Times when you feel sorry for the forum mods

UrQuan

Every now and then I see stuff on the forums that makes me feel sorry for the mods. Avoiding any specific examples of disciplinary action or other things that are against forum rules to discuss, what sorts of things make you feel sorry for the mods here?

Here are a couple that come to mind for me:

• When you see a 10+ page thread that's been locked with a message from a mod saying "this thread is under review" (yikes, good luck with reviewing that whole thing)
• When people get upset with mods for only making "play nice folks" comments instead of giving us answers to game questions (they're mods, they're not devs - they're not usually going to know the answers to those questions)
• When something exciting/controversial happens/is announced and dozens of threads on the topic pop up, and the mods have to scramble to try to consolidate discussions (good luck deciding which threads are different enough to justify keeping open, which ones should be closed, and which threads should become the "active" thread)

Cadbury

It's an unenviable task, I'm sure

t3hdubzy

UrQuan wrote: »

Every now and then I see stuff on the forums that makes me feel sorry for the mods. Avoiding any specific examples of disciplinary action or other things that are against forum rules to discuss, what sorts of things make you feel sorry for the mods here?

Here are a couple that come to mind for me:

• When you see a 10+ page thread that's been locked with a message from a mod saying "this thread is under review" (yikes, good luck with reviewing that whole thing)
• When people get upset with mods for only making "play nice folks" comments instead of giving us answers to game questions (they're mods, they're not devs - they're not usually going to know the answers to those questions)
• When something exciting/controversial happens/is announced and dozens of threads on the topic pop up, and the mods have to scramble to try to consolidate discussions (good luck deciding which threads are different enough to justify keeping open, which ones should be closed, and which threads should become the "active" thread)

So you feel sorry for them soing their jobs? Lol sorry but I dont agree with your points. The mods all seem to be alright people but I dont pity them for doing their jobs, and hopefully they enjoy what they do.

WhiteCoatSyndrome

That one time when one of the mods kept getting tagged over and over in the same thread--I think it was a 'how to summon ZOS' topic. Then some of the OTHER MODS and ZOS employees started getting in on it. Poor guy.

UrQuan

t3hdubzy wrote: »

UrQuan wrote: »

Every now and then I see stuff on the forums that makes me feel sorry for the mods. Avoiding any specific examples of disciplinary action or other things that are against forum rules to discuss, what sorts of things make you feel sorry for the mods here?

Here are a couple that come to mind for me:

• When you see a 10+ page thread that's been locked with a message from a mod saying "this thread is under review" (yikes, good luck with reviewing that whole thing)
• When people get upset with mods for only making "play nice folks" comments instead of giving us answers to game questions (they're mods, they're not devs - they're not usually going to know the answers to those questions)
• When something exciting/controversial happens/is announced and dozens of threads on the topic pop up, and the mods have to scramble to try to consolidate discussions (good luck deciding which threads are different enough to justify keeping open, which ones should be closed, and which threads should become the "active" thread)

So you feel sorry for them soing their jobs? Lol sorry but I dont agree with your points. The mods all seem to be alright people but I dont pity them for doing their jobs, and hopefully they enjoy what they do.

So if there's a particular part of someone's job that's a real pain in the *** you don't feel sorry for them when that comes up and they have to deal with it? I know there are plenty of things at my work that come up and make me feel sorry for the person who has to deal with them...

t3hdubzy

UrQuan wrote: »

t3hdubzy wrote: »

UrQuan wrote: »

Every now and then I see stuff on the forums that makes me feel sorry for the mods. Avoiding any specific examples of disciplinary action or other things that are against forum rules to discuss, what sorts of things make you feel sorry for the mods here?

Here are a couple that come to mind for me:

• When you see a 10+ page thread that's been locked with a message from a mod saying "this thread is under review" (yikes, good luck with reviewing that whole thing)
• When people get upset with mods for only making "play nice folks" comments instead of giving us answers to game questions (they're mods, they're not devs - they're not usually going to know the answers to those questions)
• When something exciting/controversial happens/is announced and dozens of threads on the topic pop up, and the mods have to scramble to try to consolidate discussions (good luck deciding which threads are different enough to justify keeping open, which ones should be closed, and which threads should become the "active" thread)

So you feel sorry for them soing their jobs? Lol sorry but I dont agree with your points. The mods all seem to be alright people but I dont pity them for doing their jobs, and hopefully they enjoy what they do.

