Mod to Member ratio... (Current Discussion: Forum Specific Images)

[Houndoom_Lover]

...is very unsettling. At any given number of times, I log in and there are like two normal members and the rest of mods. While this is all good and well for site production (I guess) it seems like we have way too many Moderators in comparison to members.

And this is no good.

While things get done and cleaned in a giffy, new members seeing this will feel inadiquite when coming to post. The forum one this site should only have one or two Mods.

The most active should have two.

While the least active should have one.

Until we aquire more members and more Mods are needed.

[Heald]

At the moment I can see 3 mods (including myself) and 6 members online (although I can actually see hidden members, whereas you normal members can't).

There is quite a high ratio of mods to members for these reasons:

1) When the forum would see two or three spambot attacks a day, until we upgraded board security we had to use a whack-a-mole style system to minimise damage, which while not a direct reason for people getting modded, was a large incentive.

2) This forum needs 3 mods, given it is arguably the most active forum on the board. At any given, at least one Misc mod will be online, due to the fact each of us covers are different timezone (I'm UK, RSW is US and Drago is Oz).

3) Mods are modded because they satisfy certain criteria: they are active, the forum needs an active mod (or in some cases another active mod) and they are a trusted, valued member who has proven themselves worthy of the responsibility. You can't expect to mod people when activity is high and then demod when they are not. Whereas being modded is seen as a reward for being a good contributor, being demodded is seen as a punishment, and the member who is demodded would most likely leave the board (unless they were demodded by request or due to a long stint of inactivity). The quickest way to see a whole bunch of our most valued members walk out of the door is to demod them.

4) Some forums have a lot of mods because they have a lot of admin work. Fanfic has 4 mods and can justify that because they run several activities such as awards, competitions, newsletters etc. Likewise, RPG has some behind-the-scenes work that requires 3 mods and ASB ought to have more than 1 mod, given how intensive the work is.

5) This board has several forums that see little to no activity whatsoever, however, they still need to be modded, just in case they do see any activity, or if a spambot attacks their forum.

[Houndoom_Lover]

I know why we have mods, I'm just saying. Maybe we should cut back for a little while as a test experiment to see if we can do the same output of work.

I can really only see the Misc. forum having three mods. But the other forums like Fanfiction RPG most certainly do not. They don't get very much spam.

And since a great majority of the Mods are active, as a qulification, things will get done irigardless to the number of them.

So, this forum and ABS (because it needs to be updated regularly) would use three mods, whereas the others that are active should have two, and the most inactive one.

But really, do the math between active members and active moderators. Its uneven.

[Number1ChanseyFan]

I know why we have mods, I'm just saying. Maybe we should cut back for a little while as a test experiment to see if we can do the same output of work...

And since a great majority of the Mods are active, as a qulification, things will get done regardless to the number of them.

It may seem like we have a lot of mods, but they all earned their positions. Regardless of forum activity, it would be hard to justify laying off mods because the forum is too dead, I mean, if they are doing their job, it really isn't fair, and if they were demodded in such a manner, I would be surprised if they still felt like staying around and being active members of the community, there would likely be hard feelings, which would decrease activity/morale.

We don't have as many mods as we used to, we haven't replaced everybody that we have lost. Classic Generation only has one mod now, a few years ago it had 4 mods. But in all honesty, it is good that the mods are online a lot, it shows how they earned their position, by being active and making quality posts.

[Little_Pikachu]

People were modded back when we were really active, now we're not really active it just looks like we have a lot. I'm not demodding good mods just because there isn't a huge amount of activity right now. It's not like I'm paying them.

[PancaKe]

Maybe we'll get active again? Who knows. I don't think its a big deal really. Why demod for the sake of de-modding?

[Houndoom_Lover]

Wll, we should go advertise or something to get more members back. Just having mods for sake of having mods doesn't make any more sense than demodding for the sake of demodding.

We will, I hope, eventually get active enough to warrent all the mods we have, but right now it looks over barring.

I'm just speaking, you know. I tried to get a friend to join, and she wouldn't when she noticed all the moderators.

[Heald]

To be honest, if someone refused to join because there was a strong moderation team, they probably weren't going to be a constructive member anyway. So this way not only do we have a secure, well-staffed forum, we also deter trolls, idiots and other undesirables from joining!

[Houndoom_Lover]

Strong staffed site is a harsh phrase, let's use Well staffed site, instead. I've seen many a Well staffed site go down...

They're kinda just floating around, uselessly. I really think it be a good thing to even the ratio out, just a bit. So since no one wants to lessen the overlord power, I suggest we gather members out to warrent the moddyness.

:0 I advertise this site every bloomin' chance I get. We need to boost membership. No kid wants to go to a school were there are twice as many teachers as their are students.

