I have noticed that with every group of mods there are always users who complain about how strict and unfair they are, about how they don't allow any room for fun. It's not just now; I've been here long enough to see it happen with every mod group. I'm making this post today to try to (1) explain to you why they are "so strict" and (2) inform you on how some of the banning and moding actually works behind the scenes.

Why they are "so strict"

   Davideo7 is too busy to mod the board and chat and RGR. He is constantly working on improving the site, and making run smoothly to be the best site in the world. And so, the creator of the board, the one who runs and owns it has made a set of rules and regulations. He also has decided how mods should act, and then carefully chooses users that he thinks will work best in that role. It is then their responsibility to make sure the board runs the way its owner expects it to. And so, to the best their ability, they enforce the rules.

How do mods mod

   If only users in general knew how seriously Mods take their responsibility to mod! They are constantly faced with very tough judgment calls: how to follow the rules, but still be fair in dealing with users. How to be strict, yet kind. How to make sure the users of vizzed have a great spot to talk, while removing those who might upset the family friendly environment.

    I honestly and truly mean this: mods wholeheartedly try to judge every situation fairly. I give you my word.

    Something many users seem to think is that ONE mod can punish or ban them... that is so far from the truth. Let me explain how this works.

    Every time a decision is made on how to treat a user who has potentially broken a rule, there is a discussion thread opened to local and global mods where proof has to be posted (direct link, or screenshot) of what happened. This discussion usually continues for at least a day or two, and then when all the mods who wanted to share their opinions have reached some sort of consensus, one of them will follow through with the action; it is against the rules for a mod to ban a user without first having a thread discussing it and making sure the other mods are not against it. So never ever think a SPECIFIC mod punishes a user, they are 100% a team.

    In these discussion threads, mods will discuss and discuss (sometimes pages long) to try to find the best and fairest action. I mean this: the mods do NOT get joy out of warning or banning users.

TO ALL USERS WHO THINK MODS DON'T ALLOW FUN

    If mods can't report a user without proof, does it make sense that a user can accuse mods of being killjoys without proof? If you really think a mod was unfair in his/her actions and was a "killjoy" PM a global with a link/screenshot. We will discuss it, and get to you with why that action was needed, and if it wasn't fair we will discuss it with the whole team to make sure it doesn't happen again.

    Mods honestly enjoy chatting and posting like all users, they want to be friendly with everyone, and just want vizzed to be an awesome place... they are just like you, and are there to help.


PS I know this thread will likely result in insults of some kind, but I am trusting vizzed that it won't.

Lighyt Knight: Lol you summoned PS. All jokes aside, I agree with this completely.

I'm with you the whole way Light! I hope the users can try to understand, something now instead being quick to judge. Mods are only doing their jobs, and being fair and square as well. If the users who are judging, take the time to know mods properly. Then they wouldn't *COMPLAIN* so much. Users please heed what Light has said here. To make it friendly on vizzed instead of causing trouble, for no reason. Heres something you should take on board *Help mods to help you* its as simple as that. Do that, and I guarantee that everything will be smooth and fair for you. ^-^

*claps*

This is one of the best threads I've seen. 


Many users do think that the mods act on there own. 


Do mods have a discussion about taking members TP before doing so?

Honestly, I think the ones who really complain are the ones who don't like having to keep their comments family friendly, cut and dry.

bombchu link : Mods view taking or giving TP like other users do... it's their personal choice. Mods are never "forced" into removing TP, if they don't trust a user, they will remove the TP that they can remove. Like users, each mod can only effect TP a little, taking 2 or 3 TP maximum.

Light Knight : I have to agree with yo 100%, the reason why, if you look at it, the mods are like a normal member on here, wants to be friendly with a lot of users on here and try to do their best to make the site really friendly and not let things go out of control, I think to my personal opinion, they probability overreacting on how the mods are functioning, at least to my point of view, I really don't see an issue with all the mods on here or any other sites, mods ain't just keeping the site from loosing control. they also want to have fun like everyone else.
Great point you have make LK, really good point.

I think I'm the only exception to the rule of mods being able to act without consensus. I very rarely do this though because I don't want to be the tyrannical admin who does anything around here.


I still don't think the people who really need to see this will see it but at least it is here.

Light Knight, thanks for posting this. As a user who has been here off and on for a little while and been close friends with a couple mods, this is still information that I either did not know or had forgotten. You make some really good points here.

I would like to make a couple points from the other side of this, though.?I don't claim at all to be a sinless user (mods know I'm not<3), and I've definitely been guilty about griping about mods with little provocation. But a couple things deserve to be said.

Light Knight : "If mods can't report a user without proof, does it make sense that a user can accuse mods of being killjoys without proof?"

It would partly depend on how you define "accuse." If you are talking about what a user says to a moderator's face, then as a matter of courtesy, it doesn't make sense for that user to flame a mod without cause. Or, really, at all. I'm not saying I haven't done it. But as a matter of principle, your example seems to me a difference between justice and free speech. It encourages justice for individual moderators to have to form their decisions by group consensus. It does not encourage free speech, or, I believe, justice, for members to be *required* to provide proof when they accuse a mod. And I'm not really saying that you were suggesting a requirement, but it did come across as close to that line.

