What's wrong with our forum moderator staff?

[mysticjon]

Originally Posted by SK-1

The unfortunate fact of the matter is in part,uncontrollable by anyone.It has been proven that a person can become overly defensive when reading the written text posted by another.It is a natural response for some to overreact to a post.I found this info in a few MD forums.Strange but true.

tone is what text lacks, there are many ways to express tone in text,
but there are ways to show tone in text

[SK-1]

Originally Posted by mysticjon

tone is what text lacks, there are many ways to express tone in text,
but there are ways to show tone in text

This is so true,...inflection and tone play such a huge part in communication.

[PVTCaboose1337]

How to use tone...

*Sarcasm*W1zzard is a noob, he would never know how to program!*Sarcasm*

[mysticjon]

if the person over reacts thats on them, u can PM them to try to explain what u meant so u can clear the air

[mysticjon]

Originally Posted by PVTCaboose1337

How to use tone...

*Sarcasm*W1zzard is a noob, he would never know how to program!*Sarcasm*

u gave me a genius idea

have Tags sorta like html tags but....exampe
<sarcasm>ur text here</sarcasm. lol
but heres the my idea
that sarcasm tag would somehow be audible lol

that wouldbe great

like u code in html or whatever have a <sarcasm></sarcasm> tag as an example

crap i lost my train of thought

anways im high so when i look back the whole i just type wouldnt make sense lol

[AshenSugar]

we used something like that in another forums, it set the test as italic and a blue/green color.

i would also like spoiler tages(drag mouse over box and its readable type things) its fun and usefull for some conversations

[Tatty_One]

Originally Posted by SK-1

This is so true,...inflection and tone play such a huge part in communication.

Agreed, and that is why at times we have to show more patience towards those who's english is not their native language, it's hard enough writing in a foreign language without trying to get the tone and balance right.

[SK-1]

Another good point.I have trouble with English and it is my native language!

[Frick]

Originally Posted by Tatty_One

Agreed, and that is why at times we have to show more patience towards those who's english is not their native language, it's hard enough writing in a foreign language without trying to get the tone and balance right.

And that is why we Foreigners stick to the Technical Topics.

@mysticjon: I've seen that a couple of times (as a passive observer) and I think that's the price one has to pay when an internet community becomes a "family". I've also seen some "we here at TPU is the light on the Internet and we bes the bestes!" and stuff like that. It's the online version of nationalism (ot however you spell that). I don't like it, but I guess others do..

[BXtreme]

hmm, if sound smileys are used expressions will be more accurate, i.e wht is the person trying to say, it'll also solve the non-native language problem imo

[DIBL]

90% of the topics in this forum are not relevant to me, but for the 10% I'm glad we have it, and the mods are doing a great job. If someone gets a little testy once in awhile, well, that's the way people are -- I understand. Let the person who never said anything stupid throw the first rock!

[newtekie1]

I have one problem moderator and only one and we all probably know him, Dippyskoodlez. Half his posts are him trolling and starting arguments, usually in Windows or Microsoft topics where just bashes both, usually with completely biased and down right ignorant comparisions(like comparing the transition from OSX 10.2 to 10.4 to the transition from Windows 98 to Windows XP). The the two of us get in an argument and I get a 3 month infraction from Zek, but of course he gets absolutely no punishment at all because he is a mod(a useless one at that). Zek has even told me he is well aware of Dippy's problems and has tried to get him to stop several times, but Dippy just doesn't listen. I even post the conversation Zek and I had about Dippy here as maybe it will help you[W1zzard] realize that he does more harm here as a moderator than he does good.

Originally Posted by zekrahminator

Yes, I know all about Dippy, but see, I can't do anything about him. Dippy made moderator, and I am not allowed to give moderators infractions. The only guy that can give Dippy an infraction is W1zzard....you'll have to ask him. I've tried to talk to Dippy but he's not a very good listener .

Users get banned for the activity that Dippy shows here, and yet he is allowed to continue doing it unchecked because he is a mod. What example does that show for the users here? We have a mod going around trolling, which is basically saying to everyone else "Hey it is perfectly acceptable to troll, and bash companies/products you don't like with no real logical argument to actually back it up".

As for the double standards and general lack of unity among the mods part it runs wild here for example:

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?p=231564

In that thread in that post you can see Eastcoasthandle coming right out and insulting me. There is no purpose for that post other than to insult me. I marked the message, and since I can't see infractions assumed nothing was done about it(it turns out I was right, but more on that later).

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?p=245019

Here you see my vague jab back at him, but the general message is to not argue with him, because it is pointless.

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?p=245085

Here we have DarkSaber reminding everyone to keep it objective, and stating that he sees "nothing bad yet" and that he does "not see any reason for any deletion yet". The topic moves on and the discussion is over. But THEN Thermopylae_480 comes in and decides it is best to start handing out infractions(which thanks to Zek's double standard infraction from before means I get IP banned from the entire site, not just the forums, I can't even read the main page). But wait, Darksaber just said there isn't anything bad in the topic yet.

