Suggestion Elect Moderators Like Council Members

    Is this a good idea?


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    I believe moderators should be elected, like council members, and run for a few months, after that new moderators will be elected. I'm sure @Thadius_Faran will be happy to elaborate.
     

    MrFURB

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    Thread moved from 'suggestions' to 'site support/suggestions'. Carry on and have fun.
     
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    It sounds good in theory, but I can't get behind this for a few reasons.
    1. People "running" for moderator - these are the people who should have it LEAST
    2. Electing people who don't want the job - If someone is elected who flat-out doesn't want it, then wouldn't the vote fall to the runner up? And what if that Runner-up falls under the type of person under Category 1
    3. Popularity votes - I have a decent amount of experience dealing with someone who is not qualified for a position and is (s)elected solely because they have a lot of friends. Again, not a good time.
    I think the system of the site admins having direct control over who stays and who goes is the best we have. If someone seriously should be mod, the site admins will know about it.

    I'd appreciate it if you fleshed this out a bit more too. Who votes? How do you determine who's eligible? How does the voting process work? It might help people have a better opinion of this.
     
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    It sounds good in theory, but I can't get behind this for a few reasons.
    1. People "running" for moderator - these are the people who should have it LEAST
    2. Electing people who don't want the job - If someone is elected who flat-out doesn't want it, then wouldn't the vote fall to the runner up? And what if that Runner-up falls under the type of person under Category 1
    3. Popularity votes - I have a decent amount of experience dealing with someone who is not qualified for a position and is (s)elected solely because they have a lot of friends. Again, not a good time.
    I think the system of the site admins having direct control over who stays and who goes is the best we have. If someone seriously should be mod, the site admins will know about it.

    I'd appreciate it if you fleshed this out a bit more too. Who votes? How do you determine who's eligible? How does the voting process work? It might help people have a better opinion of this.
    Yeah, those are all good points and I definitely should have elaborated. I'm kinda tired so I'll edit the main post tomorrow, but to answer the points you brought up-
    1. Perhaps they could be nominated? Maybe by the current moderators, who could ask people they feel are qualified to be one if they wish to run for moderator.
    2. Only nominate people who want to.
    3. Would only be nominated if the current moderators think they're a good person for the job.
     

    Groovrider

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    I do not like this idea. The council is one thing but moderators have actual power. Unless we can make sure the players we elect are not part of any faction, I see the role becoming tainted via faction politics and popularity contests. Moderation requires a genuine professional attitude and I don't see that coming out of an election.
     
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    I do not like this idea. The council is one thing but moderators have actual power. Unless we can make sure the players we elect are not part of any faction, I see the role becoming tainted via faction politics and popularity contests. Moderation requires a genuine professional attitude and I don't see that coming out of an election.
    Yeah you're right. The more I think about it the more I realize this is a stupid idea :P
     
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    Even without faction bias and group politics, think about the incentives this system would produce:

    Popular and well liked moderators would get re-elected, which would encourage moderators to make decisions based on how it would affect their popularity and NOT on wether or not the rule actually applies.

    The unfortunate outcome of this is that popular forum users could become less likely to be moderated, and that newbies and other low profile users could start experiencing a double standard.
     

    DukeofRealms

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    Forum moderators are chosen by site administrators. Moderators need to have the correct skills, attitudes and even more importantly, the ability to mix well with the rest of the team. The moderation team is a group which must be efficient and professional as well as unbiased, the best team can only be decided by those who have the experience running one.

    Anyone can apply for a moderator position here: http://starmadedock.net/staff/

    The site administrators are the best people to create a moderation team, and are the ones who run the team.

    We take our site teams very seriously, staff members have access to increased privileges, non-public and sometimes sensitive information. Any breach of this privacy or abuse of these privileges would be unacceptable.

    For these reasons, we will not change our system to bring further moderators into the team. We feel our current system is the best method.
     
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    Forum moderators are chosen by site administrators. Moderators need to have the correct skills, attitudes and even more importantly, the ability to mix well with the rest of the team. The moderation team is a group which must be efficient and professional as well as unbiased, the best team can only be decided by those who have the experience running one.

    Anyone can apply for a moderator position here: http://starmadedock.net/staff/

    The site administrators are the best people to create a moderation team, and are the ones who run the team.

    We take our site teams very seriously, staff members have access to increased privileges, non-public and sometimes sensitive information. Any breach of this privacy or abuse of these privileges would be unacceptable.

    For theses reasons, we will not change our system to bring further moderators into the team. We feel our current system is the best method.
    Thanks for clearing that up, I sorta just posted this on a whim and didn't really give it much thought, I don't really know what I was thinking, this is a horrible idea XD
     

    DukeofRealms

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    Thanks for clearing that up, I sorta just posted this on a whim and didn't really give it much thought, I don't really know what I was thinking, this is a horrible idea XD
    It's not a bad idea, it's a conversation at least worth discussing/explaining.
     
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    I do not like this idea. The council is one thing but moderators have actual power. Unless we can make sure the players we elect are not part of any faction, I see the role becoming tainted via faction politics and popularity contests. Moderation requires a genuine professional attitude and I don't see that coming out of an election.
    Ouch, ice cold.
     
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    Lecic

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    I feel users should be allowed to vote for the removal of a moderator, but not elect mods, because that has never gone well on any forums I've ever visited. Popular but incompetent and often power-hungry people are not who I want enforcing the rules.
     

    TheBlueThunder

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    Let's keep the moderators to the professionals of the website. They are already doing a really good job why change those people?
    I agree with the kept sensitive information like IP, email and etc... Because most sites that have users and moderators uses sensitive data not known to the users using the site but known to the staff which maintain the website, forum and database.

    So voting for a moderator that doesn't have the professional skills is kind of a bad thing if you don't want your real name, email, maybe credit card numbers, etc to be known.