Question Need more mods?

[Frosteon]

I'm not getting nasty and not directing this at anyone, so don't take it as such. I'm merely making a suggestion I think would benefit the forums. the subject of three moderators running this forum, how about some people on here volunteer? I think about 15 together would do good. I'm sure They'd welcome the help. Before anyone says, "Well why don't YOU (me) volunteer?" this isn't about me. I don't feel I have quite what it takes. Part of being a mod means having to deal with problems like Who is recasting? who screwed who out of an item? Who won't return a refund? Some of you have dealt with this first hand, so you could perhaps handle this situation after learning from previous dealings. With several mods, you'd have a few people to pick from to send PMs to.

 

[EvilRocketeer]

I am going to disagree, I believe the fewer the mods the better. Montagar, ManfromNabboo, and Art have been doing an amazing job. I know their performance isn't being called into question, but having 15 mods may make things more complicated. By having three, they can make faster rulings and come to faster conclusions with situations rather than waiting for reply by 12 other people.

It is like a balancing act. A Tripod really. They all bring a certain amount of balance to the board. It seems to me that montagar handles the JY, manfromnaboo is the enforcer, and Art supervises them. It works better that way. Imagine 15 legs to a tripod.

My job is almost the same thing. My manager has three assistants including myself and we handle over 80 organizations throughout the City. We are basically the enforcers making sure every-one is following policies and procedures, taking complaints or suggestions, etc etc...The more assistants would complicate things and communication and other aspects may be difficult.

Plus, our way of "volunteering" is the report post button. When we feel a post is violation of the rules, we report it to the mods. I am sure there are a few dozen or hundreds of members that would love to be a Mod, but only a few are qualified. And sometimes you have those that "stand out" too much pretending they are a mod. We all help in our own ways.

Also, if your question needs immediate assistance or needs to be answered by more than one mod, then posting in this forum (questions and suggestions forum) is the perfect solution. Not only you have 3 mods reading this section but you have fellow members and veterans here to help you out.

 

[defstartrooper]

Yep 15 is way overkill because they simply don't comunicate well together.
I've experienced real issues with one Mod telling me one thing and the next telling me something completely different in the past and it's an issue with communication and not everyone reading off the same page.

 

[Frosteon]

Hm, you make valid points. How would the mods themselves feel about this?

 

[rollerboi]

I'm sure if they felt they needed more, they'd add some.

 

[Art Andrews]

We DO need more mods, but it is a very tough and thankless position to fill. Not to sound all "woe is me" but if you ran an ad for mod it would look something like:

Do you love this hobby and in general feel good about yourself? Do you like money? Do you like people respecting you? Are you confident in your decisions? Do you have friends? Would you like to see what it would be like to have none of these things?

We kid around about how hard it is to be a staff member but in sincerity, the work isn't hard but the emotional burden is heavy, the decisions we have to make are NEVER simple and the job is quite often thankless and while we sometimes are thanked, the negativity and the "you are biased" "you are unfair" "you have ulterior motives" seem to pile up a LOT more than the praise. It simply isn't the kind of job most want to do, especially for no money or other compensation.

I know this probably sounds like I am fishing for praise and compliments, but I am not at all. I am trying to relay why it is difficult to get good mods who are willing to endure that for the good of the community.

I know Montagar has been on the lookout for MONTHS now for new mods and we have approached a couple of people, but it just hasn't panned out. While I can't imagine a time when we would need 15 people (for the reasons defstartrooper pointed out), I think 1 or 2, possibly 3 would really help.

Oh yeah, and I need a personal assistant for answering PMs that people get so upset about. :lol

 

[Art Andrews]

On a final note, while I wouldn't say we would exclude anyone because they offered, it has been our experience that anyone who actively pursues becoming a mod is probably not the right person for the job because there are usually underlying reasons that conflict with our overall direction and purpose.

 

[Alan Castillo]

Do you love this hobby and in general feel good about yourself? Do you like money? Do you like people respecting you? Are you confident in your decisions? Do you have friends? Would you like to see what it would be like to have none of these things?

:lol

I'm going to print & frame this.

 

[Art Andrews]

It is like a balancing act. A Tripod really. They all bring a certain amount of balance to the board. It seems to me that montagar handles the JY, manfromnaboo is the enforcer, and Art supervises them. It works better that way. Imagine 15 legs to a tripod.

:lol

You actually have a very good grasp of how we have it laid out... or at least how things generally work out.

The vast majority of the moderating comes from Montagar and Manfromnaboo. I would never make it without them because they do the WORK. You guys really have no idea just how much the two of them do for this community. They are the heroes and I simply ride on their coattails.

While we all oversee the board, Montagar has a very strong passion for members not being screwed over by others and has drifted into a position of being the primary person who deals with Junkyard issues. I don't envy him at all because he has to deal with people whose frustration is amplified by the potential loss of money along with all the myriad of excuses from sellers with poor business skills about why product hasn't shipped. It isn't even our job to mediate these kinds of issues, but Montagar goes way above and beyond the call of duty to try to get members their pieces when a seller flakes.

While "enforcer" may give the wrong connotations, ManfromNaboo is our eagle-eye and picks up on things that I often miss. He helps ensure we are running a tight ship and while I know we are sometimes dinged for inconsistency, ManfromNaboo's close scrutiny of the site makes us infinitely more consistent than we would be without him. While Montagar tends to head up most Junkyard issues, ManfromNaboo has also tackled some particularly hairy junkyard entanglements that seem to drag out FOREVER.

