# What's a troll?



## dead (Jun 21, 2004)

No, I'm not talking about a green-skinned, lanky, long-nosed, regenerating monstrosity that you'll find in your MM.

I'm talking about that *other* troll.

From where I come from, this term is never used in the fashion I've heard it used on EN World so I've had to come up with my own definition.

Troll
Someone who blatantly and maliciously attacks games or gaming principles that other people hold dearly too. They think they are better than you.

How's that? Is that close?

More importantly, should a troll be flamed and doused in acid whenever it pops its ugly head up? Or, should some intelligent discussion be engaged in to see if this troll can be shown the error of his/her ways?


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## Ottergame (Jun 21, 2004)

actually, a troll is just someone is says inflamatory things just to get an argument started


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## heimdall (Jun 21, 2004)

From http://dict.die.net/troll/

Source: Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)

troll 1. v.,n. [From the Usenet group alt.folklore.urban] To utter a
   posting on Usenet designed to attract predictable responses or
   flames; or, the post itself. Derives from the phrase "trolling for
   newbies" which in turn comes from mainstream "trolling", a style of
   fishing in which one trails bait through a likely spot hoping for a
   bite. The well-constructed troll is a post that induces lots of newbies
   and flamers to make themselves look even more clueless than they already
   do, while subtly conveying to the more savvy and experienced that it is
   in fact a deliberate troll. If you don't fall for the joke, you get to
   be in on it. See also YHBT. 2. n. An individual who chronically trolls
   in sense 1; regularly posts specious arguments, flames or personal
   attacks to a newsgroup, discussion list, or in email for no other
   purpose than to annoy someone or disrupt a discussion. Trolls are
   recognizable by the fact that they have no real interest in learning
   about the topic at hand - they simply want to utter flame bait. Like the
   ugly creatures they are named after, they exhibit no redeeming
   characteristics, and as such, they are recognized as a lower form of
   life on the net, as in, "Oh, ignore him, he's just a troll." Compare
   kook. 3. n. [Berkeley] Computer lab monitor. A popular campus job for
   CS students. Duties include helping newbies and ensuring that lab
   policies are followed. Probably so-called because it involves lurking in
   dark cavelike corners.

   Some people claim that the troll (sense 1) is properly a narrower
   category than flame bait, that a troll is categorized by containing
   some assertion that is wrong but not overtly controversial. See also
   Troll-O-Meter.

   The use of `troll' in either sense is a live metaphor that readily
   produces elaborations and combining forms. For example, one not
   infrequently sees the warning "Do not feed the troll" as part of a
   followup to troll postings.


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## Ibram (Jun 21, 2004)

In the end all a troll realy wants it to be the center of attention.  So the best thing to do is ignore them.


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## Fieari (Jun 21, 2004)

*troll* v.,n. 

1. [From the Usenet group alt.folklore.urban] To utter a posting on Usenet designed to attract predictable responses or flames; or, the post itself. Derives from the phrase "trolling for newbies" which in turn comes from mainstream "trolling", a style of fishing in which one trails bait through a likely spot hoping for a bite. The well-constructed troll is a post that induces lots of newbies and flamers to make themselves look even more clueless than they already do, while subtly conveying to the more savvy and experienced that it is in fact a deliberate troll. If you don't fall for the joke, you get to be in on it. See also YHBT. 

2. An individual who chronically trolls in sense 1; regularly posts specious arguments, flames or personal attacks to a newsgroup, discussion list, or in email for no other purpose than to annoy someone or disrupt a discussion. Trolls are recognizable by the fact that the have no real interest in learning about the topic at hand - they simply want to utter flame bait. Like the ugly creatures they are named after, they exhibit no redeeming characteristics, and as such, they are recognized as a lower form of life on the net, as in, "Oh, ignore him, he's just a troll." 

3. [Berkeley] Computer lab monitor. A popular campus job for CS students. Duties include helping newbies and ensuring that lab policies are followed. Probably so-called because it involves lurking in dark cavelike corners. 

Some people claim that the troll (sense 1) is properly a narrower category than flame bait, that a troll is categorized by containing some assertion that is wrong but not overtly controversial. See also Troll-O-Meter. 

--Jargon File



EDIT: Heh!  Dysfractionated!  (Dysfractionate: To post something at the same time as someone else unknowingly, generally resulting in thread incoherance)  <childish>I took the time to put paragraph breaks in my post though... so there! *sticks out tongue*</childish> hehe.


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## dead (Jun 21, 2004)

Who voted for 1. or 2.?

Come out of the closet please!


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## Dark Jezter (Jun 21, 2004)

On ENWorld, trolls can usually be spotted when they do the following...

Start threads asking if D&D is satanic/evil.
Post about how 3e sucks and how 1e AD&D or 2e AD&D is much better.
Use words like "3tards" and "turd edition."
Post about how D&D sucks and how (Insert other RPG system here) is superior in every way.
Create a new account, post a topic guaranteed to get a lot of passionate responses, and then disappear, never to be heard from again.
Start rants about how alignment sucks and how it needs to be removed.  There have been a million arguments over alignment before, and we've all heard the arguments for and against alignment.  If a person starts up a thread with the title "alignment sucks!" or something similar, there's a good chance they're trolling.
Compare someone to the nazis or Hitler (see also Godwin's Law).