So if there's a particular part of someone's job that's a real pain in the *** you don't feel sorry for them when that comes up and they have to deal with it? I know there are plenty of things at my work that come up and make me feel sorry for the person who has to deal with them...

Not particularly, as long as im getting paid id clean bathrooms and vacuum if asked to do it, though they can pay someone must cheaper to do it. I wouldnt ask anyone to feel sorry for me.

Forum modding on the other hand is a social engagement, and not exactly digging trenches or cleaning bathrooms, you arent even talking to people face to face.

Those guys who reviee craigslist ads have it worse.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

MasterSpatula

I feel bad for them having to be the public face of others, having to take the brunt of anger that, if it is appropriate anger, should be directed at developers and directors, not at forum moderators and community managers.

But even more, I feel bad for them because I get the impression their hands are tied a lot. The information they pass along to us is obviously regulated, and frequently poorly. For example, the community asks really vital questions about some policy or change or implementation or whatever and receives silence in return. The community reacts as anyone with any sense would expect, and the mods are left to "clean up the mess." The community managers get "mentions" on a dozen threads a day, the mods have to regulate a shouting match on various threads, all because something preventable was not prevented.

It's not a job I would ever want to do, yet you can see real enthusiasm come through in posts made by the staff, a real concern for the community, a real passion for the game. But someone over there has a "don't actually interact with the players" bug up his or her butt, and that person needs to lose his or her authority to make that call.

qsnoopyjr

Anyone can do job of a forum mod.

Dime a dozen.

t3hdubzy

qsnoopyjr wrote: »

Anyone can do job of a forum mod.

Dime a dozen.

Agree to a certain extent, ive had the experience of being a forum mod, it can be as hard or easy as you make it. Maintaining a great personal brand and being an ambassador for the company can be somewhat challenging, but again it is hard to pity someone for doing work which I would find to be very enjoyable and entertaining. Have you seen some of the quality posts here?

DigitalShibby

qsnoopyjr wrote: »

Anyone can do job of a forum mod.

Dime a dozen.

Agreed. I'm sure there are many in our community, myself included, who are or have been moderators of forums at one point or another. It doesn't take a special ability to edit, remove, warn, and ban. It is more mind numbing than it is difficult, and the moderators of this particular forum seem to be inexperienced at best, or as others have stated bound by parameters by upper management that give them little flexibility. I take issue that religious quotes from the Bible, recently posted in a thread that is still active have gone unedited after multiple flags and over 24 hours of time. Apparently moderators allow man made, poisonous make believe scripture that aligns with their own lives. I'm sure if I started a new thread quoting the Quran and dropped some of its "wisdom" on the community it would be edited or removed immediately. So no, I don't feel sorry for people incapable of doing a simple job correctly.

LadyLavina

When people think that's all they do

Darth_Apache

DigitalShibby wrote: »

qsnoopyjr wrote: »

Anyone can do job of a forum mod.

Dime a dozen.

Agreed. I'm sure there are many in our community, myself included, who are or have been moderators of forums at one point or another. It doesn't take a special ability to edit, remove, warn, and ban. It is more mind numbing than it is difficult, and the moderators of this particular forum seem to be inexperienced at best, or as others have stated bound by parameters by upper management that give them little flexibility. I take issue that religious quotes from the Bible, recently posted in a thread that is still active have gone unedited after multiple flags and over 24 hours of time. Apparently moderators allow man made, poisonous make believe scripture that aligns with their own lives. I'm sure if I started a new thread quoting the Quran and dropped some of its "wisdom" on the community it would be edited or removed immediately. So no, I don't feel sorry for people incapable of doing a simple job correctly.

Do it. Quote the Quran.
Better yet...I'll just leave this here.

