NationStates Jolt Archive

Just last night, this doozy occurred on I.I

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=414971

Was it random and retarded? You betcha

Was it worth running to Moderation and crying “Ohh flamebait, spam, lock it lock it!

I think not, people.

Has I.I lost its sense of humor that much? I can remember when something like this happened, we all poked fun at the noob, and he went away, and good times were had by all. In this case, sense it’s clearly a joke; we all made merry, and had a grand ole time….

Now, it seems whenever someone tries to have a spot of random, retarded, ass backward fun, everyone takes it seriously, shows up and fires their coveted I.G.N.O.R.E cannons, those wonderful magic wands that make life so much easier, and none of you could live with out.

Flamebait… as defined by the NS glossary of Forbidden Actions, “Posts that are made with the aim of angering someone indirectly. Not outright flame, but still liable to bring angry replies. It's in the same context of trolling but with flame baiting it's just the one person.” Tell me how some moron posting a thread about his leader being The Shiz is angering, I found it quite funny, maybe my sense of humor is outdated, but it seems like II needed some spice…Shoobans? not funny, people.

Spam, as defined by the Forbidden Actions, defined as, “Off-topic, irrelevant and multi-posts that clog the server.” Not really off topic, as it has to do with international invitations, albeit a horribly written one.

Finally, I.I in general, come on people! We know the stereotypes, Anime women, super G0d Characters, N00KS, as some people seem to believe the word is spelled, pimp national leaders, pic wanking, the command staff of young sexy women. If anything, this is a commentary! It’s a parody! I can remember when this kind o creativity was common. I can remember when these kinds of threads were real, and happened every day, and weren’t someone making an “in” joke, a joke every last one of you is in on!

So, I ask you I.I denizens and dwellers, was it worth it, was putting this mindless fun down worth it, where’s the love gone, people…where’s the humor…I.I is lacking in it as it is.

As the person who "ran to Moderation", I'm a bit upset that my intent is totally misrepresented, and my actions blown out of proportion. You saw the specific post I referenced, which I will not reference again. It was due to an obscene sexual reference. The rest being garbage otherwise, I reported it as spam, not flamebait. That a moderator classified it as such is hardly my fault.

Further, I read International Incidents several times daily. I have to admit, in my three months posting here, I'm still very much new to the NSRP community as a whole. Yet "where the love goes" is apparently toward rewarding crappy copycat RP, N00Bish behavior, and wankery of several types, including but not limited to ally-, tech-, and puppetwank. It is obvious to me that the key to getting a high postcount on one's RP thread is linked either to several weeks of work (yes, work) formulating a backstory, setting up an OOC thread for comments, and actually networking with other posters to develop the plot, or one can simply use one of the various keywords/phrases:

Shooban
nukes
genocide - against Communists, Fascists, liberals, women, men, etc.
war/civil war

I'll grant the more experienced players their stature, since they've damn well earned it, but watching every cardboard cutout nation with cardboard cutout leaders doing the exact same things nearly every other nation is doing or has done. Where the hell is the realism? I mean, a nation actually backing down from a war before everybody feels it's necessary to "whip it out" militarily speaking? Shocking! You mean, diplomacy is used for more than setting up the next gigantic alliance with which to bash the next person who says three words out of turn?

Moving on to the use of I.G.N.O.R.E. cannons, I question the virtue of people jumping on those types of threads as well. What's gained, other than an idiotic exchange of "I IGNORE you!"/"I IGNORE your IGNORE!" anyway? Is this what people really sign up for NS to do? And how immature is that? Ultimately, I'm forced to wade through enough accidentally bad RP (sometimes, admittedly, my own qualifies) if I want to participate on this forum, so why should it be on me to accept the garbage that's intentionally bad? I submit there's no reason whatsoever to do so, and while I respect a player's right to engage in whatever RP one desires, I personally draw the line at the bullshit so inane it actually crosses the forum rules. Go figure.

I want it to be known, right off the bat, that I totally and completely respect your opinion.

