"Out of the Dawghouse......" Topic

I'm just curious Bill.

When DHed, how much access do the DHed have? It's obvious that they can still access and read what is going on here at TMP. The question is, can they still hit the complaint button and stifle people?

I quess my question is directed to whether or not DHing should be more of a punishment. I'm beginning to think that those that are DHed should be truly 'in the cooler'. That is to say, it should be a cooling off period for those so incarcerated. If they can 'complain' and 'stifle', I personally think that they shouldn't be able to do either. If it's easily possible, they shouldn't even be able to access the site as far as I'm concerned. I forward this position on the premise that some do not take a DHing as a real punishment. Some even seem to take it as a badge of honor and look at the whole process as a form of entertainment.

Any comments?

Badge of hono(u)r?!? Entertainment?!? I think that those would be the very small minority.

Most people seem to get dawghoused when they get provoked, be it by somebody's opinion, by somebody's attitude, or by somebody's insult.

Cooling-off should be enough. It gives the incarcerated time to cool off, and should help to defuse the argument.

Even some of TMP's most active and helpful members have been dawghoused from time to time.

Punishment would not serve any useful purpose whatsoever, and will eventually drive people away from TMP as their day(s) in the dawghouse occur …

There's always banning or blocking for the truly incorrigible.

We should have a special page, the Stocks, and have a java script to throw tomatoes at their names. ;-)

It would technically be possible to convert the forums so that they would appear in pig latin while you were in the DH…

You would have folks trying to get DHed just for the joy of the pig latin posts.

You "want" to get DH'ed, just ask. I am sure Bill has had sillier requests. Maybe.

Although I think such requests should be 'honored' for, say, three weeks to make the point clear…

LOL!

Comin' straight outta Dawghouse, crazy poster named Mean Elf, I suck so bad my only gang is myself, when I'm called out, I start a mean pout, I hit the caps lock so you know I'm gonna SHOUT, at you, too, boy, if you type at me, ol' Bill is gonna have come and ban me from this board, that's how I'm goin' out….

"There's always banning or blocking for the truly incorrigible."

That's obvious, Bill (and cerainly within the parameters of your discretion to do so). That didn't answer the question of the accessability of the DHed.

"Badge of hono(u)r?!?"

What do spelling variation denotations serve other than an attempt to demonstrate a self-satisfying attempt at superiority in the area of the mastery of the English language?

"and will eventually drive people away from TMP as their day(s) in the dawghouse occur …"

I think you rather see my point.

"What do spelling variation denotations serve other than an attempt to demonstrate a self-satisfying attempt at superiority in the area of the mastery of the English language?"

You are so right. It is the English language.

Okay Andy Cowell, you are officially The Man, for that post.

- Monk

Tshannon, your insulting allegation is exactly of the kind that provokes people. I merely offered the spelling variants as a courtesy, in recognition that TMP's readers come from both side of the Atlantic and the 49th parallel.

Believe me, I am not at all the kind of person to seek some kind of smug, petty satisfaction from showing off what I know.

Indeed, your insulting insinuation ought to get you dawghoused.

Now, would you really want to lose all access to TMP for a small and eventually pardonnable faut-pas on your part?

Finally, no, I was not at all agreeing with your point. My counter-point was that many people, even notable contributors such as 'aecurtis' can go over the line and get dawghoused from time to time.

Dawghousing members as a kind of over-the-top *punishment* for their occasional indiscretions will eventually drive members away, tending to leave only those with bland, neutral opinions, thereby making TMP a very uninteresting site to visit …

I have been DH'ed 4 times, and each time I deserved it. However, twice I did my felony deliberately, for a reason. I did indeed feel that it was a badge of hono(u)r at the time, because I felt that I was taking a stand. I was inconvenienced in a minor way, but as the top poster here, you can imagine how irritating that minor inconvenience was. 8^)

Not that it is any way comparable, but was Nelson Mandela's incarceration a sign of dishonor?

A bit OT, but I consider that there is an awful lot of kindergarten behavior here, what with people getting their knickers in a knot and hitting the [!] button (Mommy! The OFM is making faces at me!), stifling (I can't hear you! La la la la la la!) and worrying if being in the DH is punishment enough. Do you want me to wear my uncomfortable shoes in addition, or what?

At the other extreme, I do think that the DH modifies bad behavior. there are other miniature gaming sites on da net that I never go near. Here, the DH promoes courtessy. CCensoring and bleeping cuts down on the you that you see way too many times on other sites. And the kinderarten inmates do their bit too.

The one time I was DH'ed, I thought it was a fair cop; I did the naughty, I paid the penalty!

However, I do have a suggestion that might be a good thing. Instead of having the Dawghousee seeing the posts in Pig Latin, they should see them in Dawgspeak.

For example;

'coelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt*' will appear as;

'WOOF WOOF WOOF BARKA BARKA WOOF WOOF'&c.

Works for me…

* – A million karma points for whoever can translate the Latin above. I assure you, it isn't pig Latin…

I agree with OFM, the system works fine as it is…
Some people just get a little too much satisfaction over the punishment of others.
The forums should not be watered down to suit the members with the thinnest skins or the narrowest worldviews.

K

"* – A million karma points for whoever can translate the Latin above. I assure you, it isn't pig Latin…"

That just ain't fair- I could use the karma points after getting thrown skull-first into a concrete wall at work Friday night… but with the concussion, there's no way I can clear my head enough to muddle through figuring out the Latin.

Foul! Foul!

:)

- Monk

And Skeptic, with all due respect, _I've_ dropped the dime on you on at least one occasion in the past, just because your comments at the time, to another user- not even to me- just came across as completely out of line and way too confrontational & insulting. I'm not sure if it's intentional on your part or not, but in quite a few of your posts, you come across as anywhere from simply being insufferably arrogant, to being brazenly antagonistic, in all honesty.

