Moderator appreciation thread

[Prime Junta]

It just occurred to me that this site is actually pretty unusual as discussion forums go. The signal to noise ratio is exceptionally high, and there's very little outright flamage or other acrimony, despite the fact that highly contentious topics are the bread and butter of the discussion here. I mean Fallout Classic vs Fallout 3, MMO vs single-player, not to mention politics and religion. Yet there's actually very little outright censorship and no enforcement of a rigid party line -- either official or unofficial.

Since we're very unlikely to be any nicer than the average netizens, I think the credit for that goes largely to the mods here. Moderating a forum is a pretty unappreciated job -- all you hear is what you're doing wrong, no matter what you do or don't do.

So, anyway, thanks, mods -- you're doing a splendid job, and please do keep it up. You make this place as pleasant and interesting as it is.

[kalniel]

I wonder what your title and post said before the moderators edited it to sound so nice?

j/k :p

[magerette]

One of the best things about this site is the tolerance. No one seems to have any agenda to push, and from the day I came here I've appreciated the ability of the mods and administrators to run a clean site and an uncensored one that still always seems, for want of a better word, civilized. Could it be because many of them are the founding members of something called the Non-Flamer's Guild? ;)


btw, I'm not tooting my own horn--I'm neither mod nor admistrator--just a volunteer.

[Jaz]

Your praise is much appreciated, PJ :).
Our master Myrthos is to credit for the low-moderation guidelines of this site; he wanted a more liberal approach after the over-moderation at the Dot. But actually, the majority of the Watch forum members and visitors are a very mature and friendly bunch who know how to discuss, so moderation revolves mostly around gobbling up spam and banning spambots.
I think both sides are doing their best to keep up the constructive atmosphere.

[Gorath]

I remember that I pushed for it, based on the experiece from RPGDot, where the majority of the team wanted strict rules, and Myrthos agreed. But who cares for such details. Success has many fathers. ;)

[Jaz]

Nah, you're right. It's been a while, and my memory faild me, so... :)

[chamr]

Ditto, PJ. Thanks mods! :)

[dteowner]

It's a decidedly boring job with the quality of readers we get here. I haven't had a single user-directed action in my forums in over a year. A little thread maintenance here and there, and that's about it. It's easy to maintain a light touch as Myrthos has commanded since we don't seem to have attracted the trolls that made things more complicated at the Dot.

Me thinks PJ's getting ready for a spectacular meltdown... ;)

[Gorath]

That´s a matter of size. RPGDot was a paradise before Gothic was released in North America. Then we got a huge influx of new members, 99% of them harmless. But 1% of several 1000 can cause a lot of trouble. Overmoderation made things worse ...

[narpet]

The fact that this is the only site where I post regularly is an endorsement of this site and it's admins, moderators, and news posters (and anyone else involved). There is not one other site where I have posted more than a couple of times (10 to 20 at the most).

This site has a great staff... and it does actually have a great group of regular members.

So... my hat's off to you all... :)

[Corwin]

Thanks for the kind words. One particular forum gets a little 'hairy' at times, :) but otherwise it's usually a pleasure to be here!!

[GothicGothicness]

Sure, is, the only problem I have with this forum is that it is not active enough!

[Zaleukos]

The moderators manage to stay rather invisible as far as I can tell, and that is of course good if combined with a fairly civil atmosphere:)

[Remus]

One of the reason i regularly visiting the Dot was the relatively liberal discussion atmosphere and moderate moderation. Of course there were some discussions became very heated, especially when it had more visitors, and on several occasions, an open flame war with funny foul language flying around. These occasions did provide some laughs, and would end when the parties involved get tired of insulting each others anyway.

The Watch has fewer users so things also going slower, but surely the tradition of liberal moderation is still there. It's the only forum i post most often.

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Liberal moderation doesn't fit with trolls.
Sorry, but i have experienced this myself - as an moderator elsewhere.
So let's just hope this can stay the way it is, here.

[HiddenX]

nice visitors + cool moderators + Myrthos + old regulars = good web site ;)

[Corwin]

Liberal moderation doesn't fit with trolls.
Sorry, but i have experienced this myself - as an moderator elsewhere.
So let's just hope this can stay the way it is, here.

Jaz eats Trolls for breakfast!! :)

[Jaz]

They taste like... umm... chicken.

