NationStates Jolt Archive


sorry to bother you

Urgench
11-07-2008, 01:39
Hi i'm very nervous of posting here and hope i'm not braking any rules by doing so, but i felt i had to say something about some moderation i received in the w.a. forum in a thread about free education from Frisbeeteria.

Frisbeeteria was naturaly correct in every way in pointing out how wrong i was about certain legalities and that really i shouldn't have made any comment on such things especially in light of other recent mistakes of a similar nature which Frisbeeteria had had to make me aware of.

I was somewhat upset that Frisbeeteria accused me of "idly tossing" such comments around, and yes i'm aware how whinging i sound right now but still,
i didn't "idly toss around" these comments at all. I meant them in ernest despite how incorrect they were, and i would always offer others the basic respect of believing that they had sincere reasons for making their mistakes and had made them sincerely, that is untill they prove otherwise. Anyway i'm sorry for posting what is really a very unimportant issue here, and really i respect Frisbeeteria a great deal they are normally excellently fair and have been so in almost every respect with me too. I just was actually a bit hurt ( bizarrely, i know)
The Most Glorious Hack
11-07-2008, 05:22
Far be it for me to even attempt to speak for Fris, but we frequently think along similar lines, so I might be able to provide illumination. He is, of course, perfectly capable of correcting the hell out of me, should he so choose.

But first,Hi i'm very nervous of posting here and hope i'm not braking any rules by doing soCertainly not. Part of the point of this forum is so that players can ask for clarification from the Mods or Admins. I know that many, many forums don't want public questioning of Moderator action, but NS has never been one of those.


I was somewhat upset that Frisbeeteria accused me of "idly tossing" such comments around, and yes i'm aware how whinging i sound right now but still, i didn't "idly toss around" these comments at all. I meant them in ernest despite how incorrect they were, and i would always offer others the basic respect of believing that they had sincere reasons for making their mistakes and had made them sincerely, that is untill they prove otherwise.Frequently, when moderating forums, we can be especially curt, and even have been known to not always give the benefit of the doubt. This isn't necessarily a matter of thinking ill of the players, or just being misanthropic bastards; it usually springs from frustration, and wanting things to be clear. When you've been moderating a forum for awhile (just over five years, in my case), you see the same things crop up over and over again. Eventually, your patience wears a little thin, and you tend to be more likely to step down hard, in a hope that the misinformation will go away for good.

A prime example is population growth of nations. People continue to believe that issues affect national population growth. It doesn't, but people still think it does. After seeing the same misinformation for five years, it starts to grate on you, as I'm sure you can imagine.

Likewise, there are some players that give the wrong answers, over and over again, and continue to do so as if they are stating fact. After awhile, the (intentional or unintentional, it doesn't matter) misinformation gets to be very irritating. If stepping a little hard on someone who is just starting down that path stops them, then a slight hurting of feelings seems perfectly justified.

Trust me, it's certainly not our intention to drive you away. Despite your occasional fear of capital letters in your IC posts, you're shaping up to be a very good contributor to the WA forum, and fresh blood is always welcome. If you would like to get a feel for how to answer questions without stepping over the line of opinion vs. fact, take a spin through the Technical forum, and look at some of Flibbleites' posts. He's been around for quite awhile and knows the ins and outs, but doesn't come across as speaking like a game official.

And, finally, keep in mind that a lot of this is because it's dealing with legality issues. Newer players might not know who is or isn't a game official, so if they see a legality ruling, they may very well assume it's a correct ruling, and act accordingly. If it's an inaccurate ruling, then we not only need to rule, but clear up any confusion that's been generated.


So, while not making excuses for Fris, I hope you at least understand why he acted the way he did (and, frankly, had I seen it first, I probably would have responded similarly).
Barringtonia
11-07-2008, 07:15
I think Fris should be spanked. Given Kat is pretty well-practiced considering the spanking she gave him at the Mod Olympics, I think she should be the one to do it.

I think it would make Urgench feel better.

Long ago I worked in customer service, I thought customers were pretty stupid before I was shown that, of all customers, we only received queries from .2% of them. I just happened to deal with the whole .2% so it was 100% of my experience, understandable that I had a poor opinion but I still had to be polite.

Of course, I was actually paid to be polite.
Urgench
11-07-2008, 11:49
Thank you Most Glorious Hack i'm sorry i made such a fuss really, i can completely understand how irritating my post must have been and it makes sense that you guys would need to make things as clear to people as possible. I really will try to keep my opinion from seeming like a statement of fact in future. Like i said i knew Frisbeeteria was absolutely right anyway and i can understand how my noob mistakes can become frustrating to a moderator who's had to deal with my kind of sillyness more times than they can count.
I'll take your advice about reading through Flibbleites posts and try to remember the old caroligian majiscule too.

thanks for taking the time to respond to me.
Katganistan
11-07-2008, 13:45
I think Fris should be spanked. Given Kat is pretty well-practiced considering the spanking she gave him at the Mod Olympics, I think she should be the one to do it.

Barringtonia, we're talking official game business and not your fantasies here. ;)

Besides, while I appreciate trying to inject a little levity with your spot-on anecdote, let's let Urgench get his sea legs before subjecting him to outright lunacy, hmm?