Should personal attacks be allowed on Apolyton Off Topic?

[Ben Kenobi]

There was no way in hell that I was going to start a "please share similar stories about loss and so on while I deal with this awfulness" thread on the subject because it would have been trolled to hell and back by Kidicious et al

Sorry for your loss Loinburger.

[MrFun]

Frankly, this week turned into a fapfest on all sides and I'm just tired of it.
People are going to squirm around whatever rules you decide upon, Aeson. Everyone knows this.
It's really about whether or not we will return to having active moderation.
So screw your polls; just do what you want and get on with it.

FWIW, I did have an authentic interface with Imran a day or two ago; we disagreed without resolution and just let it go. It was kind of refreshing.

[Egbert]

None of this would be a problem if we had mods that actually moderated.

Our Mods already have a workload that is excessive.

No Mod should ever do anything.

[dannubis]

Well, when I asked for prayers for my very ill nephew two or three years back, one poster accused me of trolling atheists and another made a snarky comment, after my nephew recovered, to the effect that prayer was useless. In both cases somebody else said Wow You're A Douchebag--I believe it was Guy both times, since he's a mensch--and nothing further came of it.

I explained you my reasons for that post.

I apologized (to you) after you took offense

You agreed to let it rest.

Why bring it up again ?

[kentonio]

That's horrible Loin, hope you're ok dude.

[Elok]

Danny, I left your name out for a reason. The point wasn't to shame you or anything, merely to cite an instance where offense was given in a thread roughly comparable to Loin's. Probably should have mentioned the apology as a relevant detail, though.

[dannubis]

Cool. Done.

[Elok]

Should also have mentioned that you did not expect so much offense to be caused, that it might have involved different cultural standards for offense, etc. So I guess the moral here is that these things are complicated?

[Hauldren Collider]

I think moderation should be kept minimal. In the forums that I have seen with moderation, people aren't really more civil to each other, they just avoid writing banme posts. I actually think there is a relatively supportive community here despite some bad apples.

[Sava]

Ass

[rah]

FWIW, I did have an authentic interface with Imran a day or two ago; we disagreed without resolution and just let it go. It was kind of refreshing.

I argue with him all the time and I don't think We've ever lowered it to offensive insults. Maybe some condescending but heck this is the internet.

[kentonio]

I don't think its that complex. There's going to be times where people call each other ****ing idiots, yet it doesn't **** up the forum. It's just what happens sometimes when people argue about stuff they're passionate about. I don't think any of us really want a system that bans people for that. All you need is a mod to tell people to calm the feck down, and only resort to warnings and bans if they ignore that.

Instead though, we've ended up in a situation where its acceptable to say basically anything, and even people who would never usually come out with really bad stuff end up doing so because that's just how the atmosphere here is now. If you bring back moderation, then its not going to mean 99% of the forum gets banned, its just going to lead to 95% going back to being semi-decent people and the 5% of *******s get banned. Maybe a few people who aren't genuine *******s will pick up a temp ban here and there, but so what? It just means they're slow learners, and reinforces the message that the moderation is fair.

[PLATO]

Personal insults...No

Unending sarcasm for stupidity and witty trolling...Yes

Moderation? In moderation.

[Hauldren Collider]

Ass

That is indeed what I think when I see your posts. Mostly cause of the avatar

[Sava]