Plain and simple, it's the moderating that's going on over here. Would you guys loosen the belt just a tad? Torch, if a person has some humorous thread you but in and warn us not to get out of hand, killing the thread in an instance. You've been a square all along? How come I haven't noticed it until recently? And everyone else for that matter. And Six, you seem to have a penchant for closing a thread for no reason other than to close it. DW's thread wasn't that funny and would have been on page two by the end of the night.

My phone number tread was closed because tyham posted couple of phone number's of people he didn't like. You edited his post, fine, but why did you close the thread? Huh? Forget the fact that a couple of people posted their real numbers. Forget that you didn't edit that pizza places number. I'm sure Snoop terrorized them all night.

I can remember a thread by certain members, that was closed because it was thought that flaming was going on. <- That's all I have to say about that. Then the thread was re-opened. Too late, damage done, thread killed, and mod's credibility questioned(IMO)

I think the biggest problem with the closed threads is that the mods assumed that something was wrong and it wasn't. Like the ones teasing Jason; he was in on it and not at all offended. The phone number thread appeared to be getting out of hand but wasn't really. In some other cases inside jokes from chat rooms slip on to the boards and if you were in the chat room you "get it" but no one else including the mods do, so they assume that someone is being flamed.

It probably goes against every good instinct you have, but you'll really only ever be successful in resolving problems and mediating after the crap hits the fan, not before. Your availablity is the most important thing here, next to just plain good judgement (which you already have). You can't stop fights or flaming before they occur. Just be there when it happens so you can stop it from continuing, and enforce your TOS where applicable. Just keep reinforcing the fact that your PMs and emails are always open, and that they should contact you ASAP when there's a problem. That's the only realistic expectation you should have here.

It's appropriate that Nightly changed the title of "Community Leader" to "Moderator". The latter is far more accurate. The former just sounds nice.

Just my opinion from "watching" this place work for so many months now.

[ 08-08-2001: Message edited by: ThunderDroid ]

The Thread with Jason was closed because people were using aliases and did make statements that looked like they were flaming. DP and JA don't like Aliases and Flaming is against the rules. That is why that thread was closed.

The Phone number thread was, no offense intended, just stupid, nobody should post their phone number or anybody elses on a public message board. Its private information.

And DW's thread was closed because of the profanity.

They're just doing their jobs. But, that doesn't mean their job description can't be tweaked a bit from time to time. Feedback = good.

[ 08-08-2001: Message edited by: ThunderDroid ]

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Originally posted by EwoksSuck:
All of those threads were closed because they violated the rules.

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As opposed to many that stay open doing the same thing.

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The Thread with Jason was closed because people were using aliases and did make statements that looked like they were flaming. DP and JA don't like Aliases and Flaming is against the rules. That is why that thread was closed.

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The Phone number thread was, no offense intended, just stupid, nobody should post their phone number or anybody elses on a public message board. Its private information.

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And DW's thread was closed because of the profanity.

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I also have seen this type of complaining on other boards where the moderators are a little tougher about enforcing the rules. They are just doing their jobs.

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I asked before, when has this place been out of control?

[ 08-08-2001: Message edited by: Metropolis ]

Thunder I agree feedback is good and I'm sure these guys will make a mistake from time to time. But I think they should be proactive. If they can stop trouble before it starts more power to them I say. They can not be mindreaders and know the intent of everyone that post here. Especially with an Alias. People know when they are pushing it. They do it to have fun, because they are bored, etc.... It's not like these guys are having folks banned left and right. They are closing a few threads.

[ 08-08-2001: Message edited by: EwoksSuck ]

The following post is nothing but lots and lots of random thoughts, but I'm speaking strictly for myself here (since Torch and I always get awkward and goose-pimply whenever we talk about doing the Vulcan mind-meld, so I can't read his mind...yet):

I don't mind constructive criticism. (Anyone who can't handle constructive criticism has no business being equipped with an Internet connection.) Just telling me I suck, or giving me helpful suggestions for sexual self-gratification, is a waste of bandwidth.

I think just about everyone--including Met--has made some good points here. I'm still mentally tabulating them and subtly shifting my paradigm accordingly, believe it or not.

Torch and I never claimed to be perfect. We stated outright at the outset that we were bloody clueless. We're still buying clues as we go along, and clue-shopping is a long, torturous process. This wouldn't be a problem if JA and DP hadn't lost their copy of Moderating for Dummies.

Profanities that are caught by the censor don't bother me. At all. You can fill your post with asterisked words for all I care, as long as the sentences they form are still PG. Problems arise largely when sentences contain blatant sexual references or gross descriptions of bodily functions. That's usually when I step in.

I already posted my thoughts on the phone number thread. If that wasn't enough for you, then we'll have to agree to disagree, because I'm done with that one.

