If you say 5 warnings till you get a temp ban then people will push buttons until they get 4 warnings. It's just goading people to keep behaving badly.

My idea of a mod is a lot like Gene Hackman's character in Unforgiven, behave like him. Or at least except for the treatment of Mr Niceguy Morgan Freeman, but other than that he was a model moderator.

But like I've said, I don't have any real complaints about the status quo.

Well no, restrictive rules enforce people to be people they are not. I guess it's a "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" kind of situation. It's tough to really make the right choice for everyone.

Yeah, but then they're stuck in their place not being able to get the final one. If you burn up all your free passes, than you can't do it anymore, and after four whoever it is would have to stay on best behavior maybe? I see what you mean, but we're also pretty lenient about what gets an official warning in the first place. As Eagle said, its case-by-case. But it doesn't seem to stop anything anyways.


Ok.

Will you be my chronicler?


Its not a question of direct prolems with modding now, its more of a *vision* of where members would like to see the forums *go*. What direction, what issues need to be addressed, why are some people frustrated, and if there is something someone likes in particular, we'd like to know that too. Like I said, we need to know which threads people like, which forums people think they like the structure of. Lots of stickies, not alot of stickies. Anything? Here is the place to mention it.

I do think that rules should be rules, not guidelines, but the rules shouldn't be anything anal. Our guidelines are good, but as it's been stated, people don't take them seriously if there are no real consequences for violating them. It becomes an "oh well..." attitude. The temp ban should have been a good idea, but Goldie demonstrated how it meant nothing, and went back to the same bullshit. Thanks a lot , Goldie. Way to go and ruin things for everybody. Do it again, and you and I are gonna have a problem. :???:

The guidelines are quite reasonable, and could be rules...

1. Profanity: You are allowed to express yourself using profanities and swear words. However, the mods will be forced to step in and take action if
(a) The members are engaging in excessive swearing/profanities that serve little to no purpose (the measure of this is left to the member's and moderator's descretion)
(b) are targeted towards other members of the forum.

That's fair. We are not a PG-13 site. We see movies with the F word in it. As long as people are not totally classless (and yes, there are a few who are wannbe tough guys at the forums who think vulgarity is "kewl" , and wonder why they can't get a girl), then language isn't a problem. Compromise on both ends is expected. For those who swear, keep it tempered, for those who don't like swearing, get over it unless it's excessive.

2. Obscenity: Explicit nudity will not be allowed on the forum. Implicit nudity is fine. Explicitly violent images will also not be allowed on the forums. The explicit nature of any image posted up will be determined by the moderators.

Not sure what the legalities of this is, but this should definitely be a rule, as I believe it's a violation with the server, phpBB, and internet to have porn images posted at the forums. Keep your eyes on the GCT for that stuff.

3. Duplication of threads: Duplicating a thread already in existance will be discouraged, and in most cases, will be locked with a message pointing to the relevant thread to post in.

This should be understood without a problem from anybody.

4. Duplicate Accounts: 1 user will be entitled to no more than one account at any given time. Banned users must make a request to the administrators for posting previledges. Banning of posters on this site will occur in the most extreme cases so if you were banned, there is very good reason why the community does not want you back on the forums.

I am very much against this, and when I see anybody supporting it or saying it's no big deal, I'm not foolish enough to let that go in one eye and out the other. One poster, one account, not one poster playing games and pretending to be several people. Get a life if yours is that pathetic. That shows a lack of character and I lose trust in those who have done it in the past. I'm glad Impact realized what a serious issue that is.

5. Crediting stories and copyright material: Avoid posting entire articles as they may be copyrighted material. Falsifying stories or quotes will result in indesirable consequences. This site will not tolerate any kind of Plagiarism whatsoever. If you haven't written something, credit it. Or do not post it.

This doesn't seem to apply to box office numbers, and if all sources need credited, those should too.

6. Language: You may speak in any language you wish. Members will be requested to be civil towards each other and not engage in any kind of racial slurs whatsoever. The moderators realize that there are occasions where certain undesirable words may be used in a discussion topic. The moderators will reserve the right to judge if it will pass for an offense or not.

I've never had a problem with different launguages, as long as English is the forum language, and the other languages keep it inside their dedicated threads.

