Well, I'm not such a big ranter any longer--now that I've put adminship on hold--but I must mention at least one phenomenon I've noticed on a site I frequent.

Members whom everyone dislikes, who decide, for some masochistic or sadistic reason, to stick around anyway. I don't say a thing to them (I do avoid RP with these sorts), but it's kind of... pathetic. I think they ought to have noticed that no one wants to RP with them, that their characters are hideous butcheries, and that they've had to resort to leaping on every open thread with poor, unsuspecting new members--why?--because everyone else has started closing their threads in desperation.

I'm not sure what to do, because elitism can be a slippery slope (if you kick one off, what's next, you know?) and I'm not about to seriously make such a suggestion to the board staff, because it's not my place.

Actually, I'd just like to understand the motivation behind remaining on a site that's polite, but generally ignores you, and on which almost no one will ever RP with you. I mean, why? It seems so unpleasant. It's a serious question. o_0 People are strange.

Probably because, sadly, they don't realize what's really going on.

People with horrible characters never realize their own characters are horrid. *shrugs* When I was a newbie RPer, I made some atrocities that I thought were the bee's knees back then! It's only looking back that I facepalm, wonder what the heck I was ON, and then pity the people that put up with me back then. xD

They probably just think everyone else is too busy with their own plots, not that they're being shunned. :\

Which is pretty sad. It'd be a horribly awkward place to be, and I know I'd hope someone would tell me that people were annoyed with me and what I was doing that was so annoying. xD That's the only way people can improve, if they're told what they're doing wrong.

...Which is easier said than done sometimes, since some people get attitude about that. But I guess it'd depend on how it's done. I've seen people make drastic improvements after being corrected.

All the same, if it's that big of an issue that people are closing their threads for that reason, it'd really only be humane to take those players aside and explain the situation to them and how they can improve--both for their sakes and for the sakes of the people who are in hiding. I'd say, in fact, that would fall under admin responsibilities. Sometimes, people just genuinely aren't aware that they're doing anything wrong. Most people are happy to change once they're aware that they're annoying people.

I think getting to the root of the problem is the best thing to do in a situation like this. Why does the member not popular? What turns people off about him or her? How can this be amended?

You (collective "you") can ban or you can accuse, but it's not going to improve anything when all is said and done. It'll just make people angry and the member mentioned won't really know what he/she did wrong.

There are many, many reasons... copy-pasting applications from Harry Potter information sites, butchering canon characters, pouncing on ALL open threads and posting implausibly in them... inarticulate posts in general... a level of apparent stupidity such that he can't actually post effectively in the forum games. And I could go on.

I mean--what does one DO in such a situation?

Have you tried talking to him and explaining that that's not how things go on your (and most) RPing site(s)? Explain to him that copying and pasting from other sites is plagerism and that he has to write his own app. Tell him to focus on a couple of threads at a time--say two threads per character--because it'll improve his RPing.

Give him a bit of time. We were all n00bs at some point. ;) Of course, if he's being stupid about it even after you try to help him, remind him that perhaps your site isn't the place for him and that there are plenty of other sites out there that will suit his fancy better. I don't think banning him is necessary unless he starts a ruckus.

As I said, it's not MY RP board--I'm just a member there. The admins have chastised him MULTIPLE times, and had to put a new rule about plagiarism in place after he joined. It's just that he hasn't gotten palpably better. He has this kind of obliviousness about him. Honestly, I hesitate to call anyone stupid, but.... he really acts that way.

His hijacking all open threads is just kind of... getting on my nerves. I'm sure the admins, being amazing and wonderful (seriously, they are) will deal with him if he gets too absurd, but it's a bummer to have him around, that's all.

Some people are disliked for strange reasons -coffDecandhermanymillionsofcharacterscoff- but, as we know (and we better about Dec -threatens-) that doesn't meant they are terrible people. They just aren't aware that their behaviour is annoying to other people.

I honestly don't know how I got better, but I did. You won't understand, Sam, not having gone through that period where your characters sucked and you trod heavily on everyone's toes in an attempt to learn the intricate dance of RP, but I know I certainly did and my behaviour back then annoys me even now.

I don't see the harm in taking them under your wing. If not your wing, then a likely member who might take kindly to having this annoying person pointed out and described as someone lost rather than a total idiot. It's always best to try kindness first, because someone you've been kind to is less likely to come back and shoot you later.

Well, I haven't been able to have a coherent conversation with the person, though I've tried, and I am not a philanthropist anyway, so scratch that. I hope someone can help him, but since he claims to be a professor in his 30s or something, he's either a ridiculous liar (as I think) or... I mean, I have no idea. But I can't deal with liars. Honestly young RPers attempting to improve, OK. Liars? No. Leave.

This IS a rant, guys. I don't say a thing to the person's face; in fact, I very carefully avoid speaking to him entirely, apart from 'hi' and 'bye' in the cbox. *shrugs* I'm not an admin, I'm not a mod, I'm just a member--notmyjob.

Arrrrgh I feel your pain!

There's a girl like that on a site I'm on - she claims to be a 21 year old English major, but her threads and plot replies are so incoherent that nobody even bothers replying to them because they can't make any sense of it! She pounces on every available open thread, posts in EVERYONE'S plot pages - even if it's unlikely that their character would know hers - and is a general pain in the arse, to put it bluntly. I've been on this site for a year or so [on and off, I should say], and she was already there when I first joined, so you can't say that it's because she's a n00b. She's just...illiterate. I don't think English is her native language, which is fine, but the site is quite advanced and probably not the best place for a person who hasn't quite learned how to manipulate the language properly.

It annoys me to no end, but nobody really says anything because they don't want to appear rude, I think. I'm pretty sure none of the admins have said anything to her either.

Hmm...

/endstory

Apologies, Smath. I thought you were the admin on the board.

You say it's not your job to take care of this guy and I agree, though I don't think you'd be stepping out of your boundaries if you decide to help him out a bit.