Moderation

[James]

[QUOTE=Dagger IX1]Then start one! Or else I'll be forced to.

Yeah, this thread is pretty entertaining. I've really enjoyed reading all of the comments, responses to comments and totally unexpected side debates. :p

~Dagger~[/QUOTE]

[color=#334366]There was a big push to start a yaoi/shounen-ai (or whatever it's called) sub-forum a while ago. The only reason that I didn't go ahead with it was mostly because I felt that such threads would be fine in Anime Lounge (ie: I didn't think we had enough fans to support it here).

Now that we have a "one forum, one official thread" type system, it probably won't happen. But from what I've seen in AL, there have been a few good threads on that genre.

And yes, this is the type of thread that shows what Otaku Lounge can be. It's got debate, humor and everything in between. This is what I want OL to be like -- serious debates are fine, but it's great when people are mature enough to jump in and out of discussion while still keeping within the general theme of the topic.

Good stuff, y'all. :blulaugh: [/color]

[Kaze]

[FONT=Times New Roman]I'd definitely be here like, twice a year if I was asked to be a mod, over my once a year visit. I've been a moderator/Global Mod at five different forums now (most have faced horrible ends by now, but not because of me, I assure you). So I'd have experience. In fact, I totally moderate two different forums right now. Though one is just starting up, and the other is slowing facing a horrible end (again, not because of me, I assure you).[/FONT]

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1]I think that the 'Deal With This Member' thread is something that fully deserves nomination etc., and I guess that bandying around the thread is all well and good...I mean, as has been said, it does make a significant contribution to OB. However, I think actually linking to it is a bit much, and unnecessary. After all, every Moderator knows about it, and nobody else can actually [b]see[/b] it ~_^

Just to add my two cents after the bank has closed. I always get in on these too late.[/size]

[James]

[QUOTE=Baron Samedi][size=1]I think that the 'Deal With This Member' thread is something that fully deserves nomination etc., and I guess that bandying around the thread is all well and good...I mean, as has been said, it does make a significant contribution to OB. However, I think actually linking to it is a bit much, and unnecessary. After all, every Moderator knows about it, and nobody else can actually [b]see[/b] it ~_^

[/size][/QUOTE]

[color=#334366]Now you know how I feel whenever you link to your LSN site and I get the dreaded black box. :bawl: [/color]

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1]XD I really need to fix that. In fact I'm hoping to get some sort of fix [ie redo my index] today or tommorow :)[/size]

[Dagger]

[quote name='James][color=#334366']There was a big push to start a yaoi/shounen-ai (or whatever it's called) sub-forum a while ago. The only reason that I didn't go ahead with it was mostly because I felt that such threads would be fine in Anime Lounge (ie: I didn't think we had enough fans to support it here).[/color][/quote]
What's kind of funny is that nowadays it's called BL (boys' love). Only English-speaking fans use "yaoi" and "shounen-ai" on a regular basis; those words have long since been retired in the Japanese fandom. But while I now have three terms to throw around more or less interchangeably (uh, yay?), at least most English-speaking fans know exactly what yaoi means, whereas the abbreviation BL just leads to mass confusion. Cultural diffusion seems to lag a lot when it comes to things like this.

Anyway, I definitely agree with you on the whole lack of support thing. I don't think I've ever managed to make a yaoi thread last more than five or six pages. :(

Back on topic--well, sort of...

Last year, I had no freaking clue what the "Deal with this member" thread was, haha. I didn't even make the connection until I actually became a mod.

~Dagger~

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]First, answering the original question:

No, I wouldn't drop my staff position just yet, even if there were someone else that could easily fill the spot. I like being able to help out the site by moderating, which I rarely see as being a pain anymore. I don't know if this is just me or what, but it seems like after having modded for so long (three years now by the way, if you missed the little event I posted yesterday), taking care of spam and whatnot has just become a natural part of logging on and reading through the latest posts in the Hardwired section. Though granted, Hardwired sees fewer posts than any other section of the boards, so I don't have as much to deal with. Maybe that contributes to me enjoying the job as much as I do?

In any case, yeah, I'd like to stick around as a staff member for a while longer. In fact, I probably won't quit until I'm too lacking in free time to continue, or until James fires me. (And we all know the latter will never happen.)

