Discussion on Forum Moderation

SuperXero89

On a recent post which can be found here:

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/347446/page/1

I made the following comment regarding the fact that the thread title had been edited by a moderator: "What was the thread title before the mod edit?  Are we second graders or are we living in a propaganda ridden Communist Russia?"

As a result, I received a warning for topic hijacking.  I was told that if I wanted to start a topic non-MMO related, I should visit the off topic forum and start a new thread there.  All posts related to my post have been subsequently deleted, despite their not having caused any issues or any real deviation from the topic.

Well, as per the advice in the warning I received, I am now creating a thread where we can all discuss whether or not the mods are too overzealous with their moderation of these forums.

Frankly I do not understand the problem with someone saying "xxx sucks" even if I happen to be a fan of whatever the individual is talking about.  When you start punishing forum members for using the word "sucks," you're treating us like elementary school children where we are not allowed to say things like "this sucks or I hate this."  Instead of saying "sucks" or "hate," we have to use words like dislike or In my opinion to avoid the negative connotation carried by the former.  We are not children.  We know how the thread starter feels by the content of his post, or well, sometimes we do, and we do not need to preface everything we say with "in my opinion."  If it came from my head then by default, it is my opinion.

Another problem that I personally have is all the mod edits within individual posts.  Unless it pertains to flaming other individuals, I see no reason for moderators to edit our posts to change the tone of what we say that will, in effect, sometimes change what we say entirely.  This is why I compared it to communist Russia.  The sort of moderation seen here changes our words around and deletes certain words entirely so that the content of our posts only match what they want us to say, and again, not every post is even inflammatory in nature, and it is a stretch at best to issue a warning to them for any other reason.

Finally, this thread could possibly be locked.  In fact, I expect it to be; however, I have only done what I was told to do as per my own warning.  If you don't wish for people to make threads regarding issues such as these, do not encourage them to do so in the private message you send with their warning.  With that said, I hope to encourage some friendly dialogue in response to this issue, and if this thread is locked and the situation is not resolved to my satisfation, I will take this issue to e-mail, private message, or whatever else and will continue to press the issue until a consensus is reached.

Zindaihas

In before lock.

MikeB

Some of our forums are particularly hostile (for example the SWTOR forums where the example originated) and so we tend to crack down a little harder on this sort of thing in them as things can quickly spiral out of control. This is why you may see 'Notices of Increased Moderation'. In this particular case, I think we may have been a bit oversensitive. While the title was certainly a bit sensational, the user did back up his opinion with more than enough substance. What we have a problem with is when people post that something sucks and don't really back it up in any way or are posting something sucks just to get a rise out of people and stir trouble. Again, I agree, this wasn't the case here and we apologize for the error. I've restored the original thread title.

As for mod edits in general, we do our best to avoid having to give users infractions, and to that end we'll sometimes edit out post content that may be against our Rules of Conduct if the majority of the post is otherwise fine. This lets us preserve said post content for the user and requires no formal action against the user.

If you'd like to get in touch with me privately (community AT mmorpg DOT com or mikeb AT mmorpg DOT com) with some examples of questionable edits or other moderator actions you'd like me to review and discuss with you I'd be glad to do so.

Bigdavo

Speaking of forum moderation, check out the thread 'random things you've done' or something like that. Locked for no reason what so ever.

I barely visit this site anymore but it just goes to show how badly off topic went down the drain.

Brenelael

Originally posted by Bigdavo

Speaking of forum moderation, check out the thread 'random things you've done' or something like that. Locked for no reason what so ever.

I barely visit this site anymore but it just goes to show how badly off topic went down the drain.

It was Necro'd from over a month ago with at least 2 other threads that were even older. I personally think the mod should have let that one go as it was only a month old but I understand why they did it. They locked all of the threads this poster Necro'd and that one was caught up in it.

 

Bren

WaldoCorn

I hear ya. However at the end of the day, shit happens.

Dont have to make sense, or, it may make sense.

Good news is, it's probably nothing personal, and thats one plus you can take away from it.

Have a great day.