Moderation Clarification: Is there a change of policy

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[aco175]

I would guess that someone was reading an old thread and reported it rather than staff going through your posts. I know that I try to watch what I say to more of a social talk rather than the locker room talk I may have at my home table. If someone told me that they hope I get cancer and die over something I said, I can take it and most likely not report them, but others may be more sensitive than me and report it.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Umbran]

Which brings up the following concerns that I have regarding moderation, well, two really. The first is that I was unaware that any of you three were going to be going through my old posts (or is old posts in general) to moderate them. The second is that, quite frankly, if that post is "jackassery" that should get me booted, then I will either be booted shortly for my old posts, I will be booted shortly for my new posts. I want to be clear that I am not arguing with moderation, I am just making an observation.

Dude. One post twigs a moderator, and suddenly you're concerned there's going to be a pogrom against you? You have admitted, more than once, that you ride the ragged edge with sarcasm. With that admission should come the realization that, on occasion, you will step of the edge, and get a finger wagged at you.

This was not a change in policy. We do not frequently go back and plumb an individual user's post history to find wrongdoing. We don't have time to read everything that's currently being posted, much less go back and dig around looking for trouble. If someone reports and older piece, however, that older piece may get attention. That's what happened here.

Also, booting is generally about banning you from a thread, not the site as a whole.

As a general note - crapping on things that other people love is a pretty jerky behavior. It is beyond sarcasm, and into hurtful. When you have a signature (like gnomes and paladins), we can see a pattern and usually overlook it if it generates more laughs than ill-will. That doesn't really apply to entire editions of the game.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Umbran]

There is a big difference between when I'm being sarcastic because I'm angry, and when I'm just kidding. I own up to my angry sarcasm, and this wasn't it.

Whether you were angry or not is really beside the point. We don't moderate people because they are angry. We moderate people because of their impact on others.

Rather than own your anger, try owning that occasionally you hurt folks when you don't intend to.

I don't think I should have to explain all my tropes, all the time. But the reason I use 2e (for example) is because most people understand instinctively that it is a joke.

MOST people. Not all people. This is a pretty open forum, so not everyone is aware of your personal brand.

And, of course you are aware, "I was only joking," is like, the worst defense for hurting people ever, right?

If you want to merrily go about poking things with sticks, if you poke someone in the eye, giving an explanation of how, really, the playground monitors shouldn't tell you to be careful and how really, that eye should not have been there to be poked, is probably not your best play.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Umbran]

If you feel that's necessary, sure. You do you.

I think there is some irony there that everyone else is supposed to have a thik skin and realize that you only hae the best of intentions, but one moderator pointing a thing out has you going off in a huff. Maybe you'd like to look at the asymmetry of that.

Or not. As I said, you do you.

 

[Bardic Dave]

If you feel that's necessary, sure. You do you.

I think there is some irony there that everyone else is supposed to have a thik skin and realize that you only hae the best of intentions, but one moderator pointing a thing out has you going off in a huff. Maybe you'd like to look at the asymmetry of that.

Or not. As I said, you do you.

Dude, you threatened him with being booted; that's hardly "pointing a thing out". You've got a pretty heavy hand as a moderator, and considering the way you also actively wade into controversial topics as a poster and take sides (usually on the side I agree with, but that's neither here nor there), I'm not sure you're really being very fair here. If I were Morrus, I would ask you to either moderate with a lighter touch (e.g. admonish people less harshly), or stop being such an active and opinionated poster. The fact that you do both really gives the impression of a lack of fairness, no matter how pure your true intentions might be. But whatever. You do you do, man.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I would guess that someone was reading an old thread and reported it rather than staff going through your posts.

For the record, this is exactly the case.

 

[DammitVictor]

It's worth pointing out that if you're asking posters to model more civil and respectful behavior, calling them "jackasses" seems like exactly the wrong foot to start off with.

I recently praised a moderator for being civil and respectful while correcting me-- when I was angry and clearly out of line-- and well... if you want a polite and friendly forum, it starts from the top. Being rude, snarky, and dismissive when you're asking posters to stop being rude, snarky, and dismissive undermines both the purpose of the admonition, and your moral authority in all future interactions.

