"Is there a rational objection to the overstifle?" Topic

I'm still waiting to hear one. I'll I've heard is that people would never use it. I don't see anything in any of the threads about how "I won't use it" gets to "and you shouldn't have it either."

I don't give a fiddlers if it's here or not but let me take a stab at an objection:

It's unnecessary?

And years from now, who will remember this feature, unique to TMP alone, was conceived and created to target one contributor. It's just born of pettiness and malice, conceived to fix a non-problem. It's an unimaginative solution to an annoyance already easily avoided.

One the other hand, one could argue it's the cutting edge of website customization. Imagine telling Fox News you want to be able to eliminate the O'Reilly Factor and any reference to it when you turn to that channel? Fox is happy to let you change the channel or do something else. Maybe TMP should be too.

I don't hold the above view but it's not illegitimate.

I think the recent extension of the front page to 400 posts is solution enough.

Good Grief – what new hell is this ?

You've got your poll, it's currently looking like it'll be a yes, and if Bill can be bothered to code it then you'll get the obby-dooby-I dont want to see it super power up stifle.

What more do you want ? Does everyone have to solemnly vow to agree with you as well before you'll be content?

No offense 20thmaine, but the people who don't want the over stifle are being more vocal than the ones who do. I won't be using it, but it is plain to see that it will help, so I voted yes. There are way more comments deriding anyone planning on using it than people saying they want it.

Will you people not be content until we all change our vote to no?

Yes.

Wait…

No.

Oh…

Never mind.

Didn't vote, 'cause can't see polls. Aren't I the
lucky one ?

But on the other hand…

BTW, 156 voted against it this time around, and 360 voted against it in 2011.
Tell them they are irrational.

However, it will hurt feelings. There are a ton of fragile flowers who have a fit that they are stifled.
I DO HOPE that those who are "over stifled" have that statistic on their profile page, just like the normal stifle is.
It will be meaningless. It will upset the same fragile floweres. And the fuss will amuse the heck out of me.

And years from now, who will remember this feature, unique to TMP alone, was conceived and created to target one contributor. It's just born of pettiness and malice, conceived to fix a non-problem. It's an unimaginative solution to an annoyance already easily avoided.

I agree 100%. It did not pass in 2011, and now, just to punish Tango, it passes.

Wow!

John, it isn't punishing Tango, though. It pretty much just punishes the people that use it.
This is why I think a small but vocal number will not be happy with it.

MY God. "PUNISH"? Please explain to me how he would be? How?? Will he be made to stop posting? NO. Will others not be able to see his threads and post? No There is no "punishment" of Tango. It will not effect him or anyone else. No one will care and with his massive amount of Stifles already it wouldn't really make a difference anyway. Hopefully Bill make the Stile count invisible.End of problem for everyone.I see that the name calling and insults have already started in this thread.You know how by doing that it does not change a person's view? If the uber-Stifle was used against me I would not care a whit.Would I be "punished". Nope. Why? Cuz I still will be able to post and others will still be able to see them. Now I apologize for this rant.It's really starting to irk me with the cries of "punishment" when there will be none. And some of you will "punish" me for my opinion and questions I posted here. Please explain to me where,what type or what the "punishment would be? I won't stoop to the level of insults and name-calling. LOL.

It's all so very sad. Just let people please themselves, they can post, they can choose to read, scroll past, stifle, uber stifle, or just have a pie instead or as well as. No one suffers whatever you do or don't do.

Except maybe the pie seller.

I don't care, I won't use it because the whole stifle thing is silly to me. If you have to have it go for it.

No one will care…

Have you been paying attention at all?

Some people CARE that they have been stifled. They really really care, and lash out at those who have stifled them, caling them gutless, fascists, violators of free speech, etc.
Tango does not care. Nor do I.

There are those who want him to be limited. Specifically. By name. Dear Editor will not do that, so he has come up with two plans to try to satisfy those who hate how many posts he makes.
The immediate one is to increase the front page to 400 threads.
The other is the Super/Over/Uber stifle.
They have said in the past that neither will satisfy them. They want Armand singled out. PUNISHED. They want to name and shame him, confine him to his own ghetto, etc. Go back and read it.