The whole "The Cantina Troll (Not Darth Anakin)" debacle happened on Torch's third day on the job. Nobody does their job that perfectly that quickly. IMHO, a lot of the mess that day can be attributed simply to a few different instances of lousy timing.

There. Done for now. I've forgotten many things, and probably made more people cry. ThunderDroid said it best: feedback = good.

quote:

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Originally posted by thyham:
Is this a cospiracy? I'm still being called thyam by everyone..

But, I do agree with ya on the rest of it.

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Originally posted by NumberSix:

I already posted my thoughts on the phone number thread. If that wasn't enough for you, then we'll have to agree to disagree, because I'm done with that one.

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I guess we will agree to disagree because your actions in that thread were no different from DW's thread you just re-opened. Edit the post fine, but why close the thread. You didn't edit a certain poster's own phone number.

Speaking of which...

Every situation is different. Blanket across-the-board solutions usually backfire about 60% of the time.

If there's one thing I learned from twelve years of restaurant work, along with several years of watching Night Court, it's that you have to be flexible in your solution processes. Some situations require only a delicate touch. Other situations require heavy-handedness. Other situations disappear just through careful application of excess goofiness. The situation dictates the solution.

Sometimes I think a thread needs a bit of editing, but can continue onward otherwise as-is. Sometimes they need to be locked just to preserve as evidence. Sometimes, they just need to be deleted, shot down like the dogs that they are.

Do you want me to always act like "just one of the guys" and do nothing? Or do you want me to always act like a fussy, uptight schoolmarm and lock nine out of every ten threads?

The answer is no. Keeping everyone on their toes is part of the puny fringe-benefits package. You can handle it.

**** "consistency".

Have a powerful day.

[ 08-08-2001: Message edited by: NumberSix ]

quote:

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Originally posted by Obi-One Kenobi:
Hold what? Your anger?

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In my job a LOT of what I do is preventing problems before they occur rather than solving them after the shift8shift9shift8shift8 hits the fan.

But in some cases, yeah, you can't always do that.

quote:

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Originally posted by NumberSix:
[QB]Oh, I know what I forgot to say about the phone number thread: I flat-out refuse to go through a two-page (or longer) thread and edit it post-by-post. Any such thread with more than four or five offending posts is moribund. This is one of the few principles I shall display consistently.

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Speaking of which...

Every situation is different. Blanket across-the-board solutions usually backfire about 60% of the time.

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Anyway, here goes;

The Not Trolls -

Timing was an issue there... and if you recall once the situation was handled the thread was reopened (as I stated I would). Ego intact, I still think that was some superb Moderating. (I can't find these threads anymore? I might be blind though)

The Phone Thread -

I stand by Six.

Censored Words -

When I see a word that I am certain is supposed to be censored, but has been altered in a way so that it can be posted here... I edit that post. I believe I've been pretty good about that.

Being a "square" -

Posting in a thread is the right of any member as long as the TOS is intact. It doesn't matter if I am a Mod or not. I can post what I want where I want as long as it doesn't break the TOS, forum rating or individual forum topics. And I have always spoken my mind about issues where I think something I have to say is important... Always. At the same time I can be a totally off the wall jokster... it just depends on the situation. I honestly believe that me being a "square" is being noticed more because I am now the Mod.

Prevention and Clean~Up -

I see nothing wrong with making a statement, warning or guideline in a thread if it is likely the thread topic could get out of hand. In fact, I'm pretty sure that is part of being a Moderator.

Consistency -

Ego intact, I do believe I'm very consistent. I'm not perfect though.

Stories in the Cantina -

I did not reverse the precedent of moving stories because people complained, re this.

For the record, it was me that made that precedent of moving story threads and I made it for many reasons... one of them was I thought it might help the Writer's Guild. After I moved IB's story (which was the first story moved, I think) I started to regret that action, because I realized how big a part stories had been in the Cantina.

For the weeks that followed I stuck with my decision while I mugged the decision over in my head. I then put the question to the Writer's Guild mods, Six, JA and DP. But mostly I put the question/idea of Cantina stories to the mods of the Writer's Guild as it involved their boards traffic.

After a discussion on the topic and taking all their comments into light... I wrote the "Important" thread that deals with Cantina Stories, which explained that Stories are now good to go in the Cantina.

Feedback and Suggestions -

I love getting feedback. It's one of the best ways in life to improve and learn.

On that note and to be consistent... This thread will know be moved to the Feedback forum.

Edit: Fixed typos

[ 08-09-2001: Message edited by: The Human Torch ]

Edit: Prettied it up, added links for ease of those reading to understand the situations.

[ 08-09-2001: Message edited by: The Human Torch ]