7. Warning/Bannings: Anyone not following the rules/guidelines or not conforming to moderator requests on the boards will be warned. If a member is still not conforming, a temporary ban will be placed and if this behavior continues upon their return, a permament ban will be enforced. At this point, if members on this forum feel the banning was unjust, an open forum may result allowing for both point of views to be voiced.

note: does not mean that your second offense will automatically result in a temporary ban. If the moderators feel that someone may have acted outside the parameters of the guidelines without realizing though, the member will be warned again, not banned. Once again, this is upto the descretion of the moderators and administrators.


A system needs to be set up that is consistant unless I'm involved...lol Dolce mentioned the 5 warning idea, and where that can work, there are sites that warn because of bad moods or misunderstandings, and there has to be a way to appeal a warning if you feel it's unjust, and get it removed from your record. In extreme cases where it's obvious that the mod abused their warning powers, they should get a warning, and I believe in a 3 strikes and you're out policy with mods abusing power.


7. Personal Attacks: Avoid personal attacks. Though they may be healthy for all forums, attacks getting out of control WILL cause the moderators to step in and take appropriate action.

I like this rule as it is. There are always going to be personal attacks, which are much different than somebody crossing the line. All should be avoided. I do feel BKB should get special priviledges, as he provides a service...haha Others don't need to try to be pretenders to his throne. A kinder and gentler BKB would not be BKB, but we don't need a bunch of minor leaguers getting out of hand with any member. BKB is harmless, and is just providing an invaluable service.

8. Member input: Please advice the moderators and administrators of the site of your concerns. This may be regarding the behavior of another member, problems with the site or anything that may concern the forum directly.

I feel the lines of communication are excellent here. If Sean would have took his head out, maybe his forums wouldn't have been destroyed.

9. Moderation: It will be the administrator's and the moderator's job to moderate this forum. While the rules and guidelines will not be extremely rigid on the forums, the moderators will step in if this leniency is abused.

Note on Moderation: Moderation extends beyond just the rules and guidelines. Moderators will reserve the right of informing posters to change the way they format text if it harms the user experience for members on this site or informing and requesting changes to any other matter they feel may be relevant.

I believe that ALL mods should have been following these guidelines from day one. This is what I mean when I say responsiblity and sacrifice. If you are going to agree to be a mod, the guidelines are your sacrifice. You can't very well enforce them on others if you don't follow them yourselves.

10. Moderator and Administrator accountability: The site allows the administrators and moderators to exercise a certain amount of power. Having said that, members are encouraged to bring into question a moderator's or an administrator's actions. In such a situation, the administrators and moderators are REQUIRED to provide a good explanation and if this is not to the liking of the members of the forum, an open discussion will take place to see how a compromise between the 2 parties may be reached for that instance and for future reference.

Furthermore, all threads locked or moved will be accompanied by a reason from the moderator closing the thread. If this is again, not to the liking of the forum members, the moderator's actions will be called into question.

This is fair.

I see no reason why these can't be rules. A system of warnings can be worked out, but warnings can be overturned, and when they are, if the case is a case of power abuse, the mod gets the warning.

I've been staying out of this mainly cause my heads been spinning trying to get this rt game working.

There is one thing i've read, noticed and wish to comment on. I expect my opinion to be heavily contested and very unpopular as well. Again, just because I'm saying this does not mean it has to be this way. It just means that I personally think its the right way of doing things and no more.

I do not want a rigid system when it comes to warnings and bannings. I simply hate it because I consider it extremely unfair. It creates a rule that one must abide by, whether anyone agrees or not that the situation may require the warning or banning.

Example:
Goldie has been warned several times. His behavior is under check. The slightest of his comments to lecter, I will take them seriously and i am not hesitant about warning him. If Korrgan today displayed stalkish behaviour only once and once only, I'd rather talk to her first than anything else. Hence I am not in favor or a rigid warning structure.

Banning:
If I ban maverikk today for disrupting the forums and his behaviour is never ever repeated for a long time, i wish to not take his previous into consideration when warning him a second time. Things change with time. I care about the frequency over a certain time .... we all have our bad days from time to time or mood swings ... if 6 months down the line, one of us was to repeat a behaviour, i do not wish to add the counter of warnings up to 2 and leave only 3 chances behind. I dont believe in such structure once again.

