Official Discussion about the new Forum Rules

[Internet Kraken]

-snip-

See I'm getting a distinctly different vibe from what you are saying as opposed to Virgil, who made it sound like you would get in trouble for any negative content about Escapist content. So which is it? It feels like you two have different views on what is justified by these new rules. Virgil says we'll be punished for making negative comments, now you're saying that it's a "last resort".

 

[Sevre]

-snip-

See I'm getting a distinctly different vibe from what you are saying as opposed to Virgil, who made it sound like you would get in trouble for any negative content about Escapist content. So which is it? It feels like you two have different views on what is justified by these new rules. Virgil says we'll be punished for making negative comments, now you're saying that it's a "last resort".

Virgil is not a forum moderator, he will not be dealing with a post like yours. If an Escapist contributor causes trouble he'll sort it out.

I on the other hand will be dealing with your posts. First of all the rule you're talking about is No.3 whereas I'm talking about No.1.

How will No.3 be enforced? Simple, any comment that is just pure negative trash as in "This is shit, go die." will be punished. As they were before.

I don't see what's not to get here, Virgil was dealing with a completely different question. This isn't making the forums more Draconian, it's making everyone's life easier. If you don't like it then don't post.

 

[Internet Kraken]

-snip-

Well if what you're saying is true the rules really haven't changed much, just been made more vague. Which confused me at first, since I assumed that if you were implementing a new set of rules that they would actually represent a new set of policies, rather than just a confusing rewording of the old ones. Or maybe I'm just mixing this all up since I'm not exactly the brightest lightbulb. Maybe these rules are easier to understand if you're a new member and not someone who's used to the format of the old rules.

To be fair to all the mods, I've been giving you a hard time based on past experiences. And most of the issues I have had with moderation in the past haven't cropped up recently, upon reflection. So unless I really do see some issues with the new moderation (or the old ones pop up again), I won't have a problem with this. Thanks for helping to sort this all out for me.

 

[GrimTuesday]

Regarding thew R&P forum, how much will these new rules affect them? As a regular poster there I will be the first to admit there can be considerable hostility within the confines of that forum however, in my opinion users who enter should be aware that that will happen. There are some people who do take it too far however because of the nature of the subjects that are discussed there will be a lot of disagreement amongst the different users. So will that specific forum be cut a little more slack, or will it be subject to the same criteria as the rest of the forums?

 

[smithy_2045]

How exactly does this address the clear inconsistency within the moderation? I'm allowed to call someone a "smug twat", but if I dare to say "I do/don't X because I have a life" I'm instantly suspended? It makes no sense.

 

[smithy_2045]

How exactly does this address the clear inconsistency within the moderation? I'm allowed to call someone a "smug twat", but if I dare to say "I do/don't X because I have a life" I'm instantly suspended? It makes no sense.

But you're not allowed to call someone a smug twat either. Hence it's just too harsh all around.

While I believe people shouldn't be allowed to call other forum members smug twats, the moderation (or lack thereof) I've seen suggests that it's acceptable.

 

[NewClassic_v1legacy]

Well that's just it, isn't it? These new rules aren't in anyway specific and thus we see major double standards happening because some mods would call it 'being a jerk' while others would say 'it's just a playful jest'.

En lieu of criticizing the way the rules are laid out, without regard for how they're currently written, how would you have them stated? And, by extension, if this could be your personal Escapist community, what rules would you have? Suggesting "This is a problem" repeatedly is no more constructive than the alleged "double standard" that the new ruleset establishes.

So, explain how we can fix it. Talk about the best and brightest possible solutions. I'm all ears.

EDIT

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.250209-If-you-were-to-torture-someone-how-would-you-do-it

This is another example of my issues with the 'Rules' Girl gets suspended for talking about cucumber masturbation, but this thread I link is up to seven fucking pages?! Explain how that works, Escapist. Please. Or just ignore it again and pretend we don't remember these inconsistencies.

Explain? I just checked the Mod Queue. That thread's gotten four reports. Four. If you'd like to point fingers, then how is it that the girl in question ended up higher on the Mod Queue for her vegetable use than a thread about torture?

Again, there's that whole "what we see" versus "what we don't" thing going on. Regardless of the number of mods that can possibly be overlooking the Queue at any given moment, the short answer is we don't see everything. We never will have the all-pervasive eyes and ears of tens of thousands of users. So, we have to, at some time, rely on the eyes and ears of said tens of thousands of users.

You can comment on the moderation's failings all you want, but the short answer is you let that thread get to seven pages, you didn't PM me, or any other Mod, and you certainly didn't report it often enough. Yet somehow you point the fault entirely on our feet?