I agree that nobody will be punished by a Super Stifle, but some of those who object to stifling in general will think so.
I myself have no problem being stifled, nor will I have a problem with being Super Stifled. I will not feel punished, but those who do it to me may think I am. They are idiots.

The funny thing about being stifled is that it does not affect you in any way whatsoever. Until your curiosity leads you to check your profile to see how many you have. That is why I WANT the Super/Over/Uber Stifle count to appear on your profile page. It will upset some people, and they will react with shocked outrage.

This is why I think a small but vocal number will not be happy with it.

Who cares what they think? I don't, and their ranting will amuse me.

And how is it punishing those who use it? They will not think so, and that is all that matters. I will certainly use it. I have stifled more than 50 accounts, and all of them deserved. I think that 48 of them are dormant, but so what? They EARNED it.
I suspect that 95% of those I Over Stifle will go away in a week or less also. I have no problem with that.

If you decide to completely remove all content of a user from your view, in my opinion you are punishing yourself.
There are 237 accounts that cannot view your posts. I think it is a shame because you post some useful stuff.

I think most of the people who stifle heavily don't really participate in the site anyway. They show up for the witch hunts and then go back to lurking in their caves.
Way back I stifled a bunch of the goons who were trying to chase the OFM up a windmill… just to put a mark on them that I could follow. Sure enough I'm not seeing any 'stifled' posts in my forum views because those guys only came out when they smelled blood.

Another TMP freakshow. Anyone who doesn't think this is about shutting Tango in a cigarbox and burying him out under a Texas arroyo is lying to themselves, a terminal cretin, or both. This hobby has a reputation, clearly deserved, as a creep-magnet, refuge of low-hanging moob misanthropes; this tonton macoute bullsh@t is the proof.

Tango or any other poster isn't going to be put in a box anywhere – he can post away to his hearts content, unaffected – some people will choose not to see his posts, that's all.

Or am I missing something?

"It's just born of pettiness and malice, conceived to fix a non-problem."

If I may, I am going to borrow this from you, Flashman14.

'Nuff said.

Will you people not be content until we all change our vote to no?

Each should vote the way that seems best to them – but since everything is in place to make a decision one way or another, and it's 3:2 in favour of "yes", can't we just let the poll complete and see what Bill does about it ?

I don't see those who voted "no" starting threads lobbying for a change of position from those who voted "yes". This thread is telling me (again) I'm wrong to vote No. All I am saying is …. just let the poll run and abide by the result.

No offense 20thmaine, but the people who don't want the over stifle are being more vocal than the ones who do. I won't be using it, but it is plain to see that it will help, so I voted yes. There are way more comments deriding anyone planning on using it than people saying they want it.

What he said!

Apart from the 'no offense' bit. Frankly I don't give a good goddam whether you are offended or not, people take offense far too readily around here. Bill is doing his best. Either live with it or off!

Cool callsign though 20th Maine – Col. Chamberlain was one tough hombre!

"Or am I missing something?"

The point of the over-stifle is that it will blat the entire thread initiated by a stifled person.

This seems like ridiculous overkill to me, and there are more elegant ways of people being able to customise the content that they view.

The 'problem' of the front page being emptied by prolific posters has been addressed by just making it longer.

Frankly I'd rather Bill spent his time on TMP 4.0 than waste time on this.

… maybe we need an uber-ultra-over-stifle … <help, my screen, it's dissolving, help> …

If you want to use the over-stifle then you accept the consequences. Fine, it takes out a whole thread that you didn't want in the first place – how is that a problem?

Not something I ever intend to use, but for those who do – their choice, their decision.

link

Wow, you guys are still seriously going on about this. I clicked on this expecting a see some funny one-liners, but…

I don't really care whether we have this thing here or not. I think that the amount of effort/time/etc. discussing how to keep people from discussing on a discussion forum, and a pretty tame one at that, is ridiculous. People can say offensive things, or inoffensive things and upset others, but the reality is that nothing that is done here is particularly hazardous, doesn't matter in the great scheme of things, and otherwise doesn't present much of a bump in the road that is our lives (well, unless your life is waaaaay too easy). And to qualify my statements, I am an over sensitive, tree-hugging, delicate flower type, who is offended by almost everything (like pineapple on pizza, the Dallas Cowboys, and the "F" word in OFM).

Now in response to the original poster…Yes!

