Introduction: It has come to my attention that trolling has gotten ridiculously out of hand recently and that we need to reverse this trend before it is too late. I have been asked by several people to create a guide on combating the trolling menace, so, ala fanatacist’s guide, here’s the Counter-Trolling guide. Counter-trolls are people that don’t like trolls and try to prevent them or mitigate the damage. They come in all shapes and forms, and I will be outlining some of the basic types of Counter-Trolls, along with qualifications.
Vigilante
The Vigilante is probably one of the more common types of counter-troll there is. The Vigilante tends to use troll-type attacks, and as such some of his behaviors may seem to be questionable and/or bordering on trolling. However, unlike real trolls, their actions tend either to be harmless or humorous, rather than inflammatory. The typical Vigilante resides somewhere and often does something else when a troll may enter and attempt to disrupt the conversation. At this point, the Vigilante begins to take action against the troll.
Abilities: Overpower: The Vigilante aggressively takes on the topic that the troll brings up, pulling up the assets of his mind, any nearby textbooks, or Wikipedia, and challenges the troll’s mastery of the topic, attempting to make him look like a fool in the process. Prevailing Wind: The Vigilante changes the derailed topic to the troll’s inner flaws, attempting to trigger outrage. Usually used against common trolls, less effective against forum veteran trolls. Torrent: The Vigilante posts an assortments of “lols” and other common internet memes to derail the troll and frustrate his attempts to frustrate people. This behavior may appear to be similar to that of other trolls, but these posts are directed towards one person, as opposed to a thread or a community. Limit Break-Objection!: The Vigilante finds contradicting posts or an error that the troll makes and exposes it to everybody, causing people to burst in laughter and no longer take the troll or anything he sees seriously. Usually requires multiple posts by the troll before use.
Qualifications: The Vigilante must be A) Very able to evade bans B) Some trolling experience doesn’t hurt C) Very intelligent, to use Overpower D) Have a lot of time on his/her hands. Being a Vigilante is often one of the most rewarding counter-trolling roles: however, it is also the most likely to get you banned in the friendly fire.
Post-Vigilante Troll
Fireman:
The Fireman’s role is much different from that of the vigilante: they tend to put out thread fires instead of addressing the causation. They most often appear in political threads to stop the massive derailments, and also appear in religion threads, attempting to smother the inflammatory post to the best of their abilities.
Abilities: Smother: The Fireman crafts a large and elaborate post and dumps it into the thread, diverting attention from any inflammatory post. Illuminate: The Fireman points out the post as being particularly troll-worthy, and it is either ignored or nuked as a result of this observation. New Page: The Fireman takes advantage of the near end of the thread and posts to direct people’s attention to a new page, thus derailing would-be flamers that strike near the end of a thread. Limit Break-Omnipost: The Fireman sees a post and immediately dumps many posts, quoting random people and addressing them, which may or may not cause a ban but will tend to cause inflammatory posts to get completely ignored.
The Troll Hunter, unlike most counter-trolls, specifically goes from forum to forum to hunt down trolls and erase their work. They tend to have even more time on their hands than the Vigilante, and often will go beyond what may earn a ban to hunt down trolls. They can even go to different websites.
Abilities: PM: The Troll Hunter sends a PM to the troll to generate a hostile response, upon which he would post it in a relevant thread, humiliating the troll. Track: The Troll Hunter hunts down any posts the troll have made, and in the case of blog posts, 1/5s them. Sunder Armor: The Troll Hunter posts revealing information about the troll. This particular attack tends to get people banned, but for some people it is worth it as long as they reach their goal. Limit Break-Mercenary: The Troll Hunter gets some other posters to launch a coordinated attack on the troll’s reputation, attempting to break it down with a combined force.
Qualifications: A) Dynamic IP, to help deal with bans B) A strong command of the English language and subtlety C) Lots and lots of time on their hands D) Relentless drive The Troll Hunters are rare and few, but they are the most respected counter-trolls there are, although their methods may be harsh. Good place to find Troll Hunters: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/index.php?show_part=19
The Moderator:
This is the most common form of anti-troll-The mod. The mod tends to have special powers in the forum which allows him to stop trolls dead in their tracks: however as they are not omniscient, trolls tend to get past their grasp anyways. Abilities: Nuke: Wipes out a troll post instantly. Self explanatory. Ban: Knocks out a troll immediately. Good way to stop a tank or pyro. Shame: Uses mod powers to find embarrassing IP information about a troll, including alternate accounts. Limit Break-IP Ban: The IP Ban tends to be the strongest ban possible, mostly because it rids a troll permanently from the forum. However, because it is very strong, mods tend to be careful using it and use it rarely.
