I am not here to argue because that would imply that am doing anything less than stating facts. And I just wrote this all before and it all god deleted because I backed up the web page and AG is the only poorly enough coded site that it doesn't auto keep my text on so I am keeping this way shorter than the last.
The problem with mods these days is that they are poorly picked, because we have a shortage of mods and instead of waiting for the right people to show up the wrong people get picked. This doesn't work. You should have a quota of mods, that makes no sense on a site that has to wait for mod-worthy people to come, you can't do that. If at one point you have 5 qualified mods, then that sucks for them, lots of more work, but if there is 15 why then not take them all instead of saying sorry we full.
But the latter isn't the issue, it is the former. An issue is that the distinction between a great user and a moderator doesn't exist. It actually does, me. I am a quality user that is not a mod, but many other mods just like me who fit in same category shouldn't be there, and I won't mention names, but everyone knows who I am talking about clearly, even the mod themselves, because even they realize they shouldn't be mods. Yes you, you all know who you are. These people are great users with great content and you've turned them into mods which has not only made them worse, but you ruining the community as well.
Anyone who is awesome you've swept from the AG community and turned into a moderator who shouldn't be there because they are power tripping and think anyone who criticizes them should be banned, and instead of letting kids deal with their problems just instantly ban half the populous. Most of the best community from the past, all the old users, have left. When I talk to them on MSN about why they left, almost every single one left because of the poorly manages mods, who were either nonexistent when needed or took action where they should have stopped nosing around.
These mods, who instead of spending their time posting fun threads and letting users do what they want, they ruin users fun because it's not constructive to the site. Take a step back, who are these rules meant to be helping? Oh right the majority of users. What happens when the same majority of users want to do something like make a spam thread or do something fun? They get banned. That doesn't make sense, this isn't US congress, laws aren't irreversible or inflexible. But instead of being normal people and letting small things slide, they act uptight(even though they were the exact opposite when normal members) and power trip and ban all the good users. Almost no one from the past is here on AG anymore and for a good reason.
The mods are suppose to be here to facilitate fun and help the community progress and all they do nowadays is deter that. You seem to forget that just like police you are here to serve and protect us, not harp over us and ruin your own community.
Also, once a mod is chosen I have never seen a single one be fired(except maybe 1). You guys are way to passive. There is no way on earth that every single one of the mods ever chosen have all been perfect. The same thing in a company, people hire others, realize it was a mistake and fire them. Not let them go AFK and sit there being useless or being a bad mod ruining the community and wait until they resign. You need to grow a pair, grow up, and take lead and fire other mods, stop being so passive towards each other you are just ruining armorgames.
Now I know this thread will just be ignored or locked by the mods. Because the one thing I always realize with you guys, is that you have lots of criticism for everyone else, but when ever so clear problems with you guys come up, you ignore it or delete and/or ban users who were completely in their right. I have tried for countless years to have anything done and nothing ever does because everyone is too scared to speak out and stop being useless.
The mods list right now is in terrible shape, stop ignoring me, stop telling me I am wrong with no reason and just banning me. Instead, try doing something, stop being little whimps and actually do something for a change, maybe you will finally make a right decision and stop ruining the community you are suppose to be supporting. This forum is so tiny compared to others I am on, it is insanely surprising to me how you have so much trouble dealing with such a small group of mods. But then again, I am not so surprised because it is a circle. Hiring terrible staff who wont admit when wrong and rectify errors leads to the best community-lead users hating the staff, making them leave,and these good players who make the community thrive leave, the community dies more,less good mods to chose from, and staff has then to pick from more shitty people to become mods, then we have more shitty mods.
Someone needs to break the cycle or else this site will keep getting worse. And if you don't like how brash I am being then I suggest someone finally either brings me to somewhere I can deal with this myself with someone who can actually do something or do it yourself. Because I don't say this for nothing, I say it because I know better.
Just a suggestion from what I've seen between Zoph and Klaus, you both seem to have some sort of personal strife going on, and although you both point out things you dislike about eachother I don't see much constructive criticism. You are telling eachother what you think you should do, but offer no solution. Typically in my mind there is no purpose to pointing out flaws without offering criticism on how to rectify those flaws. Perhaps taking that step would help you both understand eachother, or at the very least be able to communicate better.
We actually started organizing the merit worthy comment hunt a while ago. It's still not going too well with it because there's a lot of games, a LOT of spam, and not enough mods searching. But they do still get awarded.
