22 replies to this topic

[DeadParrot]

Have you ever wondered how threads are deleted, locked, moved or "cleaned" up? Well, there is a very little known (judging by the number of posters) and very hidden thread called MOD Summon. You can find it by this path: Board index -->Off Topic --> Mod Summon. You can also follow this link: http://forum.fallens...hp?f=10&t=89489 You will find that Off topic does not allude to, in its description, reference to the MOD Summon thread. There you will find posts that request the above actions. If you've ever wondered why a thread or forum post was acted upon as above, you may find the reason there.

The new Report Bio button could have a similar area where one could go to see exactly who and why their bio was locked and deleted. Perhaps an opportunity to defend a bio would be a fair thing to include as well.

Hope you found this topic useful.

DeadParrot

[wil72]

Have you ever wondered how threads are deleted, locked, moved or "cleaned" up? Well, there is a very little known (judging by the number of posters) and very hidden thread called MOD Summon. You can find it by this path: Board index -->Off Topic --> Mod Summon. You can also follow this link: http://forum.fallens...hp?f=10&t=89489 You will find that Off topic does not allude to, in its description, reference to the MOD Summon thread. There you will find posts that request the above actions. If you've ever wondered why a thread or forum post was acted upon as above, you may find the reason there.

The new Report Bio button could have a similar area where one could go to see exactly who and why their bio was locked and deleted. Perhaps an opportunity to defend a bio would be a fair thing to include as well.

Hope you found this topic useful.

DeadParrot

I was going to make a suggestion along these lines but unfortunately the original topics were prematurely locked.

I think this could act as a safety measure as much as anything as it may prevent players from acting rashly and report a bio that has no need to be reported.

[hbklives]

Good post. More people should be aware of that thread.

[wil72]

Have you ever wondered how threads are deleted, locked, moved or "cleaned" up? Well, there is a very little known (judging by the number of posters) and very hidden thread called MOD Summon. You can find it by this path: Board index -->Off Topic --> Mod Summon. You can also follow this link: http://forum.fallens...hp?f=10&t=89489 You will find that Off topic does not allude to, in its description, reference to the MOD Summon thread. There you will find posts that request the above actions. If you've ever wondered why a thread or forum post was acted upon as above, you may find the reason there.

The new Report Bio button could have a similar area where one could go to see exactly who and why their bio was locked and deleted. Perhaps an opportunity to defend a bio would be a fair thing to include as well.

Hope you found this topic useful.

DeadParrot

Good post. More people should be aware of that thread.

What about your thoughts on "report bio" having a similar area. Do you think that would be a sensible approach?

[Mister Doom]

What about your thoughts on "report bio" having a similar area. Do you think that would be a sensible approach?

The ability to 'face your accuser' is very good in theory. I think however it would just lead to people being afraid to report bio's, people getting upset with people for reporting their bio's (legit reasons or no) and general unrest.

At the end of the day it's probably best to just leave it anonymous, if the bio is fine it'll be left alone and (hopefully) a warning given to the reporter.

[DeadParrot]

What about your thoughts on "report bio" having a similar area. Do you think that would be a sensible approach?

The ability to 'face your accuser' is very good in theory. I think however it would just lead to people being afraid to report bio's, people getting upset with people for reporting their bio's (legit reasons or no) and general unrest.

People should be afraid to report a bio, censorship is scary as hell. There is already unrest with pvp vs. levelers. Tattling would send the FS world around the bend, leading to walk-offs - guaranteed.

At the end of the day it's probably best to just leave it anonymous, if the bio is fine it'll be left alone and (hopefully) a warning given to the reporter.

It's the hopefully part that is concerning. Who deems a bio ban-worthy, deletion-worthy...'cause it sure isn't just the devs that raise a stink to get a bio banned. We've all seen perplexing judgements. Truly, the squeeky wheel gets the oil, prove me wrong. The only was to eliminate subjectivity regarding this issue is to ban topics, for example, no religious connotations, no sexual connotations, no cheeky language, etc...but is this what the player base wants? A plain white/vanilla game? Yawn.

[Mister Doom]

People should be afraid to report a bio, censorship is scary as hell. There is already unrest with pvp vs. levelers. Tattling would send the FS world around the bend, leading to walk-offs - guaranteed.

People should be scared of wrongly reporting bio's, definitely. What I'm talking about is someone who is genuinely offended by a bio full of 'four letter words', reporting said bio, having to go through some kind of 'public trial' and then receiving grief from the player who had the bio/their friends for doing nothing particularly wrong...

[wil72]

What about your thoughts on "report bio" having a similar area. Do you think that would be a sensible approach?

