I was a bad mod

[Banned]

While we're in the business of introspective looks at our past, I figured I'd make one with a little meta-AD discussion thrown in for good measure (as I wouldn't want this to end up on GD, when I post on GD bad things happen.)

I was a bad mod. This isn't a good/evil thing, like Zhil's. Just plain bad. That's not to say it was all bad. But I was definitely a bad moderator. I didn't really moderate you see. I was more of a janitor. To explain what sort of janitor I was, let's take a little ride down history lane.

Back in the days (and it worries me that I can say this), I was what I consider a pretty balanced board poster. I would make well thought out points, ramble on and on (just like I'm doing now) and hopefully score some here and there. One of my first posts was a prediction that Sid would eventually not be able to post on the forums without getting a bunch of people saying that 'you're just saying that to manipulate us'. I didn't then realize how right I would be (let's face it, when one-liners spawn threads, it's pretty hard to post seriously.) I spent a lot of time in round 4 posting on what was then moderated by some excellent mods who have hard to remember nicks. I think one of them was MikeUK, another may have been Shadow1980. They were good mods because they communicated. They made sure everyone stayed moderate, while still being able to discuss. Thus, they were good moderators.

During late round 4 and early round 5, I discovered two other forums. Strategy and Suggestions. Being the bright young man that I am (I hope I don't sound too arrogant saying that), I figured that I would have something clever to contribute. I was still a balanced young soul, and I feel that during that period, I contributed to some rather good discussions. My favorite was a thread on ]the[/url] Strategy forum about the flawed mechanics of Eonium as a ship fuel, I even saved that thread. Along with my post count, my ego was inflating a bit at the time (I felt I was becoming an accepted board poster, and in addition I had what was probably the largest non-WTFLE planet for a while). This may or may not have contributed to my whine about not being accepted to the r6 beta team. I felt that Suggestions and Strategy, especially the former, was terribly under appreciated. I came to be very annoyed with the mods for not properly relaying the excellent ideas there to the creators (when I should've been annoyed with Spinner for completely ignoring them), and generally fed up with the lack of respect the official channels paid the users of the forum. Because I wasn't getting anything else out of posting here, more on this later.

My whine turned out to be excessively stupid, as Theamion was trying to enlist me personally, but had not found me. Not only that, but I was to be put on what eventually became Petru's ship design team (Coffee, me, Petru and our PAteam representative Theamion for r6 (no wonder he feels so important)). Having successfully gained entry to the beta, I saw to the full extent the futility of Suggestions actually achieving anything. Suggestions were being made successfully on the beta board that had been ignored mid-round for weeks and months. You have to wonder what those creators were doing all round 5, because they sure as hell weren't adding anything to the game.

At the same time I was introduced to a little project that eventually became Deus Ex Machina. I did some work there, until I quit about a month or a month and a half into the round. It was probably the pinnacle of my PA career in many ways. During my time in Deus Ex Machina I didn't post much on AD, I generally preferred to post on the Deus forums (999 posts by the time I quit, sad bastard, aren't I?), or spend my time on Deus IRC. Deus Ex Machina was an exhausting alliance to work in. As my ego inflated (Chief BC for an alliance kicking Fury and Legion's collective asses omg and plotting to kill Xanadu and take over the world aren't I great!), my temper was beginning to get a little frayed at the edges. It probably culminated in me telling some poor member '**** you' on the forums. You're probably all familiar with this style of posting by now. But back then, to a member, it was a pretty disrespectful thing to do. One of my galmates cleaned up after me (incidentally, the member had posted about how BCing was worth it for the extra roids you got, I wasn't getting any extra roids so maybe I was transferring my frustration).

After I quit, I transferred my new found style to AD. Being pissed off wasn't the only reason. I'd become sick of discussing and arguing over PA. A little known fact about the Deus Ex Machina command is that we did very much arguing. Hell, the PA community didn't know if we were anti-blocking, anti-stagnation or anti-F/L, and to be honest, we didn't really either. I'm still impressed that others managed to maintain their sanity. The problem with discussing and arguing about PA, especially on the public forums (let alone in the privacy of your own alliance) is that almost everyone comes from a certain paradigm (usually a combination of alliance, political opinions and possibly some nationality). Once an opinion is formed (and I'm sure many of you don't actually form that opinion until you see the point and/or recognize the poster) most posters will keep arguing for that opinion constantly. Forever.

