I wouldn't go as far as to say they're over-moderated per say, but sometimes moderators get a power trip from being a moderator on a website based around an online game.

I'm sure TL is far from being to the point of GG.net, sometimes I lurk around there a bit and a lot of the stuff is just annoying/pointless as hell.

qrs

United States3637 Posts

May 13 2009 22:23 GMT

I believe in freedoms, including that of speech (don't quote me TL's 10 commandments please: I'm not talking about natural rights), so I am in favor of light moderation (BTW all these poll choices sound oxymoronic). Therefore I think that TL is slightly over-moderated, but for the most part the mods are reasonable men.

Off-topic, I always daydreamed that if I ever ran a forum (not going to happen) I would implement two versions of the site: moderated and unmoderated. The two versions would be exactly the same except for moderated posts/posts by banned users, which would appear only in the unmoderated versions. I suppose I would have to put some thought into how to deal with replies to posts by banned users, and so forth (the forums I was reading at that time were mostly threaded, which makes that bit of it easier).

Which version you saw as the default could be a setting in the user-profile or something. It might be an interesting social experiment to see what people did with that sort of option.

ShadowDrgn

United States2496 Posts

May 13 2009 22:29 GMT

Near optimally moderated. Shit threads get closed, bad posters get banned, and moderators don't play favorites.

Carnivorous Sheep

Baa?13988 Posts

May 13 2009 22:32 GMT

#10

Moderately moderated, just cause I love repetition =D

538

Hungary3931 Posts

May 13 2009 22:45 GMT

#11

I'm very content with the moderation on TL, rare to find a forum with such balance.
On some occasions I feel its overmoderated, sometimes I feel its under-moderated, but neither is often enough to vote anything else besides moderately.

Rock on.

3clipse

Canada2555 Posts

May 14 2009 00:00 GMT

#12

Gather round kids, and I shall tell you a tale.

A couple years ago, the two primary forums I spent my time on were gosugamers.net and the unrelated absforums.com. A couple of members on the former, of which I'm sure you're all familiar, had given me a certian negative preconception of teamliquid; that the forum was run by a tightly knit group of anally-retentive nazis who would ban you merely for expressing a differing opinion. This kept me from visiting very much, as gg.net has a great replay section and all the news I could ever want on the foreigner scene. That is, until I started to gain interest in the pro scene. I started taking a peek at the database here now and then, but didn't really join in the community for awhile.

Meanwhile, absforums had lost a couple moderators and was (still is) entering into an experiment in anarchy. Mods were instructed to basically do nothing but censor posts containing pornography. I had been a member of this site for a long time, and spent a lot of time in the debate section, occasionally venturing elsewhere for kicks. I initially though this new, slack moderation was a great idea. In the past, mods sometimes deleted or edited posts they didn't like or banned unpopular members. Being the naive idealist that I was, I welcomed what I thought was an unrestricted exchange of ideas. It didn't work.

There's a pretty solid rule that anonymity brings out the obnoxious, attention whoring asshole in people. When there is no risk of being punched in the face and widespread trolling is as easy as ctrl-v, this shit can ruin any community when there are no boundaries. I, for one, think the moderation on tl.net is a breath of fresh air. Posts are substantive! Threads are properly formatted and in the right sections! Highly organized and time-intensive games of mafia are possible without people spamming up the threads or dead-posting the players they thought hit them!

I don't think the type of moderation here is always perfect- there are biases and some penalties are too harsh in my eyes- but the culture and general moderation style are going in the right direction, imo. Without structure, most of the internet turns into 4chan.

qrs

United States3637 Posts

May 14 2009 00:43 GMT

#13

Hmm, interesting post, 3clipse. Empirical evidence trumps theory.