanting to spend time on the site). I know I don't spend much time on the forums other than to advertise live games because quite frankly I feel if I did politics board write ups, due to the somewhat overwhelming political slant of the site (which is fine by me, don't care)- it would probably just stick a target on my back. At least that is the impression I get. Imo, the more sanitized and corporate workplace approved our speech becomes, the more people drift away. A lot of people already have to deal with nonsense at work, why would they want to deal with it for a hobby?
I don't understand. Nothing to my knowledge here is stopping you from speaking freely. I thought the restrictions pretty much amount to "don't be an a**hole" and no personal attacks. Is it really that restrictive?

Are you concerned that most people would agree with your opinions? I don't know about others but I like reading/watching a well thought out contrarian opinion, especially when backed up with factual information.

I think that this website though is a little different from random news trolling site...where you can insult $RANDOM person who you may never interact with again. Webdip is a community. The person you have the abusive argument in the forums may be the person playing France to your England in the next game of dip...or joining you in one of the forum games. You don't want that sort of stuff poisoning everything on the site.

Perhaps I am missing something. If you can clarify what exactly is so restrictive I may understand better where you are coming from.
No problem clarifying for you my man. The 'dont be an asshole-no personal attacks' are fine and usually do not inhibit discussion. What I am referring to is say (to play devil's advocate for a moment) started threads in the politics forum entitled: 'Multiculturalism Ruins Nations' 'The West Was Better In The 1950's'. Are these allowed discussions or will I be banned because someone may find a discussion about that offensive? Im not sure, and I don't want to find out the hard way and lose my account. And if they are no good, then we're limiting what we can talk about to things as full as he top marginal tax rate. I have no fear about people disagreeing or agreeing with me- I love a good debate where both sides can learn from each other, but my concern is that due to what I at least have seen of the political discussions on this site, some people have no issues with trying to get people banned or suspended for wrong think. I understand your last point about this being a community as well- but at the end of the day, we are diplomacy players, and if we can accept that someone is about to baldface lie to us about Piedmont, then we should be able to handle some lively discussion too. This is a diplomacy community, not a book club. It is what it is though- players like President Eden (and say what you will about his views, the man could play some diplomacy) will disappear and go elsewhere where they can banter, and we can sit here and chat about the weather.

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Re: The mass exodus

#116 Post by Claesar » Mon Feb 11, 2019 10:38 am

New England Fire Squad wrote:
Mon Feb 11, 2019 3:25 am
No problem clarifying for you my man. The 'dont be an asshole-no personal attacks' are fine and usually do not inhibit discussion. What I am referring to is say (to play devil's advocate for a moment) started threads in the politics forum entitled: 'Multiculturalism Ruins Nations' 'The West Was Better In The 1950's'. Are these allowed discussions or will I be banned because someone may find a discussion about that offensive?
...
I guarantee you will not be banned for that. You might receive a warning. You might receive multiple warnings. Then forum silences of increasing length if it's really bad. If, during one of those silences, you decide to send a ton af abusive emails to the mods or make new accounts to bypass your silence.. Yes, you'd be considered for a ban.

I'm not going to comment on individual cases, but we feel all bans of our colourful forum characters were necessary (and unavoidable even though we tried).
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Re: The mass exodus

#117 Post by flash2015 » Mon Feb 11, 2019 1:01 pm

New England Fire Squad wrote:
Mon Feb 11, 2019 3:25 am
No problem clarifying for you my man. The 'dont be an asshole-no personal attacks' are fine and usually do not inhibit discussion. What I am referring to is say (to play devil's advocate for a moment) started threads in the politics forum entitled: 'Multiculturalism Ruins Nations' 'The West Was Better In The 1950's'. Are these allowed discussions or will I be banned because someone may find a discussion about that offensive? Im not sure, and I don't want to find out the hard way and lose my account. And if they are no good, then we're limiting what we can talk about to things as full as he top marginal tax rate. I have no fear about people disagreeing or agreeing with me- I love a good debate where both sides can learn from each other, but my concern is that due to what I at least have seen of the political discussions on this site, some people have no issues with trying to get people banned or suspended for wrong think. I understand your last point about this being a community as well- but at the end of the day, we are diplomacy players, and if we can accept that someone is about to baldface lie to us about Piedmont, then we should be able to handle some lively discussion too. This is a diplomacy community, not a book club. It is what it is though- players like President Eden (and say what you will about his views, the man could play some diplomacy) will disappear and go elsewhere where they can banter, and we can sit here and chat about the weather.
I guess the question is - why would you create such threads? What is the intent? If you have a genuine argument and you are looking for an interesting discussion, I don't see why there is a problem. If your goal is to see how extreme some of the reactions will be or as some people would say "trigger snowflakes" then probably you shouldn't do it (e.g. "The Final Solution Was Right. Change My Mind" would probably NOT be a good idea). And if you really do have a genuine argument and the thread still does go off the rails, then I believe it should be the responsibility of the person that created the thread to attempt to try and calm things down rather than than requiring the over worked mods to step in. I see this as common sense. Do you not agree?
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Re: The mass exodus

