Challenge mod option for mistakes

[thegame07]

I have been on this site since 2006 and I've noticed a disturbing trend in the last 6-12 months.... The problem is the attitude of certain mods going around like they are some sort of a god and thinking the rules don't apply to them. I've seen mods swearing at members or right out taking the piss out of someone, Heck I've even seen some of the mods Rip into people on the shoutbox. Is this what Gbatemp really has become? One of the best things about this site has always been the very understanding mods. It's getting to the point if you don't agree with certain mods or you state your opinion on something that's within the rules and they don't agree with you, You get bitch slapped by a sarcastic ego powered mod.

Tonight I felt this happened to me and when I tried to discuss it with the mod that did it to me, I basically felt like it was followed up with another sarcastic power ego'd reply in pm. I basically got told to leave the website because I didn't agree with something. does a "normal" mod get to rule the place with an iron fist and tell people to leave the site because they didn't agree with them? They also mentioned for me to open up a topic here if I'm not happy about something, Well here I am as the pm method doesn't seem to work.

I'm not talking about every staff member and I'm not going to name anybody because that's not the type of person I am. Being an ex mod on another site I truly understand what it's like having people on your back or feeling some pressure, Nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes. However from my time as mod and from many gbatemps past mods I learned just because you're a mod doesn't make you above the everyday members and when you start acting like you are , You really need a reality check. There is a civilised way to moderate the forums.

I always felt someone who is a mod should be an example to the website, That doesn't mean they can't have a heated discussion with members etc but there is a way to do things properly. Has Gbatemps attitude to moding changed since 06?

You could always say I can just leave if I'm not happy but I like to think Gbatemp is better than that and the admins actually listen to it's members. If the Admins said to me "tough shit that's how we want our mods to be" I would happily accept that and leave the website. However I truly can't see that being the case.

I'm not normally one to shout "POWER ABUSE!" but I'm someone who says how I see things without trying to offend people. I'm not burthurt over the incident that happened to me tonight but I got suggested to make a thread so here I am.

I know what's bound to happen with this topic, I will get flamed by people sucking up to the site (I frankly don't care) However look at it from the outside and think of the place as a community where you can show your input to try and improve the place, That's the Gbatemp I know.

If you disagree with me fair enough but we can have a civilised discussion and try not to name any mods as there's no need for that. I don't want to single people out and this is not a witchhunt.

I think a system where you could challenge or report something you find has been handled wrong would be a perfect edition to the website, Instead of being brushed off in pm.

Sorry in advance if there's any grammar or spelling mistakes in my post I'm kind of in the middle of something.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

I laughed. The only mod I can think of doing this is p1ngpong, and only if whatever it is you and him are arguing about is retarded. Other than that, all of the mods are tame (perhaps not as much in the EoF, but cry more if you don't like it).

The mods (all of them. Every. Single One) don't just sit there and use their time to fuck with everyone, they do a great job of managing this site, if you think something was "unfair" or "mean BOOHOO " then PM another mod to get his/her judgement. If someone else thinks it's bull as you do, they'll change it. Else, cry more.

Also, inb4lock.

EDIT: Also, inb4thispostgetsremoved, too. Or at least the nonsense.

 

[thegame07]

I laughed. The only mod I can think of doing this is p1ngpong, and only if whatever it is you and him are arguing about is retarded. Other than that, all of the mods are tame (perhaps not as much in the EoF, but cry more if you don't like it).

The mods (all of them. Every. Single One) don't just sit there and use their time to fuck with everyone, they do a great job of managing this site, if you think something was "unfair" or "mean BOOHOO " then PM another mod to get his/her judgement. If someone else thinks it's bull as you do, they'll change it. Else, cry more.

Also, inb4lock.

I'm not going to latch onto your flamebait post as I want my thread to stay open. have a nice night my good old friend.

 

[Another World]

problems with staff behavior is taken seriously. i can't speak for the supers, but i do know that problems like this are discussed and do not fall on deaf ears. one thing to keep in mind, mods are people just like everyone else. they get angry, they act passive, they attack, they discuss, and they contribute. at the end of the day they try their best to do what is right for the site as a whole. being a mod means you try to walk a thin line in between everything. it is rather difficult at times and not everyone will always be happy with the outcome.

your comments read like a collection of specific one-time events. when grouped together it seems like a larger issue than perhaps it is. your comments further read like perhaps it was someone who is yet unsure how to wield their new found power accordingly? The best action is to not make a public spectacle of the event, such as you are doing now, but to quietly bring it to the attention of the supervisors.

its ok not to agree with my comments, but please let us agree to not drag something into the wrong direction. there is no need for this discussion to turn into a reason to hate on gbatemp (pointing no fingers).

