In my opinion Mike, you guys need to drop the ban hammer waaaaay more often then you do. In the heat of a discussion, sure people call each other "schmucks" and a warning in necessary. It is the people with user names like "SWTORwillfailzomgponies" that tend to have zero post count and start ridiculous topics just to start sh*t that should be hammered from the start. No warning, because they are here for one reason which is to start crap.
If you post enough around here eventually you will probably get banned for something. As sweet and loveable as I am, I have been banned twice in the years I've been visiting this site. Wear it as a badge of honor....you're edgie and dangerous, lol. Just don't do whatever you did again.
In my opinion Mike, you guys need to drop the ban hammer waaaaay more often then you do. In the heat of a discussion, sure people call each other "schmucks" and a warning in necessary. It is the people with user names like "SWTORwillfailzomgponies" that tend to have zero post count and start ridiculous topics just to start sh*t that should be hammered from the start. No warning, because they are here for one reason which is to start crap.
Honestly, we get it from both sides (we're too harsh/too lenient) which tells me we're probably on the right track, but we are always open to feedback and looking to improve. If someone has a blatant and offensive username we'll definitely deal with it, just report them or get in touch and we'll take a look.
I believe I got a temp ban here once for saying "too little too late" in regards to a FFXIV article about a content patch. Post enough and it'll happen.
pffft. I couldn't begin to count the times I've been banned here. Almost always due to calling out a troll.
Hell I got a warning for using one of the emoticons here, not too long ago.
But Mike is usually pretty fair about removing the ones that weren't deserved.
My real problem with this site, is that IMO it should be a place where gamers come to talk about the games they play. Not to bash every game on the market, belittle a game's fans, derail every thread into a flame war, and basically make it impossible for the various game's communities to function.
There is SO much negativity here. And if I were new to these kinds of game, I would think that every single one of them was terrible, just based on all the bashing, trolling, and mis-information that permeates every thread.
Yes....people who do not like a game for some reason probably have a right to say so....but not in every thread, over and over and over again. Say your peace, and move on to whatever game you DO enjoy.
Those of us who ENJOY these games get so frustrated with these people that we end up snappeing, and BAM, we get banned....while Mr. Troll goes ahead and makes / derails a few more threads.
My only suggestion to the rest of the MMORPG.com community is to take an active role in reporting these people. Let's help the mods clean this place up.
pffft. I couldn't begin to count the times I've been banned here. Almost always due to calling out a troll.
Hell I got a warning for using one of the emoticons here, not too long ago.
But Mike is usually pretty fair about removing the ones that weren't deserved.
My real problem with this site, is that IMO it should be a place where gamers come to talk about the games they play. Not to bash every game on the market, belittle a game's fans, derail every thread into a flame war, and basically make it impossible for the various game's communities to function.
There is SO much negativity here. And if I were new to these kinds of game, I would think that every single one of them was terrible, just based on all the bashing, trolling, and mis-information that permeates every thread.
Yes....people who do not like a game for some reason probably have a right to say so....but not in every thread, over and over and over again. Say your peace, and move on to whatever game you DO enjoy.
Those of us who ENJOY these games get so frustrated with these people that we end up snappeing, and BAM, we get banned....while Mr. Troll goes ahead and makes / derails a few more threads.
My only suggestion to the rest of the MMORPG.com community is to take an active role in reporting these people. Let's help the mods clean this place up.
Well Emailing them usually helps I have ran into a few problems including one where I just accidently posted a referal link in one of my posts about Aion from an AD I clicked on this site when I recently asked a question about what it had on the display page although I had no idea it was really a referal link but after emailing them now I know what to look for in such, so next time if I have a question like that I will take a snapshot and ask.
Honestly these days there isn't much good to say about a MMORPG's currently on the market, in the past like before 2005, I could go on a forum and say hey GuildWars is a decent MMO, but now most of these F2P games out there suck, or feel like the game company is getting greedy not to even talk about those with corrupted GM's, which is the reason I often sometimes respond negative most of the time in some games but once in awhile there are also some good things to say about an MMO, like SWTOR, I love the game for example, but I don't feel it is going to last that long myself, but only time will tell.
Trolling, honestly most Trolls don't care about being banned from forums, like for example lately ive seen a lot of posts on this site as on purpose Spam asking people to buy stuff like T-Shirts, and such, and the reason they don't care is most forums log by IP address, and ban by IP if a person makes multiple accounts but those can easily be gotten around which is why sometimes I come here to check on the latest MMO news and see the forums spammed which modreators actually seem to be doing their Job at removing them. * For more information about trolling, and bans I would look up rules of the internet.*
I try not to respond to every thread that is negative about a game I hate, but if its been maybe a few days a week, maybe a couple of weeks or a month, or if something catches my attention about it sometimes I will post something.
OverAll, I would say that this is still the best community site I have seen, and that for the most part moderators are really trying to do their best to to do their job, and if a mistake is made as posted in previous responses you can always email [email protected] and they usually respond within 24/48 hours I think it was, and they have been very helpful before, even with some errors on my part in som2e things like that referal link.
Think of it this way, try saying something very negative on the game company's forums, and usually the thread always gets locked, they don't even answer to it at times, and they dont even take it into consideration usually a lot of times on certain mmo game forums, at least here the game company can't just come in and lock it because they don't like the discussion about the topic.
