Question Regarding Ignoring Posters

[Volos]

I have a question regarding ignoring other posters in different threads and what the repercussions of these actions might be in relation to the rules of the site, specifically the ones regarding flaming or trolling. Normally the advice for dealing with posters who have flamed, trolled, or otherwise annoyed one self is to ignore them and/or report them. But when it comes to the Player Recruitment Threads, the lines become a little more fuzzy.

I have a Recruitment Thread where several players have argued with me on my interpretations of the homebrew rules I am using. I was unable to convince them of my interpretation and they were unable to sway my opinion of these rulings. Instead of continuing to debate with them, I issued a blanket statement that if I had not responded to any player's post, they have most likely given me reason to ignore them and I would continue to do so regardless of what they would post. Is this concidered flaming or trolling or some other violation of the rules? Am I obligated to respond to their posts when they may or may not be attempting to incite and arguement or trolling incident? I'm probably being overly cautious here, but I'd like to know for future refrence. Am I allowed to simply ignore people without announcing it to them directly? (Specifically within my own Player Recruitment Thread) If not, I will issue statements to each poster I am currently ignoring explaining why I am doing so.

[Keld Denar]

There is no forum rule (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/announcement.php?a=1) against not responding to other posters. If you choose not to respond to someone, thats your own priority. If a player is being disruptive in a recruitment thread you've created, simply click the report button. Mr Zeb the Troll(slayer?) will be along shortly to assess the situation and take steps accordingly.

Technically, the board has no rules concerning "ownership" of threads, but if you politely request that the offending posters take their discussion to PMs or another thread, and your request is reasonable, and they do not abide with your request, then that is generally considered harrassing which is generally met with stern red text (generally just a warning).

*Keld is not a mod, nor does he play one on TV. Comentary based on previous experience with such matters. Limit one per household. Void where prohibited. Some exclusions may apply, see store for details. Limited time offer only.

[Volos]

But that really doesn't answer my question completely. If I say to a poster or posters, "I'm ignoring you because you've given me reason to." Is that concidered trolling on my part? I don't mean it to be, but I could see how that might be interpreted as such. The way I am seeing it, I am being kind enough to let them know that any further attempt to get a responce from me will result in failure. But someone else (potentially the poster(s) in question) could see it as an attempt to upset or rile them up with the intention to have them respond in an angry or frustrated manner. It seems rather gray to me. If I'm being stupid about this, let me know. In any case I'll wait until I get a mod's opinion on this. No offence Keld, but if this becomes an issue later I'd like to have a mod's ruling to refer to for future refrence. I plan on running alot of games and there always seem to be one to five posters who will not only disagree with my rulings, but attempt to engage me in debates over them. So far out of the three or four recruitment threads I have run, only one of these players has made a good enough case to convince me to change my ruling. All the others have just been bothersome and disruptive to the recruitment in general. Not quite bad enough to get reported, but they all got rather close.

[Kobold-Bard]

But that really doesn't answer my question completely. If I say to a poster or posters, "I'm ignoring you because you've given me reason to." Is that concidered trolling on my part? I don't mean it to be, but I could see how that might be interpreted as such. The way I am seeing it, I am being kind enough to let them know that any further attempt to get a responce from me will result in failure. But someone else (potentially the poster(s) in question) could see it as an attempt to upset or rile them up with the intention to have them respond in an angry or frustrated manner. It seems rather gray to me. If I'm being stupid about this, let me know. In any case I'll wait until I get a mod's opinion on this. No offence Keld, but if this becomes an issue later I'd like to have a mod's ruling to refer to for future refrence. I plan on running alot of games and there always seem to be one to five posters who will not only disagree with my rulings, but attempt to engage me in debates over them. So far out of the three or four recruitment threads I have run, only one of these players has made a good enough case to convince me to change my ruling. All the others have just been bothersome and disruptive to the recruitment in general. Not quite bad enough to get reported, but they all got rather close.

You're worrying too much.

Telling a player you're going to ignore their posts because of their previous attitude is not trolling, as you said, you're informing them rather than just blanking them (which there is also nothing wrong with if you just don't want to respond anymore).

You running a PbP game is a free service you're offering. While thread ownership isn't followed here, the DM has final say on anything in their game, it's just how the entire hobby works. If players/potential players argue with you about it, they're more likely to be the one who gets out of hand & break a rule than you.

