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Klaushouse
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Klaushouse
2,770 posts
Nomad

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.

  • 206 Replies
tomertheking
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tomertheking
1,751 posts
Jester

Ok, I missed that point, but again, most responseble people don't want to be moderators because of the responsebility. Ironic, but true.

Avorne
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Avorne
3,085 posts
Nomad

I'd do it - I feel like I owe ArmorGames for the hours and hours of entertainment they've provided me with.

Graham
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Graham
8,051 posts
Nomad

Sorry to burst your bubble Avorne.

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj146/grahaam/avornelook.png

*waits for thread to die and be forgotten*

tomertheking
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tomertheking
1,751 posts
Jester

Why is leadership needed to be a mod? He just needs to be responsible and dedicated(in my opinion).

Strop
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Strop
10,816 posts
Bard

Once again I'm only going to address issues relevant to moderators. As has already been said multiple times, much of what we're not doing is not for lack of effort, but capability.

Also, what is said below are strictly my personal views, they are not representative of any of the other moderators, or any staff body of Armorgames.

The absolutely disgusting thing I've seen going on is the "This thread is currently about..." thread. I despise that thread not only because it breaks the rules on several occasions but the mods let it be and even participate in it. That thread is PURE spam, one thing we are trying to get rid of. That thread is just free AP for anyone who can write five words about their favorite who knows what. That almost pisses me off as much as getting points from comments.


I claim personal responsibility for that thread (not its creation, but what I did to it once I discovered it), as I'm the only moderator who has really actively condoned the continued running of the thread.

Naturally I have a defense. It's my belief that the sanctioning and continued running of this thread actually reduces the total amount of spam in that section from regular users, as if somebody's bored, they turn to that thread, and less spam threads are created by said bored regulars. Furthermore an unspoken protocol seems to have been acknowledged that this thread is the exception, not the rule. You guys can complain as much as you want about that thread, and I'm okay with it, because I haven't had nearly as many complaints about any other specific thread in the Tavern for a while! However, note that the thread has achieved a happy medium, in that it has settled upon one single topic, nobody is posting for the sake of posting, and it's now almost entirely relevant and constructive. FURTHERMORE (all caps because this is important), I can draw upon a precedent: the threads entitled "ArmorGames Regulars' Lounge" (in its multiple incarnations), which we consulted with Carlie over, and were approved, so I can confidently say this is not an abuse of power, either.

I believe what I've done works because most people on AG are pretty good. There's a general culture of rule-following here, and this has generally stayed consistent ever since I signed up over 2 years ago. The side-effect of this culture, of course, is people being frankly a bit pedantic when it comes to what is rule breaking and not... and a lot of "THIS IS SPAM" posts, which, in itself, is spam. But again this is something I'm willing to tolerate because it reflects that people are collectively conscious of upholding good behaviour.

Those who have commented that they feel we've been a bit harsh on them (especially myself) initially tend to appreciate that I like this culture to remain strong, and that's the real motivation behind our handing out bans, regardless of whether you consider our treatment of them consistent or not. We don't mind people skirting the line and pushing the boundaries (Klaus is a case in point), but we will assess the situation and take measures as we feel is necessary (again Klaus is a case in point). In my case I admit to being a bit naughty on occasion (rarely, some of my posts have been flagged as spam, and rightfully so, also a good sign), but I certainly don't want it becoming fashionable. Achieving good balance of this is key to the site remaining fun.

I hope this helps people understand how I see things. My picture is broader, more abstract, and I believe more beneficial, obviously, otherwise I'd be revising it!
Strop
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Strop
10,816 posts
Bard

Also seeing as I got ninja'd by tomertheking, I'll answer some questions:

About lack of active mods... I can see where you guys are coming from. The funny thing about this, is that no matter how many moderators we actually have, the number of active moderators seems to stay exactly the same for various reasons. Usually real life gets in the way, but timed in such a way that there are always no more and no less than three or four active mods. I thought the recent nominations of Gantic and Cenere would alleviate this, and personally I think it has somewhat, given they're just so darn effective (again, in ways you guys generally don't see). For example, people are actually getting merits for comments on games again (of course this topic will remain controversial but let's just say when it comes to looking at game comments, we're saddled with massive loading times and it's just not conducive to going through everything.) We can spend a lot more time dealing with actual troublemakers to the extent you guys barely even notice them.

The thing about moderators that most people don't realise, but if they did they would abandon all thought of being one, is that it's generally the things that you notice that you would criticise us for, because if this community ran perfectly, there wouldn't be anything to notice! I'm still doing this now because that's something I'm not just prepared for, but happy to accept. While it's nice to feel appreciated, I'm not here to be on a pedestal/soapbox/throne, or for people to kiss my butt or anything, I'm just doing this because I thought I could exercise my judgement in a manner that helps the forums. Which brings me to the next question:

Why is leadership needed to be a mod? He just needs to be responsible and dedicated(in my opinion).


Leadership qualities involve taking initiative, being a good communicator, having vision and conviction. Given that a community is not an iron-clad entity, there's quite a lot of wiggle room in the interpretation and judgement of various issues that crop up, so sometimes tricky decisions need to be made. In order to do this, we need to be able to work as a team, and this means exercising various aspects of leadership qualities at different times. Each of us have our own ways of doing things, some better suited to certain situations than others, and so having leadership qualities here would mean that each of us is able to do what we think is appropriate, consult with others, discuss in a mature manner, and resolve conflicts when they do arise. Judging by other forums I've seen, this place does pretty well, so I have to say, the criteria Carlie listed in that post are on the mark!
Strop
offline
Strop
10,816 posts
Bard

Now, some things I noticed on page seven:

Pray tell, why does a person make a series of alts in rapid succession? BECAUSE THE PREVIOUS ONE GOT BANNED HURR DURR.

