The SLAGLands
13-12-2003, 08:40
When Hindsight Needs Reading Glasses:
The Honest-to-God Truth about Moderation from the Perspective of a Retired Mod
It's been about a week now (I believe) since I retired from moderation, and as I'm beginning to feel like I'm entering my last few days on NationStates, I think I'm entitled to give you all an insider's look at moderation--in essence, an assortment of whatnot from the inside.
What You Should Know about Moderating in General:
Yes, moderation is stressful. HIGHLY stressful. I cannot stress enough the stress involved. I kid you not, I would get up for thirty seconds to stir the Hamburger Helper in my kitchenette, then return to IRC to find at least five messages of "hey lock this topic: http:\\www.nationstates.net/forum/holycrapaspamthingingeneral.php" or "hey archive http:\\www.nationstates.net/forum/bitchinrp.php for me" or "Griefer 28248 sent me a telegram that said something bad about my dog!"
And don't even get me started on the terrors of the telegram box. "hey how did u become a game mod?" "U R ST00PID TEH MODS R SUX!!!!!!!!!11" "My region Eurasiastanistan was griefed by a bunch of guys who I'm sure are UN multis because they all came from the same region and then they said something bad about my dog!" There's a good reason why moderators get larger telegram boxes, I'll tell you that. Oh, and don't expect those telegrams to be answered, either. Your options are clearly presented: post in this forum or post to the "Getting Help" page. Can you blame us if we don't have much patience for being TGed constantly?
Ah, and then there are those times when you DO choose to act, those times when you have five minutes to go before your big movie starts and you're the only moderator around and a topic in General has reached 64 pages minus one post... and you make a tiny request that somebody contribute something meaningful to the discussion so you can lock the thread. BOOM. All at once, you're EVERYONE'S enemy. All at once, you're answering to an entire forum who is burning your name in effigy because now they have to start up "Club Superlove 358" all over again.
LORD, people.
No, I don't resent any of you guys. Not even Normack, in the face of that horribly enlightening "debate" we had. Not even the "het nederlandse topic" crowd who pretty much ripped my dignity a new one (in Dutch, no less!) after my initial refusal to archive their thread. Not even the spammers, the people who have bitched me out for no reason other than the fact that my name was green at the top of the forums, people who claimed that I could never possibly understand them because I don't listen because I'm a mod.
No. There's no point being bitter over that. That's stupid.
The fact of the matter is this: I took up a job. If I was expecting this job to be a cakewalk, I wouldn't have taken it. I needed to challenge myself, and moderation was just the challenge I needed. It challenged my ability to make snap decisions, and all in all, judging by the positive feedback I received, I didn't do half-bad at it. Sure, I screwed up sometimes, but I'd be more worried if I had done the job perfectly than if I had simply done a bang-up job. And I see no reason, honestly, to be angry at a bunch of people I've never met in my life over a few incidents that were fueled mostly by emotion. And let's face it: when you're calling me a "typical fat-ass American" because you disagree with my moderation abilities and when you're vehemently defending your stance that I'm the worst moderator as "just your opinion and not something you should have to substantiate," you're running on emotion.
No hard feelings, folks.
What You Should Know about the Moderators:
No, I should never have been a moderator. An odd statement coming from a retired mod, no? The fact of the matter is that this is entirely true. Prior to my becoming a moderator, I posted a thread addressed to [violet] requesting moderator status, and after that time, I frequently bothered several of the mods--namely Scolo, Rep, and Melkor--asking whether or not I was being considered for mod status. While I'm not questioning their decision, it is interesting to point out that these days, it is precisely this sort of behavior that the mods discourage, and it's a sure bet that if you're constantly asking if you can be a mod, you most certainly will not become one.
In short, had I not become a moderator when I did, there would've been no chance in hell of my ever becoming one. Funny, eh?
No, there are no conspiracies. Honestly. I kid you not. The only things the mods are truly hiding from you are a few private bitchings, the true identity of [violet], and the contents of the mysterious "Mod Admin forum"--which, incidentally, tends to be little more than Salusa pointing out game mechanic errors and Cogitation making absolutely positively sure that whatever he may have done five minutes ago, whatever he is doing right now, or whatever he plans to do five minutes from now is entirely within the boundaries of good moderation (Long sentences are bad, kids.). They don't sit around in these private boards, contemplating how they can screw over specific players, how they can jettison the General forum into the sea, how they can somehow IP ban godmoders from the site, or how Sheol was right and they are indeed a bunch of Nazi bigots. The mods are hiding nothing.
