NationStates Jolt Archive

NSG is a good balance of moderation and free speech. They are quite lenient. If the mods wanted to be unreasonable, nothing is stopping them. But you know what, they are quite fair. Some times too much when the rest of us are calling for a troll's blood.

Perhaps instead of viewing the mods as a group of tyrants, we should view them as our law and order force. They are not there to make our lives miserable. Those who claim this have brought it on themselves through negative actions.

In the real world, we have a police force to keep us from killing each other. The police force is there to protect and serve. They protect us from those who don't want to play nice and serve by bringing justice to those who have been wronged. The mods do the same thing.

I am frankly getting tired of the threads that whine about mod bias.

We know the mods aren't perfect and they may hold their own biases but at least there is some form of law and order. It allows for us to be civil. It makes our gathering point a sanctuary where we can debate topics while not having to worry terribly about fanatics and their lighters coming in to set everything on fire because they either completely disagree or they are so much in favour that they actually hurt their cause by acting like an asshole.

If someone wants a forum that doesn't have the same "strict" moderator control, they can go to the door. We're not stopping you from leaving. Just because you don't like it doesn't meant that everyone else feels the same way. If we did, this forum would have likely died a long time ago.

And here, a diagram.

YOU + DOOR = Bye bye. Simply, eh?

http://weaselhut.net/door.PNG

seconded,

LOL at the picture. :D

I would rather think of the Mods as my friends.

Friends with powers and with responsiblities.

Friends who make sure people play nice.

Friends who take all sorts of crap from rule breakers.



Friends who do all this without getting paid.

Weak.

The last time a cop helped me was... never?

I had respect for pigs, er, cops up until recently.

Now I pretty much hate them, and wouldn't trust them to use a microwave oven.

I guess you'd be suprised at how civilized us UMPers are. No mods, and we have yet to handle a problem that we can't handle on our own.

I would rather think of the Mods as my friends.

Friends with powers and with responsiblities.

Friends who make sure people play nice.

Friends who take all sorts of crap from rule breakers.



Friends who do all this without getting paid.

That is another good way of putting it. :) I like how you think.

seconded,

LOL at the picture. :D

Thanks. 5 minutes and paint. Anyone can be an artist!

Weak.

The last time a cop helped me was... never?

I had respect for pigs, er, cops up until recently.

Now I pretty much hate them, and wouldn't trust them to use a microwave oven.

I guess you'd be suprised at how civilized us UMPers are. No mods, and we have yet to handle a problem that we can't handle on our own.

But aren't they mostly NSG'ers anyway, people who do know each other? I'm not saying that such a place is not possible, but my contention is that if someone doesn't like the rules then there is no one stopping them from using the door to leave. They are free to do so.

Yup, being a mod is a thankless job, doing lots of things, only to get accusations in return.

I think of the mods as people with big sticks. If you get out of line, they smack you with the stick.

Weak.

The last time a cop helped me was... never?

I had respect for pigs, er, cops up until recently.

Now I pretty much hate them, and wouldn't trust them to use a microwave oven.

I guess you'd be suprised at how civilized us UMPers are. No mods, and we have yet to handle a problem that we can't handle on our own.

not that i know what an UMPer is but most people really cant handle things themselves. the vast majority of true free speech sites that leave people to handle things on their own (which is as easy as ignoring the assholes) die from the constant animosity.

a site that wants to make sure they exist a year from now as a great place to discuss controversial topics must have well spelled out rules and moderators to enforce them.

this site does a reasonably good job at that.

I think of the mods as people with big sticks. If you get out of line, they smack you with the stick.

*hides her Mod Stick*

Ummmmmm, what? :D

What was that rap song?

"Kill da powleese"?

Yeah, that one.

Yup, being a mod is a thankless job, doing lots of things, only to get accusations in return.
So true. On a forum I used to moderate (did it for two years) there were about 20 mods on staff, and all of us knew each other. Since the community didn't give a shit, we'd all congratulate each other, tell them good job on dealing with the flamers, stuff like that. There was no politics for a long time since we were all doing the job.

Well, I ended up resigning once there we modolitics. It was frustrating. I now just troll the site as a grumpy ex-mod, always having a sarcastic opinion on EVERYTHING. Isn't it interesting how personalities change depending on what site you go to?

