Removing the rolleye smiley?

[Last Child of Ungoliant]

[Elemmírë]

Originally Posted by jerseydevil

Hey - I like that one much better. Instead of getting rid of the rollyeyes - can we replace it with the animated one? It would be so much more effective in getting across how one TRULY feels than just that old boring static one.

Yes... I originally thought that our static guy was some sort of half smile...

Of course, we can always use this if we don't like someone's post:



And, of course, if we think that our own posts are deserving of praise...



[edited] Honestly, what's the point of removing it when you can just go off and find even more offensive ones?

[Rían]

Originally Posted by jerseydevil

Done you mean "Whatever... "?

No, actually I mean "whatever ... "

It makes me sad when people attack each other. My "whatever" was resignation to the fact that even if the rolly-eyed smilie is gone, people will still attack each other. At least it doesn't happen very often at Entmoot, thanks to our mods.

[Millane]

yeah i vote we replace the rolleyes smilie with PiL's wanking smilie its awesome....

[Wayfarer]

Good grief.

It's not like emoticons are an essential part of a message board. The only reason that we have a graphical '' is that people have been using the textual ': )' for years if not decades.

As far as 'this smiley gets overused at Entmoot' - well, you may argue that that's an issue of misuse, but really it isn't. In western culture, at least, this expression ( ) is used to indicate irony or sarcasm in something you're saying, or sometimes to indicate dissaproval (especially in a condescending way: 'not only do I dissaprove, but I can't believe that you're stupid enough to feel otherwise').

If you feel that it's being overused in that that sense, that's not a commentary on the emoticon itself so much as it is on the denizens of entmoot - that people have problems getting along with others, dissagreeing without being insulting, or wahtever.

Personally, I find it ironic that several people bring up (or have brought up at other times) something to the effect of 'this is such a nice board' (i.e. Nurvingel's 'not that a flame war would happen here' or RÃ*an's 'people don't attack each other very often here, thanks to the mods'). I've always felt that Entmoot is substantially less friendly than many other boards I've been a part of over the years. To be honest the veneer of civility runs extremely thin on this forum most of the time.

[Jonathan]

Originally Posted by ElemmÃ*rë

Honestly, what's the point of removing it when you can just go off and find even more offensive ones?

The point is that people are lazy. They won't go off to find a sarcastic smiley if it doesn't contribute to their post. As a result, people will roll their eyes less and their posts will seem friendlier.

All I'm asking is if the admins and mods could maybe discuss this. I know Fat middle was interested in deleting the smiley before.
I mean it's their job to keep the board in as good shape as possible and that smiley isn't helping. Just look at the political threads.

Originally Posted by Wayfarer

In western culture, at least, this expression ( ) is used to indicate irony or sarcasm in something you're saying, or sometimes to indicate dissaproval (especially in a condescending way: 'not only do I dissaprove, but I can't believe that you're stupid enough to feel otherwise).

So my advice is to make it a tiny bit harder to indicate your disapproval. Take away the smiley and people will leave out the "I can't believe that you're stupid enough to feel otherwise" more often.

Originally Posted by Wayfarer

If you feel that it's being overused in that that sense, that's not a commentary on the emoticon itself so much as it is on the denizens of entmoot - that people have problems getting along with others, dissagreeing without being insulting, or wahtever.

Very true.

[Fat middle]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

All I'm asking is if the admins and mods could maybe discuss this. I know Fat middle was interested in deleting the smiley before.
I mean it's their job to keep the board in as good shape as possible and that smiley isn't helping. Just look at the political threads.

We're discussing it in the Mod's. Just waiting to have enough responses on that thread to decide.

[Jonathan]

Goody

[Nurvingiel]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

So my advice is to make it a tiny bit harder to indicate your disapproval. Take away the smiley and people will leave out the "I can't believe that you're stupid enough to feel otherwise" more often.

This comment still stings, with or without the rolleyes smilie.

Plus, if it gets deleted, wouldn't all the posts who had previously used the smilie have this in place? :rolleyes:

[jerseydevil]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

The point is that people are lazy. They won't go off to find a sarcastic smiley if it doesn't contribute to their post. As a result, people will roll their eyes less and their posts will seem friendlier.