If it seems that I was singling you out of a crowd, I do apologize. My comment was meant in a universal sense, and was tried more at the accusations of flame bait, and, more over, the state of the forum in general. The afore mentioned Noobery was the catalyst of my comments, merely the spark to a smoldering fire. To be clear, I truly apologize my seeming to have singled you out; this was completely not my intent.

I’ve been reading International Incidents daily for the better part of a year and a half. It is the latter of your words that attract more attention to a person. See my other commentary on I.I “Flavor of the Week” Syndrome here (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=8738676&postcount=32). Yes, hard work, co-ordinations, plot and character development are the hallmarks of a good RP, and should appear abundantly on NS. However, sometimes, its good to get away from it all, a walk in the park to liven up ones mundane existence, too much of the same does tend to get a tad boring. I would call the thread Spam, nor any of its brethren that have appeared before. Lets not forget that this clearly qualifies under the comedy sub-genre of “Parody, or Satire” a commentary on the state of the International Incidents forum. As I stated, it’s much simpler to gain fame on I.I by tossing around a few buzzwords, and one-liner posts. (As I note, most of my RP’s exist on NS, not I.I)

I’ve seen a nation back down from war, I’ve seen a nation use diplomacy to settle their disputes, I’ve been that nations, I’ve backed down from fights, and used words, not bombs, to get my point across. It’s hard to do, however, when the I.I Warmongers, names not being released, are on the prowl. For a lovely example of I.I Warmongering in actions, click here (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=414012). There’s diplomacy, and there’s what he got for doing it.

Also, newly developed, yet another declaration of war for no valid reason here (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=414978)

I.I is obviously not immune to joke threads, such as this lovely joke by Masspwnage found here (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=413901)

As it happens, and apparently I wasn’t clear enough in my initial post, I find the very notions of I.G.N.O.R.E. devices of any sort utterly ridiculous. Also, no one ahs forced you accept anything. If you do not wish to partake of a joke, then by my guest. No ones made you click the link to the thread, no one made you read it, digest and think about it, no one made you click the reply button. (Once again, this is being used as a general you, not a specific you). It was stated in the Shooban debate, and its applicable here, as well.

One final thought. I couldn’t help but notice your references to people putting real work into their RPing. As to show that im not immune to this, that being a well-done RP, I’ve provided the following examples

Echoes Redux, a co-operative story in progress. (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=412746)

An official welcome for Nova hope, while not the best writing I’ve done, its; not half bad. (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=333698)

Sensitive Operations, another co-operative story. ( http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=373240)

I hope these satisfy.

With respect to the Establishment and all those who choose to partake in this thread,

Transnapastain

I disagree with the war thing though. I've never seen one nation declare war on others, and a whole slew of war threads spring up(Well, maybe the Farmina thing.). But hey what do I know, I just recently started RPing.

My current war RP with Guffingford(Which sadly I think is going to die.) is not made to copy anyone, or jump on a bandwagon. I wanted to do it for my own reasons.

And sadly I disagree. I.I. does not need a bunch of crappy humor threads clogging it, it gets annoying and will just bump all the good threads down.

I don't mind joke threads provided they're either tasteful OR not a variation on an annoying theme. I typically avoid the stuff that drives me nuts, and in this particular case, I'd have not taken it to Moderation if I honestly hadn't thought that the thread contained several minor (or a single major) violation of the rules. Hell, when I feel like contending a point, I do it in plain view of all concerned. More often than not, it turns out that the "huge obstacle" to everybody being at least civil to one another is something really small, and life goes on without the huge conflagration that everybody expected.

For example, the joke thread among your alliance was hilarious. I had trouble reading some of its later parts because I was laughing so hard. And your reputation for solid RP is strong. I've read a bit of what you've done in the past, though I'm not well versed by any means.

As for the irritating threads, it's not that I'm forced to read them, naturally, but when I'm in the mood for joining RP by someone I've never met, I hate sifting through the nineteen boring/obnoxious threads to find the twentieth that might satisfy what I'm looking for. If II could at least cut back on a few of the copycat/bad planning stuff, and keep jokes either highbrow or at least not obscene (my tolerance is reasonbly high, actually), I have a higher chance of finding someone new with whom to RP, which is my overriding goal - meet interesting new people and mix up a few ideas. And a little realism on the part of some II players that is currently lacking would be a gigantic plus.

