Post by Phayun-C on Oct 13, 2005 21:30:25 GMT -5
Awwwwrighty! For your viewing pleasure, I will be doing a series of lessons on everyone's favorite subject - Flaming!
First of all, what is flaming, and why should I learn how to be fracking awesome at it?
Flaming is basically insulting the living crud out of someone over and over until they are nothing but a shivering, sobbing, wretched little shell of a forum-goer. Besides the practical implications (flaming people you don't agree with), flaming is just plain fun, for the most part. Yes, many of us avid forum-goers have taken up "insulting the living crud out of someone over and over until they are nothing but a shivering, sobbing, wretched little shell of a forum-goer" as a pasttime! It's fun for the whole family!
Now, a warning before we go into the how-to's of incredible flamage. Occasionally, mainly when flaming for a cause, rather than for fun, you can start to feel like crud for flaming someone who actually says they're sorry or something. Flame discerningly, friends.
Okay, I'll start off with some tips about replying in a flame-like way to something you don't agree with. Flaming in a response is by far my favorite way to flame. First off, you didn't start the argument if you're replying to it. You're just jacking up the heat >=) Also, you get the extra flaming plus of defending something, rather than attacking it. But, as they say, the best defense is a good offense. So, let's get down to being offensive!
Here's a message from an anonymous author, against my good friend Cows.
Addendum, in my defense.
He insults me. If you insult the bigger kid on the playground, what happens? If you walk up to someone that you know doesn't like you and piss them off, what then? You get screwed up, that's what happens. You break the rules, you get banned. Banning is not a nice activity. One's being banned is a statement that they have refused to acknowledge rules and regulations set in place. *alternate admin* is a really nice guy. I, however, am not. My job is not to play nice, it is to make things work and work well. When I see bad things happening, I ban stuff. *alternate admin* cleans it up a bit, usually making it temporary, and everything works out. Checks and balances. If you have a problem with my wit, I suppose that's too bad. My posts are infrequent and usually occur only when my input is needed.
*note* Names have been changed to protect the quasi-innocent! *note*
Okay, a bit of background on this. My friend was part of a forum group, and while he did a crapload of stuff for them, he was a very blunt writer, and spoke his mind in abrasive ways too often. He got banned. This is an admin's response to me challenging his decision. Basically, the admin was doing the same things my friend was banned for.
Here, we automatically gain the advantage of defending someone, as well as the advantage of being on the correct side of the situation. Wee!
My first course of action, when having an unfairly offensive message posted about me or a friend, is to completely pick apart the message, looking for every mistake, or flaw in grammar or logic. Basically, immediately point out weaknesses. Unusually enough, this administrator actually has a mind for grammar. This kicks out a lot of grammatical correctings, but we can still work around that. Here are a couple weaknesses and/or flaws.
This is a huge flaw. The administrator, who goes to my school, doesn't know who my friend is. Unfortunately for him, my friend is a grade above him, has a 4.0 GPA, and is a track star. Looks like the admin was the smaller kid in this instance.
Here again is a flaw. While this is an accurate statement, the admin fails to consider that he has in fact broken the same rules my friend did, in posting material that was easily as offensive as anything my friend ever did. This leaves us wide open to take an easy shot. First I'd quote him. Then, you write in "You get banned, unless you're an administrator, you mean." Then, you add in a nice cynical little winking smiley, just for good measure
This can be used in the same vein as the last one. You simply quote this, and below it write "As long as the bad things aren't being done by anyone important...". Smiley here is optional.
BING!! You are the weakest link! Whenever your flamee takes it upon themselves to complement their own intelligence, it's a huge opportunity. In jerk-ese, this statement roughly translates to "I have a big head! Flame me!" This is where you can really get in a few extra licks, to send them on their way.
Now, we could say "You call that wit?!" or something like that, but I like to go for a little more subtlety, and class. If you can play off their own words, it'll hurt a lot more. So, let's just say something along the lines of "It's not your "wit" I have a problem with, bud. It's your blatant disregard for your own rules." The "bud" is always good to throw in there, just to make sure that they know how inferior they are to you. I mean, they are, right? For one person, use "bud". For multiple people, use "kiddies". Not too often, or it'll lose its effect. But a well placed childish word can really make a big difference.
Now, for the second part. You can't really play off his words too terribly much here, so you just gotta go for it, or leave it out. Remember, you won't weaken your flame by leaving things out, generally, but you can ruin it if you have too many lackluster remarks. For this, I would go ahead and write something like "I would think you would post even less frequently than you do now. I haven't seen many instances where input like this is needed."
Alright, now, below here, you will be able to read the wonderful message we've created here. I would generally add more than just these little refutes, but for the purposes of this workshop, this small flame will do.
You made it through Flamage Workshop #1, cadet! Good job! We might be able to make a flamer out of you, yet! ;D
First of all, what is flaming, and why should I learn how to be fracking awesome at it?
