I'm confused...

[Susan Arendt]

We understand that it can be a bit confusing, but the rules for WarCry forums and Escapist forums are quite different. What's ban-worthy in one won't cause so much as a flutter in the other. WarCry was already well-established when the Escapist forums - with their more strict rules - were created. It would've been unfair to suddenly slap a brand new set of rules on the WarCry forums, and so they've been left to follow their own course.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

This always comes up and I say the same thing,

4500+ Posts and I have yet to piss off the mods. It REALLY can't be THAT hard to do.

Did you actually read the main post or just comment based upon the title?

I appologize good sir,

I assumed, which as it usually does, made an ass of me.

In my unjustified defense, the type of thread I was referring to DOES crop up often but reading the OP I can see that this is a legitimate concern.

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

We understand that it can be a bit confusing, but the rules for WarCry forums and Escapist forums are quite different. What's ban-worthy in one won't cause so much as a flutter in the other. WarCry was already well-established when the Escapist forums - with their more strict rules - were created. It would've been unfair to suddenly slap a brand new set of rules on the WarCry forums, and so they've been left to follow their own course.

As I previously stated, it was probably my fault for not knowing the differences between the two, it's just that I really didnt know that was a dead thread since it was actually on the first page.
I still think a probation would have been more apropriate.

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

Depends on the necro really...if its a thread over 6 months old no point in bringing back...

First off it was on the front page of the forums, I mean how was I supposed to know the thread was dead? It's not like I look for the date. If I see a topic on the front page I assume that's because it's active.

Secondly, I actually read on this site that necroing a year old thread is actually preferable to creating a new one on the same topic.

Maybe it's just my fault for assuming the warcry regulations would be the same as the Escapists.

Really 1 year? Thought it would be less.

Even more than 1 year.
This guy a couple of days ago necroed a thred about Radiohead from November '07.

 

[PurpleRain]

I really love this site but I think the excessive moderating just ruins everything.

I feel the exact opposite, funnily enough. I would love to see a cutting down on posts that just quote someone else and say "That" or ones in polls that include only the word "No". I do think they should be less whimsical (in the case of repeats vs. necros) but I can easily retract that if they brought back the yellow card and red card system. That was charming. I'd prefer if they would have all the rules written down, because it is unfair to enforce imaginary ones and expect people to understand, but it definitely hasn't grown to the point that I'd call them Draconian (that title is a tad dramatic, don't you think?), or even complain really.

Off topic: Draconians are dragon/people hybrids right? So that's cool. In a way that's a compliment.

On topic: But yes, the one word responses (no word responses are more worse) are one of my biddest pet peeves here. Maybe, "No, (then explain why)" it's not hard. Even if it's been said time and time again, it shows there was more thought put into the post.

 

[Pumpkin_Eater]

If a topic is over 2 weeks dead, it's usually a bad idea to revive it. It's sort of a global rule in forum posting. Sure it's better to post in a thread that's already around instead of making a new one, but only if that thread is currently actively being posted in. If it's not, make a new one, and maybe add something a little different to it.

Tell that to all the search button trolls. It's like some people expect every last thread on the 300+ pages of archived threads to be unique. Searching isn't even the best way to preserve thread diversity since some things can be phrased half a dozen different ways, they could at least be complaining that people didn't scan the first few pages for duplicates.

 

[McClaud]

Speaking from the view point of a moderator of a fairly popular forum (which begins with the word Something):

Honestly, no matter how many rules you lay down and how often you circulate the moderator post among people, every moderator has their own personal rules and dislikes. For seven years of hiring and firing moderators, our forum finally gave up trying to enforce them all to follow the same patterns and rules. Because no matter how hard you try, there's always one or two who will do it their way. Which isn't perfect, but it's better than choosing a new moderator to replace one every three months.