There are seven fundamental tenets.
• One should strive to act with compassion and empathy towards all creatures in accordance with reason.
• The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.
• One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.
• The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo your own.
• Beliefs should conform to our best scientific understanding of the world. We should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit our beliefs.
• People are fallible. If we make a mistake, we should do our best to rectify it and resolve any harm that may have been caused.
• Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word

[EDIT] This was ripped from Here

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Danikat

t3hdubzy wrote: »

UrQuan wrote: »

t3hdubzy wrote: »

UrQuan wrote: »

Every now and then I see stuff on the forums that makes me feel sorry for the mods. Avoiding any specific examples of disciplinary action or other things that are against forum rules to discuss, what sorts of things make you feel sorry for the mods here?

Here are a couple that come to mind for me:

• When you see a 10+ page thread that's been locked with a message from a mod saying "this thread is under review" (yikes, good luck with reviewing that whole thing)
• When people get upset with mods for only making "play nice folks" comments instead of giving us answers to game questions (they're mods, they're not devs - they're not usually going to know the answers to those questions)
• When something exciting/controversial happens/is announced and dozens of threads on the topic pop up, and the mods have to scramble to try to consolidate discussions (good luck deciding which threads are different enough to justify keeping open, which ones should be closed, and which threads should become the "active" thread)

So you feel sorry for them soing their jobs? Lol sorry but I dont agree with your points. The mods all seem to be alright people but I dont pity them for doing their jobs, and hopefully they enjoy what they do.

So if there's a particular part of someone's job that's a real pain in the *** you don't feel sorry for them when that comes up and they have to deal with it? I know there are plenty of things at my work that come up and make me feel sorry for the person who has to deal with them...

Not particularly, as long as im getting paid id clean bathrooms and vacuum if asked to do it, though they can pay someone must cheaper to do it. I wouldnt ask anyone to feel sorry for me.

Forum modding on the other hand is a social engagement, and not exactly digging trenches or cleaning bathrooms, you arent even talking to people face to face.

Those guys who reviee craigslist ads have it worse.

Speaking as someone who has done both cleaning toilets is nothing compared to moderating a forum. Sure it's physical work and it's sometimes a bit disgusting but it's never going to be anywhere near as stressful and emotionally draining, and within reason you can go at your own pace where forum moderation can sometimes move at a thousand miles an hour.

For one year I was a field teacher at an environmental education centre and because we were understaffed the teachers had to clean the place too. In my free time I was a volunteer forum moderator for 2 official music forums. Cleaning toilets and dorms was my time to relax, it was by far the easiest thing I had to do that year (except when I got to go to the beach on my days off).

The only downside is that whilst there were no real negatives (except when a MASSIVE spider go in) there were no real positives either, cleaning toilets is just the same old *** each day (literally). Both teaching kids and moderating a forum is a real emotional rollercoaster.

One of the worst weeks of my time as a moderator was when a bands long-awaited album leaked. People were sharing links to the tracks on our site and of course we got slapped with a cease and desist order (fun fact, the owners of a website are legally responsible for anything their members post) so every spare minute I had was spent deleting topics, issuing official warnings to members and then following it up with "fire-fighting" - trying to explain that this wasn't the admins going on a power trip and trying to ruin everyone's day, this was the admins trying to save the entire site from being shut down, even though we wanted to hear the album too. And I had very little say in any of it.

The weird thing is I kind of enjoyed it. Not deleting topics and warning people, that sucks. Especially because I was a member of the forum too, this wasn't a job, these were my friends (I even met my husband on that site). But the fire-fighting - trying to get people to understand and meet us half-way, trying to find a compromise where everyone was...many not happy but felt they could live with the outcome. I actually went on to do a job where I use the same skills, and it can be just as emotionally draining.

But even so I don't think I'd want to moderate this forum and I often don't envy the people who do. I'm sure they use many of the same coping mechanisms my team did, but it's still a rough job some days.

Ackwalan

All sympathy goes away when I see a ZOS response to a thread, only to find out it is a mod saying he deleted posts. just delete the post, no need to add a false Z to it.

dbgager

I am pretty sure mods are voluntary. Somebody correct me if I am wrong.

Rohamad_Ali

Forum Mods are like elephants . They never forget . But they have access to all the locked and deleted thread voids so they can look back at all that history and laugh . I feel bad for them when people get angry at them for doing their job . They have to do their job to keep it . Most of them are pretty fair and very helpful .

