To Linden Lab; RE: ResMods

I never really inteded to stick my nose in on this community HotButton issue, I enjoy the game, I often enjoy the forum, and I may be very well stepping way over the line with this post, and if that is the case, I apolgize heartily.

I was very disheartened by this thread:

/140/1b/98023/1.html

This program, which was instituted with the very best of intentions, and I am the first to acknowldge that, has become more problematic than helpful for all the parties involved. Residents that feel they once stood on equal ground as their peers are now retaliating against the selected residents who take action against their threads. This is impacting these ResMods in-world- and beyond. Many resident, as made apparent by this very forum, resent being policed by their peers... and are reacting as such.

Good people are having this program impede on their game. ResMod Volunteers are being accused of favoritism, carelessness, and incriminated for being empowered with their volunteer duty. Forgive me for presuming, but this doesn't seem fair to the community, to employ some to police others and then expect there to be no consequences. I don't want to see any contributor of this forum leave due to the actions taken here... and ResMods I believe are first community members trying to preserve the integrity of your service offered her.. and I don't want to lose them either due to the contention that has been fostered in this environment. ResMods, for the most part, are suffering persecution, and community members feel that liberties are being taken with their posts... be it post moving, post editing, whatever the position encompasses.

I would like to think it more logical to allow the community of Second Life to be just that. The community. Not segregated by Linden appointed positions, not leaving the community because of challenged ethics, hurt feelings, damaged frienships, or inflamed emotions. These are real people, this is an entire social infrasturcture, even on this board, and it has been grately upset, and incurred more damage than positivity.

I think for the most part, personally, ResMods are doing just as you have asked them. Their Job. Some, being a little over-zealous have definitely taken it an unnecessary extra mile where the forums are more polluted by *moved* flags more than anything else. Sometimes it's certainly necessary, thats not the point, the point is what it's doing to all of the participants involved, the behavior it's inciting and the consequences that are unfolding.

Pehaps you could consolidate the forums, some are so plainly similar that I have to stop and think about which forum I'm best suited to post in for a certain subject. Maybe you could employ a few permenant ResMods, perhaps not so many where it gets a foothold and becomes political causing hateful reprocussions.

Please consider the impact this program is having, thoughtfully. And thank you for allowing me my two cents. Regardless, I just hope everyone can enjoy these boards as they once did.

Warmly,
Phaylen

thank you, your perception ability is only exceeded by your eloquence

They won't care, you might as well not waste your time. :-/

sadly, tis true

*Cries on your shoulder* It's so... so... HORRIBLE!!!!! Why does it have to be so?

There's no room for happiness or silliness anymore here. It hurts my heart.

I just farted a little... then I giggled... Then I just cried s'more.

Of course we could start our own forums elsewhere... except the Lindens will not post on those at all.

Torley might.

Of course, I should state for full clarity that my original post is not in any way to diminish any ResMod or forum user. Simply my own personal, subjective two cents... and I can see the topic has been literally beaten, kicked, bled dry and uniformy pulverized and I'm terribly sorry for starting yet another thread on the subject! I usually only ad my two cents once- as it's all I can afford so it will be my last on the matter!! Promise!!

And I didn't see the resmod discussion forum prior to my posting this here, so I apologize for it being out of place.

Hope all is having a nice evening.

PF

now my dog needs operation. i'm going to sue you!

i think the reality is that forums are completely unscaleable. the sl forums must die as a social, networking, information, hub. perhaps the technical and building scripting texturing forums will survive for a while, but the rest really is going to have to go.

using resmods will just inadvertently speed up the process.

I must admit I missed the bit where people are being picked on. I agree that resmods have been overzealous at times and often make questionable decisions, but as far as I can tell we're talking about Mulch here, and Mulch is a troll and antagoniser of resmods! The kind of threads he starts all over General are destined for other forums whether we have resmods or not. Mulch is not alone in this, btw, but to say 'they're picking on Mulch!' is to ignore the fact that Mulch is knowingly starting threads and parodies of threads and threads that break the CS which are obviously going to be moved.

Sorry Mulch, but thats just the way I see it. Maybe I missed something.

I have to say, I don't entirely agree with this. The program was imposed without any consultation or discussion, or, it seems, any coherent thought. There was an attempt to solicit feedback in the early stages, and when that feedback proved to be almost entirely negative, it was ignored.




Well, the other day I went to respond to three threads consecutively, to find that they had each been locked. That, to my mind, is not the way a forum should be run. Over-zealousness is something that is bound to be taken personally by the person whose postings are interfered with - it is the cardinal sin of forum moderators. Interesting that we have seen it at such an early stage.

The only comparable situation I have seen, in a virtual world when residents moderated their own forum, was when someone was randomly deleting postings for fun. I wonder how long that will take before it happens here?