-another world

 

[Fudge]

Raulpica and TwinRetro come to mind, am I right guys??

 

[Costello]

this thread, unless it derails into some sort of flame fest, has no reason to be locked.

it's perfectly fine to disagree with decisions from the staff.
every time people disagree there is normally a PM conversation that ensues with the staff member who you disagree with.
if it escalates, admins or supervisors are called to the rescue.

but honestly, dude, I've looked into your specific problem because Twinretro had the honesty to tell me about it; and I don't think he is to blame.
he is just trying to keep a thread on topic. I understand some threads DO go off topic because we can't keep them all on tracks, but that doesn't mean all threads should go off toipc, especially those dealing with important society issues like the one you are referring to.

as for p1ngpong (Devin liked your post, we all know what that means) he can be a fucking troll.
but unless he is specifically playing with you (@ Devin) behind his actions there is always a justification.

 

[Urza]

I'll take a wild guess in saying I know who the volunteer in question is, and if I'm correct in that assumption then this has been an on-going problem throughout the entirety of the member's tenure as staff. It's a person who, as far as I can tell, only remains on this site for the purpose of bullying others.

I have personally brought this up with the person in question as well as other staff members on multiple occasions, and I'm sure I'm not alone there. It's clear that Costello has no issue with the blatantly detrimental behavior, so I have little faith it will ever be resolved.

Just ignore him. The only advice I can offer.

edit: Guess the OP was actually referring to someone else

 

[nryn99]

Raulpica and TwinRetro come to mind, am I right guys??

rauly is mean? dunno about TR.
i agree with supr. but it's only p1ng's way of loving us.

 

[p1ngpong]

Well to put some context into this situation we should look at the incident that triggered this.

http://gbatemp.net/topic/331040-chick-fil-a-president-is-against-same-sex-marriage/page__view__findpost__p__4316243

From my point of view thegames post was off topic, and could easily have derailed the entire discussion. So TR just had a word with him about it in a pretty respectful way, he didn't even mod him. I don't think anything he did warrants all of this, power was not abused as he didn't even use his powers at all. In all honesty thegame I think you are being overly sensitive about this whole thing.

Challenging a mod via PM is the best system we have, if you are unhappy with what is said in PM add an admin or supervisor to it so they can give their opinion too. We don't need extra levels of bureaucracy for this sort of thing because it will grind us down and eat our time up and we really don't need that kind of extra burden.

 

[thegame07]

this thread, unless it derails into some sort of flame fest, has no reason to be locked.

it's perfectly fine to disagree with decisions from the staff.
every time people disagree there is normally a PM conversation that ensues with the staff member who you disagree with.
if it escalates, admins or supervisors are called to the rescue.

but honestly, dude, I've looked into your specific problem because Twinretro had the honesty to tell me about it; and I don't think he is to blame.
he is just trying to keep a thread on topic. I understand some threads DO go off topic because we can't keep them all on tracks, but that doesn't mean all threads should go off toipc, especially those dealing with important society issues like the one you are referring to.

as for p1ngpong (Devin liked your post, we all know what that means) he can be a fucking troll.
but unless he is specifically playing with you (@ Devin) behind his actions there is always a justification.

I Actually understood his point tbh and even if I didn't I would have happily accepted it. heck even if he deleted my post I would be perfectly fine with it as long as I'm spoken to in a civilised manner but I didn't think it was handled that way. However I can easily have read his comments the wrong way as much as he did with my posts. That's why I pm'd him. I didn't specifically create this topic to have a go at him alone tbh, I'm a very understanding person and realise it's a tough job. I'm really not trying to start shit and cause a revolution against the staff. I actually have no hard feelings against him in anyway. It's not really the handling of posts from mods etc it's the treatment afterwards.

I've actually only ever had about 3 posts ever deleted on Gbatemp with 0 warnings. I do know for a fact I wasn't the only person feeling this way, That's why I opened up this thread, I know you are an understanding guy and are open for any suggestions or feedback for your great site hence I made the thread.

Thanks for listening to me and being civilised and answering my thread.

 

[BORTZ]

While i have never myself been warned or had posts deleted, i have had a few disagreements with the staff (certain ones in particular). I can easily see that if i had stepped on a few more of their toes how they might have handled it with a bit more aggression. I can agree with the OP here but i certainly dont know how to handle this kind of thing. PMing the mod can only go so far, as the mod is the one with power. I honestly dont know.

 

[Cyan]

I always try not to cross the line, and with time I learned where that line was located, but it's not easy as everyone react differently, depending on their current mood. I'm sensitive and don't like doing mistakes or being accused for something I did wrong, and as a result I don't always act while I should. It's not always easy to be fair with everyone.
I already had PM discussion with members and all went fine once we talked.

