Regional Forums Moderators

[mox 298]

Ok fine Sinergy, you've had your say, and you can even have the last word. Now I'm gonna ask all nicely and stuff for you to please stop derailing the thread. Let Ewok speak for himself if he wants to. Thanks.

[Darnell 8,479]

He already answered it in the last thread

post #335

Let him run his site and make the decisions he wants to make. No point in pushing and pushing.

Yikes - ya mean this was unofficial chatter? OMG !!!

OK - time to stop, then.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Ewok hasn't answered and probably won't in the way Mox wishes him to. Instead he quietly deflects any logic questions asked of him and is probably counting that if he remains quiet the up blow from the Charles incident will settle down. Quite frankly I'm not convinced Ewok even cares about the members of this forum...or if he does its his select few. Generally speaking Mox has asked quite a few reasonable questions. Has Ewok actually focused and answered any of his questions? No he has not. Instead he deflects, he deflects, he deflects...at least publicly in the forums. If you ask him a question through PM, he simply ignores you. I've learned that the hard way a little over a month ago despite the fact that Ewok said he would speak with me when he got back from his business trip. Unfortunately he never made good on his word and I never heard from him.

Just more of the same I'm afraid....oh have I spoken my mind publicly? Too much Sake' I suppose........................i'm off to heat up some more!

Edited October 28, 2009 by Sousuke

[Captain Ewok 1,900]

Ewok hasn't answered and probably won't in the way Mox wishes him to. Instead he quietly deflects any logic questions asked of him and is probably counting that if he remains quiet the up blow from the Charles incident will settle down. Quite frankly I'm not convinced Ewok even cares about the members of this forum...or if he does its his select few. Generally speaking Mox has asked quite a few reasonable questions. Has Ewok actually focused and answered any of his questions? No he has not. Instead he deflects, he deflects, he deflects...at least publicly in the forums. If you ask him a question through PM, he simply ignores you. I've learned that the hard way a little over a month ago despite the fact that Ewok said he would speak with me when he got back from his business trip. Unfortunately he never made good on his word and I never heard from him.

Just more of the same I'm afraid....oh have I spoken my mind publicly? Too much Sake' I suppose........................i'm off to heat up some more!

To be honest certain decisions on how the site runs are frequently made in part on specific member needs, but also based on larger community concerns. I have learned over time that decisions I make may unsettle some people but in general I try to make choices that benefit the community as a whole. I can never make the vocal minority happy all the time however I do try to understand their position and compromise when possible. To this issue:

Having a "moderator" for each forum seems like overkill after talking to several other webmasters I know on other large sites and previous mods (and present). Deputy mods for "groups" of related forums on the other hand is a well established (around the internet) and documented way to reduce work load on the global mods (who can focus on more serious moderation topics such as suspensions and other issues) while giving a deputy moderator the ability to focus their time more on their smaller group of forums and get to know the "local" issues as possible.

I am not opposed to having a person "lead" the discussion of each regional forum (although keeping track of members who come and go may be tough -- people are not in the habit of PM'ing me when they leave) however I am not sure that they "need" deputy moderator "tools" to do this. If something is a violation of the TOS then they can alert the Deputy Mod for those forums or the global mods. They can be a "point of contact" for the mods to talk to when they need help understanding a local issue in a regional forum. To be honest, we already do this now if we are "confused" on a topic -- we may ask members in a forum to "help get us up to speed" from various perspectives when we are trying to figure out a specific problem.

Long story short, I think we can have local leaders but unless there is a compelling need for "mod" tools for so many members then I think the proposed deputy mod structure is still the best way to go. If there are concerns beyond this in regards to moderation ability for "specific" regional forums then you would have to explain to me why it would be less effective to have a "leader" or even regular members contact deputy or global mods when issues arise.

@Sousuke, VJ is sometimes by design a slow ship when it comes to large changes. I learned over time that "at the moment" reactionary measures often cause more harm then good. Taking a step back, making a change and letting it "settle"... assessing the impact the change made.... altering the change (or reversing) as needed... etc... until the best solution is found. Making large radical changes back and forth not only confuses members but makes running the site exceptionally difficult when policies are changing so quickly. The moderation team, admin, technical and related persons need to be on the same page when things change. Further, it takes time for membership to adapt to items beyond a minor change. To this end we have in fact put off and gone into a prolonged effort on the upgrade of the VJ Forums (new version of the software) until a "look and feel" can be had that is easy for the current membership to transition to while also injecting additional usability into the site and not "latching on the the past" and legacy problems the current UI has. Changes like the forums update literally take 6 months to shake out, test, validate against customs code modules, test for security, beta test with some members, etc..

Blah, I am probably leaving a lot out but that was my stream of thought.

[Captain Ewok 1,900]

Regarding the statement (pertaining to extra mods in the regional forums made previously in another thread):

in practice you'll find yourself wondering what that RU moderators name is again because you haven't heard from him in so long.

