A funny trend.

[Edaarin]

Recently, there has been a spat of incidences from people who feel that the boards are heading in a downward spiral. I hope that this post addresses those issues, and please keep in mind this is strictly my perspective.

1. Moderators are human. Obviously, we don't get paid (and why should we, editing posts isn't exactly taxing work), and it's mostly because we enjoy these boards and the majority of the posters here. It's an online community.

2. Following (1), it stands to reason that if you go out of your way to antagonize, verbally abuse, or otherwise talk shit about said moderators, chances are the person isn't going to be falling out of their chairs to accomodate your every request. Apparently, your complaints aren't the number one priority in our lives.

3. Of the hundreds of active posters we have, I can count on one hand the people that I've talked to (both as a moderator and in the time between I was not moderating) where a serious issue has come up regarding a moderator. Of those people, two are currently banned (Stanley and Methais).

4. The vast majority of you are old enough to live on your own, and work to support yourselves and others. Show your fucking age and some maturity. You will be treated as an adult when you act like it.

5. If the above is too much to follow, and you feel that the selective moderating is infringing on your ability to post as you like, no one's holding a gun to your head. Go for the official boards, I hear they love catering to complaining. Is Quabu still around?

Or the thousands of other online message boards. Surely, there must be a group of people out there somewhere ready and willing to bow to your intellectual might.

[Nieninque]

What do you know, n00b?

:P

[theotherjohn]

I can go completely off topic here and talk about any fucking thing I want because a mod does it all the time and uses the below quote to skirt the rules.

If I cant then it just illustrates the double standard here that is causing the downward spiral




Originally posted by Tsa`ah
Per the ACTUAL topic:


blah blah blah everyone leave but the few in the clique is what you could have said and saved your typing time

[Edaarin]

Originally posted by Edaarin
5. If the above is too much to follow, and you feel that the selective moderating is infringing on your ability to post as you like, no one's holding a gun to your head.

Clearly, there's got to be a reason why you and Dave are the only ones who seem to have a problem.

[peam]

Originally posted by theotherjohn

blah blah blah everyone leave but the few in the clique is what you could have said and saved your typing time

Seems like everyone's in the clique but you, pal.

[Edited on 7-10-2005 by peam]

[4a6c1]

Originally posted by Edaarin
Show your fucking age and some maturity.

Well pfffpphtt.

Take away ALL the fun.

:P

[crazymage]

i want to be in a clique wtf wheres my invite!!

I was just pointing out the hypocrisy. I didn't go around reporting any posts or complain when she deleted them did I Edaarin?

[Edaarin]

It was a complaint made in a thread rather than through U2U, and it was done rather recently.

As you would say, ergo, it fits.

I am trying to see where any of the points in your post apply to me.

do you mind pointing out where you feel that I fit in?

[Edaarin]

4. The vast majority of you are old enough to live on your own, and work to support yourselves and others. Show your fucking age and some maturity. You will be treated as an adult when you act like it.

Pointing out hypocrisy makes me immature? I really have nothing against Harmnone, I like her, and well shes kinda hot in that Ms. Robinson sort of way. I however, don't appreciate being singled out when there are staff members committing the same infractions throughout the thread. So I point it out. If that makes me immature, you're probably right, I am.

[Stealth]

As a rare poster and a long time reader, who I think is fairly objective about the subject I will toss my .02 in.

I think the mods overall do a good job.

I DO think there is a double standard with some posters not being modded when they should, some people being modded when they shouldn't and some mods themselves being guilty of TOS violations which are not enforced.

Do I think it's a huge issue? Nope. Most of the people who are being overly "modded" brought it on themselves. You push the line and the "man" usually will enforce it much tighter for you. I am much more likely to cut someone some slack who never causes trouble versus the one who is always in trouble.


Stealth

[Jolena]

:yeahthat:

[HarmNone]

Unfortunately, I am unable to point my staff at the boards and magically make all off-topic or offending posts, or statements, vanish. Neither are any of the moderators able to do this.

If you insult someone, you're going to get insulted. These boards have never been the type that remove those insults as a matter of course. That would be the official boards. If you don't want to be insulted, don't insult. If your insult breaks TOS, and is seen by me or a moderator, it will be removed.

The posts that are being complained about here have been removed/edited. As I said, it couldn't be done magically. It had to be done one at a time. Usually, before removing posts, I'll ask that you get back on topic. If that request isn't honored, I'll start removing posts. That is the method I will continue to utilize. It is, however, not instantaneous; especially, when I'm taking the time to read a barage of post reports.

As a side note, if a post is questionable, it will be removed temporarily pending a decision made through consensus of staff. If the post is found to be acceptable it will be returned. If it is found to be unacceptable it will not be returned.

You have a right to your opinions, and a right to state those opinions. However, as has been pointed out, if you state them clearly and without malice, it will be more likely to produce the solution you're looking for. Also, as Stealth pointed out, if you've made a name for yourself as a troublemaker, or continual whiner, you'll probably not receive the same consideration as one whose suggestions and requests are made in a manner that suggests a true interest in the boards, and does not serve only your own interests or a desire to disrupt. That's a fact of life with which you'll just have to deal.

