Rage Against the MODchine
 

Suggestions for a more civilized future at MB...

Occasionally, it will occur to someone that the Mods have a great deal of power on these forums and that they aren’t using it in the most judicious fashion possible. It should be noted that this isn’t inherently fact; this is just someone’s opinion. Since most of the users on here are teenagers their first inclination is to bitch about it; Teenagers have traditionally employed this method with a great deal of success in the suburbs where parents are generally spine-free and so it’s only natural to fall back on the pattern of successful strategies of the past – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

But as you may have seen in previous fights, the “debate” usually only ends when someone is either banned, or their level of paranoia fades. To make life a little less rocky for everyone, I’m going to present my 2 cents on how to deal with the mods called:

Rationality in the time of Internet; Or how I stopped being infantile and learned to love the bomb.

First things first: Communication. You’re probably bitching about the mods not telling you why someone was banned, or what your favorite friend (read: troll) got an infraction for. You do hours of research, arguments generally sound like “Person X was banned for A, but Person Y was not banned for A, wtf?” Before we go on, its not so cut and dry. Person X is a ****, and no one likes them. First lesson of life, no one likes a **** and people who aren’t ****s usually get what we call “breaks.” The word break means “Break from the rules (because you’re not a ****)” We’re aware its “unfair” but in all fairness, no one likes a ****, and Person X never thought about our feelings when they engaged in ****-like activity so we’re not going to consider their feelings when they’re struck by the ban-hammer in the left eye.

But maybe this time the argument is a just one (though that’s improbable). The first thing you should do is communicate your problem. Not illustrate the disparity. Life isn’t fair and the mods aren’t robots. It’s a classroom-theory only that law will create equality.

If we’re being honest with ourselves, when we complain about an unjust ruling we’re really looking out for our own hides. Does anyone really care about Person X? No. First of all, they’re a ****, and secondly, all he really does is post funny demotivational posters. I have google, **** person X. So when communicating this fear, suggest a situation where the area might be grayer than usual and say “what would happen here?”
Its best to present this as if we’re clarifying a rule, not saying “well how far can I go before I get banned?” Clarifying rules is a great exercise for the community because it allows everyone to participate, lets the Mods know what the prevailing opinion is, and lets everyone reestablish the lines.

The second thing you should try to do is get the facts. That can be hard because often posts are deleted and the person is banned, but asking in the shoutbox is always a good start. People don’t troll themselves and Mods aren’t generally in the business of saying things like “lawl, honkey got pwned cause he’s a dick!” Try to get the users side of the story. At that point, if you’re not ready to create a rule-clarifying post, PM a mod. Its seen as less of a dick-head move and with this new level of respect you’ve garnered, you might get more answers than you would have otherwise. A good way to start the PM is:

“Hey, I heard that Person X was banned for doing A. Is that the real story?” You know which mods are most social, ask those mods first.

Understanding the Mod Cave.

The only people not discussed in the Mod cave are out and out spammers. The reason is because there’s no deliberation required. For everyone else, you are discussed 9 times out of 10 before action happens. The 10th time is when you’ve been told upteen times to stop doing A. At that point they will just ban your ass.

But overall Mods don’t tend to flip out. Boo Boo flipped out once, most likely due to mental instability, and he was dealt with. All actions were reversed. Boo Boo to this date remains our only Satan. He was the only Mod I can recall who became corrupted with power, lost his mind, then actually lost his power. For most of the guys down there in the cave now, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of them flip out. So calm down.

Everything’s debated to the point of not giving a **** anymore. There are some mods who never run out of second chances to give, some mods who never had a 2nd chance in the first place, and some mods who are a little more even handed about things. The universe defaults to balance. So does the mod cave.

Finally, and if I can steal a line from Jay-Z here, “Get back to rap, you T-Pain’n too much.” That’s supposed to be a quote used for feel, not direct information. Some people here get too caught up in the Lounge. Go post in the music forums for awhile. Or better yet, log off of MB for awhile. Or just get out of your house. This site isn’t that serious. I understand that you can want to punch a user in the throat repeatedly. I probably feel that way about you. But the sad reality is, we don’t know where these people (you) live. So I can’t blow a grand on slapping the **** out of a whiney 15 year old internet troll as much as I’d ****ing love to and would give up all my Christmas presents to do so.

I hope you found this post informative. A lot of good information was woven into what I tried to make mildly humorous. Now get back to the Bitch Box. You’ve been reading this for way too long and no ones heard about how miserable your life is for the last 3 minutes. Run!

This is a great post, and everyone needs to read it. Right now.

:laughing:

Thanks Big3.

I'm a teenager and I think the mods are great.....ageist!

Ha! I really don't know why people don't like this mod team, granted I miss the old one, but that's more of a "I DON'T LIKE CHANGE!" sort of thing. And yes, people need to get out of the lounge and post more about music. I always end up making a post in a thread or making a thread itself and it gets a few responses at best. I came here for the music, maaaaaan.

I'm confused about what constitutes the "old team" anyway.

Ethan, Right-Track, Jackhammer, Urban, and of course Big3.

So I'm not part of the old team, even though I've been a mod here the entire time half the people talking about this have been members?

Great post.

I have one thing to add. Some people like to push our buttons. A few members (I won't mention any names...) like to see just what it would take to get banned. As regular members you see one side of them (after all...posts get deleted, things are lost in the the shoutbox abyss, and many things happen over PM). Some of you may be surprised to see exactly what goes down before a decision to ban has been made. Then the only explanation that is fair to both sides is "he or she broke the rules". That's where the confusion comes in.

