Forums → The Tavern → Do you think being a mod would sound fun?
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Well, okay. You know that there are those people who spam the site (Don't comment on that, Cen). You know tere are people who are always yelling at the mods, etc. But is it really that bad? You still get to have a fun time on ArmorGames, and the users who use AG well respect them. So do you think it's really that bad?
- 212 Replies
I think the job would be fun if there more moderators. 8 people having to constantly monitor every game to keep it as spam-free as possible does not in the least bit fun, but if there were more people doing it, it wouldn't be such a tedious job.
i can't be sure because i've never been a moderator but i think that they don't have to go and monitor every game on this wonderful site seeing as there's 2,300+ games so i'd assume that they only really have to monitor the newer ones sense after all they are new and get more new people playing and commenting, besides they also have the report flag to help them out with that. oh and i did see allot of people talking about having to monitor millions of people, well when they had the ranking system running for everyone you could see that there's only about 2 million accounts and some of those people are like my brother who don't ever really comment or even rate games, he has 76 armor points i think and some of those were from me thinking i was signed in as my manly self, and the spam bots that have so plagued us, weather or not they have been removed from armor games and the total account number remains unknown to me. AND some people have 2 accounts i know one of them but i shant say whom
~manly
but if there were more people doing it, it wouldn't be such a tedious job.
More people or not, someone is going to have to go through those pages if it's going to get done. More people on the team may lighten the workload a tiny bit, but even if you have 20 site moderators, it's still too small a difference to have a noticeable effect on 2500+ games.
seeing as there's 2,300+ games so i'd assume that they only really have to monitor the newer ones sense after all they are new and get more new people playing and commenting,
Which means the people who run through every game just to rate and comment on it for the AP will get away with it for the most part in the older games. So they all need to be monitored once in a while.
besides they also have the report flag to help them out with that.
The report flag only sends a message to the admins, who have better things to do with their time than delete spam comments.
but if there were more people doing it, it wouldn't be such a tedious job.
But also you would have to find people that would be good mods. This is hard to do. You don't want to get a bunch of mods and have one that is not good. It would cause chaos.
Which means the people who run through every game just to rate and comment on it for the AP will get away with it for the most part in the older games.
Which is really annoying. Hopefully the new system in AG3 stops that.
The report flag only sends a message to the admins, who have better things to do with their time than delete spam comments.wait it doesn't even give the moderators a message, but the moderators are the ones who are supposed to go around and do things like that
wait it doesn't even give the moderators a message
Nope, just sends a message to the admins. The mods don't get anything from the report flag.
oh... Anyway I don't consider it backstage moderating I'm just trying to help clean up the forums and I would like to say that in most places people are appreciative of unasked for help and directing people to start putting things in the obvious forum comes naturally
oh... Anyway I don't consider it backstage moderating
Doesn't really matter what you consider it. You go around telling every person on every thread that it is either a duplicate, misplaced, or spam, even if it is/isn't. That's the definition of backseat modding.
^^
" I'm just trying to help clean up the forums "
^^
The mods don't get anything from the report flag.
Yeah, the report flag is pretty much a "Click this to feel like you're doing something" button. It doesn't actually help from what I've seen.
oh... Anyway I don't consider it backstage moderating I'm just trying to help clean up the forums and I would like to say that in most places people are appreciative of unasked for help and directing people to start putting things in the obvious forum comes naturally
It might not look like a hurtful thing to do from your perspective, but you are not a mod, you don't have the authority to make matter-of-fact statements and if it blows up, you will be at fault.
Not to mention that 'helping' people might mean they get an unofficial warning, then another of those, then finally a mod can go warn them official (and put it on record) and then ban them when they continue. When you help out, you don't put any of that on record for later, so you might remember what you have already done, or so the mods know what has been done, and thus you might be lengthening the work done on an account.
Not to mention you might be wrong, like Kasic said. Which is a pretty bad offence in my book, because misinformation is a good reason for moderator break down.
As for the monitoring games thing: Let's try something. Next time a game comes out, take an hour out of your time. Not to play it, because mods don't have time for that, but to sit and flag (or at least note all the names down or something) of the spam comments, off topic comments, all the comments that doesn't belong. Do that for an hour. Whenever you have reached the top of it all, refresh and try to find the start of where the new comments are, continue on.
Then imagine to have to do that to all the games displayed on the front page, every day, and having to go through any other game regularly anyway.
Now, all that and imagine how it would be for any of the series of popular games like Exit Path, where people actively chat with each other on the comments, where a massive amount of users post all the time, and remember you still have to have energy to properly read comments that might be worth a merit, instead of punching yourself continuously in the face with a shovel.
Really, it takes a long time, no one will tell you 'good job', even if you keep it up, but everyone will complain if you don't manage it. Or even if you do. Because those comments come in with a horrible speed, and it will look like you are doing nothing.
In a way, being a moderator would have a sort of an inspiring effect on me if I was one, that I was good enough to be bestowed the honor and that I now have to do my "duty" to the site. But cleaning out all of that spam from game comments would be pretty demoralizing to me. Also considering that I would get 100 comments every day about how I'm not doing my job well enough or that I banned the wrong user or that I didn't give them a merit for their wonderfully long comment that really deserves one.
