Questions to the Adminburo

I don't think the majority of people would get that.

I sure didn't!

¤Night

 

But when you're an admin, things like that take all the progress we've made and throw it back in our face in mockery. That's why I wanted to post about the interpretation of the title. You might laugh, but it's little things like this that add up. That's why I question the true gap versus the perceived/created gap by vocal members.

 

i didn't get it either... i thought it had something to do with a burro... like a donkey.

 

No, farraday is very intelligent and the title was deliberate. How many times have you heard mods referred to as either Nazis, Communists, etc...? This was another one and I wanted you all to be aware of it. The correct spelling is 'bureau' and that is not the intent of the title.

 

If it's a former insider saying it I would think that indicates things really suck.

 

Agreed Gundark.

JMA

 

I beg to differ with that. The boards are running just fine with very little drama. Some former admins go back into posting as they did before while some tend to stir it up. And there are more than just one who has chosen this route.

This is really a Star Wars board. It's fun, people. I have fun when I'm here because I really like to post in the 3SA. I try to help when problems arise and I feel it's something in a person's character that gives them a sick thrill at stirring trouble on what's supposed to be a fun site. I have too many real-world problems to be fighting fires in here that were intentionally created.

 

By the way, given all your 'inside' knowledge, gundark, farraday, Aaron et. al., what really sucks here? Seriously, what's so bad? Tell me specific problems. The movie forums are fine. Community has fun. What really sucks so bad?

 

I found humour in the title. As far as what is wrong with the boards, I'm not sure. Yes, community is running a bit smoother and the film forums are just fine but a lot of the time it seems that the moderators are out of touch with concerns of the regular users. The best soulution would be for every mod and especially higher up guys like managers and admins to take concern to, and spend more time in, the communications forum. For me, it seems that when an issue comes up in here, unless its a bigge meal, Sapient, KW, and Carter run the show...

 

The "I don't think it's so bad here so you shouldn't be complaining" attitude sucks.

The "holier than thou" attitude of some mods sucks.

The fact that those mods aren't punished for it sucks.

The fact that some staff members are handed modship at random sucks.

The considering of removing our only voice in policy changes sucks.

The fact that you guys long since voted on it before we even were told it was being considered sucks.

Sweeping unpleasant things under the rug with the blanket "Take it to PM" policy sucks.

The fact that some not so well liked people can be banned because of email conversations, but I receive harassing emails for 2 months from a JC member and I'm told nothing can be done sucks.

The hypocracy that outsiders can't have info from the MS private board, but the JC mods have some right to know what is going on at the private boards of others sucks.

The hypocracy of mods banning trolls here, then turning around and trolling at other boards sucks.

The fact that mods are choosen or even allowed to continue at their position after they had been banned for spamming, trolling, sexually harassing other members, or specifically targetting JC members for harassment sucks.

Finding out someone you once trusted and respected is really a dirty old man who sent disgusting PMs to a 17 year old girl and is now allowed to punish others for doing the same sucks.

Watching nice people walk away from this place because of all the crap that goes on in public and behind closed doors sucks.

And the fact that you jumped down farraday's throat for the title of his thread, even though he asked a fair question, sucks. It does a lot to discredit the question when you attack the person who asked it. So are we supposed to just ignore the issue because you don't like how he worded it or the guy who asked? It seemed that is what you were implying in the Straw Poll thread. You have tried to derail 2 threads like this, by attacking the author and their motives.


So, back to farraday's topic.
"There are mods who come exclusively from staff whom we would be responsible for. "

And why do we have mods that are exclusively from staff? Souldn't they have had to work their way up to the position just like the other mods. And more over, if they are now functioning as JC mods, then they should be under the authority of the JC admins. That should apply to you as well, since you are so insistant that you are qualified as a JC mod.

 

This board is to big to be able to nominate decent mods and the internet is still not a very decent communication platform which makes it impossible to really analyse someone's personality. There are no rules in here. This LC is yet another proof for this.

 

For me, it seems that when an issue comes up in here, unless its a bigge meal, Sapient, KW, and Carter run the show...

I actually put a poll into the Mod Squad recently, asking how many people regularly checked the Mod Squad and Communications. As it turns out, most of us check at least once or twice every time we log on, and most of us check both regularly every time we come online. I know that I do. My biggest failing here is probably that I tend to try to leave the tough questions to others, at least in public. However, I do check the forum regularly and try to respond to all of the non-Dramatic problems to the best of my ability; I think that a scan of the non-dramatic threads in here running down the page should attest to that to some degree.

