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My wife is a big forum user (mainly hair care, the sims, etc)

anyway she complained to me today that one of the mods on one of the forums she fequents hasa habit of closing threads just cause, issuing warnings and otherwise banning people for little to no cause. - effectivly this mod is, according to my wife the "forum nazi"

i questioned her on the rules governing the mods and she couldnt say, only that asking such would probally get her banned. (by the mod in question)

so my question to dakkas mods (and i realize diffrent sites have diffrent rules) is do you guys answer to anyone, have a code of ethics or guidelines you have to follow? if a mod gets "out of control" or "mad with power" (have you tried going mad without power? its boring... no one listens!) do the forum admins bring down some form of dicsipline?

im not asking to cause trouble, and apologies if i convey the wrong tone here.
but my wifes little issue kind of brought up an interesting question... "who polices the police?" if a direct forum answer is against rules or whatever then sincere apologies and delete the thread. but can i request a PM answer in that case?

t

For Dakka, the mods are mostly self-policing. Moderator actions are recorded, and where necessary discussed amongst the mod team.

If anyone feels a mod is behaving inappropriately, posters are always welcome to contact another mod or Yakface, and the issue will be discussed and dealt with as is deemed appropriate.

That's just how we handle things here, though. There is no over-arching 'Forum Moderator Code' that governs forums as a whole, and every forum has different standards as to what behaviour is appropriate for both users and moderators.

Ultimately Yakface. Though Legoburner keeps the site running. I imagine that getting on either's case even as a Mod would likely result with that status being stripped from them.

Wouldn't know though, as i'm not even an esteemed DCM. Sadly all the beggars on the streets wind up shaking me down for my precious change. Thus I likely won't invest in my fancy "Jarl of Windhelm" title. :(

DCM has nothing to do with moderation, you can still get posts deleted and warnings irrespective of your site contribution. This is the way it should be of course.

The worst kind of mods, from my experience, are on official product/brand forums e.g. Video Game Forums run by the Developer. Was your wife's unpleasant forum encounter on such a forum, perchance?

i wont say what forum, in the interest of protecting that company and their topics and or contributers.

i just think its kind of interesting that some places have such 'crazy' mods and the fact they can delete or remove your posts and even ban users reminds me of a very censor heavy nazi germany in WW2. - although to be fair i think most countries had pretty heavy censorships during wartime. but activly telling someone what they can or cannot think and say online is a violation of human rights imho.

since this is the only real forum i frequent i put the question here for discussion. so whats the best way to deal with a mod like that? - what if you try something and that mod bans you, or your complaints are ignored?

DarthSpader wrote: but activly telling someone what they can or cannot think and say online is a violation of human rights imho.

And this is why people get banned from sites. You have no rights here. You are a guest, and as such are expected to behave within the confines of the site. The only person who has any "rights" here is the owner (Yakkface) everyone else is allowed to be here on his sufferance.

When someone comes to your house do you let them do as they will or are there bounds that they can't cross? It's the same thing with any website that you don't own. If a site seems arbitrary or capricious or you don't agree with its methods of correction/discipline then you should just leave it and move on to another site.

I'm not saying this to be mean or to tell you (or anyone else) that they should not be using Dakka (it isn't my right or place to do so) but your "human rights" do not come into this realm and if you can't/won't accept that then you are bound to be disappointed.

agreed.... but there must be a point when censorship has a limit?

if your a guest in my house, i cant make you sacrifice a goat and eat whale junk...

If i'm sacrificing goats and eating whale junk in my house, and you don't like it, I still don't have to offer you anything else to do.

Essentially this debate can be watered down to...

Eat the whale junk or leave.

Eat it...

DarthSpader wrote:agreed.... but there must be a point when censorship has a limit?

Deleting your post on a forum isn't censorship. You can still go to any number of other websites (or create your own) and say your piece to your heart's content.

People are well within their rights to control what is and isn't said on their own websites, just as you're within your rights to restrict who is allowed to come to a party at your house.

That being said, sites with 'crazier' moderation tend to develop a reputation over time.

