m(g)od complex

[Maverick215]

I feel it is far past time for someone to say something about mods who in my oppinion are bringing down the quality of this forum...
I offer to you exhibit A
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=40&threadid=198907
here we see a moderator who is locking a forum and banning!? a user for being "an ethical dwarf" perhaps it is just me, but I for one don't remember the possibility of being banned for habing poor ethics within the rules of the forum. Is this to suggest that perhaps those that cheat on their taxes will soon be banned, or anyone who has ever sworn, or had sex out of wedlock? See also at the bottom of this link where the mod banned the user for little more than stating the obvious. Time and again I have seen other obvious abuse of "power" by moderators, this example is but a sample of that.
Additionally:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=40&threadid=200351
As you see here the moderator calls a user a POS, that seems to be quite professional to me. I can only imagine how quick my åss would be fired if I told a customer he is a "lying Piece of Shït"

For these problems I offer the following solution to the moderators:
If you wish to run a professional forum then do so in a professional manner. For starters having a mod to post his nickname to his decision would be a major step in cutting back such obvious attempts to show just how much "power" the mod has. This idea of posting a name is not new and is actually quite tried and trued in the quality control field, when someone puts thier name on something you know they mean it. Might I suggest doing something similar before the quality of this forum becomes moot as will any sense of control your mods have over it as they will have no one (far fewer) to moderate.

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Although I don't agree on the language the mod used, they do have quite a few forums and quite a lot of threads to wade through daily - they don't have time or the patience to take everyone's crap. If I was a mod I might use more choice words but I'd police the forums the way they're being policed now.

 

[konichiwa]

<<AnandTech Forums reserves the right to edit or delete any message for any reason whatsoever, at our sole discretion. >>

 

[Russ]

Gee, another whiner. Next, he'll threaten to leave.



<< For starters having a mod to post his nickname to his decision >>



This from a guy who hides his profile.

Russ, NCNE

 

[compuwiz1]

Yep, a Keyboard Koward.

 

[Maverick215]

Hmm perhaps you guys are right, I mean maybe if I was half as 31337 as you (l)users then maybe I could make a difference...
and to konichiwa for so poignantly copying and pasting the following:
<<AnandTech Forums reserves the right to edit or delete any message for any reason whatsoever, at our sole discretion>>
however upon closer examination of this statement I see that it has ABSOLUTELY no bearing what so ever on my statement. And to those that want to think that I'm a &quot;Keyboard Koward&quot; perhaps you should question the mods as I offered a similar message to them via e-mail a few short days ago, do you really think I care if you 31337 (l)users know what my personal info is? Why would I bother posting this information when the mods have it already and I have no desire to be contacted in any of the personal channels by you?
I was offering a suggestion to the mods for the betterment of this forum, if you 31337 (l)users can't see that then you certainly need a reality check.....
I thank you Russ and compuwiz1 for not cluttering my topic any further.

 

[Ladi]

I'd say that often, mods read enough forums to get a sense of a person beyond the one post they comment on end up banning a member. It's one of those cases where it becomes 'don't talk about what you don't know about.'

Also, mods are *volunteers* so let's not bring job standards into this. These are web boards, not a business.

BTW, konichiwa's statement, as usual, does have bearing on what you're bitching about: anandtech has clearly stated that they can basically do as they please with posts. In fact, I think it's fairly nice that they make moderator comments OBVIOUS additions to posts, not just random editing, which they could probably do just as easily.

If you don't like the way the forums are being run, feel free to leave...I'm sure you won't be missed

~Ladi

 

[office boy]

<< These are web boards, not a business >>


So no one is making any money from the banners that (according to zuni) 600 people (on average) are viewing on these boards 24/7?

I'd have to say you were wrong and this is a business, we pay the fee of seeing banners, and Anand collects that fee.

 

[Duckers]

You are posting from the State University of New York at Buffalo. If you return again, we will contact your school administration and file a formal complaint about you.

About one of their students ?

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Maverick - if you dont like it then leave - no ones making you stay here - done deal.

