New Community Manager and Forum Rules

Announcements of major changes to Salem.

Re: New Community Manager and Forum Rules

Postby TotalyMeow » Thu Jul 10, 2014 12:57 am

lachlaan wrote:It'd be a lot more helpful to the players with short memory spans (that forgot the EULA and forum rules immediately after reading them) to emphasize the key rules that should be followed to avoid such a situation in the future.


If you mean I should bold certain rules or say 'obey this rule especially' I can't really do that. Each rule is there for a reason and all need to be obeyed.

lachlaan wrote:If you have something to report, use the report button/function built into the forums for specific posts, or PM the Meow / JC with the issue rather than posting it on the forums themselves, as to avoid "shaming" another player which is against the rules somewhere.


It's not that shaming other players is against the rules. It's that some people like to say things like 'reported' as a joke or some such nonsense so I can't base moderation off what you claim to be offended by when you post. Others claim to be offended to me in PMs for something that happened in the past, yet they never reported it as offensive at the time. If you think someone is being overly offensive or abusive you must report it because everyone's opinion on that subject is going to be different and I know that I am a lot less offended than most by what I see here so reports help me adjust my level on what I should moderate when it comes to abuse and offense and what I should not in those grey areas. Additionally, I see most of what's posted, but I sometimes miss something, sometimes someone edits something after I saw it, reports make sure I see it anyway.

lachlaan wrote:My question regarding the situation above however is, should a player feel safe relaying another player's bad behaviour to the devs if it's graphic/against the rules. I assume anything in PMs no longer has the forum/ingame rules applied to it, but is there still a limit past which it'd be in a player's best interest to just leave a complaint alone for fear of his own safety?


Yes, you can always send me or John unedited logs or screenshots or the like as evidence of another's wrongdoing. You can also report a PM as being against the forum rules and I will then be able to read it myself. You make a good point that some might be afraid to PM me things like that, so I will find an appropriate place to post a permanent message on the subject.

lachlaan wrote:One last thought would be, in the situation where someone feels wronged, or feels there's too little being done to remedy whatever they've reported, usually they'd go and complain about it on the forums, if nothing else then as a way to vent. Could we at least get some form of straightforward warnings / final decisions regarding complaints, so people know where they stand?


If you feel you have been wronged by another player, you are free to complain on the forums. Venting, whining, and politics are the reason these forums exist. If the player who wronged you did something they shouldn't have in game such as what John listed (I will try to get you all a post of in-game noes where it can be permanently viewed) then your best response is to message John or me about it but complaining about it on the forums as well is not against the rules.

If you think you've been wrongly punished by a Moderator, a PM to that Moderator or to me is the best means of getting justice. The Moderator complaints thread is also there for you if you prefer a public forum. I do not like discussion of forum punishments on the forum myself and feel it should not be necessary and can only cause harm, however I also know that you have feelings that moderators played favorites or were injust in the past and so that thread will remain available until such time as it is clearly no longer needed. I do hope that will someday be the case.

When it comes to in game actions of any kind, John is the only one allowed to change the game, mete out punishments, give away prizes or give me prizes to give away. If you have been punished by John for an in game action and feel it was unfair, you may contact him or me in PM to discuss it, though such punishments are not handed out lightly so there is little chance the judgement will change once it has been made. Once a judgement has been made on bad behavior there is a straightforward final decision, and you are sent an email to the address associated with the account to explain what rule was broken so that you were punished, and how long the punishment will last. If you feel you have been wronged by him in some other way NOT involving an in-game punishment, it is okay to complain about it here, we're not trying to do any kind of coverups.

lachlaan wrote:For example, I complain about event X, it keeps happening and very little is done, I ask for an update in PMs. At this point, if nothing more can be done, would it be possible to have a clear "We've decided to do nothing, please don't pursue this any further in PMs and definetly not on the forums or else you will get reprimanded" etc etc.


I do try to send a PM with every report I close without taking action. Once in awhile when someone is reporting frivolously, I may not send the PM but that is rare. In addition, I do my best to always respond to every PM I receive where a response seems expected, and if you do ask me why I made a certain decision I will be happy to tell you why. I also have told and will tell a poster if they are getting out of line in PMs to me and when it is time to drop a subject before I move to actual punishments, but I am very lenient in what I will allow in a PM to me because you obviously need to be able to give feedback even when it's very angry feedback.

lachlaan wrote:Oh and if bans are now Fight Club, does that mean there's basically no way to moderate the moderators? What point is there in the moderation complaints megathread if you can't openly discuss whatever you're protesting in the first place?


You can always discuss moderators' decisions on the moderator complaint thread, and if you make a fair point, you can cause me to change the rules or future moderation of a subject.

When it comes to John though, I said above that you can complain here if you think he's done something untoward. In-game punishments are the only thing not allowed to be discussed on the forum, and even then you can ask questions in PMs.

