Suggestion Bring back the old Mod team

[The Catboy]

When I first joined, there used to be both GMs and Mods. GMs oversaw the whole forums and the Mods oversaw sections. There also used to be 2 to 3 mods per section, which really helped control the quality of posting on the site.
I've noticed since we've gotten right of the Mods and favor of just having a GM team, the quality of the site has really gone down. I am seeing far more issues coming up with flaming, harassment, trolling, bumping spam, ect. which did happen before, but was always quickly taken care of because we had a big enough staff to do it. But recently it seems the staff here are becoming grossly overworked or simply busy in real life to really dedicate enough time to dealing with these issues. Which is why I suggest we bring back the old Mod team to really delegate those tasks and really have a greater staff presence on the forums. Something to really help make the job easier for everyone, well improving the quality of the site.

 

[Joe88]

Theres a lot more people joining the forums, and more entitled spoiled children.
At least its mostly contained in the 3ds and wiiu sections.

 

[ItsKipz]

Or just look and see who's been posting helpful posts and offer them a position. (Or rethink their whole "we do not accept people who volunteer to become mods" policy on the condition the volunteers are sane and helpful.)

I mean, i would 100% volunteer to help moderate this site, considering how much i've learned from my short time here about consoles, hacking, and just games in general, i would love to be able to give something back.

 

[Kioku]

I mean, i would 100% volunteer to help moderate this site, considering how much i've learned from my short time here about consoles, hacking, and just games in general, i would love to be able to give something back.

Personally? I think someone who's been around for a while and seen it all would be great. Alas, it will never happen.

 

[DinohScene]

Or just look and see who's been posting helpful posts and offer them a position. (Or rethink their whole "we do not accept people who volunteer to become mods" policy on the condition the volunteers are sane and helpful.)

I mean, i would 100% volunteer to help moderate this site, considering how much i've learned from my short time here about consoles, hacking, and just games in general, i would love to be able to give something back.

The problem with everybody being able to volunteer is that it even could be more harmful for the site.
Someone could pose as a good member and go rogue once they have mod powers.

 

[ItsKipz]

The problem with everybody being able to volunteer is that it even could be more harmful for the site.
Someone could pose as a good member and go rogue once they have mod powers.

Something some subreddits do is have "trial mods" where they test out a mod for a week or 2 before giving them full power, allowing people to see their true colors before making them full mods.

also, im sure the majority of the users on this site arent THAT bad....right?

 

[VinsCool]

The problem with everybody being able to volunteer is that it even could be more harmful for the site.
Someone could pose as a good member and go rogue once they have mod powers.

Or worse. Some people could indeed help but the current staff don't want of them, for whatever reason.

 

[DinohScene]

Something some subreddits do is have "trial mods" where they test out a mod for a week or 2 before giving them full power, allowing people to see their true colors before making them full mods.

also, im sure the majority of the users on this site arent THAT bad....right?

I hope not.
Alas, this isn't reddit and (hopefully) will never be reddit.

 

[ItsKipz]

I hope not.
Alas, this isn't reddit and (hopefully) will never be reddit.

...whats wrong with reddit?

 

[evandixon]

I mean, i would 100% volunteer to help moderate this site, considering how much i've learned from my short time here about consoles, hacking, and just games in general, i would love to be able to give something back.

...we do not accept people who volunteer to become mods, we get offers all the time and it comes across as being desperate for power...

The problem with everybody being able to volunteer is that it even could be more harmful for the site.
Someone could pose as a good member and go rogue once they have mod powers.

I completely understand the reasoning behind this policy, but I do not agree with it, seeing that people are constantly pointing out the forums are understaffed. Meanwhile over at Project Pokemon, we have slightly fewer active moderators, but a far greater moderator-to-user ratio. A combination of that and generally more well-behaved users results in better atmosphere.

Most forum systems have a very advanced permissions system. In IP.Board, I can control every teeny-tiny thing moderators can do. IMO, the here's how local moderator hiring should happen:
- Find a candidate, whether it be a volunteer or otherwise
- Look at their post history to determine their sanity/helpfulness
- Assign minimal rights, just enough to do their job, but not enough to do permanent damage
- Watch the user's behavior and go from there.

 

[Kioku]

...whats wrong with reddit?

Everything... There's nothing right with reddit.

 

[ItsKipz]

I completely understand the reasoning behind this policy, but I do not agree with it, seeing that people are constantly pointing out the forums are understaffed. Meanwhile over at Project Pokemon, we have slightly fewer active moderators, but a far greater moderator-to-user ratio. A combination of that and generally more well-behaved users results in better atmosphere.

