Moderator Moderation!

[Annieone23]

Hi all! I am a HUGE GBATemp fan. I may not post much, but I lurk like crazy. On here every day, reading all the threads, for years now. Hope I don't offend anyone (too much) by posting this but... the moderator Guild McCommunist is a troll with a capital T. People are entitled to their opinion, just like I am to this one, but when it comes to her/his posts they are 90% of the time hate-mongering, member-bashing, and insipid anti-Nintendo posts.

People with all opinions, be it those who feel Nintendo has lost themselves amongst the crowd and those who adore Nintendo to this day or even the screwball Sony fanboy or Microsoft diehard, are welcome at GBAtemp. That much is agreed upon. Yet to claim that GBAtemp is not primarily a Nintendo-centric website, whose very roots arose out of (illegal) GBA rom sharing, would be ludicrous. That is also certain.

So everybody agrees this is a pro-Nintendo website, which aims to allow for civil fanboy's from other teams. So why do we have such an outspoken and ornery member of GBAtemp moderating important sections of the forum? It is one thing to have an opinion, but Guild McCommunist not only often inserts her/his opinion forcibly and unwarrantably into conversations, but said opinion touts an anti-Nintendo rhetoric. I feel like some potential discussion should be had, both behind closed doors and out in the forum as to Guild McCommunist's importance and affect within the community.

Putting aside his/her seemingly anti-Nintendo sentiments, his/her delivery of those opinions is imho detrimental to the community as a whole. Even if you think s/he is in the right, you cannot approve of the way she disregards and insults fellow forum users for their pro-Nintendo beliefs. Normally this would just constitute simple forum trolling, but I believe in this instance it goes beyond that. Guild is a forum moderator, s/he has a designated title, logo, and all the powers her/his status confer to him/her. S/he is a representative of GBAtemp. His/her opinions reflect upon GBAtemp, in a good or bad way. If other forum members see that the leaders of the site have such vitriolic opinions, than they will assume that is what this forum wants. People who love and adore Nintendo, who will camp out all night for the Wii U and salivate over the thought of a new LoZ, will be recalcitrant to post. People who see this forum bullying as par-the-course on GBAtemp and anti-Nintendo sentiments as approved of will be more encouraged to post. This not only creates, in my opinion, a more harmful environment but also changes GBAtemps dynamic. GBAtemp is always growing it seems, and always embracing new members/consoles/companies, but I don't think anyone of the old members wants to see this haven of Nintendo gaming and console discussion turn away from the company and products they love. Lets embrace the new, but not dilute our past! Guild is a harmful weed within the overall GBAtemp landscape, a troll whose bullying grows stronger and unfortunately legitimate due to his/her status on this site.

I understand that forum moderation is not only a thankless job, but an unpaid one at that. A job with potentially countless hours of work, and little to no reward. I understand that and I appreciate all the effort that goes into keeping GBAtemp humming. Thank you all!

That does not mean though that I will keep quiet about my opinion, or that I should. Just because Guild is a volunteer does not afford him/her the right to be abusive. No matter how passive-aggressive said abuse it. I want GBAtemp to grow, to flourish, and to always remain the bastion of questionable but knowledgeable Nintendo gaming that it has been and should continue to be. If this website dilutes too much, what would differentiate it from the countless other bland gaming blogs/forums out there? That hasn't happened yet, and probably won't happen, but it is still important food for thought as this site moves forward.

I don't particularly know what should ultimately be done about Guild's actions. I personally would not be remiss if I never saw him/her again on this forum, but that could be just me. I do think that, if they stay here as a moderator, Guild's outspoken nature should be curtailed. Maybe s/he is a great behind the scenes moderator, I don't know. But do we need an emissary of GBAtemp being on the frontlines with our members and insulting/bashing said members? I hardly think so. It not only lessens my opinion of Guild to see such actions, but my opinion of GBAtemp as a whole. Why would they not only allow this to continue, but seemingly reward it with important GBAtemp powers/status?