#118 Post by New England Fire Squad » Mon Feb 11, 2019 3:05 pm

flash2015 wrote:
Mon Feb 11, 2019 1:01 pm
New England Fire Squad wrote:
Mon Feb 11, 2019 3:25 am
No problem clarifying for you my man. The 'dont be an asshole-no personal attacks' are fine and usually do not inhibit discussion. What I am referring to is say (to play devil's advocate for a moment) started threads in the politics forum entitled: 'Multiculturalism Ruins Nations' 'The West Was Better In The 1950's'. Are these allowed discussions or will I be banned because someone may find a discussion about that offensive? Im not sure, and I don't want to find out the hard way and lose my account. And if they are no good, then we're limiting what we can talk about to things as full as he top marginal tax rate. I have no fear about people disagreeing or agreeing with me- I love a good debate where both sides can learn from each other, but my concern is that due to what I at least have seen of the political discussions on this site, some people have no issues with trying to get people banned or suspended for wrong think. I understand your last point about this being a community as well- but at the end of the day, we are diplomacy players, and if we can accept that someone is about to baldface lie to us about Piedmont, then we should be able to handle some lively discussion too. This is a diplomacy community, not a book club. It is what it is though- players like President Eden (and say what you will about his views, the man could play some diplomacy) will disappear and go elsewhere where they can banter, and we can sit here and chat about the weather.
I guess the question is - why would you create such threads? What is the intent? If you have a genuine argument and you are looking for an interesting discussion, I don't see why there is a problem. If your goal is to see how extreme some of the reactions will be or as some people would say "trigger snowflakes" then probably you shouldn't do it (e.g. "The Final Solution Was Right. Change My Mind" would probably NOT be a good idea). And if you really do have a genuine argument and the thread still does go off the rails, then I believe it should be the responsibility of the person that created the thread to attempt to try and calm things down rather than than requiring the over worked mods to step in. I see this as common sense. Do you not agree?
It would be to create discussion of course- and to try and revive certain things I love about this site (genuine discussion+live diplomacy as it was meant to be played); which is why I start 3-4 live games a week, since few of those exist anymore. I do disagree though that it would be my responsibility to mend hurt feelings- this seems like something a diplomacy player should be able to handle. Back to the main point- my concern stemmed from this comment not being worthy of suspension (from a player I will not name) 'Any man who self-identifies with this group should have his fucking dick cut off. These people are all proto-rapists and a genuinely sick group of assholes who are a danger to women. I'm not the best looking guy, I can have a short temper, and I haven't had sex in over a year. Whose fault is that? P...' however this one was 'http://webdiplomacy.net/contrib/phpBB3/ ... 752#p15752'. Neither comment was remotely appropriate of course- however, I found it concerning that one was stricken down but not the other.

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Re: The mass exodus

#119 Post by New England Fire Squad » Mon Feb 11, 2019 3:06 pm

Claesar wrote:
Mon Feb 11, 2019 10:38 am
New England Fire Squad wrote:
Mon Feb 11, 2019 3:25 am
No problem clarifying for you my man. The 'dont be an asshole-no personal attacks' are fine and usually do not inhibit discussion. What I am referring to is say (to play devil's advocate for a moment) started threads in the politics forum entitled: 'Multiculturalism Ruins Nations' 'The West Was Better In The 1950's'. Are these allowed discussions or will I be banned because someone may find a discussion about that offensive?
...
I guarantee you will not be banned for that. You might receive a warning. You might receive multiple warnings. Then forum silences of increasing length if it's really bad. If, during one of those silences, you decide to send a ton af abusive emails to the mods or make new accounts to bypass your silence.. Yes, you'd be considered for a ban.

I'm not going to comment on individual cases, but we feel all bans of our colourful forum characters were necessary (and unavoidable even though we tried).
I appreciate the word and clarification, Claesar- tyvm. Let me know if I step out of bounds.
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Re: The mass exodus

#120 Post by ILN » Sat Feb 16, 2019 5:00 pm

This website is dead.

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