Yes, I do know [violet]'s true identity.
No, I'm not telling.
Yes, several of the mods can kill you with their bare hands. At least three of 'em have some degree of military training, and I'm inclined to believe that Stephistan is a ninja.
Yes, one of the mods can kill you with his bare feet. Honestly, Cog...
http://www.walgreens.com/dbimagecache/4245.gif
"Stink about it for a moment."
Yes, I have come into conflict with the mods in the past. I believe the only mod I've never had a good ol' heated argument with is Tactical Grace, and that's just because we're never online at the same time. One particular incident had me swearing at the top of my Caps Lock key at no fewer than three other mods. It happens. We argue all the time.
Yes, the mods are human. Yes, I screwed up a few times, and yes, so did all of the other mods. It happens. We're people. Fortunately, as people, we also have the ability to move on after we make a mistake--and most importantly, to learn from that mistake. There's no need to call for a mod's head on a platter when you believe said mod has screwed up, because in my case, I was calling for my own head on a platter at times.
Yes, the mods indeed do think about ways to better serve the community. This is best demonstrated through the mod selection process. During one selection, we were contemplating selecting another member of the Triumvirate of Yut--a roleplaying group in which several of the mods participate. [violet] encouraged us to select mods outside of our "circle," a circle many of you on IRC are at least vaguely aware of. This resulted in the selection of several mods who wouldn't normally have come to mind, such as Cogitation and Sirocco.
Furthermore, the mods have frequently sought additions that understand specific communities. Stephistan, for example, largely became a mod due to the mod's unfamiliarity with the eccentricities of the United Nations forum. One of our biggest problems has been coming up with a good candidate from the General forum--largely considered an untouchable zone by some of this site's "elite" (read: elitist bastards... :P ). We were well aware that we didn't know much about it, and we were well aware that we didn't know the ins and outs of the community. Thus, the search continues for a good General forum mod.
Yes, the mods have spoken to Max Barry. And he's a class act. ;)
Yes, Reploid Productions is insane. Bonkers. Absolutely bonkers.
No, I don't regret being a mod. It was fun while it lasted. Would I do it again? Probably not, although [violet] seems to be laboring under this delusion that I'm going to come crawling back... :P
All in all, moderation was a good time and highly educational. I give it four stars out of five and reccommend it to those capable of handling the grotesque violence and bloodshed of moderation.
The Honest-to-God Truth about Moderation from the Perspective of a Retired Mod
It's been about a week now (I believe) since I retired from moderation, and as I'm beginning to feel like I'm entering my last few days on NationStates, I think I'm entitled to give you all an insider's look at moderation--in essence, an assortment of whatnot from the inside.
What You Should Know about Moderating in General:
Yes, moderation is stressful. HIGHLY stressful. I cannot stress enough the stress involved. I kid you not, I would get up for thirty seconds to stir the Hamburger Helper in my kitchenette, then return to IRC to find at least five messages of "hey lock this topic: http:\\www.nationstates.net/forum/holycrapaspamthingingeneral.php" or "hey archive http:\\www.nationstates.net/forum/bitchinrp.php for me" or "Griefer 28248 sent me a telegram that said something bad about my dog!"
And don't even get me started on the terrors of the telegram box. "hey how did u become a game mod?" "U R ST00PID TEH MODS R SUX!!!!!!!!!11" "My region Eurasiastanistan was griefed by a bunch of guys who I'm sure are UN multis because they all came from the same region and then they said something bad about my dog!" There's a good reason why moderators get larger telegram boxes, I'll tell you that. Oh, and don't expect those telegrams to be answered, either. Your options are clearly presented: post in this forum or post to the "Getting Help" page. Can you blame us if we don't have much patience for being TGed constantly?
Ah, and then there are those times when you DO choose to act, those times when you have five minutes to go before your big movie starts and you're the only moderator around and a topic in General has reached 64 pages minus one post... and you make a tiny request that somebody contribute something meaningful to the discussion so you can lock the thread. BOOM. All at once, you're EVERYONE'S enemy. All at once, you're answering to an entire forum who is burning your name in effigy because now they have to start up "Club Superlove 358" all over again.
LORD, people.
No, I don't resent any of you guys. Not even Normack, in the face of that horribly enlightening "debate" we had. Not even the "het nederlandse topic" crowd who pretty much ripped my dignity a new one (in Dutch, no less!) after my initial refusal to archive their thread. Not even the spammers, the people who have bitched me out for no reason other than the fact that my name was green at the top of the forums, people who claimed that I could never possibly understand them because I don't listen because I'm a mod.