If you're worried about who moderates the moderators, John does. The only one who doesn't have an immediate superior is John himself and he can, frankly, do whatever he wants to whomever he wants in the game and on the forums and we must all rely on his moral fiber and his realization that wronged players may leave and take their friends and money with them to keep him honest.
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Re: New Community Manager and Forum Rules

Postby lachlaan » Thu Jul 10, 2014 12:55 pm

Thank you Meow for some clarity on the subject and I hope our posters and the new ruleset manage to sync so to speak so that there are less violations and as few (hopefully none) gray-area bans.


I'll throw my last thought on the ban that started this train of thought in me on the moderation complaint forum, just to come full circle with what I wanted to say :)
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Re: New Community Manager and Forum Rules

Postby Icon » Thu Jul 10, 2014 9:27 pm

Is there a new Salem Facebook page in the works? If so who would we contact about submissions when its ready?
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Re: New Community Manager and Forum Rules

Postby JohnCarver » Thu Jul 10, 2014 9:30 pm

Icon wrote:Is there a new Salem Facebook page in the works? If so who would we contact about submissions when its ready?


We have the social media stuff on back-burner at the moment. As we consider that marketing, and possibly dangerous given the unfinished nature of the game. We do have a marketing person lined up to begin updating that regularly, but for now we don't believe we are anywhere near yet. We were planning on just using the existing facebook, twitter, etc. when we do though.
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Re: New Community Manager and Forum Rules

Postby TotalyMeow » Fri Sep 26, 2014 10:12 pm

This seems like the appropriate place to post about the recent change.

The Moderation Complaints Megathread has been locked and hinnomed. I have done so because we are making a change to the rules that moderation may no longer be discussed on the forums, but you may still PM me or another moderator if you have a complaint about moderation or think something one of us has done is unfair.

To be perfectly clear, rule 8 will change from this:

8. Do not discuss forum bans in the forum. Discussion of or objection to forum bans or warnings should only occur through forum PM with the moderators or in the Moderation Complaints thread.


To this:

8. Do not discuss forum bans or warnings in the forum. Discussion of or objection to forum bans or warnings should only occur through forum PM with the moderators.


Why such changes? you are almost certainly asking right now. I will tell you.

When Mortal Moments Inc first took over Salem and its forums, these forums were in a pretty toxic state in which the moderation team seemed to be almost at war with the community at large. In that situation, I felt it was best to not change too many things too quickly. Specifically, I am very lenient in ban lengths, which is a practice I plan to continue a little longer for most cases, and I persuaded John to let me leave the Moderation Complaint thread open for some time as it would serve a purpose in showing the community at large that we want to be fair in our moderation and that I am always happy to explain why I moderated something in a particular way.

Now that a few months have passed, we both feel the Complaints thread has served its purpose. The majority of bans and other moderations are contested mainly in PMs when they are contested at all. The Complaints thread seems now to be mostly the realm of a few posters who often object even when the ban or other action in question had nothing to do with them. Of course, said posters are still welcome to complain to me personally in a PM if they feel strongly about an issue, but it may no longer be done in a public setting.

Public discussion of a ban or other moderation will now result in warnings or bans as appropriate just like any other breaking of a rule. I know this will be a difficult change for some of you, but in fact, the majority of forums out there do not allow said discussions and the Salem forum was really an exception. It is simply an exception no longer.

If you have any concerns about this change, please do PM me. Any attempt to start a flame war here or elsewhere on the forums over this change will be hinnomed.
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Re: New Community Manager and Forum Rules

Postby Potjeh » Fri Sep 26, 2014 10:14 pm

TotalyMeow wrote:When Mortal Moments Inc first took over Salem and its forums, these forums were in a pretty toxic state in which the moderation team seemed to be almost at war with the community at large.

And now you know why ¦]
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Re: New Community Manager and Forum Rules

Postby Orcling » Fri Sep 26, 2014 10:25 pm

TotalyMeow wrote:words



But complaining about moderation isn't nearly half as fun when others can't join in and add their totally unrelated and totally unnecessary comments on the issue they know nothing about.
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Re: New Community Manager and Forum Rules

Postby Kandarim » Sat Sep 27, 2014 12:00 am

Orcling wrote:
TotalyMeow wrote:words



But complaining about moderation isn't nearly half as fun when others can't join in and add their totally unrelated and totally unnecessary comments on the issue they know nothing about.


luckily we still have the rest of the forum topics to do exactly that.
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Re: New Community Manager and Forum Rules

Postby DarkNacht » Sat Sep 27, 2014 12:35 am

But watching you guys ban farm was fun. :(
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Re: New Community Manager and Forum Rules

Postby Father_Strix » Sat Sep 27, 2014 12:38 am

It helped you filter the argumentative and logically-flawed people from the rest of the community; while also giving us entertainment to said community. Why take away such a prized gem of the ban farm? Not taking in enough ban-bushels per acre? :lol:
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