Now this wasn't anything new. Maybe it was because I'd actually seen progress occur in arguments with the combined command of Deus Ex Machina. But looking out from my perch with a good intel feed (what I knew when I quit was enough to keep me going until r6 was over, and by then I rejoined that damn gal whose coords I'd rather tear my eyes out than see plastered up here again) I saw ignorance, I saw stupidity, I saw fallacies and I saw people who just didn't get it. And I knew that any attempts to enlighten them would fail. Not only that, they'd probably just make an even more idiotic point for me burst veins over. So I started bringing the '**** you' attitude with me to AD. Incidentally, this coincided with me deciding to learn dvorak, which crippled my typing abilities (I swore off IRC when I quit Deus, which gave me the opportunity to learn dvorak, which in turn kept me off IRC). Now, learning to type again when you've touch typed just fine for the last 5-6 years is not a happy thing for sleep deprived narcissists. So not only was I ready to tell anyone to '**** off' if they posted something stupid, I was unable to write longer posts. Thus began my decent into one-liner flames. Pretty much ruined my reputation as a poster for a long time. Even my decent/good posts were getting 'jester ruins another thread!' replies.

At some point during this time, I became dissatisfied with the quality of moderations. Cochese was a pretty good moderator. My only encounter with him was when he asked me to remove my coords from my sig. I did, though I was a bit annoyed (this was during round 5, and I was worried that no one would notice that I was top3 on roidcount until after Fury had taken it all away.) The other mods were generally inactive or bad (at least as I recall it now). Since I had become the master of pointing out stupidity, I saw stupidity everywhere. One of my favorite targets was the between-round tradition of posting 'Post your favorite <something>' threads. Threads filled with one liners on a forum to be used for political intrigue was apparently terrible (I still don't like them much, but now I just don't contribute). I posted a few threads trying to parody the one-liner threads, but one was closed, and the two others became smash hits. I think one went on to be 7 or 8 pages long.

Once I'd regained my ability to touch type (it took about 3-4 weeks to be able to type at a reasonable rate, I think I was back at 60-75% of my former speed after 6 weeks), I started posting a 'good' posts again, and less one-liner flames. I figured this would immediately restore my former position as a master poster. It was enough that my bids for better modship were actually taken seriously, and we the people of AD received PiaZava. And she was a pretty good mod. I hear I was suggested, but summarily dismissed as 'bitter'. Ironically, I'd probably have made a much better mod back then.

You see, I still cared back then. I still had an alliance, I still fought their cause on the forum, I still plotted with my friends, I still sent defense. By round 8 that was changing, and by round 9 I actually managed to go a round without a planet.

The astute reader will note that I started moderating around the same time I finally managed to not sign up. I was actually planning on playing when JammyJim asked me to moderate, so I could answer his questions truthfully. Questions I like to think I had a part in them having to ask. They were basically questions that made sure I was part of the active community. Someone in the know, someone who would be able to follow the ebb and flow of AD from behind the curtain as well as in public. I was only able to because I shared channels with HC from all three main power blocks.

I didn't care though. At some point I took to posting knee jerk reactions, and only managed the occasional good post because my knee jerk reaction was to rant about a subject. My 'moderation' came in much the same form. Except I wasn't really moderating. I was just cleaning up. I tried though, a bit overzealously at first. What many people seemed to dislike, my tendency to edit posts directly when they were what I considered 'out of line', was my attempt at actually moderating. Some people disliked it, others liked it. The people sending PMs calling me an idiot usually outnumbered the compliments (except for that time I closed one of Leto's threads*). I know that I made mistakes. Hell, the sheer volume of moderating I did guaranteed there would be mistakes. But it didn't take long until I stopped reading every thread, and editing posts, and leaving notes. After that, I just did janitorial work. I closed threads, I deleted threads, I moved threads, I recommended that certain users be banned. I did what I could to keep it clean. I know I made mistakes here too. I pretty much ended up cleaning like I posted, on knee jerk reactions. Every now and then I'd fume up just to realize that the thread wasn't really that bad. I'll let you all in on a little secret though: a large part of the reason I closed Cochese' thread on why he left Madcows was that I expected it to turn into a Madcows vs Cochese thread that made him look bad. And I didn't want that. I put in one of my standard closing reasons for that sort of thread (and it was close enough to an attention-whoring thread that everyone bought it.) Suckers.

