The Mod Problem - Revisted

[Le Chat Nécro]

*beleaguered sigh*

Another month, another troll, and it's always the same.

I first brought this up back in May, where I was told that "they're working on things behind the scenes first".

Then I revived that thread again in early July due to extensive trolling on the site. There was no response.

Later that month, Dragoneer told us that he was just finishing up an audit and after that people would be brought in.

It has been 65 days since the audit was supposed to end.

And here we are. Not drowning in troll posts, praise be, but still seeing users ignoring the rules and running amok. Alts who own up to being alts, confessing to being a banned member, and yet have still been kicking around for a day and a half with no mod response what so ever. Like, they are still here and their account is still active.

I try to stay out of political shit. I'm not here to debate whether the person in question should have been banned or what not and I don't want that to spill into this thread. HOWEVER, it is INCREDIBLY CONCERNING to me that an admitted alt account used to dodge a ban cannot be dealt with for this long. You can't tell me no one reported him.

I know that MewTwo and Dragoneer cannot be expected to be on 24/7 to watch us. They have lives just like everyone else. But that is why WE. NEED. MORE. MODS.


@Dragoneer What is the plan? Cause "we're working on it" is getting pretty stale and is feeling like a giant, pulsating lie. What, in no uncertain terms, is the timeline for getting more people? How are you working towards fixing this?

 

[Deleted member 82554]

Bribe 'neer with some high quality porn, we'll have new and competent mods in no time.

 

[FormerUser]

*beleaguered sigh*
...........
@Dragoneer What is the plan? Cause "we're working on it" is getting pretty stale and is feeling like a giant, pulsating lie. What, in no uncertain terms, is the timeline for getting more people? How are you working towards fixing this?

Ok, so let me confess to something, i'm a former user of the site (I know, imaginative username right?) and I have been around for over a decade.
This is nothing new to FA, site staff, forum staff are all promised but fail to materialise, or they leave. Why? because the staff that remain cannot get their shit in one sock and deal with it.
Phoenix (FA's rewrite has stalled again, Like Ferrox and all the other ones before it)

Sa much as I want to believe dragoneer has the community at heart, it fails to show in my book,.

 

[Massan Otter]

I've said this before, but it looks more and more like planned obsolescence. I don't think they have an interest in investing any more time and resources in the forums, rather it looks as if they're letting them slide until they can close them without anyone much missing them.

 

[WarriorWhispers]

*beleaguered sigh*

Another month, another troll, and it's always the same.

I first brought this up back in May, where I was told that "they're working on things behind the scenes first".

Then I revived that thread again in early July due to extensive trolling on the site. There was no response.

Later that month, Dragoneer told us that he was just finishing up an audit and after that people would be brought in.

It has been 65 days since the audit was supposed to end.

And here we are. Not drowning in troll posts, praise be, but still seeing users ignoring the rules and running amok. Alts who own up to being alts, confessing to being a banned member, and yet have still been kicking around for a day and a half with no mod response what so ever. Like, they are still here and their account is still active.

I try to stay out of political shit. I'm not here to debate whether the person in question should have been banned or what not and I don't want that to spill into this thread. HOWEVER, it is INCREDIBLY CONCERNING to me that an admitted alt account used to dodge a ban cannot be dealt with for this long. You can't tell me no one reported him.

I know that MewTwo and Dragoneer cannot be expected to be on 24/7 to watch us. They have lives just like everyone else. But that is why WE. NEED. MORE. MODS.


@Dragoneer What is the plan? Cause "we're working on it" is getting pretty stale and is feeling like a giant, pulsating lie. What, in no uncertain terms, is the timeline for getting more people? How are you working towards fixing this?

It’s quite sad...
I stick to mostly Forum Games and Art section, because as soon as something gains popularity within th forum, somehow it turns into politics it seems like.

MewTwo seems to handle a decent amount of reports when on, but it really isn’t enough.

With a forum for a fandom that’s so based on community, it’s weird that it’s not allowing open applications for moderation. Several boards I’ve been on(and even moderated) were much bigger and more active than this one, and simply used volunteers within the forum.

I would love to see this board do better, and be more moderated. It could be a really fun place, but even with only having been here a short time, I feel mostly locked in one area and wouldn’t show this place to other people as a means to help/get them to join the fandom.

 

[1234554321]

''Trolls'' exist only because they're given attention, sort of like the Streisand effect. Block them if you don't wanna have to deal with them. Anyway, the definition of the word depends on who you ask. To some a troll is anyone who they don't like so they make them pass as if they're breaking the rules, pinning false claims upon them to have them banned out of a personal grudge. No idea if that's the case here but it's something worth keeping into consideration nonetheless. That's all I have to say on the matter.