Ultimately, I think Guild is just downright rude, and seemingly oppressive of other members opinions. Especially pro-Nintendo opinions, on a website founded because of Nintendo and about Nintendo Co. and its products.

Hopefully this reaches the right audience, and hopefully I don't get too much flak for this. I love GBAtemp, very dearly. Note how I did not mention any specific examples by the way, and in fact I have never even commented to Guild or possibly even in the same thread as him/her afaik. This post was not born out of revenge or anything like that, it was born out of continued and annoyed disgust at his/her actions.

If I am correct I do not need to cite examples in this case. Maybe I am wrong, but I believe that this is not the first time Guild's actions have been brought to the moderators/sites attention. Frequent visitors to this site know what I am talking about, and I don't think I am at all alone with my opinion here. That being said, what must it take for action to be taken? How many complaints?

Does Guild's usefulness outstrip his/her polarizing and aggressive personality?

Annieone23
A concerned lurker/member.

EDIT: Guild isn't a mod, but a reporter. My point didn't relate to Moderation abuse, just the seeming approval of his/her actions as a member of the staff, no matter how minor. As far as the average user is concerned the GBAtemp hierarchy is a tad messy, not that it matters if it works.

Also feel free to disagree, I won't take it personally, nor should I. I just wanted to throw in my publicly discussable two cents, wanted or not.

 

[Costello]

Guild is a forum moderator

I did not read entirely because I feel I had to post this before anything: FYI Guild McCommunist is not a moderator.
He is "reporter" so he basically writes news for our community. I like the work he does, the portal is updated daily thanks to him and I am immensely grateful to him for that.

Now if he's acting like a troll or god knows what, that's his opinion and it doesn't reflect that of the site as a whole (as long as he doesnt splatter it all over our homepage). Thanks for your understanding.

 

[emigre]

Guild is an augmentative angry shit but he's our augmentative angry shit.

Plus if he pisses Costello off, than Costello will get him kneecapped. So Guild knows his boundaries.

 

[MelodieOctavia]

First of all, you are basing your whole diatribe off of one misconstrued opinion. That GBAtemp is a nintendo-centric website.

GBAtemp's name is based in tradition alone. Anything pro-nintendo is expressed by the members, not necessarily the Staff team. We cater to ALL gamers. Sony, Microsoft, AND Nintendo, and even retro gamers.

Guild can come on a bit strong sometimes, and the Staff team are well aware of him and his behavior.

However, it would be wise to contact a member of the Staff team directly in PM instead of calling someone out like this. Disrespect does not deserve disrespect in kind.

 

[Annieone23]

Well you cannot blame me for finding the site hierarchy a tad bit confusing. And, I hardly expected this to be greeted with rip-roaring applause and a GBAtemp holiday named after me, but I still felt like getting it off my chest.

Reporter or Moderator, the distinction doesn't really matter. My complaint with his/her status was merely the fact that any appointed GBAtemp community role adds a certain level of approval to their actions. As far as I was concerned I had never really witnessed any admin level abuse, just mainly verbal trolling. It all boils down to me disapproving of him/her being considered a hardcore troll by a lot/some of the community while also being an active part of the staff. Maybe staff was an overall better term.

That being said Costello, thanks for taking the time to acknowledge this and like I said.. I lurk a lot more than I post so whatever the outcome it won't really affect me too much, even if it fosters ill will towards me. I just had to say it. I was tired of checking USN and seeing other members, with opinions I share, getting torn apart, even passive-aggressively in a pretty unprofessional manner.

EDIT: Eh, we could debate about this being or not being/considering itself a Nintendo-centric website, but when it seems like the majority of this website is about Nintendo related things I feel pretty safe in my conclusion there. Name or not, most gaming discussion is related to Nintendo hardware.

