Complaint about inconsistant modding in the soccer forum . .

Drumpot

I would like to make a complaint about the inconsistant modding on the soccer forum. This is an issue I have with thanks 4 the fish.

I refer to http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056607578&page=13

This is the feedback thread of this forum. Firstly, the response of the Mod (calling me a whiner or whinger) is not in anyway helpful in the discussion and quite insulting. I asked them to explain their inconsistant modding and the fact that they were ignoring their own rules, in favour of singling me out and they insulted me. Is this the kind of modding that boards.ie encourages ?


That aside, I refer to the following match thread:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056615825&page=30


I was pulled up for calling John Terry a douche for getting sent off. This is in breach of forum charter (for insulting a player) which I have no problem getting pulled up on. My problem is that these kind of posts are seldom yellow carded (look in any liverpool or United match thread and you will find infinitely worse comments unchallenged and not disciplined).

Apparantly somebody reported me for the post I made. It wasnt actually intended to insult the player anymore then saying the were stupid for being sent off (as I was not trolling this thread which my posts will verify and I cannot be said to be a troublemaker on the forum) and I do not see the differance between saying a player is a douche or stupid in the interpretation of the forum guidelines.

Can you honestly say that there arent many posts that are worse then what I was pulled up for ? This affair has left a very bitter taste as I was enjoying the match, the banter and the reading/writing until I got pulled up for one of the softest posts in this match thread. .

I Pm'd the mod to ask why I was getting a warning when so many other posts (right beside my post) that had far worse insulting language towards the same player were being ignored to which they replied that I shouldnt get angry for being pulled up for breaking the rules of the forum. I wasnt angry for being pulled up for breaking the rules, I was angry because I was singled out of a match thread that has plenty of easily findable infractions way way worse then mine. Not being able to go through them all is not an excuse (because its not hard to find them).

I dont believe I could be accused of being a regular trouble maker in the forum. I have had my fair share of arguments and banter moments, but I believe that while the mod can hide behind the forum charter, the spirit of "treating everybody the same" is non existant in my case.

I dont want to spend my time in the soccer forum reporting people for silly player insults or infractions that are harmless, but why should my experience be ruined by a child who simply cannot take any negative comments on their team/players or somebody who just likes to report me/certain fans whenever they get the slightest chance to do so. I dont believe my post deserved a warning if all other posts on that match thread are considered and I dont believe it takes that long to find posts (from page 29 on - assuming mods dont start cleaning it up after this complaint) that are far far worse. Two wrongs do not make a right, but I think in the context of my posts in the match thread (I was up for chelsea and disgusted Terry was sent off!) that my post couldnt of been less offencive to any fan of any club.

I dont envy being a mod on boards.ie but a little bit of respect, when I try to reason with a mod, isnt asking alot . .

Spear

Moved from DRP as this isn't DRP related.

Shield

Hello Drumpot.

Can I refer you to read the thread out at the top of the forum, which is not hard to locate, as it says:

(¯`·._.· BEFORE YOU START A NEW THREAD - READ THIS ·._.·´¯)

The reason we have it like that is to try and avoid people coming in to complain, without having followed the procedure, which is:

1. First PM the moderator you are having difficulty with, or who you feel is wrong
2. If you still feel the moderator is incorrect, or you are not happy with their answer, you must then inform that moderator's CMod with the issue, so they can investigate and make a decision.
3. If you are still unhappy with the CMod's decision, you may start a thread in here for the site administrators to see, and the thread should include all relevant material for the administrators to make a decision, which is final and does not have a right of appeal.

When you have followed that procedure, please post on this thread. If this thread is closed after being idle for 14 days, it will be moved into the Archive, but you will be allowed to start a new thread in here and refer to this thread without any penalty for doing so.

For now, seeing that you went to the moderator and you are not happy, you must take the issue to that moderator's Catergory Moderator, also known as a CMod, and try to resolve the issue with them.

This thread will remain "In Progress" until it's either resolved, or 14 days have elapsed without any further updates, by which time it will be closed BUT as I said above, you may start a new thread in here if you have spoken with the CMod and you are still unhappy with the outcome. The CMods in the Soccer forum are Dub13, Sparks and the drifter.

Drumpot

Thanks for the response shield but I am not really sure what more I can do.

I PM'd the mod and spoke to them in the feedback thread and they told me to stop whinging. I have been a mod of a football forum before and put up with an awful lot of crap, but I never abused my position or took a "respect my authority, put up and shut up" approach if somebody felt they were being harshly treated in comparison to others.

There is no point in trying to reason with a mod who has that blatant, disrespectful approach to modding. And continually quoting the soccer forum charter had nothing to do with my grievance (I was giving out about inconsistancy, not "whinging" about getting an infraction!).

The forum is mod'd inconsistantly, possibly because it seems that people who report things will get others in trouble for very tame offences and if you dont get easily offended (and as such you dont report people) you are treated on a differant level. It might not be intentional inconsistancy on the mods part, but thats exactly what is happening.

In many threads (you only need look through some of them on the soccer forum) there are instances of things much much worse then the warning I got and they arent that difficult to find, yet nothing.

I got a warning for calling John Terry a douche for getting sent off. I wasnt calling him a thug or a **** (many people were calling him everything under the sun) and the context of my post was clearly dissapointment at his idiotic actions to getting sent off (posts before and after will verify I actually wanted Chelsea to win even though I had money on Barca!).


While I accept its difficult for mods to differentiate between people intentionally looking to insult a player, to people who are just showing dissapointment, I think when a person at least makes a good case like mine it should be considered. Insulting a player is not allowed, but calling a player an idiot/douche/plonker for getting stupidly sent off is hardly politically incorrect in the football world.

I dont want the forum to be modded more strictly, I want it modded more consistantly and for some common sense to be shown (which it clearly wasnt in my case). I made a few suggestions in the feedback thread (not saying they were perfect/feasible), but there doesnt seem to be much of an appetite to try anything new (at least nothing has been said publically to suggest they will try anything differant other then to appoint more mods).

The only reason I have posted here is because I want to continue to be part of the Soccerforum community (even if I dont have any friends there), but like when I felt the last soccerforum I used to mod/frequent, it feels like the boards forum isnt interested in trying to improve how its administered. Somebody mentioned the fact that it is supposed to be an adult forum for adult discussions and while I dont expect curses or aggresive insults to be allowed, its modded like a school for children.

Shield

You need to send a PM to any one of the CMods that I've named below. They will investigate what you have said, and will post their opinion on this thread.

Choose a CMod from the list I provided above, and send them a PM respectfully asking them to view this thread, to investigate the issue you have raised.

This is part and parcel of their job so I don't imagine that they will be annoyed you have asked them to review this thread. It's their job. Just remember to be polite and respectful. It does happen that CMods have ruled against moderators' decisions or behaviour, and we have even had moderators be de-modded in some cases.

I don't get involved in cases at all. I just help people along with the procedure, and let people know there's a thread about them if they have not noticed in here already.

What you do now is up to you.

Drumpot

Thanks for your help shield.

the drifter

Talking to Drumpot via PM on this now. Thanks Shield