I was a moderator at Tau Online years ago, before it was bought out and run into the ground.

We had moderators who oversaw certain boards(which were usually by specific to a 40k army, but also hobby and misc. boards), and then global moderators who oversaw the entire forum, and then admins, who did whatever really, and mostly focused on the site maintenance. Pretty much we were self governing, and Globals didn't usually overrule a board mod's decisions, in fact I'm not sure that ever happened. Typically when a when a site evaluates candidates for moderators they look at how they post and handle themselves, especially in heated situations, or at least this is in part what we looked at. On our private boards we had a fairly lose democratic process for deciding on site issues or changes, or how to deal with particular situations or members, including discussions on temporary or permanent bans.

We didn't really have any issues with overreaching moderators, but we had a fairly tight knit community there and our moderator selection was thought out in advance, and members only added when needed. So we sometimes had a person we had in mind for a board, but didn't extend the invite until the current mod asked for help on their board. This really helped in making sure however we considered wasn't someone who would let things get to their head once they suddenly wielded power. The only thing I can even think of is when someone was going through personal issues and sometimes let that frustration slip in handling situations, but usually that was fixed, by a PM and a "what's up, things alright?"

I'm pretty surprised any major forums would last these days if someone was running around being a total jerk like this person. Seems the site owners would realize it's in their best interest to not alienate their members.

Anyway, though I'd chime with my experience.

There are a lot of preconceptions about being a Mod that are completely unrelated to reality, at least here at Dakka.

Not one of us is 'power mad' and all in my experience are exceedingly patient... despite the fact my preceding opinion will be considered biased of course, I would hope some reading it would entertain the idea it may be true instead of delusional lol.

Actually using our 'power' is very constrained and only in the direst circumstance do we swing the ban-hammer, even then, with many chances given to the offending party. Shutting down threads etc is done at our discretion generally, and we only really shut things down if it is completely off topic, or if there is heavy flaming... sometimes through experience we know certain topics are guaranteed ticking time bombs, and we close them down before they can get under way.

Other than that, and the 3 rules, be polite, stay on topic, don't spam, we tend to leave things be. Generally speaking, Dakka is by a vast majority really cool and rule respecting people, the trouble makers tend to get noticed a lot more as a vocal minority.

What really gets me as the newest Mod is how often people go nuts when they get moderated after very obviously breaking the rules. Or go nuts for being moderated at all even if they didn't realize they were breaking rules. A lot regard any moderation at all as 'patronizing', I can't tell you how many times people have gotten incredibly rude with us just for a very normal and even non-offensive moderation action. One guy recently went bonkers because I shut down a question thread in News and Rumors... it is a known, posted guideline, no one was rude about it... it didn't matter. Some people don't like rules or being told what to do, even if they agreed to that on sign-up lol.

It is usually these kinds of people who you then see running around bad-mouthing the Mods calling them power mad etc. Which is really frustrating as you might imagine.

All I can say is that the Mods here are a bunch of hobbyists and gamers just like you. They are all expert in some regard of the hobby, they are all Mods because they are calm, patient people. They all spend a great deal of time for no reward to try and make Dakka the best possible place for the 10's of thousands of registered users, and the 100's of thousands of unregistered visitors this site see's every month. Being a Mod doesn't mean power, it means being a customer complaint line lol, we see all the ugly things and try to clean them up before they effect the rest of you, then we get yelled at lol! We aren't allowed to yell back either, it would be disrespectful to the trust the owners put in us to be civil and calm as much as possible.

That's the way it is at Dakka. But as Insaniak said, there are no Mod rules, each site will be run exactly as the owner see's fit. The only rules are their preferences.

