Forum Moderation

[Sub_Zero]

?!

Is it a problem to erase all the inappropriate posts and this way keep this discussion clean and without stupid images about escalation...

P. S. Could have sent a PM but I will let everyone see that I publicly judge your (in)competence

[Codex]

?!

Is it a problem to erase all the inappropriate posts and this way keep this discussion clean and without stupid images about escalation...

P. S. Could have sent a PM but I will let everyone see that I publicly judge your (in)competence

Fun times. I suppose this is as good a time as any other for explaining how things are done around here.

So I've been away from this community for over a year. Back then there were other moderators and I knew a lot of the posters, and preferred to deal with things off the books when possible. I didn't really want to and was glad that by and large didn't have to resort to bans.

The difference is now that it's practically just me and Caeltos, and Caeltos doesn't generally grace us with his presence unless it's a big deal, I'm left to deal with all the lower level disruption.

I once was very active on relicnews forums, and even though I didn't agree with the way that they did everything, like being quick to ban and delete messages, they did by and large maintain a good community, although even there it could devolve quickly when there's an aggravating element. Actually quicker, because most regular posters were like minded.

I'm also not a believer in censorship. I believe that censorship is a tool for those who don't want opposing viewpoints to be heard. Caeltos can feel free to delete posts but I'd rather deal with the problem head on in the public domain as you say. Leave the unacceptable material up and say that it's not acceptable. But I haven't got more moderators around like relicnews, I don't have the option of good cop bad cop, I don't have a team of moderators to discuss things and work with, just me and ocassionally Caeltos.

A less scrupulous moderator flying solo could just censor all the contrary views. Remember I'm human as much as anyone, I have people I like and dislike. I try my best to not be biased and deal with the cases as fairly as I can. Also remember that I don't get paid to do this work, and while I used to get some reward for doing this, I don't really anymore. And posts like yours are totally awesome for my motivation.

Long story short, I'm trying my best. I'd like to see if people would find your moderation style fair and just, considering that I've seen you report the same guys repeatedly.

[Sub_Zero]

Long story short, I'm trying my best. I'd like to see if people would find your moderation style fair and just, considering that I've seen you report the same guys repeatedly

Maybe that is because it is always the same people who cause chaos with their inappropriate commentaries? Once I moderated a forum for a long time (too sad the site no longer exists and I can't prove my words). I was strict. I killed all the fun but I kept every discussion in the right way by removing any posts that deviated from the main point. I never got tired of warning people who expressed their opinions incorrectly. But there were no complaints from the users and just like here I had a lot of let's say unfriendly elements who might have reported about me doing a bad job just because they didn't like me, but ultimately they didn't. Even now a part of me highly resists writing it here since by doing this I further lead away the discussion from the right way. I want to believe that when I came to power I made the garden free of weed (not the weed that you all probably thought of). And I didn't get paid too. The job brought me happiness because I could make a place I like cleaner.

Long story short - just sharing my experience in this field, you are still free to do what you think is right. But I would still cut out all these messages to allow people have discussions about raptors without interferences.

[Swift]

I think Codex doesn't want to go down the route of moderation by control though, I think he encourages people to share their views whatever they might be. To be fair it's our fault, the users, for not being sensible about the way we post that means we get in a situation such as this. The forums never were like this, they seem to be taking a turn for the worse.

[Sub_Zero]

Exactly. Whenever you compile a message try to find lines that may seem offensive for your interlocutor and just rephrase/erase them. You will wonder how often I completely refrain from posting or edit my message without having it posted. I ask myself - why do I need to be a jerk right now just because I disagree? And to be completely frank sometimes I do allow myself to post things that initially seem offensive and I perfectly understand it, yet I do not decide to change it because I feel like the person deserves all these words (usually it happens when he started his aggression first, can't remain calm when you face such disrespect or something outraged me).