 

[KimberVaile]

I agree. Dragoneer has said alot of things, but has done little. As to why it is that way, I wouldn't know, but it's at the point where it almost wouldn't ever matter too much to me who the mod was, as long as somebody was around to try and instill order onto the forums. I've come very close to just giving up on this place in light of recent events. It almost seems like a lost cause now.

 

[Massan Otter]

''Trolls'' exist only because they're given attention, sort of like the Streisand effect. Block them if you don't wanna have to deal with them. Anyway, the definition of the word depends on who you ask. To some a troll is anyone who they don't like so they make them pass as if they're breaking the rules, pinning false claims upon them to have them banned out of a personal grudge. No idea if that's the case here but it's something worth keeping into consideration nonetheless. That's all I have to say on the matter.

The report and block approach works if (and only if) there is a mod around to respond to reports. In the absence of effective moderation, many of us feel the need to respond to objectionable views that are expressed, because otherwise it is not at all obvious that those views are not welcome.

 

[Infrarednexus]

Many people here choose to stick to the game and art threads because that's the only place that's usually free of problems. It's mainly general and community discussion that have the chaotic threads. They often derail and turn ugly really fast. I've also seen many users come back as alts to either avoid bans, troll, or continue harassing certain users. A few extra mods could solve all of these issues.

I was told in a thread I made by Mew that they were working on hiring more members, but that was months ago. I know he's only human, and that he can only do so much by himself, but he needs to realize that this place is loosing good members, who are leaving in favor of Discord and other social platforms.

EDIT: I personally think the OP would be a good candidate for a moderator, if Dragoneer ever considers hiring people who use the forums.

 

[CertifiedCervine]

90% of the drama here could be avoided, if we had more mods. We’d still have this place, and in turn, the company running the site would still have traffic revenue.

EDIT: I’ve met some really cool people in the time that I’ve been here, and it would be sad to see the site go. Adding mods can, and will lengthen the sites lifespan

I understand that it takes time, and the they are only human, but something needs to be done.

 

[Alondight]

Development here as always been going in a very, very sluggish pace.. How long have we been waiting for the FA blacklist feature yet?

 

[Le Chat Nécro]

Sa much as I want to believe dragoneer has the community at heart, it fails to show in my book,.

I'm starting to feel much the same way, but if I do not at least try to do something... that feels wrong to me. If we do something and nothing changes, that's on him. If we do nothing and nothing changes, that's on us.

I've said this before, but it looks more and more like planned obsolescence. I don't think they have an interest in investing any more time and resources in the forums, rather it looks as if they're letting them slide until they can close them without anyone much missing them.

I hate that this is a real possibility.

It’s quite sad...
I stick to mostly Forum Games and Art section, because as soon as something gains popularity within th forum, somehow it turns into politics it seems like.

MewTwo seems to handle a decent amount of reports when on, but it really isn’t enough.

With a forum for a fandom that’s so based on community, it’s weird that it’s not allowing open applications for moderation. Several boards I’ve been on(and even moderated) were much bigger and more active than this one, and simply used volunteers within the forum.

I would love to see this board do better, and be more moderated. It could be a really fun place, but even with only having been here a short time, I feel mostly locked in one area and wouldn’t show this place to other people as a means to help/get them to join the fandom.

I do very much appreciate the work the MewTwo does for us. When he's around, he's usually pretty responsive and helpful. Even Dragoneer does a lot to keep things moderated the few times that he's around. But we can't expect them to be on all the time, and that's the real problem. Like, if MewTwo takes a vacation, we're SOL.

I've asked Dragoneer many times about community application links, but to no avail. On the one hand, I can see the desire to keep things in house. If you're just moving people from the main site over... that cuts out a lot of time reviewing applications, interviewing people, and training them on everything. But we're clearly not getting people moved over so... Yeah.

''Trolls'' exist only because they're given attention, sort of like the Streisand effect. Block them if you don't wanna have to deal with them. Anyway, the definition of the word depends on who you ask. To some a troll is anyone who they don't like so they make them pass as if they're breaking the rules, pinning false claims upon them to have them banned out of a personal grudge. No idea if that's the case here but it's something worth keeping into consideration nonetheless. That's all I have to say on the matter.

I think you're missing the point just a skosh.

If you want to discuss the definition of trolls or read up on whether the initial banning was just grudges at play, there's just the thread for you a few sub forums over. But the point here is that we need more mods. Period.

Like, imagine seeing someone breaking site rules, big ones at that that would typically get a user banned. And it's a super straightforward case, no ifs, ands, or buts about it, just straight up rule breaking. So you report them, and you know that many others have reported them as well. By all appearances, this should be pretty cut and dry. The facts are all there, it's easy to see, there's even a confession by the person in question. Even if the mods aren't currently online or have other things to deal with, it shouldn't take more than a couple of hours for this to be dealt with, yeah? It's not like there's much deliberation to be had. But time passes and nothing. In fact, it's been TWO DAYS since the incident and the user in question is still going strong.