Also as for calling people out, this is the Site Suggestions area, and this is my site suggestion. I am quite certain staff have been contacted about Guild before, and therefore I felt a more public appeal may be more fitting. Besides, what do I PM about? "Guild's attitude bothers me. Boo hoo." Nah, I would rather just put the public fear of God in Guild and hope she/he just chills out as a user. That's my endgame.

DOUBLEDIT: Also regardless of pro-Nintendo or anti-Nintendo; retro, old, new, Sony, Xbox, whatever the opinion people should be able to post it. I should be able to say "The weather is nice." without Guild responding like "The weather fucking sucks fool. Get a grip!" We could instead both say "The weather is nice" and "I think the weather is bad." without starting a heated argument. Too much negativity!

 

[djgarf]

i havent seen any of the so called offensive material but i can guarantee you it cant be no worse than wot i was like when i was one of the head moderators here lol
running a site like this isnt exactly easy at times and sometimes you need someone who will not take shit and when summet needs doing it gets done

 

[Just Another Gamer]

Not to sound like i'm crashing something but you can ignore him. I mean I did and on the new GBATemp you can ignore any member (I hope it stays that way cause reading his drivel just annoys me) and to be honest the second I did that browsing and reading stuff on the Temp has gotten better for me without all that Asian bashing he does so if you ignore him on v4 it won't even show his posts which is pretty awesome.

 

[Annieone23]

It felt good to say this, it was really starting to bore into the back of my skull. Now that my peace is said, I'll kiss this up to God and just hope the intention of my post is understood. No real malice, just wanting a more peaceful environment for all. Hope nobody is irreparably offended by my posts.

Overall GBAtemp does an amazing job, and even this is only a slight, recurring, annoyance. Not that my 50 page rant would lead you believe that That's all I got to say folks!

 

[shoyrumaster11]

Hey! I like Guild as a staff, he's the very reason why my location says "with the Thunderjuggling Cugglecats!" once, i talked to him using the shoutbox and I completely forgot our conversation. Came back to the shoutbox only to find my talk of the Thunderjuggling Cugglecats was funny to all the staff team! Along with Raulpica and p1ngpong, Guild deserves a place in my list of favorite staff members. (I also cannot forget, Vulpes has the best name!) But anyway, if you really don't like Guild, ignore him! As for me, I dunno what the temp would be like without him!

 

[FAST6191]

Well this did not turn out half as amusing as last time this happened
http://gbatemp.net/threads/why-cant-i-ignore-staff-members.333253/

Re ignore settings. Might want to get that changed- reporters still sometimes have to issue directions for threads and having them on ignore could lead to you getting in trouble for no good reason, will have to file that as a bug report.

As for anti anything I do not see it in anything other than the occasional jest/use of sarcasm- the only anti anything most site staff are is anti idiot and anti bad bad practices (which extends to anti bad games).

 

[Just Another Gamer]

Re ignore settings. Might want to get that changed- reporters still sometimes have to issue directions for threads and having them on ignore could lead to you getting in trouble for no good reason, will have to file that as a bug report.

Please don't. Ignoring him actually made reading threads more enjoyable and with less trolling and less of the same bashing like posts that he usually makes. I usually find if anything important needs to be said its the mods would do it anyway.

 

[PolloDiablo]

who the fuck is guild mccommunist?

 

[chris888222]

I don't exactly agree that this is a pro-Nintendo web. Maybe it USED to be, I dunno... But right now I find it pretty much all-balanced.

 

[Hadrian]

who the fuck is guild mccommunist?

Someone very misunderstood.

The people here who don't like him overreact way too much and have severe mental problems if they need to use the "ignore" thing on him.

 

[xist]

who the fuck is guild mccommunist?

Who is Guild McCommunist? He's supposed to be a Reporter. Some say his father was a Nintendo Zealot. Nobody believed he was real. Nobody ever saw him or knew anybody that ever worked directly for him, but to hear Costello tell it, anybody could have worked for McCommunist. You never knew. That was his power.