I think of the mods as people with big sticks. If you get out of line, they smack you with the stick.
And sometimes when you do something really bad the stick breaks your ability to post... forever. Like causing quadriplegia.

Weak.

The last time a cop helped me was... never?

I had respect for pigs, er, cops up until recently.

Now I pretty much hate them, and wouldn't trust them to use a microwave oven.

I guess you'd be suprised at how civilized us UMPers are. No mods, and we have yet to handle a problem that we can't handle on our own.

I agree with everything this man says.

I think most of the mods are perverts. I've been told that they are all physically deformed in some way. Many of them live in caves or bell towers and live on insects, rodents and bats. All of them practice some sort of black magic satanic religion. The few people that have seen a mod in RL report that there was something reptillian about them. They all covertly support the policies of the Bush administration and are soldiers in various new world order secret societies.

*sacrifices Gartref to our evil reptilian overlords*

I think most of the mods are perverts. I've been told that they are all physically deformed in some way. Many of them live in caves or bell towers and live on insects, rodents and bats. All of them practice some sort of black magic satanic religion. The few people that have seen a mod in RL report that there was something reptillian about them. They all covertly support the policies of the Bush administration and are soldiers in various new world order secret societies.

Mods are just people. Ordinary people who were exposed to huge doses of Moderatium. They mutated horribly and, scorned by society, fled to the internet. There they discovered that on certain sites they had powers, powers to ban and to delete. Some swore to use their powers only for good, while others abuse their powers for their own amusement. They are....THE MODERATORS.
*cheesy theme song*

And btw, they should ban these type of threads. They come out every other month, only to have mod to player circle jerk. Lets have a topic with real debate, and no arse kissing.

Should we also ban the ones criticizing us?

And btw, they should ban these type of threads. They come out every other month, only to have mod to player circle jerk. Lets have a topic with real debate, and no arse kissing.

Mods are just people. Ordinary people who were exposed to huge doses of Moderatium. They mutated horribly and, scorned by society, fled to the internet. There they discovered that on certain sites they had powers, powers to ban and to delete. Some swore to use their powers only for good, while others abuse their powers for their own amusement. They are....THE MODERATORS.
*cheesy theme song*

Yay! :D

Should we also ban the ones criticizing us?

Perhaps mods shouldn't be discussed in general. Maybe if some one has beef or praise for a mod, they can go to the moderation forum, or send a TG or something.

Perhaps mods shouldn't be discussed in general. Maybe if some one has beef or praise for a mod, they can go to the moderation forum, or send a TG or something.

I don't know. Since pretty much these complaint/compliment threads have to do with how the General forum in particular is moderated, I don't see why either type of thread should be moved away from General, or why one position may seem to be worthy of discussion while the flip side is worthy of deletion.

Perhaps mods shouldn't be discussed in general. Maybe if some one has beef or praise for a mod, they can go to the moderation forum, or send a TG or something.

Perhaps. If it were in regards to specific acts of moderation, I would definitely agree with you. but in a broader context? I don't know. *shrug* It's a gray area.

*hides her Mod Stick*

Ummmmmm, what? :D

Psst... the whips... hide the whips too!

Not all mods use sticks you know...

And btw, they should ban these type of threads. They come out every other month, only to have mod to player circle jerk. Lets have a topic with real debate, and no arse kissing.

I felt that this was warranted since my statement didn't have a place in the other thread. Further, if you want a real debate, you could just as easily ignored this thread and gone over to a more "debate likely" thread.

And btw, they should ban these type of threads. They come out every other month, only to have mod to player circle jerk. Lets have a topic with real debate, and no arse kissing.

you wanna debate something... fine.

let's debate Kat's use of her Modly time warping ability to reply to posts before they're posted. :D

you wanna debate something... fine.

let's debate Kat's use of her Modly time warping ability to reply to posts before they're posted. :D

It happens because Mod powers are just that great. We don't need to know why. It just as it is and nothing more. :) And those of us who have been able to post like have have been briefly blessed. ;)

Oh yeah, they're all great.. :rolleyes:

I agree with everything this man says.

This ... from a nark?
:confused:

This ... from a nark?
:confused:

that's Narc...



if you mean Narcotics Officer...

Psst... the whips... hide the whips too!

Not all mods use sticks you know...

what about the pointy things she has to

that's Narc...



if you mean Narcotics Officer...