Flaming is basically insulting the living crud out of someone over and over until they are nothing but a shivering, sobbing, wretched little shell of a forum-goer. Besides the practical implications (flaming people you don't agree with), flaming is just plain fun, for the most part. Yes, many of us avid forum-goers have taken up "insulting the living crud out of someone over and over until they are nothing but a shivering, sobbing, wretched little shell of a forum-goer" as a pasttime! It's fun for the whole family!
Now, a warning before we go into the how-to's of incredible flamage. Occasionally, mainly when flaming for a cause, rather than for fun, you can start to feel like crud for flaming someone who actually says they're sorry or something. Flame discerningly, friends.
Okay, I'll start off with some tips about replying in a flame-like way to something you don't agree with. Flaming in a response is by far my favorite way to flame. First off, you didn't start the argument if you're replying to it. You're just jacking up the heat >=) Also, you get the extra flaming plus of defending something, rather than attacking it. But, as they say, the best defense is a good offense. So, let's get down to being offensive!
Here's a message from an anonymous author, against my good friend Cows.
Addendum, in my defense.
He insults me. If you insult the bigger kid on the playground, what happens? If you walk up to someone that you know doesn't like you and piss them off, what then? You get screwed up, that's what happens. You break the rules, you get banned. Banning is not a nice activity. One's being banned is a statement that they have refused to acknowledge rules and regulations set in place. *alternate admin* is a really nice guy. I, however, am not. My job is not to play nice, it is to make things work and work well. When I see bad things happening, I ban stuff. *alternate admin* cleans it up a bit, usually making it temporary, and everything works out. Checks and balances. If you have a problem with my wit, I suppose that's too bad. My posts are infrequent and usually occur only when my input is needed.
*note* Names have been changed to protect the quasi-innocent! *note*
Okay, a bit of background on this. My friend was part of a forum group, and while he did a crapload of stuff for them, he was a very blunt writer, and spoke his mind in abrasive ways too often. He got banned. This is an admin's response to me challenging his decision. Basically, the admin was doing the same things my friend was banned for.
Here, we automatically gain the advantage of defending someone, as well as the advantage of being on the correct side of the situation. Wee!
My first course of action, when having an unfairly offensive message posted about me or a friend, is to completely pick apart the message, looking for every mistake, or flaw in grammar or logic. Basically, immediately point out weaknesses. Unusually enough, this administrator actually has a mind for grammar. This kicks out a lot of grammatical correctings, but we can still work around that. Here are a couple weaknesses and/or flaws.
If you insult the bigger kid on the playground, what happens? If you walk up to someone that you know doesn't like you and piss them off, what then? You get screwed up, that's what happens.
This is a huge flaw. The administrator, who goes to my school, doesn't know who my friend is. Unfortunately for him, my friend is a grade above him, has a 4.0 GPA, and is a track star. Looks like the admin was the smaller kid in this instance.
You break the rules, you get banned.
Here again is a flaw. While this is an accurate statement, the admin fails to consider that he has in fact broken the same rules my friend did, in posting material that was easily as offensive as anything my friend ever did. This leaves us wide open to take an easy shot. First I'd quote him. Then, you write in "You get banned, unless you're an administrator, you mean." Then, you add in a nice cynical little winking smiley, just for good measure
When I see bad things happening, I ban stuff.
This can be used in the same vein as the last one. You simply quote this, and below it write "As long as the bad things aren't being done by anyone important...". Smiley here is optional.
If you have a problem with my wit, I suppose that's too bad. My posts are infrequent and usually occur only when my input is needed.
BING!! You are the weakest link! Whenever your flamee takes it upon themselves to complement their own intelligence, it's a huge opportunity. In jerk-ese, this statement roughly translates to "I have a big head! Flame me!" This is where you can really get in a few extra licks, to send them on their way.
Now, we could say "You call that wit?!" or something like that, but I like to go for a little more subtlety, and class. If you can play off their own words, it'll hurt a lot more. So, let's just say something along the lines of "It's not your "wit" I have a problem with, bud. It's your blatant disregard for your own rules." The "bud" is always good to throw in there, just to make sure that they know how inferior they are to you. I mean, they are, right? For one person, use "bud". For multiple people, use "kiddies". Not too often, or it'll lose its effect. But a well placed childish word can really make a big difference.
Now, for the second part. You can't really play off his words too terribly much here, so you just gotta go for it, or leave it out. Remember, you won't weaken your flame by leaving things out, generally, but you can ruin it if you have too many lackluster remarks. For this, I would go ahead and write something like "I would think you would post even less frequently than you do now. I haven't seen many instances where input like this is needed."
Alright, now, below here, you will be able to read the wonderful message we've created here. I would generally add more than just these little refutes, but for the purposes of this workshop, this small flame will do.
You made it through Flamage Workshop #1, cadet! Good job! We might be able to make a flamer out of you, yet! ;D