I've always had something to say about the moderation here, and of course, how can I resist taking this opportunity to do so as well?

The moderation here stinks.

Planetarion Discussions has worse threads, worse posts, but what I believe may be better moderation. Scratch one up against Jester's theory that good moderation equaling a good forum.

I still make terrible posts, though I can occasionally put together a Zhil-sized rant like this (saved that thread too, thanks Jonny).

Why should a poster who can hardly do anything but flame be listened to? I don't actually have an answer for that.

I'd like to draw the readers attention to two things about the next paragraph; first off, it's a blatant disregard for a policy I usually held, which was that if you have a problem with the moderation, send it in PM. I still believe that's a sound policy. Secondly, I'm making the same mistake now as I was as a moderator. Instead of actually talking to people, I'm just popping an impersonal thread up and hoping you all read it and learn about how terrible your ways are. Because that's what happens when you read something on AD, you understand the poster and take a balanced view based on what is written, rather than what alliance he's in. Oh wait. (Sometimes I wonder if this forum needs sarcasm tags, but really having to point out that you're being sarcastic ruins a lot of the humorous effect, and I'm a sucker for humor.)

The moderation fails in that it is mostly cleaning. Some moderators still contribute positively to AD as a user, which combined with the position as moderator hopefully has a positive impact on other posters. The problem, I believe, is that the moderators generally don't communicate with the users. If you're being a problem, you'll be banned. If you've violated a rule, you'll be banned. If you're banned, you have to PM a mod (and usually follow a paper trail back to the mod who had you banned) to find out why. Registering a new account, however, can be done on your own time, in about 15 seconds. I'm sure with skill, it can be reduced below that, but I don't have that much training. Yet. Users who violate have their posts deleted, but they're never told why unless they demand to know. Despite policy, users are often banned without warnings. They simply violate rules too often, then disappear.

Communication has broken down. Users don't want it, I'm not entirely sure why, between the PM button and #forums it's pretty easy. I tried to make sure I always answered my board PMs about moderation and do so seriously, no matter how damning or nonsensical. And moderators don't seem to bother. I think I know why I didn't. I was in favor of knee jerk reactions and pushing the PM button took too long.

The moderation isn't all terrible. It's probably better than when I left. I didn't read AD much when I was without an account (5 weeks?), so I've only been catching up lately. But having had one account banned (in actuality for no reason, it seems to have been a misunderstanding), and a few posts deleted (probably all correctly), I still haven't been told how to improve. Or why. And I'm not the only one. I'm sure BDB knows what I'm talking about here.

So there's my Wrath-story (puntastic!)

I don't expect you to learn a thing. In fact, I think the most of people that are going to bother reading this entire post already know what I'd be trying to teach (or preach, if you prefer that term).

I ask that any moderator who feels this is out of line move it to the mod forum rather than delete it. I know some people will have a hard time taking it seriously, but hopefully someone will be able to see past who's making this post.

* I could go on about Leto, let's just leave it at this: He's a funny guy, but that doesn't mean he should be able to do whatever the hell he wants. The legions of fanboys were the most annoying facet of his posts though.

PS. Also, look at me, I'm a ****ing attention whore.

[Som1]

it's not like the apocalypse is uopn us and we're all going to die tomorrow.

I don't get the point, AD has been crap since round 5.

[ÐarkÅngel]

Jesssssssssssteeeeeeeeeeeeeeer

give em hell man

[Gerbie]

I started reading it. There was no real point in the first part. He's talking about things happening in the past. I only like this part:

Originally posted by Banned
PS. Also, look at me, I'm a ****ing attention whore.

[Hurragutten]

Originally posted by Som1
it's not like the apocalypse is uopn us and we're all going to die tomorrow.