Great post representing the Mods perspective but does little for the members side of the coin.

Duga, I would say members have more reason to trust us when it comes to the example you've given, because what reason could we possibly conceive to ban someone who appears to be pleasant, other than they flew off the chain?

So, get on it then.

I've always considered you part of the "old team".


Because you're old :D

Actually, I just told the members how to get their goals met in a much easier fashion. If anything, I should write a post on how the Mod's should address members.

But since I'm not an arrogant ass face I don't think I'll do that. Beside, my policy positions would generally be reviled by the member base.

What are you talking about? From my understand you, and Dirty are the only ones that have a beef with the way the mod team handles things. I don't understand what the problem is, honestly.

From my understanding 99% of the members are fine with the mods, correct me if I'm wrong.

Write a post about that issue then. Hop to it!

Pretty sure ethan stopped before jackhammer came on board

and big3 was a lame mod

And why was that?

Uh...i don't remember really,

I didn't plan on you responding to that

:laughing:

delightful.

If one considers the source, this is comparable to ****ing a super model in an elevator in passing.

You just took your role very seriously and didn't have a pleasant attitude when i was an advice-seeking mod >: [

so there

/4 year grudge

Only Dirty and I have voiced our slight concerns while the others just hide in the shadows but that's fine.

Maybe they don't want to speak up and that's okay.

You were a mod? I never knew!

Well, this thread I believe was created to create an open forum. Unless people are terrified this will put a target on their chest which is silly, might as well get it out of them.

Pretty much every member with a multi-year history has been one, except djchameleon

What advice did you seek from me? And with all the genial mods we had then, you chose me? I don't know what to tell you man, I make no secret about my attitude. My expectations are unfairly high.

Good initial post Big3. Most of it was simply pointing out the obvious, which seems to get overlooked all to often. Sometimes the simplest answer is the right one.


Not everyone. I'm one of the most tenured members here and have never even gotten mentioned in the same breath as modding. I'm not bothered by it, but it does irk me a slight bit when someone who has been here for a year or so gets modded simply because they choose to play the game.

No one "plays the game". If you have an interest in modding you'll be considered. Your chances depend on the quality of your posts and your attitude.

It's really that simple.

Weren't you also gone for a really long time and have only been back for a couple months though?

He was.

Modding ends up becoming a drain on the soul no matter how you slice it. The 1-year Mods do irk me. But what are you going to do.

Also, Matios - werent you the guy who tried to pretend you were black then turns out you've been a white kid since birth? Who was that?

It is most definitely necessary to "play the game" if you want to get modded. You have to befriend the current mods, do some ass kissing, and then campaign to them for it. This is the usual path to becoming a mod (nowadays anyhow).

Not to seem condescending, but I have seen 7 years worth of mods come and go. Some good, some not so good (not saying that I could do any better). I'm not trying to say that my opinion is any more valid than anyone else's, but some of us members have gone through and seen more happen on MB than the rest of you combined, regardless of our post quality or quantity. No amount of posting can take the place of experience.

And I don't want to come off sounding bitter or jealous that I have never been a mod, because I can honestly say that is not the case. Just stating my opinion, however relavent or irrelevant it may be.

He's a guy!!!

Quotes help you not sound crazy.

Indeed Brennan. (pay attention old chap)

Also, your opening post is impressive, yet fatally flawed.

I've been here since the fall of 2007, which is no 2004, but still I've also seen many mods come and go. The difference between us is I've seen inside the process, since I've become a mod myself. I can definitely say no amount of ass kissing or friend making takes the place of meeting qualifications. A good example of this is Pedestrian, who does excellent work with the mod team. Her mouth has never come near to a single mod ass and she was chosen purely because she'd make a good fit.

Your perspective changes a lot once you're inside and see how everything works.

If that truely was the case I would have been modded years ago.

This place has changed like night and day since I joined. When I was starting out, everyone got to know each other quite well and the mods were more like regular members than forum police. There wasn't a hierarchy (written or unwritten) between members, we were all equals, regardless of title. I realize that the forum has grown by leaps and bounds since then, and I'm sure the load that is placed upon the shoulders of the mods has increased substantially (no offense to Vanilla regarding the size or placement of her preferred loads :O)

It just seems to me that sometimes being a mod tends to bring out the worst in people. How do you think the forum would change if the members didn't know who the mods were? If they had no clue who had the power of the banhammer? I think everyone would tend to treat everyone more equally.

I didn't play any game.

In fact when I was made a mod it came totally out of the blue & I wasn't expecting it. especially as 3 of the current mods at that time hated my guts.

I can recall plenty of people being modded because they held strong opinions & weren't afraid of confrontation, rather than because they were nice people or been here a long time.

In fact I think most of the worst mods we've had here were made mods because people felt 'it was time they were given a go' rather than because they could do the job.

Can anyone else picture Brennan with tea and biscuits as he discusses our lack of civility?

Oojay, I've got some huge loads thank you! :laughing:

I don't think there's a significant imbalance now. I think there are a few cliques that pop up here and there but overall I get the feeling that there's no hierarchy and everyone generally treats each other with respect.

I won't go into it because you are right that you have experience on your side, so you probably know more than I about that.

But one thing I'd like to point out is that mods don't just go around looking to bust people. We're basically regular members who have the power to clean up spam when we see it, and occasionally have to deal with idiots who ruin the forum for every one else. That and brainstorming ideas about improving the forum are the only things that make us different from regular posters. We're not above the rules of the forum either.