We have this conversation about once a year. The trolls find a way to slime back into the board, new trolls come along as well. They've honed their craft so that newbies can't smell them out immediately, but get caught by the veterans. So then we have a three way conversation where the veterans ask "please, can we clean house?" and the trolls say "1st Amendment!" and the newbies say, "what's the big deal?".
Some trolls don't even realize they are trolls (maybe that's too forgiving). Many message boards are free-for-alls where anything goes that doesn't have specific curse words or racist language, so they come here and say, "hey, let me pick a fight with person x" thinking it's fair play. This board has been a place that does not suffer that kind of behavior.
I'm still officially a moderator, but I'm trying to transition out, I can't devote enough time to this board to be fair. Andy and the new mod crew will work out a balance that's right for them. My two cents is ignore only works so much, as threads get disrupted and become unreadable, and new people will always be victims and respond to the trolls. If they are allowed to take over, the contributors will be driven off, followed by the lion's share of readers as quality posts evaporate, then the trolls will consume each other, get bored, and move on.
Some trolls don't even realize they are trolls (maybe that's too forgiving). Many message boards are free-for-alls where anything goes that doesn't have specific curse words or racist language, so they come here and say, "hey, let me pick a fight with person x" thinking it's fair play. This board has been a place that does not suffer that kind of behavior.
I'm still officially a moderator, but I'm trying to transition out, I can't devote enough time to this board to be fair. Andy and the new mod crew will work out a balance that's right for them. My two cents is ignore only works so much, as threads get disrupted and become unreadable, and new people will always be victims and respond to the trolls. If they are allowed to take over, the contributors will be driven off, followed by the lion's share of readers as quality posts evaporate, then the trolls will consume each other, get bored, and move on.