My real problem with this site, is that IMO it should be a place where gamers come to talk about the games they play. Not to bash every game on the market, belittle a game's fans, derail every thread into a flame war, and basically make it impossible for the various game's communities to function.
There is SO much negativity here. And if I were new to these kinds of game, I would think that every single one of them was terrible, just based on all the bashing, trolling, and mis-information that permeates every thread.
Yes....people who do not like a game for some reason probably have a right to say so....but not in every thread, over and over and over again. Say your peace, and move on to whatever game you DO enjoy.
When I first came on here, tackling exactly this sort of thing was my main objective. So if you are seeing this sort of thing you guys really need to report it and/or let me know. Having a negative opinion is fine. Taking up residence in one of our subforums to continuously crap on a game is not.
My real problem with this site, is that IMO it should be a place where gamers come to talk about the games they play. Not to bash every game on the market, belittle a game's fans, derail every thread into a flame war, and basically make it impossible for the various game's communities to function.
There is SO much negativity here. And if I were new to these kinds of game, I would think that every single one of them was terrible, just based on all the bashing, trolling, and mis-information that permeates every thread.
Yes....people who do not like a game for some reason probably have a right to say so....but not in every thread, over and over and over again. Say your peace, and move on to whatever game you DO enjoy.
When I first came on here, tackling exactly this sort of thing was my main objective. So if you are seeing this sort of thing you guys really need to report it and/or let me know. Having a negative opinion is fine. Taking up residence in one of our subforums to continuously crap on a game is not.
I have reported people taking up residence in a subforum and making litterally thousands of negative posts but they have yet to be banned.
Yes I know there's a thick line between making an honest negative review of a game and trolling, but surely after hundreds or even thousands of negative posts about the same game should not be tolerated. I see this sort of thing on the MMORPG forums all the time.
Never trust a screenshot or a youtube video without a version stamp!
I also have to disagree with the OP. I'm a troll, and proud. I only troll asshats, but I'm still a troll. The fact is that this site can ban me whenever the hell they wish- it's THEIR site- they get to decide who is allowed to post to it. Furthermore, when "discussing" the few temporary bans I've recieved here with the moderators, I found them nothing if not fair. They really aren't a bunch of forty-year olds smoking weed and living in their mother's basement who like to punish the posters for talking smack about them or their board. You can criticize this site all you want-as long as its reasonable. This is also a business that sells advertising and it hurts business to have threads titled "MMORPG.com Sucks Donkey Balls and Worships Satan". They also have to keep topics on track as this IS the Internet and people love to derail threads and attack each other because it's much easier to "sack-up" when you're anonymous. I can only assume that the OP recieve a ban or a warning and is upset about it. If you don't want to get warned or banned, don't say offensive and stupid shit. Don't harrass other people, don't try to derail threads, don't post troll-bait, and above all- don't be a troll. (Sometimes the warning is worth the ban- Sorry, Mike B.)
My real problem with this site, is that IMO it should be a place where gamers come to talk about the games they play. Not to bash every game on the market, belittle a game's fans, derail every thread into a flame war, and basically make it impossible for the various game's communities to function.
There is SO much negativity here. And if I were new to these kinds of game, I would think that every single one of them was terrible, just based on all the bashing, trolling, and mis-information that permeates every thread.
Yes....people who do not like a game for some reason probably have a right to say so....but not in every thread, over and over and over again. Say your peace, and move on to whatever game you DO enjoy.
When I first came on here, tackling exactly this sort of thing was my main objective. So if you are seeing this sort of thing you guys really need to report it and/or let me know. Having a negative opinion is fine. Taking up residence in one of our subforums to continuously crap on a game is not.
I have reported people taking up residence in a subforum and making litterally thousands of negative posts but they have yet to be banned.
Yes I know there's a thick line between making an honest negative review of a game and trolling, but surely after hundreds or even thousands of negative posts about the same game should not be tolerated. I see this sort of thing on the MMORPG forums all the time.
I just reported a bunch of them in the last few minutes. All the mods have to do is check their post histories. It's plain as day.
MMORPG.com is 99 % opinion based. Subtract all the people who have negative and positive opinions about a game and you have....crickets chirping.
Also, if you go too heavy with the ban hammer you risk losing credibility in my opinion. For instance, some people freak out if a guy makes a few negative posts and people complain. But if he makes a few positive posts no one complains. After awhile it starts to look like critical thought is being censored in favor of adulation.
My real problem with this site, is that IMO it should be a place where gamers come to talk about the games they play. Not to bash every game on the market, belittle a game's fans, derail every thread into a flame war, and basically make it impossible for the various game's communities to function.
There is SO much negativity here. And if I were new to these kinds of game, I would think that every single one of them was terrible, just based on all the bashing, trolling, and mis-information that permeates every thread.
Yes....people who do not like a game for some reason probably have a right to say so....but not in every thread, over and over and over again. Say your peace, and move on to whatever game you DO enjoy.
When I first came on here, tackling exactly this sort of thing was my main objective. So if you are seeing this sort of thing you guys really need to report it and/or let me know. Having a negative opinion is fine. Taking up residence in one of our subforums to continuously crap on a game is not.