As this is a site is someone's income, they have every right to say, "Fuck you," and turn the forums into a tyranny. Since I've been here for a year and a half, I'll say that I haven't seen that happen yet. In fact, when I see a thread locked, after looking at it for awhile, I can see why it was locked. I mean, if I was a moderator I would also lock those threads. It's easy as a regular poster to complain, but moderating forums is work. So you develop your own little rules to go with the ones the owner sets to cut corners and make it a little easier.

That being said, as a moderator of a forum, I understand the complaints, and at the same time, I want to snap and ban everyone who happens to be on at the same time when things get chaotic. And I have done that three times in two years. I have yet to be punted to the curb because -

PEOPLE EITHER GET OVER IT OR THEY STAY GONE. Either way, their complaining stops.

Tell that to all the search button trolls. It's like some people expect every last thread on the 300+ pages of archived threads to be unique. Searching isn't even the best way to preserve thread diversity since some things can be phrased half a dozen different ways, they could at least be complaining that people didn't scan the first few pages for duplicates.

See, right there if you were on the Someth - if you were on my forum, I would have banned you for not using the search function. The same threads redone over and over again is what makes the Search function not work right in the first place, and takes up more space in the long run. "I dun wanna use the Search function," is on my list of immediate temp bans for 14 days over there.

 

[Avatar Roku]

The Escapist & Warcrys moderation issues are famous all over the net, so really you should know what you are letting yourself in for when you sign up here. It is purely the luck of the draw if you are banned/suspended or if your thread is locked etc. While there are some great moderators here, one or two of them have a temper and very much fly by the seat of their pants.

Best thing to do is not actually take any such moderation personally. Just chalk it down to poor moderation and let it go.

It's just that it's not the first time that this has happened to me, I was once put on probation for 3 days for saying the RE5 Zero Punctuation review was "great".
And I'm just pissed off with all the mixed signals I keep getting about what I'm supposed to and what I'm not supposed to do.

I really love this site but I think the excessive moderating just ruins everything.

One question; did you post that before it was physically possible to actually have watched the video? Because the mods are always ready to get the First!ers in ZP. If not, direct me to the post and I can tel you what the problem is.

 

[Nomad]

I'd just like to pop in with a comment about "necroposting". I've never understood why that's a bad thing. If someone has more to contribute to the topic, then great, knock yourself out. Just because a topic has gone untouched for a few months, doesn't mean everything's already been said. If someone finds something new to reply with (thereby necroposting), then obviously that point had been left untouched earlier.

 

[GyroCaptain]

Lurking is really the best way to tell how moderating works. Here, special foibles include an exponential increase in mod involvement on an issue in proportion to the length of an ongiong multi-thread argument (see the March Madness trolling/fighting) and special bans for all those who post on ZP threads before they could possibly have finished watching (due to months of "f1rst p0st!" chicanery). Those are the big ones.

I think banning you for a week for a necro-post charge of little substance is asinine.

 

[Cahlee]

I think I'd prefer some threads to be cyclic. Imagine how much fun we'd have if we just revived The Cockney Thread? It's locked now, unfortunately, and I dont think it would be as epic as it was if it stayed alive, but bringing it back now would be fantastic.

My point is though, that threads do have a time limit before they get over-done, but after a while they can be brought back and be just as fantastic.

Bring back the Cockney Thread ><

 

[Weaver]

I'm almost scared to post a thread here because someone will pop up and be like "WTF WE TALKED ABOUT THIS 14 MONTHS AGO!!"

I PERSONALLY prefer newer threads with the same topics if the old threads are a month old since it juts makes sifting through all the posts a much less arduous task. If no one made duplicate threads there wouldn't be much to talk about, just people pointing back to old posts going "i already said that" or "I addressed this here".

 

[McClaud]

My point is though, that threads do have a time limit before they get over-done, but after a while they can be brought back and be just as fantastic.

Bonus cookie for you.

 

[Pimppeter2]

Well i havent gotten into trouble.....yet...

 

[GyroCaptain]

Overdone type of thread: "We did this already! A lot! Shut up!" at about 2/week to 1/month
Less done but still common: "Here we go again. OH well, here's what I think about ..." about 1/month.
Rule of thumb: if likely to be inflammatory, double the "overdone" window size when scanning for threads to gauge obnoxiousness level.