My fleet will die today, if I'm lucky that is

[MAdnRisKy]

Nice read jester, if only because I like people watching (which in such an environment as the internet relies on drunken irc ramblings, or longer posts where a more complete picture can build up)

tho reading your comments on the eonium thread made my brain ache the best suggestion from it wasn't yours (the one regarding inverting the Eo produced per extra roid ie +1 not -1 in resources gained per roid as E roid count gains by 1)

But yes you're right, you may have a brilliant mind, but as PA does to all of us over time, it has become rather bitter

[Fifth_teletubbie]

**** you

[HobbieRogue4]

Interesting.*

*I saw that.

[Xeno]

You did in fact turn bitter and uninteresting on us. I've been on these boards since round 1, keeping a low profile and ignoring the flamers having a go at me. I so far have only one person on my ignore list, but you were truly a hot candidate for the same list towards the end of your moderator time.

I didn't exactly put a whole lot of effort into figuring out why you were starting to behave more and more immature, but it did in fact puzzle me to the extent that I on one occasion publically bad-mouthed you on IRC.

"It's a funny thing", I thought to myself, "that this Jester was so highly appreciated by the likes of Radium and Libya back in the days".

I'm pleased to see you display psychological introversion like this. But we still disagree on the closing of the Leto-thread


Xeno

[Little Timmy]

people that spend time with you on IRC know you and understand your frustrations.

No one else matters really.

[Scouse]

Apology accepted.

[Kjeldoran]

yep, you idd were a bad mod. I'm glad you and the team realized that. Though I probably would make an even worse mod ...

rgds Kj

[Torz]

I still love you Jester




xxx *huggles* *kisses*

[Cochese]

You told it like it was though Jester, which is worth something.

[Zh|l]

Originally posted by Banned
So there's my Wrath-story (puntastic!)

My lawyers will be in contact.

Originally posted by Banned

* I could go on about Leto, let's just leave it at this: He's a funny guy, but that doesn't mean he should be able to do whatever the hell he wants. He can still be wrong, he still make worthless posts and threads. Also, his legion of unfunny fanboys can all go leghump themselves. You're only detracting from the funny. May I suggest a PM? If anything, it'd make you look less like a sheep. So much for leaving it at that.

Here here, Leto was a great laugh but the way people all attempted to ride the 'bandwagon' was sickening/amusing.

Originally posted by Banned

PS. Also, look at me, I'm a ****ing attention whore.

But you're my attention whore.

[Ahriman]

I read it all, and feel that some of what you said applies to me, and will attempt to take it on board. So you didn't waste your time. Perhaps you were a bad mod, but the cleaning generally needed doing


In addition: Leto posted lots of completely **** threads, and the occaisional amusing one. Though usually they were just amusing because he used big words that he didn't understand properly. He was funnier on IRC, where I did actually have respect for him.

An additional addition: I rock and would make a better mod than anyone else on the planet. We all know it.

[ComradeRob]

Jester, I don't think you were a bad mod. In many ways you were a better mod than I am; I mostly just 'clean up', moving the threads that need moving, deleting the posts that need deleting, but not really doing anything 'great' to improve the overall standard of the debate here. I think your approach was more interventionist, trying to actively improve things rather than simply making sure that minimum standards were enforced. The problem was that some people didn't want to be improved, and so reacted rather badly to being, sometimes quite bluntly, told that their posts weren't any good :\

[Kjeldoran]

Originally posted by ComradeRob
Jester, I don't think you were a bad mod. In many ways you were a better mod than I am; I mostly just 'clean up', moving the threads that need moving, deleting the posts that need deleting, but not really doing anything 'great' to improve the overall standard of the debate here. I think your approach was more interventionist, trying to actively improve things rather than simply making sure that minimum standards were enforced. The problem was that some people didn't want to be improved, and so reacted rather badly to being, sometimes quite bluntly, told that their posts weren't any good :\

true, but let's not forget the occassions where he replied in a thread with something close to an insult or just laughing at someone.
When I said he's a bad mod, I meant he cannot be objective enough to look at every thread like it's just one more. But I doubt much pple could.

rgds Kj

[lokken]

Originally posted by Kjeldoran
true, but let's not forget the occassions where he replied in a thread with something close to an insult or just laughing at someone.

I'm going to hazard a guess that they probably deserved it.

[Kjeldoran]

Originally posted by lokken
I'm going to hazard a guess that they probably deserved it.

