Don't moderate so strongly

[Alhanelem]

I fully understand the need to keep the forums clean, but way too many people's posts are getting deleted or edited when they really didn't break any rules.

A common issue seems to be posts getting deemed "non-constructive." I really think this is hard to judge without reviewing the entire topic, and non-offensive posts relevant to the topic are being suppressed as a result.

Everyone here wants a nice clean forum as much as SE. That said, if you moderate too heavily, people will be afraid to post for fear of getting sanctions put on their account....

I want it to be clearly understood that I'm speaking generally and not just about myself or any poster in particular.

[Frost]

It's not that hard to expect a little more decorum while posting on these forums. There's at least five other community sites where people can run wild and get all crazy and have fun. But try to understand, while this forum is still a community, it's the only one directly tied to the company. What goes on here directly reflects on SE's image.

When you got people posting making "Bacon Mage" posts; or people that are reported a lot; or trolling and bragging about it on other forums about how witty they think they are; SE just might look at the validity and intentions of those posters' entries with a little more skepticism. From what I seen the stuff typically pruned out of threads is usually some four year old meme that's been repeated ad nauseum anyways. It's not something you haven't heard at least three to four hundred times before. They're just trying to help you guys see relevant information better, by taking out the stuff that doesn't add anything.

You think you'd see half the shenanigans you see here on say, the official Mircosoft forums? Do you think Microsoft might dedicate a little bit of time making their forum more constructive for everyone?

[Alhanelem]

I agree with you that there's some pretty silly stuff going on, but I'm seeing legitimate posts disappear as "non-constructive." Who decides if something is constructive or not? SE, that's who. For something like that, mods shouldn't really intervene unless someone complains with the post report button.

[Yugl]

We need stronger moderation. The fact that some people have puppet accounts and run around having conversations with themselves corroborates my suggestion. As much as you complain about moderation, I'm certain there are people praising moderation, and you're not at liberty to talk about what the population wants on this matter because you don't have insight into everyone's thought on the matter.

[Frost]

I agree with you that there's some pretty silly stuff going on, but I'm seeing legitimate posts disappear as "non-constructive." Who decides if something is constructive or not? SE, that's who. For something like that, mods shouldn't really intervene unless someone complains with the post report button.

Do you have an example of a legitimate post that was removed? And by post you mean a post in a thread right? Not the entire thread? Because entire threads that are legitimate and removed are usually done so if there's already others like it. Like the multiple PS2 limitation threads, there seems to be a new oner that pops up every other day.

[GlobalVariable]

There is also no way to privately challenge staff decisions. Legitimate reports went ignored while replies to off topic posts were deleted. You can troll or post a 9 paragraph rant but heaven forbid you quote it. I have lost all trust and respect I have had for the moderation and GM staff (same names on board indicates same people).

[Alhanelem]

Do you have an example of a legitimate post that was removed?

No, because I don't make a habit of looking at posts and going "hmm, that's going to get deleted! Better make a copy of it!" (except in the case of actually bad posts e.g. trolling etc.

The most ironic one though. I tried to explain (to some troll in vain) that with some long winded posts earlier in the thread I was simply trying to be constructive and help others out. Deleted as non-constructive.

[Juri_Licious]

I love this strict moderation even if i've been targeted by it. And it's not really strict it's just them actually using the rules.

Forums these days just let everything slide and don't moderate. These are official forums and I think the Moderation team is doing a great job.

They should stick to the way they are now.

[Seriha]

We need stronger moderation. The fact that some people have puppet accounts and run around having conversations with themselves corroborates my suggestion. As much as you complain about moderation, I'm certain there are people praising moderation, and you're not at liberty to talk about what the population wants on this matter because you don't have insight into everyone's thought on the matter.

Yeah, I'm still feeling like, despite the whole "woe is me I'm being censored!" mindset you might see other forums complaining about, the proverbial iron fist still isn't gripping tightly enough. Trolls, profanity, character attacks, obnoxious sigs... all things still floating around, no doubt reported, but for some reason left intact.

[Alhanelem]

Oh, I have no problem with being tough. I have a problem with moderating things that aren't actually violations. Sometimes it seems like they aren't considering the context and finding things "non constructive" or "off topic" when they're really not. This isn't "woe is me i'm being censored," I feel it's a genuine concern, especially when the repercussions for a violation are so serious. Things like being banned from the game too should be enough of a deterrent against anything really serious.

That said, how do you know people are sockpuppeting? It's really not that easy to pick out, as a forum mod elsewhere I know from experience it's a hard thing to squish.