The recent trend down-modding is picking up steam. I find it especially irritating that it is primarily used to punish sarcastic people or to punish one person in particular. Deerboy seems to be the main target right now. If you disagree with a person, please discuss it rather than using your mod points vindictively.

How do you other forum users feel?

Moderators?

Karma??

BAH!

In Response to zamphir (#10145):

What I don't like about this sort of moderating is it may discourage some sarcastic people from posting. Deerboy is an exception to this, and it's seems to have paid off since he went from Wage Slave to Cold War Supervillain in a couple hours. Tor is one who has taken that sort of moderation as a message that this community doesn't appreciate sarcasm.

In Response to Oedipa_Maas (#10149):

Oh sure. I totally agree.

But still, BAH!

This is just another Internet message board. It's not like it's real life or anything.

Someone thinks something I posted is Obnoxious, or Stupid? So what!

I only began to notice this trend when I was meta-moderating, but I just assumed that the whole modding process was still working, as all I had to do was mark unfair if the post didn't deserve down modding. I remember shelling out 6 unfairs in one metamod sitting purely because of (blatently unfair) excessive down-mods.

I dunno who is getting the mod points to do this, and I don't know if it effecting me (I've stay reasonably steady, so maybe I've been up-modded and down-modded at the same time) but definately deerboy has been contributing a great deal lately and doesn't deserve what he's getting.

Perhaps this can be something that could be moved to premium only status...!

In Response to zamphir (#10150):

Someone thinks something I posted is Obnoxious, or Stupid? So what!

or hypocritical?

In Response to kornz (#10152):

brave man ...

As it happens, I had a few mod points just before this blew up. I saw Deerboy's post, and modded it up as "Super Genius". Partly because it was, but partly because I thought "some arse with mod points won't get it, and he'll be modded down".

Sad that I was right.

It is something that I've noticed on every Slash-like forum I've seen. Those who post have a different perception than those who moderate. Seems to me that those who can't be bothered to contribute also can't be bothered paying enough attention to work out whether posts are actually relevant and appropriate.

I guess there are various solutions that could be tried (drop the can't post and moderate the same thread rule, make those with high karma more likely to get mod points, make those with high post counts more likely to get mod points, etc.) but in the end Z is right. Who cares? So some arse with mod points doesn't like you. It ain't like he's actually in the room and you have to talk to him.

Cheers,
Graham

In Response to albionsoft (#10155):

You guys can say who cares all you like, but what if ones level of self esteem is completely dependent on the status level one can achieve in the only social circle one has been able to successfully communicate in?

I mean what, for example, would happen if that one person who relies on this status has to drop an entire level of sentience just because of a single post?

In Response to tynic (#10153):

I think the word you are both looking for is 'ironic'.

In Response to unFalln (#10151):

I only began to notice this trend when I was meta-moderating
Same here, it seemed to start about a few weeks ago, and then I received a couple of down mods right in a row; which is fine, no big deal, but damn, leave deerboy and tor alone. They've posted some great stuff, and really contributed to the forums.

I dunno who is getting the mod points to do this
It could possibly be some of the new folks that have been showing up in the forums recently, or lurkers who have yet to show themselves; since I rarely receive mod points while I'm posting on a regular basis.

Perhaps this can be something that could be moved to premium only status...!
Or maybe a karma derived feature, like starting a new thread.

Looks like all the down-mods for Deerboy were from one individual who got lucky in the mod points lottery -- they only have 12 posts themselves.

I've corrected most of the instances of incorrect modding. If you spot this sort of abuse again, feel free to email me.

If I see the particular individual doing this again, I will personally take him outside and beat him with a switch.

In Response to jon (#10163):

I will personally take him outside and beat him with a switch.

At 240 lbs fully loaded, I recommend using this switch [cisco.com].

Sure, you could save a lot of money going with a cheaper manufacturer, but why skimp on quality?

An almost-unrelated note: I only have a few posts to my name and a whopping karma of two points, yet I find that every so often I end up with mod points. This seems unusual to me, but I appreciate it. I usually use one or two of them before they go back into the pool. I can't recall having down-modded but one post (a troll by an anon poster).

I would be curious to know how the board members feel about my use of mod points. That is: is there any simple way to see the results of the meta-moderation of my work? If I saw that 75% of the board was giving me the thumbs-down on what I call "clever," I'd seriously reconsider my boycott of all those Gallagher shows. Likewise, if I saw that most people thought my opinions were valid (oh, sweet validation!), it might propel me into starting my own community access cable show about the Meaning Of Lif.

In Response to introp (#10165):

The more you post, the less you moderate.

So I use no moderation at all in my posts.

the Meaning Of Lif.
Lif? Wasn't she a minor Norse goddess, responsible for the care and feeding of the farmers that grew the oats that Sleipner ate?

Aw, you guys gonna make me cry. Thanks for all of the support, and all. Although annoyed, I also found it kind of funny. And trust me, my feelings remain intact. I just prefer that people that think I'm obnoxious or whatever have the nuts to tell me. So I can make fun of them. Over and over again.

What I don't like about this sort of moderating is it may discourage some sarcastic people from posting. Deerboy is an exception to this, and it's seems to have paid off since he went from Wage Slave to Cold War Supervillain in a couple hours.

As Jon can tell you, pretty much nothing can stop me from being sarcastic. However, I prefer ironic, because sarcasm is meaner. In fact, downmodding my good stuff will just make me stonger!

However, like me or not, it has taken me several months (not hours, unless you are on god time) to move up to Cold War Supervillian. To be honest, I have put some work into some pretty damn funny (to me) posts. Anyway, Cold War Supervillian is my favorite distinction. And I probably deserve some downmodding for posting so many typos.

See, Jon, I can still screw everything up.

XXX
OOO
XXX

Deerboy

In Response to deerboy (#10167):

(not hours, unless you are on god time)

Yes...yes I am on god time.

Perhaps it wasn't that drastic of a jump. With the concentrated downmodding, counter-balancing upmodding, and metamoderation your status jumped around a lot in a short period of time.

In Response to zamphir (#10166):

My apologies. 'Tis properly spelled The Meaning Of Liff [amazon.com]. The extra 'f' was in the loo for a bit.

In Response to unFalln (#10156):

You guys can say who cares all you like, but what if ones level of self esteem is completely dependent on the status level one can achieve in the only social circle one has been able to successfully communicate in?

Then that person needs more help than we can possibly give them here. Luckily, I seriously doubt they exist.

Cheers,
Graham

In Response to albionsoft (#10177):

*poof*

In Response to zamphir (#10157):

*raises eyebrow* Ironic man?

... no, just doesn't seem to fit ... can't imagine Kornz was being ironic ...

Unless he was trying to make it hip [goats.com].

Hey: new superhero.
Ironic man! Expert at sarcasm! Defender of offensively hip humour! Master of the subtle innuendo!

Anyone want to nominate for the spot?