I don't doubt that, but it's rather hypocrity to mod threads with flames and all when the modder does it himself.

rgds Kj

[ComradeRob]

There's a difference between flaming someone because you are a moron, and flaming someone because they are a moron.

[Atul]

Originally posted by Som1
it's not like the apocalypse is uopn us and we're all going to die tomorrow.

I don't get the point, AD has been crap since round 5.

yeh
right

ever read it b4?

[Som1]

Originally posted by Atul
yeh
right

ever read it b4?

Yes.

[Banned]

Originally posted by Som1
it's not like the apocalypse is uopn us and we're all going to die tomorrow.

Not at all.

I don't get the point, AD has been crap since round 5.

You seem to have misunderstood. My post isn't about trying to improve AD, it's about trying to get people to pay attention to me.

[MAdnRisKy]

Originally posted by Banned
You seem to have misunderstood. My post isn't about trying to improve AD, it's about trying to get people to pay attention to me.

ahh yes, that "state what they're thinking before they say it in a blatent over the top fashion, to remove people being able to say it with the modicombe of truth in the tone that it warrents" tactic. I do rather like that one

[AlbinoSquirrel]

This post is exactly why Jester and I have a love/hate relationship.

He's sexy.

I thought he did a good job as a mod (hence my immense bitchfest when he was banned by the morons-that-be). He actually tried to provoke things on the forum. Both good and bad. Activity is a good thing. And let's face it, this is the net - we're used to people being assholes on here, there's very little reason to stomp out flaming, except for the most offensive and vindicative types. A lot of the people who snipe at each other on here actually have varying degrees of respect for each other. Take me and Bob for example - he thinks I'm a twat, I think he's a dumb redneck, but we can still agree on some points. There's actually only about two or three people on this board who I have nothing but sheer contempt for, personally.

The only issue I had with Senorita Jesterina was (and still is) the fact that he suffers fools less graciously than I do (and I, as a rule, don't). Hence, when you say or do something stupid, he'll tear you down irrespective of if you're a friend or not. And considering the vast number of idiotic comments on here, I can't blame him for going off on people. I would have too.

As a one-time mod, the one thing I'd have to say really wrecks your will is the constant barrage of "you're ****" from the users. Jester didn't mention that specifically, but it really does start to wear on people. At least he got some compliments every once in a while. Lucky bastard.

And yeah, he is an attention whore.

[Kjeldoran]

Originally posted by AlbinoSquirrel
A lot of the people who snipe at each other on here actually have varying degrees of respect for each other. Take me and Bob for example - he thinks I'm a twat, I think he's a dumb redneck, but we can still agree on some points. There's actually only about two or three people on this board who I have nothing but sheer contempt for, personally.

do I have that really small amount of respect from you or am I one of those 2-3 pple that you have nothing but sheer contempt for?

ohh and I'm asking this in a nice way so for once let's not start a bitchfest thx.

rgds Kj

[AlbinoSquirrel]

Originally posted by Kjeldoran
do I have that really small amount of respect from you or am I one of those 2-3 pple that you have nothing but sheer contempt for?

ohh and I'm asking this in a nice way so for once let's not start a bitchfest thx.

rgds Jh

The latter. You worked at getting there.

And you misspelled your own initials and it's now quoted for posterity.

[Ahriman]

Originally posted by Kjeldoran
do I have that really small amount of respect from you or am I one of those 2-3 pple that you have nothing but sheer contempt for?

ohh and I'm asking this in a nice way so for once let's not start a bitchfest thx.

rgds Jh

Does "Jhel" work?

[Aryn]

Originally posted by AlbinoSquirrel
The latter. You worked at getting there.

And you misspelled your own initials and it's now quoted for posterity.

damn.. and i was thinking on whether i should fix it for him or not. ah well too late.

the thing with jester is that he's blunt. there's not beating around the bush and comments arent' sugar coated with niceties. some people just can't seem to handle it. i think he went ott with a few of his comments.. but it's prolly cause i'm a nicer person.. who does try to sugarcoat things :P
jester did a lot of work as a mod.. and i'm not sure where he was going with this thread so i'll just focus on his last line:

i'm a bigger attention whore than jester is

[Kjeldoran]

Originally posted by AlbinoSquirrel
The latter. You worked at getting there.

