Official War Room Awards 2017

[TheGreatA]

I didn't spend much time in the private chat, just towards the very end, right before it got deleted.


I never understood the need to role play online. I just don't get the attraction as it seems like a hassle trying to keep years worth of posts in sync. Then again lots of hobbies seem like a waste of time to me, and I'm sure some people would say the same thing about the time spent in the WR.

I see a lot of utility in it, both for the individual itself, as well as the community that he partakes in.

The fact is that we cannot impose a forum to represent all opinions and diversity of thought, at all times. But with people taking such roles, it becomes more possible. Something that would be quite impossible if people weren't hiding under anonymity. In "real life", we become too attached to what we represent, to be able to break away from that persona, because it is our identity. But if we are anonymous, that becomes a whole lot easier, because it does not reflect on our person. We are free from any pressure to uphold ourselves to the standards that we ourselves, or the society, have set upon us.

Now, you can adopt any role that you want, and even live it for a while, potentially broadening your perspective, and that of others. I think it is one of the great advantages of the internet, over the public forum, as far as being able to offer more radical, diverse, even unthinkable views (from a "pragmatic", rational perspective). But there is also the point, that therefore one cannot take anything on the internet as seriously as something said on the public forum.

If the internet weren't as it was, offering refuge to men who may not have otherwise been prompted to say anything (due to social pressure and so forth), I don't think there would be much use to it, frankly. In all other aspects it is inferior to men simply holding face-to-face conversations.

 

[weed]

I fail to see literally any similarities between those two posters other than black and white portrait avatars.

I think they were drawing similarities between the two & their "stamina" - like when you get into a debate with them, it seemingly never ends.

 

[Darkballs]

Never saw this happen.

If you read his posts on the private right-wing thread that went on for a while, it was obvious that he enjoyed taunting people with what he was, and in reality was probably a more toned down individual. But that doesn't mean that he wasn't what he said he was. Like most people here, he probably enjoyed turning it up and hitting the gas pedal to spark an argument, every now and ten, and didn't really give a shit if people who he disagreed with thought of him as a wacko.

It might come off as a crazy idea to some, but people who disagree with you, generally don't give a shit about your perception of them. To those who thought of him as a wacko, that was probably the intended effect. Many more people use forums as an outlet to tell people that they generally can't stand in real life to go fuck themselves, than they do in order to use them as platforms for reasonable discussion. Not that they cannot have it, but it's simply not their intention. And generally these people that are called out, don't exactly sway them away from their intention.

The good posters play a version of themselves, on steroids. The shit posters play gimmicks, and are quite easily exposed. You must be able to integrate atleast some part of yourself to your posts, in order to be able to hang in here for a longer period of time. To anyone that can play a consistent gimmick, I applaud them. It means that they are capable of seeing a perspective beyond their own, without making an absolute mockery of it.

That seems to be a very generous take on his posting career. I never minded rip acting like an elderly christian republican gimmick in threads where that attitude/worldview was relevant. It was when he waded into threads that actually had a (very rare) intelligent discussion going on, and it was clear that his whole motive was to derail it and make the whole thread about him. Whether or not part of his online persona was a legitimate reflection of his actual ideals, who cares? The guy brought nothing to the table, was treated incredibly leniently by the mods here, and got butthurt the few times he was told to shut his mouth.

 

[weed]

Never saw this happen.

If you read his posts on the private right-wing thread that went on for a while, it was obvious that he enjoyed taunting people with what he was, and in reality was probably a more toned down individual. But that doesn't mean that he wasn't what he said he was. Like most people here, he probably enjoyed turning it up and hitting the gas pedal to spark an argument, every now and ten, and didn't really give a shit if people who he disagreed with thought of him as a wacko.

It might come off as a crazy idea to some, but people who disagree with you, generally don't give a shit about your perception of them. To those who thought of him as a wacko, that was probably the intended effect. Many more people use forums as an outlet to tell people that they generally can't stand in real life to go fuck themselves, than they do in order to use them as platforms for reasonable discussion. Not that they cannot have it, but it's simply not their intention. And generally these people that are called out, don't exactly sway them away from their intention.

The good posters play a version of themselves, on steroids. The shit posters play gimmicks, and are quite easily exposed. You must be able to integrate atleast some part of yourself to your posts, in order to be able to hang in here for a longer period of time. To anyone that can play a consistent gimmick, I applaud them. It means that they are capable of seeing a perspective beyond their own, without making an absolute mockery of it.

this is an excellent post & I'm in alignment with it completely.