That's a problem.

Yes, we can ignore them if we don't want to deal with them on a personal level, but that doesn't change the fact that what should be a rather simple solution has taken days so far due to lack of mods. Mods exist to help keep things running smoothly and take care of problems that arise. But since we have precisely one mod, problems tend to stick around much longer then they should. And ignoring only works so much. In this case, it's pretty easy to just avert your eyes from the issue. It's being self contained pretty well. But that troll raid I mentioned in the OP? That was a new member spamming the forums with posts about how much they loved the Nazis. That gets hard to ignore when every other thread is some gross Nazi clickbait. And even if you block them, if the posts don't get taken down, then the forums are still flooded with tripe that could turn away new members or validate negative outside perceptions of furries.

Like, I used trolls as an example because it's an easy go to and typically agreed to be a huge annoyance, but this is not so much about them as it is about our one mod's inability to deal with clear and present issues all by himself.

So yeah. More mods, please and thank you.

 

[Le Chat Nécro]

I agree. Dragoneer has said alot of things, but has done little. As to why it is that way, I wouldn't know, but it's at the point where it almost wouldn't ever matter too much to me who the mod was, as long as somebody was around to try and instill order onto the forums. I've come very close to just giving up on this place in light of recent events. It almost seems like a lost cause now.

I mean, I still care who it is cause I'm picky like that, but we do desperately need *someone*.
There's a lot that I can overlook, and a lot I can understand, but this is just getting ridiculous.

The report and block approach works if (and only if) there is a mod around to respond to reports. In the absence of effective moderation, many of us feel the need to respond to objectionable views that are expressed, because otherwise it is not at all obvious that those views are not welcome.

^this.
We can only ignore so much, a block only goes so far, and self-regulating is a stop-gap measure at best.

Many people here choose to stick to the game and art threads because that's the only place that's usually free of problems. It's mainly general and community discussion that have the chaotic threads. They often derail and turn ugly really fast. I've also seen many users come back as alts to either avoid bans, troll, or continue harassing certain users. A few extra mods could solve all of these issues.

I was told in a thread I made by Mew that they were working on hiring more members, but that was months ago. I know he's only human, and that he can only do so much by himself, but he needs to realize that this place is loosing good members, who are leaving in favor of Discord and other social platforms.

EDIT: I personally think the OP would be a good candidate for a moderator, if Dragoneer ever considers hiring people who use the forums.

Aw. Thank you for the vote of confidence. I would apply in a heartbeat if I could.

I'm really am very concerned that Massan is right and this is just the slowest death possible for our site. If there was a good alternative to FAF, I'd suggest up and leaving to there, but there's really no furry forums quite the same and Discord only works so well for so many people. It's not an option that can accommodate everyone and everything we'd want, no matter how hard we all try.

90% of the drama here could be avoided, if we had more mods. We’d still have this place, and in turn, the company running the site would still have traffic revenue.

EDIT: I’ve met some really cool people in the time that I’ve been here, and it would be sad to see the site go. Adding mods can, and will lengthen the sites lifespan

I understand that it takes time, and the they are only human, but something needs to be done.

I would definitely be more favorable about how long the process is taking if we hadn't been given the same line so many times and if the dates didn't keep getting pushed back every time. I have to hire people at my job, I know that it can take a super long time to get through it all. But if you tell me it'll be done by Friday... I'm gonna expect it to be done by Friday. Ya know?

 

[CertifiedCervine]

I mean, I still care who it is cause I'm picky like that, but we do desperately need *someone*.
There's a lot that I can overlook, and a lot I can understand, but this is just getting ridiculous.


^this.
We can only ignore so much, a block only goes so far, and self-regulating is a stop-gap measure at best.


Aw. Thank you for the vote of confidence. I would apply in a heartbeat if I could.

I'm really am very concerned that Massan is right and this is just the slowest death possible for our site. If there was a good alternative to FAF, I'd suggest up and leaving to there, but there's really no furry forums quite the same and Discord only works so well for so many people. It's not an option that can accommodate everyone and everything we'd want, no matter how hard we all try.


I would definitely be more favorable about how long the process is taking if we hadn't been given the same line so many times and if the dates didn't keep getting pushed back every time. I have to hire people at my job, I know that it can take a super long time to get through it all. But if you tell me it'll be done by Friday... I'm gonna expect it to be done by Friday. Ya know?

Perhaps this time in the forum’s life can serve as a lesson to dragoneer to hire new mods? It may be unlikely, but it would be nice to see it happen.

 

[SSJ3Mewtwo]

Closing this, because it's a rehash of an older issue.

This is a problem that is being addressed, but outside issues are making it difficult to address in a timely manner. It is, however, actively being worked on, just not at the pace which would be preferred.