Rage Against the MODchine

TheBig3 · 05-24-2011, 08:23 AM

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!

Burning Down · 05-24-2011, 08:29 AM

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

Paedantic Basterd · 05-24-2011, 10:23 AM

Thanks Big3.

~~James~~ · 05-24-2011, 10:25 AM

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

~~Farfisa~~ · 05-24-2011, 10:55 AM

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.

**Janszoon** · 05-24-2011, 11:09 AM

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

~~Farfisa~~ · 05-24-2011, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

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

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

**Janszoon** · 05-24-2011, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loose_lips_sink_ships

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?

duga · 05-24-2011, 11:16 AM

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.

djchameleon · 05-24-2011, 11:19 AM

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

05-24-2011, 08:23 AM	#1 (permalink)
TheBig3 killedmyraindog Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Posts: 11,172	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! __________________ I've moved to a new address

05-24-2011, 11:09 AM	#6 (permalink)
Janszoon Mate, Spawn & Die Join Date: May 2007 Location: The Rapping Community Posts: 24,593	I'm confused about what constitutes the "old team" anyway. __________________ A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man Time & Place 25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die last.fm

05-24-2011, 11:16 AM	#9 (permalink)
duga MB quadrant's JM Vincent Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 3,762	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. __________________ Confusion will be my epitaph...

05-24-2011, 08:29 AM	#2 (permalink)
Burning Down The Music Guru. Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Beyond the Wall Posts: 4,858	This is a great post, and everyone needs to read it. Right now.

05-24-2011, 10:23 AM	#3 (permalink)
Paedantic Basterd Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 5,184	Thanks Big3.

05-24-2011, 10:25 AM	#4 (permalink)
~~James~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Scotland Posts: 4,483	I'm a teenager and I think the mods are great.....ageist!

05-24-2011, 10:55 AM	#5 (permalink)
~~Farfisa~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 2,773	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.