And you misspelled your own initials and it's now quoted for posterity.

I worked at getting there, does that mean I arrived or I'm like one stop away from arrival?

rgds Kj (mind the real nick this time)

[Ahriman]

Originally posted by Aryn
i'm a bigger attention whore than jester is

I keep thinking that the honey pot in your avatar says "Nickelodeon" - have I been brainwashed?

Subject change: I was thinking about the term 'attention whore' and I have some comparisons and a conclusion, as well as a question to ask. If a crack whore sells her body for crack cocaine, and a normal whore sells her body for money (presumably making her a money whore), I think that an attention whore is willing to sell their body for a measly bit of attention (which you'll note; I'm giving you by replying to you.) So my question is as follows:

How many of your posts do I have to reply to before I get some?

[Aryn]

i'm an expensive attentionwhore :\

[MAdnRisKy]

Originally posted by Ahriman
I keep thinking that the honey pot in your avatar says "Nickelodeon" - have I been brainwashed?

Subject change: I was thinking about the term 'attention whore' and I have some comparisons and a conclusion, as well as a question to ask. If a crack whore sells her body for crack cocaine, and a normal whore sells her body for money (presumably making her a money whore), I think that an attention whore is willing to sell their body for a measly bit of attention (which you'll note; I'm giving you by replying to you.) So my question is as follows:

How many of your posts do I have to reply to before I get some?

I always thought a crack whore was someone who liked to take it in the ass

[JonnyBGood]

Mother of merciful Jesus I think we should get back on topic for the mental health of us all :(

[Fifth_teletubbie]

Originally posted by JonnyBGood

Mother of merciful Jesus I think we should get back on topic for the mental health of us all

Quite right

Originally posted by Jheldoran
the usual

who the **** asked you anything??

You've always disliked Jester anyway since every exchange you have with him makes you look like an idiot.

[Kjeldoran]

Originally posted by Fifth_teletubbie
You've always disliked Jester anyway since every exchange you have with him makes you look like an idiot.

find the 6 lies ...

incase it's too hard for your I'll give them myself

1:Always -> nope, while I was in deus I liked him and we didn't fight at all.
2:disliked -> nope I don't dislike him nor do I hate him, He just thinks I'm a troll and makes sure he tells me everytime and I think he wasn't a suitable mod.
3:look like -> you never saw me so you cannot ever imagine how I look like
4: an idiot -> I'm not (this was the easiest lie)
5: Jheldoran -> You faked a qoute
6: usual stuff -> I never wrote those exact words in this thread, so again you faked a qoute

What do we learn from all this? that you are one big liar. You know nothing about me, you never did and you never will. You know NOTHING about how my "relation" with Jester is. The only thing you proved with your reply is that your a liar and that's basicly it.

till another time ....

rgds Kj

[Salomo]

This

Originally posted by Jheldoran

3:look like -> you never saw me so you cannot ever imagine how

This

Originally posted by Jheldoran

6: usual stuff -> I never wrote those exact words in this thread, so again you faked a qoute

and this

Originally posted by Jheldoran

5: Jheldoran -> You faked a qoute

...is why you should be banned from the internet for public safety reasons

[Kjeldoran]

Originally posted by Salomo

...is why you should be banned from the internet for public safety reasons

yes, I'm a danger to everyone

rgds Kj

[G.K Zhukov]

hhmm, sorry, didnt bother to read it.

[G.K Zhukov]

Originally posted by Kjeldoran
yes, I'm a danger to everyone

rgds Kj

I agree with Salomo.. but your not a danger to anyone, your annoying.

[Kjeldoran]

Originally posted by G.K Zhukov
I agree with Salomo.. but your not a danger to anyone, your annoying.

YOU, the Zhukov, you know the one that everyone probably dislikes MORE then me, tells me I'm annoying.

What wise lessons will I have to learn from this? Can anyone help me here?

ohhh and off the record, yes I'm annoying and arrogant yet more pple like me then dislike me so why the **** should I care or change?

rgds Kj

[Aryn]

unfortunately jester's attentionwhoring thread doesn't appear to be working.

you forgot the rule of attentionwhoring jester.. you gotta keep coming back and replying on the thread to make sure the focus is still on you :\