It won't effect me any - since I hand type . And I can continue to do it.

It's funny - before I ever used the smilie - no one had any problems with it. of course that was when it was used in almost every post against me though. And by the way - I can host my own rollyeyes - I personally like the animated one. I'll just post an [img] tag.

Ooooh look - this is the one from my messageboard - along with this one

[Elemmírë]

I usually hand type too... quicker that way...

Originally Posted by jerseydevil

And by the way - I can host my own rollyeyes - I personally like the animated one. I'll just post an [img] tag.

Ooooh look - this is the one from my messageboard - along with this one

hm... speaking of the tags, do they work in the Tolkien forum also? I tried to link a picture to the MoS thread once, and failed miserably...

[Fat middle]

Originally Posted by ElemmÃ*rë

hm... speaking of the tags, do they work in the Tolkien forum also? I tried to link a picture to the MoS thread once, and failed miserably...

Yep, they work. Just not the IMG tag. See this thread for more info about why.

[Elemmírë]

Originally Posted by Fat middle

Yep, they work. Just not the IMG tag. See this thread for more info about why.

So you can't use your own smilies there. Ah well, if we get rid of it.... I think :rolleye: works as well as

[Artanis]

I'd like to keep the please. Actually I should use it more often, directed to myself.

Sarcastic comments are still sarcastic, with or without the rolleyes.

[Sister Golden Hair]

Originally Posted by Artanis

I'd like to keep the please. Actually I should use it more often, directed to myself.

Sarcastic comments are still sarcastic, with or without the rolleyes.

My thoughts exactly.

[me9996]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

It has been suggested before and I’m asking again – can’t we remove the rolleye smiley?

I think the smiley is being overused on Entmoot and that it’s taking away some of the friendly atmosphere of the board. People could still roll their eyes at others (by typing *rolls eyes* or similar) however they wouldn’t do it as often if the smiley disappeared. I see people using the smiley whenever someone disagrees with their posts and that’s not what the smiley is meant for imo. In many (if not most) cases, the smiley shows disrespect to the previous poster and is nothing but an unkind conclusion in a post that would do much better anyway without the smiley.

If people need to somehow show that they’re being sarcastic, there is the and smileys. The FAQ even suggests the latter - “For example, if you entered a sarcastic comment, rather than type 'that was a joke', you could simply insert the 'wink' smilie.�

No "" --> less people rolling their eyes --> no more unecessary rolling eyes.
I think such a change would make this board better and a little nicer.

Could the admins please discuss this with each other?

This is an real idea...

[Elemmírë]

Originally Posted by me9996

This is an real idea...

No. We're just discussing it for the fun of arguing.

[Bombadillo]

It would be interesting if we changed the necessary text for the smilies. Instead of people typing :rolleyes: we should make the code something more like :understand: :agree: or :respect: . Then the button for it could be hidden in the expandable list through the "more" link at the bottom of the smilies box. People would be reluctant to use it.

But we don't have a link there, I realized mid-post. Didn't we used to?

What we need is an expandable list, for starters.

[me9996]

Originally Posted by ElemmÃ*rë

No. We're just discussing it for the fun of arguing.

Oh

[hectorberlioz]

Originally Posted by Wayfarer

Personally, I find it ironic that several people bring up (or have brought up at other times) something to the effect of 'this is such a nice board' (i.e. Nurvingel's 'not that a flame war would happen here' or RÃ*an's 'people don't attack each other very often here, thanks to the mods'). I've always felt that Entmoot is substantially less friendly than many other boards I've been a part of over the years. To be honest the veneer of civility runs extremely thin on this forum most of the time.

That is because (believe it or not) this is not essentially a fanboy/fangirl board. We don't gather here together today to discuss Legolas' (supposedly) beautiful long golden hair. It's pretty obvious that most of us hang out in GM, which is mostly used as a battleground, and a most powerful outlet for the rolleyes smiley.
And I disagree about the veneer. A lot of the 'Moot is inhabited by persons with a bit more sophistication than fanboy boards. I've never known a mooter yet that has left entmoot of his/her own freewill. Even Elfhelm returned for awhile!