[HarmNone]

Originally posted by crazymage
i want to be in a clique wtf wheres my invite!!

Damn, crazymage! I thought you were the leader of the clique! Here I've been following you blindly all this time! Why didn't you tell me? :(

[Miss X]

Well, I can give my take on it although I think Edaarin has put it pretty nicely.

It is a fact of life, that if an individual constantly feels it necessary to violate what I consider to be a remarkably clear violation policy, it is inevitable that said individual will be watched more closely. It's sort of like the HMC policy in Gemstone. If you insist on constantly breaking the rules, you can bet your life I am going to keep a closer eye on your posts than someone who has rarely, if ever, had a post edit.

Now, that is not to say that we do not pay attention to all of the posts, speaking for myself as a super moderator, I endeavour to read every thread, time permitting of course. If you want to call it selective moderating, go right ahead. It's water off a ducks back at this point.

Each moderator has their own style of moderating, we are all individuals with different tolerance levels, so while obvious TOS violations are cleared up quickly, it is often the case that minor infractions, such as off topic posts do remain.

I do not see this as a problem. Speaking for myself only, I have absolutely no problem with friendly banter, conversation naturally develops and progresses and topics change. My style is generally to give a friendly warning first and hope that people will take notice and steer the conversation back on to a relevant topic. If that doesn’t happen then I will usually start to delete posts.
Be aware that deleting posts is a last resort for me, I do not like doing it and take no pleasure in it. I most certainly do not discriminate when deleting posts, as anyone with access to our violations recording folder can verify.

As someone who is privileged enough to know what goes on behind the scenes, I can say that without doubt we are a great team who endeavour to make these forums enjoyable for all who post here. Of course there will be members of staff that are more abrasive or abrupt than others, this is natural in any community. I believe that we are doing a good job and that the vast majority of people do enjoy posting/reading here.
Judging by the number of applications we received when we needed more moderators, I think my judgement is correct.

I would strongly advise anyone who feels they are unfairly treated to evaluate their own posting style, often answers come from within ourselves.

[Mistomeer]

The only moderating problem I've found is that moderators, for whatever reason, don't seem to want to apply the rules to other mods. Whenever I've run into this though, I've taken to Kranar or HN and it's been resolved. I think the biggest issue is that on one hand mods say that they're only human (which is true), but on the other hand, they don't like to edit/remove posts of fellow mods.

I also think that points assignment to mods may be questionable. Where a poster may get points for breaking TOS, a mod could make the same post and not get any points. Of course, given my temper tantrums on the boards, I still have never gotten a point so I'm not quite sure how one even manages to get points unless they just do something completely wrong. I've just been surprised to hear about some posters getting points for posting things that aren't very far off from what a mod might post.

[Asha]

Man, when the line separating mods and posters is so emphasised and focused on, it makes me feel a little bit sick.
I do feel that some mods seem to exempt themselves from the rules sometimes.
I try very hard not to think about it though.
Becouse even though they're clearly occasionally wrong, some of them are my dear friends, and they keep a lid on the shit as best they can.

[Landrion]

Originally posted by Mistomeer
The only moderating problem I've found is that moderators, for whatever reason, don't seem to want to apply the rules to other mods.

Not that Im excusing it, but I dont find that surprising in the least. Cops continually speed, sometimes even tailgating you. If you speed up to match them, you get pulled over. Sucks - but thats how it is.

However, while I dont have a load of choices about using the road. The boards are much more voluntary. While I applaud the Mods for holding the line - I try to remember that the edgier posters are what keep the place lively.

[Doyle Hargraves]

Not that Im excusing it, but I dont find that surprising in the least. Cops continually speed, sometimes even tailgating you. If you speed up to match them, you get pulled over. Sucks - but thats how it is.

That's when you slam on your brakes, causing him to either smash into you or flip his car over in a ditch.

Then you proceed to tell him a squirrel ran out in front of you, and had he not been tailgating you to bait you into getting a ticket, he wouldn't be having his squad car towed to the nearest body shop.

[SpunGirl]

Jesus H. These boards are great and I enjoy posting here... but if I was that up in arms about how the moderators are, I would just leave. This is for fun and enjoyment, yeah? Sure, there are a few people here that irritate me, but I've never been irritated enough to wage this stupid report/u2u/thread campaign against the mods a la TOJ.

If it sucks that hard here, why post at all?

-K

[Edited on 7-10-2005 by SpunGirl]

[Gan]

Its called discretionary authority. Law enforcement officers use it, anyone in authority uses it (your boss, etc.).

Its a fact of life. If you dont like it, or if you feel that its focused unfairly on you, then find another place to haunt. The only thing you elicit by trying to corner those in authority publically is attention but not with you, more like at you; especially when its blatantly obvious that you're trying to split hairs or loophole the rules that are in place. But if getting attention is your goal, then congratulations - you've succeeded.

I hope this post encourages more whining, it fills the gaps inbetween the conspiracy threads.

:clap:


Edited: Another note, in my opinion these boards have picked up quality now that some actual rules of decorum exist as well as actual enforcement of those who have a hard time following rules and written instructions. People being held accountable for their actions is a beautiful thing.


[Edited on 7-11-2005 by Ganalon]

[Tater Salad]

I would like to be in the clique to please