Childish behaviour from certain board moderators?

number1DERP·Dec 9, 2018·7 votes·1,578 views

Hi folks!

It makes sense for a forum to have moderators to avoid off-topic threads, racial slur, etc. but lately I've had discussions I posted on other accounts completely removed just because it touched a controversial topic. They were well-reasoned and contained no excessive swearing or alike. Sometimes they even made up an excuse to ban the account from the boards entirely.

This behaviour is silly and rather childish. Removing the threat just because you can't give any counterarguments is very immature and should not be behaviour a forum moderator should carry out.

I really hope this problem gets adressed in the future because a forum without actual discussions seems pretty useless to me.

12 Comments

ModThe DjinnDec 9, 20185 votes

I'd be happy to look into this specifically if you can give me the names of the accounts in question. We do have a list of topics that are not appropriate for discussion on the boards, but I'm always willing to take a second look at things to make sure they were done properly.

R107 GamesDec 9, 20185 votes

The mods are actively trying to turn this forum into a safe space, based on their mentality.

Also the fact that the mods are never held accountable for their mistakes, because every mistake brings the excuse of "we're just human!". This gives the mods free rein to moderate anything they want withought even thinking, and fuck someone over.

ModThe DjinnDec 9, 20186 votes

[{quoted}](name=R107 Games,realm=NA,application-id=ZGEFLEUQ,discussion-id=yVwIKhdZ,comment-id=0003,timestamp=2018-12-09T16:49:59.852+0000)The mods are actively trying to turn this forum into a safe space, based on their mentality.

Nah. The problem with the slippery slope argument is that it doesn't take into account the fact that we can and do stop short of that. We get a lot of people, for example, who report content that we don't action upon because it's clearly a case of them interpreting a comment far more harshly than it was intended, and taking offense at something very much inoffensive.

Also the fact that the mods are never held accountable for their mistakes...

They are, especially big ones. After most mistakes I or another Herald makes sure the moderator is aware of it, and we've asked moderators to take breaks or -- yes -- even leave the program before due to consistent patterns of problematic behavior. The fact that we don't cut someone immediately over one mistake does not mean people are not held accountable for consistent patterns.

This gives the mods free reign to moderate anything they want without even thinking, and fuck someone over.

Not really, given that we have two methods of recourse, and that I -- for one -- do overturn actions I feel were improperly done, and then do speak to the moderators in question about said action.

Ph03n1xb1rdDec 9, 20181 votes

[deleted]

ModThe DjinnDec 9, 20186 votes

{quoted}Things like clearly depends on your interpretation, and you assume always the worst possible scenario

In your case you clearly typed out a series of six % symbols, which is only used on the boards to censor hate speech, and was used in a manner consistent with use of those censored words as insults. Your post history also made it clear that you were aware of what is censored on the boards, and I ran it by more than just myself before taking action. I get that you may disagree, but we feel that the situation was pretty cut-and-dry.

Has this really ever happened? xD

Yes, it has.

Mr ElessarDec 9, 20183 votes

Yes, the moderators can be irrational at times.

Mr ElessarDec 9, 20182 votes

Lmao, people downvoting when there are many examples where a moderator removed a post for no reason.

ModThe DjinnDec 9, 20184 votes

[{quoted}](name=Mr Elessar,realm=EUNE,application-id=ZGEFLEUQ,discussion-id=yVwIKhdZ,comment-id=00010000,timestamp=2018-12-09T16:45:12.852+0000)Lmao, people downvoting when there are many examples where a moderator removed a post for no reason.

While I acknowledge that we do make mistakes occasionally, we're pretty good at reversing those. A number of these examples are subject to interpretation though, as we understand that not every poster will be satisfied with a given stance on a specific topic. As always, if you feel something was removed improperly, you're welcome to come to Discuss the Boards or the moderation Discord to give us your perspective. Sometimes that does make us reconsider and change the action taken.

Mr ElessarDec 9, 20181 votes

You banned me from the discord for talking about how bad the ifs is and showing it's flaws.

Some moderators are fine ,while others are just....

ModThe DjinnDec 9, 20184 votes

[{quoted}](name=Mr Elessar,realm=EUNE,application-id=ZGEFLEUQ,discussion-id=yVwIKhdZ,comment-id=0001000000000000,timestamp=2018-12-09T16:58:26.622+0000)

You banned me from the discord for talking about how bad the ifs is and showing it's flaws.

Some moderators are fine ,while others are just....

Can I have the Discord name you used? I'll take a look into that situation if you'd like, because that doesn't seem like a reason we'd ban someone, and I'm not seeing anything from a "Mr Elessar" in the history.

Edit: It was not the reason for the ban (which was appropriate as per Discord rules), but we've reached a mutually agreeable resolution.

Imperial PandaaDec 9, 20182 votes

Wrong sub board. This is better suited to Discuss the Boards or taken directly to the Discord.

ProExpertKingDec 9, 20181 votes

I've seen threads where moderator post on but don't agree with what's been said which is fine. They then remove posts from people that disagree with them or agree with the poster while leaving up someone who just simply made a reply saying "You're a dick"