Well I, for one, don't. And I'm sure many others feel the same way.

sluniverse.com
secondcitizen.com
sldevelopers.com

If you build them, Lindens will come.

you forgot sldrama.com

the newest 1 topic forum that links your avi with your username

that is sorely missing in other forums

That's because it's a bloody nightmare to undertake. The fact I did it in one day from scratch does NOT change that fact. Right now, I'm having to use a system where you enter your SL info, and a device in SL processes if it's right by way of e-mail. The problem is reversing the flow of data from SL into my site. If I can get THAT worked out, I can make a one-click registration.

<sigh> 20 years of computer techwork, and I STILL have so much to learn.

AND IT'S ALL BLOODY GOING TO BE OBSOLETE BY THE TIME I LEARN IT!!!!

<sorry. rant over>

Shoot me a PM if you need a hand. I have some experience in kluging SL to work this way. Also, two tips:

During registration, change the text to notify people to use their Avatar Name instead of a "user name" - and to use a "-" instead of a space in the middle. Also, tell them they'll receive their password via IM in world not by email (I got mixed messages on where to find it).

Just two tips - I know you're just getting started. It looks fun!

Regards,

-Flip

Thanks for the notes on the glitches. Looking into it now... And sending a PM asap.

The SomethingAwful forums are remarkably efficient, given their boggling size. Imagine if a community twice the size of the total number of SL accounts posted in the forums daily.

Sure it's rancid and random, but it's fairly well policed. Certainly better than here

edit: moved to France

I have read these forums for years. There hasn't been a time in the past when they weren't filled with bile and vitriol and personal attacks galore, plus an over ample supply of whining, moaning, griping and crying about the deplorable state of the forums.

The folks who can't tell which forum to post in most commonly mistake every or any forum as a place to put an ad, such as, for example, trying to use both general and scripting tips forums to advertise their events in.

Odd how confusion works to serve one's own interests.

If one is genuinely incapable of determining that, say, a question on how to script goes in scripting tips, not in design, then there are folks who will move it to the right place.

The resident moderator program is working fine.

This is the only means of mass communication we have really. if It wasn't for the forums I would feel completely cut off in world.

edit: moved to Zimbabwe

Well after all these months I'm glad that whole ResMod stuff was finally sorted out and everybody adjusted to ... WHOOOAAAAA...DRAMA!!!

Of course I was a fairly vocal opponent of the ResMod system and I think some of my predictions are starting to come to pass. The initial "Dream Team" have mostly left in frustration (one incredible member of our community even left Second Life because of this program) or have been rotated out. The current team is great but as I look at the forums, it seems the biggest topic of debate is the moderation of the forums themselves! It's like setting up a committee to decide how the committee should be set up.

If the Lindens were actually waiting for things to "settle in" with the ResMod program, I think the time to reevaluate has long since come. I don't want to lose more valuable residents as they become disenchanted.

Despite all the complaining, the forums are a Second Life service the customers LIKE. Linden Lab should start treating them that way.

That's correct...
That's even more correct.....
That was the method used for the resmod selection so why would LL care about this resultSo many are already gone, Haven't you noticed...those of us here from the start, through all the growing pains. But, since LL only cares about $$$$$$$, they really dont mind that they "lost" us, their core; lost our enthusiasm, our love for this particular virtual world, our loyalty... just as long as we keep paying our tier.

But, be warned, other virtual worlds are in development, and soon the tier will be lost too.

I've always thought the SL forums were more or less a cesspool, and have been long overdue for a good metaphorical thwacking. I was surprised something like the resmod program wasn't instituted earlier, especially given how many people here blatantly ignore the fact that this forum is supposed to be PG. Forums being modded by a small selection of member volunteers is hardly a new idea.

I don't come here for the drama, and I certainly don't come here to watch those of you who like to engage in in a rousing game of who can be the biggest jerk, or who can come off as the most cynical about LL and SL. I come here in spite of those things, because there is interesting discussion here. It's just buried beneath a few dozen threads worth of posturing, flaming, and complaining.

I think that a largish portion (but not all) of the negative feedback to the program has been indicative of little besides the fact that some posters resent the idea that they are losing their ability to post anything they bloody well please and are being held to standards (which shouldn't have come as a big surprise given how poorly the forums have done regulating themselves).

I certainly don't think the program is perfect, though.

There have been far too many threads moved, for example. I lay the blame for that as much on the structure of the forums as anything ... I've always felt that there are simply too many forums and subforums here, most of which people rarely read or post to, and the purpose of which is not always clear. Something like half of the forums here could probably stand to be merged with another forum or back into their parents.

People post to communicate, and a post's "proper location" is no more and no less than the location where it can best facilitate that goal. The organization of the forums must support that goal; if it fails to do so (as we've seen with people posting in general because that's what people actually read) then it is the organization that is in error and needs to be rethought ... not the poster. (This, of course, does not address people who deliberately place things in the wrong location ... nothing will remove the need to move those posts.)

I also disagree with some of the constraints on speaking here, such as the name-naming, which has a chilling effect on valid criticism, and thus prevents people from making informed choices ... unless they want to play "decode the *wink-wink* secret hints". (Mind you, given my opinion of the tone here, I'm obviously not in support of allowing people to just slag on each other at will.)