Reverb

MasterSpatula wrote: »

I feel bad for them having to be the public face of others, having to take the brunt of anger that, if it is appropriate anger, should be directed at developers and directors, not at forum moderators and community managers.

But even more, I feel bad for them because I get the impression their hands are tied a lot. The information they pass along to us is obviously regulated, and frequently poorly. For example, the community asks really vital questions about some policy or change or implementation or whatever and receives silence in return. The community reacts as anyone with any sense would expect, and the mods are left to "clean up the mess." The community managers get "mentions" on a dozen threads a day, the mods have to regulate a shouting match on various threads, all because something preventable was not prevented.

It's not a job I would ever want to do, yet you can see real enthusiasm come through in posts made by the staff, a real concern for the community, a real passion for the game. But someone over there has a "don't actually interact with the players" bug up his or her butt, and that person needs to lose his or her authority to make that call.

Quoting, because there is so much truth and validity to this post that it should be seen more than once.

ColoursYouHave

UrQuan wrote: »

Every now and then I see stuff on the forums that makes me feel sorry for the mods. Avoiding any specific examples of disciplinary action or other things that are against forum rules to discuss, what sorts of things make you feel sorry for the mods here?

Here are a couple that come to mind for me:

• When you see a 10+ page thread that's been locked with a message from a mod saying "this thread is under review" (yikes, good luck with reviewing that whole thing)
  

The PC/NA BWB Campaign thread got temporarily locked for review at like, 100 pages. They had to review so many posts that they decided to keep it locked overnight. It felt like they were just putting us all in timeout for misbehaving lol.

Reverb

ColoursYouHave wrote: »

UrQuan wrote: »

Every now and then I see stuff on the forums that makes me feel sorry for the mods. Avoiding any specific examples of disciplinary action or other things that are against forum rules to discuss, what sorts of things make you feel sorry for the mods here?

Here are a couple that come to mind for me:

• When you see a 10+ page thread that's been locked with a message from a mod saying "this thread is under review" (yikes, good luck with reviewing that whole thing)
  

The PC/NA BWB Campaign thread got temporarily locked for review at like, 100 pages. They had to review so many posts that they decided to keep it locked overnight. It felt like they were just putting us all in timeout for misbehaving lol.

Darya said that was the highest number of posts ever removed from a single thread

runagate

MasterSpatula wrote: »

I feel bad for them having to be the public face of others, having to take the brunt of anger that, if it is appropriate anger, should be directed at developers and directors, not at forum moderators and community managers.

But even more, I feel bad for them because I get the impression their hands are tied a lot. The information they pass along to us is obviously regulated, and frequently poorly. For example, the community asks really vital questions about some policy or change or implementation or whatever and receives silence in return. The community reacts as anyone with any sense would expect, and the mods are left to "clean up the mess." The community managers get "mentions" on a dozen threads a day, the mods have to regulate a shouting match on various threads, all because something preventable was not prevented.

It's not a job I would ever want to do, yet you can see real enthusiasm come through in posts made by the staff, a real concern for the community, a real passion for the game. But someone over there has a "don't actually interact with the players" bug up his or her butt, and that person needs to lose his or her authority to make that call.

You are confusing forum mods and the community team. These are very different jobs. Gina, Jessica and Kai are not forum mods and have likely never even met one.

runagate

dbgager wrote: »

I am pretty sure mods are voluntary. Somebody correct me if I am wrong.

You are incorrect.

MasterSpatula

runagate wrote: »

MasterSpatula wrote: »

I feel bad for them having to be the public face of others, having to take the brunt of anger that, if it is appropriate anger, should be directed at developers and directors, not at forum moderators and community managers.

But even more, I feel bad for them because I get the impression their hands are tied a lot. The information they pass along to us is obviously regulated, and frequently poorly. For example, the community asks really vital questions about some policy or change or implementation or whatever and receives silence in return. The community reacts as anyone with any sense would expect, and the mods are left to "clean up the mess." The community managers get "mentions" on a dozen threads a day, the mods have to regulate a shouting match on various threads, all because something preventable was not prevented.

