Moderator Applications/Reccomendations

Hey everyone, after Hayate expressed the very good point that the forums are way too large for the current moderation staff to handle everything. Ultimately, we just want to have a nice online space to discuss ideas for the system and enjoy some roleplaying.


A good moderaror is...
Good at enforcing the rules fairly and consistently.
Good at diffusing fights before there's a need for warnings (if they catch it in time).
Online and available to address any potential arguments or issues a good amount of the time. 
Without a history of starting or continuing fights on these forums.


If you'd like to apply for this position or if you can think of anyone that sound like they'd be a great fit - feel free to PM me with your reasons why you and/or the people that you're reccomending would make a great moderator. Looking forward to it.

....can't we have the votes/suggestions be a bit more. I don't know? Public.
Prefer not to have "Favoritism" be slandered immediately across the new mods name.

Hayate does have a point...

If you want to post public recommendations here too, you absolutely can. I worry it might be a space for publicly arguing about a user's merits though and users won't have all the administrative information available to them in any case - regarding a user's history.

Ultimately, I think that anyone that assumes 'favoritism' is a reason why someone gets the moderation job is going to either...

A) Eventually see the moderator actually do the job - and then base his or her opinion on the reality of that moderator's actions instead of presumed favoritism.

B) Not be rational, like in the above line. In this case, there isn't really much we can do.

Yeah, that's fair I guess.

Just to be clear, how much control over the forum does a moderator have? It can be dangerous (forum-wrecking, even) is someone malicious (or just angered enough) is given power to delete threads and/or ban users, or some other method of doing irreversible damage to a wide section of the forum.

Moderators can be given variable levels of access. However, the classic moderator can delete posts and threads. It's one reason I don't give access to people I wouldn't personally trust to not wreck things regardless of how angry they are.

Theoretically though, I could give someone moderator 'status' as a title and nothing else - giving the weight of authority but having them to get an existing Admin or Moderator to actually delete something that they thought needed deleting.

So like a Bike Cop, then. You can tell people all you want to obey the law, and many will, but as soon as there's a high speed chase, all you can do is call in backup. We could do with about a half dozen of them, each patrolling a section of the boards, and then when stuff goes down, they step in and say stuff, but also report to an actual mod or admin with the power to do something, just so they're aware.

It might be a good trial program too, since it would give people authority without the power to mess with other users - and we could take a look at how they handle problems and the actions that they recommend. It's a nice safety net and chance for prospective moderators to develop their skills and familiarity with the rules if they make a few mistakes at first.

I'd mind being a mod (because I wouldn't do a great job/am not on often enough) but I wouldn't mind being a bike cop, so to speak.

I'm not sure how good I'd be at such a job... But I'd totally put my hat in to the mix here.

My sense of morality is compelling me to sign up for this...

I'm tempted a bit... Though similarly to Aproc, I'm not sure I'd do a good job, or that I'd even be all that active (I'd likely be on during non-peak hours, due to timezones, and RL might intervene soon), or comfortable with the responsibility.

I'm going to give some more people time to express interest before submitting case studies to the applicants (meaning sample posts for you to respond to if you had the moderator job). From those case studies, at least one (possibly quite a few more) people will be selected for the Bike Cop moderator position we talked about here - giving everyone selected ample opportunity to demonstrate your rules judgment and problem-solving skills in a safety net. They'll be able to speak with authority and make detailed recommendations to the administrative staff when specific action needs to be taken (like bans, thread deletion or warnings).

Hopefully this process will give people a lot of opportunities to prove themselves and make a few mistakes as they learn the ropes. It'll also mean we won't have to be as careful about who gets to try out the position.

You'd better put those who get this "Bike Cop" status as some type of tage on her forum status thingie... Or something... Saying "Bike Cop Mod" or something like that but better...

"Adjudicator" might be a good term. The authority to moderate, but without the power to act.

There's absolutely going to be a special title.

Stairc -Dan Felder wrote:There's absolutely going to be a special title.

Pinkie Promise Enforcer
Motorcycle Mod
FOREVEEEEEER
Royal Guard
Princess of the Night
Not-Asleep Mod
Spike at your Service

We'll be selecting our 'bike cop' positions after we're all done moving back to college. Should be within 1-2 weeks.

Er so any answer it has been a month...?

We're getting to it... We've just been hilariously busy. Pulling an all-nighter as I type to study for 2 midterms and a lab all happening today alone (more the next day). Not an excuse really, this needs to be prioritized (but then so did fixing combat math, working with Philadelphus on the new Utility system, going over crits with Sunbeam etc.)  and we'll get on it the moment the dust settles. Bugging us actually *does* help, and it's appreciated. Feel free to do so via PMs once a day too.

Stairc -Dan Felder wrote:Feel free to do so via PMs once a day too.

We actually have permission to do this?

Absolutely. At least with me, obviously can't speak for all other users.

Congratulations to Philadelphus and Lapis-Lazily, our new Pony Patrollers.

Their role will be to keep a lid on things when they see them happening, and request moderation action when necessary. As representatives of the staff their word will count as a formal warning for the purposes of moderation action.

Stay tuned for more.

EDIT: And welcome to Paper Shadow, the third member of the pony patrol.