Really, it takes a long time, no one will tell you 'good job', even if you keep it up, but everyone will complain if you don't manage it. Or even if you do. Because those comments come in with a horrible speed, and it will look like you are doing nothing.
Now, that I think about it, being a moderator would kinda make me feel like Sisyphus from Greek Mythology. Constantly rolling that bolder up a giant hill, feeling like you finally accomplished something, only for it to roll all the way down the other side. Of course, Sisyphus was punished and that was his punishment, whereas mods do it for the good of the site, which may be more or less demoralizing if you ask me.
Well, moderating definitely seems like a sisyphean task =)
to sit and flag (or at least note all the names down or something) of the spam comments, off topic comments, all the comments that doesn't belong. Do that for an hour. Whenever you have reached the top of it all, refresh and try to find the start of where the new comments are, continue on.
Then imagine to have to do that to all the games displayed on the front page, every day, and having to go through any other game regularly anyway.
That would be horrible. You would feel accomplished that you finished cleaning out 1 game, and then you would hit the refresh button and there would be another load of spam waiting for you. Not to mention even if there wasn't there are over 2,500 games out there that would need cleaning out. I guess you would just feel as if you were making no progress.
I really ought to not involve myself in this topic. It continues to be way too easy to start rambling about something here... But well:
In a way, being a moderator would have a sort of an inspiring effect on me if I was one, that I was good enough to be bestowed the honor and that I now have to do my "duty" to the site. But cleaning out all of that spam from game comments would be pretty demoralizing to me. Also considering that I would get 100 comments every day about how I'm not doing my job well enough or that I banned the wrong user or that I didn't give them a merit for their wonderfully long comment that really deserves one.
To be fair, you would probably not get a hundred comments every day. Anything between none and ten seems to be standard depending on the time of the year and how in-your-face you are as a moderator. More so, if questions and debates are kept to the forums, rather than pulling stuff into privacy of the profiles.
More so, people are extremely cautious when it comes to going up to a mod and telling them they have done something wrong. I assume this is part respect, part not entirely knowing which mod did what and part trying to be sure their opinion is not just erased and their profile banned. Or to rile people up in one of those 'Mods are stupid!', 'Yeah, mods are stupid!!' kind of things.
As such, you are more likely to encounter long threads where someone is complaining about their "friend" being banned unfairly, or that their comment wasn't instantly merited for its glory or some other crap, where the proper response is probably looking into the case and then blowing them out of the water by being blunt. Or, well, the more polite and responsible solution, which would either be to explain stuff in general terms, or lock the thread and discuss it on the profile, which is not as fun as finding their records and telling them their comment was crap and their friend was too, and that is why bad things happen.
Anyway, what I am getting at is that, well, this is not a huge part of the wear-down a mod goes through. Sure, it is annoying to see, but if you really want to annoy a mod, you need to imply either that mods are not doing their job at all, or that we need more mods, so stuff can finally be done. Because, as hidden it can be, there will be a mod sitting there, after two hours of deleting spam on a game, and having an internal struggle between doing the right thing, or snapping, banning everyone and walk away with a sense of contempt.
I know I tried that. It's a subtle pull, but I till do wonder if it wouldn't have felt a lot better than trying to resign properly.
Anyway. Game comments are one of the worst pulls on sanity, at times it is worse than trying to solve problems between people that obviously does not want to have their problems solved (without punching them with a banshovel, that is). So that would most likely be the thing you would focus most on, and feel most guilty about not doing, if you became a mod.
Well, moderating definitely seems like a sisyphean task =)
It sounds about right. At least when it comes to game comments. Everything else that happens regularly can be handled well enough without feeling that everything is useless.
That would be horrible. You would feel accomplished that you finished cleaning out 1 game, and then you would hit the refresh button and there would be another load of spam waiting for you. Not to mention even if there wasn't there are over 2,500 games out there that would need cleaning out. I guess you would just feel as if you were making no progress.
Pretty much.
Though, some of the more fun I have had while modding has been camping a new game. Not because camping a game is fun in itself, but because someone noticed their comment kept disappearing, and became more and more aggravated at this. It was a very rare occurrence.
But hilarious to no end anyway.
well im always telling my friends here to post words or more or ill delete them theyre gatting better but hey still do little short comments to theyre other friends [i]At least they don't have to hunt down spam. I would rather be an Admin then a mod.
i would also rather be a mod
Going through this thread and reading about all the people who want to be moderators is a source of endless amusement for me.
but I till do wonder if it wouldn't have felt a lot better than trying to resign properly.
You should have done it, and then tried to claim worker's comp from PTSD developed while on the job.
but because someone noticed their comment kept disappearing, and became more and more aggravated at this. It was a very rare occurrence.
But hilarious to no end anyway.
I think I would only find that fun for awhile. After a bit it just wouldn't be fun and would get annoying. Or I just wouldn't realize it was the same idiot trying to post again so I would just delete it like any other comment.
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