Behind the Mods

Written by: Caesara

Hey folks. I know a lot of people always wonder what it is the mods do when they're just idling around, or what goes through their heads when they find a topic that really shouldn't exist. And so I've taken the liberty of asking. :) Today's mods are robot, ScottNak, and Fiddelysquat. Their answers to the various questions are in the colors of their names.

What do you do in your spare time on PPT—non-modding things?

I love reading the debate board and the Anime/Manga board. I like seeing what people are watching, reading, or just what is getting under their skin at any given time.

Well, there's the Werewolf game that I hold near and dear to myself. And just cruising around Consoles/TV board for fun stuff like that.

I post around the boards. I mostly hang out in Misc Disc, Ye Olde PPT Gallery, Entertainment, and the Library. I also watch you sleep. :)

What sites do you most commonly surf, besides PPT?

I tend to use Livejournal.com a lot. I also go to a lot of manga/book related sites. Mostly "fandom" sites that have fan art, fan fictions, or random discussions and theories about the stories I enjoy.

A lot of web comics (CAD, Reallife, VGcats) then other forums (NCW, NoHomersClub) and of course other gaming sites (Neopets, KOL)

I play Gaia Online, but lately I've been hanging out at the suta-raito.com oekakis, both Advanced and Intermediate. I also hang out in the Neopets Help Chat. I like iharthdarth.com, and I check homestarrunner.com for new Strongbad e-mails.

How long were you on PPT before you became a mod?

I think I used PPT for about a year or two before becoming a mod. I'm not sure of the exact amount of time, though, because I left for about 6-8 months after first joining.

I'm not sure exactly when... I THINK it was August of last year... So about a year.

I TOTALLY forget. A couple months I think. I have horrible long term memory.

How long have you been on PPT, total?

Again, probably the same amount of time. I'm a fairly new moderator. ><

Since 6/20/03... meaning... about 2yrs2mos.

Pretty much as long as Cyanna, which is about 3 years. Good Lord, I've never stuck around any place so long. I love it here.

How do you decide things like giving out a strike, locking a topic, etc?

I just try to use my better judgment. Most things don't offend me the way they would some people, so I try to look at what would offend a larger group of people. If someone is behaving in a manner that just isn't appropriate and they know better, i.e. they have been warned about such things in the past or they have been a long time member and know the rules fairly well, then I may award a strike. Honestly, though, I really hate giving them and have not issued very many.

It always depends on the situation. Wanton acts of disruption... recurring offences... extremely rude behavior... that throws a red flag. The bigger the flag... the more serious the result. Etc. Etc. Etc...

It depends:

For locking a topic, if it's something that should obviously be locked (spam, repeat board, etc.) we just go ahead and lock it on our own. If it's something that needs an eye kept on it because it has the potential to get nasty, we just give everybody a heads up so they watch it for a bit, or we see if we all agree that it should be locked right off the bat to prevent future issues.

For editing double posts, that's just something you do by yourself. No need to alert the press. If it's a spammer however, you PM them if they're just new and ignorant of the rules, or you snag a GM or Admin if they're spamming out of malice. If no GM's or Admins are online, you mod what boards you can and try to warn the members. Scary stuff.

Awarding a strike can either be clean cut or require more than one opinion, but you HAVE to let everybody know when a strike is awarded. Things like foul language or knowingly posting bad content are a strike, right off the bat. But for something like a personal insult or something that has the least bit of grey area, it's talked over before action is taken. Members are always PMed and talked to about their behavior if it's a first time offence or just a behavioral problem. Strikes are NOT just handed out like ribbons at a politically correct elementary field day. We all make sure that the strike is well deserved.

What does the Mod CP look like? Do you use it a lot?

To me the Mod CP looks a lot like the profile edit options, only without the text boxes. I don't use it all that often, but I tend to lag when I want to move a topic and one of the other mods gets to it before me. Hmph. ><

Eh? I dunno what you're talking about... *shifty eyes*

Every moderator sees this at the bottom of the page. deletes things, moves things, locks things, and splits things. Pretty self-explanatory.

As for the Global Moderators panel, I won't screenshot it for the sake of dangling SOMETHING over your heads (and the fact that I don't trust the lot of you with other people's IP addresses). Evil or Very Mad But I will tell you what I can do:

-Add words to the filter

-Edit profiles

-See who is on what board

-Ban people

-Disallow names

-Prune old topics

-Remove privileges (PM, signature, etc.)

How do you remember the various rules of the different boards?

Majority of the boards have the same basic rules, so it's more along the lines of having to remember the few unique rules for each board as well as the general rules.

Well, after working in them day in day out... its easy to recall them. Also... it's right there for you to check in case you happen to forget. Not too hard of a thing to do!

Well, since I mostly hang out in Misc (after all, it IS my designated section), the rules are basically common sense. No swearing, name-calling, hair pulling, etc. I would tear my hear out working on the Graphics board because they have to remember LOADS of stuff, like file sizes and who's requesting what and all that. Maybe they're used to it, maybe they have mutated brains twice the size of the average human's.... I don't know.

What's the most annoying thing a member could do that would ultimately bug you enough almost to want to strike them?

I don't tolerate people being just plain rude to each other, hateful towards someone or something that they don't understand, or anything else of the sort.

Nothing unless it was truly disrupting *zee rules* of the forum.

TOE THE LINE. You know the type. Always being snide in a way you can't really call them on... It drives me nuts. It's like when we're on a car trip and my sister wiggles her fingers in front of my face and says, "I'M NOT TOUCHING YOU, AHAHAHAH!" They may not be touching you, but you want to punch them anyway cause they're doing it on purpose, the sneaks.

How do you like to split topics?

I have never had the pleasure of splitting a topic.

Well... when it reaches 10... you stop and make a new one... few exceptions go up to 20 where looking back on things have no true value (such as the battledome's lab ray results)

I know all the other mods are going to tease me (they make fun of my lunchbox already), but I just lock them and start another one, like with PPT Pictures. I always manage to mess up splitting. If it's one you have to actually split, I just pretend not to see it until someone else gets it.

For the sake of fun; how fast do you type?

Quite fast, actually. Somewhere between 90-115 WPM on any given day. Go me! ;D

Pretty durn fast. I couldn't put a number to it... It’s fast. Trust me on that. :P

120 WPM. Oh yeah. :D

And there you have it, folks. A bit of information on a few of our friendly neighborhood yah-… cough. Moderators. :) Look for it next issue for more answers from some different mods... -whisks away-