And its not a matter of if they earned their potision or not :0 I'm not saying they didn't, I'm just saying it looks off.

[Jeff]

To be honest, if someone refused to join because there was a strong moderation team, they probably weren't going to be a constructive member anyway. So this way not only do we have a secure, well-staffed forum, we also deter trolls, idiots and other undesirables from joining!

Woo!

Seriously though, the only other reason I can see someone being afraid of the fact that there are so many mods is if they're assuming we're all power-crazy dicks like the mods at some of the other forums out there. I think we've been fair enough as far as punishing members goes, so she really shouldn't have anything to be afraid of.

[Heald]

It seems your issue isn't there being too many mods but a lack of members. Mods shouldn't be punished just because we're losing members faster than we're gaining them.

You're also confusing the role of moderator as overlord. Mods are not just there to ban, delete and infract, they're also there to develop, guide, help and innovate. It is wrong to think of them as teachers or police.

[Rossymore]

Well I agree with Houn with that every so often I look at the online list there's always a light blue name floating around. I remember one time I saw four in a row. I admit that when I first joined I was a bit intimidated but then I just jumped into the ASB and didn't give a hoot.

The only times I can guarentee a time when just members are on is about midday for me and there's...maybe one or two other members on...ish.

But yeah, I usually see the Who's Online area streaked with light blue. Sometimes I see a tinge of dark red but not many times. I rarely ever see a blob of yellow these days.

But yeah, I look at the Staff List and I have to scroll down so far to reach the bottom. There are still some names on that list I have either very rarely seen on a post or never at all. It's like the SPPF Staff List...crazy.

But not as hectic I must agree.

[PancaKe]

Well perhaps it's a chance to get rid of the inactive mods...

And a chance to build up and develop the website and advertise the forum as well.

It's good your on the ball Houndy! Maybe some of this energy can be transfered into thinking of ways the website can be more than just an offshoot of the forum?

[The_Missing_Link]

What you forget is that mods are members too. We started off as regular members and then happened to be modded for our expertise, helpfulness, etc. We like to reply to frivolous topics like everyone else and goof off. Just because we have added responsibilities doesn't mean we should be excluded as members like everyone else

[Jeff]

Well perhaps it's a chance to get rid of the inactive mods...

The thing is though, with the exception of Dark-San, we really don't have any inactive mods.

[Weasel Overlord]

The thing is though, with the exception of Dark-San, we really don't have any inactive mods.

And didn't Dark-San ask to be demodded? *has forgotten*

[PancaKe]

It's good then, that we have hardly any inactive mods

Perhaps a reshufling of the forum would make for more active forums... or perhaps just kill off what activity there is... *thinking out loud, have not thought any of this through*

[Telume]

I personally have no problem with the mod-to-member ratio, though I do agree it LOOKS like we have too many. But really, there's no reason to demod anyone if they earned their position, if someone gets demodded due to inactivity then there will be hard feelings and that will transfer to anyone who is closely related to the person in question. I've seen it happen on some sites as well as on IRC. Don't want that.

However I DO recommend dropping the forums we do not use. Personally I see no need to have the archive forums displayed publicly. But that's just my opinion.

[PancaKe]

I can understand the fanfiction archive; but not sure about the others... That might just be cos of my own interests though...

It just seems like we have a lot of pokemon games forums with next to no posts. Maybe they should be all combined or something?

[Houndoom_Lover]

:3 The conversation went something like this:

Me: Will you join today pweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?
Her: *looks at site* Why are there so many mods?
Me: I dunno, cause?
Her: Yea, good luck with that.
Me: Is that a no?
Her: Shut up, I'm googling fish


:0 I dunno. It just brought it to my attention is all. Off-topic-> I want her to join the forum so bad though, she's a hoot and would prolly be banned in the first week for posting lewd duck pictures. I'm not saying we're excluding the mods, Missing, I'm just saying, would you do anything different if you weren't bright blue?

No one's punishing anyone. :0 The spray bottle is in the cupboard.

^w^ Yeah, like Rossymore said, it looks intimidating when you first start. And it still is now. When its all bright blue, looks like a meeting is going on. I wish some of those people would post, think of how blinging we would be XD

Thanks Pancake! I would love it if we could tie the forum and the site in better, I'm sure we all do. I'm a shameless advertiser, I don't even belong to half the sites I ad on X3

And thanks everyone else, I suddenly grew lazy and decided not to write names <- fail. :3 I like when we have seriousforrizzle conversations without people getting defesive. This is fun ^o^

I know, the mods are active, there's just not much activity. I never said it was just a moderating problem X3 That was just my thoughts on a quick fix of it. Long term, we'd get more numbers and return the unmodded back to mods, but if we can get twenty...ten or so we members right now, and keep 'em active, it wouldn't look so spondgy.