I made a similar post a while back, about the people who come on here to shitpost

one of the saddest things to me is that people come online to promote hatred, prejudice & bigotry, using the internet as an "escape" from their everyday lives that they have great disdain for. they use it as a tool to vent frustrations & anger typically towards others without fear of any sort of repercussions thanks to the anonymity the platform they'd choose might provide. these are your everyday angry & confrontational users & there are plenty of them on here especially, who post entries factoring petty emotion ridden nonsense disregarding logic almost always. these type of people are those who I deem to use the internet "incorrectly".

the internet can be used for so much good, I mean you have all this vast information at your fingertips, & even more you're able to connect with other human beings all around the world.

instead you have people itching to keyboard battle & the moment they'd get a chance to shit on someone, they would then ride that wave of negativity justifying it to be some sort of confidence booster enabling them to go back out into the real world with an extra kick in their step.

isn't that fucking sad? I admit I take the bait at times & that's my own personal flaw but I never come on here with negative intent, thinking " ooooooohhh *fap fap fap* who is the next piece of shit I need to jump on in TWR *fap fap fap*".

debating & arguing points is fine of course, but when people factor in emotions & make personal attacks while trying to make a point is purely juvenile.

 

[TheGreatA]

this is an excellent post & I'm in alignment with it completely.

I made a similar post a while back, about the people who come on here to shitpost

Personally I don't see anything wrong with shitposting or personal attacks, in fact I encourage them, but I do acknowledge the general sentiment of your post, and the explanation for the motivation of why such things happen.

As a snot-nosed kid, I once "made my bones" on the internet as a relentless troll and a gimmick poster. I would've never even entertained some of the thoughts that I have had, if it weren't for the refuge of anonymity.

Putting myself, and whatever "internet ego" I had developed, on the line, as a young brat, in constant debates, arguments, call-outs, allowed me to carve out a much stronger personality and intellectual foundation than I would have ever grown to have, in the modern society, so devoid of any sort of a battleground for men to test their mental mettle.

The internet, realistically speaking, remains the only place in the Western world, where a man can truly carve out "character". Or a lack of character, if they so wish.

 

[TheGreatA]

That seems to be a very generous take on his posting career. I never minded rip acting like an elderly christian republican gimmick in threads where that attitude/worldview was relevant. It was when he waded into threads that actually had a (very rare) intelligent discussion going on, and it was clear that his whole motive was to derail it and make the whole thread about him. Whether or not part of his online persona was a legitimate reflection of his actual ideals, who cares? The guy brought nothing to the table, was treated incredibly leniently by the mods here, and got butthurt the few times he was told to shut his mouth.

Well, I think most people's objective should be to derail a thread and make it all about them, so I don't see the problem in that regard. If my posts are not being noticed, then I would certainly re-evaluate my opinions and think again whether they hold any weight with people.

As long as there are plenty of other posters willing to match the other party, and compete in order to have themselves and their opinions be the focus of the thread instead, I don't see any problem with that. But certainly, ripskater seemed to be such a "magnetic" personality (for whatever reason) that he often became the dominant focus of a thread, over the others. So in that sense, he sometimes became a hindarance to the forum.

 

[Fawlty]

Yeah, that's why I live somewhere warm now. Check into a hotel and don't forget to bring along a few guns.

Sucks about your furnace. Had plumbing go out on a Christmas day one year with both families in town. Best of luck.

I dragged up an 8 foot mirror from downstairs to hopefully reflect some fireplace heat back into the bedrooms. LOL. I hope that it does some kind of science thing.

 

[Darkballs]

Well, I think most people's objective should be to derail a thread and make it all about them, so I don't see the problem in that regard.

How the fuck is that helpful to any meaningful discussion?

 

[TheGreatA]

How the fuck is that helpful to any meaningful discussion?

What is meaningful discussion? I would say that men trying to put forth the best rhetoric replies that they can, in order to boost their ego, leads to meaningful discussion, more so than anything.

I'm not one to reach for a consensus, or anything, or to give ground to other people's opinions, unless that ground is taken. That leads to weak mentalities, and a weak level of discussion, with very little at stake. And thus, a forum with light-minded, menial conversation, which this place definitely shouldn't be.