Yes, there are rational reasons not to have the tsunami-stifle or whatever it is.

For example, it waste's time with nothing accomplished in the end. The editor has to create it, put it in place, explain the policy/practice/rules relating to it. You, the user, have to learn how to actuate it, and take the time to employ it. When… you simply could ignore us spew-chucking vomit-bombs that are so offensive. Ignore us, same end is reached. No time wasted, and the Editor could spend the time accomplishing something else. Yes, yes, now you have to scroll past us, time wasted, but you are talking hundredths of a second to scroll past us. The bottom line is that the same end can be achieved passively, without investment, without argument, without insult, offensiveness, infantile debate.

The mechanism is an enabler, allowing those who can't cope with very minor conflict or obstacle to help manifest their denial. A device that promotes juvenal and possibly even anti-social behavior. It promotes unhealthy social interaction.

Then again, it will allow those who come here in their leisure time to better enjoy themselves without increasing their anxiety level, so maybe I'm wrong, and the correct answer is …No.

Maybe I should just get into the spirit of thing, embrace the stifle. Matter of fact, if we're going to do this stifle thing up right, we should cultivate it to its maximum, so please allow me to bombastify and offer some suggestions, some additional stifle types in addition to the regular stifle and the overstifle:

The Omni-Stifle, hit this button and it just wipes out everyone. Complete peace and quiet, well except for the crickets.

Mega-stifle, this applies to a thread, and simply stifles everyone who posts on a given thread.

Counter-Stifle, you hit this button, and it stifles whoever might have stifled you on the given day. Not sure if it will add them to your stifle list or not, the Editor will have to work that out.

Anti-Stifle, hit this and it undoes the last stifle received, but you can only do this once per day.

Drive-by stifle, when you hit this button, it will randomly stifle someone who posted on the last thread that you looked at. Gives you the opportunity to just lash out at someone, without too much effort invested. For when you're just having a bad day and need to displace.

Mis-stifle, you don't choose this one, it just happens. Just to make things fun, a randomizer will actuate it every now and then, and it will stifle somebody that you said something nice to, like complimenting a paint job on their figure or something. It will all be hidden, so you won't know, and it is just to make this whole stifle thing a little more sporting.

And last, the Semi-Stifle. It won't erase the person's whole post, just every other word. For those instances when they just haven't been really offensive enough.

Y'all have a great day, now I'm going to work and look at dead people. Have fun, be nice, be happy.

Can't you all just stop bickering and have a beer?

Wow again!

I'm sure someone mentioned pie….

I like pie. Especially uber-pie, if there was such a thing. Can we have a poll?

"Not something I ever intend to use, but for those who do –their choice, their decision."

And I think that's the way to go. And with the beer too :)

Of course there's a rational objection.

It panders to people who think the whole world must cater to them.
-Kle.

Either live with it or Bleeped text off!

Was of course what I meant to say above….

Well, now I want a stifle over-ride button when I have a topic I really want you to see.

You VILL be interested in this!

Yeah, I figured there were no rational arguments, but thought I'd ask.

@irishserb – you've got the only one I've heard: extra work for Bill. I guess he's doing the calculus if making the effort to add the feature for people who want it is worth his time wrt revenue he'll get from members who might otherwise stop

Maybe someone else can think of something else.

To say the overstifle button is unfair is like saying because I dont slavishly look at EVERY post on TMP is unfair on the posters!!!
…It will just provide an optional tool for automatically bypassing things TMPers are not really interested in.

Hope this happens soon, and makes people happy!

Of course there's a rational objection.

It panders to people who think the whole world must cater to them.

And not allowing others to have it, panders to people who think the whole world must cater to them without regard to others.

If you stiffle because you do not want to read about anothers opinion, you are a certified moron. And deserve not to read what other peaople think or regard as important.
The loss will allways be yours, so was the choise.

MORON – Movement of Rationality, Originality and Normality.

Just think of it as a kind of spam filter where everyone has a different definition of spam.

I voted for it, but will never use it, but hoped it would settle down the witch hunt for a little while. I have no qualms that it's only going to be just a short respite and have no idea how but they will come back for more having won the round. And the super stifle will start out as building up fast on at least Tango but as John says others will pick them up. Is this found anywhere else? Can't imagine a web site that allows you to cut out things you don't want to see but only in part of their content.