The way I see it, your wife should ask the Mod about why he decided to do what he did. If he is a good guy he will answer her and explain the reasoning, which may help her understand and maybe even encourage her to help the staff out by helping coral discussions in acceptable directions. If he doesn't answer, or tells her to eff off, then he is 'that kind of Mod' and she will either have to accept that he will be unpredictable and arbitrary or move on.

true enough.

the site in question tho is pretty fair, its only recently this mod has gotten out of hand.

case in point a member of the forum posted a question about something. the mod took offence, deleted the thread and banned the member for a week. upon the members return, she aparently lasted 2 days, then all of her old threads and posts were deleted, and was permabanned. no reasons given.

the member had been well respected part of the community, and never done anything to violate the rules, and according to my wife the initial question was a fair one, simply asking for information, and not in violation of any posted forum rules. i dont know what happend when she came back. theres also been increasing inctances of this mod going in and "grammar nazi-ing" threads, deleting parts of them to correct spelling and grammer, and berating those who need correction.

Perhaps ask another Mod or the site owner their opinion or help to understand?

Usually, unless the whole team is the same way, a rogue Mod is a very, very bad thing. 1 guy acting inconsistently will indeed undermine the entire team and the site in general.

There is a reason Dakka has such regimented set of protocols and standard of politeness for the Mods. Having rude/inconsistent mods generally makes for a rude/inconsistent site... which in turn makes more Mod work (hours away from friends, children and hobby for most of us here) which is obviously a losing proposition for absolutely everyone.

Bear in mind also that it's often difficult or impossible for other users to know what a given user has done to warrant mod attention, or what private correspondence there's been between that user and the mods. It's possible that the user in question has a long history of rulebreaking or recently did something really nasty, unbeknownst to your wife.

That being said, from what you've said it doesn't sound likely. I can't think of a good reason to delete all of someone's threads; that deprives the other users of anything useful the person contributed. Now that I think of it, though, I have known of at least two users over the years who flipped out over disagreements with other user or the moderators and deleted tons of their own posts/useful content they had previously posted.

Anyway, other than what's already been suggested, the only other avenue I can suggest is to go to an admin on the site and ask. They may be able to shed light or at least receive politely-offered concerns and look into them.

As a site Admin (not Dakka - different site), I find the idea that a Mod's acting like that ridiculous.

Some questions and things to think about.
1) Is this individual REALLY a MODERATOR? Sometimes, members get "Admin" and "Mod" confused. The distinction matters, as an Admin is typically a higher rank than a Moderator. Some forums even have rankings below Moderator.

2) If this individual is a Moderator; are there Admins? How do they react to this? Are they jerks, themselves?

3) Look at the Mod in question's posting history. Do they appear to be "in" with the Admin staff or owner (especially owner)? If so, it can be dangerous to even try to deal with the issue and might be best to leave well enough alone.

4) If the person's a Mod and there are reasonable Admins on the site (especially the owner), then she should contact them. I'd preface the PM with a message about wanting to "keep this private" or to treat any complaints as anonymous for "what will become apparent reasons."

Typically, as has been said, site staff self-moderates. None should be above question, though. As an Admin, I've had other staff (both "ranks" below me) PM me and ask about my reasoning on certain judgement calls or even disagree with me. A healthy, well-run board allows for this. Any Admin worth his salt (especially an owner) should pounce feet-first on a Moderator who's making members feel that way. I mean, a bit of smart-assery when APPROPRIATELY Moderating a topic/member/post is fine, but taking it to the extremes you describe is something different entirely.

She should definitely speak with an Admin or owner.

Eric

yea i think getting her to contact the site owener is the best bet. having not really read the threads and situations in question, (im getting all this from my wifes verbal accounts) it seems like the place was fairley decent before this mod showed up, or started acting like this.

thanks for fast responses.

DarthSpader wrote:yea i think getting her to contact the site owener is the best bet. having not really read the threads and situations in question, (im getting all this from my wifes verbal accounts) it seems like the place was fairley decent before this mod showed up, or started acting like this.

thanks for fast responses.

Good luck with her situation. Hopefully the Mod is not the close friend or alter-ego of the owner.

As has been mentioned above, the fact is that forums, etc are dictatorships, not democracies. Places like Dakka have are fairly benevolent dictatorships that strive for fairness among the staff and balanced moderation, but dictatorships nonetheless.

