Who was Barkley?

So I've been looking through old threads and I often see people talking about someone named Barkley. From what I've seen, he was a person with multiple accounts that spammed things about philosophy or workout routines. In my research I found this thread with no name , from the replies I assume the thread was made by one of Barkley's other accounts. Something else of note is that acidzero has Detective next to his name, when you hover your cursor on it it says that he outbarked barkley. But I'm still wondering, who is Barkley and what happened to him?

So I've been looking through old threads and I often see people talking about someone named Barkley. From what I've seen, he was a person with multiple accounts that spammed things about philosophy or workout routines. In my research I found this thread with no name , from the replies I assume the thread was made by one of Barkley's other accounts. Something else of note is that acidzero has Detective next to his name, when you hover your cursor on it it says that he outbarked barkley. But I'm still wondering, who is Barkley and what happened to him?

Honestly it’s a piece of forum lore I’ve always been curious about too lol. I always see references to it, so I’ve always assumed it was an annoying user from before my time here.

Side note: I’ll have to test it when I get home and can use my computer, but I never realized you could figure out why people have their nicknames/titles by hovering over them!

I actually have no idea what's Barkley is all about either. I've been using ths site for ~6 years but only have been active for ~3 years.

Are you all sitting comfortably? Good, then I shall begin...

So BarkeyForeman AKA Barkey AKA Essay Master Supreme(TM) was a forum member 5+ years ago. He wasn't malicious, but he was an utter nightmare to deal with. He wrote posts reminiscent of War & Peace in every single active thread. All of them. No thread was left unsullied. Not only that, but he wouldn't even write essays on the topic of the thread: his MO was to steer every conversation onto the same few topics he was keenly interested in. The main ones I remember were fighting games and their high-level mechanics (his old avatar was Blanka from SF2) and kooky religious shit. It sounds tame saying it now, but at the time it kinda made the forums unusable for everyone else, because nobody particularly wanted to talk about what he wanted to talk about, but trying to talk about anything else was futile when he would text-dump it back around to his talking points every time you tried. What complicated matters further is that he took constructive criticism and feedback very, very, aggressively badly.

I can't remember if he left or if Everdred banned him, but his original account didn't survive longer than a month. He did try to sneak back in with at least two alt accounts (that I remember), although there could have been more. When his first alt cropped up, acidzero called him out in a matter of hours, hence the forum title of Detective. His writing style - and length - made him very easy to spot.

Thinking about it now, it makes me feel kinda old to have been a member long enough to have been around when Barkey was!

Are you all sitting comfortably? Good, then I shall begin...

So BarkeyForeman AKA Barkey AKA Essay Master Supreme(TM) was a forum member 5+ years ago. He wasn't malicious, but he was an utter nightmare to deal with. He wrote posts reminiscent of War & Peace in every single active thread. All of them. No thread was left unsullied. Not only that, but he wouldn't even write essays on the topic of the thread: his MO was to steer every conversation onto the same few topics he was keenly interested in. The main ones I remember were fighting games and their high-level mechanics (his old avatar was Blanka from SF2) and kooky religious shit. It sounds tame saying it now, but at the time it kinda made the forums unusable for everyone else, because nobody particularly wanted to talk about what he wanted to talk about, but trying to talk about anything else was futile when he would text-dump it back around to his talking points every time you tried. What complicated matters further is that he took constructive criticism and feedback very, very, aggressively badly.

I can't remember if he left or if Everdred banned him, but his original account didn't survive longer than a month. He did try to sneak back in with at least two alt accounts (that I remember), although there could have been more. When his first alt cropped up, acidzero called him out in a matter of hours, hence the forum title of Detective. His writing style - and length - made him very easy to spot.

Thinking about it now, it makes me feel kinda old to have been a member long enough to have been around when Barkey was!

If only he made more posts about high level mechanics in games. Most of his topics where religious, philosopical or political. He dumped a gigantic WW1 wall of text (and didn't even say anything in it, 1000+ words that basically could boil down to "What do you guys think about WW1") on Armistice day. Posts about weight-lifting and diet, boxing...

My favorite one was the political one that he started by saying that he was recently introduced to libertarianism in a Spongebob Squarepants chat. That's peak surreal humor.

The main ones I remember were fighting games and their high-level mechanics (his old avatar was Blanka from SF2) and kooky religious shit.

o.O Well, that's a hell of an obnoxious sounding combo. Gotta say I'm curious to know what happened in that thread Finnedorb pointed out that led to bible talk in relation to games as art, but some things are probably best left unknown. The replies remaining there say enough on their own about the weirdness I suppose

Are you all sitting comfortably? Good, then I shall begin...

