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Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
"The Guidelines"

"The following twelve points are the guidelines that should be followed when posting to the forums.

1. Discussions in forums can often get heated, but while you may take issue with another poster's viewpoint, you must not resort to personal attacks or abuse.

2. Do not post offensive or inflammatory remarks that stray beyond t ...[text shortened]... the points being made." FAQ: Forum Guidelines (notation mine, for ease of reference)

I invited another lady to join, and she says she will!

Originally posted by ale1552
Since chess players are known to be highly intelligent individuals who are competitive in nature, it is only natural that they occasionally clash over their differences. What might appear to be zealots are actually enthusiastic guys with some strong opinions. Or is it the same thing? 😀

Originally posted by ale1552
I invited another lady to join, and she says she will!

Originally posted by Frank Burns

Well, I'm gonna have some trouble with a number of these rules what with my ADD and all, but I'm in.

-Removed-

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
"Camelot Oasis in Space" (Our Private Forum) Membership Status:

Great Big Stees, (coquette), Indonesia Phil, (ale1552), ChessPraxis, (drewnogal), johnnylongwoody, Phranny, josephw, vandervelde, Westside Mobster, robbie carrobie, checkbaiter, empovsun, kiki46, Frank Burns and myself. Total seventeen 17 from July 6 to 10, 2013. Plus a friend of ale 1552. Thanks. Another dozen and we'll open our private oasis forum. Bob

Originally posted by HandyAndy
That's an impressive roster, Bobby, but why are the females listed in parentheses?

Does Camelot Oasis consider them lesser beings?

"What is a Troll?"

"An Internet "troll" is a person who delights in sowing discord on the Internet. He (and it is usually he) tries to start arguments and upset people.

Trolls see Internet communications services as convenient venues for their bizarre game. For some reason, they don't "get" that they are hurting real people. To them, other Internet users are not quite human but are a kind of digital abstraction. As a result, they feel no sorrow whatsoever for the pain they inflict. Indeed, the greater the suffering they cause, the greater their 'achievement' (as they see it). At the moment, the relative anonymity of the net allows trolls to flourish.

Trolls are utterly impervious to criticism (constructive or otherwise). You cannot negotiate with them; you cannot cause them to feel shame or compassion; you cannot reason with them. They cannot be made to feel remorse. For some reason, trolls do not feel they are bound by the rules of courtesy or social responsibility.

Perhaps this sounds inconceivable. You may think, "Surely there is something I can write that will change them." But a true troll can not be changed by mere words."

"Why Does it Matter?"

"Some people — particularly those who have been online for years — are not upset by trolls and consider them an inevitable hazard of using the net. As the saying goes, "You can't have a picnic without ants."

It would be nice if everybody was so easy-going, but the sad fact is that trolls do discourage people. Established posters may leave a message board because of the arguments that trolls ignite, and lurkers (people who read but do not post) may decide that they do not want to expose themselves to abuse and thus never get involved.

Another problem is that the negative emotions stirred up by trolls leak over into other discussions. Normally affable people can become bitter after reading an angry interchange between a troll and his victims, and this can poison previously friendly interactions between long-time users.

Finally, trolls create a paranoid environment, such that a casual criticism by a new arrival can elicit a ferocious and inappropriate backlash.

The Internet is a wonderful resource which is breaking down barriers and stripping away prejudice. Trolls threaten our continued enjoyment of this beautiful forum for ideas."

"What Can be Done about Trolls?"

"When you suspect that somebody is a troll, you might try responding with a polite, mild message to see if it's just somebody in a bad mood. Internet users sometimes let their passions get away from them when seated safely behind their keyboard. If you ignore their bluster and respond in a pleasant manner, they usually calm down.

However, if the person persists in being beastly, and seems to enjoy being unpleasant, the only effective position is summed up as follows:

The only way to deal with trolls is to limit your reaction to reminding others not to respond to trolls.

When you try to reason with a troll, he wins. When you insult a troll, he wins. When you scream at a troll, he wins. The only thing that trolls can't handle is being ignored."

http://web.archive.org/web/20060428091222/http://members.aol.com/intwg/trolls.htm
____________________

"The Guidelines"

"The following twelve points are the guidelines that should be followed when posting to the forums.

1. "Discussions in forums can often get heated, but while you may take issue with another poster's viewpoint, you must not resort to personal attacks or abuse."

5. "Please stay on topic. There is clearly a subjective judgment to be made as to whether a post strays off topic and in the majority of cases the post will not be deleted unless it is considered to be disruptive to the thread and its participants."

FAQ: Forum Guidelines (notation mine, for ease of reference) [quoted from previous page]

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
"You in, too?" [Second Request for clarification of the purpose of your random topic posts in this 'private club topic' thread.]"

Final request.

Originally posted by HandyAndy

I'll answer your question when you answer mine.

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
[In order to draw the attention of our 14 male members to the gender disparity for the purpose of recruiting.]