It's not a job I would ever want to do, yet you can see real enthusiasm come through in posts made by the staff, a real concern for the community, a real passion for the game. But someone over there has a "don't actually interact with the players" bug up his or her butt, and that person needs to lose his or her authority to make that call.

e

You are confusing forum mods and the community team. These are very different jobs. Gina, Jessica and Kai are not forum mods and have likely never even met one.

First, their jobs overlap, so it's valid to mention both. Second, I made a point to mention each separately.

Recremen

I have a constant stream of sympathy for what I can imagine is a very emotionally straining job. Think it's possible to send them a care package?

runagate

MasterSpatula wrote: »

runagate wrote: »

MasterSpatula wrote: »

I feel bad for them having to be the public face of others, having to take the brunt of anger that, if it is appropriate anger, should be directed at developers and directors, not at forum moderators and community managers.

But even more, I feel bad for them because I get the impression their hands are tied a lot. The information they pass along to us is obviously regulated, and frequently poorly. For example, the community asks really vital questions about some policy or change or implementation or whatever and receives silence in return. The community reacts as anyone with any sense would expect, and the mods are left to "clean up the mess." The community managers get "mentions" on a dozen threads a day, the mods have to regulate a shouting match on various threads, all because something preventable was not prevented.

It's not a job I would ever want to do, yet you can see real enthusiasm come through in posts made by the staff, a real concern for the community, a real passion for the game. But someone over there has a "don't actually interact with the players" bug up his or her butt, and that person needs to lose his or her authority to make that call.

e

You are confusing forum mods and the community team. These are very different jobs. Gina, Jessica and Kai are not forum mods and have likely never even met one.

First, their jobs overlap, so it's valid to mention both. Second, I made a point to mention each separately.

They literally do not overlap in any way.

srfrogg23

UrQuan wrote: »

Every now and then I see stuff on the forums that makes me feel sorry for the mods. Avoiding any specific examples of disciplinary action or other things that are against forum rules to discuss, what sorts of things make you feel sorry for the mods here?

Here are a couple that come to mind for me:

• When you see a 10+ page thread that's been locked with a message from a mod saying "this thread is under review" (yikes, good luck with reviewing that whole thing)
• When people get upset with mods for only making "play nice folks" comments instead of giving us answers to game questions (they're mods, they're not devs - they're not usually going to know the answers to those questions)
• When something exciting/controversial happens/is announced and dozens of threads on the topic pop up, and the mods have to scramble to try to consolidate discussions (good luck deciding which threads are different enough to justify keeping open, which ones should be closed, and which threads should become the "active" thread)

They spend their days at work sifting through the silly crap that gaming nerds post on their forums while they sit in front of a computer in an air conditioned office.

Can't say I feel bad for 'em. Seems like a pretty cushy way to earn money and they probably get their share of laughs at all of us in the process.

I think I feel worse for anyone working in any form of food service, tbh.

dbgager

runagate wrote: »

dbgager wrote: »

I am pretty sure mods are voluntary. Somebody correct me if I am wrong.

You are incorrect.

And how would you know that. I doubt they actually employ somebody to do this. As a fulltime job a person would go nuts. I know Steam doesn't. Just my opinion however.

runagate

Because I've personally known a couple. And, yes, I assure you reading these forums will drive you crazy. I loathe having to sort through all the BS and idiocy and people posting things they just randomly decided was true despite having no idea what they're talking about.

Yet you ask me how I would know that - despite the fact that you simply decided you thought it's not a full-time job.

You can easily find job listings online. Which I presume is how the forum mods found them. They've been posted on the forums before.

On the upswing the forum mods don't know about the game and aren't expected to, so I'm sure to them it's just the idiocy, bad grammar, childish attention-seeking and occasional funny moments.

MythicEmperor

Not when they close my threads which discuss nothing but implementing more TES lore into ESO.

dbgager

runagate wrote: »

Because I've personally known a couple. And, yes, I assure you reading these forums will drive you crazy. I loathe having to sort through all the BS and idiocy and people posting things they just randomly decided was true despite having no idea what they're talking about.

On the upswing the forum mods don't know about the game and aren't expected to, so I'm sure to them it's just the idiocy, bad grammar, childish attention-seeking and occasional funny moments.

Well I know for a fact Steam moderators do not get paid. Its strictly voluntary.