Okay, with that out of the way, time for the good part: A bunch of random comments on earlier bits of posts in the thread. I love doing this.[/color]

[quote name='Reise][COLOR=DarkRed][SIZE=1]Again, moderating isn't a privilege, it is a responsibility. And you can't fool around.[/SIZE'][/COLOR][/quote]
[color=#4B0082]Oh, I don't know. We have our ways of finding fun in the job. ... Or I do, anyway. Most of it involves having a bit of a laugh with Shinmaru or someone over some of the stuff I end up having to delete. Another way involves ... well, just Shinmaru, I guess. How can you not find something [url=http://www.sweethypocrisies.com/obpics/details.php?image_id=249][u]funny[/u][/url] about him?

Moderating loves company, heh.[/color]

[quote name='Panda']Now I totally agree with what many of you have stated in this thread already about some people seeing the Mod position as being oh-so powerful. It is easy to over look the negatives. The angry people PMing you or trying to flame you in the forums for some decision you made concerning their post or thread. At times it is very difficult not to let it get under your skin. There is also the repetition of having to close, in the case of the OL, all the "Hi, I am new here!" threads. It is totally understandable where the burn out comes from.[/quote]
[color=#4B0082]My secret is to just not give a crap. Sure, I'd like members who start off spammy to improve and become good additions to the community (wow, it almost sounds like we're trying to assimilate people), and I encourage them to do so. But I've no qualms about stepping on peoples' toes if I need to; I'll say what needs to be said, and I will say it politely, but if they don't respond I figure, "Whatever, their loss."

People can flame me, get mad that I deleted one of their posts or closed one of their threads. ... And I don't give a crap. I look at it as people should: The rules are there to be followed, I'm enforcing those rules, and it's other peoples' problem if they break them. If people get mad at me for enforcing the rules which they agreed to when they registered, well, why should I care about their misplaced anger? What they're really mad about is being restricted in what they can post, but you can't really complain to an inanimate list of rules, so they turn to the first human behind those rules to vent their anger at. And I don't care to pay any more attention to that than to give them a warning for flaming.

I guess all of this comes from the fact that I have very little respect for people until they show me they're worthy of being respected. It's a bit cynical, yeah, but it really doesn't take all that much to earn some respect. Breaking the rules enough to warrent a warning, and then flaming me for it, just doesn't do it for me though.

Now, if someone has a valid complaint, I'm willing to take notice and listen. But that's a different matter.[/color]

[quote name='DeathKnight][color=crimson]Hmm, I guess I don't have any grand lectures or pointers to give people who want to be moderators, lol. Just go with the flow and don't try [i]too[/i'] hard to be a moderator. It will come to you, you don't necessarily go to it, yeah?[/color][/quote]
[color=#4B0082]I think that's actually pretty good advice. Both for trying to become a mod, and then just after becoming one. I remember it took me a while to really get into things and learn how to deal with stuff, so if I'd been really gung-ho straight off the bat. ... Well, there probably would have been a lot more mistakes and reprimands, heh.

Oh, and now that I've written it, I find the phrase "gung-ho straight off the bat" amusing. Just thought I'd mention that.[/color]

[quote name='Shinmaru]And I haven't cracked Team Leader status yet. Who the hell knows what [i]they[/i'] get?[/quote]
[color=#4B0082]It's a secret to everybody.[/color]

[quote name='Charles']I've never thought better of you than I do now. I just thought you should know that.[/quote]
[color=#4B0082]I'm with Charles, definitely. Shin knows what it's all about.[/color]

[quote name='Xander Harris']Hmmm. That brings some interesting notions to my mind... if someone WANTS to be a mod, and they were replying to this thread, then they would have to say they don't want to be a mod. But if they say that than chances are they won't get asked to mod. So, the way I see it, anyone who replies to this thread (who isn't a mod already) and wants to BE a mod is screwed the second they hit 'submit reply.' ;)[/quote]
[color=#4B0082]There's a difference between stating that you'd like to be a mod, and flat out asking to be one. ... Though that doesn't stop us from descriminating anyway. So maybe people are screwed, maybe they aren't. It'll probably depend mainly on how good looking they are.[/color]

[quote name='Semjaza Azazel']As for Shinmaru, no one really likes him anyway. It's all an ellaborate façade.[/quote]
[color=#4B0082]Wait, don't shatter his spirit yet! I still have some use for him.[/color]

[quote name='Adahn']There is the light feeling of joy when a moderator replies to your thread, or something you yourself specifically said.[/quote]
[color=#4B0082]So you're saying I spread joy wherever I post? Wow, I gotta find a way to take advantage of that. Maybe I should start charging people for each reply to threads they've created. That could bring in some money. ...[/color]

