Some Rude Moderators?

[Hinckley]

It was the cancellation of LOTR that got us all emotional and psychopathic back then.

Too true.

I don't know if I saw your post before or after you edited it, but I believe I read it very shortly after it was posted, and I didn't think it was "d*ckish" at all. Perhaps the faintest bit sarcastic, but you were speaking as one who had had professional experience with the topic, in response to someone who was only hypothesizing about the topic.

I intended to be a dick.

Just kidding.

[Peppermint_M]

And here was me wondering if I was a rude moderator

I had to pop in and say just how great it is that everyone can have a civil discussion like this.

[ZCerberus]

Who said it wasn't you pep? I actually think it wasn't me who was the original topic of discussion!

[somelegothings_]

This is a thread? Seems like a nice time to thank the moderators who handle the Licensed Forums. Some people in those threads just love to start things.

Thank you all for your service wrangling threads full of useless arguments. I think we (or at least I) don't appreciate staff here this much although they're the reason this site isn't dead. It's been running since 2003(?). It's been a nice time here so far but I don't think I've ever engaged with staff.

As for the rude moderators thing, I have a different perspective. Some people are flat out dumb sometimes. The mods are here to remind them that there's no alpha to the forums and that they need to play well. But that is also just my 2 cents.

[Stash2Sixx]

Yes, please...play well.

[Captain Dee]

Moderators, rude? Surely you jest. To quote the late, great Foster Brooks: "Cocky-pocky...poppy."

[rollermonkey]

Rudeness is a matter of personal interpretation. Interweb communication is notoriously difficult to convey nuance, and we have members and mods from several countries. It's not surprising that some folks might find... strong moderation a bit rude. I've seen a couple mods engaged in moderation that I thought were a bit harsh, but I'm not a mod, and it's not my site, so my opinion doesn't matter for much.

[Capn Frank]

Many times, things in print sound much more harsh than they do in person... This is because you cannot tell a person's real feelings in print the way you can when you hear a voice or see an expression. Also how harsh things may sound can depend on our own state of mind when we read things... If I've had a bad day, things may sound more harsh, if i've had a good day, things may not sound so harsh.

This is so true.

I know I can be rude sometimes. My patience is not limitless. Someone needing multiple reminders for the same thing will try my patience.

[Samer]

Guys, IMHO moderators are only people. This means they have their own emotional life that may affect their behavior sometimes as anyone else. This is especially true given the pressure they face managing these forums with hundreds of new people joining daily. They have no choice but to stay in control or the forums would become a mess with a lot of nonsense. They can do mistakes and can over-act sometimes. For us users, its best not to take matters further than that its LEGO world, hence, its only for joy and fun. So just take things with ease. If you feel upset with some moderator's (or anyone's) action, just skip and enjoy reading and interacting with the next post. When you post something interesting to others, you'll be wowed by all including the moderator who you thought being rude. At the end the moderator is not a boss that will cut your payslip. He's rather a sincere human devoting his time and effort for free (as far as I understand ) to keep this LEGO park joyful for all of us.

Coincidentally, and this is what made me write this after looking at this topic, in my theme yesterday the moderator over-reacted to one guy who saw a post and replied without noticing the subsequent "off-topic" moderation. I was waiting to see the guy's reaction and expected a sort of fight. However, the guy just asked the moderator to take it easy and explained that he didn't see the moderation and ended with the phrase "my bad". In the same post the guy just quoted another post and continued as normal. Plain and simple.

So IMHO we better just skip negative feeling and exercise emotional control with them, especially when we are online, and especially when it comes to LEGO.

Last not least I'd like to present my respect to the ROOT Admin for his active enrollment and positive response to people who complained here, which says all about the nature of people managing this place.

Cheers everybody, now on to my WIP

[Lind Whisperer]

Last not least I'd like to present my respect to the ROOT Admin for his active enrollment and positive response to people who complained here, which says all about the nature of people managing this place.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

[Richard Dower]

my issue with mods, and has been an issue over the last 20 years of using forums....is they dont apply the rules evenly. i have seen mods have personal vendettas/agendas against individual posters and come down hard on them for every infraction.

its a form of harrasment, but if they have forum favourites they allow them to run riot and do whatever they want.

[jfbat]

My experience: the users that ask for strict rules and strict application of those rules, are the ones that are most likely to try and find the limits of those rules and then complain they're treated unequal.

Then again: I've sadly also seen forums where some users getting away with "murder" and users that complained about that being treated in more than an unfair way.

As for this case: the language barrier does not always help. Not being used to the finer "rules" that apply to the use of the English language sometimes throws non-native speakers off a bit. Nuances get lost and friction appears, especially when those for whom the language is the mother-tongue don't take that into account. I don't particularly think the mod in this case was rude in any way, but I also understand that the user didn't quite get that.

