Heavy handed modding.

[Hissatsu]

Can we cut back a little on the heavy handed modding? I mean I know this is a new site and all but a lot of us came from TXB and In my 10 years at TXB I never felt so harassed by mods for just posting my opinion. This thread banning stuff is getting out of hand. I can't even go into a thread and share my opinion without getting thread banned. Well unless my opinion is positively glowing and all praise.


It's really frustrating to not even be able to post what I think if it's not 100% positive for fear of being banned. I don't have to deal with this on any other site I go to but for some reason I like posting here and would prefer not to be forced to leave because of trigger happy mods. I'm not attacking anyone, and I'm pretty sure I'm not breaking any rules by saying wether or not I think something sucks about a console.

It's like I have to live in fear unless I turn into TDbank and just post 100% bs positive stuff 24/7

 

[Plainview]

I'm not sure who thread banned you from the TV thread, I don't see other thread were you're banned, but there are three thread banned users other than yourself, Nervusbreakdown, Flynn and Intellivision. I think that doesn't lead credence to you thinking you have to be 100% positive.

 

[Andy]

Wasn't me. I did send out one warning about personal insults a while ago, but I haven't thread banned you.

My perception is that you tend to come off pretty aggressive in discussions (not always, but sometimes), so I think you need to take some personal responsibility for what happens to you and not make it sound like it's all about heavy handed mods.

Also, as I explained in that other thread where you made a similar comment, part of the reality is that some things have changed, and people are going to have to make some adjustments.

 

[illiniguy]

IMO, coming from a person who served as staff for more than 7 yrs at another site, the modding here seems to be nice and level. Not too heavy handed, but strong enough to make the point that if you step out of bounds, you will get redirected or removed from said forums.

I love the effectiveness and efficiency the staff show here. Staff always get the short stick though. Mod too much, you are heavy handed hate mongers... don't mod enough? then you are slackers who let the forums go to crap.

Truth is, staff are usually both at the same time in the eyes of the forum members, it just depends on who you ask when.

 

[wshowers]

Wasn't me either, I think, but the modding here is not heavy handed, IMO. Most of us pretty much allow you to say anything you want as long as you are not personally attacking someone, trolling or derailing a topic.

 

[Hissatsu]

Wasn't me. I did send out one warning about personal insults a while ago, but I haven't thread banned you.

My perception is that you tend to come off pretty aggressive in discussions (not always, but sometimes), so I think you need to take some personal responsibility for what happens to you and not make it sound like it's all about heavy handed mods.

Also, as I explained in that other thread where you made a similar comment, part of the reality is that some things have changed, and people are going to have to make some adjustments.

Which is pretty funny to me because I honestly don't try to come off as aggressive lol. I don't know why people get that from my text, but it's not the first time I've heard it.

It still sucks because I haven't broken any rules, I didn't atk anyone nor did I troll, and I was still thread banned. Matter of fact my post was basically me saying I thought the TV features were pretty stupid. My thread ban msg basically told me if I don't have anything nice to say then stay out of the thread. Which is why I mentioned the whole "100% positive" thing. The mod who banned me basically said as much...

It also seems like every interesting topic on the forums ends up getting locked which also sucks a lot. Granted I won't care at all when I get my hands on my ps4 and xb1, but it sure sucks now when I spend most of my time on this site, and there aren't any more juicy threads. ;(


Oh well, everyone gonna have an opinion, and I definitely think the modding is heavy handed. Especially in comparison to txb.

 

[Andy]

The modding here is definitely more active than at TXB. There are several reasons for that, including 1) ownership of the site by a genuinely nice guy who is not interested in having a forum that degenerates into the trainwreck that TXB often became; 2) more mods on duty; 3) mods being more invested rather than resigned, as they often were at TXB; 4) some new rules; 5) the fact that the mods have time to actually moderate discussion rather than spend all their time chasing down bots; and 6) it's console war season.

 

[BunzHoles]

I think "by something nice" they just mean "don't say things that aren't constructive."

If you have negative things to say there are ways to express them while still maintaining "being nice."

I think it's cool to have a forum with that level of moderation. I'm personally tired of endlessly snarky cynical "on topic" forums.

Think of it like you are typing a review on amazon.com. If you said "This product sucks, it's stupid" in a review you wouldn't be getting many "This review was helpful" markings.. if you posted information about why something sucks or is stupid on the other hand you could have just as negative of a review but have that review be considered helpful to people.

If you can't be arsed to put that much effort into a post.. well.. don't post.. or just say something more constructive.. for instance, you say you claimed TV features were "stupid".. can you really not think of a way to express that without just being insulting? "I have no use for those features".. "I don't want those features".. "I don't think those features were worth MS's investment",etc.,etc.,etc. It doesn't really take that much more effort to be slightly more constructive.

