4 replies to this topic

[Kaeb Odellas]

So I think everyone here has known for a long time now that this place can get more than a little heated. Discussions about controversial topics invariably turn into flamewars, e-peen measuring contests, and full-on verbal assault.

Now I know you guys have looked into this with your Penny Arcade inspired word filters, but banning particular words won't fix the problem. Penny Arcade remains relatively civil because the mods simply won't tolerate goosery. Common practice there is that if people start getting stupid in a particular thread, a mod will post, often in big bold letters, that any further stupidity will result in an infraction, or problem persons simply being banned from that particular thread, and are informed in no uncertain terms what they did to cause their punishment.

So far, the only moderation I've seen here are rather weak warnings for players to stay on topic, or the deletion of problematic posts. Deleting an abusive post is not a solution. It does not prevent others from making more bad posts. What you need to do is to make an example of that person, and demonstrate to the rest what happens when you derail a perfectly good discussion with some inane unproductive nonsense.

For example, take Paul's Highlander Nerf Thread. I suspect less than half of the posts in that thread are actually discussing the topic at hand. Hell, a moderator posted 4 times in that thread telling everyone to stay on topic, but to absolutely no effect.

What should have happened there, is that the mod should have posted once to remind everyone to stay on topic, and then brought the hammer down on anyone who continued to be stupid. I don't know what kind of tools a mod has at his disposal, but they're either not enough or not being used enough.

Am I wrong here?

[DarkMetalBlade]

If the problems are as bad as you say, then I would agree to you that the moderation team needs to step up their game.

That's the only way that the forum will ever have a semblance of order.

[Kenyon Burguess]

mods wipe in shifts, just like everyone elses workplace. by tomorrow shift most of the offending posts will be gone and the post closed till Paul can stop laughing and type up an official post. if your the sensitive type over language and attitude, there isn't a forum available to you outside of one of those religious nutjob sites.

[Kaeb Odellas]

I'm not offended by naughty words or people being ********. Penny Arcade, my "home base" as it were, is pretty much 87% expletives, {Richard Cameron} jokes, and people being ********. My point is that over there, when people are being unrepentant shitheels to each other or derailing a perfectly good thread with nonsense, they are punished, and then either stop doing dumb things or get banned.

Down here it seems the worst that will happen is that your post gets deleted or nothing else. And deleting a bad post is the wrong way to go about doing it. What ought to happen is that none of the posts' actual content should be changed (barring illegal content, of course), and a big red "DO NOT POST THINGS LIKE THIS OR YOU WILL BE BANNED" message should be stuck to the end.

EDIT: Who the hell is Richard Cameron?

Edited by Kaeb Odellas, 05 February 2014 - 09:27 PM.

[Wildstreak]

Found your Iron Fisted Mod.