There should be a reasonable standard of co-existence. Large, public areas have signs and the expectation that the patrons will be kind enough to clean their own messes. They hire janitors to do the sweeping, and help win the fight against entropy, but at some point, there has to be a question of how much anyone can do.

Although, I do appreciate you bringing that thread to my attention. Granted, you could have done it privately, and directly to me, so it got fielded sooner. But, using it as an example to show that I'm a terrible person is acceptable too. I'm sure I deserved it.

 

[Jedamethis]

Croikey. I've already posted my opinion, but I'd like to high-five the mods. I'm sure I'd have gotten pissed and shouted at somebody by now...

 

[maddawg IAJI]

Explain? I just checked the Mod Queue. That thread's gotten four reports. Four. If you'd like to point fingers, then how is it that the girl in question ended up higher on the Mod Queue for her vegetable use than a thread about torture?

Again, there's that whole "what we see" versus "what we don't" thing going on. Regardless of the number of mods that can possibly be overlooking the Queue at any given moment, the short answer is we don't see everything. We never will have the all-pervasive eyes and ears of tens of thousands of users. So, we have to, at some time, rely on the eyes and ears of said tens of thousands of users.

You can comment on the moderation's failings all you want, but the short answer is you let that thread get to seven pages, you didn't PM me, or any other Mod, and you certainly didn't report it often enough. Yet somehow you point the fault entirely on our feet?

There should be a reasonable standard of co-existence. Large, public areas have signs and the expectation that the patrons will be kind enough to clean their own messes. They hire janitors to do the sweeping, and help win the fight against entropy, but at some point, there has to be a question of how much anyone can do.

Although, I do appreciate you bringing that thread to my attention. Granted, you could have done it privately, and directly to me, so it got fielded sooner. But, using it as an example to show that I'm a terrible person is acceptable too. I'm sure I deserved it.

Let me start this by saying something positive. I like you Nuke. I truly respect you because YOU are the one who had the courage and conern to make a thread addressing mod issues. And I thank you for that.

Now then, the less pleasant stuff. You couldn't have taken my post any more wrong if you tried. Let's take a step back, NOT START OFF BY ASSUMING EVERYTHING IS A DIRECT ATTACK ON YOU (I mean, ffs, I never once said 'Nuke' nor 'terrible' and yet your last sentence is the most passive aggressive avoidance of 'don't be a jerk' I've seen in a while, saying I called you terrible. Either stop taking everything personally, or don't post a thread asking for feedback. Post a thread asking how awesome you are.). OK, got that? Good. Let's move on. You seem to think I'm pissy because the torture thread wasn't deleted immediately. NO. I don't care what kind of content you do or do not allow on here Let me quote myself, since the relevant parts eluded you.



EDIT: Also, if it matters-the site never told me you quoted me. Lucky you I check on this thread, eh?

To be fair to Nuke, he was the victim of a recent flaming attack by another user on this site. The Moderation Proposal thread put him in the spotlight and I suppose people are sending their complaints (And insults) to him.

Also, you weren't given a notification because he edited the post in.

 

[Sevre]

To be fair to Nuke, he was the victim of a recent flaming attack by another user on this site. The Moderation Proposal thread put him in the spotlight and I suppose people are sending their complaints (And insults) to him.

Also, you weren't given a notification because he edited the post in.

To play the opposite side of your card, should a moderator read into my post something from an incident that doesn't remotely involve me? Not saying it's unforgivable or horrible, just pointing it out since it's a quality not well suited to a moderator. I don't do it to embarrass or belittle, but just maybe it's something someone (and not necessarily you, Nuke, as without hearing from you yet, it would be conjecture) isn't aware of, and can use to improve their skills. I'm fully aware of the outright abuse the mods/admins have been receiving, but I'd like to think that while I am being confrontational, I'm at least getting a potentially constructive point of view across. The confrontationalism is because the feeling I get is that the goal of this thread is to prove the 'dissenters' wrong rather than acknowledge the feelings behind the frustration, and that maybe they're legitimate. Damn, sorry to use your post like a springboard like that.

Also, thanks for the info-I had no idea you didn't get a quote notification if it's edited in.

I'm sure Nuke has is own response to your previous post, but before I leave for the night I'll take this one

I understand what you're saying, and no we don't sit here and try to prove you guys wrong. Yes some people have the wrong idea and we try to clarify things, but we actually do listen to your opinions and use them to improve our system. The reason we have new rules is because of the community expressing their opinion that the old ones were outdated. Some people are having difficulties comprehending them, but I'm working on that one. Hopefully by the end of next week I'll have a solution up, but it depends on how things are going.

~Sev <3