Seriously. So don't give me that crap about "didn't get a ban." We just ban the hell out of them till they shut up. Which they do. One way or another. You guys might see some guy bragging about this "trolling" that he's doing (it's not even that, it's just account suiciding), and get annoyed, but we're the ones who are keeping a lid on it. Furthermore anybody who subsequently attempts to prove me wrong by saying "hey guys but I'm an alt and you didn't ban me" because you were concealing yourselves to the point that we didn't know you were an alt? That just means that your being an alt was inconsequential to the running of the forums and your now public statement has just earned you the banhammer again. It's pretty simple.

From 2008 there has never been a point in my career with AG where the site has improved.


IMHO when a site expands it never improves unless the infrastructure updates to deal with the increased load, and then repeat ad nauseum...

When the userbase expands, a site evolves. Comparing the AG forums now, to the time when I first joined, often referred to as "the golden era" when all the original mod team was still around, is like comparing apples and oranges. Deal with it.
Cenere
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Cenere
13,657 posts
Jester

Again just commenting on random stuff http://a.deviantart.net/avatars/a/w/awesomefaceplz.png

youre right. almost nobody here wants to be a moderator.

I wouldn't want anyone I care for, respect or generally know to become a moderator.
This is not really an ego-tripping, power-tripping, acid-tripping community, where mods can do whatever they like, ban all they don't like, and generally be butts. Well, we can't be it on a regular basis, at least.
The users demand a lot sometimes, and trying to solve problems like with regulars who feel betrayed by the mods, and thus starts poking at people they don't like to get them to explode (so they can be banned), or talking sense into someone who believes speaking LIEK DIS is awesome. It takes time and patience and more patience, and often somewhere else to get off some of the steam. As Strop said, the most important parts are most often not noticed.
After a few nights trying to talk people into something as simple as not talking to each other (it is actually really hard), just looking at the game comments will make you either feel like vomiting or simply make you log off and go read a book or something.
Or just looking at game comments themselves. Some users might have given up on writing merits because "the mods don't give them out" (could be that your comment sucked, couldn't it?), most active mods have simply given up on deleting spam and finding merit worthy comments in the game comments, because
1. People think we are not giving out any anyway.
2. People persist to be negative about what we do.
3. People doesn't care when we do give one out, it is just one more merit to the collection to make them cool, and 25 more ap.
4. Have you SEEN the amount of spam? Seriously. Delete 20 pages of spam one day, come back the next and find 50 new pages of spam. It is like blowing in the wind. It changes nothing. It takes 1-2 hours to go through a game with perhaps 50 pages (page loads slowly when deleting), and all you will get from it is 2 hours less, and people going "F*ck mods, they hate me, they don't give out merits any more!" and "we need more mods!".
Makes one want to apologize for existing.

A. The site has too few active mods
B. The site isn't perfect by any measure
C. Some people like to moan... A LOT.

A. Yes. And no love to the ones that are.
B. No site is perfect. If it was, it would have hit a standstill and would degrade into imperfection once again. But yeah, sometimes AG sucks a bit.
C. Me

Oh, and while we are at the bitter: I am amused that the staff will give some, what was it, 50 dollars to 50-100 winners of a contest, but won't even communicate with its hard working mods. No wonder "real life strikes" so many mods.
Strop
offline
Strop
10,816 posts
Bard

Oh, and while we are at the bitter: I am amused that the staff will give some, what was it, 50 dollars to 50-100 winners of a contest, but won't even communicate with its hard working mods. No wonder "real life strikes" so many mods.


Wait a moment, John still owes me a squishy Ball Revamped from that Compulse Tournament back in 2008! >:O

http://a.deviantart.net/avatars/a/w/awesomefaceplz.png
Cenere
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Cenere
13,657 posts
Jester

Let's abandon our Way of Moderation and gain revenge!

http://a.deviantart.net/avatars/t/r/trollfaceplz.gif

Secretmapper
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Secretmapper
1,747 posts
Nomad

THat has to be the longest wall of blue text ever :P

Well, seriously guys, Just imagine the hardwork our fuck'n moderators have to put up everyday.

Graham
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Graham
8,051 posts
Nomad

Let's abandon our Way of Moderation and gain revenge!


Zamg nuuuuuuuuuu.... Then people will have something feasible to complain about.


http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/9546/ntsomiley.png
Avorne
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Avorne
3,085 posts
Nomad

Pfft, I wasn't suggesting myself to be a moderator - I was just pointing out that there were responsible people out there that would take on the responsibilities - nothing more and nothing less than that.

As for leadership qualities - initiative, the ability to listen to the people around you and being able to command the attention of a group well are just 3 good qualities a leader should have which are really quite useful for moderators to have too.

skater_kid_who_pwns
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skater_kid_who_pwns
4,375 posts
Blacksmith

and thus starts poking at people they don't like to get them to explode (so they can be banned),


Guilty.

So what we have established in this all is that

* AP sucks and should be taken away
*The AG staff hates us all and dosn't care what we think about how they run the site
*The AG staff really hates the mods and therefor us
* Merits are not given out beacsue people don't try for them any more and spam is to great
* Mods are F*cked from day one
*The user of Ag like to complain
* we need more mods



Thats all I have gotten out of this entire thread. So I'm gonna go get a taco, andy one want one?
Avorne
offline
Avorne
3,085 posts
Nomad

I'll take one - if your going to Taco Bell i'll have a chicken cantina taco.

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