Improving the Forums

[kyabetsu]

Krang wrote: -----------------------------------------------------------
Ok, I'm seeing alot of complaints about The Technodrome both on and off the forums, so I felt I had to say something here since the topic has been brought up. I haven't been spending much time there myself (not because of any problems, but because I'm not really all that interested in the TMNT in general anymore, especially since the new cartoon came out), but apparently the problems there are much worse than they appear to me.

So, since there are several people here upset about the current status of the forums, I'll ask for your advice. What should I do with the forums to help bring things back to how they were? Or is that even possible? I put alot of work into those forums so I don't exactly want to shut them down permamently, but if everyone feels that the forums are beyond repair and is going to leave (leaving only the troublemakers and the new people), then I guess I don't have a choice. If possible, though, I'd like to at least try to do something first, so does anyone have any other suggestions?
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+mods: modding shouldn't be about tenure. it should be about PRESENCE. kali and Mike are the only two i see on the drome with any frequency. so you effectively have 2 mods.

+mod decisions: should follow a uniform set of rules. right now, b/c there are so few active mods, rules are enforced arbitrarily and inconsistantly. mods either don't see the infractions or aren't basing the judgments on the whole story... making for unreasonable decisions that appear RIGHT to the mods and just piss off everyone else who IS there more often.

+ but really? how can any forum opperate smoothly without ONE person (or two: tokka and mikeyqm ) overseeing the running of the forum. otherwise, you've got a gang of mods, each trying their hardest to enforce what they see as policy... and no way for posters to appeal to a higher authority when the problems directly involve the mods themselves.


--having said all that. i really don't think it's fair to mikey and tokka to drag technodrome problems and soap operas into their forum. i motion that we move this discussion back to the drome and into the site suggestions forum.

i know my opinions on this matter are not popular... especially with the drome mods... and i'd hate for there to be unpleasentness on THIS board because of those opinions.


(continued from: http://www.mikeystmnt.com/forums/phpBB2_2/viewtopic.php?t=257
please make further posts on this topic here. it's a drome issue for drome people. and if it gets ugly... it's not fair to pollute Mkey'sTmnT forum with it..)

[Meira-Bates]

I have to say I agree with Kya on moving this...though my problem is more with some members but I've also seen the problem Kya points out with mods. Things seem to be a bit on the favoritism (or just the opposite) side at times. And really it didn't worry me before, but thinking back on it, back when I had those problems on AIM I got answers from 4 of the mods I sent questions to (the others that I questioned didn't even bother to reply to my concern)...they all told me diffrent things I should do, thus that now leads me to belive that the mods don't all have order of operations straight. One mod imparticular seemed correct though, I must point out.

Before anyone points out that this is normal msgboard stuff, I don't usualy join big boards like this one. I'm usualy on much smaller scale projects...and those have rarely ever gotten nasty.

[That Matt Guy]

I think the problem with the moderators is the fact that many of them spend little or no time online. I only see GK and Mike patrolling the General Discussion, which is host to most of the problems on the board. Krang, you need to give moderating abilities to people that come here every day religiously. There are a dozen people who are online here every day of the week, for long periods of time. Those are the people that you need to help out around here, not someone who pops in every 3 weeks makes a few posts, and vanishes again for a month. I'm not saying take away moderator status from any of the current ones, but we honestly need people who will be here every day.

[Barkworm]

I agree with Matt although I don't think the problems are as big as everyone says. Ai would make a perfect moderator, I guess there's no one who spends as much time here as him.

[That Matt Guy]

He's only been here a few months though.

[Barkworm]

That's right but I think you just have to be a member for at least six months to become a moderator and he'll soon have that status.
You're another person who's very often here, Matt!

[damnhooligan]

Employing new level-headed and fair moderators that are online frequently may help by leaps and bounds, but its no sure-fire guarentee. There is only so much policing that can be done. Troublesome situations in the future could quickly become water under the bridge if you employ and modify some good ol' fashioned crowd/riot control tactics. Control, separate, subdue.

