Ask the Moderators

[TechnoWraith]

This has probably beena sked several times throughout the whole of this entire thread. I was wondering if anything can be done to add any smilies to the ones we already have.

[knocknashee]

A question about the forum...

Is the "Subscribe" function ever going to be fixed on the forum, since I know there were problems with it, and it still doesn't work for me, no matter what browser I use...

Since it got lost in the barrage of abuse flying around, I'll restate my question...unless that 'Probably not ' from Shadow was the answer...

[spg_1983]

Since it got lost in the barrage of abuse flying around, I'll restate my question...unless that 'Probably not ' from Shadow was the answer...

there are a couple bugs like that right now and i think there is not much they can do at this point and are just waiting for the next software update that should correct them.

[knocknashee]

Hugs n' Love to the Mods!



Anyway, here is my question:

Obviously when people use the "Report Post" button to notify mods of big violations of forum rules I'm sure you don't mind, but should people use it for smaller violations as well? For example, if someone's sig violates forum rules, should we report it, even if it's not egregious, or is that too nit-picky?

Does it annoy you if/when we do it...honestly? Are you like "that gorram tattle-tale is at it again, he/she should leave the modding to us" or do you honestly appreciate it? I never know if I should or not if it's not a "big deal" while remaining to be a violation of policy.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't...

Thing is, if I reported everything that I saw on these boards that was in violation, I'd do nothing else. There are loads of people with huge signatures, people are forever quoting people's pictures or stretching the forum boundaries, or not using spoiler tags...I could go on with the list.

To be honest, I prefer to give reminders, but then I get accused of acting like a mod. Yet if I reported every one of these instances, I'd get slammed for ragging on people all the time. Then when you say XXX annoys you, you get asked why you didn't mention it, yet when you do, you get slammed for nit-picking.

You just can't please everyone all the time... *shrug*

[knocknashee]

there are a couple bugs like that right now and i think there is not much they can do at this point and are just waiting for the next software update that should correct them.

Thanks for your reply SPG...

[Shipperahoy]

Honestly we ourselves really have no idea what's going on with the subscribe feature nor know when or if it's going to be fixed. Hopefully sooner rather than later as it's a very nifty feature.

[Madeleine]

Yet if I reported every one of these instances, I'd get slammed for ragging on people all the time.

Crikey.

What makes you feel that if you reported any violations that you'd get slammed and / or accused of ragging? Seriously? Is there a single time that you've reported a post and the mods who read the report slammed you or called you a rag? We've never done that to anyone. To have it announced that it's the sort of thing we'd do to someone who reported posts for us...

Well, to someone who's already feeling upset, you can see how such a thing might not be a fun read.

Is there any reason for you to say what you've said? Seriously, we'd like to know. It's handy for us to be abreast of these things.

[knocknashee]

Crikey.

What makes you feel that if you reported any violations that you'd get slammed and / or accused of ragging? Seriously? Is there a single time that you've reported a post and the mods who read the report slammed you or called you a rag? We've never done that to anyone. To have it announced that it's the sort of thing we'd do to someone who reported posts for us...

Well, to someone who's already feeling upset, you can see how such a thing might not be a fun read.

Is there any reason for you to say what you've said? Seriously, we'd like to know. It's handy for us to be abreast of these things.

My apologies, I didn't mean the mods...my intended meaning was that if I were to bleat all the time about things, other board members would pick up on it...

Whoops...sorry, didn't mean to offend...

[GateGipsy]

OK I'm putting on my forum manager hat here, and stepping in guys. This is for all the posters in this recent conversation, mods included. And I'd like this to be the end of it, with anything else people would like to bring up to be taken to PM.

First, for those who answer questions. As mods we're required to be as circumspect, and considerate as possible. Obviously we're only human but for the most part I think we post with considerably patienence. If other posters want to answer questions, and please do if you know the answer, then bear in mind that you'll need to do so with the same level of consideration that mods are required to have. No matter how silly you might think the question is, or how oft repeated, if you can't reply nicely then please, don't reply at all. It creates far more problems than it solves.

People clearly have some issues here, and I've PM'd them privately to discuss them. I think that it is best for now to have these discussions via PM to find out exactly where people are coming from.