I have reported people taking up residence in a subforum and making litterally thousands of negative posts but they have yet to be banned.
Yes I know there's a thick line between making an honest negative review of a game and trolling, but surely after hundreds or even thousands of negative posts about the same game should not be tolerated. I see this sort of thing on the MMORPG forums all the time.
I just reported a bunch of them in the last few minutes. All the mods have to do is check their post histories. It's plain as day.
I honestly don't think the mods bother checking post history. If they did we wouldn't see nearly as many trolls as we've been seeing on mmorpg.com.
A quick glance at a users post history would show many of these people make 99% of there posts on the same game forum and all of those posts are negative. Hundreds and thousands of negative posts by the same people.
Never trust a screenshot or a youtube video without a version stamp!
MMORPG.com is 99 % opinion based. Subtract all the people who have negative and positive opinions about a game and you have....crickets chirping.
Also, if you go too heavy with the ban hammer you risk losing credibility in my opinion. For instance, some people freak out if a guy makes a few negative posts and people complain. But if he makes a few positive posts no one complains. After awhile it starts to look like critical thought is being censored in favor of adulation.
We aren't dictated by complaints, I wouldn't worry about that. Complaints just give us cause to investigate, our ultimate determination is based on our Rules of Conduct and moderation protocols.
We want people to share their opinions, negative and positive, that is why we have a discussion forum. However, we don't want the environment to become toxic, and all it takes are a few highly (and frequently) negative users taking up residence in a given subforum to completely disrupt the environment there. That is what we are looking to curb, and that is why you see "Notices of Increased Moderation" in a number of forums. These forums are considered problematic and given extra moderator attention. Even so, we still can't find everything and we ask you guys to help by reporting posts/threads. Action isn't taken simply because something is reported, as I mentioned earlier, it simply gives us cause to check it out.
We realize that as a discussion forum things sometimes get heated and users may have lapses of judgment now and then; we don't take harsh action against this sort of thing. However, for repeat offenders, we definitely don't want them sticking around if they aren't learning from their warnings and temp bans. Believe me, if you're willing to reconsider your behavior I am more than willing to work with you, but those who show complete disdain for our RoC and disregard their infractions will find themselves banned pretty quickly.
This sounds fair ,but is not the way it is acted upon.
We are seeing ONLY one sided moderation.I also see alot of ciriticsim of users and an ADMIN willing to take action,but i doubt any action ever agaisnt mods.
If there is a new game and 500 threads pop up and you discuss inside several of them even if you have an opinion ,unless it is one that agrees with the OP,it is treated differently.You are calling it excessive,but not calling on the excessive threads that do the same thing.
I hope the site admin is open to criticism after all you can't critisize users and unless you can accept it as well.
I noticed DRAMA building on this site a few years ago,i even put in a suggestion to use a word block to block out all the drama words like "hate" troll" "fanbois" ect ect.This advice was NOT adhered to.
Now what i have witnessed comes from the top.A few years back this site started throwing around a LOT of trolling accusations.What has happened from that point on ,is now we see it in almost EVERY single thread "your a troll" no "your a troll" "i'm not trolling,your trolling"..."your a hater" no your a hater.This was NOT a problem until this site started throwqing it around.Even if the admin is not willing to admit to guilt,the fact that these flame words like "troll" hater" ect continue to go on ,shows that nobody here cares.
Now the next phase in making this site run with yet more drama.The site admin posts "increased moderation",so now all the immature people who don't like another persons opinion just hit "report" and even the admin has been encouraging this.
Someone in here even said "i keep reporting over and over" and no bans.It sounds to me like a immture person TRYING to get people banned for whatever reason.Your site is encouraging this type of ongoing drama.
There are people losing jobs,struggling to pay bills,losing their homes,fighting wars ect ect,these are the importanrt things worth worrying about in life.This site has created DRAMA over the most immature and trivial things i have ever seen in my life.
Example if someone doesn't agree with you or posts they don't like a game,WHO CARES?Seriously what is the problem?The fact is if people are getting all tied up in a knot over trivial things,they are not mature people to begin with.This site is acting more like they support the immature approach,if you don't like someting just hit "report".
I belong to UFC.COM a mulit millionairre business all about thre fighting.If there was ever a place to have drama it is there,but yo uknwo what,yo udon't get admins encouraging people to hit report all the time,nobody even talks about it.People there just post and discuss with no reasons needed nor are they criticized,they just have fun with it all.I beleive because the drama is not encouraged like it is here.
I was actually thinking of forwarding this post to Craig because i feel this site has been going bad for a few years now and that it needs better direction.Yes it is my opinion,but there is reason i offered the word block suggestion a few years ago,i saw this DRAMA coming,i believe others have seen it as well.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
If a person feels a ban was unnecessary then they can contact the mod that issued the ban or [email protected] (I believe is the address) and try to get it sorted out. The mods are reasonable people when you actually talk to them. Its the internet and it can be difficult to illustrate your meaning and posts can eaisly come across as bashing, baiting, or trolling without the poster intending it to.
I think there already is a moderation of moderators in the sense that MikeB is the head mod and then there are other mods. If you feel you were wrongly banned and the mod that issued it just wont let up then you can go up the chain. If even he agrees with the ban then I would look back at the post and see what might have caused it.