The fanfiction archives are a bitch to navigate through. They all are. But I like that idea! We really should consalidate <- right word? the forums better.

Like we could have a General Pokemon topic like we do, you open it up and it'll have the forum and two sister forums, anime and video game.

We'd have the Misc, which, you know, could be seperated into sister forms, like annoucenment (It's my birthday! We're getting married! I'm new) and chitter-chatter, then we'd have fan art, fan fiction, and rpg like it is and we'd have Others.

Like Other anime, other video games, other sites.

Games should go somewhere by Misc. I think. I don't know why the poor dear is down there.

And then the archives

And maybe a section for Suggestions and a Moderator area. Where members can't post but view the measages, like a forum sticky. I always thought this site would prosper by having that. And having a suggestion area, I wouldn't blog down Misc. with heavy topics like that...

How else would we do it?

How else should we intregrade the sites?

How else will we get new members?

:0 Q and A time! This is fun! ^w^

[RedStarWarrior]

With the site revival being worked on, I think it's good that we have a good number of active moderators on...

Besides, you'd be surprised at the amount of mod work we actually do. Half of the stuff you don't see because we are able to remove it a few seconds after it is posted (spambots are so annoying these days and more numerous).

[Houndoom_Lover]

I wonder what the site would look like if the mods took a break for one weekend. The contrast would be really interesting to see ^w^

Yeah, in retrospective, it is a good thing to have lots of mods. They just seem to be spread out...oddly. And with the lack of no-posistion members, it just looks odd.

Like I said, we need more blood pumping through our internet heart, the lungs and brain'll fail and the kidneys are going :0

[RedStarWarrior]

I wonder what the site would look like if the mods took a break for one weekend. The contrast would be really interesting to see ^w^

Yeah, in retrospective, it is a good thing to have lots of mods. They just seem to be spread out...oddly. And with the lack of no-posistion members, it just looks odd.

Like I said, we need more blood pumping through our internet heart, the lungs and brain'll fail and the kidneys are going :0

There are plenty of non-mod people at certain hours...

[Houndoom_Lover]

I know, but at certain hours, there are one or two members and like all the mods are on. Not saying its a bad thing, no, not at all. It just looks wonky at times. Like a mod invasion- right now, there's a good balance of people on, the last time I check. Ideally, it should always be like this :0

[Houndoom_Lover]

I rather like the idea of solidating...? Liquidating...? Reorder the forum order.

We need some way to get more people. I think...Merchandise. Tee Shirts.

[Blademaster]

Can I just stop and say really quick that I find it amusing how the only people against this are Mods and the ones that notice it/are willing to give it a shot are Houndy, Rossy, PancaKe, Telume... All people whose names aren't bolded. Funny that, innit?

[The_Missing_Link]

Can I just stop and say really quick that I find it amusing how the only people against this are Mods and the ones that notice it/are willing to give it a shot are Houndy, Rossy, PancaKe, Telume... All people whose names aren't bolded. Funny that, innit?

If you were a mod and spent years trying to keep the forums in order (even through a downslide in membership), would you want to be demodded? Of course the mods don't want to go

Now the restructuring part, that's a good idea. Condensing useless forums is fine

[Houndoom_Lover]

:0 There is an over representation in this thread as well...That's ironic! I think this thread just won an internet.

Angel Blossoms whining killed it and repremanding that followed killed it slight, let's try again.


What would make this forum a more even community so the newbies arn't scared?

Edit: Oh no! ML, you're quick.

How would we condence :3 I wanna see some solutions. And if we demodded people, we could just reestablish them once the site got moving. Its just a click of the mouse, not the end of the world.

[Heald]

Maybe if Mods didn't have their names in Bold and Light-Blue. I don't really feel the need to stand out from the crowd if I can help it.

Or maybe have a switch so if I need to make a post 'as a mod', my name can be bolded and in light-blue, just for that post.

[Roy Karrde]

I have to admit I do cringe a bit when I only see mods on, or when I see 5 mods and 1 member on. But I do not think the mods need to go, when you have decreasing membership you are going to some times have more mods than members in some instances. The mods shouldn't be punished for that as in many ways they do a thankless job, and this is coming from a mod who at many times thought about quitting from the stress.

Just saying "Well we need to trim down the mods" really is a slap in the face of alot of people that worked hard both as mods and members to bring you this forum that you enjoy. There is talk of restructuring the forums and adding improvements, and I don't want to say any more on that. But really guys, alot of mods put in alot of hours in the past few months when spam bots were hitting us one after the other.