The best analogy is that when you visit a forum, it's not actually a true "public forum", it's actually someone's house. With few exceptions (physical endangerment, slander, libel, etc) the owner has free rein in their own standards of behavior, what they tolerate from those they allow in, and complete control over who they allow in, and who they kick out.

It's not usually so bluntly presented, but if your expectations don't include the above facts, then you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

Again, all the best regarding your wife's situation.

insaniak wrote:For Dakka, the mods are mostly self-policing. Moderator actions are recorded, and where necessary discussed amongst the mod team.

If anyone feels a mod is behaving inappropriately, posters are always welcome to contact another mod or Yakface, and the issue will be discussed and dealt with as is deemed appropriate.

That's just how we handle things here, though. There is no over-arching 'Forum Moderator Code' that governs forums as a whole, and every forum has different standards as to what behaviour is appropriate for both users and moderators.

He's being nice. Truth is this is how mods are regulated.

The last two times I've been banned it's been by the same mod, both times were for things that didn't actually violate the rules of DAKKA. The first time was because I called him out for something he said when he was trolling a topic.

So yeah, dakka moderators are self policing, have no oversight, and some of them aren't good at the role.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

insaniak wrote:

DarthSpader wrote:agreed.... but there must be a point when censorship has a limit?

Deleting your post on a forum isn't censorship. You can still go to any number of other websites (or create your own) and say your piece to your heart's content.

People are well within their rights to control what is and isn't said on their own websites, just as you're within your rights to restrict who is allowed to come to a party at your house.

That being said, sites with 'crazier' moderation tend to develop a reputation over time.

Contacting other mods when one is acting poorly or without reason doesn't have much of a track record of working or doing anything at all. Some mods here have acted like trolls for years before being reprimanded.

ShumaGorath wrote:The last two times I've been banned it's been by the same mod, both times were for things that didn't actually violate the rules of DAKKA. The first time was because I called him out for something he said when he was trolling a topic.

So yeah, dakka moderators are self policing, have no oversight, and some of them aren't good at the role.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

insaniak wrote:

DarthSpader wrote:agreed.... but there must be a point when censorship has a limit?

Deleting your post on a forum isn't censorship. You can still go to any number of other websites (or create your own) and say your piece to your heart's content.

People are well within their rights to control what is and isn't said on their own websites, just as you're within your rights to restrict who is allowed to come to a party at your house.

That being said, sites with 'crazier' moderation tend to develop a reputation over time.

Contacting other mods when one is acting poorly or without reason doesn't have much of a track record of working or doing anything at all. Some mods here have acted like trolls for years before being reprimanded.

Evidently a few boos from the peanut gallery.

Frazzled wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:The last two times I've been banned it's been by the same mod, both times were for things that didn't actually violate the rules of DAKKA. The first time was because I called him out for something he said when he was trolling a topic.

So yeah, dakka moderators are self policing, have no oversight, and some of them aren't good at the role.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

insaniak wrote:

DarthSpader wrote:agreed.... but there must be a point when censorship has a limit?

Deleting your post on a forum isn't censorship. You can still go to any number of other websites (or create your own) and say your piece to your heart's content.

People are well within their rights to control what is and isn't said on their own websites, just as you're within your rights to restrict who is allowed to come to a party at your house.

That being said, sites with 'crazier' moderation tend to develop a reputation over time.

Contacting other mods when one is acting poorly or without reason doesn't have much of a track record of working or doing anything at all. Some mods here have acted like trolls for years before being reprimanded.

Evidently a few boos from the peanut gallery.

Criticism when and where deserved.

ShumaGorath wrote:Contacting other mods when one is acting poorly or without reason doesn't have much of a track record of working or doing anything at all.

If you have contacted other mods about a suspension and nothing has come of it, that would be because the rest of the mod team agrees that the suspension was warranted.

Those sorts of situations where a user and a mod disagree about what is appropriate are exactly why these things are discussed amongst the team. Individuals can take something the wrong way, or be influenced by personal bias... so we have those checks in place to ensure that whatever action was taken was appropriate to the situation.

