Miller:
I suppose I should give an actual explanation. It’s Halloween, after all, and I guess my costume this year is a competent moderator.
The moderators are expected to follow the same general rules as the other posters on the board. This includes not insulting posters outside the Pit - but, just like any other poster, also includes the ability to insult other posters so long as it’s in the Pit - and, of course, it’s within the specific guidelines of the BBQ Pit forum. So long as a moderator is posting as a poster, you are free to respond to them in kind. If you want to go back in that thread and call me an asshole, you are absolutely free to do that, and you will receive absolutely no sanction or punishment for sassing me just because I’m a mod.
The exception, here, is that if I am posting as a mod, you can’t back talk me. (Well, you can, but that’s when I start handing out warnings.) The flip side of this, obviously, is that I can’t insult people when I’m acting as a moderator, which is something I almost never screw up. I make a point to use [Moderating] tags for anything I post as a moderator, so you know when it’s safe to call me an asshole or not.
I’m aware that there’s an argument out there that moderators should sacrifice some of their freedom as members when they become moderators. Pit mods shouldn’t get to insult users, GD mods shouldn’t take side in debates, and so forth. The logic there’s really strong. One problem: finding people willing to take the job under those conditions. We’re all volunteers, here - except Idle Thoughts , who’s technically a sort of indentured servant. I got placed as the Pit mod because that’s one of my favorite forums on the board. If a condition of being a mod there is that I can’t participate in the forum, then I don’t want the job. And the fact that it’s my favorite forum is part of what makes me most suitable to moderate that forum. It’s been suggested that maybe mods don’t mod forums they like, but I think I’d be a horror show if placed in charge of MPSIMS, and I hate to think what having to mod the Pit would do to poor IvoryTowerDenizen .
So, you get the present situation, where mods are allowed to be just as socially unaccpetable to you in the Pit, as you get to be to everyone else. It’s a bit of a hack but it’s served us pretty well since… ever, really. Anyway, if you have any other rules-related questions, I’m happy to answer them here. If you’d prefer to resort to swearing at each other, I am at your service in the thread in question.
And yet there are Mods who refrain from personal attacks in the Pit, so they are not impossible to find.
Colibri
October 30, 2016, 8:48pm
22
And, unfortunately, we’re not able to put any posters on ignore.
Except that none of those moderators are willing to moderate the Pit, which was Miller’s point.
hajario
October 30, 2016, 9:31pm
23
Hey everybody, it looks like we found our new Pit Mode.
Mods can’t put regular posters on Ignore. Regular posters can’t put Mods on ignore. Can Mods put other Mods on Ignore?
Apparently not. I’m destined to continue to see IvoryTowerDenizen ’s posts, unfortunately.
Someone talking in here? Hmmmm.
Riemann
October 30, 2016, 11:06pm
27
So, has a mod ever pitted a mod?
Are Mods allowed to date each other?
Only if they use one of these is that allowed.
Asimovian and Miller keep it up and we’ll see.
kopek
October 30, 2016, 11:49pm
30
I take it the winner strips the loser of his/her jackboots as a trophy?
HeXen
October 31, 2016, 12:13am
32
That’s nothing. I was once at a forum where a moderator had edited my post to make it look like I was saying something else which was against the rules, then another moderator banned me for a few days. lol
Colibri
October 31, 2016, 12:17am
33
Mods aren’t allowed to Pit anyone. (That is, start a Pit thread about another poster. We can participate in ones that already exist.)
Making Pit threads that aren’t about members of these boards is okay, though.
Fenris
October 31, 2016, 1:01am
35
Mods have had public fights, but not for years. The two that come to mind (and I’m not taking any sides) are:
Dex/Euty
The Jillgat/Melin one was from like 2001 and the Euty/Dex one was maybe a couple years later so it hasn’t happened for a while.
Riemann
October 31, 2016, 1:02am
36
So, technically, a Mod can ban someone, then start a Pit thread about what an asshat they were!
I feel like you guys really want to see a mod fight!
Fenris:
Mods have had public fights, but not for years. The two that come to mind (and I’m not taking any sides) are:
Dex/Euty
The Jillgat/Melin one was from like 2001 and the Euty/Dex one was maybe a couple years later so it hasn’t happened for a while.
In truth, we’re generally very collegial. It’s an era of good feelings.
There was this huge mod fight in the Pit, made by another mod (Cajun Man) against an admin (Dex) , does that count? It was between all of the main mods and admins at the time…
…made on April 1st.
Riemann
October 31, 2016, 1:14am
40
I think that pretty much goes without saying. We were just trying to figure out the right forum and the ground rules.