*Also not a mod obviously, but it's not like you're calling them names and telling them to get out of your thread, you're just ignoring them in favour of the rest of the players/the game in general.

[Mystic Muse]

I am also not a mod, but you're not trolling/flaming here. It would be best to say something like "Neither of us are going to budge on this issue" or something so that they know why you're ignoring them, but this would not be insulting them(Whether or not they are insulted is up to them), and wouldn't be trolling since you're not inciting anything, you're just telling them that you aren't going to read their posts/respond to them anymore since you know it won't go anywhere.

[Keld Denar]

Relevant thread is relevant. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10021575&postcount=14)



Sheriff of Moddingham: We don't generally recognize ownership of a thread or allow posters to dictate who can and can't post there. PbP games are an exception though. If you, as the DM, don't want someone to play in your game, for whatever reason, please try to work it out with them civilly via Private Message. If they persist in posting after being asked/told to leave, please report their post along with an explanation or PM the moderator for that subforum. We'll take care of it from there, as they are essentially trolling.

If for any reason, someone is posting in your IC thread that shouldn't be, try to communicate with them privately, and report it, if need be.

While the game hasn't technically started because it's still in the recruitment phase, the above quote would still apply. If someone, through their words and actions, makes it so that you wouldn't want them in your game, you have the right to ask them ask them to stop, and tell them civilly not to take part in your recruitment thread anymore. They should respect this and bow out gracefully. If they don't, it is then considered harrassment, and should be reported as such. Zeb the Troll (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/member.php?u=5391) is the moderator for the PbP recruitment forum, and if there is indeed harrassment, you should take it up with him.

[crimson77]

But that really doesn't answer my question completely. If I say to a poster or posters, "I'm ignoring you because you've given me reason to." Is that concidered trolling on my part? I don't mean it to be, but I could see how that might be interpreted as such. The way I am seeing it, I am being kind enough to let them know that any further attempt to get a responce from me will result in failure. But someone else (potentially the poster(s) in question) could see it as an attempt to upset or rile them up with the intention to have them respond in an angry or frustrated manner. It seems rather gray to me....
If it was me, instead of saying, "I'm ignoring you because...." I would instead say, "[Insert poster's name here], you and I seem to have different opinions regarding how the rules are interpreted. I appreciate your interest in my campaign but I feel that our opinions cannot be reconciled at the present moment. I think it would be best if you found another campaign to participate in."

Additionally, you could just ignore them without explanation and wait for a few days or just respond to other posters. When you had sufficient number of players to play then you could just say "Player1...playerN" you are accepted to play follow the link to the OOC/IC threads."

[Volos]

If it was me, instead of saying, "I'm ignoring you because...." I would instead say, "[Insert poster's name here], you and I seem to have different opinions regarding how the rules are interpreted. I appreciate your interest in my campaign but I feel that our opinions cannot be reconciled at the present moment. I think it would be best if you found another campaign to participate in."

Additionally, you could just ignore them without explanation and wait for a few days or just respond to other posters. When you had sufficient number of players to play then you could just say "Player1...playerN" you are accepted to play follow the link to the OOC/IC threads."

I believe that either method for handling it would be fine, but I may try yours in the future just to avoid offending anyone who has vastly different opinions on rules intrepretations. As for the second part of your advice, I have already done that before and plan to do so in the future. Whether or not I tell someone that they are being ignored, in the end I just congradulate the players who have been chosen and send them links to the IC/OCC threads. I'm not sure that there is any other way to handle player selection, but I could see some mean sort of DM/GM/ST wanting to outright stomp on potential players that annoyed him/her. Such a person would most likely put up a list of rejected characters rather than accepted ones. I would never do this, but I could see someone else doing it and getting a warning or infraction for it.

[Zeb The Troll]

I tend to handle things like this on a case by case basis, so I can't give a blanket answer, but in general I'm less likely to feel an answer like crimson77's to be unnecessarily hostile than any answer that says "I'm ignoring you". I find that kind of answer to be on a similar level to "talk to the hand". It's typically childish and rude.

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff: Keld has kindly quoted the relevant bit regarding PbP games and pointed you to the PbP mastermod, Zeb The Troll, who has effectively noted his approach to issues like this.

Just remember: 1) be civil toward others; 2) you have the right to invite and disinvite posters from your PbP game; and 3) report problem posters rather than trying to moderate them yourself.