MS Update MOD Mod Squad Updates - 2014 End of the Year on Page 6

ICTYTT

 

Artist's impression of Jabba-wocky

 

Jabba-wocky, we seem to have your measure sir

 

Missing the epic mustache...

...here...

 

harpua I honestly can't tell which was the original now, so masterful was that touch-up.

Jabba-wocky, qui tacet consentire videtur.

 

Any word on what the (lol) focus group has come up with?

 

We've agreed on some points and the discussion is ongoing on others. You'll get an update on February 1st or earlier, depending on the time we have.

 

I think a few of ophelia's recent threads are a fairly good example of what srs threads can be like. The odd joke? Who cares. Generally a well rounded, interesting discussion? That's the main thing.

I would be hesitant on putting too much focus on 'rules" of this merger.

 

Yeah, agreed... please do not over-engineer this thing. Even though the topics are more srs biz in nature, I'd hate for the organic element of spontaneous and natural conversation flow to be washed away.

lol... I can only imagine what a senate focus group looks like. It may take them several months to come to some sort of agreement on anything. It wouldn't surprise me if it took two months to decide what the tag will say.

 

We kept it small and focused. That's why I don't like the focus group thing: we are working on a timetable, not waxing philosophical.

 

I assure you that matters such as the tag and associated rules and regulations will be considered in due course once more urgent issues pertaining to discussion protocols are agreed. I mean how can you expect a discussion to take place without agreement on an appropriate dress code, timing of coffee breaks and the like. Right now, we've reached a deadlock on whether jackets are appropriate and if so whether patched elbows or not. If patched then suede or smooth leather? Tie or no tie? Are straw men allowed? You see it's more complicated than you might think.

 

And so help me, I will continue to filibuster until we permit tweed blazers with leather elbow patches. It's that important!

 

OVER MY DEAD BODY! STRAW MAN STRAW MAN!!!

 

Important update on the (lol) focus group progress:

I am pleased to announce that after some furious debate, name calling, tears and hugs, significant progress has been made and a general accord has been reached. In this regard, I have been authorised to disclose that tweed blazers with leather elbow patches are indeed permitted so long as the blazer is not worn with jeans. Straw men will be permitted on a rotating schedule, one per week per user. No accord was reached on coffee brand, but we all agreed that tea is acceptable, with no conditions attached. Regrettably, since nobody can now recall what the discussion was actually supposed to be about, it was agreed to dissolve the focus group and start a new one in the near future.

Stay tuned for more news on FG2 in due course.

 

Hey. Hey. We got this.

 

Sorry for the delay. I haven't been around these last three days due to some unforeseen medical issues. More to come.

 

Reposted from the Community thread:


The Senate Focus Group, comprising a mix of Senate and JC regulars, met to discuss the practical framework under which the Senate, as a separate forum, would be merged back into the JC and re-purposed as a tag.

The discussion centered around the "rules" that would be used to facilitate discussion, with the intent being to limit the number of hard rules and the involvement of an official structure (i.e. active moderator influence) and to encourage the user base to self-regulate. Users would, through a sense of ownership in the quality of the discussion, keep the threads to topic.

The discussion also covered what topics would fall under the Senate tag, and what would be done with existing Senate threads.

Rules

The basis for a rule set was this post in Comms, specifically points 4 through 9: http://boards.theforce.net/threads/senate-proposed-rules-revision.50013899/#post-51181035. It was agreed that these gave the most workable framework whilst not limiting discussion or creating a rigid structure that would limit the enjoyment of participants.

1) All serious topic discussion in the JC is branded Senate. That means topics on politics, religion, sex and sexuality, gender, race, equality, climate change, science (when not pop culture science).
2) The requirement to not post one liner drive-bys is dropped
3) Other users may insist upon proof to support claims but it is no longer mandatory to support claims with proof
4) The only rule is you discuss the idea, not the person. Saying "that idea smacks of fascism", not "you're a fascist"
5) Be respectful and open minded.
6) Stick to the topic

We looked at key threads, the most obvious being ophelia's "free will" thread, as an example where the above applied but where it was users who held the topic to account, not a mod posting asking people to keep to topic.

Topics

The concern here is, in effect, baggage. A lot of talk of the Old Senate v New Senate came up and it was apparent we were over-thinking it. Movie threads are tagged Amph, Sports threads are tagged Arena. So threads about politics, sex and sexuality, gender issues, religion, health etc would be tagged Senate. Satirical discussions can still occur under this umbrella.

If your thread is re-tagged Senate by a mod, and you have concerns, please PM them to discuss.

Expectations

The idea behind this merge was to give the Community a tag for serious topics that would somewhat insulate it from threads devolving whilst at the same time, recognising that the "old" Senate was not the ideal place to have relaxed discussion about serious topics. So to that extent, the Focus Group expects that the new Senate tag would more resemble the best parts of the serious JC discussions (like the aforementioned Free Will thread) without the "wall of essay-text" stigma of the old Senate Floor forum.

In a lofty and ambitious sense, we aim to make people not think "Senate" is a dirty word.

This will go live shortly, with old Senate threads being re-merged and the Senate topic being added. As you may be aware, the current Senate mods - SuperWatto and DarthBoba - stepped down. The focus group discussed this and agreed that there is no need for additional moderators in the Community.

 

Great post, Daveed. I like your style.

 

So what happened to these?

 

Obviously nothing of note has happened since.

 

I'm currently writing the March update.

 

At this point, won't it be the April Fool's update?