 

[Killbat]

Anandtech owns the servers, the license to the software, the Internet connection, blah, blah, blah. They can do whatever the hell they please. If they so desire, they can ban half of the users at random and put up porn everywhere. You no like? GO AWAY!

 

[Maverick215]

reply to &quot;ladi&quot; and &quot;ragingbitch&quot;
Are you two (I'm going to assume here) women so brow beaten that you think you must bow down and kiss the mod's feet? As I have stated before, I have no intention of leaving. I mearly offered a solution to a problem that I saw, if you don't like my solution then please feel free to crawl back under your rock... you won't be missed.
Additionally &quot;ladi&quot; konichiwa's statement had NO bearing, marginal bearing at best. There is NO rule or regulation that I could find that stated that a user could be banned/humiliated/defamated at any time by a moderator. HOWEVER I must state the obvious here because those among you who are so holy that think your $hit doesn't stink and aparently you think neither does the m(g)ods, because you raise the m(g)ods above the users of these forums...
I now present a section of the rules and regulations that DO pertain to my gripes...
You agree that you will not use our forums to post any material, or links to any material, which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violative of any law.
ESPECIALLY note the defamatory, and the threatening, and perhaps even the invasion of person's privacy.

defamatory: consider lying Piece of $h&iuml;t and additionally the phrase describing the user as an ethical dwarf
defamation of character is a quite popular law suit.

Threatening: consider &quot;If you return again, we will contact your school administration and file a formal complaint about you.&quot; that certainly sounds like a threat to me.

Invasion of Privacy: The posting stating &quot;You are posting from the State University of New York at Buffalo&quot; broadcasting such private information as to where you are at, certaing seems like it's invading of privacy.

Look at the big picture here.. these examples are just the tip of the iceburg, don't look at this as a man who is saying &quot;damn the man&quot; look at me as the steady crew hand trying to save his sinking ship.

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Well when its time to man the lifeboats I'll be the last one off...

They were hired by Anandtech to do a job. If Anandtech (Zuni or any of the other owners) don't like how the mods are doing their jobs then they would have replaced their @$$e$ by now.

And notice you and like one other person are the only people complaining - are they going to make massive changes because one feels the need to bitch and moan about how one does his/her job? Hell no. There are like 30,000 Anandtech members and only one is complaining.

Like stated above, its Zuni and everyone else's site. If they dont like the mods attitudes and behaviors they'll make the changes. Do you really think if Zuni thought this was inappropriate that he would have made some changes by now?

And notice the mods and Zuni himself haven't bothered to post in here because quite frankly if they really cared or were offended they would have spoken up by now.

 

[office boy]

wow RagingBITCH, you name really does describe you, I thought the mod were volunteers not &quot;hired by Anandtech to do a job', and also FYI Zuni is not an owner, He is the Software Developer...

 

[Ladi]

Leave the fscking woman-bashing out of here.

~Ladi

 

[AnandTech Administrator]

<< I have no intention of leaving >>



Maverick215,

If I were you, I wouldn't count on it. You're about one more nasty comment away from having that decision made for you.

Admin

 

[Terp]

Does Anand make mods where jackboots and brown shirts when they are &quot;on duty?&quot;

I quit probing the hot deals due to the excessive locking and double-standards of mods; however, I'll visit the board only when I have a question or checking for information, etc...lots of &quot;hot deal&quot; forums out there with coupon codes and the like....no since wasting time here.

 

[Dantoo]

Maverick

I'll be nice to you. As AT has grown over the last couple of years it has had to reinvent itself a couple of times. Evolution from the home pages of a teenage hobbyist to one of the most celebrated Computer hardware sites in the world hasn't happened without an occasional pain. &quot;Wholesome family values&quot; have remained remained the operating credo since day one.