[HiddenX]

for sure ...

Chicken Thief Troll (http://www.woodenchicken.com/store/chickenthief.html)

[Corwin]

Hahaha, that might become her next avatar!! :biggrin:

[titus]

well everybody said it already: no flames. There have been some heated discussions, especially in religion en politics. But that has to be there.

I am maybe not the most regular poster or active member, don't care about it.
But this is the only gaming forum that keeps me coming back for more, news, games news, off topic and such.

Like some said before: most are real mature over here. and that is why even jokes can be made easily (huh corwin, bart and cm :p)

keep up the good work guys/girls even if you say there isn't that much work :p

[Myrthos]

Thanks for the kind words.
BTW I don't want to say this too often too him, because its not good for his ego, but Gorath is right :)

As for having less visitors than we used to have at RPGDot, that is not true anymore. We are still climbing and have 1.2 million visitors a month. That's about what RPGDot did as well. These visitors however visit the news page most of the time and not the forums, but that is not different from RPGDot.
At RPGDot the most posts were made in the NFG forum, which was a closed forum, for members only. So the high activity was limited a lot to that forum only. For the rest the forums of RPGDot were dead, they still are from the looks of it.

[purpleblob]

Sure, is, the only problem I have with this forum is that it is not active enough!

I think all forums have their active period and not-so-active period.

I also want to follow PJ's example and thank all the mods. Especially for super fast news ;)

[Corwin]

The news is fast, because we have news posters in all 3 major time regions. At any hour of the day, one of the team will usually be around. We also have wonderful members who regularly email us about news items we may have missed. Everything here is a team effort and I think it shows.

[Gorath]

BTW I don't want to say this too often too him, because its not good for his ego, but Gorath is right :)

If anything on this forum is bigger than my ego I want it put to the wall and shot immediately! :gorath:

[JemyM]

RPG Watch is a very enjoyable forum indeed. My theory is that the people who come here are veteran roleplayers. This means a few things. It means that they are probably older than the average gamer. They started to enjoy roleplaying games while they were intellectual challenge, which means that they are also of an above average intellect and perhaps also an above average education. These attributes makes them wiser than the average gamer, more pragmatic in their opinions, more diplomatic/tactic when dealing with others.

Religion and politics are topics that might spark conflict, but even in those forums the tone is usually calm.

[Pladio]

Well, having engineers and to-be engineers here says it all :p

I'm not old JM, but I did like some of the old-school RPGs. I'm not hardcore enough or masochistic enough to finish the old ones though.

Well, back on-topic. thanks for the great administration and moderation of the forums. I'm not the most active member here, but I sometimes rise up to some posts. Usually lurking though. (Waiting for an online RP-ing game like we had at the dot with the Shadows and the other one. :) )

[titus]

I don't think that I'm older than the average gamer: 24 I think I am the average gamer from age.
I wouldn't call me an veteran. My first rpg:Diablo and after that was Gothic my next rpg :)

[Bartacus]

If anything on this forum is bigger than my ego I want it put to the wall and shot immediately! :gorath:

All praise the mighty Gorath! :)

Btw, I don't even consider myself a veteran gamer neither. I started to play on my sega 16 bit console at the age of 12. Today I'm 28 and I play like 4 games a year. But I think it's true that most members here are mature and have a higher education level. Off course we have others like CM too who I absolutely adore.

[txa1265]

PJ said that the folks here aren't likely to be nicer than elsewhere, but there I disagree. The reasons I stick mainly to here and GamerDad (and Goozex to an extent) is that the community *is* really much nicer. And like everyone has said, there have been heated discussions and a few blow-ups (heck, I've had my share) but in the end we all take a breath, apologize, and move on respectfully - and hopefully learn something on the way.

[Cm]

I think respect is the key here. The mods show it in how they handle the heated debates, we all show it to each other in our comments and responses. I have yet to see another site that has this low a level of flaming.

[gaboru93]

Yes yes all that have been said are true! I have been lurking on this forum almost since it was first made! I liked it so much that I am still here! That doesn't happen to often believe me! Beside the fact that the members are polite and very nice, you guys are also good at answering questions ranging many different subjects! From games to technical issues to political (is it spelt like that?)

I want to thank not only the mods... but all forumers here that are making this forum as it is! Good work!