Topic Locked due to Personal Issues

[Absent Minded]

I try very hard to be community minded while making moderation decisions and i think others here do as well. To that end I have tried to be open and upfront of decisions i have made. As well as leaving things open for descusion in situations where i was encouraged to not allow further input. Unfortunantly this seems to backfire in my face so I am kind of seeing the wisdom in just closing topics that get out of hand. For me it is rare that i close a thread without conferring with another mod or an admin (although I have done it).

[debil]

Hmm, a classic example of Streisand effect. Strangely, I think I pretty much agree with all the posters in this thread. This sort of forum moderation surely doesn't look good from any point of view.

If the reasons for topic-locking were personal, so what? Everyone gets irked by something/somebody every now and then. Especially at web forums. The silence on behalf of the mod-in-question baffles me. What's so hard in giving a brief "why"? That would've spared the forum from yet another thread discussing moderator behavior.

[Telemachus]

@ComputerBob & @Julian67: There are two topics here now (at least). One is the details of this particular locking and unlocking. I have nothing new there. The second is how complaints should be handled. As far as that goes, I agree that in many cases an open discussion is better than a pm. This thread is a good example of that. It led to the other thread being unlocked and all of this being discussed. The discussion itself is sane and (so far) entirely reasonable.

[drokmed]

Is this thread still going? Somebody lock it

[mojoman]

While i agree with your statment 100%. It has been requested by our forum admins that if there is a problem with a moderator that you contact one of the administrators directly.

I think that by now all the regulars on the forum is well aware of that.

It might even have been a good guideline if the forum members were made aware if the forum admins actually reacted when a moderator stepped out of line.

As it is now, a moderator can blow his top publicly and if a forum member has an opinion about it they are told to keep quiet, or rather to keep it private in a PM but that might as well be to keep quiet as the last word that is said on the subject - at least as far as most members/readers are concerned - is the moderator blowing his top and all criticism then being silenced.

[Absent Minded]

i would like to point out that no one has silenced this thread. Everyone is being allowed to speak their mind here. As for the mod in question, I don't know why he hasn't come forward to speak his peace. To the best of my knowledge no one has sent an administrator a complaint. At least i have not been informed of any.

AM

[smallchange]

Personally, I am glad this sort of thing can be handled with out resorting to an admin.

[mojoman]

Personally, I am glad this sort of thing can be handled with out resorting to an admin.

I think most of us agree. I know I do.

i would like to point out that no one has silenced this thread. Everyone is being allowed to speak their mind here. As for the mod in question, I don't know why he hasn't come forward to speak his peace. To the best of my knowledge no one has sent an administrator a complaint. At least i have not been informed of any.

AM

I know that no one has been silenced and I think that is very positive.

As for not knowing if this has been raised with an administrator, that's the whole point. If forum members are actually publicly offended by a moderator or moderation is done in an obvious heavy-handed or unfounded manned and criticism is cut short but stating that "problems should be taken up in a PM" and the thread is locked, what will forum members see? As far as most people is concerned this will be the end of it as there is no feedback from moderators or administrators. I think it sends out a loud and clear message that this sort of behavior on part of moderators is acceptable, even though I'm positive that very few people on the forum (admins, mods or members) believe so.

My point is that if I act like an asshole or make a fool of myself in public (yes, it has happened and I'm sure it'll happen again) I apologize for it too.

Edited for typos

[Absent Minded]

speaking for myself, i try to let everyone know why i have done something. I have made obvious mistakes and subsequently have also made public statements/apologies in regards to them. This is how i feel is best to handle things. Honest and open. In some areas i am restricted as to what i can say and have to respect the decisions made (whether i like them or not). As I have stated before as a mod, we are all equal and i cannot take action against another moderator. I either have to contact an administrator or let it go and hope that my viewpoint is worth something to them.

[nadir]

looks to me like craigevil stopped posting completely (on the other hand some people say they would have got a life, whatever it might be).
from what i see no one did harm you, besides the nut guy from sidux (btw: he came, posted his nonsense, and vanished again. after editing he got a very good answer from craigevil and didn't care about it. )
closing threads always ends with a bit of trouble, so, to make it short: no need to be affronted. everyone seems to be on your side (as far as possible, i for one disagree as kind of a reflex and come to think later).

btw: the rule: " send a mail to an admin..." is ridiculous. no serious person would do such a thing. it ain't to be found in the guidelines neither (something similar, but completely different if one thinks about it). even if it was there i wouldn't do it.