New Forum Mod

girlboy is single...

All of this over a new mod? I don't understand why people care so much. You find mods on many websites, they are there to do a job and that's it .. end of story. Nobody on the forums should have a say, and they shouldn't need prior warning either.

almost fell out of my chair

Two problems with this statement. One, you need to be aware of what's transpired so that you don't make the same mistakes. You need to face up to what's going on around here if you actually intend to be a good moderator. Two, from what I gather there are very good reasons why this is still such a point of contention. A lot of those reasons basically boil down to the fact that the existing mods (note: plural) have not moved beyond the behaviors that led to these issues in the first place.

Dodging important topics is not a good way to start your tenure as a mod. If that's the sort of behavior we can expect then it's just going to be more of the same. I'd hope that Scragg would choose someone better than that if he's still as invested in this site as he claims... Or even if he's not, honestly, because even if he isn't the people who post here have a vested interest in the well-being of this community.

Considering the admins of this site are entirely absent, who should have a say? Our clearly competent current mods and apparently their spouses, aly who is never here and shouldn't still be a mod, or the people who actually use this site?

The bolded would be great, if you know, they actually did their job and were held to the same standards they claim to hold others to.

And if you really don't understand the kerfuffle, you should take a look at all the double standard patronizing *** that's been happening over the past few years, for the reputation they've earned individually, and as a whole.

The forum members should know who's being promoted, and for what reasons. As stated several times, the mods are the face of the community. People look to them to be fair and reasonable, and even to be an active part of the community, even if they no longer play the game. They need to be approachable, otherwise people aren't going to report problems when it appears the mods don't care, and are in some cases, causing the problems they ban others for.

If no one on the forums should have a say, it wouldn't be called a forum. It would be just another example of people pushing their ideals on others or they get the banhammer for a dissenting opinion.

The community needs to know who a mod is, and why they were chosen for various reasons, primarily being that it keeps things honest and open. Do we need to know *all* the details? Probably not, but we should be kept in the loop as to who is moderating the forums, and why.

We already know there is a distinct lack of mods, and there's good reason for it - and it's not because being a mod is a thankless job. Far from it. I've thanked mods in the past, even on this site, for doing what they were supposed to. Others have as well, so we can cut the *** myth about that being a reason.

The real reason, from my perspective, that no one wants to be a mod on AH, because of the damage that's been done, and how much of an uphill battle they have to face. Is it the new mod's fault? No. But if/when the only experience they have is that of a lurker, rather than an active member who's displayed good judgment, the forums are getting an unknown that they can't relate to or with, much less rely on to help solve problems.

Even people who would be excellent additions to the mod team refuse to do this because of those reasons. These are people already well respected by the community, and have actively solved problems, and have experience being leaders of such communities. Some of them have even been outright refused after offering, despite meeting all the outlined, and aforementioned criteria set forth by the other mods in what they look for.

So the best we can do right now with the appointment of Terraka, is watch and hope. But we still have our skepticism of the rest of the team.

Good communication between mods and users is quintessential for the health of a forum. Biggest problem people had with Krizz(let's not pretend we don't know who we're talking about when we say "in the past"..)was the complete lack of communication: an action was taken and god forbid you inquire or try to talk abuot it, even in private.
A moderator has by namesake to be moderated too. Communication and diplomacy skills should be required to perform the role well, they are responsible not only for the website itself but also for the comfort of the userbase posting, that cannot be ignored.

On a side note, I believe the site now is missing a figure such as what Jaerik represented: an admin that is close and involved with the community. Scragg has always been mostly just involved with the technical aspects of FFXIAH, and doesn't want to take part in the forum dynamics.

I hope thread doesn't end up locked. Threads such as this are healthy I believe, it's good sometimes to discuss these things with the community as a whole.

They let you guys know in this forum post, perhaps they didn't do it the way people feel like they should've, but at least it's been made public, right. Even after being made public, see how people reacted? Not that I blame the negativity, because I don't. Whatever the mods choose to do and if they make it public there's always going to be people who are unhappy with their choices.

We can't make everyone happy, even if we wanted to.

And honestly, for the past month and a half there's only been one official report made through the report system, that I know of. Why is that? It makes me wonder, are people really reporting these and are some of the mods just dismissing them? Which I would completely understand the hostility towards. Or is it people aren't reporting because they think we see everything? (which we don't. Lets be realistic for a second, there's only 4 of us mods for the thousands of threads on here) Or are people just not reporting because they're afraid they'll be dismissed without reason? Or is it a mix of everything? I just don't understand it.