Erm, no.
I mean w/a k.
:)

This must all have to do with that drunk commie guy that caused so much trouble... what was his name...? :p

Erm, no.
I mean w/a k.
:)

oh... carry on then... :cool:

what about the pointy things she has to

... you can try to convince her to hide those... :p

This must all have to do with that drunk commie that caused so much trouble... what was his name...?

...Corneliu?

No, you mean FreedomAndGlory, right?

I don't have any problems with the mods on NSG. (Well, I've been suspended from posting once or twice, but in retrospect, it was a fair cop).

Mostly I think they do a really thankless job, and do it very well.

So thumbs up mods and keep up the good work, &c.

...Corneliu?

No, you mean FreedomAndGlory, right?

Well FAG... I mean F&G... certainly was a part of it but when I said "drunk commie" i was referencing a posters name in a joking manner. I suppose I wasn't clear enough.

I bet FreedomAndGlory is gone by now though, haven't been on here much in the past month so I'm not up to date...

... you can try to convince her to hide those... :p

huh two meanings lol

for that one no why would i :p

for the shape pointy ones, hey if i can't put my AK-47 bayonet away so poeple as well as me don't sit on it ,how i'am going to make her hides hers

Well FAG... I mean F&G... certainly was a part of it but when I said "drunk commie" i was referencing a posters name in a joking manner. I suppose I wasn't clear enough.
Oh, gotcha ... you mean Eutrusca! :p

I bet FreedomAndGlory is gone by now though, haven't been on here much in the past month so I'm not up to date...Names may change ... you know how that goes.

huh two meanings lol

for that one no why would i :p

for the shape pointy ones, hey if i can't put my AK-47 bayonet away so poeple as well as me don't sit on it ,how i'am going to make her hides hers

what was that old MONKEES episode...
"Abdul... put your knife back in it's sheath"
*Abdul puts knife in his jacket... pauses*
"Mufasa... I don't have a sheath."
*both look in Abdul's jacket*
"you do now..."

what was that old MONKEES episode...
"Abdul... put your knife back in it's sheath"
*Abdul puts knife in his jacket... pauses*
"Mufasa... I don't have a sheath."
*both look in Abdul's jacket*
"you do now..."

So LaDame was on drunk tonight! :eek:
http://www.websmileys.com/sm/crazy/265.gif

Oh, gotcha ... you mean Eutrusca! :p

Now, now. No need to act like that. :D

Eutrusca I admit I miss. The old bastard was fun to have around even if he annoyed me from time to time.

Names may change ... you know how that goes.

I most certainly do. And if he has an incarnation of his former self, I await meeting him again. Though he'll probably ignore responses debunking what he says like always...

And if he has an incarnation of his former self, I await meeting him again. Though he'll probably ignore responses debunking what he says like always...
The trick is to note the "bike-riding", the "bikini", or the "trout", not necessarily in that order, and not necessarily independent of each other. *nods*

what was that old MONKEES episode...
"Abdul... put your knife back in it's sheath"
*Abdul puts knife in his jacket... pauses*
"Mufasa... I don't have a sheath."
*both look in Abdul's jacket*
"you do now..."
miss that show
hey got it for $80 with out one and that cheap when you do find one for sell
So LaDame was on drunk tonight! :eek:
http://www.websmileys.com/sm/crazy/265.gif

so it looks like

I am beyond grateful this forum has such talented mods. I was a lurker for almost two years before creating a nation to post on the forums, and I have always been very impressed by the professionalism from this team. They do their jobs without being jerks about it; they have earned my respect through their fair decisions and lack of favoritism.
Thanks!
(Not trying to kiss up, just stating my opinion.)

*hides her Mod Stick*

Ummmmmm, what? :D

Lolz.

Sure

but the people have to police the police!

Sure

but the people have to police the police!

But then who polices the people who police the police?*

I am getting dizzy just thinking about it.






*The answer, obviously, is Max.

Sure

but the people have to police the police!

Are you suggesting they wouldn't competantly police themselves? :eek:


How can we distrust Plato on this matter? :(

Sure

but the people have to police the police!


Every breath you take...
Every move you make...
Every bond you break...
Every step you take...
I'll be watching you...

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/Katganistan/watchmen_rollcall.jpg

Every breath you take...
Every move you make...
Every bond you break...
Every step you take...
I'll be watching you...


Stalker. :p

Sure

but the people have to police the police!

