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Author: DebateArt.com

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Good news everyone!

We've been going for this for quite some time and now it's happened, we have two newly appointed moderators, @Virtuoso and @bsh1 :)

Tomorrow we'll also have the official rules published, which the mods will use in their judging.
David
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I am really excited to join the team.

To be clear: bsh1 is the head moderator and I am the deputy moderator. 
TheHammer
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He just never learns

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David
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How to report a post

If you would like to report a post in the forums, please click the flag and it will send us a report. 
DebateArt.com
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Btw, at this point, there are no types of reports but there will be at some point.
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And as with all sites, friendship to the mods will be closely tied to longevity on the site.

Luckily I think both of those don't have beef with me so I'm aight with this fo sho ;)

Honestly bsh1 is an extremely good pick. Virtuoso isn't bad it's just I simply lack data to know.

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@DebateArt.com
Though I am pressed for time at the moment, I would like to note three things. Firstly, I believe the best modding is modding which is laissez-faire and hands off. Secondly, everyone will start from a clean slate--what happened or happens on DDO stays on DDO. Thirdly, the rules and approach to modding that I will follow are based to a large extent on those present on DDO. Those are tried-and-tested rules which can be implemented immediately.
David
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@bsh1
i am in full support and in agreement with your policies. I am looking forward to working with you to help make the site great. 
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@bsh1
Though I am pressed for time at the moment, I would like to note three things. Firstly, I believe the best modding is modding which is laissez-faire and hands off. Secondly, everyone will start from a clean slate--what happened or happens on DDO stays on DDO. Thirdly, the rules and approach to modding that I will follow are based to a large extent on those present on DDO. Those are tried-and-tested rules which can be implemented immediately.
Deal.


Greyparrot
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@bsh1

>>Firstly, I believe the best modding is modding which is laissez-faire and hands off.

If I was not a straight man, I would be hands on with you mr Faire.



RationalMadman
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@Greyparrot
I'd happily debate with you about authoritarianism having merit in a society's leadership beyond the bare minimum it needs to do.
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@RationalMadman
Every government has guns. What do you think you can teach me?
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@Greyparrot
That their weapons of mass seduction are far more powerful than the guns.

Guns mean very, very little. You could have a machine gun and you'd be a powerless fool who at most could keep hostages for a week at most.

Guns are useful, don't get me wrong but the media is the real weapon to worry about them having control over. 

There are always powers that are unfair, the world and reality itself was never EVER designed to be fair. Fairness is literally a wrong concept to even strive for. Why would you want fairness? The most fair society is one where we are all AI.
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@bsh1
Though I am pressed for time at the moment, I would like to note three things. Firstly, I believe the best modding is modding which is laissez-faire and hands off. Secondly, everyone will start from a clean slate--what happened or happens on DDO stays on DDO. Thirdly, the rules and approach to modding that I will follow are based to a large extent on those present on DDO. Those are tried-and-tested rules which can be implemented immediately.
What was DDO's approach to modding?

That's not a slam or a joke. Many displays of moderation on DDO were before my time. Juggle seemed to have pretty much abandoned the site by the time I arrived, and the only staffer who was showing up had no executive power or support that I could see. Active moderation seemed to be in decline as a result. I know what the rules were, and I know the moderation did have a hands-off attitude in general, but looking at DDO doesn't give me an idea of what you'll really do. That is, what you'll take action on, or what your approach to moderating will be when you do act.

I understand you're busy. I don't expect an immediate response. Or any response, really. It's not your obligation to educate me.

RationalMadman
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@Castin
Wrong. Airmax can do many executive things to you ban-wise and account-limitation-wise but he can't access enough for backend admin stuff.
Castin
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I was told he had moderator power but no administrative/executive power.
ethang5
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@DebateArt.com
While I am glad we finally have mods, I am disappointed in bsh1. Not that he isn't an intelligent fair person, but because he was too much an AirMax man. All indications are that he will be just as much of a non-mod as AirMax was.

For example, I don't think he would have banned Z, Willows, Lunatic or hari the way Mike did. Basically, we have AirMax in all but every thing but the name. And that is the first step to sharing DDO's history.

With Mike knowing all this and still making him top mod does not fill me with faith. Let me be clear, I don't dislike bsh1, or think he will be deliberately unconcerned, he just is an apprentice of AirMax and sees AirMax's ennui as the proper way to mod. That is how he was thought.

