On the Use of Colored Text by Moderators

[Raven Crowking]

Can you explain what you mean by that? I want to make sure I understand.

How can I do so without pointing to specifics? How can I point to specifics without seeming to be picking on specific individuals?

I have noted a certain increase in outright insults and threadcraps which, not so long ago, would have had appropriate moderator attention. I imagine that the rise has to do with the fallout of edition wars, and perhaps with moderator attention being focused on the new site. I don't know, but it does feel as though the tone of the site is changing, and not in a good way.

I do know that the moderation sets the tone for the site. That is why moderation should be clear, and should at least seem to be impartial.


RC

 

[Raven Crowking]

Here is the thread from which this discussion was forked:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/genera...ivity-one-true-wayism-rpgs-2.html#post5082505

The issues raised here are only issues when a mod tries to abuse his or her power in the course of a discussion. Has this *ever* happened?

See the above thread, and decide for yourself. I think so.


RC

 

[Desdichado]

You're all kidding, right? Because I think - "I" being someone who has been on the receiving end of a few of those red text warnings (and deservedly so in each case) - EN World probably has the most level-headed, fair and consistent moderators and moderation guidelines that I've ever seen on any message board, RPG-related or otherwise.

Maybe we should do a Moderator Exchange Program with some other sites I could (but won't) suggest to see how good we have it - that would definitely be interesting!

I don't disagree that ENWorld moderation is very good for what it is. But, it's a simple factor of statistical probabilities. The userbase here is huge. The boards have been around for years. There's a bazillion posts. There are a lot of them that, for various reasons, are problematic. That means that the total population of "moderator actions", if you will, is quite a large one by now.

The bigger the sample size, the more "odd" cases will start to show up. Perhaps its just a question of context; in the grand scheme of things, the moderation, like I said, is very good. But I've certainly noticed a lot of cases where the moderation made absolutely no sense to me, was not consistent with moderator behavior in the past, was not consistent moderator to moderator, etc.

None of that is necessarily a problem, or unexpected, but it certainly happens.

 

[LightPhoenix]

See the above thread, and decide for yourself. I think so.

Having looked at the thread (thanks Nifft!), and with the caveat that I didn't read the thread it was forked from, I can't possibly agree.

There's one cardinal rule here at ENW: No politics, no religion.

The topic at hand skirts the edge of religion very finely. The very first post in the thread by Mercurius opened the door for problems by mentioning religion (as howandwhy99 posted). I think that the discussion, while heated, was fine. However, Celebrim's post (#33) clearly breaks the "no religion" rule. It was this post, and I believe that specific aspect of it, that Umbran was responding to. He also warned everyone else not to go down that path, and rightfully so.

Would the moderation have been better coming from a mod uninvolved in the discussion? Probably. Was it an appropriate mod action nonetheless? Yes.

 

[Starfox]

To elaborate an earlier question to the point where it can perhaps be answered:

(I have also noticed a rise in CM-style posting here, which should perhaps be looked at.

What is CM-style posting?

 

[diaglo]

What is CM-style posting?

there is a link to Circvs Maximvs in the header of the off topic forum.

it is not grandma-safe to put it bluntly. no nudity as that is not allowed. but the language and reparte is more than a bit direct and off colo(u)r.

 

[Raven Crowking]

There's one cardinal rule here at ENW: No politics, no religion.

Excepting that the thread remained open, and the warning has nothing to do with politics or religion.


RC


EDIT: It occurs to me that you might be thinking that this post (http://www.enworld.org/forum/5082426-post34.html) is the one in question. I agree; that is legitimate moderation. If you were skimming the thread to look for mod posts, the colours would help you find it.

However, if you look at this post (http://www.enworld.org/forum/5082447-post36.html) followed by this post (http://www.enworld.org/forum/5082505-post38.html), you will maybe be scratching your head with me by the time you get to this post (http://www.enworld.org/forum/5082561-post45.html).

Or not.

It could just be my own reader bias.


RC

 

[Piratecat]

Remember the first page, where I said "We're talking about the use of colored text by mods, not moderator decisions you may or may not agree with. I'd rather not mix the two." It really sounds like you want to discuss that, and that's understandable, but it's not going to happen in this thread.

Where we are:

- As mods, we'll continue to work to make sure that we're as consistent as possible.
- We'll also try to make sure that our requests are crystal clear.
- Often, but not always, that will involve using colored text; I'd like to say "always", but speaking only for myself I know I'll slip occasionally. That means that it always behooves you to take a glance at who's posting. In addition to the bolded username and the custom avatar, our user titles and sigs generally mention admin or moderator status.
- If for someone reason our requests aren't crystal clear, and you think you got the short end of the stick, please talk to us about it. No big deal.
- You will always get a better response when you drop us a note asking about a moderation decision, instead of sending an angry and sarcasm-filled diatribe. (That wasn't a problem in this case - people have been really cool about their questions - but I figured I'd state it for the record.)

Hmm. I miss anything?

 

[Raven Crowking]

You did; I apologize.

It examples how difficult it might be to discern a moderator post without the colour coding, however.

A button to click that makes it easier for a moderator to make a post appear in "moderator mode" might be a good idea, and more likely to be used that having to select a colour each time. Just a thought.





RC

 

[Piratecat]

Agreed. Unless it comes already integrated (or easily addable) into vBulletin, though, it's likely not going to happen. We'll want to find nice solutions like that which don't require customization of the code base.