Very true. Occasionally, a Mod steps out of line and has to have a ruling overturned or changed. Apologies are issued if warranted.

I'm more than happy to change a ruling if I've been unfair, or work to get a more fair ruling. I make mistakes and I know it.

It helps when posters point these things out.

Sadly, most people would rather whine than make a legitimate critique of Mod actions. I'm not sure why. It just makes the whole process more frustrating for everyone.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?



What? Custodians? Hmmm?

You get SUPERHEROS to be janitors in your clubhouse? Cool! I wanna be a mod!!!

I think most of the mods are perverts. I've been told that they are all physically deformed in some way. Many of them live in caves or bell towers and live on insects, rodents and bats. All of them practice some sort of black magic satanic religion. The few people that have seen a mod in RL report that there was something reptillian about them. They all covertly support the policies of the Bush administration and are soldiers in various new world order secret societies.

Oh, in other words, if somebody is physically deformed that makes him/her a pervert? :confused:

*sacrifices Gartref to our evil reptilian overlords*

ROFL :D :D :D :D

I am beyond grateful this forum has such talented mods. I was a lurker for almost two years before creating a nation to post on the forums, and I have always been very impressed by the professionalism from this team. They do their jobs without being jerks about it; they have earned my respect through their fair decisions and lack of favoritism.
Thanks!
(Not trying to kiss up, just stating my opinion.)

Not trying to kiss up, eh? Take THIS! (*smacks you in the face with a club like Katganistan's*) :p
But then who polices the people who police the police?*

I am getting dizzy just thinking about it.






*The answer, obviously, is Max.

(*Notices "The answer, obviously, is Max." in your post; makes mental note to click-and-drag over big white spaces next time *)
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/Katganistan/watchmen_rollcall.jpg

(*clicks on your link*)

LOL :D

Would you mind translating that into English, please?

(*cowers in mock horror as if expecting to be hit with your stick*) :p

Are you suggesting they wouldn't competantly police themselves? :eek:


How can we distrust Plato on this matter? :(

He was nothing but putty in my hands...
I would trust nothing you read from him from now on.

Oh, in other words, if somebody is physically deformed that makes him/her a pervert? :confused:


No. They were two descriptive statements that were unrelated. One was not the cause or symptom of the other.

Awww. You realise you have created an awful ethical conflict here?

I tried to reply seriously to this. But my reply was still spammy. (Actually, it was a chorus from HMS Pinafore, suitably mod-ified.)

If a thread is getting spammy I should close it.

So I shouldn't reply ...

Damn you, General, yet another mod-entangling web!

*Deep breath*

If you want to have images of mods as coppers, fine. I would like to be the newly joined up one who is assigned to walk the beat with a hardened, cynical one who is due to retire, and by the end of the day ends up hardened and cynical too, having seen the would-be retiree shot by a criminal who will be able to buy his way out of any charge with an expensive lawyer (and who, preferably, is someone whom the retiree had believed he had rescued from a life of crime by teaching him boxing, but had, in fact, opened him to corruption via evil match-fixing gamblers).

Honest, it'd be much easier to think of us as the nerdy kid who gets lumbered with chairing a class debate on Parents' Day.

If you want to have images of mods as coppers, fine. I would like to be the blah blah cry me a river why don't you blah blah world's smallest violin blah blah woe is me blah blah...

It would be an idea to take away the personality of Moderators and have one account - The Vast Moderator Conspiracy - that simply provides terse replies to all queries and complaints.

Not only would legends grow as to who/what/why the Moderator is, it would lessen any personal grudges anyone might have for whatever lame reason they conjure up against whichever Mod ruled against them 42 years ago on a grammatical point.

I can understand why God would choose not to reveal himself, close all avenues of complaint and generally remain mysterious.

It would allow moderators to have more leeway in shaping debates and adding their thoughts to either gameplay or general without resorting to 50 billion puppets a la HotRodia.

If you want to have images of mods as coppers, fine. I would like to be the blah blah cry me a river why don't youblah blah world's smallest violin blah blah woe is me blah blah...

Ma-a-ate, you misunderstood (serves me right for having a dose of the metaphoricals).

It should read more like "blah blah blah stereotype blah blah blah cliche", because that's got as many standard cop-show scenarios as I could pack in.