[quote name='AzureWolf][FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]Out of curiosity, which part of the team decided it'd be fun to constantly leave a link for members to click on, only to be informed that they don't have the privilege to see the link. I'm talking about the constant reference to the [B][U]Deal with this member[/B][/U] thread, which hasn't stopped popping up in one form another, in one person's blog or at the awards thingies. It's like, "Dude, you gotta see this thread," and then you click, and it's like, "Oh, wait, that's right! You can't! Ahahahaha!" It's annoying, and I don't think it shows maturity on the side of the moderators.[/COLOR][/SIZE'][/FONT][/quote]
[color=#4B0082]*waves* I was the first one to nominate the thread in the 2004 Otaku Awards, and also the only person (to my knowledge) that nominated it in the 2005 Nifty Fifty awards. Those are about the only times I've linked to it, though. The rest is other people taking what I started and running with it.

Really, it started off as just a joke that I came up with. I thought it would be funny to nominate the thread and see if it could actually win, despite not being able to be viewed by the majority of the people voting. (Or in the case of the Nifty Fifty, everyone that was in charge of putting together the list short of maybe Shy.) Though others are right in saying it's had a decent impact on OB, in the way moderating is handled, so I would say it does also actually deserve the recognition. But mainly I just wanted to see if it could win, and then have a laugh over it if it did.

And I'm proud to have sparked something that James deemed, "...perhaps the dorkiest post I've ever seen on OB."[/color]

[quote name='James][color=#334366']OB7.5 will probably see a reasonably big round of new staff intake.[/color][/quote]
[color=#4B0082]The way you word it, it almost sounds like you and the board are going to devour them whole. ... Though maybe that's not actually too far off.[/color]

[quote name='Mimmi][SIZE=1][COLOR=Sienna][FONT=Verdana](I know this is all very exaggerated to those who do this job with a breeze but it's a breeze to you because you're gods. The rest of us aren't :p)[/FONT][/COLOR'][/SIZE][/quote]
[color=#4B0082]Thanks for the compliment. ^_^[/color]

[kabapu]

cool topic.

i'm not a staff member here, so the question posed to me is "would i like to become staff"

my answer would be yes. because i have experience in forum moderation, and forum administration. plus these boards rock.

[2010DigitalBoy]

I could never moderate these boards, because I am way to immiture, and my posts are short. On the other hand, moderation would be easy for me, because all I do is play video games and post on otakuboards. Seriously, if you put a webcam in my house you'd see me running between upstairs and downstair, playing Tenchu and going on Otakuboards. If I were able to take the place of a mod, I would pick the Play it forum from Desbreko, even though he won't give it up, because I read all those threads ANYWAY.

[You Don't Care]

Speaking of moderation. Do you moderators out there think that my opinions are out of line or anything of the like? If this is the case I would like to be told. I respect your thoughts as well as the responsibility that has been given to you to keep these boards under control.

Thank you for considering this.

[SunfallE]

[QUOTE=Morpheus]To everyone else:
Would you want to become a staff member, and of so, which post would you want?
[/QUOTE]

Although I am certain I could be a good moderator I would never be one. Usually I barely have enough time to read and post replies. :animesigh

And although this is a bit off topic I mainly responded to this thread as I wanted to comment on how amazing the moderators here are. I have truthfully avoided forums as they are usually full of spam and poorly monitored. I can honestly say I have yet to find a forum as well run as this one is. For example: just a few days ago a new member joined *I won't say who* but this person was absoutly annoying and rude and one of the moderators *I think it was Dagger* stopped the new member's posts and rude comments quickly. I was very impressed. I love coming to this forum as 99% of the time I visit I never have to deal with the jerks out there as the moderators do such a good job of keeping them under control. :animesmil

[Morpheus]

[QUOTE=Xy GGu]Speaking of moderation. Do you moderators out there think that my opinions are out of line or anything of the like? If this is the case I would like to be told. I respect your thoughts as well as the responsibility that has been given to you to keep these boards under control.

Thank you for considering this.[/QUOTE]
I'd say your opinion on parenting was way out of line [I]morally.[/I] No one here will ever discourage you from having or stating your own opinions, so long as you do so in a non-insulting manner, which I believe you have accomplished. None of the staff will reprimand you for throwing your opinion into a discussion.

[James]

[color=#B0251E]Erm, I think it's a little inappropriate to be discussing your general views in this thread. This is a thread about forum Moderation, not parenting or anything else. So let's try to remain on-topic (or at least vaguely related to the topic).