 

[yuyuyup]

http://gbatemp.net/topic/330321-seems-neimod-made-a-little-more-progress/

It's funny how in this thread, my post gets deleted, I get insulted, nobody could ever know what I posted so it's impossible to publicly defend myself, I'm accused of going off topic... the thread then proceeds to go EXTREMELY off topic, 11 pages, with absolutely no moderation whatsoever outside of people responding to my comment before it was deleted.

 

[Rydian]

http://gbatemp.net/topic/330321-seems-neimod-made-a-little-more-progress/

It's funny how in this thread, my post gets deleted, I get insulted, nobody could ever know what I posted so it's impossible to publicly defend myself, I'm accused of going off topic... the thread then proceeds to go EXTREMELY off topic, 11 pages, with absolutely no moderation whatsoever outside of people responding to my comment before it was deleted.

Your first post post was just trolling (I was right below you, remember).

Page 10 (the last page before Cyan's warning) was about the PSP's capabilities as an alternative in reaction to the news posted prior, which was neimod confirming that NX was enabled and functional (as mentioned in the thread, it was only a rumored capability of the CPU previously).

The talk between the bad news and the OP (meaning the other 9 pages inclusively, not counting page 11 as a full page) was about the 3DS's supposed capabilities if hacked. Seems plenty on-topic to me.

So no, I wouldn't call one page of off-topic "extremely off topic, 11 pages", and I wouldn't call your first post there anything but "trolling" either.

 

[thegame07]

I always try not to cross the line, and with time I learned where that line was located, but it's not easy as everyone react differently, depending on their current mood. I'm sensitive and don't like doing mistakes or being accused for something I did wrong, and as a result I don't always act while I should. It's not always easy to be fair with everyone.
I already had PM discussion with members and all went fine once we talked.

That's all anyone can ask for in a moderator imo, If a mod makes a mistake and can look back on it and try to improve the next time the same situation comes up, That would be an example of a great mod if you ask me. All mods make mistakes here and there, it would be impossible not to. My time as a mod on other sites I tend to put myself in the other persons shoes. Obviously a mod can be to soft but it can go the other way too.

I like the honest responses that I have got back in this thread and understanding of criticism , It could have been took the wrong way but yous have been open about it, Which is great.

 

[Rydian]

Yeah if I see a mod do something by mistake I usually just PM them about it and they take another look, they're good about it.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

The way I see it, we need hard mods. Not every mod should be stubborn on issues but not every mod should be soft on them either. Every site needs a p1ngpong to really put their foot down on things.

I don't really care nor have I read the context here but I don't think there should be a "challenge mod" function purely because that just takes away the purpose of being a mod. Moderators are the last word. We don't want every trouble member challenging every mod's removal because they have sand in their vaginas. I'm not saying you're a trouble member at all but the system is easy to abuse. Mods become mods because they showed the skill and levelheadedness to be the final word. If you really have an issue with a removal, bring it up with that mod or another one and it's discussed internally.

As for mistakes, they happen, and dedicating an entire function to a rare occurrence is overkill. If a post of yours is removed on accident then send them or another mod a message. It's not that hard.

 

[FireGrey]

But that would give the trolls too much power, it's a very flawed system.

 

[Hadrian]

I think the PM system is fine enough for this, I may not know the new staff that well but the older ones I've never had a problem with and I've seen them take a level headed approach to criticism.

Besides some people would just abuse the shit out of a challenge option, I've seen many go crazy with the Report button just because a mod deleted a post of theirs.

 

[Skelletonike]

After reading the whole thread, although it's already been shown that it was a misunderstanding in this case, I can understand if a mod does make a mistake or eventually abuses it's power. A few years ago I was mod in a pretty big alternative website (punks, goths, emos, etc), every day we'd get dozens of trolls in the chatbox and in the forums, at first I handling it pretty ok, but eventually since it was so much responsibility, I started kicking people from the chats, giving out temp bans and even permanent IP bans. Eventually I resigned as a mod (sure, most of the regulars liked the way I did things but the newcomers disliked that sort of dictatorship). GBAtemp is a large website, heck, it gets tons of guests and even the members online (although most of them are just looking around and don't even post), it's pretty understanding if sometimes a mod loses it's temper, although most of the regular members are well known and most get along with the mods, sometimes I see things that would really piss me if I was in the Mod's shoes. Being a mod is a pretty though job for such a large site after all. =3

Oh, regarding the post that you made in the other thread, I can understand that post creating a lot of off-topic, after all you did badmouth both, religion and sexuality (which are things that should be written with care, I myself became disliked by lots of people here after posting my opinion regarding the subject a while back). z.z