No. There's no point being bitter over that. That's stupid.
The fact of the matter is this: I took up a job. If I was expecting this job to be a cakewalk, I wouldn't have taken it. I needed to challenge myself, and moderation was just the challenge I needed. It challenged my ability to make snap decisions, and all in all, judging by the positive feedback I received, I didn't do half-bad at it. Sure, I screwed up sometimes, but I'd be more worried if I had done the job perfectly than if I had simply done a bang-up job. And I see no reason, honestly, to be angry at a bunch of people I've never met in my life over a few incidents that were fueled mostly by emotion. And let's face it: when you're calling me a "typical fat-ass American" because you disagree with my moderation abilities and when you're vehemently defending your stance that I'm the worst moderator as "just your opinion and not something you should have to substantiate," you're running on emotion.
No hard feelings, folks.
What You Should Know about the Moderators:
No, I should never have been a moderator. An odd statement coming from a retired mod, no? The fact of the matter is that this is entirely true. Prior to my becoming a moderator, I posted a thread addressed to [violet] requesting moderator status, and after that time, I frequently bothered several of the mods--namely Scolo, Rep, and Melkor--asking whether or not I was being considered for mod status. While I'm not questioning their decision, it is interesting to point out that these days, it is precisely this sort of behavior that the mods discourage, and it's a sure bet that if you're constantly asking if you can be a mod, you most certainly will not become one.
In short, had I not become a moderator when I did, there would've been no chance in hell of my ever becoming one. Funny, eh?
No, there are no conspiracies. Honestly. I kid you not. The only things the mods are truly hiding from you are a few private bitchings, the true identity of [violet], and the contents of the mysterious "Mod Admin forum"--which, incidentally, tends to be little more than Salusa pointing out game mechanic errors and Cogitation making absolutely positively sure that whatever he may have done five minutes ago, whatever he is doing right now, or whatever he plans to do five minutes from now is entirely within the boundaries of good moderation (Long sentences are bad, kids.). They don't sit around in these private boards, contemplating how they can screw over specific players, how they can jettison the General forum into the sea, how they can somehow IP ban godmoders from the site, or how Sheol was right and they are indeed a bunch of Nazi bigots. The mods are hiding nothing.
Yes, I do know [violet]'s true identity.
No, I'm not telling.
Yes, several of the mods can kill you with their bare hands. At least three of 'em have some degree of military training, and I'm inclined to believe that Stephistan is a ninja.
Yes, one of the mods can kill you with his bare feet. Honestly, Cog...
http://www.walgreens.com/dbimagecache/4245.gif
"Stink about it for a moment."
Yes, I have come into conflict with the mods in the past. I believe the only mod I've never had a good ol' heated argument with is Tactical Grace, and that's just because we're never online at the same time. One particular incident had me swearing at the top of my Caps Lock key at no fewer than three other mods. It happens. We argue all the time.
Yes, the mods are human. Yes, I screwed up a few times, and yes, so did all of the other mods. It happens. We're people. Fortunately, as people, we also have the ability to move on after we make a mistake--and most importantly, to learn from that mistake. There's no need to call for a mod's head on a platter when you believe said mod has screwed up, because in my case, I was calling for my own head on a platter at times.
Yes, the mods indeed do think about ways to better serve the community. This is best demonstrated through the mod selection process. During one selection, we were contemplating selecting another member of the Triumvirate of Yut--a roleplaying group in which several of the mods participate. [violet] encouraged us to select mods outside of our "circle," a circle many of you on IRC are at least vaguely aware of. This resulted in the selection of several mods who wouldn't normally have come to mind, such as Cogitation and Sirocco.
Furthermore, the mods have frequently sought additions that understand specific communities. Stephistan, for example, largely became a mod due to the mod's unfamiliarity with the eccentricities of the United Nations forum. One of our biggest problems has been coming up with a good candidate from the General forum--largely considered an untouchable zone by some of this site's "elite" (read: elitist bastards... :P ). We were well aware that we didn't know much about it, and we were well aware that we didn't know the ins and outs of the community. Thus, the search continues for a good General forum mod.
Yes, the mods have spoken to Max Barry. And he's a class act. ;)
Yes, Reploid Productions is insane. Bonkers. Absolutely bonkers.
No, I don't regret being a mod. It was fun while it lasted. Would I do it again? Probably not, although [violet] seems to be laboring under this delusion that I'm going to come crawling back... :P
All in all, moderation was a good time and highly educational. I give it four stars out of five and reccommend it to those capable of handling the grotesque violence and bloodshed of moderation.