[Houndoom_Lover]

I like that. Alot. If the Mods could switch themselfs on and off, no one would confuse their playing with offical moderator biz-nas, this would decrease the chances of miscommunication. And would defently lower the chances of fighting, if in the forum, the mods were just memebers. But when on offical duty *destroy spambots, posting award topics, ect, I guess* if be time to turn the Moderator mode on...

That's a real crackerjack idea. Would that be possible?

I put hours in this site, Roy, :0 And I'm not highlight/Bolded, nor do I want to be. Being a moderator isn't some kind of speical award, and the moderators need to stop viewing it as it is. Sites are moderated for upkeep and practicality.

They are the white blood cells. Not enough, you die. Too many, you die.


:0 Human body= Internet Pokemon forum

Trimming down for now wouldn't be a punishment, you'd just be reactivated in like a month or something when activity gets higher. It shouldn't be taken personally. Much like forum rules from other sites. Inactive members (30 days or less) are removed. Its not personal. Its just how you keep a ship sturdy.

Edit: I mean, I guess it's an award of some sort :0 I just view it as another way to help out. But if there are too many workers, doing the same thing. That's just what I was getting at.


Why can't you reveal things? There are like, ten completely active people on the site. I hate to sound pessimistic, but working in the shadows will only increase the problem at hand.

[Blademaster]

If you were a mod and spent years trying to keep the forums in order (even through a downslide in membership), would you want to be demodded? Of course the mods don't want to go

True as that may be, it makes you guys look selfish. Like you care more about your positions than your responsibilities.

Maybe if Mods didn't have their names in Bold and Light-Blue. I don't really feel the need to stand out from the crowd if I can help it.

Or maybe have a switch so if I need to make a post 'as a mod', my name can be bolded and in light-blue, just for that post.

I'm liking this idea. Especially because it'd separate the powerheads from the regular guys who just do what they have to when it's required. I guarantee that a few people would refuse to ever turn that bold text off.

[RedStarWarrior]

I like that. Alot. If the Mods could switch themselfs on and off, no one would confuse their playing with offical moderator biz-nas, this would decrease the chances of miscommunication. And would defently lower the chances of fighting, if in the forum, the mods were just memebers. But when on offical duty *destroy spambots, posting award topics, ect, I guess* if be time to turn the Moderator mode on...

That's a real crackerjack idea. Would that be possible?

No.

[Heald]

My idea isn't actually feasibly possible. We could go back to the system where Mods have 8 Pokeballs under their name. While you couldn't turn it off, it would at least keep their names the same colour and size as regular members so we wouldn't be so imposing.

Roy has banged the nail right on the head. This is a thankless job. I've received countless PMs from mods and members alike on grievances or how I should be doing my job or whining about doing something. The closest thing I've had to a thank you is Angel Blossom grudgingly accepting her infraction earlier, and of course H_L thanking me for cleaning up this thread.

[Houndoom_Lover]

Aaawww! We can't do it :0 That was such a good idea.

Awwr, really? That's because people are douchebags :0 I always say what I mean, tell you I don't mean it if I don't, say please and thank you. I really don't see how people could PM stuff. This is why we need a Suggestion area. It make the PMs lessen. We could have a modern FAQ. The one we have is abit outdated.

I like the colouration. Its just a pity there's so many of you XD Maybe we should go back to the old Pokeball system for a while.

I mean, we need to experiment. That's the only way we can find out if anything works...

[ChobiChibi]

Can I just stop and say really quick that I find it amusing how the only people against this are Mods and the ones that notice it/are willing to give it a shot are Houndy, Rossy, PancaKe, Telume... All people whose names aren't bolded. Funny that, innit?

I'm just gonna quietly point out that PancaKe once modded Fanfic >_>;

Tbh, I don't see a difference between mods and members. They do exactly the same as "normal" members, just keeping things clean and tidy, that's all. It shouldn't change their attitude towards the forum at all, making them powerhungry or whatnot...

*slips away back into the shadows*

[Houndoom_Lover]

I had no idea what tbh was for a good 15 seconds X3

Yeah, I like to view mods as brooms :3 Helpful broom people! And Supermods would be Vacuumes.... :0 What comes next? Adminstrators? Bleech. Donators can be Frebrees

I just think we need to experiment. Like open a mock forum or something and try shit out.

[Bear]

Can I just stop and say really quick that I find it amusing how the only people against this are Mods and the ones that notice it/are willing to give it a shot are Houndy, Rossy, PancaKe, Telume... All people whose names aren't bolded. Funny that, innit?

I'm against it *runz*

[Houndoom_Lover]

I thought you were a Mod Bear :0 When did you stop that? You lost weight!

Hahaha...I just realised. The members are the dust...or the floor is the mods are the brooms.

[Bear]

I'm the mod of the forest...rar

I don't understand your second sentence...