 

[Ruprecht]

The good posters play a version of themselves, on steroids. The shit posters play gimmicks, and are quite easily exposed. You must be able to integrate atleast some part of yourself to your posts, in order to be able to hang in here for a longer period of time. To anyone that can play a consistent gimmick, I applaud them. It means that they are capable of seeing a perspective beyond their own, without making an absolute mockery of it.

The difference between being, "an exaggerated version of yourself" to provoke people and get attention, and being a troll/gimmick is lost on me I'm afraid.
Not to mention in Rips case, being something not in keeping with Christian Fundamentalism.
At least outside the huckster tents, televangelist frauds and other notable cases of religious hypocrisy...

 

[Darkballs]

What is meaningful discussion? I would say that men trying to put forth the best rhetoric replies that they can, in order to boost their ego, leads to meaningful discussion, more so than anything.

I'm not one to reach for a consensus, or anything, or to give ground to other people's opinions, unless that ground is taken. That leads to weak mentalities, and a weak level of discussion, with very little at stake.

Ok, but I think you're projecting some really weird theories into rip's posts. The guy wasn't laying down masterful rhetoric and swaying us all to contemplate his though out points. He was showing up in threads about foreign policy and declaring out of left field that Obama was going to declare martial law and have a 3rd term; or showing up in threads discussing the legality of same sex marriage and rambling on about how the cake itself was actually gay.

I get that a trolls primary goal is to derail a discussion and shift the focus to themselves. I'm just not sure why you'd admire that, unless you just admire trolling in general.

 

[TheGreatA]

The difference between being, "an exaggerated version of yourself" to provoke people and get attention, and being a troll/gimmick is lost on me I'm afraid.

The difference is fairly obvious. In the case of being an exaggerated version of yourself, the content that you provide people with, as a poster, is based on reality, your own experiences and thoughts, if only drawn to their furthest extent/exaggerated for the purpose of entertainment. Even a well-experienced actor is more comfortable in playing a role akin to himself, than a total opposite to his self, due to, obviously, his lack of experience in wearing another person's skin, compared to his own. It comes natural to us, to be able to play ourselves. We've done that our whole lives.

Provoking people and getting attention on a forum, is the point. Everything else is a side effect. The only reason to moderate a forum, is to guide people's natural tendency of provoking, arguing and seeking attention from others, into something that produces atleast somewhat intellectual content, instead of simply juvenile delinquency.

 

[Lord Commander Palis]

I disagreed with ol' @ripskater a LOT, but I didn't want him gone man.

there was a thread a while back where he & I were going at it, & he was 'reply banned' shortly after. he PM'd me, sharing how annoyed he was about it.

on one hand he did derail the thread, but at the same time others were & they were much worse with the derailing & going off topic. I pleaded with him to bring that much up to the mod that 'reply banned' him, to help his case, but he wouldn't.

that was the beginning of the end for ol' rip.

This has happened a lot here. Very biased forum. Sad!

 

[TheGreatA]

Ok, but I think you're projecting some really weird theories into rip's posts. The guy wasn't laying down masterful rhetoric and swaying us all to contemplate his though out points. He was showing up in threads about foreign policy and declaring out of left field that Obama was going to declare martial law and have a 3rd term; or showing up in threads discussing the legality of same sex marriage and rambling on about how the cake itself was actually gay.

I get that a trolls primary goal is to derail a discussion and shift the focus to themselves. I'm just not sure why you'd admire that, unless you just admire trolling in general.

I do admire quality trolling. While I don't think ripskater was necessarily a troll, he did occupy a lot of space in a lot of people's heads, for a long time. So, for that, I applaud him. Most people cannot achieve that, their content is simply too weak to be acknowledged.

If he was truly as much of a buffoon that you credit him as, you wouldn't have even noticed him. There have been a million people in and out that have trolled, and gone under the radar for the most part, because they're simply too obvious to be taken seriously.

 

[Ruprecht]

The difference is fairly obvious. In the case of being an exaggerated version of yourself, the content that you provide people with, as a poster, is based on reality, your own experiences and thoughts, if only drawn to their furthest extent/exaggerated for the purpose of entertainment. Even a well-experienced actor is more comfortable in playing a role akin to himself, than a total opposite to his self, due to, obviously, his lack of experience in wearing another person's skin, compared to his own. It comes natural to us, to be able to play ourselves. We've done that our whole lives.