It shouldn't come as any great surprise that those who complain the loudest about Dakka's moderation are generally those with the longer histories of moderator intervention. Most users take moderation as a sign that they should alter their behaviour to suit the site (which is ultimately exactly the intention of it) ... while a small few prefer to believe that they are doing nothing wrong (or that they are for some reason entitled to behave however they see fit) and that the mods are just out to get them.

The mods are the ultimate authority here. You really either comply or GTFO. Or neither, which will likely end with you getting banned.

Believe me. I've been down this path. Evidently I haven't been banned since i've boycotted the damned OT forum.

ShumaGorath wrote:

Frazzled wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:The last two times I've been banned it's been by the same mod, both times were for things that didn't actually violate the rules of DAKKA. The first time was because I called him out for something he said when he was trolling a topic.

So yeah, dakka moderators are self policing, have no oversight, and some of them aren't good at the role.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

insaniak wrote:

DarthSpader wrote:agreed.... but there must be a point when censorship has a limit?

Deleting your post on a forum isn't censorship. You can still go to any number of other websites (or create your own) and say your piece to your heart's content.

People are well within their rights to control what is and isn't said on their own websites, just as you're within your rights to restrict who is allowed to come to a party at your house.

That being said, sites with 'crazier' moderation tend to develop a reputation over time.

Contacting other mods when one is acting poorly or without reason doesn't have much of a track record of working or doing anything at all. Some mods here have acted like trolls for years before being reprimanded.

Evidently a few boos from the peanut gallery.

Criticism when and where deserved.

I find that if you stay polite and follow the rules nothing bad will happen to you.

I have had few run ins with mods, here or elsewhere, over breaking forum rules. Like anyone I have broke one or two, thread necromancy early on in my dakka posting days, providing a glib OT comment that didn't help further discussion etc. Every time the mods have been more than understanding and simply issued a warning etc.

Even when in a discussion with a mod and I have the opposite opinion I have never felt threatened by their MOD status. If I am being polite and discussing things in a relevant and level headed manner then I have nothing to fear in the form of MOD reprisals because I have done nothing wrong. Honestly, just be nice and follow the rules. What is so hard about that?

OT: I agree with Magikal Memories, approach the site owner/admin in a super polite way with an honest and inquisitive manner and your wife should be fine.

ShumaGorath wrote:The last two times I've been banned it's been by the same mod, both times were for things that didn't actually violate the rules of DAKKA. The first time was because I called him out for something he said when he was trolling a topic.

So yeah, dakka moderators are self policing, have no oversight, and some of them aren't good at the role.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

insaniak wrote:

DarthSpader wrote:agreed.... but there must be a point when censorship has a limit?

Deleting your post on a forum isn't censorship. You can still go to any number of other websites (or create your own) and say your piece to your heart's content.

People are well within their rights to control what is and isn't said on their own websites, just as you're within your rights to restrict who is allowed to come to a party at your house.

That being said, sites with 'crazier' moderation tend to develop a reputation over time.

Contacting other mods when one is acting poorly or without reason doesn't have much of a track record of working or doing anything at all. Some mods here have acted like trolls for years before being reprimanded.

As I said, some don't like to be moderated at all, and consider themselves arbiters of the rules of the site. Which makes any real resolution impossible, as such users are often willing to do and say anything except admit their own wrong doing.

Oh well, keep it up anyways bud.

MajorTom11 wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:The last two times I've been banned it's been by the same mod, both times were for things that didn't actually violate the rules of DAKKA. The first time was because I called him out for something he said when he was trolling a topic.

So yeah, dakka moderators are self policing, have no oversight, and some of them aren't good at the role.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

insaniak wrote:

DarthSpader wrote:agreed.... but there must be a point when censorship has a limit?

Deleting your post on a forum isn't censorship. You can still go to any number of other websites (or create your own) and say your piece to your heart's content.

People are well within their rights to control what is and isn't said on their own websites, just as you're within your rights to restrict who is allowed to come to a party at your house.

