Acronon wrote:The main point imo is that the community needs to have some say as to how we are moderated and who it is that is doing the protecting of the community here on the forums.
The way I see it is simple;
Admins given their job by the owner
SuperMods selected and voted in by the Admins
Mods choosen by the community through elections
If a Mod does not handle their position well the SuperMods should then vote on the capability of the person to remain in the job, they fail that vote and a new election is held for that job.
Give the community some say in things again, please.
I understand what you are saying Acronon - and in a perfect world, I would agree with you. But the problem of voting in mods is as follows:
The forum is owned by Jason and he, in conjunction with the Admins have final say on the rules. These rules are to be enforced by the Admins/Supermods/Mods not because they are popular, but because they have been appointed to do the job because someone within the moderating team believes they have identified someone of the required temperament. You do not need to be popular in order to be a good mod - and from my experience, the best mods are generally those who aren't that popular - and, as I said before, I've seen a few past members of the mod team who are well known and/or popular (even respected in their position) who have made the most awful decisions, without consultation, based on personal opinion and against the interests of the community.
Take yourself back a couple of months or so, to the last round of ombudsman elections. The ombudsman is voted in by the community because the ombudsman IS a voice for the community, employed by the community to ensure that the moderators are going about their duties in an appropriate manner. In this respect I have no problem with the ombudsman being community appointed. However, remember what happened initially, because the original winner (winner by popularity, rather than ability) thought that they could simply walk into the role and start changing things and ordering people around at their whim? Chaos.
If we were to start voting for people to fill vacant mod positions in the same way, then undoubtedly similar things would happen. People would become mods based on their popularity, and not because they have the potential to be a good mod. We'd then end up with a few days of chaos because the voted in mod would be fired, and then his or her friends would cause an uproar on the forum. From that point on, their is no control, because no matter what the mod team (or anyone else) says about why the person was fired, there'll always be people who can not, and will not, accept it, simply because their friend has been usurped from their position.
On the other hand, if the mods are appointed by the mod team and are subsequently fired, then nobody can realistically say that they were not given a chance, as the very people who appointed them then fired them.
Like I said - in a perfect world I'd be happy with votes - but it's not perfect.
Ultimately it is Jason, as the owner, who says how the forum is to be moderated, and how those mods are to be selected - NOT ANYONE ELSE. The current system is run with his approval. If he (NOT ANYONE ELSE) wanted to change it, I would hope that he'd discuss it and listen to arguments for and against before making HIS decision. However, once that decision is made, then it is up to us to enforce it.
As for what someone else said about the forum's being a joke and better under previous rule....... Well, I've been involved in the mod team in some capacity more than most (maybe all) of the current and past teams, and can say with upmost certainty that the current team is fairer, more level headed and less prone to rash (and selfish) decisions than certain members of any other team (except maybe the original team from early-mid 05). People might not like that, or might not agree - but I tell it as I see it.