Request: Consistency In Moderation
Magpie31
Posts: 1,258 ✭✭✭✭✭
Firstly, please let me preface this by saying that I love you guys and it has been a pleasure getting to know you both in this forum over the last year. I also know that you guys have a really difficult job, which has become an even bigger job over the last month or so.
So with that in mind, please take this post for what it is, a request and a slightly exasperated plea.
Consistency.
Until a few weeks ago, we had a regular poster who would swear at people, hurl abuse at you two, make absolutely disgusting "adult" comments unsuitable for a board with players aged 13+, incite others to make hateful remarks, insult people in other languages and so on. Very little was edited, moderated or anything over the many months the poster did this.
Similarly, during the recent update and all the problems that came with it, there was swearing and abuse from several posters, including a rampant obsession with red flagging any post people disagreed with... And with seemingly little being done about it all.
It felt like the admin team of this forum were taking a very light touch and trying to be gentle. Too gentle, in all honesty. This community became an unbearable place to spend time, and it took quite a lot of effort to resurrect threads and try and kickstart the conversation again.
And now, I have seen screengrabs from users who are receiving warnings for things that aren't anywhere near offensive. Warnings for actually trying to keep the peace and keep things civil because it doesn't seem like the moderation team are particularly interested in that.
So... Why is it okay to have an all caps rant, swear at people, insult them, make lewd comments, make personal attacks and so on, yet it is not okay to lightly remind people to calm down?
Or is this a new policy, where we are going to see more consistency and a harder line? Where we are going to see a positive move forward in terms of monitoring behaviour and following the community guidelines?
I am sincerely interested to know. If it is not a conscious decision and more of an anomaly caused by some stricter moderators taking a more active role over the last few weeks, then I politely request that there is a discussion about moderation moving forward, and how it is implemented in a fair and consistent way.
Noone minds having rules and boundaries, but they must be applied fairly.
Comments
Please refer to the Community Guidelines to understand what posts will warrant getting a 1-3 point warning. When a player receives 3+ points, they will be suspended and/or banned from the forum.
Moderators will give 0 point warnings to players as a way to communicate that we felt a comment made did not foster a positive community environment. These warnings to not impact your forum account but are a gentle reminder to be mindful with your tone as you discuss feedback with other players.
We aim for consistency, but we are humans and can only do our best. We will try to be more consistent and open with this.