The reason I did that was, if you go for the "mods as cops" image, you get all the other stereotypes -- the mods as valiant defenders of the law against a world full of skullduggery, or the posters as gallant, colourful rebels laughing at the thickness of the rule-bound paper-shufflers.

If you look at mods as the kid who was quietly writing the next great novel under the desk in the middle of maths class, until the teacher went out of the room and tossed over one shoulder, "You're in charge until I get back, X," you get less of that instant let's-butt-heads thing. It's more, "Guys, puh-leeez!" and knowing you're the one who'll be answerable for whatever's going on when Teech gets back. (Not that Max is Teech, but I can only drag this notion so far.)

I love your idea of the one-account Vast Mod Conspiracy, though I think I'd be a lot ruder if I didn't have to put my name to it. But since the rest of the mod team are much nobler and more moral than I am, you'd probably guess it was me anyway.

(Which you may not when RPing with a modly puppet; you've gotta let us have some fun.)

Would you mind translating that into English, please?

(*cowers in mock horror as if expecting to be hit with your stick*) :p

Who Watches The Watchmen?

(an EXCELLENT mini-series/graphic novel, BTW.)

It would be an idea to take away the personality of Moderators and have one account - The Vast Moderator Conspiracy - that simply provides terse replies to all queries and complaints.

Not only would legends grow as to who/what/why the Moderator is, it would lessen any personal grudges anyone might have for whatever lame reason they conjure up against whichever Mod ruled against them 42 years ago on a grammatical point.

I can understand why God would choose not to reveal himself, close all avenues of complaint and generally remain mysterious.

It would allow moderators to have more leeway in shaping debates and adding their thoughts to either gameplay or general without resorting to 50 billion puppets a la HotRodia.
Interesting idea. the problem tho, would be accountability.

Nation: "Uber Mod locked my thread due to spam, yet it wasn't spam, except for a few posts, it had a very serious discussion going on. can I request that the thread be unlocked and only the offending posts deated?"
Uber Mod: "I didn't lock it. but it will be reviewed."
Uber Mod: "I didn't lock it either, we'll wait for the mod in question to ID him/herself."
Uber Mod: "sorry, it wasn't me."
Uber Mod: "I was reviewing it, but someone else locked it."

then there is "who's supposed to tend to the Nation of "Uber Mod"?

"Uber Mod has been removed due to inactivity... who was supposed to keep it running."
"Myrth."
"But Myrth left like... a couple of months ago... oh... er... "

The reason I did that was, if you go for the "mods as cops" image, you get all the other stereotypes -- the mods as valiant defenders of the law against a world full of skullduggery, or the posters as gallant, colourful rebels laughing at the thickness of the rule-bound paper-shufflers.

now I got a pic of all the mods hanging out at the local Cyber Doughnut shoppe... :p

Very true. Occasionally, a Mod steps out of line and has to have a ruling overturned or changed. Apologies are issued if warranted.

I'm more than happy to change a ruling if I've been unfair, or work to get a more fair ruling. I make mistakes and I know it.

It helps when posters point these things out.

Sadly, most people would rather whine than make a legitimate critique of Mod actions. I'm not sure why. It just makes the whole process more frustrating for everyone.


Hey, harassing the mods is a tried and true NSG tradition. ;)

You should make a game out of it and create a sticky, 'The Wall Of Mod Bias' and put up some of the best ridiculous accusations. There was a pretty sweet thread closed today that seemed pretty worthy of something like that.

As has been pointed out though, this isn't a democracy, it's a benevolent dictatorship, so the cries of mod bias don't have to be taken too heart if the mods don't want to listen.

When is someone claiming mod bias and presenting what they might think is legitimate case not considered whining though?

I'm not saying you guys are generally unfair at all, so don't get me wrong. It's just that it really doesn't matter much if we agree or disagree, because like the OP says, 'there's the door'. So harassing the mods is kinda the only way to take out our aggressions on our lack of power :D:p

now I got a pic of all the mods hanging out at the local Cyber Doughnut shoppe... :p

The Strangers Bar has long had a policy of giving free doughnuts to all mods in uniform.

Why d'you think I don't use my avatar there? Have you ever tried a Strangers Bar doughnut?

The Strangers Bar has long had a policy of giving free doughnuts to all mods in uniform.

Why d'you think I don't use my avatar there? Have you ever tried a Strangers Bar doughnut?

deadly ?