I've recieved warnings on a few of my posts that at the time felt okay to post and all good, but upon further review (when I calmed down) I noticed I was trending it to "baiting."
This, I've had "infractions" that I felt weren't waranted, contacted the obove email and in a few hours the "infraction" was removed. It isn't that difficult to get things fixed if someone was the victim of an overzelous mod. It is not a problem that I have seen. The only "mod edits" I've noticed are when someone is attacking someone specifically and/or attacking a group of people (such as the thread where the op said that only the shallow-minded would like SWTOR).
This sounds fair ,but is not the way it is acted upon.
We are seeing ONLY one sided moderation.I also see alot of ciriticsim of users and an ADMIN willing to take action,but i doubt any action ever agaisnt mods.
If there is a new game and 500 threads pop up and you discuss inside several of them even if you have an opinion ,unless it is one that agrees with the OP,it is treated differently.You are calling it excessive,but not calling on the excessive threads that do the same thing.
I hope the site admin is open to criticism after all you can't critisize users and unless you can accept it as well.
I noticed DRAMA building on this site a few years ago,i even put in a suggestion to use a word block to block out all the drama words like "hate" troll" "fanbois" ect ect.This advice was NOT adhered to.
Now what i have witnessed comes from the top.A few years back this site started throwing around a LOT of trolling accusations.What has happened from that point on ,is now we see it in almost EVERY single thread "your a troll" no "your a troll" "i'm not trolling,your trolling"..."your a hater" no your a hater.This was NOT a problem until this site started throwqing it around.Even if the admin is not willing to admit to guilt,the fact that these flame words like "troll" hater" ect continue to go on ,shows that nobody here cares.
Now the next phase in making this site run with yet more drama.The site admin posts "increased moderation",so now all the immature people who don't like another persons opinion just hit "report" and even the admin has been encouraging this.
Someone in here even said "i keep reporting over and over" and no bans.It sounds to me like a immture person TRYING to get people banned for whatever reason.Your site is encouraging this type of ongoing drama.
There are people losing jobs,struggling to pay bills,losing their homes,fighting wars ect ect,these are the importanrt things worth worrying about in life.This site has created DRAMA over the most immature and trivial things i have ever seen in my life.
Example if someone doesn't agree with you or posts they don't like a game,WHO CARES?Seriously what is the problem?The fact is if people are getting all tied up in a knot over trivial things,they are not mature people to begin with.This site is acting more like they support the immature approach,if you don't like someting just hit "report".
I belong to UFC.COM a mulit millionairre business all about thre fighting.If there was ever a place to have drama it is there,but yo uknwo what,yo udon't get admins encouraging people to hit report all the time,nobody even talks about it.People there just post and discuss with no reasons needed nor are they criticized,they just have fun with it all.I beleive because the drama is not encouraged like it is here.
I was actually thinking of forwarding this post to Craig because i feel this site has been going bad for a few years now and that it needs better direction.Yes it is my opinion,but there is reason i offered the word block suggestion a few years ago,i saw this DRAMA coming,i believe others have seen it as well.
I agree with wizardy, and all the other old timers here. Wizardy has been here since 2004 and i like reading his opinions *waves franticly @ Wizzy yay go canada!
But I hate to say it, but I have too agree with the OP. I've been on this site for 6 1/2 years now and I feel that this site is overly moderated a little too much Now. I've been banned simply for stating an opinion. I was even being friendly about it. Notice my post count? yeah I'm afraid to even post anything here anymore because this site is run by people who like to power trip over the most rediculas, and childesh things. Even the moderators. It used to be a good site to visit and share opinions with other like minded gamers, but now it seems people are getting banned for just having an opinion.
I do like this site for information though. Thats all I use this site for. I hardly ever post though. I liked mmorpg.com back 4 years ago when the moderators were not so over zealous with their posting rules and banning people for things that shouldnt even be an issue.It's nice to have rules in place so we can keep out the rude people who are swearing at one another or post things that are not costructive, but its another thing to warn and bann users just for posting a constructive thread about a game they like or dislike.
I see a lot of people who used to post here are not even on this site anymore because most of them are banned or don't even bother using this site anymore. Hmm I wonder?
Maybe ill get banned now just for replying to this thread.
This sounds fair ,but is not the way it is acted upon.
We are seeing ONLY one sided moderation.I also see alot of ciriticsim of users and an ADMIN willing to take action,but i doubt any action ever agaisnt mods.
If there is a new game and 500 threads pop up and you discuss inside several of them even if you have an opinion ,unless it is one that agrees with the OP,it is treated differently.You are calling it excessive,but not calling on the excessive threads that do the same thing.
I hope the site admin is open to criticism after all you can't critisize users and unless you can accept it as well.
I noticed DRAMA building on this site a few years ago,i even put in a suggestion to use a word block to block out all the drama words like "hate" troll" "fanbois" ect ect.This advice was NOT adhered to.
Now what i have witnessed comes from the top.A few years back this site started throwing around a LOT of trolling accusations.What has happened from that point on ,is now we see it in almost EVERY single thread "your a troll" no "your a troll" "i'm not trolling,your trolling"..."your a hater" no your a hater.This was NOT a problem until this site started throwqing it around.Even if the admin is not willing to admit to guilt,the fact that these flame words like "troll" hater" ect continue to go on ,shows that nobody here cares.