For the most part, I?m reluctant to say anything publicly on issues where either the Mod Squad does not have a solid opinion, or when I disagree with the general consensus of the Mod Squad. Generally, I don?t think that it would be a terribly good idea for me to break the unified front in public, and if I say anything on such issues I?m going to end up disagreeing with my fellows. On other occasions, either someone has already come up with a better response to an issue or I don?t feel that I can give a decent recent response, and so I say nothing. Better to hold my peace and be thought a fool than to open my mouth and remove all doubt.

 

I don't want to be thought of as running the show at all. I'm here and I answer questions and listen to concerns as best I'm able to. Admins have different reasons for being here or not being here.

 

I'm here and I answer questions and listen to concerns as best I'm able to.

Thats what I ment. By "running the show", I guess I ment those that are actively participating. I phrased it wrong.

sue me.

 

Sape I would point out that unless you're a member of the Leadership Council this thread isn't referenced to you. I'm not saying you can't respond, but I would point out that it is in no way an attack on the general moderaters.

I have a problems with admins who stylize them selves a leadership council if all they'll admit to doing is being responsible for punishing other mods.

I've always fealt the mod squad suffers from a lack of what they claim to be, leadership.

 

Gay-LenKenobi:

The "I don't think it's so bad here so you shouldn't be complaining" attitude sucks.

Sometimes, the impression is given by some people that they are complaining for the sake of the entertainment given by Drama. I think that impression is the source of the attitude in question.



The "holier than thou" attitude of some mods sucks.

The fact that those mods aren't punished for it sucks.

The fact that some staff members are handed modship at random sucks.

That?s sort of being discussed in the Mod Squad right now. There?s been a pair of proposals that are sputtering along that would change the accountability systems in place. Personally, I?m in favor of both of them



The considering of removing our only voice in policy changes sucks.

The fact that you guys long since voted on it before we even were told it was being considered sucks.

Hey, not even all of us knew what was going on. My introduction to the matter was seeing a ballooning thread here in Communications.



Sweeping unpleasant things under the rug with the blanket "Take it to PM" policy sucks.

I think that PM?s are an effective way to solve problems. I?d say that I solve about four to five times as many problems via PM as I do via using my moderator and managerial powers. Most problems just need an arbitrator, or someone to give a warning, or a piece of advice. I?ve actually come to see things as a failure to one degree or another if I have to use my powers to deal with a problem user. I tend to think that if things have come to a point where someone is deserving of a ban, then I haven?t been doing my job here as well as I could be.

Having said that, I do believe that some problems do definitely need to be discussed publicly. Where I (and most other moderators) have a problem is when people take issues that perhaps should have been kept private into the public. If someone has a problem with a moderator, they?re most likely to solve it by PM?ing them and trying to solve the matter quietly. If that fails, then go public. Preferably, an Administrator should be consulted between PM?ing the moderator and going public in Communications, but I think that most of us recognize that it can sometimes take a while before the Administrators respond to PM?s. I know I?ve waited three or four days before getting a response sometimes, and I don?t blame anyone for not wanting to bother with that sort of riggamarole.



The fact that some not so well liked people can be banned because of email conversations, but I receive harassing emails for 2 months from a JC member and I'm told nothing can be done sucks.

Our current policy is that you can generally only be banned for things done here on the boards. Simply put, we can verify that someone is sending harassing PM?s easily. We cannot verify that someone is sending harassing e-mails, unless you were to give us your e-mail address to verify you received them and we were able to somehow trick the person at the other end of the e-mails to reveal his identity. Otherwise things could get pretty murky pretty quickly. User X could claim User Y sent him harassing e-mails, and provide a fake e-mail that looked about right. We would end up banning innocent people. And yes, I think that in the 70,000+ user history of the JC that there have been people who are low enough to try to pull a trick like that to get someone they dislike banned. Personally, without knowing anything about the history of your problem, I?m inclined to believe you. But it sets an awful precedent. We can start down a road that can potentially lead to a lot of innocent people getting smeared, or people can ignore e-mails from those with no lives.



The hypocracy that outsiders can't have info from the MS private board, but the JC mods have some right to know what is going on at the private boards of others sucks.

I don?t really care all that much what happens at other boards. If someone brings something to my attention, yes, I?ll

 

I have to say I kinda like that idea, but with tenements like this:

FF Admin - For RSAs and stuff
JC Admin - For the JC

But still have other admins, and have some way to determine if he/she was wrong, and most importantly, not to announce and give a person that type of power without consulting the members. That would be a grave mistake.

