TOS Violations and Moderator Responses

[Captain Ewok 1,891]

The ticket system (contact form on the website) allows us to track every communication and make sure the issue is resolved. If you send an email to support at visa journey dot com then it automatically opens a trouble ticket as well. My admin account is not one that I openly use for tickets or other contacts. It's not published on the site anywhere. It's easy to lose track of emails so we made the switch over to tickets mid to late last year. The response has been very good overall. You may still have the old email -- which could be why replies there for you are slower.

[Darnell 8,478]

so where does 'forums@visajourney.com' resolve to?

[spookyturtle 9,465]

so where does 'forums@visajourney.com' resolve to?

[Captain Ewok 1,891]

so where does 'forums@visajourney.com' resolve to?

black hole. It is a noreply addy for automated emails sent from the forums.

[Karee 4,190]

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Just my two cents - if this site knows how important contributing members are then I'd suggest following what a lot of other message boards do - acknowledge top contributors with some kind of title, like "Top Contributor." Then give them special consideration before moderating them, like maybe require three moderators to unanimously agree before taking administrative action against a top contributor. If there's ever any uncertainty, you can always make the post or thread invisible until there's an opportunity to carefully assess the context of the material. Have an auto message sent to both the members account and to their email, letting them know that their post or thread was made invisible until further review.

In essence, Moderators are just regular members who have been elevated to a higher status that allows them to use their own discretion in dealing with other members who step out of the line and lets be honest - sometimes it becomes personal. While I understand the need for moderators, I've always felt that the more members who stick around and have shown over time, their sincerity and kindness with helping others, the less moderation is needed. Build this place more into the community it once was instead of the fractured, tribalism that now exists and the community will pretty much filter out those who step out of line. Moderators should be a last resort and should not think that their elevated status somehow trumps the reputation of longtime members who have been positive contributors. Acknowledgement, careful consideration and a sense of community would go a long way in fixing the type of disharmony that has been expressed here.

Edited April 1, 2014 by Porterhouse

[luckytxn 2,264]

I don't think we need special titles. Newbie Moderators need to kick this up to more experienced Moderators when a very long time contributor is to be treated harshly. Bad timing also. Hopefuly he learned as the rest of the moderation team and especially the owner himself. Just try not to allow this to happen again. It wasn't just Nich leaving for sure. Personally I don't know Nich well but remember her from many years for helping so many. You don't ever treat top contributor talent like they are a common troll.

Just my two cents - if this site knows how important contributing members are then I'd suggest following what a lot of other message boards do - acknowledge top contributors with some kind of title, like "Top Contributor." Then give them special consideration before moderating them, like maybe require three moderators to unanimously agree before taking administrative action against a top contributor. If there's ever any uncertainty, you can always make the post or thread invisible until there's an opportunity to carefully assess the context of the material. Have an auto message sent to both the members account and to their email, letting them know that their post or thread was made invisible until further review.

In essence, Moderators are just regular members who have been elevated to a higher status that allows them to use their own discretion in dealing with other members who step out of the line and lets be honest - sometimes it becomes personal. While I understand the need for moderators, I've always felt that the more members who stick around and have shown over time, their sincerity and kindness with helping others, the less moderation is needed. Build this place more into the community it once was instead of the fractured, tribalism that now exists and the community will pretty much filter out those who step out of line. Moderators should be a last resort and should not think that their elevated status somehow trumps the reputation of longtime members who have been positive contributors. Acknowledgement, careful consideration and a sense of community would go a long way in fixing the type of disharmony that has been expressed here.

[luckytxn 2,264]

Also this happened after the new "family" policy has alienated many good contributors here. It seemed like moderation was bullying and treating like a troll a lot of good posters here. Need to stop harassing them. Ridiculous reasons for deleting icons and signatures. Most were just fine if not all of them. Why the Jack Boot treatment?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Why the Jack Boot treatment?

In all fairness, the moderation is fairly light here, although very inconsistent, not to the level of seeking that "fairness", but to the manner by which the TOS is interpreted and applied by the various moderators here. I guess the "zeal" fades with maturity, or a sense of futility sets in with time.

[luckytxn 2,264]

That's it in a nut shell.

In all fairness, the moderation is fairly light here, although very inconsistent, not to the level of seeking that "fairness", but to the manner by which the TOS is interpreted and applied by the various moderators here. I guess the "zeal" fades with maturity, or a sense of futility sets in with time.

[christeen 966]

No worries, I saw in a thread that someone reported VJ to the BBB... Wait till they get involved!!

[Jon and Krissy 452]

My 20 cents (inflation):

Some of the mods here are reasonable - one in particular I've had great interactions with. Most of them, however, seem to lack a sense of humour and appreciation of irony completely. The junk they let people get away with keeping posted, vs. when I inject a bit of levity into a thread, astonishes me. Hey mods (and you know which ones you are) get a damn sense of humour already.

In all fairness, the moderation is fairly light here, although very inconsistent, not to the level of seeking that "fairness", but to the manner by which the TOS is interpreted and applied by the various moderators here. I guess the "zeal" fades with maturity, or a sense of futility sets in with time.

Yeah, it's as 'light' as 2 tons of feathers.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Some of the mods here are reasonable - one in particular I've had great interactions with. Most of them, however, seem to lack a sense of humour and appreciation of irony completely. The junk they let people get away with keeping posted, vs. when I inject a bit of levity into a thread, astonishes me. Hey mods (and you know which ones you are) get a damn sense of humour already.

Remember, with a large percentage of immigrants reading your post, not everybody will understand your brand of humor, or in my case, subtle pedantic references. If a member considers your post offensive due to such a lack of understanding, he or she may use the report button. I have been on the receiving end of that myself, especially with newly ordained mods that may not fully comprehend the nuances of American humor, or lack enough of a well rounded American education to be exposed to the same disciplines in the same manner I was, or even watched all the same television shows, seen the same movies, or read the same books that I have.

Yeah, it's as 'light' as 2 tons of feathers.

On a different website, I made similar comments on three threads regarding ongoing cheating/hacking and the lack of any perceivable effort on the part of the game developers to address the issue. The moderator deleted two of my posts, left one in place, and after admonishing me for addressing a player problem on a player forum, closed the thread to further comment. He then sent me a PM letting me know I was flagged for spamming and subject to suspension, if I make the same or similar comments in multiple threads again.

[UncleBeer 244]

The ticket system (contact form on the website) allows us to track every communication and make sure the issue is resolved.

Hmmm. I've had a support ticket open now for four days, without a response. Is the system even active?

Separately, I've also just suffered a 'thread ban' from a mod who seemed miffed that others were posting off-topic in a thread. I'm convinced I wasn't posting off-topic and clearly the mod gets the last word, but regardless: if off-topic = ban, then the whole forum deserves banning. Constructive suggestion: maybe mods answer support tickets first instead of investing time in searching for off-topic posts?

[Jon and Krissy 452]

Hmmm. I've had a support ticket open now for four days, without a response. Is the system even active?

Separately, I've also just suffered a 'thread ban' from a mod who seemed miffed that others were posting off-topic in a thread. I'm convinced I wasn't posting off-topic and clearly the mod gets the last word, but regardless: if off-topic = ban, then the whole forum deserves banning. Constructive suggestion: maybe mods answer support tickets first instead of investing time in searching for off-topic posts?

I opened a support ticket over a week ago, never any damn reply. What a surprise.

Agreed, half of the mods here are loose cannons at best, extremely biased at worst. I've tried engaging in a dialog with them over this through support tickets. Guess what? No damn reply. Conclusion: little Napoleon complex.