If you ignore them, they try harder until someone takes the bait. Or they start complaining directly that nobody is listening to their amazing ideas, like sopsych did.

You know what stops trolls? Mods.

You know what makes trolls try harder? Not being moderated.

yeah but you are forgetting one factor in this. The people that don't realize someone is trolling and still keeps responding. Even Urban just said that he would have kept responding and answering the persons questions.

In your little scenario, you would want to punish Urban as well for doing nothing more than responding.

I wasn't accusing him of being a troll though. I was just answering his questions from a moderators perceptive just like I would any other member.
So how am I in the wrong?

I'm going off of Pedestrian logic it doesn't matter if you accuse him of being a troll. She's saying just merely responding to him and giving him attention is being in the wrong since he's clearly a troll even without you calling him one.

I think our moderators, this incident asides, have definitely engaged in troll-baiting in the past, unbeknownst to themselves. It can't always be helped, because it's not always clear. I'm just offering some alternative strategies to approaching forum drama that everyone can be mindful of and attempt to use, and attempting to use them can do absolutely nothing to harm the forum, so what is there to lose? There isn't one sole solution to any social problem, and thinking that there is or should be is a narrow approach.

My suggestion, taking into account the immense variability of behaviours and situations on this site, is simply for people to look at their own reactions and reconsider whether or not they are the most appropriate responses for the situation and the forum on the whole.

If you're unsure, perhaps A) other people telling you that your participation is pointless and B) your own sense that you are not being comprehended or respected are indicators that your current strategy is failing and another might suit you and your peers better.

EDIT: Deej, ultimately my point is going beyond the label of "troll", and is trying to improve conflict management as a whole. If you're experiencing a conflict with another person here, and they appear unwilling to consider your point and resolve it, it may be best for all involved (as well as the community climate) to move on from the subject rather than attempt a fruitless drilling of your point.

I think that answering questions is not baiting but calling someone a troll is asking for drama. If people see someone acting in trollish behaviour then instead of responding to them personally, report their posts. It makes it way easier for us to decide when there is enough trolling to give an infraction or ban. As a team we act on trollish behaviour but it would be nice for members to take a little responsibility for their own behaviour whether they are trolling or reacting to it. I certainly have responded to baiting many times but have reflected on a years worth of drama and changed my view point on how I need to respond to others or not at all react. This isn't about victimising or blaming people, its about taking some preventative measures so that we can avoid the 40 pages of drama that people are demanding less of.

Maybe OP is trolling us?

Genius.

If their is one thing I have learned on the internet...the OP is always trolling us.

If the name is in blue, then they're moderators, in this case the OP is a mod. Yeah he does his mod gig (& I think he does it well imo) but he also seems cool, friendly and has a sense of humour (as well as other moderators here), but for some that is not enough. It seems some want to replace the current mod staff with velocimoderaptors who will rip to shreds members they don't like.