[Vespera Blaze]

I think a review of the mods who are currently here, asking them how often they can log in, and checking that they still CAN do the job.

Having the mods look over everything may have worked when the site was smaller, but you may wish to look at splitting the the responsibilities of the mods into sections. And increasing the number of mods to account for the number of people posting.

I feel the mods, and the posters for that matter, should review the rules for the forums, and look to enforce the actual rules, and not personal interpretations

And finally, there should be an appeal process, or some way to handle problems between posters and the mods. Respect for the mods does not necessarily mean that they are God, and are never wrong. Even if arguements/disagreements should be approached in a respectful manner, by BOTH parties.

[Hannah]

That's right but I think you just have to be a member for at least six months to become a moderator and he'll soon have that status.
You're another person who's very often here, Matt!
I'm here often too, but I wouldn't specialize in moderating this forum. And Matt swears too much. :lol:

[Voltron]

I'd be the perfect mod! :lol:

My suggestion? Get some new mods.

[Jo Dawn]

I agree with Matthew. I love the mods we have here, but to be honest, yes, I understand that real life gets in the way, and they can't always be around. Maybe just adding a few more mods would help. :)

We also need no favoritism (not saying that there is any) in giving out discipline which, I realise, is hard to do.

Hope this all gets worked out. I'd hate to lose this place...

EDIT - You know... I'd love to see how many hours I've been logged into this place... :wink: :lol:

[Naruto]

I agree with matt but you still need to concider the fact of and what JD said about favoritism. So it would be more in the side of who has been here the longest, is trustworthy, and will make the right decision. We need more active people and maybe just being a little more strict on the rules we have now.
As far as i can see. Mikey and GK are going all out and stopping everyone and they do it fast and good.

So it is not just the lack of mods as you can see unless your saying that the mods will bring more fear to the dromies lol and make them think twice before posting something stupid.

So we cant just say we need more mods. If people are making bad posts Mikey and GK have locked them up fast as heck. So what if there are more mods? Then the same thing will happen. So think outside of more mods bit and more into how to get people to settle down a bit

[Hannah]

I agree with matt but you still need to concider the fact of and what JD said about favoritism. So it would be more in the side of who has been here the longest, is trustworthy, and will make the right decision. We need more active people and maybe just being a little more strict on the rules we have now.
As far as i can see. Mikey and GK are going all out and stopping everyone and they do it fast and good.

So it is not just the lack of mods as you can see unless your saying that the mods will bring more fear to the dromies lol and make them think twice before posting something stupid.

So we cant just say we need more mods. If people are making bad posts Mikey and GK have locked them up fast as heck. So what if there are more mods? Then the same thing will happen. So think outside of more mods bit and more into how to get people to settle down a bit
That's consider, my dear friend.



And I don't understand your meaning. :D

[Jo Dawn]

So it is not just the lack of mods as you can see unless your saying that the mods will bring more fear to the dromies lol and make them think twice before posting something stupid.

Well... it's not really a matter of making people fear the mods. We certainly don't want to use fear to keep things in line. Just simply a matter of respect (yes, I do respect all you mods). But not fear. That'll just make some people act out MORE, in defiance.

[Naruto]

Yeah but the mods we have now are cool. Everyone loves mikey and GK and we still get these lock ups. Yeah we can use a few more mods but what I am also trying to say is its not just the fact we need a little more mods.

Its the fact that some of the dromies are going a bit to far and being let go with out a warning or anything. We need to find a way to settle things more down. Even with new mods what makes you think it will stop. I believe we all respect the mods already as far as I know. So its not the problem of respect but the problem is we need to settle down a bit. Not shut the forums off for a bit but take more action to the stupid posts, flame wars, and other things that are happening in the general forum.

One last thing. If all else fails take away the general section for a while. It seems to be the major place of lock ups and trouble. So maybe if things become out of hand again we can just take down the general section for a while until a certain amount of time so people will know that we should be more respectful and that we can lose privlages like the general section or any other section

[Anarky]

it's not exactly mroe mods, or an overpowerful strike force that is needed. It's some people everybody knows. People who are going through the forums at least once a day. And then, since this is an english forum, you never know where the people causing trouble are. so maybe you need someones to take over the "european shift".