I completely agree with you Seha, and I'm here to try and work on that, but most people are meeting me with a closed mind and possibly even their own biasness towards mods, which again, is completely understandable given the past few months.

I'm not asking for respect right off the bat, because I know respect is earned, but a little less hostility would be a little nice.

As I understand it, the WWW in the website's URL stands for Wild Wild West. There are no rules and thus there's nothing to report.

Also, no one wants a reputation as a whiner who can't handle their own business and had to call in a mod army to help them win an argument. People would probably try and do it anyway from time to time (like on BlueGartr), but I'd guess that no one trusts they will remain anonymous if they report something here.


PS. With a single report in more than a month, why did they feel the need to recruit another moderator?

Even though people aren't reporting issues, that does not mean issues do not exist.

Also congrats, and welcome to the mod team, Terraka. Best of luck to you.

My misunderstanding, we've actually had more than 1. Another mod showed me the reports.

Are you all new to the internet?

ALL forums are and ALWAYS have been a dictatorship.

If you don't like it, then start your own forum. (nothing will change though, because on your own forum you will now be dictator)

Thanks for dismissing, and missing the entire point of my post. Which was aimed directly at Kylos explaining why it needs to be done, since he clearly doesn't understand. So basically, you've added nothing of value as a poster.

I'm already well aware, and even explained why people don't have faith in the mods to do anything, much less report anything, unless it's rather outlandish. Of course, in the month you've been around, you're only going see what aelius has seen reported to him. You weren't a mod then, and should not have even been privy to seeing that, which is a HUGE *** oversight in the first place.

People have been dismissed without reason. People have been threatened to have their reporting privileges taken away for using them as intended.

Aside from the jumbled mess of your post, Actually announcing the new mod was a good thing. It has allowed many users to vent their frustrations, and to have those frustrations taken, at least, semi-seriously, before being dismissed as nothing but hogwash, bed knobs, and broomsticks.

I don't know how much more clearly, or how many more times it needs to be explained, that the mods on this forum, have earned their reputation, and rightly so. If it was unjustly earned, I would be defending them from other users. As it as, as a new mod, you're already dodging and ignoring issues, saying it needs to be left in the past, rather than resolved. And earlier in, you said you were going to bring that fresh air of professionalism that this site was lacking.

Well, we've yet to see it. You've got your chance, we've got open minds, but keep in mind, we're not expecting much based on what we've seen so far, or how this whole thing has been so shadily handled from the beginning.

And no, this is not an attack on you personally, or as a mod. This is to let you understand exactly how most of the forum members feel about the whole thing, and the existing team who've expressed how little they care, either by saying it plain as day, or by their actions, or lack there of.

I know that I have used the report feature more than once in the past month and a half. Officially, not through PMs or whatnot (I generally follow up with my reporting to tell the mods why I reported a person because generally, the functions suck and doesn't give the mods enough information), but I do use it.

So, either I just got conformation that my reports are ignored or I'm the only one who uses it. I'm going with the former in this case.

did you read any of the last eight pages?

Ditto

ain't nobody got time for that!

I was confused, I created a post that said my misunderstanding, we've had more than one. Another mod showed me proof of reports. I'm new to the mod menu so when I went looking for reports, I couldn't find them, but then that other mod proved to me there's been more.

I'm game for living and learning from mistakes.

The cycle begins~

I was told by a mod that the report function doesn't always actually prompt the message to them. I hope that gets fixed(also a "say why in a few words" among the options would be nice imo).

But not kitchen tiles. We save topics being dismissed as kitchen tiles for special people.

It's been working like it should be for a little bit now. Sometimes there's hiccups but lately, it's been good. If the situation requires more direct involvement of a Moderator, there is always direct communication through private message available.

Which, I will admit, when things get brought to your attention, you did handle it as such.

You even responded to my PMs too telling me it is taken care of, which I like.

Which is why I said previously that the moderation (in my opinion) is getting a little better. Still has a ways to go, but it is going the right direction.

Also, the point of being a mod isn't to make everyone happy, so quit trying to bring it up as if it matters.

The point is to moderate as fairly, and objectively as possible. Even if people don't like the outcome, they can still respect you as a mod.

You're not here to make people happy. You're here to moderate forums, and enforce the rules in a fair and just manner.

So if you are feeling chewed out by this, you should really thank the other mods for that, because of how low they set the bar.

And start setting the bar higher for the other mods to follow.

you're mission, should you choose to accept, is to herd 50 cats through an ever changing maze of fear, hatred and confusion...without them hurting you, themselves or others... like all cats they are all incurable jerks...

here is an oven mitt and a bottle of cat nip....good luck