You get a thread if you cause a lot of trouble, and/or if moderations are questioned.

I see a bit of myself in almost all of those types. I like to think that balances my madness to a level that is almost fair.

I was thinking the same thing, though from what I can tell you were more expressed in the autocrat/bureaucrat for when you were a HoN mod.

I'm a bureaucrat through and through. However, you can't always be a bureaucrat, because the rules don't cover everything. Man I love rules. I think it's good to have an autocrat/maverick as an administrator though. It's good to have a dictator who does something.

Of course the dumbest thing you can do is to piss off the mods. Generally you will be treated fairly/rationally unless you aggravate someone with power. Most of the people who are banned got banned on SEN through arguing with the staff. There's a few asking to be banned, posting porn, or causing mental anguish though.

I can agree with that.

Do admins count? IP, the Brown Envelope, wut?

Wow this has gone far off-topic.

But with you guys, I guess it's expected

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Mar 30 2011, 3:05 am by DevliN. Reason: I said not to ask. No.

Ugh I feel like I personify multiple traits, but none of them completely. I am a by-the-book Bureaucrat, but I don't always moderate minor issues. I do go on Madman moderation sprees, but usually in topics that get out of control. I'd like to be an Autocrat, but my punishments are not consistently harsh or anything, and I do listen to complaints. I can be Absentee when I become apathetic and busy with work (which has to be more important than SEN issues), but for the most part I contribute to our staff discussions (if I don't start them, that is), and still take care of forum reports. I wouldn't necessarily say that I'm a Brown Envelope, though I'm sure that assumption has been made before (though I have said int he past that I will ban or moderate anyone who needs to be despite my friendship with them). And I don't know if I've ever been a Maverick, really. I've had my interpretations of rules, but I almost always talk to the rest of the staff about it before I do anything (or if I even do anything).

SEN has too many mods and too few active members. Makes being a moderator easy.

Sure I do. I'm just overly harsh ...

I feel I might have been too strict and/or harsh a few times, but I don't really regret any of the mod actions I've made.

I'd say this has to do with SEN.

Also I've tried to delete all the off-topic posts, or posts asking about whether or not people have threads, to keep this as on-topic as possible. For the most part the remaining posts are talking about moderation and using SEN as an example since it is the forum we are using now.

EDIT:
And though I do think Will's response has derailed the topic a bit to be more about those moderation styles, I do think it is still relevant to the topic at hand. I hope that's not abuse of power.

You shouldn't be concerned with abusing power. I don't think you could if you tried.

BANNED
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL



I think you think too highly of me. I probably could abuse this admin power (and I often do when I go on LOL LET'S CHANGE ROY'S NAME COLOR TO HOT PINK rampages), but for the most part I don't think I could outright ban someone or suspend them without reason and support from the staff. Unless they kill me in Mafia. I see you, Dem0n.

Here's the deal. I don't really think its a problem to change the color of people's names or to pull jokes. I just see double standards all over the place. I remember I got warned because I didn't make a joke "obvious enough," but then the same person made a joke about me, which was not obvious until a day or so later where he admitted to be a joke. +severity for posting a response to a response of something I posted? Deleting posts for 'baiting' someone by saying "here's something useful so that it isn't pure spam.." that's what I'm talking about. That's...just kinda dumb.

I've abused power indirectly. I convinced a friend of mine (who had database access) to hack a guy's profile on SA and turn him into a pokemon, specifically a mudkip. To add icing onto the cake, he PM'd himself "i herd i liek mudkipz"

He deleted his account and ragequit after waking up to our sekrit hax.

Seems like Kame thinks there are a lot of brown envelopes walking about.

I'll try to remain on topic, though I'm not sure what it really is. Abuse of power is a problem and I agree with the theory behind what UnholyUrine said. But there are definitely ways of mitigating the potential for abuse to occur outside of picking the right kinds of people to be mods.

I did think of a couple of other mod types:

The Nice Guy
Is aware that someone has broken the rules but never goes beyond a verbal warning. Doesn't like taking any real sanctions. May cover up members' misdeeds to prevent harsher mods from finding out. Tends to allow repeat offenders to return to the community.

The Man of the People
Similar to the Nice Guy but behaves differently. Feels more solidarity with ordinary members than the moderators, and isn't afraid to argue the cases of individuals aggressively in the staff forum. Can be a divisive figure among mods but is generally liked by the community because he/she defends their "rights". Gets annoyed when they see other mods acting unfairly.

The Creative Legalist
This mod can be a member of one of the other types (but not Bureaucrat), but also has an additional interest in the site rules and how they could be changed. An Autocrat will suggest stricter rules and harsher punishments, for example, while the Man of the People will try to introduce checks on moderator powers.

I haven't seen significant abuse of power occurring at SEN, but then I suppose I've never been on the receiving end of moderator unfairness.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Mar 30 2011, 7:35 pm by CaptainWill.

I'm not sure I know what a brown envelope is. All I can see is that its about taking bribes. I'm not bribing anyone. Or are you callin me a brown noser? ;o

Listen up, brown-noser. An example of a "Brown Envelope" could theoretically be isolatedpurity when he consistently unbanned/unsuspended devilesk because they were pals and he believed devilesk didn't ever do anything wrong that would deserve such harsh punishment. It has more to do with not being able to put your "job" over your friendship than bribery.

Yeah I couldn't think of a good descriptive name for the type. "Cliquemaster" might have been more appropriate.

That makes a little more sense...the definitions I found said it had to do with bribery for better sentences.