And mods should get the ability to at least temp-ban people. i mean, what SSDD and that other bloke pulled off was just cruel. I mean. I'm sure Michelangelo was there, but he couldn't do anything. just lock one thread after the other...

[MTN889]

just take away GD

[Jo Dawn]

But... if you take away the General Discussion forum... people will still discuss General Discussion things, only they'll start discussions in New TMNT, Comics, Video Games, etc. All the places they shouldn't go, and that'll just make more work for the mods and admins.

EDIT - Typos. Ugh.

[Voltron]

General Discussion is getting out of hand. I've been a member of these forums for over a year now and I hate looking at the state they're in. Something needs to be done.

[Naruto]

The rules of the site can become more strict. So people who actually care to get warned will be a little more cautiouse in what they do. If the mods also can have warn and ban privlages that could work nicely too but i would suggest a discussion between them or something really bad before they decide to ban or warn.

Most thing is the rules we have now need to be enforced more harder and the fact that no matter who the member is, they get no special treatment other then respect that they gain. With respect doesnt mean you can do more bad moves but you get my point.

[Krang]

Two moderators have recently been added, and from now on, the mods and admins will try to be more careful to enforce the rules more strictly and fairly. Any more suggestions?

[Barkworm]

Maybe mods should be able to give temporary bans until you decide what to happen with the member. In SSDD's case that would have been quite helpful for example.

[That Matt Guy]

This won't really won't help the forums that much, but can there some kind of rule that would keep people from replying to a thread with just a single a emoticon without any text? That is just a waste of space, and a lot of people do it to get their post count up.

[GK Punk]

Well, we could always just delete those posts and call them Spam... Sometimes I do that over at paradigm city. But We mods are a little stricter there than we are here.

[Barkworm]

As long as it doesn't happen too often I don't see a problem with that.

[That Matt Guy]

It does happens a lot though.

GK, you should tell everyone to delete those posts.

[raphael_is_cool]

I wouldn't leave. Everyone talks about leaving but they never do in the long run.

This may sound rude but I wouldn't mind moderating the 'new tmnt discussion' since that's where I'd be most committed and I've noticed Karpo isn't around a lot. Plus I'm on here pretty much everyday (except when I have too much work) and that will be the situation for next year too

I'd also welcome tighter restrictions on spamming like Matt suggested

[Meira-Bates]

I'd volunteer since I have no real life as well (this in mention of the folks suggested cause they are here all day), but I don't think I'm mod material regaurdless.

[Raven]

Any more suggestions?

ya you should make me a mod :D

[host_punktmy]

make me a mod as weell,,, I'll straighten up these people...

[Hannah]

Any more suggestions?

ya you should make me a mod :D
That wasnt even funny.

[Raven]

Any more suggestions?

ya you should make me a mod :D
That wasnt even funny.

i wasent trying to be funny.

[JameO]

Giving them two moding privilages would be like voting Saddam for President of USA.

[Trunks]

is he still being questioned .sorry off subject, I think the board is fine just needs a few more mods.

[Krang]

Maybe mods should be able to give temporary bans until you decide what to happen with the member. In SSDD's case that would have been quite helpful for example.That would be nice, but the forum software doesn't allow it.

This won't really won't help the forums that much, but can there some kind of rule that would keep people from replying to a thread with just a single a emoticon without any text? That is just a waste of space, and a lot of people do it to get their post count up.I wish I could stop that, but it's another limitation of the forum software.

[Hannah]

Maybe mods should be able to give temporary bans until you decide what to happen with the member. In SSDD's case that would have been quite helpful for example.That would be nice, but the forum software doesn't allow it.

This won't really won't help the forums that much, but can there some kind of rule that would keep people from replying to a thread with just a single a emoticon without any text? That is just a waste of space, and a lot of people do it to get their post count up.I wish I could stop that, but it's another limitation of the forum software.
I can't wait for the new forum software...