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Who Holds These Moderators Accountable?

IncrediPhiLL·10/26/2018, 6:14:25 PM·22 votes·10,756 views

Might just be me, because I haven't spent much time on the boards outside of Worlds coverage, but it seems like these "Moderators" have gotten out of control. I've seen more thread locks, and more moderator complaints of the last 2 weeks than I've ever seen. A lot of these disciplines and things are going over my head apparently. I know some are justified, but some are just petty things that have no reason to be acknowledged.

I could be waaaaaaay wrong on this, because I have no clue how the selection process goes for getting these moderators selected... but it seems to me that these people are all over the place. Inconsistent, biased, and flat out nit-picky. I feel like we have to look over our shoulder after everything we say.

I got told by a moderator this morning "Don't be a jerk." After they took down my post in which I said "Mr. OP, I think you should delete your account. I'll wait patiently for this." (This was on the thread in which 4 or 5 moderators are all arguing with an obvious troll OP... you know the one) If that is flammable and out of line, then sure, take it away, but I've also posted the same thing twice in the last two weeks with nothing. In fact, me and the guy I was talking to earlier in the week had a good laugh about it... because it's obviously not a serious jab... I guess I'm just confused in what warrants "being a jerk" when the moderators engage in more toxic conversations than what I got flagged for posting earlier, but by all means, come and get me.

I guess my feelings are just hurt and it's frustrating watching this group being so inconsistent and all over the place. I really think RIOT needs to have a more serious selection and vetting process when it comes to choosing the boys and girls who do the moderating on these boards. It's getting pretty bad as of late. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely not a job I would want, and no one is perfect and that's understandable... but there seems to be a formula of being consistently inconsistent... and that's not good.

41 Comments

ModThe Djinn10/26/2018, 6:31:39 PM16 votes

Who Holds These Moderators Accountable?

Our Riot contacts, the Heralds, and the other moderators. If any of us see consistent issues, we bring it up and take actions as needed.

{quoted}I've seen more thread locks, and more moderator complaints of the last 2 weeks than I've ever seen.

Thread locks haven't really increased, but yeah -- we get complained about a lot. Most people don't typically go out of their way to go "Things are generally fine! Well done!" so the posts about us that ARE made are usually from people who are frustrated or angry. Even when we don't ultimately side with them, however, those posts ARE read, and we often discus them internally.

I could be waaaaaaay wrong on this, because I have no clue how the selection process goes for getting these moderators selected... but it seems to me that these people are all over the place. Inconsistent, biased, and flat out nit-picky. I feel like we have to look over our shoulder after everything we say.

Riot has a direct hand in the selection process, as do the Heralds. We're always willing to look over any single moderator decision and, as this board alone can show, I and others have overridden moderator decisions numerous times upon reanalysis.

If that is flammable and out of line, then sure, take it away, but I've also posted the same thing twice in the last two weeks with nothing. In fact, me and the guy I was talking to earlier in the week had a good laugh about it...

We don't catch everything because we're humans -- we rely on reported content or our own eyes to see things that are problematic, so something that may need to be removed may be overlooked if it's not reported. Comments like that also require us to take tone and context into account -- it's possible that the other comments were in less volatile circumstances, and thus left up.

ModKnightsKemplar10/26/2018, 6:34:46 PM7 votes

Specific issues are a lot easier for us to respond to, but I'll try to address the complaints you brought up.

With regards to consistency in getting comments removed, we're never going to be 100% consistent. We have a lot of people working as moderators, and we can't all agree on every single action we take. I don't think that's a feasible expectation even if the vetting process was the same as for an FBI job. If it could be automated to give exactly the same response every time, we wouldn't need people to do it.

I understand the frustration about that, for sure. I'm just trying to realistic about how you would address that. Different people do the same job differently sometimes. I'm not trying to argue that the fluctuation is a good thing, but it happens. Even the same moderator may bring a different set of experiences to the same issue a few weeks apart and handle it differently the second time.

If the comment got removed 1/3 times, there's two things that could've happened. First, it may have not been reported the first two times. We can't moderate what we don't see. I always encourage people to report things that are against the rules so we can handle them. That's what we're here for. But it doesn't always happen.

Second, there are certainly cases where something is borderline, and some moderators may let it slide and another doesn't; all that says to me is that you are making borderline comments, and you eventually got punished. I think that system is honestly fine. The context also matters a lot, so it's possible that the discrepancy can be partially explained by that. If there's an obvious joke thread where you tell someone to uninstall, I'm not going to remove that. If I see you say exactly the same thing to a player that is obviously upset, I'm gonna remove it.

