Forums → The Tavern → How to handle: Trolls

Since it seems to be a increasing problem, here is a little set of general guidelines.

When finding a thread made by a suspected or obvious troll, do not reply.
Ignore it.

-Do not try to reply with a witty comment, it gives the thread more replies than it deserves, and often leads to the thread simply being locked instead of deleted as it should.
-Do not reply with "You are a troll", "This is fail.", "You are an idiot", "This is so locked", "/Thread" or similar. Do not reply with images of facepalms or FAILs either.
Again, it is unnecessary replies to a doomed thread, and it gives the troll a reason to reply/continue trolling.

The 'do's:
- Report it to a mod.(*)
- Wait.

(*): This needs to be done only once, and if you see someone else reporting it on a moderator or admin's profile, you do not need to report it again, unless you notice another mod come online.

Generally ignoring the thread is often the best plan, as the troll does not get any responses and the thread dies naturally. This might lead to discouraging the troll as well, so the trolling will not happen once again. It might also cause a spamming troll, which is also a thing to ignore.
If the troll is persistant, it will help the mods if the users simply leave the section quiet for a while, so that the troll/spam threads are easier to locate.
Another reason to leave would be the decreased temptation to make a witty remark on the thread when you can't see it.

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All this counts whether there is a mod online or not. If there are none online you should report and ignore, if there are any online, report and ignore.

This thread: worded by Cenere, proofread and corrected slightly by Zophia.