Provoking people and getting attention on a forum, is the point. Everything else is a side effect. The only reason to moderate a forum, is to guide people's natural tendency of provoking, arguing and seeking attention from others, into something that produces atleast somewhat intellectual content, instead of simply juvenile delinquency.

Yeah... so being a more "realistic" troll is somehow better? Not worth the distinction in my book. The only thing that saves trolls/gimmicks on here (including Rip) is avoiding empty flaming and other relentless abrasiveness. With the ones that can avoid that we've had gimmicks/trolls doing their "I'm better than you"/flat earth/cannibalism/crazy CT thing for years. Until they tire of it...

 

[TheGreatA]

Yeah... so being a more "realistic" troll is somehow better? Not worth the distinction in my book. The only thing that saves trolls/gimmicks on here (including Rip) is avoiding empty flaming and other relentless abrasiveness. With the ones that can avoid that we've had gimmicks/trolls doing their "I'm better than you"/flat earth/cannibalism/crazy CT thing for years.

Of course it is. Being a realistic actor is also better than being an unrealistic actor. A realistic actor provides people with better quality entertainment. So does a realistic "troll" or "gimmick account".

But I do not consider a person playing an exaggerated version of themselves on the internet a troll. I consider them normal. The people who don't do such a thing, I would consider them abnormal, and as greatly "missing the point" of the internet, and what it is supposed to stand for.

If it were for people to moderate themselves and tone themselves down as they do in regular social situations, then there would be no use whatsoever for the invention.

 

[Ruprecht]

Of course it is. Being a realistic actor is also better than being an unrealistic actor. A realistic actor provides people with better quality entertainment. So does a realistic "troll" or "gimmick account".

But I do not consider a person playing an exaggerated version of themselves on the internet a troll. I consider them normal. The people who don't, I would consider them abnormal, and as "missing the point" of the internet, and what it is supposed to stand for.

If it were for people to moderate themselves and tone themselves down as they do in regular social situations, then there would be no use whatsoever for the invention.

That's only because you place some value in trolls and gimmicks. Probably based on having been one. I think they are utterly worthless.

 

[TheGreatA]

That's only because you place some value in trolls and gimmicks. Probably based on having been one. I think they are utterly worthless.

I'm sure you do. Yet, you've probably reflected on many of your deeply embedded thoughts and been forced to strengthen your own arguments, as a result of such trolls, offering opposite view-points regardless of where they actually stand.

I simply acknowledge the obvious value that there is, beyond personal judgments. I've "trolled" many people into being better men than they were.

People generally do not respond unless you provoke them and challenge their ego.

 

[Ruprecht]

I'm sure you do. Yet, you've probably reflected on many of your deeply embedded thoughts and been forced to strengthen your own arguments, as a result of such trolls.

I simply acknowledge the obvious value that there is, beyond personal judgments. I've "trolled" many people into being better men than they were.

Not really. Once I figure out someone's not representing themselves honestly I lose all interest in them. I'll leave the online roleplaying games to others.

 

[Darkballs]

I do admire quality trolling. While I don't think ripskater was necessarily a troll, he did occupy a lot of space in a lot of people's heads, for a long time. So, for that, I applaud him. Most people cannot achieve that, their content is simply too weak to be acknowledged.

If he was truly as much of a buffoon that you credit him as, you wouldn't have even noticed him. There have been a million people in and out that have trolled, and gone under the radar for the most part, because they're simply too obvious to be taken seriously.

You get a really strange value out of the war room then. Yeah I noticed rip. I noticed him because, even by war room standards, he was remarkably stupid and a very clear gimmick. If you're only goal out of posting here is to get noticed, then yeah, I could see how you would applaud that. But I think, or at least hope, that you're in the minority here.

I've been posting here for way too long, but the value I get out of the war room is the same I get from any active discussion, in that I hear a wide variety of opinions. Some are intelligent and sway my thinking, some are worthless, and some, while I might complete disagree with them, at least give me an insight as to what other people might think. There's certainly more value in that than simply getting noticed.

I mean, in a real life interaction where you are trying to convince someone of something, do you try to lay out thoughtful insight, or just stare them in the eyes while you blatantly shit your pants? The second option will most certainly get you more noticed, but I'd be surprised if you truly value that more.

And christ, doing what rip did was hardly an intellectual feat. Anyone could just take some bombastic approach to discussion and spew out nonsense to attract attention. I mean, what does a troll actually provoke in terms of thought beyond "is this guy serious?"