[Coca-Cola]

While I haven't experienced "rudeness" with mods, I have seen snark and in all honesty I really enjoy it. Nobody is hurt, the issue the mod is addressing is often times cleared up, and everybody goes on their merry way respectfully. But say there is someone in a forum who is acting immature or maybe being annoying (for lack of a better word and lets be honest it has probably been myself once or twice) and then the mod addresses them with a little sass (although i don't think I've directly spoken to a mod ), i don't know but it puts a smile on my face. Like "please stop whatever it is your doing, change the direction of the topic blah blah aaaand POP!" Like the snap of the comment just gets me every time. In all seriousness though I do believe maybe instead of a change of attitude, have more than one moderator in a thread because sometimes things are looked over and not picked up when they, at least in my opinion, should be. And also, if a mod makes a ruling and people have an obvious problem with it maybe another one can chime in and give an alternative that is not completely blowing off the original mods comments but presenting them in a light that seems more fair. Kind of like good cop, bad cop. Just a suggestion though, one that is for the most part totally unnecessary, although reading this thread it seems some may take comfort in that? I don't know. But no complaints here, I think the moderators are doing a fine job.

[Sigolf Brimabane]

I think the moderators are doing a great job to keep this place clean and tidy. I've been to other forums before and they've all gone down the drain. I used to be a member of a Pokémon forum which degenerated into a meme forum or a kind of Pokémon 4chan if you will. Some members were being bullied and eventually left, and the bad guys never got banned. This place is really professional. Thanks to both mods and members for doing a good job here. :)

[MGCJerry]

I'm relatively new here, so my comments will probably mean very little especially since I'm such a low participant here and I'm not a long-timer.

Seeing this topic here, and open discussion occuring is something that makes me feel more comfortable about being a member here compared to places where any moderation problems are swept under the rug and hidden out of sight. I havent had any problems with any of the moderation staff here, yet so I can't comment on anything specific. I just wanted to point out from a lurker's perspective of how I see this topic handled.

I have been beaten and threatened plenty of times on another site for absolutely stupid reasons and just the mere contacting another mod or admin for *any* reason when "warned" was grounds for immediate ban. That mod did get removed from his position not long afterwards and I've only been back there 3 times briefly in the last 10 years. Nice to see EB doing it differently. :) Kudos to the admin & mods.

[Darkdragon]

I'm relatively new here, so my comments will probably mean very little especially since I'm such a low participant here and I'm not a long-timer.

Being new definitely doesn't negate anything you have to say. It's nice to know how new and long-time members alike view the way things are.

[rollermonkey]

I have been beaten and threatened plenty of times on another site for absolutely stupid reasons and just the mere contacting another mod or admin for *any* reason when "warned" was grounds for immediate ban. That mod did get removed from his position not long afterwards and I've only been back there 3 times briefly in the last 10 years. Nice to see EB doing it differently. :) Kudos to the admin & mods.

Sounds like a certain rollercoaster forum I used to participate in.

[Vindicare]

Yes, please...play well.

Tee-hee.

Rudeness is a matter of personal interpretation. Interweb communication is notoriously difficult to convey nuance, and we have members and mods from several countries. It's not surprising that some folks might find... strong moderation a bit rude. I've seen a couple mods engaged in moderation that I thought were a bit harsh, but I'm not a mod, and it's not my site, so my opinion doesn't matter for much.

This is probably the bigger problem. Then again, that's why we have moderators, if they deem it rude, that's the way it goes. But, with Licensed topics especially, LotR, Marvel, & DC moreover, is there are a lot of fans who are very passionate about the subject, so it's to be expected that a thread about the sets will lead to movie(s) talk. We all know the movie discussion thread is there, but in the moment the thought hits you just want to get your thoughts out then & there.

I understand the need to keep threads tidy & well organized, as when you see a few or more new posts in the speculation threads hoping the newest bit of news only to have it being about the movies is a bit of a bummer. I suppose just keep doing it the way you're doing it, because no matter how you do things or how much you change-advised or otherwise- there will always be critics. Even those special few who find problems even when none exist.

[xboxtravis7992]

This is probably the bigger problem. Then again, that's why we have moderators, if they deem it rude, that's the way it goes. But, with Licensed topics especially, LotR, Marvel, & DC moreover, is there are a lot of fans who are very passionate about the subject, so it's to be expected that a thread about the sets will lead to movie(s) talk. We all know the movie discussion thread is there, but in the moment the thought hits you just want to get your thoughts out then & there.

Yeah I have noticed the Modding is pretty different depending on the way the users act in the thread. I have seen a lot of MOD posts in the Speculation and Rumors threads in the Licensed and Star Wars forums. The Action Figure forum is a bit more "loose" in that regard, although I recently saw VBBN coming down on a derailed thread (and rightly so in my opinion). The General Discussion forum is mostly spam cleanup. The thread with the most laid back mods I have seen is the Train Tech forum, and that is more because a member talking about their MOC of an SD-40-2 is not going to draw us much heated discussion as can happen over say a movie or a theme being cancelled. In fact the Train Rumors and Speculation thread for 2016 has been literally derailed and has become the "If I was in charge of Lego!" thread, but I think the Moderators are letting us go with it because there have been no actual rumors for trains in 2016 and we are all kind of sad . (also the 2016 Rumor thread in Train Tech is not pinned like the threads on the other forums, so it doesn't need as heavy modding anyway).