Finally, someone suggested group participation. Sorry for the authoritarian response to it but while a democratic decision would be great, it adds tremendous beaurocracy into getting any of this done. Getting the majority approval takes time, arguments, discussions and even more chances of flame wars. moreover, sorry if this sounds rude but during times of heated arguments or emotions, most of us make decisions from our hearts than from our minds. If a board wide decision needs to be made, i already know of enough people who want certain gay bashers to be warned and hell, even banned, something i do not think is very level headed of them to say. Its a good thing attitude towards bkb has taken a drastic 180 or else, he would be the first to go.

There is a reason why there are admins and mods on this board. they are left with the responsibility of making such drastic decisions of warning and banning. If you feel something should be done about a certain poster, message us. We are SUPPOSE and are EXPECTED to act on them. And if we aren't, thats an entirely different matter and I once again EXPECT the forum members to bring that into first, the admin's attention and if thats ineffective, to the entire board's attention. This is anotehr reason that while as admin and mods, we've been giving these powers, the guidelines explicitly ask forum members to call us out and hold us acocuntable if the decision does not seem appropriate.

We're here to keep the forum health in check. At the same time, you're keeping us in check. What I've mentioned above is how I view things. Thats it. I'll be going back to programming the pages for the game now though so prolly not stop by for a looong time.

I am so lost right now... What happend?

The Red Sox won the world series. They started this.

Fucking Boston! I always knew they would screw me over one day.

You don't know? you started it!

Shit, I'm sorry guys if I started it.

Oysh. Already? Please keep this thread on track boys. Perhaps you'd all like to comment on how you feel we should better handle spamming in the future? :wink:


j/k


I don't mind....but not in this thread, we need to be able to keep an eye on what people might be suggesting to us. Thanks.

Ok sorry Dolce!

Seriously though! What is going on? I just don't understand.

Yeah. I didn't really want to read the 10 paragraph essay posted by Mr. X. So what's the verdict?

Do the mods suck?

we've all just determined that Mr X plays with himself at night. This sparked this entire debate and us mods are looking into if it requires a warning for us. Freedom is at stake here. Freedom will be defended. There will be elections in newfieland

Not to worry Mr. X... those two couldn't carry our jock strap (the giant one that we share....)!

I'm as lost as rusty, but let me just say things work great just the way they are. I don't see a need for well defined rules, if that's what this is about. It should be up to the admins/mods to judge each case individually, with the admins having the final say. I also like that they've allowed a few recent fights between members to continue in one specific thread so that it gets it out of the offending parties system. It seems to work beautifully and appears to have reasonably solved each problem, when other sites methods have failed.

It's like those people who love to "fight" when there is somebody holding them back, but when you let them go at it, it ends quickly or never begins. Brilliant policy, if you ask me.

Personally, I also don't want moderator's to be neutral robots always in the middle and always average. This isn't every other site on the net, and I like that... The admins/mods are blazing a new path and it's working very well. Let's face it, this site is filled with banned rejects (I say that with the utmost respect) from other sites, yet everything works very well. Let's not fix what ain't broken.

Mav, I love ya to death buddy, but you kiss there ass far too much it seems.. You have a crush on these 2 or what??

Kind of discriminating and generalizing, eh?

As far as modding here goes, I agree with most that has been said which is that it is good. Obviouslymods make faults and some of their decisions, I don't necessarily agree on, but there is nothing they make that isn't really human and understandable under a certain viewpoint. So, overall, no complaints from me. Keep it going as it is, I say.

I thing, though...



She has said exactly what I've been having in my mind all the time on that issue and I couldn't agree more. Unless there is some clear system in there, the warnings are meaningless and I am glad there is a mod who agrees

Actually, as much as I wrote, I don't even know the EXACT reason why this has all came around. I just expressed my satisfaction with the administration and moderation of KJ, and how any problems people have with it isn't really much of a problem... but, stupid me, I don't even know the problems. It's all very confusing. I'm starting to think that NO ONE knows the real reason why.

The dinosaurs did not die because of me... I swear!!

i've had to enter the gct on 4 different occassions, delete images and even leave a message.

Not that the images couldn't have been posted by the same posters in other threads. People from BOM know that well enough. It's not the thread itself that posts something.

BKB, you are absolutely right, and I am very sorry for standing up for anybody against you. You're an honorable guy, and as somebody who has honor, I should have just assumed you had a good reason to get pissed like you did, and shouldn't have said anything to you. Feel free to say what you want to anybody you want. I won't be bothering with it again. :wink:

torrino, you sunk my battleship.

Whore.