From time to time the envelope gets a bit stretched. A few members at odd times have demanded their &quot;right&quot; to post their view, in their own language and as often as they see fit. Problem is, that offends a lot of other people. The Moderators all care very much about this forum and they wouldn't give up the time and effort they do unless they did. Their job is like that of a Goalkeeper. They work hard keeping everything in line and there isn't a word of thanks from anybody, &quot;after all they're just doing their job&quot;. If they err, even in the sligtest, there is a flurry of soapbox erection and storms of complaint. AT forums have had spates of complaints about Mods and their actions from time to time, generally unjustly.

By the time the dust settles, everybody feels a bit low and quite heartily sick of it. Nobody wants to go through it again. These days, anybody posting as you have done, is likely to get the hackles raised and bring on themselves a severe chastising. Sarcasm, abuse, etc. is handed out, perhaps over-generously, as people try to nip it in the bud.

If you see a case of what seems to be a Moderator &quot;beating up on someone&quot;, let it go. The reality of what is happening is usually very different to how it appears. There are con-artists in the world that will try to spam the forums with their advertising/smut. They often register under multiple names and plead innocence on being pulled up. Some of them then rant and make personal threats, quite sickening really. I'm pretty sure nobody ever got body slammed for a genuine newbie slip-up.

If a Mod seems to be reacting harshly - let it go. There is surely (yes unknown to us) a review of Mod performance. I do recall reading a post from a long term member claiming something like, &quot;they'll never let me be a Moderator again&quot;. :Q

Maverick, this is a great site.


<SRsr>By the way, have you ever thought about distributed computing?
</Shamless Russ style recruit>

 

[Maverick215]

I'm sure that most of you have already formed an oppinion about me and quite likely about the m(g)ods and their respective decisions. Unfortunately it seems that none of you care, even the Administrator that the mods broke three of the &quot;rules and regulations&quot; of this forum. I feel it is only out of complete disrespect to the forum users intelligence that the mods so blatently violate these rules. I feel that it is quite out of place to make such blatent mistakes ESPECIALLY since they are scolding/evicting a user for the breaking of said rules and regulations. It is truly a travisty that the m(g)ods cannot stand by, accept and follow the rules that are set for the users of this forum which the m(g)ods are in place to uphold. I quite liken such displays as to a Policeman that shoplifts.

To the Administrator: (as this seems my only mode of contact to you after my e-mail seemed to go unnoticed)

I started this thread to expose what I thought was a major overlooking in the department of m(g)od control, I felt that certain mods were being overtly rude and self riteous in their decisions.
I followed this with a simple solution: being that there should be some type of identifier for the m(g)ods, a letter a number, a name, it doesn't matter. I just feel it would be far easier to complain about something if you know who to complain to or about... QC people have numbers, you know the guy that checks your shirt to make sure that it has all the seams in the right place? I was meerly proposing a similar system of checks and balances.
UNLIKE what RagingBitch suggests I am not looking for the forums &quot;..... to make massive changes because one feels the need to bitch and moan....&quot; I do not feel that some type of identifying mark is too much to ask for, besides it was a suggestion not a threat, if you viewed it as a threat then I think you and I both know why.
As for the &quot;... nasty comments ...&quot; if you are refering to my explicative use, then I most whole heartedly appologize to all who I offended. If you are refering to the comments I made about the mods, then I think you need only look at the posts which I refered in order to see that I meerly expanded upon the evidence that was present, so I stand by my statements, if your forums cannot withstand my attempt at constructive criticism then you truly are in for rough times ahead, or perhaps not since if your forums and the execution of said forums are/is perfect and in no need of change what-so-ever then perhaps you will be just fine.
Good luck to all,
Maverick

 

[kabelogo]

Hey maverick, did you skip this section in the rules and regulations?

&quot;In the event of any complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by you, AnandTech Forums reserves the right to reveal your identity and any other information we may know about you.&quot;


Hmmm? That about covers it. Maverick, just because either

a. that was you that got called a POS,
or
b. your jealous your not a mod.

You need to give it up. These are their forums, and they may do as they wish, esp. with posted policy that you agreed to stated so obviously crystal clear.