The ability to 'face your accuser' is very good in theory. I think however it would just lead to people being afraid to report bio's, people getting upset with people for reporting their bio's (legit reasons or no) and general unrest.

At the end of the day it's probably best to just leave it anonymous, if the bio is fine it'll be left alone and (hopefully) a warning given to the reporter.

"If the bio is fine it will be left alone". This most definitely should be the case. However I fear the introduction of the "report bio" makes it to easy for players to report perfectly fine biographies. Would a 13 year old fully understand my bio? I doubt it. Would they find it offensive? Maybe. I don't know and there lies the problem I think. If there is a platform to defend your biography and know who was making the complaint it may prevent willy-nilly reporting.

[hbklives]

Have you ever wondered how threads are deleted, locked, moved or "cleaned" up? Well, there is a very little known (judging by the number of posters) and very hidden thread called MOD Summon. You can find it by this path: Board index -->Off Topic --> Mod Summon. You can also follow this link: http://forum.fallens...hp?f=10&t=89489 You will find that Off topic does not allude to, in its description, reference to the MOD Summon thread. There you will find posts that request the above actions. If you've ever wondered why a thread or forum post was acted upon as above, you may find the reason there.

The new Report Bio button could have a similar area where one could go to see exactly who and why their bio was locked and deleted. Perhaps an opportunity to defend a bio would be a fair thing to include as well.

Hope you found this topic useful.

DeadParrot

Good post. More people should be aware of that thread.

What about your thoughts on "report bio" having a similar area. Do you think that would be a sensible approach?

Not really. As Mr. Doom stated, we don't need a "public trial" on display for the whole community. Not only that, but sometimes HCS can't release why they suspend or ban a player due to the Data Protection Act (I think it's that, would have to check.)

So, it'd just be easier to keep it to the Report Bio link only.

"If the bio is fine it will be left alone". This most definitely should be the case. However I fear the introduction of the "report bio" makes it to easy for players to report perfectly fine biographies. Would a 13 year old fully understand my bio? I doubt it. Would they find it offensive? Maybe. I don't know and there lies the problem I think. If there is a platform to defend your biography and know who was making the complaint it may prevent willy-nilly reporting.

If your biography has nothing that is truly offensive, then it would be a moot point. Besides, this new update was to protect from scams and unneeded flaming, along with other things. Not "His biography talks about something I don't like personally, so I'll try to get him banned." HCS knows better then that. Give them some credit..

[Mongo]

If your bio is ever reported and then removed, rightly or wrongly in your opinion, then surely the fastest and most direct way to raise a complaint or ask for an explanation for the removal, would be to contact HCS support? They seem pretty quick in their response times. I am also sure that common sense will always prevail, and unless seriously offensive then the staff will probably understand it is harmless fun

[wil72]

Have you ever wondered how threads are deleted, locked, moved or "cleaned" up? Well, there is a very little known (judging by the number of posters) and very hidden thread called MOD Summon. You can find it by this path: Board index -->Off Topic --> Mod Summon. You can also follow this link: http://forum.fallens...hp?f=10&t=89489 You will find that Off topic does not allude to, in its description, reference to the MOD Summon thread. There you will find posts that request the above actions. If you've ever wondered why a thread or forum post was acted upon as above, you may find the reason there.

The new Report Bio button could have a similar area where one could go to see exactly who and why their bio was locked and deleted. Perhaps an opportunity to defend a bio would be a fair thing to include as well.

Hope you found this topic useful.

DeadParrot

Good post. More people should be aware of that thread.

What about your thoughts on "report bio" having a similar area. Do you think that would be a sensible approach?

Not really. As Mr. Doom stated, we don't need a "public trial" on display for the whole community. Not only that, but sometimes HCS can't release why they suspend or ban a player due to the Data Protection Act (I think it's that, would have to check.)

So, it'd just be easier to keep it to the Report Bio link only.

"If the bio is fine it will be left alone". This most definitely should be the case. However I fear the introduction of the "report bio" makes it to easy for players to report perfectly fine biographies. Would a 13 year old fully understand my bio? I doubt it. Would they find it offensive? Maybe. I don't know and there lies the problem I think. If there is a platform to defend your biography and know who was making the complaint it may prevent willy-nilly reporting.

If your biography has nothing that is truly offensive, then it would be a moot point. Besides, this new update was to protect from scams and unneeded flaming, along with other things. Not "His biography talks about something I don't like personally, so I'll try to get him banned." HCS knows better then that. Give them some credit..

And whats wrong with a good flame now and again, absolutely nothing as long as the language is ok and it doesn't become personal.

Why is it a moot point? Do you know how someone will interpret a persons bio?