Of course, if you want to start a thread about parenting or whatever else, you're welcome to do so.[/color]

[Roxie Faye]

[color=#9933ff]Wow. I totally missed this thread the first time around. I hope I?m allowed to post in it still. ^^;;;;;

First I?ll reply to all the funny things I thought were worth replying to:

Page 1:

Panda said something about how a mod shouldn?t go on a powertrip. And I immediately thought of someone. *wink* (It?s someone banned by the way, so no one should think I?m winking at them.)

Shy and Sara - Digi-mods are the bestest!!!! *huggles you guys* Besides, if it weren?t for Miss Ginnylyn, there would be no mod rod and no mod rod smiley face! ^.^ And yes, I remember devi?s ?overzealous? comment, too, Shy. Someone made a big whole thread about how the mods in the Digimon area were too strict after you cleaned up that insane spam-tastic topic about how digimon were real. I remember thinking ?thank God he closed it!? Eheh. And I remember the Nazi accusations against the both of you. Incredibly frustrating. So was that sticky topic about FMDs and artwork in the Digi forum. *chuckles fondly*

Page 2:
Shin - XD is all I must say.

Shy - I remember that asking rule. I think that was the first thing I learned actually, before the rules (I used common sense until one of the mods, I think Sara, recommended that I read them. lol). So I guess that would really make the ?don?t ask to be a mod? rule #1. ; )

Shugo54 - said mods get all the respect and that is true. I met a lot of my online friends because they were mods. I got bored one day, added all the screen names of the mods to my buddy list and started IMing them. I don?t think I did it to be a suck up or anything, but because they were obviously more well known and I didn?t know anybody, really, I chose mods. I clicked with some of them, had a passing friendship with others, and was totally annoyed by a few. And those mods who did become my friends introduced me to all their friends.

Yes, Charles and Ken that?s how you both got to be my friends, and for that, I wouldn?t change my stupid method at all. Ironically, my method also gave me funny friends like Kevin. *bursts out laughing*

Charles - Having mentioned shugo?s comment, I agree with what Charles said after that. I?ve had my share of fair-weathered friends (obviously not through moderating OB, don?t be stupid; but I have had them) and it?s not something you want. Sent me into a downward spiral for about a year and a half. Not fun. >_<

Page 4: Skipped over the Azure/shy/James debate. Boring.

Page 6: ?Sko quoted Reise, and I must have missed what she said, before.

I?ve been a moderator for several different forums on another board. I even had my own forum specifically created for me to moderate one time. *huggles Charles deeply* I had fun. While a mod at the other forums, we had such silly silly AIM staff chats - yelling, smashing, and banging fists on tables. ; ) While that message board was a little bit silly, actually, I think it?s okay to say that on OB, the mods have fun too. If they didn?t, they?d go absolutely insane from cleaning up the spammy posts they see.

Perfect example of fun on the job: Syk3 - Shy switch. It was great. Confused the heck outta me until I saw the post about it in Shy?s myO. lol.

On that silly message board, I?ve been mod, mod for several things at once, and even admin. And of course, a regular member, and even banned at one point. keke. I was pretty good at being a mod, but I screwed up as an admin. First night on the job, I was asked to delete an unused forum in which there were two topics. I forgot to move them to a different forum before deleting that one. *laughs* Thank god it wasn?t anything major though. LOL.

On a different message board, I was a mod, as well, and it was all good. I think I got appointed to both positions because I knew the owners personally, and they were relatively small places anyways. *shrug*

I always thought the best ?perk? or ?novelty? of being a mod would be the mod forum. On the other forums, I loved having access to it, and yet, nothing exciting ever happened. There?s something wrong with me. lol.

The best was when I tried to start my own forums. There were three mods - Luminaire, Corey, and myself. And because I had labeled it as such, we used it as a chill-out forum. We had an insane pillow fight with feathers in this huge ?house? we made up. It was great.

P.S.: Now that I?ve been talking about the mod?s forum, just out of curiosity, does it count toward your overall post total? Just wondering.[/color]

[Citrus]

I would want to become a moderator, but not just to go around and ban people. I would want to become a moderator becuase I want to just want to help keep OB up and going. Basically just want to keep healthy also, I admire the moderators for what they do. I don't think becoming a moderator is a honor, I think it is a repsonibility.

If James were to private message me asking if I would like me to be the next Team Hanzo Moderator I would certainly say yes. And once again I say I wouldn't go prancing around acting all stuck up. I would carry myself as a member as I carried myself before I became a moderator. That's my opinion on becoming a moderator.