Because I doubt this will be seen in the mod thread I will give this its own thread.
Due to recent events I would like to have an official stance of the mods to thread quality and thread moderating on this forum. It's no secret that mods let a lot of tad on this forum as a thread but will jump to a ban at the slightest sight of a baity post. I think that's completely reversed to how it should be. Threads are the face of the forum and should be held at a way higher standard as posts. That includes punishments and especially repeat offenders.
As some mods should know by now, I am a strong proponent of forum etiquette. For the people too young to understand this, here are a few unwritten rules that have not changed in the past 15 years I've been in online forums.
1. Thread quality is king!
Threads are the most important entity in a forum and should be treated as such. Threads are not posts and as such there should go a lot of thought and time into making a thread. Single sentence threads or Just links or embedded videos are an absolute no go.
Included in this is also bad grammar or spelling in titles. If you don't even put in enough effort to check the most prominent thing of your thread, your thread is not worth it.
2. Thread updates and double posts
Double posts are actually one of the highest sins one can make in a forum. There is an edit button for a reason. Users double posting is one thing but a thread creator posting valuable information in a second post that could've easily been put the thread opener are an absolute no go.
3. Dupe threads
Dupe threads are strongly discouraged and enforced. It happens in every forum but usually proper content creators give enough a shit about this so that it rarely happens. If it happens then the higher quality thread wins. If both are of same quality then the first one wins, regardless of how many comments each already has. It's the thread creator's responsibility to check before posting. Not just before they start writing their thread but also just before they hit the submit button. A dupe thread that is literally just 3 posts above an original thread is an absolute no go and shows the complete disrespect of the thread creator.
4. Bait threads
Either they target a specific person or topic with questionable motives or flimsy explanations. These are obviously no gos and should be closed ASAP to keep the peace of the forum. Important here is to take the posting history of the OP into account. Makes it a lot easier to see which threads are baits and which are just nonsense.
5. Hit and Run Threads
Those are close to bait threads but they usually adhere to all forum rules and don't contain obvious bait. Those threads are usually created by the usual suspects. Most often they contain a very unlikely hypothesis. However if you post a debatable topic you should be there to defend it. But that rarely happens as the motive behind these threads is just shock value or point farming. Hit and Run threads should be closed as soon as it's obvious that OP does not respond to the criticism.
6. Nonsense Threads
Those are very similar to Hit and Run threads but in this case OP is actually responding to most if not all criticisms. However a lot of the time those responses do not address the criticism directly but either ignore it completely or try to divert the attention away. Sometimes OP just reiterates over and over what's in the first post. Those threads should be closed as well. A forum should not be a platform to display hypothesis that go against common sense.
7. Repeat Offenders
As there usually tend to be a handful of people in a forum who do most of the threads there will be repeat offenders. Most of the time repeat offenders are also those with a very low post/thread ratio. Repeat offences should be answered with warnings, then bans and ultimately removal of thread creation rights. That way the creator is not as severely punished as people who actually deserve longer bans but will just lose non essential tools to disturb the forum anymore.
Let's see how the VGC mod team is doing on those 7 points.
1. While the forum rules specifically state that low effort threads are forbidden, this is hardly enforced. We are still seeing regular threads containing only a link or a video or a one liner attached with a poll. The response from a mod as to why this was, was shocking. Apparently it was alright because the OP discussed the topic further in a few posts within the thread. So why couldn't that information be put in the OP in the first place? Oh right, because it would require thought and effort by the OP. And like this, the thread remained open, which had 2 effects. First it showed future thread creators that it's absolutely fine to post low effort threads and second, it prevented anyone else from making a proper thread about the same topic. I can't think of any recent threads where the OP was warned, let alone banned for such behavior. Essentially encouraging garbage threads. This has to be mended very soon or at least remove the paragraph from the forum rules to not seem as if you would care about forum etiquette.
2. Of course nothing in the forum rules forbid this but it is still a bad sight. Nothing about this will ever change in here but I just wanted to mention it as it seems elementary to me. It's just another sign of how little effort thread creators put into their threads and hjow much that behavior is tolerated.