Thanks for the input, though. Fresh opinions are good to see sometimes.

I disagree with the war thing though. I've never seen one nation declare war on others, and a whole slew of war threads spring up(Well, maybe the Farmina thing.). But hey what do I know, I just recently started RPing.

My current war RP with Guffingford(Which sadly I think is going to die.) is not made to copy anyone, or jump on a bandwagon. I wanted to do it for my own reasons.

And sadly I disagree. I.I. does not need a bunch of crappy humor threads clogging it, it gets annoying and will just bump all the good threads down.

Yes, indeed.

I believe it was Buddha who told us to “follow the middle way”

Of course too much of something is bad. If we have too much ice cream, generally considered a “good thing”, we become sick, generally considered a bad thing

Now, take our current debate

Too many joke threads, generally considered funny, when done in a timely, non-obsessive manor, are bad. However, does not one aspire to “spice things up” a bit, and break the mundane routines? If too many joke threads are bad, wouldn’t one too many “good” RP’s in a row, over and over, become monotonies and boring? Yes I know that sounds ignorant, however, think about it. Don’t we all need to kick back a bit, relax, and enjoy something mind numbingly stupid, and humorous. Do you watch television to watch people exactly like you, to see well mannered, well to do, upstanding citizens of society? Why? If you want that, you’ll step outside, or look in the mirror. “Show me a man without a sense of humor, and I’ll show you a man with a tow tag.” Maybe our senses of humor differ, but, cant we all, or at least most of us, agree that sometimes, that “inane stupidity” is just downright amusing?

As to bumping the good threads down. Luckily, all good jokesters, which is what it takes to create a good ”joke thread” knows when to stop, and they should rarely exceed a page or two. Soon, you’ll see it dropping, one by one, to the bowels of the forum, besides, isn’t the best way to put your RP back on top of the boards to write a post for it…I can think of no better way, a character could always use more development, no?

As a side note, see above thread for an example of war being declared for no reason, now you, too can claim to have seen it.

Also, I’ve been meaning to do this, and its been slipping my mind. I am not responsible for tonight’s events. I do not claim that thread, or any involvement in its creation. I defend it as the simple lost art that it is, it seems no one appreciates a good parody these days…poor Weird Al isn’t going to sell many CD’s this year I suppose….

I don't mind joke threads provided they're either tasteful OR not a variation on an annoying theme. I typically avoid the stuff that drives me nuts, and in this particular case, I'd have not taken it to Moderation if I honestly hadn't thought that the thread contained several minor (or a single major) violation of the rules. Hell, when I feel like contending a point, I do it in plain view of all concerned. More often than not, it turns out that the "huge obstacle" to everybody being at least civil to one another is something really small, and life goes on without the huge conflagration that everybody expected.

For example, the joke thread among your alliance was hilarious. I had trouble reading some of its later parts because I was laughing so hard. And your reputation for solid RP is strong. I've read a bit of what you've done in the past, though I'm not well versed by any means.

As for the irritating threads, it's not that I'm forced to read them, naturally, but when I'm in the mood for joining RP by someone I've never met, I hate sifting through the nineteen boring/obnoxious threads to find the twentieth that might satisfy what I'm looking for. If II could at least cut back on a few of the copycat/bad planning stuff, and keep jokes either highbrow or at least not obscene (my tolerance is reasonbly high, actually), I have a higher chance of finding someone new with whom to RP, which is my overriding goal - meet interesting new people and mix up a few ideas. And a little realism on the part of some II players that is currently lacking would be a gigantic plus.

Thanks for the input, though. Fresh opinions are good to see sometimes.

Firstly, I owe you thanks for your praise. I’m glad to see that that joke thread wasn’t lost upon everyone. I appreciate your kind words. I also apologize, I cannot contend with your point that the thread did contain some mild sexual references, and that those could be found offensive.

Conversely, I think its good to see someone who is willing to stand up and defend their points.

Lastly, I couldn’t agree more with your statement on I.I and its lack luster realism. Hit me up on Y! sometime, that would be an interesting discussion to continue

Regards and Best Wishes

Transnapastain