Edited December 14, 2015 by xboxtravis7992

[Hinckley]

The thread with the most laid back mods I have seen is the Train Tech forum, and that is more because a member talking about their MOC of an SD-40-2 is not going to draw us much heated discussion as can happen over say a movie or a theme being cancelled.

By and large the Train Tech forum is our most mature and community–minded members.

Correction, second to Technic.

Themes that require technical know–how and sometimes engineering skills have a tendency to attract more serious discussion, more focused members and less "OMG, wut? A purple lightsaber????!!" responses.

[xboxtravis7992]

Themes that require technical know–how and sometimes engineering skills have a tendency to attract more serious discussion, more focused members and less "OMG, wut? A purple lightsaber????!!" responses.

Laugh out loud funny.

[strangely]

I think the moderators are fair the majority of the time. In the past it's gone through phases, good and bad, but I think it's mostly leveled out now.

As for "rude" moderating I don't know if I agree with that. 99.9% of the time I see a moderator say something "rude" it's in response to someone who's gone way over the line and usually multiple times at that. I only recall a few instances where I was personally offended by a moderators comments. I vaguely recall that one time I agreed with a moderator during an argument and backed up their reasoning for whatever they said and I got yelled at for that. But that was forever ago and I can't even recall who it was, I'm not even sure they're still a moderator.

Other than that I've been fine with the moderators, from time to time there's a comment that lacks tact, but that's not often. Nor do I expect every bit of moderation to be a Nobel peace prize contender.

Edited December 17, 2015 by strangely

[Robianco]

I personally think the modding on here is easily the most evenly handed modding on any forum I've visited.

I was member of a Hi-Fi forum a few years ago and that place was like a bar brawl... but it was fun... definitely not for the thin skinned or faint hearted. Lego fans can be a little more genteel than some of the Hi-Fi mob... I'd hope that the fact this is an adult forum means that people can accept that at times moderation needs to be done firmly as well as sometimes letting things just flow and hopefully stay on track.

Even if things are done firmly... or even directly (without too much flowering up of language) I always the mod is a real person who is having to make decisions for the good of the board and not an automaton blindly following rules.

[meyerc13]

First off, I want to say thanks to the Moderators on this site. I always measure the success of moderators based on whether I would like to meet and hang out with them in real life, and I think the answer for this site is resoundingly yes. Also, I want to preface this post with the statement that I was a moderator for many years on a very successful forum for IT professionals, so I have quite a bit of personal experience with this topic.

With that said, since I've joined this site I've always felt the need to tread very carefully, not because of any moderator action I've observed, but rather because of what I didn't. For whatever reason, I notice far more 'banned' members on this site than on any other I visit. When I join a new forum, I always try to pay attention to the tone the moderators set. When someone gets banned, I take note of their behavior and try to 'not be like them.' On this site, it's difficult because generally moderator actions happen behind the scenes.

For some of the banned users, I can tell right away they are heading for banishment, because they don't use proper grammer, post 50 "me too" posts in a day to drive up their post count, etc. Those I don't question, anyone could see that ban coming.

The ones that have worried me are the members with hundreds or thousands of posts who are banned. That worries me because I don't see what they did wrong, I have to assume anyone who was here for years, making hundreds (or thousands) of quality posts, should have gained a good understanding of the rules and tone of the forum. Then they are banned without any obvious transgression. It's enough to make a fellow nervous. If someone with that much time invested in the forum can fall from the moderators' good graces, how can someone new to the forum hope to avoid a similar fate?

Like it or not, it makes the moderators seem to be heavy handed (i.e. "If this guy with all of these great posts can get banned, these guys must be really mean!"). Now, as I said, I haven't seen any moderators on this site do anything unfair or mean... but that's the perception that a user can have when they don't see why someone is being punished. I understand the desire to praise publicly, and chastise privately, but the result can be that a site seems to be intolerant when people are banned and other people can't tell why by looking through their posts.

To be honest, until this thread I was always afraid to bring the comment up, because I was afraid that questioning why so many people seem to be banned might result in me being banned. I hope based on this thread I'm wrong. Again, you guys seem to be doing a great job, and most people who I've seen banned have obviously deserved it. It's just the edge cases that stick out and I think paint you guys in a much harsher light than you deserve.

[Peppermint_M]

One thing to note on banned stats: Spammers get flagged and cleaned out but tally up as a "banned member" on the software.

Yes, moderation action happens privately between members and staff. Most often it is a simple chat so we can resolve issues. As for members with hundreds and thousands of posts that get banned? Some leave and request the suspension, others have long toed the line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour and finally cross it in such a cataclysmic way that we can't trust them to play well on the forum any longer. Sometimes it is in such a drastic and unpleasant manner that the decision is made to pull out the offending posts from public view. The posts can be offensive, nasty or argumentative, nothing that adds to a thread. Other times it is a grudge or personal dislike between longstanding members that spirals out of control (taking threads with them) that needs one or both removed to keep the forum fun to use.

We like to keep things private between staff and the member(s) in question so that we can deal with an issue without a sort of public shaming, or a giant free-for-all argument.