Now the next phase in making this site run with yet more drama.The site admin posts "increased moderation",so now all the immature people who don't like another persons opinion just hit "report" and even the admin has been encouraging this.
Someone in here even said "i keep reporting over and over" and no bans.It sounds to me like a immture person TRYING to get people banned for whatever reason.Your site is encouraging this type of ongoing drama.
There are people losing jobs,struggling to pay bills,losing their homes,fighting wars ect ect,these are the importanrt things worth worrying about in life.This site has created DRAMA over the most immature and trivial things i have ever seen in my life.
Example if someone doesn't agree with you or posts they don't like a game,WHO CARES?Seriously what is the problem?The fact is if people are getting all tied up in a knot over trivial things,they are not mature people to begin with.This site is acting more like they support the immature approach,if you don't like someting just hit "report".
I belong to UFC.COM a mulit millionairre business all about thre fighting.If there was ever a place to have drama it is there,but yo uknwo what,yo udon't get admins encouraging people to hit report all the time,nobody even talks about it.People there just post and discuss with no reasons needed nor are they criticized,they just have fun with it all.I beleive because the drama is not encouraged like it is here.
I was actually thinking of forwarding this post to Craig because i feel this site has been going bad for a few years now and that it needs better direction.Yes it is my opinion,but there is reason i offered the word block suggestion a few years ago,i saw this DRAMA coming,i believe others have seen it as well.
I agree with wizardy, and all the other old timers here. Wizardy has been here since 2004 and i like reading his opinions *waves franticly @ Wizzy yay go canada!
But I hate to say it, but I have too agree with the OP. I've been on this site for 6 1/2 years now and I feel that this site is overly moderated a little too much Now. I've been banned simply for stating an opinion. I was even being friendly about it. Notice my post count? yeah I'm afraid to even post anything here anymore because this site is run by people who like to power trip over the most rediculas, and childesh things. Even the moderators. It used to be a good site to visit and share opinions with other like minded gamers, but now it seems people are getting banned for just having an opinion.
I do like this site for information though. Thats all I use this site for. I hardly ever post though. I liked mmorpg.com back 4 years ago when the moderators were not so over zealous with their posting rules and banning people for things that shouldnt even be an issue.It's nice to have rules in place so we can keep out the rude people who are swearing at one another or post things that are not costructive, but its another thing to warn and bann users just for posting a constructive thread about a game they like or dislike.
I see a lot of people who used to post here are not even on this site anymore because most of them are banned or don't even bother using this site anymore. Hmm I wonder?
Maybe ill get banned now just for replying to this thread.
I'll be glad to discuss your infraction history with you privately, but you were never banned for simply having an opinion. I can say that much. And you won't be banned for posting an opinion in this thread either. No one is warned or banned for posting constructive threads about games they like or dislike. If for whatever reason something like this happens, it is a mistake, and I'll be the first to correct it.
1) This is "your" site and you can do what you want with it... AKA ban/block/delete and otherwise censor everything you don't agree with. Basically turning the site into another useless location for biased information.
OR
2) Moderate the moderators. They should be controlling the "troll" population and useless posting of hate and such. I've seen multiple people banned (temp) for posting opinions that don't agree with the mods on this site.
Its ok to state that you've seen multiple people banned for having opinions that don't agree with the mods, but you haven't given any concrete examples. What opinion did the moderator have and what opinion did the user have?? How did the user state his opinion?? Thats key, because if I say "This game !@$@!#$ !@#$!@#$!@ $#%#$ sucks @$@#@#%@" Then I support the ban because it isn't constructive.
I lurk on this forum rather too much, and I don't even see that much interference from the moderators, and for the most part the interference is in the form of a mild rebuke.
Your forum is the biggest thing I like next to some news, because they seemed to be independent.
Today a mod deleted a reasonable thread and deleted my post in another thread, both were not EA/Bioware friendly. I at least am aware of your rules, so why did a mod delete not only my post, but some interestig view on points in the ToR-thread?
I am aware of your forum rules. In fact I advertise your website since many years in my country. But this behaviour shocked me a bit.
So, OP thinks mods should ban people who have dissenting views(labeled as haters and trolls), and due to his unhealthy infatuation with certain games he may lose his cool and get warned/temp-banned and that is just not acceptable.
Do I have it about right? If this website attracted any more shills I would seriously have to stop using the forums. If you want to go to a website that will ban dissenters go to a fan website or the main website. Don't turn this into a shill haven.
By and large the moderation here is "fair and balanced" on those occasions when I felt it was over the top MikeB was willing to review the situation and in some situations (not all) agree with me.
Few people post as much as I, yet I've only had a couple of temp bans in all that time. I've learned to moderate my own behavior, staying away from attacking posters, and even being careful how I disagree with another's opinion.
There's a big difference in saying "people who believe in A aren't thinking the situation through carefully" vs "only a flipping idiot could possibly believe in A" with the latter likely to be moderated.
Chose your words carefully and you'll rarely run afoul of the moderators here.
Agreed. I mean this is it right here, I don't see how this is even arguable. I've criticized games especially the beloved DCUO (I know it wasn't beloved by most of the forum goers here but it sure was beloved by the editors around here). I didn't insult anyone or even the game itself. You can criticize without insulting (even the game).