So BarkeyForeman AKA Barkey AKA Essay Master Supreme(TM) was a forum member 5+ years ago. He wasn't malicious, but he was an utter nightmare to deal with. He wrote posts reminiscent of War & Peace in every single active thread. All of them. No thread was left unsullied. Not only that, but he wouldn't even write essays on the topic of the thread: his MO was to steer every conversation onto the same few topics he was keenly interested in. The main ones I remember were fighting games and their high-level mechanics (his old avatar was Blanka from SF2) and kooky religious shit. It sounds tame saying it now, but at the time it kinda made the forums unusable for everyone else, because nobody particularly wanted to talk about what he wanted to talk about, but trying to talk about anything else was futile when he would text-dump it back around to his talking points every time you tried. What complicated matters further is that he took constructive criticism and feedback very, very, aggressively badly.

I can't remember if he left or if Everdred banned him, but his original account didn't survive longer than a month. He did try to sneak back in with at least two alt accounts (that I remember), although there could have been more. When his first alt cropped up, acidzero called him out in a matter of hours, hence the forum title of Detective. His writing style - and length - made him very easy to spot.

Thinking about it now, it makes me feel kinda old to have been a member long enough to have been around when Barkey was!

Interesting, it seems like he was just a troll who caused a lot of problems for the forums. It's good that he was likely banned and I remember reading that he would do the same thing in the discord server.

So I've been looking through old threads and I often see people talking about someone named Barkley. From what I've seen, he was a person with multiple accounts that spammed things about philosophy or workout routines. In my research I found this thread with no name , from the replies I assume the thread was made by one of Barkley's other accounts. Something else of note is that acidzero has Detective next to his name, when you hover your cursor on it it says that he outbarked barkley. But I'm still wondering, who is Barkley and what happened to him?

I love the way you presented this. I had no idea who this user was, and I hadn't even seen the nickname before. And you started talking and it just seemed like a spooky story to be told generation to generation alongside the campire of the forum.

But, yeha, after reading about what NinjaRic said, I'm kind of glad I wasn't a part of the community during those times. Some of us can ramble on and on about some topics, but nowhere near the extent you guys are describing. And the community here in the forum is not really that big (and I'd imagine it was somewhat the same size around those times...?), so a user wall-texting every single thread could really leave a huge mark.

So anyways, as I was saying, during WWI....

BarkeyForeman (acidzero's tag has a typo to that end) was just the account they were on once we started to notice. They were frequently creating new accounts and operating under them as different people yet manifesting the same or similar interests and eventually ramping up in post scale and frequency.

Most obvious MO was as others pointed out, excessively long and rambling posts about hyperspecific topics, while also being excessively inquisitive even about minute things. But those weren't always present. You can just google BarkeyForeman, and some of the other accounts still exist / are active and exhibit the same behaviour elsewhere.

Worst part for me is just the paranoia. I just assume half of those using the forums these days are Barkey clones that have learned to avoid detection lol.

BarkeyForeman (acidzero's tag has a typo to that end) was just the account they were on once we started to notice. They were frequently creating new accounts and operating under them as different people yet manifesting the same or similar interests and eventually ramping up in post scale and frequency.

Most obvious MO was as others pointed out, excessively long and rambling posts about hyperspecific topics, while also being excessively inquisitive even about minute things. But those weren't always present. You can just google BarkeyForeman, and some of the other accounts still exist / are active and exhibit the same behaviour elsewhere.

Worst part for me is just the paranoia. I just assume half of those using the forums these days are Barkey clones that have learned to avoid detection lol.

It took me awhile before mockturtle stopped thinking I was Barkey XD

You can sample his fine work here:
https://www.reddit.com/user/barkeyforeman

You can sample his fine work here:
https://www.reddit.com/user/barkeyforeman

Holy shit that was on the forums? It's a good thing he was banned.

It took me awhile before mockturtle stopped thinking I was Barkey XD

you passed the test.

You can sample his fine work here:
https://www.reddit.com/user/barkeyforeman

never thought I could be blinded by sheer word count

Are you all sitting comfortably? Good, then I shall begin...

So BarkeyForeman AKA Barkey AKA Essay Master Supreme(TM) was a forum member 5+ years ago. He wasn't malicious, but he was an utter nightmare to deal with. He wrote posts reminiscent of War & Peace in every single active thread. All of them. No thread was left unsullied. Not only that, but he wouldn't even write essays on the topic of the thread: his MO was to steer every conversation onto the same few topics he was keenly interested in. The main ones I remember were fighting games and their high-level mechanics (his old avatar was Blanka from SF2) and kooky religious shit. It sounds tame saying it now, but at the time it kinda made the forums unusable for everyone else, because nobody particularly wanted to talk about what he wanted to talk about, but trying to talk about anything else was futile when he would text-dump it back around to his talking points every time you tried. What complicated matters further is that he took constructive criticism and feedback very, very, aggressively badly.

I can't remember if he left or if Everdred banned him, but his original account didn't survive longer than a month. He did try to sneak back in with at least two alt accounts (that I remember), although there could have been more. When his first alt cropped up, acidzero called him out in a matter of hours, hence the forum title of Detective. His writing style - and length - made him very easy to spot.

