I'd also like to say that I think we need to grow our Moderator staff.

We've lost one of our best Moderators recently, and frankly, our recent promotions just can't replace a guy like Twesterm, and we're far from the dream team of Moderators we had back in 2007, when Naz, Twesterm, Rocketpig, Sqrl, Bodhesatva, BenKenobi, and Stof were running the show. These guys were some of the smartest, most neutral, and most active people on the forum, and each and every one of them made an excellent Moderator.  Our current line up just doesn't compare, and the few left from the "old guard" are hardly active at all.

As the older Mods either went MIA or retired, we began looking for replacements, but instead of pursuing those that would truly make excellent wardens of this fair site, we instead promoted those from the current staff that were willing to help out in a time of need.  Granted, some of these guys make excellent moderators, but I feel like we went from a system of recruitment to a system reliant on volunteers.  We weren't seeking out the best candidates for the job and offering them the position, but were instead simply promoting people that were here and willing to do some work, and as a result the general level of the Mod team has gone downhill. 

We (rather, Naz and ioi) need to begin seeking out the most intelligent, unbiased, and active members on this site to be Moderators.  Those that can effectively handle themselves in debate, and often do so accordingly, and those who can properly judge who deserves a ban, be effective in carrying out said ban, and be effective in responding to the inevitable complaints over said ban.  Having little inclination to be a Mod in the first place is also a good trait, I find.  I can't help but feel the only member we've truly promoted through this process in the past year or so was Onyxmeth.

As for new Moderators, I've got a few members in mind that I'd like to bring to Naz's attention at some point, if I could ever catch him online via Steam.  I've talked with Maxwell about one in particular, who he agrees would be an excellent choice for the position.

Now I know I'm not one to talk, because I'll be honest, I don't do near as much as certain other Moderators, but I still think the above needs to be said.  And while I may not do as much as I could, I feel that I still contribute to the site in a useful manner, and would much rather help out here and there than go the Twesterm route and do nothing at all (and if I were to step back up to the level of activity I exhibited when I first became a Mod, I'd most likely end up going that route pretty fast).  I initially viewed being a Moderator as a job of sorts, but now I view it more as a hobby, much like my view of the site as a whole.  It's the only way I'll be able to live with it.

What are the rules on necro-bumping? The VGChartz thread history has a lot of great ones... Can I bring them back? Does the rule only apply to "I-told-you-so" necro-bumping?

The general policy concerning necro-bumping revolves around bumping threads with little reason.  If you have something useful to contribute to a thread, thus providing a legitimite reason for a bump, then it's ok.  But if it's a bump merely to gloat, or a bump just for the sake of bumping, it is frowned upon.

Only bump threads with good reason.

Hum. I hadn't actually thought of that one. It is fairly infrequent, but I would say justified under the spam section of the substance rule. I bumped a thread nearly a year old with relevant information. I would hate to have that killed for the sake of taking out a few people trying to be funny.

I like these new rules, they should make things easier for everyone.

I've been following this thread since Gizmo first created it, as I was curious of what he would do with this. I for one have spoken up in the past that there were some incongruations with the modding team, especially when it came to the Banning procedure, as there were lots of inconsistencies with it.

I'm very pleased with the new rules, may it make for a more balanced, civilized forum ;)

This was never meant to be about any moderator action at all. If you feel the mods are not consistent with each other then you should talk to Naznatips about it. Mods are people though, so you will never get a perfect consistency between them. If you feel one moderator is not acting appropriately, then you should contact Naznatips.

The "new" rules are not really new. I think one or two minor additions have been made. These rules were always in effect. They are just now clearly stated. That was the point of this thread as well. I had not imagined it could possibly be resolved this quickly, but I am obviously pleased it was.

I know this thread is about the rules guideline of this forum, yet moderators are the first line for enforcing those rules, so with some rules having blurry lines between them as it was stated in this forum, some times they weren't enforced as they should have or were enforced pending to one side.
I have no quarrel with any mod, nor do I feel that any of them is slacking off with his work, as you pointed out, they're just like the rest of us and have to balance between their private life and this forum.

Hopefully with the rules now clearly defined and without space for missinterpretations and dodging, hopefully people will act more acordingly to this site standarts, so that we can have civilized discussions and actual debates without insults and labeling that most times those debates degenerate into.

I must say, great job with this thread BTW ;)

From my interpretation of the rules, and what Naz has said here, one of the clauses to the substance rule is going to become more enforced. Specifically the part about not posting just that "item A sucks." You could still post that it sucks, but it would need to be backed up a bit. I don't imagine it will be a problem for you specifically though.

@lestatdark
Fair enough. I just don't want this to devolve into a dog-pile on the moderators bit. That never ends well.

Thanks too! I am pretty proud of how well this thread worked out.