Ok, now that I've alienated both mods, I will give bsh1 a chance. Clean slate and all that.

I hope both mods much success and little drama.
Castin
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@ethang5
Mods never get little drama! Mwahahaha! We'll never let you rest, coppers! Welcome to Arkham!
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@Greyparrot
Lol
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@Castin
Moderation on DDO was always laissez-faire, I thought. There were times when the mod response was more or less severe, but I think it averaged out. It's hard to describe a mod style, tbh. Maybe someone else can do a better job at explaining it to you than I can.
drafterman
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The primary issue with moderation on DDO was there was no accountability. And this was Juggle's fault. They basically gave airmax a single rein, and let him do whatever he want so long (presumably) as he didn't break the site or the law. They held on to the other rein, but simply tied it to a tree and went to take a nap.

As a result, some mods got a little too comfortable with their moderating powers, since they had no higher direction nor oversight. This did result in some level of minor abuse. 

That really doesn't apply here. Mike is here, active, and has full control over the site. He has a vested interest in maintaining its integrity and, rather than simply tossing responsibility to someone else because he doesn't want to deal with it like Juggle did, he is simply enlisting volunteer help. This means we are likely to avoid the issues of DDO's moderatorship, regardless of whoever the specific mod is.
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@bsh1
Moderation on DDO was always laissez-faire, I thought. There were times when the mod response was more or less severe, but I think it averaged out. It's hard to describe a mod style, tbh. Maybe someone else can do a better job at explaining it to you than I can.
I can understand the difficulty. Wish I'd just seen for myself what it looked like when airmax stepped in.

Pursuant to eth's post, would you have banned Zarroette/Analgesic, vagabond, Willows, or Harikrish?

Also, what do you think of threads that are personally calling out a certain member or members? In a negative light, of course. I think call-out threads are trouble.

bsh1
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@Castin
Moderation is currently just getting started and will need to review reports to begin making determinations. Bans, except in exceptional circumstances, should not come about overnight.

I will not comment on specific previous bans made by the site ownership, partly because I am not up-to-date on all the specifics and justifications for the ban, and partly because those bans preceded any official site conduct policy (which should be up soon).

Call out threads are trouble. I have already reached out to a member about them, and will continue to discourage their use and to take action where appropriate. 
DebateArt.com
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@bsh1
I will not comment on specific previous bans made by the site ownership, partly because I am not up-to-date on all the specifics and justifications for the ban, and partly because those bans preceded any official site conduct policy (which should be up soon).
It's already in the footer, pushed it there a few hours ago. 


bsh1
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@DebateArt.com
Awesome. Thanks!
Smithereens
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two good mods, very nice.

I think the laissez-faire moderation style is important because most disputes between members can reasonably be resolved by the members in question. If you start policing interactions too heavily you just foster the perception of blatant power abuse and everyone loses faith in the system. Ethang is most definitely wrong on this matter because the majority of the members he wanted banned on DDO were just people he disagreed with, with exceptions like hari who were clearly messed up in the head. 
Vaarka
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Can I say the n word?
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@Smithereens
There is a problem with too laissez-faire moderation in the sense that it can spiral out of control. Simply put, no power structure remains stagnant. It will necessarily drift in some direction. In DDO, it drifted in the direction of being too hands off. Then we end up with things like the Weekly Stupid and the Drama Farm that was allowed because of high production values, the laffs, and the seemingly untouchable nature of the members involved. None of those should be factors in determining acceptable behavior.

When you have certain members getting away with stuff because they happen to be charming on camera, people will lose faith in the system anyway. In order to have faith in a system, it must actually do something to begin with.

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@drafterman
a moderator should have no further role than enforcing the ToS, just like police have no further role than enforcing the law. We had an agreed upon system of shared norms that for a time allowed members to directly attack other members. That was changed and the changes were enforced by Airmax. From then on Drama.org died permanently and was never seen or heard from again. 

The mod should not be the one who determines what the ToS is, that needs to be a standard of shared norms. If we all agree that ad hominems are not allowed, then that is what defines what the mod does. Drama.org lasted for so long because that is what a lot of members wanted from DDO. Airmax was actually proactive in making the changes that caused imabench to make that 'im leaving ddo because of the stupid rules' thread several years back.