Thinking about it now, it makes me feel kinda old to have been a member long enough to have been around when Barkey was!

Have you ever heard the tragedy of BarkeyForeman the troll? I thought not. It's not a story the gamers would tell you.
-----
Just to clarify some of Ric's points, given I fancied myself Barkey's archnemesis:

At times he very much could be malicious. I remember going the fuck off on him because he said that people who commit suicide don't deserve sympathy. I vaguely remember other "ignorant at best, dangerous at worst" opinions from him, too -- I seem to recall he didn't believe in climate change? -- but it was the suicide thing that was most memorable.

He was also notable for being a really big fan of Saint Seiya and the Sega Saturn, and was utterly bewildered that we did not find those subjects fascinating.

The BarkeyForeman account lasted far longer than a month, though -- I swear it was at least eight decades -- unless you're referring to another alias he had before then. I remember one of his subsequent alts had a Sesshomaru avatar, and the one after that he was really stupid and messaged me, without even having posted anything yet, asking about my autism... which immediately gave him away, as at that point he was the only person on this website I had told I was autistic, in a misguided attempt to get him to shut the fuck up. I'm not even sure what his goal was with that.

Needless to say, when he was finally run off for good, there was much jubilation.

GamerAim wrote:

It took me awhile before mockturtle stopped thinking I was Barkey XD

And I apologize for ever having suspected you.

Everdred wrote:

You can sample his fine work here

It took me awhile before mockturtle stopped thinking I was Barkey XD

I know you are not, but if you were Barkley, that would just have been a great power move

You can sample his fine work here:
https://www.reddit.com/user/barkeyforeman

I find it hilarious that his comment karma is negative.

Granted from the sound of it that should probably have been expected.

Well that was some interesting backstory. I saw his name a couple of times during the chez incident and had been wondering who he was ever since. That’s one for the wiki.

I know you are not, but if you were Barkley, that would just have been a great power move

Aww man, you're right! I could reveal myself as having been Barkey this whole time. It was all an elaborate ruse, The Master-style. Mockturtle, my ancient nemesis, lay broken before me, his faith in himself shattered. "SAY MY NAME, MOCKTURTLE! SAY MY NAME!"

Alas, I suspect both Barkey and I are too impatient for such a master stroke. I have but dreams...

I like to think that I can get a bit discursive at times, but this Barkey fellow seems to have me beat. Then again, I tend to keep my thoughts on one particular subject relatively succinct; my tendency to ramble comes into play when I'm hit with a stray thought and start changing subjects.

I remember looking at the forums to see if I was interested, but was soon put off by those walls of texts and apparent inability to avoid them. Wasn't until much later that I actually started taking part... after they were long gone lol =)

I like to think that I can get a bit discursive at times, but this Barkey fellow seems to have me beat. Then again, I tend to keep my thoughts on one particular subject relatively succinct; my tendency to ramble comes into play when I'm hit with a stray thought and start changing subjects.

This is something that will forever baffle me because it goes beyond just being "discursive". I often felt pretty bad calling out a suspected Barkey alias, since I always wanted to assume that it was just one person with a very unique way of trying to interact with people, and I wanted to give them a proper chance and hope they'd have improved their behaviour. Maybe it is.

But the extent at which they push out threads and the manner in which they do them, it's borderline industrious. I'm aware of at least 4 - 5 other accounts, active within the last few months, all doing the exact same thing.

I've often wondered if it's a bot, prompting questions, processing the responses it gets then repurposing them. But to what end I don't know and the responses etc. tend to be human enough to sow doubt on that theory. But that's also the entire point of those kinds of systems, like that covert advertising situation we encountered not long ago. Barkey's accounts just lacked that same focus though. It's such a mystery.

So I've been looking through old threads and I often see people talking about someone named Barkley. From what I've seen, he was a person with multiple accounts that spammed things about philosophy or workout routines. In my research I found this thread with no name , from the replies I assume the thread was made by one of Barkley's other accounts. Something else of note is that acidzero has Detective next to his name, when you hover your cursor on it it says that he outbarked barkley. But I'm still wondering, who is Barkley and what happened to him?

thread with no name

I've been on the web on reading a thread with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
On the web, you can remember your name
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain

Does that also mean in a few years we'll be getting questions of who was chez?

thread with no name

I've been on the web on reading a thread with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
On the web, you can remember your name
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain

Does that also mean in a few years we'll be getting questions of who was chez?

Does that also mean in a few years we'll be getting questions of who was chez?

To be honest I was wondering after seeing the name a few times since joining. Did a little search and saw it was shortly before my time here and seemed to have dodged a bullet on that one

Does that also mean in a few years we'll be getting questions of who was chez?

To be honest I was wondering after seeing the name a few times since joining. Did a little search and saw it was shortly before my time here and seemed to have dodged a bullet on that one

Alright, now I'm curious. Who was Chez?