By and large the moderation here is "fair and balanced" on those occasions when I felt it was over the top MikeB was willing to review the situation and in some situations (not all) agree with me.
Few people post as much as I, yet I've only had a couple of temp bans in all that time. I've learned to moderate my own behavior, staying away from attacking posters, and even being careful how I disagree with another's opinion.
There's a big difference in saying "people who believe in A aren't thinking the situation through carefully" vs "only a flipping idiot could possibly believe in A" with the latter likely to be moderated.
Chose your words carefully and you'll rarely run afoul of the moderators here.
You ever notice that you and maybe 1 or 2 people are the only ones who reach over 8000 posts and have been here for a long time?
You ever notice that the other 95% of the people who've been here since <2006 have less than 2000 posts? If they have that many or more, generally they are in fact Mods themselves.
Coincidence?
Nope. Getting a ban on this site is simply inevitable.
MMORPG.com is 99 % opinion based. Subtract all the people who have negative and positive opinions about a game and you have....crickets chirping.
Also, if you go too heavy with the ban hammer you risk losing credibility in my opinion. For instance, some people freak out if a guy makes a few negative posts and people complain. But if he makes a few positive posts no one complains. After awhile it starts to look like critical thought is being censored in favor of adulation.
Pretty much this. What else is there to do in a forum but post opinions? Do some of the mods get a bit trigger happy? Sure. Heck I got one for posting a humorous remark about a game and I received a temp ban. But I appealed the ban and it was reversed so no big whoop.
As far as the people asking that posters that camp a certain game forum and just post negative comments be banned; as long as no rules are being broken, what do you care? I think it is petty and shows a heck of a lot of insecurity regarding your favorite game...
A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true...
Comments
In my opinion Mike, you guys need to drop the ban hammer waaaaay more often then you do. In the heat of a discussion, sure people call each other "schmucks" and a warning in necessary. It is the people with user names like "SWTORwillfailzomgponies" that tend to have zero post count and start ridiculous topics just to start sh*t that should be hammered from the start. No warning, because they are here for one reason which is to start crap.
If you post enough around here eventually you will probably get banned for something. As sweet and loveable as I am, I have been banned twice in the years I've been visiting this site. Wear it as a badge of honor....you're edgie and dangerous, lol. Just don't do whatever you did again.
Honestly, we get it from both sides (we're too harsh/too lenient) which tells me we're probably on the right track, but we are always open to feedback and looking to improve. If someone has a blatant and offensive username we'll definitely deal with it, just report them or get in touch and we'll take a look.
I believe I got a temp ban here once for saying "too little too late" in regards to a FFXIV article about a content patch. Post enough and it'll happen.
My theme song.
pffft. I couldn't begin to count the times I've been banned here. Almost always due to calling out a troll.
Hell I got a warning for using one of the emoticons here, not too long ago.
But Mike is usually pretty fair about removing the ones that weren't deserved.
My real problem with this site, is that IMO it should be a place where gamers come to talk about the games they play. Not to bash every game on the market, belittle a game's fans, derail every thread into a flame war, and basically make it impossible for the various game's communities to function.
There is SO much negativity here. And if I were new to these kinds of game, I would think that every single one of them was terrible, just based on all the bashing, trolling, and mis-information that permeates every thread.
Yes....people who do not like a game for some reason probably have a right to say so....but not in every thread, over and over and over again. Say your peace, and move on to whatever game you DO enjoy.
Those of us who ENJOY these games get so frustrated with these people that we end up snappeing, and BAM, we get banned....while Mr. Troll goes ahead and makes / derails a few more threads.
My only suggestion to the rest of the MMORPG.com community is to take an active role in reporting these people. Let's help the mods clean this place up.
Well Emailing them usually helps I have ran into a few problems including one where I just accidently posted a referal link in one of my posts about Aion from an AD I clicked on this site when I recently asked a question about what it had on the display page although I had no idea it was really a referal link but after emailing them now I know what to look for in such, so next time if I have a question like that I will take a snapshot and ask.
Honestly these days there isn't much good to say about a MMORPG's currently on the market, in the past like before 2005, I could go on a forum and say hey GuildWars is a decent MMO, but now most of these F2P games out there suck, or feel like the game company is getting greedy not to even talk about those with corrupted GM's, which is the reason I often sometimes respond negative most of the time in some games but once in awhile there are also some good things to say about an MMO, like SWTOR, I love the game for example, but I don't feel it is going to last that long myself, but only time will tell.
Trolling, honestly most Trolls don't care about being banned from forums, like for example lately ive seen a lot of posts on this site as on purpose Spam asking people to buy stuff like T-Shirts, and such, and the reason they don't care is most forums log by IP address, and ban by IP if a person makes multiple accounts but those can easily be gotten around which is why sometimes I come here to check on the latest MMO news and see the forums spammed which modreators actually seem to be doing their Job at removing them. * For more information about trolling, and bans I would look up rules of the internet.*
I try not to respond to every thread that is negative about a game I hate, but if its been maybe a few days a week, maybe a couple of weeks or a month, or if something catches my attention about it sometimes I will post something.
