'"Troll is epic."
- A viewing pedestrian commenting on a troll with skill.
A troll is someone who posts inflammatory,extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. The noun troll may refer to the provocative message itself, as in: "That was an excellent troll you posted."
Forms of Trolling[]
Alternate Accounts[]
In the OT and most likely other societies, Alternate Accounts (otherwise known as Alts) are accounts created by a troll and are used to freely troll members on the forums. One could make a troll thread and then use numerous accounts to back up said troll thread. Another example is just to not have to worry about ultimate banning for the trolls main account. Branch created Mrot the Hutt to freely troll. Nikita Pau Pau was probably the greatest alt troll ever. This was orchestrated by Fiat who utilized a "theme alt". A theme alt is an alt that strongly believes in a cause or is stereotypical of a community (Race, age, gender etc...). Moderators will run IP tests if a member appears to have numerous alts and will ban everyone of them.
Derailment[]
Derailment is one of the simplest, but flashiest, methods of trolling. Similar to pop-punk music, derailment will ensnare and fool many individuals into actively performing in the troll's piece. It is considered especially impressive on slow forums, where rules are stringently addressed. Derailment has obvious controversies behind it, as many forums maintain an "on-topic" rule.
Devil's Advocate[]
This style, named for the rhetorical method it employs, finds the troll taking a viewpoint that is opposite most of those within the forum, or in the thread. This method of trolling can range from quite simple (mere defamation) to complex (an actual discussion regarding the topic at hand from the Advocate's position.) Complex trolls of this method are rare, but are worth potentially millions of internets.
Defamation[]
Argued as being either a technique or a style, this method of trolling is not practiced by most veterans, but is a simpler form of trolling that most adolescent trolls learn before beginning large-scale, complex trolling techniques. It simply consists of insulting the poster one is targeting, and ruining his image.
Freestyle[]
This form of trolling has been used almost religously by butt fuckers since the birth of FaceBook, Comprised of a quote or seemingly meaningless post to bait and trap FaceBook 'Friends' followed by a storm of purposefull idiocy, leading to the eventual blocking of the Troll. This being the ultimate goal, it can always be noted as a victory.
Cannibalism[]
Cannibalism is an advanced form of trolling understood only by a few, attempted by less, and only successfully executed by a few less than less than an few. The Cannibal troll is equivalent to a double agent in the spy world, -007 if you will. Cannibals will often covertly present themselves as troll bait, with the aim of attracting as many trolls as possible (e.g. posting a seemingly sincere, yet deseprately sad and misguided clip on YouTube), this process is called 'herding the trolls'. Once adequate trolls have attempted trolling said cannibal troll's troll bait, the cannibal reveals there true identity, thus consuming the mojo of all herded trolls, this process is called 'eating the trolls'.
Famous Trolls[]
Category: OT Trolls
Dealing with a Troll[]
Ant-troll them by using tremendous amounts of logic. It works if you do it right.
Alternative solution: Ignore them
Alternative solution 2: Kill yourself
Alternative solution 3: Rage harder than you've ever raged before until the troll doesn't find it fun anymore