"Reporting Scamming" I fully agree with and would have no problem with "report bio" if it was to be used for this only. I don't think flaming was ever mentioned in the original topic though.

As for giving HCS credit that's not really the point. The button will already have been pressed.

[DeadParrot]

Have you ever wondered how threads are deleted, locked, moved or "cleaned" up? Well, there is a very little known (judging by the number of posters) and very hidden thread called MOD Summon. You can find it by this path: Board index -->Off Topic --> Mod Summon. You can also follow this link: http://forum.fallens...hp?f=10&t=89489 You will find that Off topic does not allude to, in its description, reference to the MOD Summon thread. There you will find posts that request the above actions. If you've ever wondered why a thread or forum post was acted upon as above, you may find the reason there.

The new Report Bio button could have a similar area where one could go to see exactly who and why their bio was locked and deleted. Perhaps an opportunity to defend a bio would be a fair thing to include as well.

Hope you found this topic useful.

DeadParrot

Good post. More people should be aware of that thread.

What about your thoughts on "report bio" having a similar area. Do you think that would be a sensible approach?

Not really. As Mr. Doom stated, we don't need a "public trial" on display for the whole community. Not only that, but sometimes HCS can't release why they suspend or ban a player due to the Data Protection Act (I think it's that, would have to check.)

So, it'd just be easier to keep it to the Report Bio link only.

"If the bio is fine it will be left alone". This most definitely should be the case. However I fear the introduction of the "report bio" makes it to easy for players to report perfectly fine biographies. Would a 13 year old fully understand my bio? I doubt it. Would they find it offensive? Maybe. I don't know and there lies the problem I think. If there is a platform to defend your biography and know who was making the complaint it may prevent willy-nilly reporting.

If your biography has nothing that is truly offensive, then it would be a moot point. Besides, this new update was to protect from scams and unneeded flaming, along with other things. Not "His biography talks about something I don't like personally, so I'll try to get him banned." HCS knows better then that. Give them some credit..

As I know you love bullets...
-To shardoom, there really are only rare occurrences of massively offensive bios....really, c'mon.
-Just up the age to 18, why not? Those entering the game (of course they would never lie) would sign off on their maturity (chronologically, at least)
-Common sense? With all due respect to HCS, I know of many examples (a couple might be in my BIO) where harmless bios were summarily deleted.
-Can ANYONE besides the devs who might quote official ambiguous policy, cite hard and fast guidelines for what is considered offensive? Can anyone cite where the line is that crosses over from fine to offensive? Is it "fook", is it frig? Is it cleavage, is it a Christian cross? Please, compile some empirical data that clearly reveals a trend so we can ascertain precedent, so the player base will know that the next letter they type will result in a ban/deletion.
-...and quite frankly, we do need a public trial that makes button pressers accountable. It should NOT be easy to turn someone in to the (insert dictorial quasi-military special governmental force here).

-signed, confused in Canada

[wil72]

If your bio is ever reported and then removed, rightly or wrongly in your opinion, then surely the fastest and most direct way to raise a complaint or ask for an explanation for the removal, would be to contact HCS support? They seem pretty quick in their response times. I am also sure that common sense will always prevail, and unless seriously offensive then the staff will probably understand it is harmless fun

Why endure the inconvenience due to a player reporting your bio through their interpretation of said bio. Having a format where you know who has reported a bio and why, like "MOD Summon" may make a player think harder before making a report.

[hbklives]

As I know you love bullets...
-To shardoom, there really are only rare occurrences of massively offensive bios....really, c'mon.
-Just up the age to 18, why not? Those entering the game (of course they would never lie) would sign off on their maturity (chronologically, at least)
-Common sense? With all due respect to HCS, I know of many examples (a couple might be in my BIO) where harmless bios were summarily deleted.
-Can ANYONE besides the devs who might quote official ambiguous policy, cite hard and fast guidelines for what is considered offensive? Can anyone cite where the line is that crosses over from fine to offensive? Is it "fook", is it frig? Is it cleavage, is it a Christian cross? Please, compile some empirical data that clearly reveals a trend so we can ascertain precedent, so the player base will know that the next letter they type will result in a ban/deletion.
-...and quite frankly, we do need a public trial that makes button pressers accountable. It should NOT be easy to turn someone in to the (insert dictorial quasi-military special governmental force here).

-signed, confused in Canada

Account names, biographies, guild histories or avatars created which contain offensive words are liable to be removed (or terminated in the case of usernames) at any time, we do not check every username, biography, guild history or avatar that is created, however when they are reported to us we will deal with them accordingly. Please note that it is impossible for us to produce a complete list of inappropriate words, or names and each will be judged on a case-by-case basis and may be deemed inappropriate at our discretion.