 

[narzy]

mavric:



<< ...your in for some rough times ahead >>



not anytime soon with over a 20.000 user database you need to cool you jets fallow the rules and move on, the mods work their ass off for us to keep these boards clean and if you have nothing better to do then dog on them you need to exit stage left. I feel that you will not be a member of these boards much longer on the path that you have choosen to fallow. good day sir.

 

[Maverick215]

short answers (as my long ones seem wasted)
to kabelogo:
you need only actually read my posts and the topics to which I refered to easily see that
a)it wasn't me that got called a POS
b)I have no desire to become a part of something that is more corrupt than my 10 year old hard drive.

to narzy:
What rules am I breaking? I've said it before and I will say it again. Mods are here to enforce the rules, if they aren't following the rules then something is wrong, either the mods need to change or the rules need to, I offered a way for users to keep track of the mods so that they know who to complain about/to. I meerly used the posts to expound upon two recent and obvious m(g)ods that were, in my opinion, out of line.

So to narzy and all the others that feel I'm dogging on the mods.. I posted those as examples of a problem that I feel could be solved through the means that I posted, if you didn't get that out of it perhaps I dwelled too much on the mods in question or perhaps you didn't really read what I wrote but rather made a presumption that I am just a low life or something.

Maverick

 

[narzy]

I did read what you posted and the mod posts in question, and what I saw was a tired mod doing his job, the memebers that were is question and punished from what understand by looking at their posts have been trouble, and the mods got sick of it.

as I said befor they work their ass off to keep these boards clean, and they do one heck of a job at it, so yes they are going to slip, and no they do not need crap from members who dwell on what the mods did here and what the mods did there, rather they need to just be supportive of our mods and the job that they do for our benifit.

 

[Maverick215]

I don't see it as a slip, the mods are here to enforce rules and to make decisions. They should be setting an example, especially for new members. As &quot;leaders&quot; mods should be &quot;better&quot; than the rest of the users. If I were tired and and made a &quot;slip&quot; and called you a POS would you think I was just tired? I'm sorry but I am tired, tired of people like you that make excuses for mods, if the excuses are warranted then it is up to them to give it.
narzy I have no intention of dwelling, these are RECENT events, I have seen things in the past that were similar to what I have discussed.
I only used the threads I listed to make a few points:
1)there is room for improvement
2)I feel this is important
3)I think that giving the mods an identifier would make them more cognizant of their actions (tired or not)

if you think any of the above is false then please do discuss this, I apologize for not making this more clear earlier

Maverick

---

I was not tired, and it was not a slip. I called MisVudoo a lying POS for posting, &quot;Hi I'm new here and this is my first post =)&quot; and posting a prohibited link with a prohibited pay-for-referral code. I had previously banned this person for posting the same link, with the same referral code under the name Mistervoo. I consider that person a lying POS.

I also posted, &quot;If you return again, we will contact your school administration and file a formal complaint about you.&quot; If you think that is a threat, congratulations on the depth of you perception. It was intended as a threat to ask the school authorities to enforce their own rules against abusive use of the school's computer net. We don't want this person returning, and if he/she continues to abuse our forums, it would not be the first time we have called a school administration to deal with their problem child.

In the other post to which you refer, the term &quot;ethical dwarf&quot; referred to a person who had started a thread to boast that he had no intention of returning ill-gotten goods. I think the the term is appropriate.

I don't see a problem here.

AnandTech Moderator

 

[narzy]

I am sorry that you feel that I am making excuses for the mods, because I am not, and I giving reason why they might act in the manner that they have. will an Identifier help? I dont really think so because every ban would be in question, they already have an identifier anyhow they are tagged by the software there IP is tracked and time stamped, so if there is any question on how one of the mods acted in a case all Zuni or anand have to do is look into the logs and identify them.

Slip ups do happen for every slip a mod makes I would avrage they ban 100 ppl with no question from other members.

example of a slip: on the phone at work one person was being a real gerk I had 3 hrs of sleep the night before and was very eritable, I tould the person that they were being a real peice of work not quite in that manner once I relized I had made a mistake I transfered the person to someone else.

give out mods a break.