I know that David is under little obligation to enforce free speech on his site, but it nevertheless seems like a good idea to encourage people to be able to speak freely about authority, and of course, the site in general. Free speech *usually* looks really ugly in practice. But that doesn't change me thinking it's important to let users have their say, even without proof in hand - all this to a fair extent.

rcarter2: "Honestly, I think the ones who really complain are the ones who don't like having to keep their comments family friendly, cut and dry."

I speak as a user who really complains about the mods. A lot of my complaints may be unwarranted. But some of them relate not to the decisions that are discussed in the forums, but to threats that made little sense. The clearest example I remember was a comment about how a discussion was an argument and it should stop. I have no desire to report these events, as they happened a while ago, and I don't share an example to tell anyone off so much as to point out that maybe some of the complaints aren't really about being family friendly.

I kind of want to apologize for how long this post became. It looks a whole lot more like a rant than I mean it to with this wall of text. :V I'm just really not that good at brevity when I have any kind of point to make. Oh well.

CatLady : You make some good points.

About my statement: "If mods can't report a user without proof, does it make sense that a user can accuse mods of being killjoys without proof?"

Obviously if a mod is being "to strict" then a user can certainly say it to their face, as that mod knows exactly what it is they said (but perhaps not how it was perceived). In fact a user can say as much as they want that mods suck (no flaming though), we can't stop that... as is evident by the fact that some users have been doing it for years. The point I was getting at with this was two fold.

First, right after that statement I spoke about PMing the globals, in the same paragraph. So the primary reason I said you should have "proof" is because I want users who feel the mods are unfair to have the ability to have their complaints taken seriously by the global+ and perhaps actually have something done about what has happened. A user is allowed to be upset and unhappy with the mods all they want, but if they want to actually change that, they should PM the globals with proof. That is what I was getting at, essentially.

Second, though less important, I think that having proof to back up your complaints is simply more "fair". I can't, nor would I want to, make this a rule. But I (and this is a personal opinion) dislike when individuals in general accuse and complain about people when they can't back it up at all; I feel it's rude and not fair to those being accused. I state again, people are allowed to do so, and my statement in question was not a rule or even a request, but a rhetorical question that would hopefully get people to think about how they go about speaking negativity about others, specifically the mods.

I am relieved at reading your post, because I was under the impression most users were just reading the fist paragraph before committing to agreement.

Light Knight : Yeah, I think we're in agreement on this. For my part, I'll try and be a bit more sensible with my complaints.

Also, on the post thing, one thing you can actually count on me to do - if I'm going to respond to a thread, I will read everything in it.

CatLady : CatLazy, I honestly have never found you to be those who pointlessly complain about the mods... maybe I just didn't notice.

Light Knight : Or weren't around at the right times.

About time someone Clarified this for a ton of Newbies and users: Now Don't get me wrong, mods aren't that harsh, but I get the feeling that whenever a newbie is around a mod and they feel like there being followed too much, because of how strict they might be, can usually give a user or newbie a bad/wrong Impression of a local. I've known this when I've visited the chat rooms the first time, and got kicked out by a former local. 

Keep it up with these post, they really help!. 

When I was a Newbie (which actually wasn't that long ago), I was scared of and intimidated by the Globals (except GuardianZack). I always felt that they were strict and mean. However, I started to realize that they are actually just doing their job. They need to be firm about, and I am sure are tired of having to deal with Newbies making the same mistake over and over again. I like all of the Globals now. I have gotten to know them a little bit and they are all pretty nice. So I think this thread is great. Everyone should see this, that we they don't dislike the mods because they are doing their job.

tgags123 : That has been the same way with me, when I first came onto Vizzed, I was thinking the Locals+ on here were a little strick and all, but really, they did what any other mods do, just do what needs to be done, and some Locals+ at first, I though they were a little mean, but later on the site, they were pretty nice and friendly, and like you said Tgags, they get a little annoyed by the newbies sometime by saying the same thing over and over again.
I can say that, since I have became a mod, I have been taking care of some spammy posts and stuff like that.


Just a little note to you newbies that reads this, don't be afraid of the staff, just read the rules at the beginning, you'll be in good shape and have nothing to worry about

I am glad you clarified, some people don't understand and I am glad that you cleared up any kind of confusion that anyone might've had. You guys do work as a team and you try to see all sides of the situation and make a fair judgement. You work as efficiently and fairly as a team. You guys run a tight ship around here, so you have to be strict to a degree to enforce that, but at the same time you are friendly and a big part of this community. 

So I am glad you make this thread and clarified how mods really work and function in a fair manner. Hopefully people will see the mods in a different light. Nice job light knight! I am sure people will understand! 

Good to see that you clarified the many point-outs of crying for some users. You pretty much hit the nail on the hammer on the No Fun/How2Mod/LolNoFun criteria.

Btw, nice summon on PS.

pacman1755 : Obviously he needed to hear it. I mean, can't you tell he's one of the biggest offenders? :p

(for the record, he hasn't logged in in 4 years)

I can't express my satisfaction at reading your post, LK. Hit the nail right on the head.

I really liked how stupid some users got, especially this one.
It's nice to know I was really loved back then.