Flame Wars for Fun & Profit

First off, this thread is not what you think. Madrugada would have sensed such a grave disturbance in the Force and whacked me with her Mod-stick already. No, I just had a notion and I wanted to share it with the troper community. *

I was thinking; people pay good money to watch all sorts of silly contests, don't they? Hell, they've got Star Craft on TV in Korea for crying out loud. What about professional flamewars?

Famous sites could sponsor their best flamewarriors, prize money could be competed for, watchers could gamble on their favorites etc. It'd be something for these people to do other than cause trouble on fora trying to maintain order.

Now, before anyone shoots me down...the hip-hop community has similar contests already, and they are quite popular. We netizens need something similar.

Is this workable? How would it work? Discuss. Note

edited 4th Jun '11 4:23:10 PM by drunkscriblerian

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

I don't think it would because you can easily watch unsimulated genuine and funny flamewarsfor free. But who knows, maybe...

"Take your (...) hippy dream world, I'll take reality and earning my happiness with my own efforts" - Barkey

@Nzm: well, you can watch amateur basketball or football for free as well, doesn't stop people from paying for tickets to the professional kind.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

You'd need people with a certain level of wit... like Yahtzee! But seriously, while some flame wars can be entertaining, it usually takes a certain level of tongue in cheekness from one or both sides.

The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.

@Usht: Fair enough...spamming memes and swearing would get boring fast. My idea for a system was as follows; the war takes place in a closed network *

. A contest worker ("shill") basically starts the show by introducing a topic...providing a base to begin with much like the DJ provides the beat in a rap battle. Flame war begins. The audience gets to vote on posts, giving props for good zingers etc.

He/She who gets the best audience response wins.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

Agreed this would require both excellent delivery, excellent wit, and the ability to keep your cool long enough to counter attack.

I could actually see this as a loosely structured form of entertainment.

Who watches the watchmen?

Isn't this already done on some "news entertainment" shows?

@Tuefel: yup, sort of like the rap battles that were my inspiration.

@blue: Sort of, but nerds need to get something like it rolling.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

Arent news pundit 'debates' (aka scream matches) basically flame wars?

I'd watch it. You have my support, DS, for whatever it's worth.

It would require people of wit and intellect, otherwise it'd become an endless chain of Chewbacca Defenses. Sort of like siege warfare.

edited 4th Jun '11 7:06:14 PM by MarkVonLewis

I also like the idea of famous sites (like this one), sponsoring and supporting their best flame-warriors in contests. A way to drum up support and membership (not to mention revenue)...rather like traditional sports.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

Oh lord. Team tropes is going in circles spinning of shots like a death blossom :P

Who watches the watchmen?

This puts a new spin on the restriction on importing and exporting flame wars in this forum.

The only problem would be making sure the posters were not aware of the competition, or it would be pointless as they could spoil the competition.

By the powers invested in me by tabloid-reading imbeciles, I pronounce you guilty of paedophilia!

Ehhh....I dunno about this idea. I mean, flame wars and such is something only internet dwellers would understand while anyone who doesn't browse forums wouldn't get why watching a group of people calling each other every swear word in the dictionary is fun.

Remember, these idiots drive, fuck, and vote. Not always in that order.

I don't think it's meant for TV. It would be enjoyed online.

Charlie Tunoku is a lover and a fighter.

hard to pull of well. Plus the fact that they know it's a flame war would make things that much harder

It sounds like a fun idea, but I dunno about the whole "the audience votes on who won" part. I think that this would risk bringing some real drama in, and also that it might turn the whole enterprise into some sort of popularity contest.

I'd rather see something like this as a form of online improv acting, or perhaps as a variant of professional wrestling — it's not a matter of "winning" against the other, it's a matter of cooperating with the other(s) to generate an outrageous, entertaining flamewar whose outcome is either fixed in advance or entirely irrelevant anyway.

And of course, it would have its own version of kayfabe — the online personas created for this purpose would have their own alliances and enmities, made up according to "their" own beliefs and personality traits, and of course none of these would have to be shared by the Real Life people roleplaying them.

edited 6th Jun '11 1:13:02 AM by Carciofus

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

Sounds fun. I'd set a maximum time limit for posting (it has to go fast, to be a real-time event), impose a max of 140 characters per post. Refs would award points for clever insults and skillful trolling, and penalties for pure ad-hominems, blatant ignoring of arguments, and boring posts.

Point that somewhere else, or I'll reengage the harmonic tachyon modulator.

Do we get extra support for writing retorts as raps?

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt." - Some guy with a snazzy hat.

Yeah it could be interesting to read provided of course that it has the required level of wit. While I agree that there should be a time limit it shouldn't be on a per post basis but the whole event has a time limit. And I strongly disagree with having character limits on post since those few flames I think are really godd are often quite long.

In the quiet of the night, the Neocount of Merentha mused: How long does evolution take, among the damned?

Plus 140 characters is less than Twitter.

Charlie Tunoku is a lover and a fighter.

No on the character limit. That short of a character limit would reduce it to U SUCK! and LOLNO. These should be artists at flaming — let them take as many characters as they need.

As for time limit, run it like a chess game — each person participating has a time limit (say, 60 minutes). Use a chess clock. If they run out of time with a response unfinished, they lose.

edited 6th Jun '11 5:16:49 PM by Madrugada

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

it would get extremely dull very quickly. Nobody wants to read a fight.

Not on the GTA forum I used to frequent. I was reknowned as a flame war veteran. But those days are long behind me.

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt." - Some guy with a snazzy hat.