I'd suggest people check out RPG.net for a perfect example of this, but I don't want to give them the traffic.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Dude, you threatened him with being booted; that's hardly "pointing a thing out". You've got a pretty heavy hand as a moderator, and considering the way you also actively wade into controversial topics as a poster and take sides (usually on the side I agree with, but that's neither here nor there), I'm not sure you're really being very fair here. If I were Morrus, I would ask you to either moderate with a lighter touch (e.g. admonish people less harshly), or stop being such an active and opinionated poster. The fact that you do both really gives the impression of a lack of fairness, no matter how pure your true intentions might be. But whatever. You do you do, man.

Point of fact, I was the Mod whose action is in question here, not Umbran.

 

[Celebrim]

For the record, this is exactly the case.

I've always thought that the long term peace of the boards would be improved if people who report people much more often than others were banned.

 

[DammitVictor]

I've always thought that the long term peace of the boards would be improved if people who report people much more often than others were banned.

Thin-skinned people who report every post that slightly rubs them the wrong way are a massive problem... but banning people from using the Report Post button too much has a chilling effect on reasonable people using the Report Post button at all.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It's worth pointing out that if you're asking posters to model more civil and respectful behavior, calling them "jackasses" seems like exactly the wrong foot to start off with.

I recently praised a moderator for being civil and respectful while correcting me-- when I was angry and clearly out of line-- and well... if you want a polite and friendly forum, it starts from the top. Being rude, snarky, and dismissive when you're asking posters to stop being rude, snarky, and dismissive undermines both the purpose of the admonition, and your moral authority in all future interactions.

I'd suggest people check out RPG.net for a perfect example of this, but I don't want to give them the traffic.

What I said was “Jackassery?”, but it remains a fair point.

We don’t really call out Edition Warring by name these days, but I could have just issued a warning for “threadcrapping.”

 

[Son of the Serpent]

I think by now most people are well aware that im very anti censorship, very pro free speech, and that i laugh at the very idea that one SHOULD tone down humor (or any other speech) because people have thin skin. That said, if there are rules and you dont follow them (intentionally) being banned or restricted or contacted by monitors is an expected outcome.

That said, when THIN SKINNED PEOPLE are the very ones who hypocritically complain about getting the screws put to them when the situation is turnes around, i laugh with mirth. How can the easily offended be offended when someone curtails their speech in the interest of the sensitivity of another's skin?

Such irony...

 

[Umbran]

Dude, you threatened him with being booted;

1) Some folks do feel I am heavy-handed. But, point of fact, this wasn't me. I was merely the one available to field the question about it this morning.
2) He was informed that it would have gotten him removed from the thread in slightly different circumstances, but that he was not, at this time, in any danger.

Kind of hard to call it a threat when you are admitting you aren't doing it.

 

[DammitVictor]

What I said was “Jackassery?”, but it remains a fair point.

It's a mild criticism, something to be aware of. I was a forum moderator-- and a damned good one-- on an American political forum for over a decade, covering three Presidential elections before I went insane-- for unrelated reasons-- and had to step down because I couldn't enforce rules that I couldn't follow.

I've seen how easy it is to get frustrated with repeated offenders and habitual boundary pushers, and how easy it is to start treating them how they deserve instead of how the rest of the forum deserves-- I ain't implying nothing 'bout noone here-- and how easily that filters into every staff interaction with posters and the forum culture as a whole.

I haven't had a real complaint about moderation on EN World in fifteen years. I'm not starting now, and I'm only speaking up in the hopes of not having to start in the future.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It's a mild criticism, something to be aware of. I was a forum moderator-- and a damned good one-- on an American political forum for over a decade, covering three Presidential elections before I went insane-- for unrelated reasons-- and had to step down because I couldn't enforce rules that I couldn't follow.

I've seen how easy it is to get frustrated with repeated offenders and habitual boundary pushers, and how easy it is to start treating them how they deserve instead of how the rest of the forum deserves-- I ain't implying nothing 'bout noone here-- and how easily that filters into every staff interaction with posters and the forum culture as a whole.

I haven't had a real complaint about moderation on EN World in fifteen years. I'm not starting now, and I'm only speaking up in the hopes of not having to start in the future.

I’m not just a Mod, I’m a trained mediator. I know better. But I’m human.

 

[billd91]

No "Good day, sir"? I thought ragequitting was supposed to be accompanied by a "Good day, sir!"