As far as I'm concerned, it it's been two months since the last version you're free to post whatever you want.

 

[McClaud]

I'm almost scared to post a thread here because someone will pop up and be like "WTF WE TALKED ABOUT THIS 14 MONTHS AGO!!"

Bitching about a new thread talked about 14 months ago is a little drastic. I'm talking about the same thread discussion on the FIRST page being copied twice over. Or the second or third pages for that matter.

I've put it in terms that 4-Channers can understand:

"Before you shoop de whoop, make sure no one else has chargin teh lazer."

 

[cuddly_tomato]

Honestly, no matter how many rules you lay down and how often you circulate the moderator post among people, every moderator has their own personal rules and dislikes. For seven years of hiring and firing moderators, our forum finally gave up trying to enforce them all to follow the same patterns and rules. Because no matter how hard you try, there's always one or two who will do it their way. Which isn't perfect, but it's better than choosing a new moderator to replace one every three months.

Depends on the moderators in question. I am a mod myself at another site, and occassionally we do have to remove a mod because they make such a mess of it that it makes the rest of us look like assholes.

In the case of the Escapist, the actual moderators are great. The problem they have is they have given moderation privaledges to all of the staff members, and while most of those treat those powers with the respect they need, one or two think of it as a silver-tipped cane with which to lock/silence things they don't agree with and punish people they don't like.

 

[wilsonscrazybed]

There's been a lot of talk lately about repeat threads and how it is preferable to necro a thread instead of creating a new one, however just a couple of minutes ago I received a notice informing me of my 7 day suspension from the Warcry forums because I had accidentaly revived a long dead thread (not that I would of known seeing how it was on the first page).

Now, I dont really care for the suspension because I dont frequently visit WarCry and I actually prefer the Escapist but how can two sister forums have such different policies regarding threads?
Can someone explain this to me?

P.S. I also find a 7 day suspension a bit eccessive seeing how I dont have a troublemakers past.

The mods at Warcry are not the same mods as the Escapist. You may discuss their moderation policy with a member of their moderation team if you want to continue this discussion. Complaining about moderation publicly isn't the way to get things done on any site that I know of.

If you have an issue with the length or reason of your suspension consider sending the staff a PM or email with your concerns. Keep the tone of your message friendly and remain willing to listen to their opinion. Many people do, and have been acted reasonably enough that they have had their bans/suspensions lifted.

As for your case; since we decided to discuss this openly with the community I feel everyone should see the entire picture before they jump on the anti-moderation/warcry bandwagon.
http://aoc.warcry.com/forums/read/160.61118#1654871

It's my opinion that they were well within their rights to suspend you for resurrecting an obvious troll thread that was almost 8 months old with this "everyone has an opinion" non-statement.

This doesn't come across as a case of a moderator trying to confuse you with draconian rules, this is common sense. Don't spam threads with anti-site messages, and if they ban you use the proper channels rather than making this an Escapistmagazine.com issue.

 

[McClaud]

Depends on the moderators in question. I am a mod myself at another site, and occassionally we do have to remove a mod because they make such a mess of it that it makes the rest of us look like assholes.

In the case of the Escapist, the actual moderators are great. The problem they have is they have given moderation privaledges to all of the staff members, and while most of those treat those powers with the respect they need, one or two think of it as a silver-tipped cane with which to lock/silence things they don't agree with and punish people they don't like.

And that's their problem. Not ours. We don't police their mods, they police their mods.

I was using the Somethin* - my forums as an example of how TYRANNICAL or INSANE moderators can be. Because this place is NOTHING like that forum. One slightly abusive moderator is a blessing compared to how many other forums that virtually crush the souls of the participants.

* I can't bring myself to say the full name, because 1) You probably already know what I'm hinting at, and 2) we don't need a flood of those people over here.

 

[Inverse Skies]

Hello it's open again... you don't often see a thread unlocked.