3. We have a very recent example where a thread was closed just because a dupe thread with similar quality had more posts. I find this appalling and especially disrespectful to the author of the first thread. Just shows how little respect the mods have for good content creators. There is no harm in closing a dupe thread with more posts. The first thread still exists and thanks to Hot Topics will get more responses. Why the fuck reward someone for posting a dupe thread by closing the first? That is just mindboggingly ridiculous. This also leads in to repeat offenders but more about that later.
And it's not very hard to see if your thread is a dupe or not. We have had so many threads that were posted just a handful of threads over the original threads. That means the creator didn't even put in the effort of clicking on "Latest Threads" to check. That's one fucking click but apparently that's too much. And why would they check if they know there is no punishment? This has to stop.
4. We had a very recent example where I had to basically beg a mod to change an obvious bait title. The mods should be very aware of which user belongs into which camp and which user is known to make bait threads. This was one of those instances and a single look at the thread creator should've made the mod more aware of the thread's content. Eventually the thread title was changed to the neutral title it should've been. But what about repercussions for the thread creator? No warning, no ban, no closed thread. If a thread title is so bad that it has to be changed, shouldn't that mean consequences for the person who purposefully made the bad thread? A thread is something that is created with a lot more thought than a post(or at least it should be) so it should be assumed that the content of a thread is no mere mistake but absolute intent of the creator. So why not punish someone who with intent posted a bait thread?
5. These are still very common and commited by the same people over and over again. There is no rule against not responding in your own thread but it's still disrupting the forum. If the mods are so intent on keeping the peace it should be in their best interest to shut these down ASAP. Otherwise they'll just encourage more of the same. It should go without saying that closing a thread should come with an official warning as well.
6. Oh boy, those threads. 100% of the times those threads are created by known fanboys. They are not specific to a brand but they all have one thing in common, they lack common sense. Nonsense threads are usually refuted within the first 3 posts but still remain open for a very long time and gain a lot of comments. Of course they gain a lot of comments because the material is contentious. It doesn't even matter if the thread was made as an attempt to rile up specific fanbases or if it's just out of pure ignorance most fanboys possess. These threads are so egregious and disrupting to the forum they should be closed immediately and followed by a strong warning. But sadly those threads usually stay up for a long time because opinion is valued over common sense. An opinion no matter how stupid will usually have all of the respect from the mods. That's a pretty undeserved respect though since it did nothing to earn it. There is a difference between someone voicing an opnion and someone spreading hate and false information and the sooner the mods learn that difference the better.
Sometimes those threads are closed when either enough reports are gathered or if there happened a lot of bans within the thread. But why wait until it escalates. Just close the damn thing as soon as you see it.
7. This is the logical conclusion. You see bans for people ramping up really fast for the nonsense they write in their posts. But posting nonsense as threads or spamming the forum with dupe threads just because they couldn't be arsed to check for dupes before they hit the submit button is just fine. It's just amazing how lenient mods here are. Are we craving new threads so desperately that the content doesn't matter? What do we lose if we actually punbish repeat offenders? What do we lose if we take away thread creating rights from those people? We lose nothing. We just gain more quality and less disruption. We make the work of the mods easier by removing repeat offenders. How long some people can post low quality or dupe threads before even getting as little as a warning is an absolute joke. Punishment for repeat offenders is the easiest thing in the world, especially if those people had visible warnings before that in their mod history.
I will do my part in the future and report threads that go against these simple rules but honestly I don't have hope that these issues will ever be addressed. I would even be amazed to get a proper response to all the points I listed. But yeah, this is what is bothering me a lot and has never been the case in any forum I have been. And I have been more active in other forums and even a mod in forums as busy as these and there this shit wouldn't fly.
And that's it for now. Maybe there are at least a few other people on this forum who can understand my point of view.
If you demand respect or gratitude for your volunteer work, you're doing volunteering wrong.
