Moderator appreciation thread

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.

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

j/k

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.

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.

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.

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

Ditto, PJ. Thanks mods!

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…

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 …

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…

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

Originally Posted by 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.

Jaz eats Trolls for breakfast!!

They taste like… umm… chicken.

for sure …

Chicken Thief Troll

Hahaha, that might become her next avatar!!