Clearly for people like Egeria and Hatsu there are underlying issues that we may not know about, which have progressed to the point where they are getting angry at things that we would consider minor.

Likewise, posters seem to forget that the moderators on this board do a heck of a big job. None of which they are paid for, and neither do they get any special privilages. People virtually never tell them they're doing a good job, but are very very quick to accuse them of all sorts of nastiness. We're all only human and it does get to us.

I first visited this forum before it was even in Delphi. I became a member of it in Jan 2001. The Off Topic forum has ALWAYS been the most popular. There have been times when there has been far more non-Stargate discussions going on than Stargate ones! Far far from being second class citizens of the forum, those people who are OTers, and I'm more guilty than anyone of doing this, except maybe MC (remember Blue/Green anyone!), they are in actual fact the mainstay of the forum.

However, back in Delphi when it wasn't possible to make this sort of change, there were posters who abused this. They set up lots of threads whereby they were just upping post counts by putting in lots of single word posts for the heck of it. And this was without the lure of rewards!

It seems that getting a high post count is always seen as desirable for some, regardless.

So that was part of the reason why Darren decided when we moved to vB to stop the OT folder from counting towards post counts. It was purely survivalist - that is to survive as a Stargate forum. Otherwise the entire forum would end up in the Off Topic folder because lets face it, OTers are way more fun and cooler than everyone else And then how could GateWorld call itself a Stargate forum?

So lets everyone remember that the reason this place is fun is because it is fun - we don't take things like rep points, post counts, etc seriously. We're here because we enjoy each other's company. Let's not lose sight of the fact that it is the people that matter not the other stuff.

[Stricken]

Jsut to say, I hope the MODs are having a good week as I am having one of the best EVER!!! Im not trying to suck up or anything

[sgatelvr]

I am almost afraid to bring this up, based on the past few pages of posts, but, I really would like to know ...

Are new Avatars of the new cast members going to be added? I'd like to have a Mitchell one, but there isn't one available. You can see by my post count that I am a very long way from creating my own. I, personally, don't think Mitchell should be "reward" Avatar, considering he is a regular cast member.

Any insight would be great! Thanks!

[Qasim]

Jsut to say, I hope the MODs are having a good week as I am having one of the best EVER!!! Im not trying to suck up or anything

If you want to suck up PM them

[Skydiver]

Hugs n' Love to the Mods!



Anyway, here is my question:

Obviously when people use the "Report Post" button to notify mods of big violations of forum rules I'm sure you don't mind, but should people use it for smaller violations as well? For example, if someone's sig violates forum rules, should we report it, even if it's not egregious, or is that too nit-picky?

Does it annoy you if/when we do it...honestly? Are you like "that gorram tattle-tale is at it again, he/she should leave the modding to us" or do you honestly appreciate it? I never know if I should or not if it's not a "big deal" while remaining to be a violation of policy.

in many ways, people using the report post is a good thing. We can't get into every single thread and read every single post. We try...but there are only so many hours in the day and lots of posts.

I surf on dialup at home, sometimes i don't even realize someone has a huge honkin sig because i've read the page before it all downloads. Someone pointing it out is appreciated because it brings it to our attention.

I can't guarantee we'll respond how you would like in every instance. for example, a sig may personally offend you, but as long as it doesn't break the rules, we're not going to mod that person over it.

And maybe you personally think a post is wrong and the mods don't.

however, it's not bad if it's brought to our attention. And we do appreciate it.

Now, it's not the place for personal grievances to be aired. Are you mad at Ted? Sorry to hear it, but as long as Ted doesn't break the rules, i'm not going to get on him/her and get involved

[Qasim]

Are you mad at Ted? Sorry to hear it, but as long as Ted doesn't break the rules, i'm not going to get on him/her and get involved

Is this a fictional example or is Ted a real poster?

[blingaway]

in many ways, people using the report post is a good thing. We can't get into every single thread and read every single post. We try...but there are only so many hours in the day and lots of posts.

Another forum I visit has many more mods, and a mod assigned to every thread that's current. Since GW has grown so large, has there been any backroom talk of adding more mods? It might make keeping the peace easier.