This is exactly what I do not want, having so many mods that I can not keep track of them. This may work out at times but I can easily imagine the complexity and problems that would arise with keeping so many people "in the loop" on TOS interpretations, general member issues, etc (the things the mods have to do behind the scenes). A big concern is that mods should all have as much consistency between them as possible and when they can not handle a situation (conflict of interest, time concerns for personal life, etc) then they can hand off to another mod.

The suggestion of each forum in Regional plus the other major categories having deputy mods would result (if my math is right) in 20 (yes twenty) total mods on VJ. I just can not see that being feasible or necessary. With the exception of flare ups in some regional forums from time to time, it just does not seem like things there need that much moderation.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

@Sousuke, VJ is sometimes by design a slow ship when it comes to large changes. I learned over time that "at the moment" reactionary measures often cause more harm then good. Taking a step back, making a change and letting it "settle"... assessing the impact the change made.... altering the change (or reversing) as needed... etc... until the best solution is found. Making large radical changes back and forth not only confuses members but makes running the site exceptionally difficult when policies are changing so quickly. The moderation team, admin, technical and related persons need to be on the same page when things change. Further, it takes time for membership to adapt to items beyond a minor change. To this end we have in fact put off and gone into a prolonged effort on the upgrade of the VJ Forums (new version of the software) until a "look and feel" can be had that is easy for the current membership to transition to while also injecting additional usability into the site and not "latching on the the past" and legacy problems the current UI has. Changes like the forums update literally take 6 months to shake out, test, validate against customs code modules, test for security, beta test with some members, etc..

Blah, I am probably leaving a lot out but that was my stream of thought.

And yet you inferred previously that the regional mod decision was made quickly and that you hadn't even informed your moderation team about it until you posted the congrats thread. I've sent you a PM, I would really appreciate a reply.

[William33 110]

@Sousuke, VJ is sometimes by design a slow ship when it comes to large changes. I learned over time that "at the moment" reactionary measures often cause more harm then good. Taking a step back, making a change and letting it "settle"... assessing the impact the change made.... altering the change (or reversing) as needed... etc... until the best solution is found. Making large radical changes back and forth not only confuses members but makes running the site exceptionally difficult when policies are changing so quickly. The moderation team, admin, technical and related persons need to be on the same page when things change. Further, it takes time for membership to adapt to items beyond a minor change. To this end we have in fact put off and gone into a prolonged effort on the upgrade of the VJ Forums (new version of the software) until a "look and feel" can be had that is easy for the current membership to transition to while also injecting additional usability into the site and not "latching on the the past" and legacy problems the current UI has. Changes like the forums update literally take 6 months to shake out, test, validate against customs code modules, test for security, beta test with some members, etc..

Blah, I am probably leaving a lot out but that was my stream of thought.

And yet you inferred previously that the regional mod decision was made quickly and that you hadn't even informed your moderation team about it until you posted the congrats thread. I've sent you a PM, I would really appreciate a reply.

FYI: All Mods were made aware in advance.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

@Sousuke, VJ is sometimes by design a slow ship when it comes to large changes. I learned over time that "at the moment" reactionary measures often cause more harm then good. Taking a step back, making a change and letting it "settle"... assessing the impact the change made.... altering the change (or reversing) as needed... etc... until the best solution is found. Making large radical changes back and forth not only confuses members but makes running the site exceptionally difficult when policies are changing so quickly. The moderation team, admin, technical and related persons need to be on the same page when things change. Further, it takes time for membership to adapt to items beyond a minor change. To this end we have in fact put off and gone into a prolonged effort on the upgrade of the VJ Forums (new version of the software) until a "look and feel" can be had that is easy for the current membership to transition to while also injecting additional usability into the site and not "latching on the the past" and legacy problems the current UI has. Changes like the forums update literally take 6 months to shake out, test, validate against customs code modules, test for security, beta test with some members, etc..

Blah, I am probably leaving a lot out but that was my stream of thought.

And yet you inferred previously that the regional mod decision was made quickly and that you hadn't even informed your moderation team about it until you posted the congrats thread. I've sent you a PM, I would really appreciate a reply.

FYI: All Mods were made aware in advance.

Ah yes your right I misread something.

Edited October 28, 2009 by Sousuke

[mox 298]

Thanks for the reply Ewok.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Yes, thanks. We love you.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Yes, thanks. We love you.

step away from the funny juice.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Yes, thanks. We love you.

step away from the funny juice.

I love you too, sista.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Yes, thanks. We love you.

step away from the funny juice.

I love you too, sista.

OK, now I am worried about my safety and that of my children.

Wait, I don't have any

[Sinergy 3]

Yes, thanks. We love you.

step away from the funny juice.

I love you too, sista.

OK, now I am worried about my safety and that of my children.

Wait, I don't have any

You can borrow mine for the moment

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

You too, Tara