That being said, sites with 'crazier' moderation tend to develop a reputation over time.

Contacting other mods when one is acting poorly or without reason doesn't have much of a track record of working or doing anything at all. Some mods here have acted like trolls for years before being reprimanded.

As I said, some don't like to be moderated at all, and consider themselves arbiters of the rules of the site. Which makes any real resolution impossible, as such users are often willing to do and say anything except admit their own wrong doing.

Oh well, keep it up anyways bud.

Last time we had a conversation this heated you banned me. Should I pack my bags again?

Would it help if I said you were banned for three days for old time's sake?

OverwatchCNC wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:

Frazzled wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:The last two times I've been banned it's been by the same mod, both times were for things that didn't actually violate the rules of DAKKA. The first time was because I called him out for something he said when he was trolling a topic.

So yeah, dakka moderators are self policing, have no oversight, and some of them aren't good at the role.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

insaniak wrote:

DarthSpader wrote:agreed.... but there must be a point when censorship has a limit?

Deleting your post on a forum isn't censorship. You can still go to any number of other websites (or create your own) and say your piece to your heart's content.

People are well within their rights to control what is and isn't said on their own websites, just as you're within your rights to restrict who is allowed to come to a party at your house.

That being said, sites with 'crazier' moderation tend to develop a reputation over time.

Contacting other mods when one is acting poorly or without reason doesn't have much of a track record of working or doing anything at all. Some mods here have acted like trolls for years before being reprimanded.

Evidently a few boos from the peanut gallery.

Criticism when and where deserved.

I find that if you stay polite and follow the rules nothing bad will happen to you.

I have had few run ins with mods, here or elsewhere, over breaking forum rules. Like anyone I have broke one or two, thread necromancy early on in my dakka posting days, providing a glib OT comment that didn't help further discussion etc. Every time the mods have been more than understanding and simply issued a warning etc.

Even when in a discussion with a mod and I have the opposite opinion I have never felt threatened by their MOD status. If I am being polite and discussing things in a relevant and level headed manner then I have nothing to fear in the form of MOD reprisals because I have done nothing wrong. Honestly, just be nice and follow the rules. What is so hard about that?

OT: I agree with Magikal Memories, approach the site owner/admin in a super polite way with an honest and inquisitive manner and your wife should be fine.

Unfortunately I have quite a few bans/reprimands under my belt, primarily from back when I would argue politics in OT. Frazzled modded his politics into other people and often banned users who found themselves opposite him on issues. He'd often troll them into skirting the rules by flagrantly violating them himself (while immune due to his previous mod status) and then once they stepped close they'd find themselves with a ban for a day or two. I wasn't a perfect princess and in general I don't post in OT anymore because the guy that wants the mideast turned into glass was given power to ban people for distasteful opinions. That kind of hole in decision making soured my taste for that community after one too many bans (it did take a long time for me to break the habit though). Outside of OT I'm generally fairly well behaved and to my knowledge I haven't ever been banned for breaking a stated rule when outside of OT. The closest I've come is being warned over going off topic or being banned over a mod not liking my "tone". The reputation followed me out of OT though, mods seem to be quick to cut me out for a week or month when it suits them or their arguments. Really, the bans don't actually seem that wrong to me when they're impartially levied and I did break a rule. Unlike what Tom thinks, I can fully identify when I've been a bad poster and I've taken bans with grace. Unfortunately warnings (which auto ban me due to dakkas system for this kind of thing) are handed out like plastic cups and when theres no moderation of moderators people tend to start abusing power.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Frazzled wrote:Would it help if I said you were banned for three days for old time's sake?

The autoban hits me up for a week now I think, but I'd like to hear it one last time anyway if you're up for it.

The autoban hits me up for a week now I think, but I'd like to hear it one last time anyway if you're up for it.

Bam! Your account has been suspended for three days for arguing with The Herald of The Great Wienie.

ShumaGorath wrote:

OverwatchCNC wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:

Frazzled wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:The last two times I've been banned it's been by the same mod, both times were for things that didn't actually violate the rules of DAKKA. The first time was because I called him out for something he said when he was trolling a topic.