OverAll, I would say that this is still the best community site I have seen, and that for the most part moderators are really trying to do their best to to do their job, and if a mistake is made as posted in previous responses you can always email [email protected] and they usually respond within 24/48 hours I think it was, and they have been very helpful before, even with some errors on my part in som2e things like that referal link.
Think of it this way, try saying something very negative on the game company's forums, and usually the thread always gets locked, they don't even answer to it at times, and they dont even take it into consideration usually a lot of times on certain mmo game forums, at least here the game company can't just come in and lock it because they don't like the discussion about the topic.
When I first came on here, tackling exactly this sort of thing was my main objective. So if you are seeing this sort of thing you guys really need to report it and/or let me know. Having a negative opinion is fine. Taking up residence in one of our subforums to continuously crap on a game is not.
I have reported people taking up residence in a subforum and making litterally thousands of negative posts but they have yet to be banned.
Yes I know there's a thick line between making an honest negative review of a game and trolling, but surely after hundreds or even thousands of negative posts about the same game should not be tolerated. I see this sort of thing on the MMORPG forums all the time.
Never trust a screenshot or a youtube video without a version stamp!
I also have to disagree with the OP. I'm a troll, and proud. I only troll asshats, but I'm still a troll. The fact is that this site can ban me whenever the hell they wish- it's THEIR site- they get to decide who is allowed to post to it. Furthermore, when "discussing" the few temporary bans I've recieved here with the moderators, I found them nothing if not fair. They really aren't a bunch of forty-year olds smoking weed and living in their mother's basement who like to punish the posters for talking smack about them or their board. You can criticize this site all you want-as long as its reasonable. This is also a business that sells advertising and it hurts business to have threads titled "MMORPG.com Sucks Donkey Balls and Worships Satan". They also have to keep topics on track as this IS the Internet and people love to derail threads and attack each other because it's much easier to "sack-up" when you're anonymous. I can only assume that the OP recieve a ban or a warning and is upset about it. If you don't want to get warned or banned, don't say offensive and stupid shit. Don't harrass other people, don't try to derail threads, don't post troll-bait, and above all- don't be a troll. (Sometimes the warning is worth the ban- Sorry, Mike B.)
A witty saying proves nothing.
-Voltaire
I just reported a bunch of them in the last few minutes. All the mods have to do is check their post histories. It's plain as day.
MMORPG.com is 99 % opinion based. Subtract all the people who have negative and positive opinions about a game and you have....crickets chirping.
Also, if you go too heavy with the ban hammer you risk losing credibility in my opinion. For instance, some people freak out if a guy makes a few negative posts and people complain. But if he makes a few positive posts no one complains. After awhile it starts to look like critical thought is being censored in favor of adulation.
I honestly don't think the mods bother checking post history. If they did we wouldn't see nearly as many trolls as we've been seeing on mmorpg.com.
A quick glance at a users post history would show many of these people make 99% of there posts on the same game forum and all of those posts are negative. Hundreds and thousands of negative posts by the same people.
Never trust a screenshot or a youtube video without a version stamp!
We aren't dictated by complaints, I wouldn't worry about that. Complaints just give us cause to investigate, our ultimate determination is based on our Rules of Conduct and moderation protocols.
We want people to share their opinions, negative and positive, that is why we have a discussion forum. However, we don't want the environment to become toxic, and all it takes are a few highly (and frequently) negative users taking up residence in a given subforum to completely disrupt the environment there. That is what we are looking to curb, and that is why you see "Notices of Increased Moderation" in a number of forums. These forums are considered problematic and given extra moderator attention. Even so, we still can't find everything and we ask you guys to help by reporting posts/threads. Action isn't taken simply because something is reported, as I mentioned earlier, it simply gives us cause to check it out.
We realize that as a discussion forum things sometimes get heated and users may have lapses of judgment now and then; we don't take harsh action against this sort of thing. However, for repeat offenders, we definitely don't want them sticking around if they aren't learning from their warnings and temp bans. Believe me, if you're willing to reconsider your behavior I am more than willing to work with you, but those who show complete disdain for our RoC and disregard their infractions will find themselves banned pretty quickly.
EDIT: And yes, we do check post history.
This sounds fair ,but is not the way it is acted upon.
We are seeing ONLY one sided moderation.I also see alot of ciriticsim of users and an ADMIN willing to take action,but i doubt any action ever agaisnt mods.
If there is a new game and 500 threads pop up and you discuss inside several of them even if you have an opinion ,unless it is one that agrees with the OP,it is treated differently.You are calling it excessive,but not calling on the excessive threads that do the same thing.
I hope the site admin is open to criticism after all you can't critisize users and unless you can accept it as well.
I noticed DRAMA building on this site a few years ago,i even put in a suggestion to use a word block to block out all the drama words like "hate" troll" "fanbois" ect ect.This advice was NOT adhered to.
Now what i have witnessed comes from the top.A few years back this site started throwing around a LOT of trolling accusations.What has happened from that point on ,is now we see it in almost EVERY single thread "your a troll" no "your a troll" "i'm not trolling,your trolling"..."your a hater" no your a hater.This was NOT a problem until this site started throwqing it around.Even if the admin is not willing to admit to guilt,the fact that these flame words like "troll" hater" ect continue to go on ,shows that nobody here cares.
