Even though there’s no requirement to do this, I’m going to give a general example of how this works, in the case of ‘questionable’ situations, especially regarding ‘shock’.

1. A questionable post is made, and a player reports it. (Alternatively, a Moderator, seeing something that’s borderline, chooses to report the post.)

2. This report generates a ticket in a private discussion area, with links to the thread, the post, etc.

3. Discussion among Moderators begins, sometimes quickly if more than one of us is online, sometimes slowly if not.

4. Usually, at least 3 Mods have given their input and come to a consensus before a decision is made. If it’s a particularly tricky situation, we might even email each other, so those of us online but offsite can weigh in.

5. Once a decision been made, we usually do one of two things:

A) We Tubmail, Warn, and/or Ban the user, depending on the offense, and then close the ticket.

B) We decide no public action is needed, and simply close the ticket.

We don’t usually contact the player that reported the issue, for a number of reasons. Primarily, because it would take up too much time to do that with each issue. Because there are a LOT of reported posts that we review, and decide were well within acceptable boundaries, so there’s no need to take action. In fact, we probably only take public action on about 5% of all reported posts, because we get so many that just really aren’t a violation.

So, the belief that the Mods do not communicate is a gross misconception. On rare occasion, there might be some miscommunication between Moderators. But the vast majority of the time, there is excellent communication amongst the mods. We use TMs, the Mod Forum, the above mentioned Ticket Area (which keeps a record of all those generated tickets, so we can search for them as needed if it’s been closed), emails (both group & individual), and one a few occasions, I’ve even used gTalk with another Mod for instant communication.

As far as requiring a Senior Mod’s or Admin’s approval before enacting a ban, that’s simply not feasible, and completely unreasonable. In the case of an Admin, that means you’d rather have ET pulled away from working on a content project like Episode 3 or the upcoming new gameplay interface so that he can take a look at a picture and decide if it’s ‘shock’ or not. That’s why he recruited Moderators; so he can focus on his primary objective, and leave this stuff to someone else. It’s basic delegation. The general doesn’t inspect each and every rifle in his army. That’s what he has officers & platoon sergeants for.

In the case of a ‘Senior Mod’, they have lives as well. They can’t be on 24/7, and if it’s a grey area, and 3 other Mods come to a consensus, then it’s very, very likely that the Senior Mod would have come to the same decision. And if for any reason he disagrees when he shows up later? We have this cool function called ‘Unban User’. In the rare case were a Mod Call is overruled by a Senior Mod/Admin, we can use that function.

And finally, this ‘uproar’ about Moderators overstepping their bounds? I’m just not seeing it. I mean, I see the ‘uproar’, if that’s what were calling all of the ‘Unban XXX’ threads, but I don’t see the ‘overstepping bounds’. You may disagree with the decision of a Moderator, but that’s definitely not the same thing as that Moderator ‘overstepping’ any boundaries. Most bans are for very clear cut reasons, specifically listed in the Rules Article. Additionally, as stated above, there’s usually Mod discussion on grey areas, and if a Mod consensus deems a particular action is needed, then that’s pretty much within ‘the bounds’. Add in the fact that the rules are very clear about Mod authority, and it turns out that the Mods are more restrained rather than overly punitive.

We have plenty of private discussion about certain ban/not ban offenses. We will not be holding public discussion about them.

This forum, even the ‘clean’ side of the forum, is more permissive and forgiving than any other forum I’ve ever been to. I’ve been ‘permabanned’ at one site simply for saying, “That’s a really stupid idea,” even though my post went on to explain why I disagreed with it. The ‘reason’ was ‘for calling someone stupid’. My response was, “Um, I was attacking the idea, not the person,” and the reply was, “Same thing. You’re still banned.” Hell, the very idea of a Temp-Ban is inconceivable at most forums. Usually, you may get a few warnings, but after than, you’re gone, and it usually takes an Act Of God to get unbanned.

So, let’s get back on track. What changes or modifications to the rules would you like to see?