 

[Just Another Gamer]

Someone very misunderstood.

The people here who don't like him overreact way too much and have severe mental problems if they need to use the "ignore" thing on him.

Lol so the whole Asian, Japan, Korean hate is a big misunderstanding?

Yea troll harder, mate cause its idiotic to bash someone who is Asian for liking Asian stuff.

 

[Rydian]

Staff isn't a ticket to be an asshole without repercussion, but unfortunately a lot of people treat it that way. Guild is yet another member of staff making blatant attacks and trying to use the EoF (and sub-discussions) to hide them.

Nowadays the attacks have to be more veiled, it's not like before, where supervisors would blatantly post things like this right in the forums...

Furries are disgusting, and GBAtemp has accumulated far too many of them. They need to frequent communities that are more accepting, because it's ridiculous we should have to see it here.

I'm with ya, out with the fucking furries.

(Her original post was removed, it used to be at the top of page 2, but you can see Mucus quoted it.) Nowadays the attacks have to be more veiled, and I'd link you to a few examples (just one yesterday with Guild, in fact), but the staff are doing a much better job of cleaning up after each other nowadays...

Back to guild, the fact that a lot of his arguments and posts literally have to get removed by staff (entire arguments wiped out of threads) shows his behavior isn't entirely correct. I PMed Retro after this and he confirmed that Guild's constant trolling is well-known by the staff.

A lot of staff do get (or have gotten) away with attacks because they're staff (Lily, Urza, Guild), and it's well-known I'm not fond of it. I, for one, vote that staff have warn meters and obey most of the rules users have to obey as well. In my time here I've seen WAY too many members of staff getting away with way too many personal attacks and troll threads (most often hiding them under the guise of an EoF thread, like the linked example).


EDIT: "Most of the rules" being that there's going to be obvious exceptions since staff have additional powers and responsibilities that clash with the rules normal members like me need to follow, my main concern is staff trolling.

 

[BORTZ]

Well you cannot blame me for finding the site hierarchy a tad bit confusing. We have a whole thread explainging it. But youve probably already read it, cause youre a total lurker. And, I hardly expected this to be greeted with rip-roaring applause and a GBAtemp holiday named after me, but I still felt like getting it off my chest.

Reporter or Moderator, the distinction doesn't really matter. Actually it does.
Also as for calling people out, this is the Site Suggestions area, and this is my site suggestion. I am quite certain staff have been contacted about Guild before, and therefore I felt a more public appeal may be more fitting. Besides, what do I PM about? "Guild's attitude bothers me. Boo hoo." Nah, I would rather just put the public fear of God in Guild and hope she/he just chills out as a user. That's my endgame. Thats not going to happen, so you can join the corner of people who cry about not being able to ignore McGuildy.

DOUBLEDIT: Also regardless of pro-Nintendo or anti-Nintendo; retro, old, new, Sony, Xbox, whatever the opinion people should be able to post it. I should be able to say "The weather is nice." without Guild responding like "The weather fucking sucks fool. Get a grip!" We could instead both say "The weather is nice" and "I think the weather is bad." without starting a heated argument. Too much negativity! Do you know about our demographic and the people we pander to? They are mostly 12 to 15. Do 12 to 15 year olds talk kindly about the weather?

 

[Just Another Gamer]

Do you know about our demographic and the people we pander to? They are mostly 12 to 15. Do 12 to 15 year olds talk kindly about the weather?

Of course they don't because being borderline racist bashing anything that doesn't fit into their own little world is much more fun than having a civil conversations.

 

[Black-Ice]

What fun is a staff member who's completely blank?
Dudes a reporter, its his role to throw his opinion in gaming related discussion
Coloured name or not, everyone has the right to express their opinion freely as long as its not personally offensive.
Guilds passion is his charm and what makes him Guild. Its more that people see when he has nintendo related discussions more than any posts. He has sooo many posts, yet everyone only sees the nin-sony arguement ones. its quite funny.