Granted, there is a time and a place for everything, but it's often over trivial things, or purely subjective things. Especially in situations along those lines, people are going to feel attacked, and respond in kind.

Personally, I'd rather just keep the skirmishing on the tabletop, rather than on the boards.

- Monk

Don't get your knickers in a knot Skeptic. If your correction of my spelling was merely "as a courtesy", I'll take your word for it and we can move on. If you have been on the net for any amount of time, I'm sure you realize that correction of another's spelling on a message board is often considered bad form (just ask the OFM). Many use it as a rhetorical device in deflecting from the subject at hand. If I slapped back a little too hard, I offer my humble apologies.

Incarceration has one of two purposes: Rehabilitation and/or punishment. I'm well aware that there are a vast majority of folks here at TMP who commit an occasional indiscretion and a small amount of time in the DH is more than enough to show them the error of their ways.

The folks I feel need a little more 'rehabilitation' or 'punishmnet' are those that are serial trolls and intentional flame-spreaders. The ones that really don't mind having their access restricted from time to time as long as they can have a little fun before being thrown in the DH.

Bill doesn't necessarily have to treat all inmates to total denial of access but I do feel there is a small number of high-profile types that should probably be even more restricted once they have shown that they merely want to play games instead of participate.

Call it a precursor to being banned, a sterner warning to those that flaunt the site rules and feel they are above such things.

As for comments like "worrying if being in the DH is punishment enough" and insinuating that my intention in brooching the subject is somehow juvenile, you are welcome to your opinions. I find the correction of the spelling and grammer of others to be somewhat juvenile but I normally keep such opinions to myself. I only brought it up the subject at hand in an attempt to address whether the very small handful of serial offenders should be delt with a bit more harshly before taking the drastic step of banning or blocking them.

Ridicule and scorn isn't a very constructive way of discussing the subject.

I've never been offended or annoyed by any post to consider complaining/stifling… and for those that are easily offended I do not see why the measures in place already are not more than sufficient.
These are just forums on a webpage about games… not some holy shrine we need to guard against desecrators…
Let the idiots play games and stifle them if you are incapable of dealing with it.
I choose to have my internet with a heapin' helpin' of chaos.

K

Monk,

Mate, the Karma points are yours, but heres the translation: 'coelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt' means 'those who cross the sea change the sky, not their spirits.'

Might help clear the concussion, it's a line from Horace's Epistles… Hope the head gets better soon,

Ace

As I've posted elsewhere, I won't stifle anyone and I will never hit the complaint button. As far as stifling, It smacks of censorship on my part to do so. It goes against my personal views on free speech and makes me feel hypocritical to do so. As for complaining, I figure Bill has enough to deal with without my going out of the way to complain about something.

If someone is personally attacking another, I figure it's between them to hash it out. If someone is personally attacking me, I'm a big boy and am more than glad to clear the air personally without dragging Bill into it. I do my best to stay within the site rules. The fact that I haven't been DHed yet would indicate to me that Bill feels I haven't stepped out of line. I'm sure he will let me know if I do.

It's ultimately Bill's baby. He makes the rules and we are guests in his house. If he feels things are working OK, I'm fine with that. I was just suggesting an alternative since I've noticed a few people that don't seem to 'get it' and are being DHed for the same things over and over again.

Awww… I went and found that translation… can I have a consolation point?

[ALL CAPS TO HELP TSHANNON READ]:

TSHANNON, UNKNOT *YOUR* KNICKERS!

I DID *NOT*, REPEAT *NOT*, CORRECT YOUR SPELLING.

I OFTEN PROVIDE ALTERNATIVE SPELLINGS AS A COURTESY TO READERS.

JEERS,

SKEPTIC

Tshannon. I do not consider correcting other people's spelling bad form. It's a nice way to get in a cheap shot, and is much appreciated by all. I have stopped doing it only because I usually have two or three howlers in my own posts! This is entirely due to my new computer having devilishly misplaced keys, I assure you.

I usually save it for people whose post annoyed me, and then usually try to edit my own copy, not only twice, but thrice! Nay, even frice! Then I add a "Grammer and Speling Facscist™ (triple sic)" disclaimer.

I don't believe that Bill the webmaster has the time to monitor EVERY post on these boards. How can he possibly know what's going on? I bet I can get away with somethnig right now and not be sent to this Dawghouse, wherever it is. I'm going to cut lose with some bad words and see what happens. Doo-doo. Monkey's. Patootie. Nematode. Las bostongas. Nerts!

Bippy. Potrezebie. Oink!

Glad to see you can take an apology in good humo(u)r, Skeptic.

BTW, What Monk said.

OFM:

"I do not consider correcting other people's spelling bad form. It's a nice way to get in a cheap shot, and is much appreciated by all."

LOL, Isn't that a bit of a contradiction? To be fair, I've been amongst the above mentioned "all" that appreciated one of your occasional jabs. There are the literate and the smugly literate. I think we both enjoy a bit of rhetorical jousting from time to time whether it be in good humo(u)r or a bit biting. I've no problems with you John. You're one of the last people I would stifle even if I indulged in such things.

You are the primary reason I keep a dictionary by my computer desk. ;)

Ah, roogalator!

Regarding spelling: I only point out spelling problems these days when the person is clearly just not trying (such as Snowy) or the person has questioned my intelligence (want to play with the big boys? better spell "rite" :).

[You would have folks trying to get DHed just for the joy of the pig latin posts.]

I need my practice!

Bill, tell me when you do this … I'll lay down some personal attacks against Mako so that I can enjoy a couple weeks practicing my Pig Latin skills.