The forum specialists ask for advice
Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 1:51 am
http://www.aceofspades.com/forums/showt ... y-Cohesion
Titanium wrote: Hey guys,This made me like Titanium. But I still hate Sally/Sniped/Lods/MrRoberts301 (my freaking word he's the worst)
Before I start, I'm making this topic on the understanding that any contributions will be civil and respectful, it's O.K to disagree but I think we can all agree that flaming each other out or being rude isn't going to be the best way forward.
It's clear that there is a divide between certain users and groups within the Forums, particularly Forum Specialists & Community users, and even specific members of those teams and I feel it's something we all need to address in a sensible, rational manner. I'm making this topic off of my own back as I feel it's important we get things right and you have the opportunity to express your thoughts & feelings in a transparent, more relaxed environment.
A lot of the conflict within the community is regarding the 'enforcement' of the rules and how we go about enforcing them, which I get can be confusing and even frustrating when it seems like we're making mountains out of mole hills or superfluously actioning topics/posts which don't really require it, and I agree - there have been some occasions that it may have been best just to leave a certain post or topic, but we can't always get it right & it's important lessons are learned where possible & improvements are made, so with immediate effect I'm making a commitment, a pledge if you will, that means intervention will be used only if absolutely necessary, otherwise I'll be pushing for active engagement & interaction instead.
Generally, a Forum Specialist will try and spend their time assisting other players, welcoming new people or offering technical/game support, however, there's also the moderation side of things which we do want to avoid so we can continue to focus our efforts on making the community a more vibrant place to be, that's the absolute honest truth which I know some people will think is a joke, but it's key this is made clear so we all know where we stand.
It's important to remember that Forum Specialists are volunteers & act under the guidance of Jagex and follow clear moderation guidelines in a hidden forum - it's also worth mentioning that our actions are reviewed on a daily basis so if we ever act out of character or not within the guidelines, you can be assured we'll be made aware, whilst I must admit (for me personally) none of my actions have been brought into question, I can assure you such a process exists, and if it didn't, I'd be the first asking for it.
The majority of the time we moderate based on our own judgement & experiences, with the guidelines set forth by Jagex being our foundation, although a lot of the time it is dealing with offensive content, inappropriate advertising or off-topic posts, but again I agree with some people in saying we can step back a bit when it comes to off-topic posts, if it's just the odd one or two, I'm happy for that to slide with no reminder, and I'll be passing this onto the guys internally to hopefully make it a consistent view.
Another point which is sometimes raised is the way in which we lock topics - I feel that the majority of time the locks are perfectly legitimate and necessary, although there are some cases where it may have been more appropriate to keep it open, so I'll be pushing for a 'only lock as a last resort' type attitude within the team too, which I hope will be applied with immediate effect.
I'm sure some of you agree that it can feel like a real 'us' and 'them' type mentality around the forums, which I don't think anyone in particular is to blame for, but it's something I'm keen to eradicate, and so I'll be taking a more light hearted approach when it comes to people who're curious as why I took X, Y or Z action against a post/topic and I trust my fellow specialists will follow suit too, as I can't imagine anything more frustrating than someone's post being hidden or actioned upon and them not being able to ask question about it if they don't understand the initial reason given.
Finally, I'd love to get some forum competitions set up around here, where we can look into giving away some cool prizes, AoS merchandise (if it's introduced!) and work with the guys over at Zone of Aces to set up some cool give aways and possibly even get some cool rewards such as Jagex Store credit, this might take a little while to set up, but I'll be working on getting something up next month, but I'd love to hear your ideas & suggestions as to what we could kick off with?
This isn't necessarily an 'everything goes' type topic, but I'm happy for certain rules to be slightly more relaxed in this particular topic, and I hope this has given some insight to the way we work and our thought processes - I'll be answering any questions I can you guys have so please, do get asking!
I hope to see some really constructive posts on this topic, and I'm keen to read about your own experiences/opinions too and build on them so that going forward we're a stronger, more united community.
Best wishes,
Titanium (AoS noob)