As for me, I do moderate when I come across something, but honestly, I don't have the time to read that much. Most of my efforts are spent on the back end of the site, trying to prepare a number of things we have talked about and assisting the other guys when they run into a particularly difficult problem. I deal with all the legal issues and with the financial stability of the site as well as the technical issues... and I try to keep my unread PMs below 75...

 

[Wes R]

Even if you have more mods that doesn't mean things improve. On the figure site there are 5 of us and 99% of the time two of us do most of the work, it also helps that us 2 have no lives but even at that the others may not log in forever so more mods don't always equal smoother running. I do have to say compared to this site the ones i mod on are a cakewalk even with the occasional bad trader (which we're not allowed to deal with) as I never have any PMs in my box.

 

[EvilRocketeer]

Do you love this hobby and in general feel good about yourself? Do you like money? Do you like people respecting you? Are you confident in your decisions? Do you have friends? DO YOU LIKE HAVING A SENSE OF HUMOR? Would you like to see what it would be like to have none of these things?

There I fix it. I added another important ingredient haha

I am joking, I know you guys have sense of humor and it brings great moral to the site when it is displayed at times. The whole Montagar and the little titles under the username was a great way to boost moral in my opinion. Most members enjoyed it and had fun, while there was still some that didnt mind it as much. I think overall it was a positive experience and showed that we all can have a little fun.

decisions we have to make are NEVER simple and the job is quite often thankless and while we sometimes are thanked, the negativity and the "you are biased" "you are unfair" "you have ulterior motives" seem to pile up a LOT more than the praise. It simply isn't the kind of job most want to do, especially for no money or other compensation.

Members need to realize or take into consideration that rulings and decisions are made for the better good of the community. Being a moderator and running a site is not black and white. There will be some gray areas and usually those decisions will make or break you in certain situations. Sometimes, certain situations maybe very personal and an emotional experience for several members that may take it overboard or may leave a chip on their shoulder. They just have to realize it isnt personal and that decisions are made to benefit the community as a whole not just one person.

At first, I was one of the few members that expressed my opposition of the screen-used forum because I believed it wouldnt get as much attention as the Replica forum. I was wrong, and the screen-used threads having it's own forum was a great idea.

:lol

You actually have a very good grasp of how we have it laid out... or at least how things generally work out.

While waiting for registration for months to open up, I would read past threads on this site and try to get a general feel of the site, so I wouldnt enter in and make noob mistakes haha. When the new Mod team were put into place, I noticed all of the changes and realized the new setup and how things ran which in my opinion is more effective. Also, moderating and my position at work have many associations, so I can understand what you and the others go through on a daily bases.

 

[Wes R]

Montagar put a lot of effort into the titles, I mean mine could not have been easy to find in all the stupid stuff I say daily on here lol.

 

[Nwerke]

There's a current OT issue which - pending further info being posted - I suspect I don't much like the direction it seems to be taking.

But that's the first time I've felt that way in a very long time. There have been much larger mod teams in the past and it often led to inconsistency in enforcement of rules, as others have said. I support the smaller team which IMO has been pretty kickass all in all. (Though I hope they can find a couple more folks to share the load.)

Back a few years ago it sometimes seemed like there was something to get steamed over every few days. Nowadays, it's a real rarity.

 

[Prince NEO]

On a final note, while I wouldn't say we would exclude anyone because they offered, it has been our experience that anyone who actively pursues becoming a mod is probably not the right person for the job because there are usually underlying reasons that conflict with our overall direction and purpose.

I hear that, I started a site once, and all the mods just wanted to be mods so they could add their own pages to the site and their own pictures without me getting a say, it was annoying, and the site died rather quickly thanks to that, every now and then I get an email though because someone is putting up vulgar pictures -.-, (Note to self, background checks are key)

I'd say I would love to apply to be a mod here, but I've gotten an infraction, and though it scared the living daylights out of me, I think that disqualifys me right there, also, I don't have a reason to want to be a mod other then to help out and maybe run errands that are needed for the site, which I don't think needs Mod status, right Art?

 

[Art Andrews]

I'd say I would love to apply to be a mod here, but I've gotten an infraction, and though it scared the living daylights out of me, I think that disqualifys me right there, also, I don't have a reason to want to be a mod other then to help out and maybe run errands that are needed for the site, which I don't think needs Mod status, right Art?

An infraction isn't an automatic disqualifier. Although it was retracted, I have had an infraction myself, years and years ago. lol:lol

And don't tease us with offering to run errands...

 

[Prince NEO]

:thumbsup Every body gets one, tell him peter.

And I'm not trying to tease, :cool I'm aiming to please (Wow, that was a lame....) :rolleyes

So, what can I do you for? I've got some spare time at the moment.

 

[Nwerke]

An infraction isn't an automatic disqualifier. Although it was retracted, I have had an infraction myself, years and years ago. lol:lol

And don't tease us with offering to run errands...

Whut the heck? I didn't say that...oh, right...perils of doing two things at once, eh, Art!

 

[EvilRocketeer]

Eh, If I was Mod, I wouldnt have retracted the infraction and just ban Nwerke..He is just plain ol' trouble anyways. Always Causing problems in the OT

 

[Nwerke]

Dah nuh nuh nuh nuh...bad to the bone....buh buh buh buh buh buh bad... :lol

Somehow I feel I'm being unfairly lumbered with someone else's infraction here, lol!

 

[Prince NEO]

myahahahaha, its all part of my plan, I havent figured the plan out but I can assure you it will be included somewhere.