An open letter to the ZDoom community regarding drama

[jpalomo]

Maybe that classic Bad/Good Reputation system? I see many forums having it, i just dunno if Randy can implement this here via phpBB

I'm not sure how well a system like that would work. I've seen it in use on other forums and it works to an extent. The problem is that it can easily be abused if not setup properly. It might be worth trying.

I think involving the community in more projects or other activities might be a good idea. Any thoughts on reviving the mutator contest?

[Big C]

I was about to say, I just realized one problem with my own suggestion is that it could possibly encourage a bad kind of backpatting.

I like jpalomo's idea of more community events, though---most of the community activity here (such as, for example, arranging Hideous Destructor mutual torture sessions ) is arranged by the community itself rather than the staff or anyone taking 'charge' of activities.

[ETTiNGRiNDER]

Maybe that classic Bad/Good Reputation system? I see many forums having it, i just dunno if Randy can implement this here via phpBB

I'm not sure how well a system like that would work. I've seen it in use on other forums and it works to an extent. The problem is that it can easily be abused if not setup properly. It might be worth trying.[/url]?

If the GoG forums are any indication, it does nothing to encourage quality posting.

[phantombeta]

If most forums and comment sections with a reputation system are any indication, such a thing is stupid and [censored word] and usually does the opposite of encouraging quality posting.
Also, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that this forum doesn't have a reputation system because ww and the other mods don't want people bragging about how big their e-peen is.

[kodi]

On another forum I used to frequent, users who exemplified good posting were given Elite status. Elite didn't grant much in the way of special privileges, but those folks were permitted to lock threads that they started, and also access to a VIP forum (in practice, that wasn't really used for anything).

That can possibly turn into a situation where the contributions of other posters are glossed over and the forum appears insular to newcomers. A forum I've posted a lot on in the past instead awarded especially commendable contribution with tiny little 'medals' (actually item and character graphics from the game) that appeared below the posters avatar, each one representing some form of good posting or contribution.

[Nash]

Hey, found out about this thread, no I'm not back, don't even know if I'll ever get into modding again, but here's my two cents;

People who get warnings need to have consequences. If there are no consequences, nothing is discouraging them to keep on posting things that make other people angry or upset. For example, on the Bethesda forum, if you get warned, it just glares beside your user avatar that you have been warned before. A stain you can't remove.

Anyway, have fun, y'all can figure this out on your own, or not, doesn't really matter to me at this point

[wildweasel]

You may be right...at the moment, the only real consequence of being warned is an ugly message in your PM box, and that it continues showing in your user profile (to moderators only). There is, of course, the evidently hollow threat of a potential ban, but since there's no solid number of warns before a ban, that might not even be very effective deterrent for some folks (I recall Ceeb was one such person to whom warnings had basically no effect at all).

[DoomRater]

A more clear policy needs to be agreed upon by staff. This sounds like something weasel, BlazingPhoenix, and Graf need to sit down and hammer out though.

[wildweasel]

A more clear policy needs to be agreed upon by staff. This sounds like something weasel, BlazingPhoenix, and Graf need to sit down and hammer out though.

Why Graf? He doesn't moderate.

[NeuralStunner]

There's been an unofficial "three strikes" policy, but well, the "unofficial" part is kind of a problem. (Besides being selectively enforced at the mods' discretion.)

[wildweasel]

The problem with defining a solid number of strikes is that, in a few peoples' cases, the "strikes" can be really piddly, guideline-related offenses (like bumping threads, abusing the emoticons, etc), or they could be hideous major offenses (like warez, flaming, porn, etc). I feel like, sometimes, a person needs to be warned for a thing without flat-out punishing them for it, but in other cases, swifter action needs to be taken.

[Kostov]

How about a thread more suited to discussing this, perhaps even a poll?

[DoomRater]

I was under the impression he did some moderation in certain cases. Anyway, to solve that logistics problem where you need to keep track of severity of offenses, a private section only visible to
moderation teams could be used to log infractions in more detail.

[wildweasel]

How about a thread more suited to discussing this, perhaps even a poll?

I'd say this is already the right place to discuss this.

I was under the impression he did some moderation in certain cases. Anyway, to solve that logistics problem where you need to keep track of severity of offenses, a private section only visible to
moderation teams could be used to log infractions in more detail.

We kind of already have that, but you probably didn't know because, well, it's private. The trouble is we need to make things more obvious, transparent, tangible.

[Project Shadowcat]

[...] The trouble is we need to make things more obvious, transparent, tangible.

I'm rather partial to the idea presented a bit ago by Nash:

For example, on the Bethesda forum, if you get warned, it just glares beside your user avatar that you have been warned before. A stain you can't remove.

A Badge of Shame, so to speak. Of course, it'll wear off once your infractions do. It's not newbie-unfriendly, and it can even tell newbies to steer clear of this person, or to not be this person.
If such a feature is added, I vote for it to be a small 16x16 dunce cap on top of your avatar (or is the avatar, in the case of users who don't have one). Or something else. Of course now that I am thinking about it, little "positive" badges need to happen along side this to encourage more positive activity, too.