I believe a positive forum environment is essential to growing a niche game such as salem to its potential. Recent events here on the salem forums have troubled me to the point that I feel it is necessary to post how I feel.
First let me describe what I believe moderators should or should not be.
Should:
Be examples to the rest of the community
Be held to higher standards than the average player
Be consistent and fair in their decisions and actions
Should not:
Be exempt from the rules the common player adheres to
Instigate, or participate in, *****
Abuse status for intimidation, or personal gain
Show favouritism
Personal feuds between moderators and other players are causing an unpleasant environment for everyone. Moderators are not always clear when they are moderating, and when they are taking part in a discussions. This causes conflict that should never happen in the first place.
Most recently a thread ( /viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7769 ) was locked with the moderator colesie stating "There's a treaty thread in place already for you to collect your pretend money". From my point of view the thread in question that was locked and the "treaty" thread colesie points to, cover two very different things over different servers. His response when a complaint was posted in the moderation megathread was equally inappropriate (
http://forum.salemthegame.com/viewtopic ... 350#p99080 ) Attacking the poster and dismissing the claim. Further transgressions occur(
http://forum.salemthegame.com/viewtopic ... 504#p98504 ) where he combines moderation, and personal attacks on other players.
"Silent" banning [or censorship, however you prefer it] taking place in this thread ( /viewtopic.php?f=15&t=7743 ) is a clear example of moderators misusing their authority.
In ( /viewtopic.php?f=15&t=7735&p=97050#p97050 ) a request for an English translation in the OP was ignored by moderator AAlex, and then he himself violated the very same rule in his following post. While not as severe as previous examples, this is still disappointing behaviour from someone who should be a pillar of the community.
With beliefs such as "Everyone should be permabanned" expressed by sabinati(
http://forum.salemthegame.com/viewtopic ... 380#p99113 ) it seems that a large majority of the current moderator team does not have the best interest of the community in mind.
I will be the first to say that everyone makes mistakes, we are human after all, and emotions can get in the way sometimes.
I believe that removal from the moderation team should be considered for the most serious offenders, and clear guidelines and expectations for the rest be laid forward, for the good of this community and our game.
P.S. I am just leaving a copy of this here for the rest of our community to see, it has already been forwarded to the appropriate place.