As Ibram said, trolls thrive on attention.  The best way to deal with them is to ignore them.


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## hong (Jun 21, 2004)

I am not a troll.


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## Zappo (Jun 21, 2004)

Unlike D&D trolls, Internet trolls regenerate when hit by flames and acid; the only way to kill an Internet troll short of moderator intervention is to leave it alone (it will wither and die eventually).


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## hong (Jun 21, 2004)

Zappo said:
			
		

> Unlike D&D trolls, Internet trolls regenerate when hit by flames and acid; the only way to kill an Internet troll short of moderator intervention is to leave it alone (it will wither and die eventually).



 Stop ignoring me, feck you.


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## diaglo (Jun 21, 2004)

hong said:
			
		

> Stop ignoring me, feck you.




i'm ignoring you right now... IYKWIMAITYD


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## Henry (Jun 21, 2004)

Bonus points to anyone who knows where the term originated. (As in, where was it first used NOT on the Internet?)


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## johnsemlak (Jun 21, 2004)

Henry said:
			
		

> Bonus points to anyone who knows where the term originated. (As in, where was it first used NOT on the Internet?)



 Doesn't Fieari's post above cover that, i.e. it comes from fishing?


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## Henry (Jun 21, 2004)

johnsemlak said:
			
		

> Doesn't Fieari's post above cover that, i.e. it comes from fishing?





Oops - missed that in the skimming!


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## Pielorinho (Jun 21, 2004)

hong said:
			
		

> I am not a troll.



_Ce n'est pas une pipe._

Daniel


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## hong (Jun 21, 2004)

Pielorinho said:
			
		

> _Ce n'est pas une pipe._
> 
> Daniel



 I'm not passing you my pipe, mang. That's just unhygienic.

Also, I keep getting Pielorinho, Shilsen and Zappo mixed up in my head. I am not sure why.


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## Wolf72 (Jun 21, 2004)

I voted 4   

you need a "runs away and avoids thread" option


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## BigFreekinGoblinoid (Jun 24, 2004)

The most successful ( in terms of accomplishing their attention getting objective ) type of troll post I have seen is the guys to who sign up with an alt ID and pretend they are female. I hate to admit I find it somewhat funny when they pull  in dozens upon dozens of posters. WAY more reaction than a comparable newbie post by an obviously male or sexually ambiguous identity.

Edit: I may or may not be thinking of any of the threads you are thinking of. Don't jump to conclusions - I haven't seen a REALLY good one of this nature for some time now.


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## Dark Jezter (Jun 24, 2004)

BigFreekinGoblinoid said:
			
		

> The most successful ( in terms of accomplishing their attention getting objective ) type of troll post I have seen is the guys to who sign up with an alt ID and pretend they are female. I hate to admit I find it somewhat funny when they pull  in dozens upon dozens of posters. WAY more reaction than a comparable newbie post by an obviously male or sexually ambiguous identity.
> 
> Edit: I may or may not be thinking of any of the threads you are thinking of. Don't jump to conclusions - I haven't seen a REALLY good one of this nature for some time now.



 I've saw the same thing when I used to visit anime-related channels and forums.  Whenever a person who identifies themselves as female asks something, the guys immediately start lining up to answer her question.

One of my female friends has told me horror stories about the internet stalkers that she attacts whenever the denizens of a chat room or message board find out that she's female.  It's both sad and frightening, almost like those guys are thinking "Hey, I like RPGs/anime, she likes RPGs/anime... It's a match made in Heaven!"


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## Chacal (Jun 24, 2004)

Wolf72 said:
			
		

> I voted 4




I did that too, to maintain a semblance of the tradition of answering polls without reading the first post.


Chacal


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## hong (Jun 24, 2004)

BigFreekinGoblinoid said:
			
		

> The most successful ( in terms of accomplishing their attention getting objective ) type of troll post I have seen is the guys to who sign up with an alt ID and pretend they are female. I hate to admit I find it somewhat funny when they pull  in dozens upon dozens of posters. WAY more reaction than a comparable newbie post by an obviously male or sexually ambiguous identity.
> 
> Edit: I may or may not be thinking of any of the threads you are thinking of. Don't jump to conclusions - I haven't seen a REALLY good one of this nature for some time now.



I am not female.


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## Zappo (Jun 24, 2004)

hong said:
			
		

> Also, I keep getting Pielorinho, Shilsen and Zappo mixed up in my head. I am not sure why.



That's because we're all multiple personalities of Piratecat's. Also, since you are more than 8 CRs below me, I ignore you because I can't gain XP from you.


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## Scarbonac (Jun 24, 2004)

Those are all loverly definitions, and junk, but I think that the present-day definition of "troll", given the frequency that the word it tossed about on the Intarweb, _should_ be "Person who posted someting that I (the Generic I, i.e, The Perceiver) don't like".


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## Contrabassoon (Jun 24, 2004)

Somebody who posts a poll with multiple comedy options and then immediately demands that anyone who didn't choose the 'correct' answer justify themselves... well, that's pretty close.


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