So yeah, dakka moderators are self policing, have no oversight, and some of them aren't good at the role.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

insaniak wrote:

DarthSpader wrote:agreed.... but there must be a point when censorship has a limit?

Deleting your post on a forum isn't censorship. You can still go to any number of other websites (or create your own) and say your piece to your heart's content.

People are well within their rights to control what is and isn't said on their own websites, just as you're within your rights to restrict who is allowed to come to a party at your house.

That being said, sites with 'crazier' moderation tend to develop a reputation over time.

Contacting other mods when one is acting poorly or without reason doesn't have much of a track record of working or doing anything at all. Some mods here have acted like trolls for years before being reprimanded.

Evidently a few boos from the peanut gallery.

Criticism when and where deserved.

I find that if you stay polite and follow the rules nothing bad will happen to you.

I have had few run ins with mods, here or elsewhere, over breaking forum rules. Like anyone I have broke one or two, thread necromancy early on in my dakka posting days, providing a glib OT comment that didn't help further discussion etc. Every time the mods have been more than understanding and simply issued a warning etc.

Even when in a discussion with a mod and I have the opposite opinion I have never felt threatened by their MOD status. If I am being polite and discussing things in a relevant and level headed manner then I have nothing to fear in the form of MOD reprisals because I have done nothing wrong. Honestly, just be nice and follow the rules. What is so hard about that?

OT: I agree with Magikal Memories, approach the site owner/admin in a super polite way with an honest and inquisitive manner and your wife should be fine.

Unfortunately I have quite a few bans/reprimands under my belt, primarily from back when I would argue politics in OT. Frazzled modded his politics into other people and often banned users who found themselves opposite him on issues. He'd often troll them into skirting the rules by flagrantly violating them himself (while immune due to his previous mod status) and then once they stepped close they'd find themselves with a ban for a day or two. I wasn't a perfect princess and in general I don't post in OT anymore because the guy that wants the mideast turned into glass was given power to ban people for distasteful opinions. That kind of hole in decision making soured my taste for that community after one too many bans (it did take a long time for me to break the habit though). Outside of OT I'm generally fairly well behaved and to my knowledge I haven't ever been banned for breaking a stated rule when outside of OT. The closest I've come is being warned over going off topic or being banned over a mod not liking my "tone". The reputation followed me out of OT though, mods seem to be quick to cut me out for a week or month when it suits them or their arguments. Really, the bans don't actually seem that wrong to me when they're impartially levied and I did break a rule. Unlike what Tom thinks, I can fully identify when I've been a bad poster and I've taken bans with grace. Unfortunately warnings (which auto ban me due to dakkas system for this kind of thing) are handed out like plastic cups and when theres no moderation of moderators people tend to start abusing power.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Frazzled wrote:Would it help if I said you were banned for three days for old time's sake?

The autoban hits me up for a week now I think, but I'd like to hear it one last time anyway if you're up for it.

I disagree with what you said and think you have a very, very skewed perspective. Multiple Mods informing you definitively that you had broken rules on both occasions was not sufficient enough to make you even consider you may have been wrong. You remain adamant that your view is the correct one despite the fact that by definition our combined interpretation would be a final interpretation of events. Many explanations were attempted civilly, and rejected. The only option you seem able to accept is being 100% right, which simply wasn't the case in both situations you refer to.

You gave your opinion, I gave mine, we can leave it at that. We don't have to agree, we just have to remain civil in our disagreement. That is really all that is required here, and unless you have something to prove or are looking for a fight, then I see no reason we can't simply agree to disagree and let it be.

You will note that your comments slamming the staff here are left for everyone to see. If we were the kind of people you describe, we would simply erase them and ban you and save ourselves the trouble. But again, we try to explain in as reasonable a fashion as possible.

If you prefer to play some kind of baiting game, that's up to you. I am sure I speak for everyone in saying we would greatly prefer it just to be left at that and everyone move on without further hassle. However, if you want to push your luck you should not be surprised at the results either.