The reason to have such moderation? Well.. unfortunately people tend to have trouble responding to unconstructive posts very constructively.. so they often create a de-railing train of thought. The original non-constructive poster might not even return to a thread, yet a thread will be dominated by people pointlessly responding to their pointless remark.. so whether they even intended to troll or not you end up with a s*** thread.

 

[Andy]

Bunz makes some good points.

I also want to add one more factor to the list above, of reasons why Union is more actively moderated than TXB -- we have a "report" function. At TXB, you'd have to make a significant effort to report a post -- find a mod, PM him, send him a link to the thread and post, and explain what you were talking about ... and if you did it in the "report spam/etc thread," the offender would know you reported him, and there could be backlash. Here, it's just a simple, anonymous mouse click.

As a result, it is much easier for the community to police itself. We've been getting plenty of reports, too. So, a lot of what you're seeing is not mods going out of their way to "bring down the hammer," but rather, mods responding to complaints by the community.

Personally, I think that's a lot better setup than having a few mods responsible for all the monitoring. Here, a lot of the moderation happens by (or at least is initiated by) the members themselves.

 

[Hissatsu]

I think "by something nice" they just mean "don't say things that aren't constructive."

If you have negative things to say there are ways to express them while still maintaining "being nice."

I think it's cool to have a forum with that level of moderation. I'm personally tired of endlessly snarky cynical "on topic" forums.

Think of it like you are typing a review on amazon.com. If you said "This product sucks, it's stupid" in a review you wouldn't be getting many "This review was helpful" markings.. if you posted information about why something sucks or is stupid on the other hand you could have just as negative of a review but have that review be considered helpful to people.

If you can't be arsed to put that much effort into a post.. well.. don't post.. or just say something more constructive.. for instance, you say you claimed TV features were "stupid".. can you really not think of a way to express that without just being insulting? "I have no use for those features".. "I don't want those features".. "I don't think those features were worth MS's investment",etc.,etc.,etc. It doesn't really take that much more effort to be slightly more constructive.

The reason to have such moderation? Well.. unfortunately people tend to have trouble responding to unconstructive posts very constructively.. so they often create a de-railing train of thought. The original non-constructive poster might not even return to a thread, yet a thread will be dominated by people pointlessly responding to their pointless remark.. so whether they even intended to troll or not you end up with a s*** thread.

I just wanted to clarify that I didn't just say it was stupid. While I don't remember exactly what I put word for word there was a little more to it than that lol. I get your point though. I guess being here is more like being at work then it is being around a bunch of cool friends.


I still don't believe I deserved a thread ban. I did not break any rules, and it's a bit insulting that I get to watch Microsofts tv interface video with the guy basically treating us all like dumb monkeys as he tries to sell us on stuff we really have no need for. Then I get to not comment on it because apparently I didn't do it right. >.>

 

[blue]

Sounds like Hissatu is asking for a thread ban.

 

[Kvally]

Seems like threads are getting closed frequently. Not sure if it is a good or bad thing to close them for a cool down period, or maybe they should cool down the posters that are derailing the thread.

It's kinda frustrating when I read posts, then try to reply, and there is no reply button cuz the threads are getting closed.

But it's not a big deal to me, so long as the site stays as awesome as it is.

 

[illiniguy]

As you know Soldier, I have no problem closing threads... I did it all the time at PSU. Sometimes, you just see a thread as "dead" or whatnot. I have no issue with closings, as I know they are done for what is seen as the betterment of the site

 

[Z A C K]

I have agreed with all of the thread closings that I've seen. Some threads just get to the point of no return.

 

[Kvally]

I have agreed with all of the thread closings that I've seen. Some threads just get to the point of no return.

Well, they needed closings become someone(s) chose to make it go in that direction, while there are many others who prefer to stay on topic and not freak out and fight/argue. Take out the "someone(s)" out of the equation, and it's all good.

 

[A7]

Regardless of popular worldly opinion, we as people need rules and regulations, it's no different here.

I've already been asked to not discuss certain particulars (let's leave it at that) and I have every intent to keep as many people happy as possible.

No one should take offense if they've been asked to comply with something or if they stepped out of line and were warned.

Move on, post within the boundaries and have fun...

 

[Hissatsu]

Seems like threads are getting closed frequently. Not sure if it is a good or bad thing to close them for a cool down period, or maybe they should cool down the posters that are derailing the thread.

It's kinda frustrating when I read posts, then try to reply, and there is no reply button cuz the threads are getting closed.

But it's not a big deal to me, so long as the site stays as awesome as it is.

I'm a firm believer that drama makes things interesting lol. Every time one of those juicy threads get closed the activity on the forums drops down considerably. It becomes boring.

Just like I think there was no legit reason for closing the tickle fight thread. It was made for a purpose and then it gets closed because it was doing it's job? even the BF4 thread shouldn't have been closed. What is wrong with people debating stuff and discussing things? no one was trolling or attacking people. It was nice heated discussion and I for one was enjoying it.