Quote: (01-19-2012 12:20 PM)Tuthmosis Wrote:
I'm coming a little late to this discussion since I didn't have any direct problems with Dash and I don't hang out in the Travel forum as much as I probably should. My two cents:
1. Dash Global may have the dubious distinction of being the most successful troll in RVF history. He may have been so subtle and good that he survived undetected for years.
2. I don't know if it's practical, but I like the idea of a banned members thread. Most bans are obvious trolls and useless newbs, but there have been some longer-standing members who suddenly disappear and raise questions. It might be worth having a thread where you say so-and-so got banned because he did this-and-that. Of course, that may cause others problems like people disputing bans and dog-piling. Worth a thought, though.
3. I don't think there's any way to insulate the forum against fraudsters (i.e., listing age, countries visited). People lie on the Internet. There's a probably, at any given time, a certain number of fiction trolls lurking about. That's simply the nature of the beast. I could be a woman who contributes to Jezebel. Mechanico could be a 17-year-old nerd who's still a virgin. Athlone McGinnis could be an FBI agent keeping tabs on the forum. The reason we know that isn't the case is through hundreds of verified posts and insights. Responsible self policing is important. Guys need to do the work of calling guys out after a pattern of bullshit. Evidence is especially important when someone is more than a simple newb, I think. Two examples of this are G-man's excellent work on calling out Dash and, perhaps on a smaller scale, my calling out of the Sparrior troll.
At the same time, I think, we have to be careful not to call people out on smallest thing. Troll accusations and witch hunting isn't something we want to degenerate into.
Just my opinions, anyway.
I can attest to the fact the fact that El Mechanico IS NOT a 17 year old nerd who's still a virgin, far from it! LOL
How about making members "certified real"? I don't know how to go about it, but I met EM and have been to his work place and house, I also met Gameoflife in Bogota and will likely meet other forum members in Colombia in the next few weeks.
Any way to verify that RooshV members have actually met one another and can say that we're "The real deal"? I'm down for that!