Most Counter-Trolls fall between a variety of these categories, and some also dip into the trolling business as well. For the most part however, we do our part to fight the trolls that are plaguing our beloved interweb.
On September 23 2009 06:12 disciple wrote: so... next time my blog posts get auto 1/5ed in the second I publish them, which they will, I will know this is a counter-troll
Not all 1/5s come from counter-trolls, and only some counter-trolls 1/5.
On September 23 2009 06:17 .risingdragoon wrote: WTF
got too much time on hand?
The Vigilante must be A) Very able to evade bans B) Some trolling experience doesn’t hurt C) Very intelligent, to use Overpower D) Have a lot of time on his/her hands.
also i still have like four days till college starts lololol gah nobodys here
On September 23 2009 08:15 SCC-Faust wrote: Nice guide, I actually read all of it.
But it just makes me wonder where in the internet history people decided to start becoming douche bags. What ever happened to "just be yourself"?
The thing about the internet is that yes you can be yourself, but you can be anyone you want on the internet as well. It doesn't take much to create an e-life and the same rules apply to real life situations.
Don't forget the people on the internet are "typically" people with a lack of social skills, so they can nerd rage on any unsuspecting person on the internet and feel no remorse. Trust me if you saw half the people that trolled you in real life you'd laugh at them and just walk away.
Oh and the birth of 4Chan probably didn't contribute to people's attitudes on the internet (in a positive light). As well as YouTube comments...
But it just makes me wonder where in the internet history people decided to start becoming douche bags. What ever happened to "just be yourself"?
1. Online message boards are a zero-sum competitive game. 2. Using what is most effective yields a higher chance of victory in a competitive game. 3. Being someone cool is much more effective than being yourself 9 times out of 10.
On September 23 2009 07:45 LordWeird wrote: Counter-Trolling is an art form that cannot be put into a guide. It takes a lot of experience, wit, and talent.
As the best troll on this forum by a significant margin, this thread is entirely inaccurate and speculative. It's not even remotely close to what actually occurs in real world scenarios and ignores the entire principals and basis of trolling as well. You're also missing the entire context behind counter trolling and the various levels of "leveling" (http://www.twoplustwo.com) that occur and are also assuming that trolling is 1 dimension when every decent troll has multi dimensional facets of "trolling" applied to their post.
Not to mention a good troll CANNOT BE COUNTERED aside from the thread being locked.
You've just made up random words and added pictures basically. Kind of insulting.
No such thing as counter-trolling. Any response to a troll whatsoever only empowers him. The only way to defeat a troll is if an entire community willfully ignores him... and thanks to human nature, that never happens.
On September 23 2009 12:59 garmule2 wrote: No such thing as counter-trolling. Any response to a troll whatsoever only empowers him. The only way to defeat a troll is if an entire community willfully ignores him... and thanks to human nature, that never happens.
Overpower: The Vigilante aggressively takes on the topic that the troll brings up, pulling up the assets of his mind, any nearby textbooks, or Wikipedia, and challenges the troll’s mastery of the topic, attempting to make him look like a fool in the process.
I thought that was the goal of trolling. To get people riled up and fool them into thinking you're serious so that they waste their time actually trying to refute you.
On September 23 2009 13:06 micronesia wrote: Caller, I'm glad to see that you made such a detailed guide which will most likely prove useful to many forum goers here.
The community should really thank you by collectively writing a new guide titled: [G] How to go at least 1-10 vs micronesia in tvp.
Wow! personal attackkkuuuuu!!!
Nice guide, something I kinda like to do at times except for the fact that some of the counter-troll style has been detected by the mods.
On September 23 2009 08:15 SCC-Faust wrote: Nice guide, I actually read all of it.
But it just makes me wonder where in the internet history people decided to start becoming douche bags. What ever happened to "just be yourself"?
People are just being themselves. The vast majority of people are vicious assholes at their core. It is only the fear of retribution that keeps up the thin veneer of civility in everyday life. On the internet, anonymity does away with all that, so people's true natures are revealed.
Too much talk about trolls and what not though. It's just a internet construct, a group where people throw in outspoken individuals they don't know how to deal with.
This is way too geeky too lol do something IRL instead of writing a guide on trolls for a couple of hours.
On September 23 2009 08:15 SCC-Faust wrote: But it just makes me wonder where in the internet history people decided to start becoming douche bags. What ever happened to "just be yourself"?
The sad thing is some people probably just are being themselves.
EPT![[image loading]](http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/821/countertroll.jpg)
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