¤Night

 

I am happy to hear that Gandolf, from my perspective a little eladership would go a long way. Personally I know it would probably be much easier for everyone if new mods had things explained to them instead of just giving them colours and pushing them out the door to see if they can fly.

Edit//<glare>

Edit2//because you asked so nicely.

 

I personally think any eladership could go a long way around here.

 

I personally think any eladership could go a long way around here.

I also feel that some eladership would...wait a minute.... whats eladership?

(now, don't go and edit your post and make me look like a fool )

 

When was the last time an active moderator trolled another board?


Very recently. Here's a thread, still very active at the Episode-X boards, in which Padme Bra (under the name PBX) comes in and trolls quite blatantly. Oh, and if you read through that thread, Padme Bra also admits during the argument that he only promoted Mar17SWgirl because "she's hot." Check the thread if you don't believe me.

Link edited out. Extremely inappropriate language and content being linked to.


Now, if you're willing to ignore that or argue that, more power to you. I could always just dig up the SW.com trolling exploits of LizSkywalker. Have a nice day, kids.

 

Can't it be possible that they were socks simply pretending to be JC mods at the x-boards? Let's hope....

KW--It would have been better top just put a warning on the link. Now people are gonna start a bucket of drama accusing you of covering up

But if that was the real DS too...he made some remarks about other mods that, ummm....

 

Padme Bra also admits during the argument that he only promoted Mar17SWgirl because "she's hot."

The normal process is for nominees within the Mod Squad to be voted on and approved by the rest of the admins.

Edit: No, links to inappropriate content (as in a great deal of profanity and inappropriate sexual content) has to be edited out. You can PM the member above, or do a quick search on Google to find the board. I'm sorry if that's seen as drama-inducing.

 

assuming it is actually him, and not a sock (due to the detail he went into in the post)...

while most people at the JC would realize that it wasn't really possible to nominate someone based on their hotness, pbra probably shouldn't be saying things like that in a public forum where anyone that stumbles on it can read. if people have their own private spin-off boards that are password protected, sure, but not on something as public as x-boards.

i know there's no real rule about it, and i'm not saying that there should necessarily be a rule, however i would hope that one isn't needed, and that mods would keep that stuff behind closed doors, if it needs to happen at all.

 

"The "I don't think it's so bad here so you shouldn't be complaining" attitude sucks."

OK, so let's create some problems so we can justofy the attitude.


"The "holier than thou" attitude of some mods sucks."

Yep, I agree with you there.


"The fact that those mods aren't punished for it sucks."

Everyone is entitled to their opinion.


"The fact that some staff members are handed modship at random sucks."

Seems pretty common all over the internet to me. Why would iy be any different here? ?


"The considering of removing our only voice in policy changes sucks."

You have plenty of voice. It's right here and you use it plenty.


"The fact that you guys long since voted on it before we even were told it was being considered sucks."

WHo else do you include in the "we"? the 15 other vocal users in this forum or the other 70,000 who sincerely don't give a toss and come here to talk about Star Wars?


"Sweeping unpleasant things under the rug with the blanket "Take it to PM" policy sucks."

That has always been policy and a simple matter of privacy. Not every minor quibboe deserves to be scutinised in COmmunications.


"The fact that some not so well liked people can be banned because of email conversations, but I receive harassing emails for 2 months from a JC member and I'm told nothing can be done sucks."

Now you're getting personal.


"The hypocracy that outsiders can't have info from the MS private board, but the JC mods have some right to know what is going on at the private boards of others sucks."

Once again, personal.
How is this an issue when JC mods are allowed to be members at other boards? ?


"The hypocracy of mods banning trolls here, then turning around and trolling at other boards sucks."

Then they should be banned there, talk to the mods at that particular site. No point whinging about it here.


"The fact that mods are choosen or even allowed to continue at their position after they had been banned for spamming, trolling, sexually harassing other members, or specifically targetting JC members for harassment sucks."

Everyone deserves a second chance.
How many times have we banned and let users back with no repurcussions? We're users too.


"Finding out someone you once trusted and respected is really a dirty old man who sent disgusting PMs to a 17 year old girl and is now allowed to punish others for doing the same sucks."

Once again, you make it personal.


"Watching nice people walk away from this place because of all the crap that goes on in public and behind closed doors sucks."

Yet here we all are perpetuating the crap.
Ironic, isn't it? ?


"And the fact that you jumped down farraday's throat for the title of his thread, even though he asked a fair question, sucks."

Has the question been answered yet?
I think it was back on the first page....