Moderation on AO - Poll

[Magaman]

Bottom Line:

Rules. Enforce them equally and with consistency.

Exactly!

The Rules need to be enforced equally. Too often do I see the rules being bent by some of the well known members. Not that they have bent them all that bad, just not fair to others if some get away with breaking the rules.

[CaliMagFan]

When the mods replace your sig image with the "forgive me AO, I dont know the sig rules." picture, they are overstepping authority and becomming abusively snide.

I'm out left on this issue and I mostly think that freedom takes precidence over order, especially when you're talking about an innocuous thing like an internet forum.

My response is a "back off" with a hint of finger extension from a choice digit on my right hand.

-kyro

[Rebel46_99]

My response is a "back off" with a hint of finger extension from a choice digit on my right hand.

-kyro

Thank you. You just proved my point.

[Smoke]

Exactly!

The Rules need to be enforced equally. Too often do I see the rules being bent by some of the well known members. Not that they have bent them all that bad, just not fair to others if some get away with breaking the rules.

*cough* Mango *cough*

[PBX Ronin 23]

When the mods replace your sig image with the "forgive me AO, I dont know the sig rules." picture, they are overstepping authority and becomming abusively snide.

I'm out left on this issue and I mostly think that freedom takes precidence over order, especially when you're talking about an innocuous thing like an internet forum.

My response is a "back off" with a hint of finger extension from a choice digit on my right hand.

-kyro

First and foremost, you need to understand that AO, although public in nature, is a privately owned forum that serves as a resource for Mag users and other members of the paintball community. Its reach on the 'net is wide not only in geography but also demographics. AO sees a lot of both adults and under age minors. Some of those minors have parents who would find some of the items seen on the 'net as objectionable. This is something that AO as a 'business' must safeguard itself against.

Seeing that your second paragraph seems to imply that you have a slant in your personal beliefs that can be construed as 'anarchy', although perhaps acceptable in certain places, it is not acceptable in AO. Freedom may take "precidence" over order in some places, but not here.

Your last sentence, although fragmented in a grammatical sense, tells us definitively that perhaps you may need a few more years to better understand the true nature of the issues on hand.

Thank you very much for your post and I'm sure that some people may actually find it....informative.

[hitech]

Some of those minors have parents who would find some of the items seen on the 'net as objectionable.

AO is NOT a site I would allow my 11 yearold on unsupervised.

[CaliMagFan]

"Seeing that your second paragraph seems to imply that you have a slant in your personal beliefs that can be construed as 'anarchy'..."

Since we're clearly here to correct grammar, I feel obliged to help you. You wrote "anarchy" where you should have written "anarchistic." Also, when you use quotation marks in a piece of writing, it is incorrect to use apostrophes like you did in this quote, "This is something that AO as a 'business' must safeguard itself against." Apostrophes are used to denote a quote within the body of another quote, not to just lightly emphasise the fact that you're using synonyms.
You should steer clear of ending your sentances in prepositions or prepositional phrases as seen here,"This is something that AO as a 'business' must safeguard itself AGAINST."

The ideals that are conveyed in the post to which you responded are actually libertarian and not anarchistic. So, before you next time make a statement with regard to "governmental philosophy", please know of what you are speaking.

You kind of cornered me and "forced" me to respond in a negative and defensive way here. It is something that I do not like to do, but many times I feel compelled to do so for the sake of playing your game. Ronin, you generally do not display the lack of an all-acceptant attitude toward fellow board members, but in this instance you have fallen into the norm.

To further my point- In case you wondered to which choice digit I was referring, I'll let you know that it is my thumb, and it's pointed towards the floor at the bottom of a fist, all in your direction for your ill-conceived post.

Interesting that you went on an offensive against my post and not on that of any other member. I wonder, do you have an issue with diversity of thought? Is a pluralist society too much for you? Or does thinking about something in more ways than your own just hurt too much?

To you I say----- Gimme a break, man!

-kyro

[PBX Ronin 23]

The biggest problem I see is the juvenile testosterone that gets thrown around. The constant "get the last word" mentality only ramps things out of control and even when one or the other of the parties involved offers a way to calm things down or is "given an out", it is rarely taken. Also, the ever-present "lack of reading comprehension" retorts and various other slaps at one's intelligence only add fuel to the fire. We can read just fine thank you. Your spelling may be dreadfully lacking but that's a different problem.

AO is NOT a site I would allow my 11 yearold on unsupervised.

I couldn't agree anymore than these two statements.

[hitech]

My two cents worth...

I don't have any problems with most of the rules on AO. However, I think that permanent bans should be handed out less often. After all, it's the same as saying "we don't want YOU here". Not "your actions" but "you". In the case of someone circumventing a ban by creating a new account. If the only post a few NON-DISRUPTIVE posts I don't think a perm ban is warranted. If my kids played Nintendo after being grounded from it I wouldn't get rid of the game system. After a long lecture I would probably double their grounding. Now, I realize that not everyone on here is a kid, but many are. I also realize that the mods are not parents. However, a perm ban is the most sever "punishment" available. It should be reserved for the most sever cases. And I think that we need to remember that everyone is only human, and some of them are only children.