Most forum systems have a very advanced permissions system. In IP.Board, I can control every teeny-tiny thing moderators can do. IMO, the here's how local moderator hiring should happen:
- Find a candidate, whether it be a volunteer or otherwise
- Look at their post history to determine their sanity/helpfulness
- Assign minimal rights, just enough to do their job, but not enough to do permanent damage
- Watch the user's behavior and go from there.

IMO, its clear to tell whos desperate for power and who actually wants to help within about 10 minutes of giving it to them, so i like your idea!

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Everything... There's nothing right with reddit.

frequent reddit user here, can confirm, have no idea what you mean.

 

[Chary]

...whats wrong with reddit?

Mod power abuse and censorship, to say the least.

I can't speak on behalf of the mod team, (the magstaff is looking for new writers though) but things have always been like "Ugh GBAtemp was so great in the good ol days". In reality, there's always been stupid questions and useless threads. "How I pirate Wii gaem" or "how play Pokemon for free" or the ever hated "how do I play GBA games on DS without a supercard????" I mean, there's been more spam than usual by some angry users, sure, but I really don't see the cesspool that was once the DS section as much different from the cancerous 3DS section.

There's always the issue of responsibility and power abuse concerns, and I'm sure that if the mod team wanted people, they'd seek them out. It's a good idea, probably, to get more staff around, but vetting the power hungry from the loyal seems like a hassle.

 

[ItsKipz]

Mod power abuse and censorship, to say the least.

I can't speak on behalf of the mod team, (the magstaff is looking for new writers though) but things have always been like "Ugh GBAtemp was so great in the good ol days". In reality, there's always been stupid questions and useless threads. "How I pirate Wii gaem" or "how play Pokemon for free" or the ever hated "how do I play GBA games on DS without a supercard????" I mean, there's been more spam than usual by some angry users, sure, but I really don't see the cesspool that was once the DS section as much different from the cancerous 3DS section.

There's always the issue of responsibility and power abuse concerns, and I'm sure that if the mod team wanted people, they'd seek them out. It's a good idea, probably, to get more staff around, but vetting the power hungry from the loyal seems like a hassle.

forgot about the writers lol, do you think that they are understaffed too?

 

[Chary]

forgot about the writers lol, do you think that they are understaffed too?

Personally, I'm pretty cool with the people we have right now. But I wouldn't mind seeing one new person come on and help out with the over abundant review codes.

 

[ItsKipz]

Personally, I'm pretty cool with the people we have right now. But I wouldn't mind seeing one new person come on and help out with the over abundant review codes.

I have to say, in all the things ive seen on this site, the writing/reporting team is probably one of the coolest parts

 

[pastaconsumer]

How to fix GBATemp's problem:
Delete all Nintendo Threads.
Done.

Seriously though, more staff might improve the site. It might not. Who's to say?

 

[The Catboy]

Mod power abuse and censorship, to say the least.

I can't speak on behalf of the mod team, (the magstaff is looking for new writers though) but things have always been like "Ugh GBAtemp was so great in the good ol days". In reality, there's always been stupid questions and useless threads. "How I pirate Wii gaem" or "how play Pokemon for free" or the ever hated "how do I play GBA games on DS without a supercard????" I mean, there's been more spam than usual by some angry users, sure, but I really don't see the cesspool that was once the DS section as much different from the cancerous 3DS section.

There's always the issue of responsibility and power abuse concerns, and I'm sure that if the mod team wanted people, they'd seek them out. It's a good idea, probably, to get more staff around, but vetting the power hungry from the loyal seems like a hassle.

Of course there was stupid people back then, I know, I was one them. But my issue isn't the level of stupid people, it's how much they are allowed to get away with. We've always had stupid people, but we also had a bigger team to control them. Spam threads would get bumped, but never to the levels they get to now. Shitposts have always happened, but I've seen shitposts go hours before getting removed.
It's obvious that the staff is overworked. I've even seen you step in to lock threads for the staff. Which is great, but shows just how much help the staff needs.

 

[evandixon]

Seriously though, more staff might improve the site. It might not. Who's to say?

As long as well-behaved members are chosen, the situation will at least not get any worse.

 

[DinohScene]

Of course there was stupid people back then, I know, I was one them. But my issue isn't the level of stupid people, it's how much they are allowed to get away with. We've always had stupid people, but we also had a bigger team to control them. Spam threads would get bumped, but never to the levels they get to now. Shitposts have always happened, but I've seen shitposts go hours before getting removed.
It's obvious that the staff is overworked. I've even seen you step in to lock threads for the staff. Which is great, but shows just how much help the staff needs.

It's safe to say that some shitposts take days to be removed.

 

[The Catboy]

How to fix GBATemp's problem:
Delete all Nintendo Threads.
Done.

Seriously though, more staff might improve the site. It might not. Who's to say?

It's not a cure, but it's something.
The staff are people too, they have jobs, family, friends, they get ill, they get tired. Having more staff will help spread out the workload.