Lytha on 15/7/2003 at 10:25
*looks nervously around*
Well uh, hi.
I have just tried out the ignore function for a user here in this forum, because I consider it to be a good thing that I won't accidentally read his postings. Accidents such as this can happen if I am reading some thread from top to botton, without paying attention to the username to the left, which I do quite often.
The ignore function of this forum will now replace the text of his posting with the line <b>This person is on your Ignore List. To view this post click [here]</b>.
This appears to be rather contraproductive to me at the moment, as, if anything, it only draws more attention towards the ignored person now. It is the equivalent of knowing that someone is barking, but not to know what is being said - and that can lead to slight paranoia additional to the anger that led to the usage of the ignore function in the first place.
My suggestion for the ignore function would be to wipe out the entire table row with the posting <i>and</i> the username of the ignored person, similar to how /ignore works on IRC.
This will lead to broken conversations/threads, of course (when other people are answering to something the ignored person said), but it would most certainly be more helpful for me in that way to forget my furious feelings towards that certain user than the way it currently is implemented.
Well uh, people on irc told me to post this here instead of complaining at them, so blame them for me bothering you with this. ;)
Gingerbread Man on 15/7/2003 at 18:22
Not much chance of making the changes you've suggested, I'm afraid.
And without meaning to sound harsh, if things are sparking feelings of paranoia and anger and furious feelings, perhaps a step back and a deep breath is in order.
I fully understand how certain members at certain times (sometimes certain members ALL of the time) can make you see red and grow even more determined to invent the Punch-Someone-Through-The-Internet device, but when all is said and done it's just a messageboard and the people who really manage to push your buttons are either a) doing it on purpose, b) loathesomely ignorant people you shouldn't get worked up over anyway, or c) unintentionally phrasing something the wrong way or somehow accidentally coming across as dickheads.
If they do it on purpose, you're just feeding them by rising to it.
If they're just viciously ignorant people, don't waste the calories getting steamed.
If they're inadvertantly pissing you off, well that's just miscommunication and no reason to get wiggy.
If you ask me, the real counterproductiveness of the Ignore function is that you will still be able to read the replies made to someone on your Ignore list, and <s>while any quoted material will be replaced with the "This person is on your Ignore list" text (I think)</s><small>(I think wrong)</small>, you'll still be able to get half the conversation and that would make me totally itching to see what the argument is about. And then I'd probably UnIgnore the person, read their posts, remembe why I Ignored them in the first place, and ReIgnore them while kicking myself for having UnIgnored them just to see what new thing they were saying.
'Course, I don't have the luxury of Ignoring people. I don't know if I can or not, I've never tried, because it is totally and completely ass-backwards to my function to Ignore offensive posts.
Hrhm.
Bottom line is that I don't know if it's possible and I'm pretty sure it's unnecessary to expunge all traces of an ignored member from the page views of those who ignore them... I'm not the server-monkey, but it sounds a bit like that would also increase resource overhead (I'm just assuming... I actually know very little about it).
It's really amazing to me how personally and emotionally we take things around here, and I'm certain it's no different to anywhere else with a core of stable and long-term members, especially not when the topics of conversation fly so wildly from "Man eats his own penis eww" to "Here's an atom-bomb of a political /ethical topic for you." But regardless, the fact that we sometimes take things in such a way as to make us actually angry is a double-edged blade. On the one side, it demonstrates passion and involvement and connection, on the other hand it represents obsession and over-investment and a need to sit back once in a while and let it pass.
David on 15/7/2003 at 18:26
I doubt it removes the quoted material as it appears as plain text in the reply box and not linked to the original post in anyway.
Actually I'm going to try it now :)
[edit] Aye, I was right, it doesn't remove quoted posts.
I also discovered Mods and Admins cannot be ignored. Unless you are an Admin it seems.
:p to you, GBM :cheeky:
[/edit]
Gingerbread Man on 15/7/2003 at 18:30
rofl
and I just found out I can ignore Moderators...
How's that for stupid?
>:D
Lytha on 15/7/2003 at 21:42
For stepping back and taking a deep breath, it would be better if the whole table row was gone. But hey, it isn't really a problem anyway and I will remove him from the ignore list anyway in a couple of days at latest. What triggered me to put him on the list was that I accidentally stumbled into a posting of his in some thread unrelated to why I was upset at him in the first place, so I read it instead of skipping over it as I would normally do, when someone annoys me.
Haunt-of-DOOM on 16/7/2003 at 14:33
I don't know anything about it cuz' I've never used it, I like to hear everything people say. It gets me a better idea of who they are.
Lytha on 17/7/2003 at 15:50
That is good for you. However, some people might prefer not to grow some more white hairs because other humans annoy the heck out of them. And for these people, I really think the ignore option here in the forum is really not very useful.
But I am aware that it is probably hidden deep in the mysterious code of VBB, so that it can't be adjusted by the admins. So, I apologize for bothering you with that again. :)
Aircraftkiller on 17/7/2003 at 16:03
So, basically, what you're saying is that you can toss out insults and irritate people, but when it comes to them giving it back - you'll ignore them?
To each their own, I suppose.
Gingerbread Man on 17/7/2003 at 18:24
Do NOT drag your squabble with Lytha in here, Aircraftkiller. That's prime-cut trolling, and I will elbow you hard in the ribs for it.
Aircraftkiller on 17/7/2003 at 21:58
Gotcha, GBM. Won't happen again.