So since I can't even access the main page(when I go to the main page all I get is the "You are not autherized to view this topic" or whatever that message says), I can't even see what I was banned for. So I created a second account and use a work computer to PM Thermopylae_480 to ask him what he felt warranted an IP ban from the entire site. We have a nice discussion which basically went something like this:

Newtekie1: Why was I banned?
Thermopylae_480: You can't tell?
Newtekie1: No, I can't even view the site.
Thermopylae_480: It was because of insulting Eastcoasthandle.
Newtekie1: Did you happen to look at the original thread I was talking about, where he comes right out and insults me?
Thermopylae_480: I see it now.
Newtekie1: Something tells me nothing was done at all about his insult towards me.
Thermopylae_480: Well you should have reported his post.
Newtekie1: I did, and judging by your last statement I assume I am correct in the fact that nothing was done to punish him.
Thermopylae_480: Correct, it appears that nothing was done.
Newtekie1: Then why was I punished for doing exactly the same thing, except mine was at least a little vague?
Thermopylae_480: I see where you are coming from, I'll see about getting you unbanned early.

Clear double standard, no ifs ands or buts about it. Eastcoasthandle insults me and gets absolutely no punishment at all, I insult him back and get a ban. On top of it another Mod/staff member had already basically told me(and everyone else) that there wasn't anything bad said yet. It just give an overall bad sign of unity between the mods to have one say everything is fine then have another start handing out infractions.

[AshenSugar]

newtekie1: i hear that, i had had to add a few mods to msn/yahoo to deal with situations where missunderstandings or crossed signals lead to me getting slaped with infractions.

thermo isnt a bad guy, just a little harsh at times.

dippy, well he can get a little out of line i agree i butted heads with him in the past, just a little advice, dont butt heads with danthebanjoman, he gets bent way to easy, and cant deal with critisisim(sp) well at all, tho he can be ok at times as well......mixed bagg really.

but agree from alot i have seen in the past dippy shouldnt be a mod, dosnt got the proper attatude/mantality to do the job well, to bias and into starting fightes.

dont let it get you bent, just deal with the problems as they come and do your best to help others

[newtekie1]

I agree that Thermo isn't bad, neither is zek, like I said the only mod I have a problem with is Dippy, half the time he spends here is spent starting fights, and it usually leads to infractions being handed out to ther other users for fighting, while he just goes on his marry way to start another argument the next day. I don't hold Thermo responsible for the double standards here. It isn't his fault that Eastcoasthandle didn't recieve any action for his insults. He just saw that what I said could be considered insulting, and he did his job. The problem is that other mods here seemed to feel that insulting posts don't require any action. And in fact some feel that trolling is actually acceptable, as is insulting other users(danthebanjoman does this a lot, especially if you show any signs of disagreeing with his points, he would rather just insult a person than actually arguing the points at hand).

[AshenSugar]

Zek is a good guy, tho his smell is a little......

:P

[pt]

here's a question, when someone reports a post from a mod, in a sub-forum he mods, who receive it?

[AshenSugar]

good question pt, honestly thats something wiz may need to look at and make sure the mod thats been reported dosnt get it .

[newtekie1]

I don't think it really matters as it seems that mods can't act against other mods(the impression I get from both Zek and Termo through talks with them). So it doesn't really matter if the report goes to the mod being reported or another mod as nothing will happen either way.

The way it should be set up is that any time someone reports a message from a mod it need to go to W1zaard, the only person that has any actual power to punish mods.

[INSTG8R]

Meh, I cant figure how you young Lads who have been here less than a year can find the time to post so much(not sure on Quality but sure alot of Quantity)......

[Tatty_One]

Originally Posted by newtekie1

I agree that Thermo isn't bad, neither is zek, like I said the only mod I have a problem with is Dippy, half the time he spends here is spent starting fights, and it usually leads to infractions being handed out to ther other users for fighting, while he just goes on his marry way to start another argument the next day. I don't hold Thermo responsible for the double standards here. It isn't his fault that Eastcoasthandle didn't recieve any action for his insults. He just saw that what I said could be considered insulting, and he did his job. The problem is that other mods here seemed to feel that insulting posts don't require any action. And in fact some feel that trolling is actually acceptable, as is insulting other users(danthebanjoman does this a lot, especially if you show any signs of disagreeing with his points, he would rather just insult a person than actually arguing the points at hand).

I didnt even realise Dippy was a Mod! I must have missed a few weeks lol.

[newtekie1]

He is one of two mods for the Linux / BSD / Mac OS X forum. Which means anyone that has ever been in an argument with him is pretty much banned from posting there as he will just delete any post you make.

[pt]

Originally Posted by newtekie1

He is one of two mods for the Linux / BSD / Mac OS X forum. Which means anyone that has ever been in an argument with him is pretty much banned from posting there as he will just delete any post you make.

anyone talked to w1z about this?
i surely would

[zekrahminator]

Newtekie, this is some very high-quality stuff, you should become a lawyer someday .

[tkpenalty]

We should be able to look at who 1/2/3/4/5 starred a thread... some guy keeps 1 starring my clubhouse and 5 starring the others. And moderators should reserve the right to remove votes. Just like with the case gallery.

[BXtreme]

Originally Posted by tkpenalty

We should be able to look at who 1/2/3/4/5 starred a thread... some guy keeps 1 starring my clubhouse and 5 starring the others. And moderators should reserve the right to remove votes. Just like with the case gallery.

double that, i agree i've seen many ppl rate their own thread 5 stars when that thread is nothing useful. imo rating should be made by mods after seeing that it's useful, or a must-see-thing.