No, we do not need witch hunts either. There is no need for a public trial, ever.

[DeadParrot]

HBK my dear, MOD Summon IS a witch hunt by any other name.

[hbklives]

HBK my dear, MOD Summon IS a witch hunt by any other name.

No, not really. You aren't sending the public to watch and flame the person posting. You are simply notifying the Moderators to delete/lock the thread or delete posts from further harm to the Forums. After it is deleted, it is gone. You don't use names, nor are you usually able to see what was posted unless it was locked.

Besides, the Mod Summon is used for more then just reporting offensive forum posts..

[4gottn4ver]

also with the deleting of a entire topic I am not sure if the HCS staff does completely delete a topic or just move it from open public view to staff only view. with it being ' staff only view ' the regular forum members would get topic is not there msg or something when it it still there but not out in the open for all to see but staff.

if staff take action on a member on the forum for whatever actions they have done they would have the topic still to back up their actions on why they took whatever action on them to other staff. with out doing such action by a staff member other staff members can not verify such actions taken and check into it either.

[Xakano]

The Mod Summon thread is there to alert us of issues in the Forum, but players are more than welcome to PM or send us in a ticket if they feel their report is of a more sensitive nature.

I am afraid that we shall not be implementing the ability for player to see who has reported them, or change the reporting system currently in place to be public in any manner.

Players who report bio's, avatar's, log messages or FSbox posts for no apparent reason or report in an abusive manner are issued with a suspension to prevent this happening. With this in place, we feel that this keeps this to a minimum as these kinds of reports are few and far between.

Reporting issues to us directly shall be kept fully confidential where possible (in the case of messages being reported to us, we do have to tell the player which message was reported, therefore they know who reported them) to prevent any backlash to the reporter.

Thank you for your suggestions and feedback, but we are happy with the systems in place.

[Zukira]

HBK my dear, MOD Summon IS a witch hunt by any other name.

Mod Summon was VERY useful for moderators when there were player forum mods. It still is useful for staff. Some people who post on it do try to abuse it and make it into a witch hunt but the person moderating has to be complacent in that. Treated properly a mod summon thread is a helpful tool.

Those 'summoning' a mod don't always get the response they want. I could cite at least one recent case from a couple months ago when the GGT was going on.

Seeing the same folks posting "all the time" is more an indication of the fact that the thread itself is not well known, not that a particular group of people try to police the forum.

As with any reporting method, if a person does too much reporting that is considered unwarranted they risk their own account. Cry wolf too much and no one answers when the wolf is at the door after all.

I tend to believe that those who have the most issue with these conveniences being added for reporting are themselves fearful that they will be reported because they are aware they are, or are afraid that they might be, skirting a fine line now and then. Those who don't make or take exception to them on the other hand or who welcome these upgrades tend to be those who aren't afraid of what they say or do, and are certain that they aren't in breach of any pre-established rules of conduct.

also with the deleting of a entire topic I am not sure if the HCS staff does completely delete a topic or just move it from open public view to staff only view. with it being ' staff only view ' the regular forum members would get topic is not there msg or something when it it still there but not out in the open for all to see but staff.

if staff take action on a member on the forum for whatever actions they have done they would have the topic still to back up their actions on why they took whatever action on them to other staff. with out doing such action by a staff member other staff members can not verify such actions taken and check into it either.

This - precisely. There was a staff/mod only section when there were player moderators. Since I was a player mod I can say from experience that we did not delete threads, though we might have deleted individual posts/sections of posts, we did however move them and add notes about what we did (messaging the OP) (messaging those involved in the flaming) as part of the steps we took. This way, if things escalated we had a record of what was going on to back up our actions and so that if our handling of the situation was too soft then HCS staff had a reference to follow up from.

*exception to the not deleting threads. If the Original poster asked for their thread to be deleted, and it wasn't due to a conflict going on in the thread then a mod would do so. Usually however we would instead suggest they edit their original post to remove the content instead.

- You aren't going to be banned for a first offense. Trying to terror monger on that platform is a tad bit silly.


Yes, censorship is scary, but so is anarchy.

If you've noticed, posting a link in the fsbox is automatically filtered and blocked now. Would you prefer that an automatic filter were instituted that censors bios the same way? Or maybe that we don't have bio space at all?

So you couldn't link to your guild's home page, your auctions, a particular forum thread, youtube videos, and so on and so forth? Would you prefer that a filter be used instead that might pick up words that really aren't bad because they're close to ones that are? At least with the report bio button a human is involved in making the final decision.

(btw, as I am a witch, if I were soft skinned I'd take offense to the term witch hunt. I don't however as I am aware it is a common colloquialism.)

Common sense and maturity. Yay for having superpowers.