Now the next phase in making this site run with yet more drama.The site admin posts "increased moderation",so now all the immature people who don't like another persons opinion just hit "report" and even the admin has been encouraging this.
Someone in here even said "i keep reporting over and over" and no bans.It sounds to me like a immture person TRYING to get people banned for whatever reason.Your site is encouraging this type of ongoing drama.
There are people losing jobs,struggling to pay bills,losing their homes,fighting wars ect ect,these are the importanrt things worth worrying about in life.This site has created DRAMA over the most immature and trivial things i have ever seen in my life.
Example if someone doesn't agree with you or posts they don't like a game,WHO CARES?Seriously what is the problem?The fact is if people are getting all tied up in a knot over trivial things,they are not mature people to begin with.This site is acting more like they support the immature approach,if you don't like someting just hit "report".
I belong to UFC.COM a mulit millionairre business all about thre fighting.If there was ever a place to have drama it is there,but yo uknwo what,yo udon't get admins encouraging people to hit report all the time,nobody even talks about it.People there just post and discuss with no reasons needed nor are they criticized,they just have fun with it all.I beleive because the drama is not encouraged like it is here.
I was actually thinking of forwarding this post to Craig because i feel this site has been going bad for a few years now and that it needs better direction.Yes it is my opinion,but there is reason i offered the word block suggestion a few years ago,i saw this DRAMA coming,i believe others have seen it as well.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
This, I've had "infractions" that I felt weren't waranted, contacted the obove email and in a few hours the "infraction" was removed. It isn't that difficult to get things fixed if someone was the victim of an overzelous mod. It is not a problem that I have seen. The only "mod edits" I've noticed are when someone is attacking someone specifically and/or attacking a group of people (such as the thread where the op said that only the shallow-minded would like SWTOR).
I agree with wizardy, and all the other old timers here. Wizardy has been here since 2004 and i like reading his opinions *waves franticly @ Wizzy
yay go canada!
But I hate to say it, but I have too agree with the OP. I've been on this site for 6 1/2 years now and I feel that this site is overly moderated a little too much Now. I've been banned simply for stating an opinion. I was even being friendly about it. Notice my post count? yeah I'm afraid to even post anything here anymore because this site is run by people who like to power trip over the most rediculas, and childesh things. Even the moderators. It used to be a good site to visit and share opinions with other like minded gamers, but now it seems people are getting banned for just having an opinion.
I do like this site for information though. Thats all I use this site for. I hardly ever post though. I liked mmorpg.com back 4 years ago when the moderators were not so over zealous with their posting rules and banning people for things that shouldnt even be an issue.It's nice to have rules in place so we can keep out the rude people who are swearing at one another or post things that are not costructive, but its another thing to warn and bann users just for posting a constructive thread about a game they like or dislike.
I see a lot of people who used to post here are not even on this site anymore because most of them are banned or don't even bother using this site anymore. Hmm I wonder?
Maybe ill get banned now just for replying to this thread.
I'll be glad to discuss your infraction history with you privately, but you were never banned for simply having an opinion. I can say that much. And you won't be banned for posting an opinion in this thread either. No one is warned or banned for posting constructive threads about games they like or dislike. If for whatever reason something like this happens, it is a mistake, and I'll be the first to correct it.
Its ok to state that you've seen multiple people banned for having opinions that don't agree with the mods, but you haven't given any concrete examples. What opinion did the moderator have and what opinion did the user have?? How did the user state his opinion?? Thats key, because if I say "This game !@$@!#$ !@#$!@#$!@ $#%#$ sucks @$@# @#%@" Then I support the ban because it isn't constructive.
I lurk on this forum rather too much, and I don't even see that much interference from the moderators, and for the most part the interference is in the form of a mild rebuke.
I self identify as a monkey.
Your forum is the biggest thing I like next to some news, because they seemed to be independent.
Today a mod deleted a reasonable thread and deleted my post in another thread, both were not EA/Bioware friendly.
I at least am aware of your rules, so why did a mod delete not only my post, but some interestig view on points in the ToR-thread?
I am aware of your forum rules. In fact I advertise your website since many years in my country. But this behaviour shocked me a bit.
So, OP thinks mods should ban people who have dissenting views(labeled as haters and trolls), and due to his unhealthy infatuation with certain games he may lose his cool and get warned/temp-banned and that is just not acceptable.
Do I have it about right? If this website attracted any more shills I would seriously have to stop using the forums. If you want to go to a website that will ban dissenters go to a fan website or the main website. Don't turn this into a shill haven.
One of your mods is running wild today.
Edit: something was deleted or edited again
Agreed. I mean this is it right here, I don't see how this is even arguable. I've criticized games especially the beloved DCUO (I know it wasn't beloved by most of the forum goers here but it sure was beloved by the editors around here). I didn't insult anyone or even the game itself. You can criticize without insulting (even the game).
It's about as inevitable as winning the lottery.
Pretty much this. What else is there to do in a forum but post opinions? Do some of the mods get a bit trigger happy? Sure. Heck I got one for posting a humorous remark about a game and I received a temp ban. But I appealed the ban and it was reversed so no big whoop.
As far as the people asking that posters that camp a certain game forum and just post negative comments be banned; as long as no rules are being broken, what do you care? I think it is petty and shows a heck of a lot of insecurity regarding your favorite game...
A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true...