Guess I'm a lurker. I love the dev brown noser category someone posted above. I see that all the time in the many mmos I've played.

Originally posted by stragen001

I think you missed out hater.

Trolls are people that post inane things just to elicit a response, or stir up an argument, and the post can be about anything.

 

Haters are the ones that will jump on any thread at all about a game they dont like and post negatively. Even if the discussion is perfectly civil until they arrive, they will post something such as "This game sucks donkey balls, i dont know why anyone would play it, its not even an mmo"  and then the eternal battle between fanboys and haters begins...

Yeah, I thought that; haters and fanboys are two sides of the same coin and  trolls are generally posters setting the two opposing camps off, then standing back to laugh.

Originally posted by SBFord

These are AWESOME inclusions! We should make The Definitive List of Forum Denizens. :)

Here's one to work from http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/  :)

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Originally posted by slickbizzle
What category does the "Actually..." guy fit under? The guy that always has an answer to the question nobody asked.Example:Poster: I like this new game. I like how it does a double slash motion with the sword. That guy: Actually, that "sword" is a katana blade and was popular in Japan but can date its origins even further back to blah blah blah.  IMO it was the most efficient design.

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How about the rationalist, who criticizes and praises where he sees fit.  He admits flaws in games he loves and is capable of pointing out positive features in games he hates.  Because of the dominant traditional troll/fanboy dichotomy, however, he may occasionally be mistaken for one or the other if he does not clarify his stance in his language.

Originally posted by Tardcore

So who did we miss? Which archetype do you identify with most? C’mon now.  Be honest! Let us know in the comments.

 

The Thread Derailer. He's passionate, he's got an axe to grind, he can sometimes be quite erudite and lucid, just not on the actual subject at hand.

 

"Wait, you are actually profiling and sticking blanket labels on posters? You know there was another group of people that liked to hang labels on people, the NAZIS!

 

Ah yes... that sounds like someone I know quite well... Would this "derailer" also tend to explain things via analogies that would also tend to derail discussions?

I'm a mild troll. Sometimes a peacemaker if I'm in a good mood but that doesn't happen all that often.

I loathe fanboys vigourously.

There's another dominant category of forumites that doesn't really fit in any of the 5: The forum whiner, the one that comes on game forums to vent his frustration and anger.

I can be that one too at times :)

Guess I'd be a peace maker.

Originally posted by precious328

Kokotewa's above reply just made me think of another archetype.

The Fail Troll.

 

I'm not a fail troll.

The Forum Dropout

• 
  Walls of text


• 
  Poor spelling


• 
  Zero sentence structure


• 
  Does not understand the difference of there, their, they're, to, too, and two.


• 
  User name generally has X's around it, e.g., XxNAMExX.

Decent article. But, like others said, what is described as troll in the list is rather a hater, as trolls generally just try to poke people, no matter how they think about the game in question.

How about the Jaded One (sounds epic, right)? He instantly puts down any new MMOs because he's been burnt by one or more bad MMOs in the past. I don't see these people as trolls, just angry people that are tired of (what they perceive as) shitty games.

The one that comes to mind is the "overquoter." This person loves having his individual post be made up of 3,4,5 or even more posts from other people just to say one minor thing about the giant wall of text taking up 98% of his post. Does he expect us to read all this? Or does he just love the "quote" button over the "reply" bottum so much that he can only ever quote things.

Originally posted by k11keeper

The one that comes to mind is the "overquoter." This person loves having his individual post be made up of 3,4,5 or even more posts from other people just to say one minor thing about the giant wall of text taking up 98% of his post. Does he expect us to read all this? Or does he just love the "quote" button over the "reply" bottum so much that he can only ever quote things.

As someone who has to sift through this stuff -- I hate this guy more than the troll. ;)

Here's a couple more quick categories for consideration.

The Egotist

The egotist always has an opinion on everything, and is not willing to let any criticism, comment or differing opinion go without a rebuttal.  This poster generally isn't as interested at seeing other posters' opinions, and infrequently reads any of the other posts in a thread.  To them, their idea is the only one that matters.

The Terminator

This forum denisen typically wants to have the last word on everything said.  They will post, hoping to see their name as the 'Last Poster' category.  They think that they 'win' if their name is listed on any page, even if it is page 17 of an obscure game's sub-forum.

Trolls and Fanboys have their places on a discussion forum.  I would add another category, called "spammers".  The spammers have NO places on a forum.   What is a spammer ?  Well it can be a troll or a fanboy.  It's basicly someone with no point of view and  no arguments, posting just to post, making a useless thread like the following examples :

A  fanboy spammer  :

-Man this game ROCKS, get it, get it.

A troll spammer ::

-THIS GAME SUCKS !!  it Sucks !

Both these examples show a typical spammer post, posting is point of view without any meaningful content or reasons to make it's point.   That's spamming in my book.

When it comes to trolls and fanboys, they are welcome to post as long as they add meat (reasons) why they love or hate a game.

Oh I almost forgot about handbag guy!

He can appear at any time, in any thread, discussing any topic and it is his duty, NO God Given mission to sell you cheap knockoff designer handbags via a highly dodgy website

The cub scout:

This poster must at all times step in to "help the mod team", he can't stand to see people bicker or attack each other. He likes to pull out his junior moderators assistant badge and try and help police the forum.

The Grand Father of the internet:

This poster loves to talk about the good ole' days. No matter what the subject is, it was done better in his time. This poster also acts similar to the cub scout at times, only instead of loli-pops and gum-drops being used to fuel his posts, he relies on ole #7 and can be rather brutal in his "you kids stop fighting in my yard" rants.

TL;DR

I can be anything you all have mentioned on any given day... rofl.