Beatrice falls10/26/2018, 8:31:51 PM6 votes

I just see a lot of complaints about some posts / comments that are removed because moderators pretend to be overly sensitive and "words can hurt". I'm sure some of them just ctrl+f anything containing "black" "chinese" "gay" "riot" and "retard" and just delete it whenever they see something like that. I mean at this point just get an automatic bot that does it for you

KFCeytron10/26/2018, 8:44:13 PM5 votes

The result of reports depends on the handling mod's feelings toward the poster and reporter as well as the mod's knowledge of the rules, and they don't like to step on each others' toes to correct even clear and obvious errors. The result of asking about a mod decision in Discord varies from "no" to "we'll look into that" (which also means no). The system is basically a placebo.

rujitra10/26/2018, 7:06:45 PM5 votes

I've been viewing the boards since before they were the boards (the old software). I have not seen this uptick you speak of.

You seem to be unhappy since you violated the rules. I don't see how you can fault the moderators for that.

Namîste10/26/2018, 6:19:35 PM4 votes

I didn't see the post so I can't comment but every single moderator I've come across on here has been more then pleasant and fair in every situation I've seen. They are only human just like us so I"m sure emotions can take over but at the end of they day they do have the follow League of Legends TOS.

In regards to what you said, remember it's the internet, things said in jest can be taken seriously. Yes telling someone to go delete their account is rude even if you meant it in jest so I can see why a moderator would have said something. Now I do agree that the said moderator should have handled it more politely but what is done is done.

RuFiot10/26/2018, 7:40:21 PM4 votes

His texts (Djinn) is always the same, the gist of it is -

*Moderators are humans, every case is different, context matters, you can't have set of rules only broad guidelines *

Yes almost all correct, but that reasoning can also give them the ability to do whatever they want, and it basically like there are no rules or policies, the guidelines need to be much more strict, inconsistent ruling is like there are no rules.

You see, the point is where do you draw the line of how much freedom you get as a moderator, to answer that you need to go to the nitty gritty aspects of it and give them a whole set of solutions to what they are already doing (I will try), so it little complicated, he is just using that complication to hide the point they just do whatever

P.S

Even when we don't ultimately side with them, however, those posts ARE read, and we often discus them internally.

"We run jokes on your (mine) cry baby posts internally"

Q: Who Holds These Moderators Accountable? A: Our Riot contacts, the Heralds, and the other moderators. If any of us see consistent issues, we bring it up and take actions as needed.

"All internally, we all know Riot never here so we run it and I will never be too harsh on my buddy, that I personally recommended cause I think he is a great guy, and you know what, boards members, with the correct system you can't prove sht :D"

The boards really need some way to moderate the moderators moderating.

IncrediPhiLL10/26/2018, 6:40:11 PM2 votes

Thanks for your responses.

So if I had an issue with a specific moderator who is continuously abusive of his/her power with a few messages and evidence to support it, where would I voice those concerns as to not make a public bashing section in the boards? XD

mlm olo mlm11/1/2018, 12:58:13 AM2 votes

I found out that no one is actually holding moderators responsible.

I sent a ticket to Riot.

The person didn't even read the ticket.

I asked several questions and none were answered.

They did comment on something I never asked about though.

Now the ticket is closed. After one off topic statement from a Rioter.

AKA I reported moderator to Riot directly and Riot didn't even bother to read the ticket. Moderators can do whatever the fuck they want.

mlm olo mlm10/26/2018, 10:31:26 PM1 votes

I usually would not report you. However, I am physically sick at the moment and the thread you referenced had a lot of hate. I don't think I reported you but I can't be sure in this case.

I felt your post was a joke. I almost responded. I felt it would have been off topic to do so and could have put my own thread in jeopardy. That said, I don't really understand your joke. Nor do I feel it was an appropriate place.

I'm sorry for misunderstanding.

Dracocrash10/27/2018, 7:04:05 AM1 votes

Swap to reddit. The boards are heavily mismanaged. I generally only get on here to see posts made by players, but rarely take part in discussions because moderation is... in my opinion, bad. It's really sad because I see a lot of good posts here, and I can only imagine how much more productive of a discussion it would spark on a better-moderated place, like the league subreddit. But yeah, I heavily suggest swapping to reddit if the moderation is bothering you; trust me, you will have a better time.