Not everyone needs to be given the same "punishment" for the same infraction. As an example I don't have a problem with giving a new poster a perm ban when they are posting spam. A long-term poster should not get one. Same rule infraction, different "punishments".

I think the mods do a wonderful job. If it wasn't for all their hard work I would not participate on AO. Next time I see any of you, I owe you a beer.

[Aegis]

AO is NOT a site I would allow my 11 yearold on unsupervised.

Funny thing - I actually thought AO was OK for a kid. What is really funny is that I would have said that was due to the moderators. Compared to what is out there, AO has been great. The alternative would be to forbid just about any participation in any forum.

As far as supervision, that is pretty tough to do. I supported AO for my son because it seemed like an on-line community that was overall fairly civil, and when it became otherwise there were responsible people that would step in and correct the behavior. That seemed to be a good compromise - you might be exposed to something stupid, but you would also see that the community at large didn't go for that kind of thing.

Through AO, My son and I met up with the finest group of paintballers I could have wished for, the AO NorCal crew. Imagine having a young son and taking him to a paintball field, to be exposed to the usual behavior. Not pretty. The AO crew always conducted themselves in a way that I could feel good about. The language and goofing around was a bit over the 11 year old level at times, of course. But never over the top, and compared to the rest of the crowd, kids & adults, cussing like sailors, they were true gentlemen.

[hitech]

Funny thing - I actually thought AO was OK for a kid. What is really funny is that I would have said that was due to the moderators. Compared to what is out there, AO has been great. The alternative would be to forbid just about any participation in any forum.

[Lohman446]

I'm out left on this issue and I mostly think that freedom takes precidence over order, especially when you're talking about an innocuous thing like an internet forum.

-kyro

The problem with this argument is simple to me. The owner of this forum has said these are the rules you will play by to post on this forum - either you obey those rules ore accept the consequences they see fit - fair or not. Frankly life is a pay to play society, if you want to play outside of the rules of this forum you have a series of choices. Create your own, fund your own, and handle it however you want. I doubt in that case you would allow freedom to take precidence over order. Find a forum that is anarchial (sp) in nature. Perhaps these work, but I have a bad feeling they turn into the flamefests that the internet is so common for.

The beleif in itself is not what I am debating here, it is the applying of it to a privately held forum. I picture a forum in a sense like someone's private clubhouse. Sure getting in may be easy, may be just acknowledging and agreeing to certain rules. However, the owner of that venue has every right to remove you at there sole discretion, with or without cause. Remember, in the end that this is a privately held forum. Normally the moderators have done a great job of enforcing the rules just enough to maintain order and keep costs within reason - remember overly large signatures cost more bandwidth and more funding. Have the moderators used the "forgive me AO but I don't know the sig rules" replacement before - of course they have. But they are doing this with the consent of the forum owner (assumed) within the rules of AO. Is it right? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Does it matter? Not at all.

Please don't mistake my comments to be in full support of everything done on this forum. I disagree with some of the actions taken. However, in the end it is not my forum, it is not mine to make rules as I see fit. Even if it were, there is not that much that I would change. For the most part AO is still a self-policing forum, with a level of respect not shared by most other forums. Is it as high as it once was? This is a question of perception, and most would disagree with me when I claim relatively it is.

[1stdeadeye]

Bottom Line:

Rules. Enforce them equally and with consistency.

Key word: Consistency!

[AutomagRT1483]

As I have alreadyt told Miscue...

My Gripe:
Its good, but there needs to be more adherence to the enforcing of the rules that should be in-place but are not. Certain members (that I will not name) shouldn't be let off the hook because they've been around for a long time and everyone likes them. Also a certain moderator, (again not to be named) shouldn't let the said member off the hook just because they're a respected member and gun on the people that say something about that said member and their unacceptable posting (according to the rules ==> Oh thats right...you don't have a rule for posting just a smiley without any text what so ever besides the one word used for the title of the thread.......)

My suggestions:
I do understand that not everything can be moderated here. I know there isn't enough moderators to handle the amount of members that are here on AO either. Its a simple fact, the mod numbers are too few IMO. I used the AO Rules as a template for the forum that I Head Moderate. I can tell you from experience, that even with just over a 100 members we have trouble and there are 7 mods (Including the admins and myself) I would suggest to add perhaps 1-2 mods to atleast help out, I could offer my services if need be. When the Moderation Rules are re-done/re-furbished, my suggestion is that you provide an example of each punishable offense along with the rule. (i.e. After the rule is written give an example of 2 or 3 ways that the rule can be broken.) Cite the rule number that the members are in offense of when you warn them/ ban them. This way they know for certain exactly what rule they have broken.

Thank You for your time,

AutomagRT1483

[AutomagRT1483]

Thats considered to be Circumventing the Cuss/Word filter.

Copied straight from the rules

"Do not try to circumvent the cuss filters by using spaces or other characters"

By using the #@ symbols in the place of something we all know is a (for lack of a better term) naughty word, its easy to pass the correct judgement on such a case. Atleast thats how I interperet the rules. Especially in the reference to the word in the phrase used.