So what you're saying is, we need more mods searching? That's obviously what you're saying, because you just said it and I highlit it in bold and it's pretty clear that it has been said by you.
That not being quite the point, this still addresses the issue that the moderator-to-user ratio is horrifyingly low.
So what you're saying is, we need more mods searching? That's obviously what you're saying, because you just said it and I highlit it in bold and it's pretty clear that it has been said by you.
Yes, pretty much. I'll gladly admit we have too few active mods. Pointing that out is redundant, solving it is rather hard.
Does a one-day ban count as a warning?
No, that is a temporary ban. Temporary bans can contain warnings, though, things along the lines of "this is your last chance, the next ban will be a permanent one".
Just a suggestion from what I've seen between Zoph and Klaus, you both seem to have some sort of personal strife going on, and although you both point out things you dislike about eachother I don't see much constructive criticism. You are telling eachother what you think you should do, but offer no solution. Typically in my mind there is no purpose to pointing out flaws without offering criticism on how to rectify those flaws. Perhaps taking that step would help you both understand eachother, or at the very least be able to communicate better.
Yes, pretty much. I'll gladly admit we have too few active mods. Pointing that out is redundant, solving it is rather hard.
Perhaps a selection system could be implemented which improves upon the current one? Or even a way for people to volunteer? We have many people on the site who are very active and have performed the functions of moderating or administrating on other sites. Perhaps an additional administrator might help as well. Personally I have moderated on several sites, from my classes at DeVry University here in Phoenix, Tribal Wars and Evony's game forums, and several smaller places. I'm sure we have many others with the experience, maturity, and time necessary to make the needed additions to the moderating team.
I too would be happy to take up the mantle of Mod. I'm active, happy to give up my time and can shut up and do what I'm told if necessary.
I've moderated for a few small forums and done quite a bit of contest judging (example on here is the Haiku contest).
And without wanting to 'ush my case' or anything - assigning 1 or 2 area's to someone else to watch over is 1 or 2 fewer areas that you need to watch. I'd personally be happy to spam-hunt for you to ease your burden. If you need me for anything at all - I'll be in the showe- I mean, just send me a message.
assigning 1 or 2 area's to someone else to watch over is 1 or 2 fewer areas that you need to watch.
Actually I think that would be a fantastic idea. Get one or two mods for each section of the forum, obviously with all helping on the S&S and Newcomers areas, and everyone participating with the game comments areas. But this can compartmentalize responsibilities into areas where the person moderating spends the majority of their time. That increases their familiarity with the topics, posters, and increases the overall happiness in these areas.
That's how many other forums I've been to have dealt with such problems and I must say - it worked. The users were happier because they felt more familiar with the Mod and knew when they could access/talk to the Mod about a certain topic and the Mods were happier because the workload was shared more and each Mod was in a place that they felt happy dealing with.
Too much shit to answer, I am gonna try and bring this up with you on AIM zophia, since I clearly didn't have a clue about you being invis.
As for me only posting problems not solutions. This is for one reason, because no matter how many solutions I have none are taken into effect. If you gave me 1 week with total control of this forum it would be a complete overhaul, and I don't just mean spam I mean mods, users, merit system, rules, everything. When I take a job I take it seriously, specially since I am doing it pro bono there is no reason for me to do it half assed if I asked for it. The problem isn't Zophia specifically, it is the entire staff that is incompetent, and never gets anything done properly.
Just because somethings done your way doesn't make it the right way. Don't make such a foolish and generalised comment as 'all the staff are incompetent'.
Get one or two mods for each section of the forum, obviously with all helping on the S&S and Newcomers areas
If neither one of those mods is online, and another mod (who doesn't moderate that section) sees that the section is being spammed, that mod cannot do a thing about it. I think it's better to not to assign specific mods to specific sections.
Just because somethings done your way doesn't make it the right way.
In this case, his way is better than the current way.
We also must consider that perhaps the staff are competent, however the means with which they are forced to perform their duties are flawed. Not saying that they aren't, but it is something to consider before we lump everyone together and say everyone's incompetent. Obviously that's not true, otherwise we wouldn't have these forums in the first place.
Not saying that they aren't, but it is something to consider before we lump everyone together and say everyone's incompetent.
Right. Obviously we have some competent mods, otherwise this whole forum would just be spam.
Keep in mind also that the administrative staff works on things outside of the forum, such as coding and programming stuff that I will never understand. It is unfair to say that they are incompetent when you don't even know what they're up to.
Guys, you keep throwing ideas around like they're moose turds
