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Personally I wouldn't do a threadban unless a pm warning hadn't had the desired effect. I'd PM the involved parties (and it is almost always parties) and say you're going past what's ok in a pub. Bring it back to civil please.
If that doesn't work then I ok public threadban.

But here's a general observation. If you ever type the phrase "You're the one saying...." It's not a good sign.
I LOVE the "By your logic" arguments... tat is always followed with something COMPLETELY MISSING THE POINT.
 
Another vote from me regarding preferring to receive an initial PM from the Moderators, rather than a public lynching and automatic threadban.

It's just the polite, decent and fair thing to do. I think most posters will respect a discreet message advising them it's time for last drinks on a certain issue.

I think being respectful from both sides of the fence is the way to go :thumbsup:
 
I see PM's as your server coming up to you and asking you to politely quiet it down a bit as the other patrons are trying to hold conversations as well.
 
I see no reason that shouldn't work.

It will have to be with the understanding that we're not going to discuss our PMs with other posters. I don't want to talk to someone and have them go "but (such and such) was doing this or saying that". If we go the PM route it needs to be understood that we're dealing with everyone privately.
 
Of course this works as long as the folks making jokes are paying attention to how they are received.
Absolutely. The banter here is great and I love the atmosphere around it. However, folks have to be on the same wavelength for it to work and if somebody isn't happy about it then you can cross the line into vicious mockery. It does require a modicum of sensitivity.
 
I see no reason that shouldn't work.

It will have to be with the understanding that we're not going to discuss our PMs with other posters. I don't want to talk to someone and have them go "but (such and such) was doing this or saying that". If we go the PM route it needs to be understood that we're dealing with everyone privately.
Totally agree
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(yeah I too have become one of those annoying meme-posters :grin:)
 
I still like this place. The mods still seem to be functioning without agendas/vendettas. No sub-group getting catered to. No big complaints.
It bugged me when That Person was banned... but not enough to protest it out loud.
I like the random topic drift, I like the memes, I like it when Dumarest drops some hilarious (to me) non sequitur in the midst of things. Even thread-crapping doesn't bother me, if the person doing the crapping isn't just pulling a pointless hit and run. No thread is sacred.

On a final point, I think that one issue we're starting to see is a divide between people who like a more robust "no, you're wrong" style of debate and those who prefer light and non aggressive discussion.
Yeah, I sense that too. I personally prefer the 'speak your mind' sort of discussion... which I enjoyed at The Other Place till politics flooded in. Sometimes this place gets a bit too kumbaya for me... and certain posters seem to like playing victim... which leads me to be a fan of some of the feistier participants. I prefer some Fight Club foreplay before the circle jerk starts.
 
Speaking personally, I think the moderation here is very good, and threads a fine line. Myself, I like talking about games and I’m not particularly interested in a side order of ‘knife fight’ or ‘group think’ to go with it. I think the other two ‘big’ RPG sites err too strongly one way or the other for my personal taste. Other people will like them, and they already exist to serve that niche. The Pub needs to be it’s own thing.

I think the name you chose was an apt one. When you go to the pub in real life, most are an oasis from ‘real life’ where people can enjoy some friendly company. That is what I see here the vast majority of the time. But you get to know the regulars and the names of their kids and so on, plus their favourite tipple.

There are a couple of people who perhaps post dogmatically, and another couple who seem to respond more heatedly, but with the current numbers that is easy to let wash without it really negatively impacting. Sometimes I stop reading a thread for a couple of pages, or even all together. But there are other threads which are cool to read so that’s fine. As the number of posters grows it’s always a challenge to maintain a specific feel, but on the other hand participation is key to survival so watchagonnado?

I do wonder if having a ‘mod text bubble’ like TBP might be useful? When used in good faith it allows people to quickly see if a poster is posting personally or in a ‘formal’ capacity. I don’t know; it’s worth thinking about?

In general, organising something is a thankless task and takes effort for no real reward. So, thanks for setting up the Pub and doing what you can to keep it friendly. :thumbsup:
 
I do wonder if having a ‘mod text bubble’ like TBP might be useful? When used in good faith it allows people to quickly see if a poster is posting personally or in a ‘formal’ capacity. I don’t know; it’s worth thinking about?

First month of ThePub we tried out red text for "Mod Talk" - it didn't go over well, I think Endless especially was against it.

Too many bad associations at this point.
 
Absolutely. The banter here is great and I love the atmosphere around it. However, folks have to be on the same wavelength for it to work and if somebody isn't happy about it then you can cross the line into vicious mockery. It does require a modicum of sensitivity.
In the words of Ben Folds "I pushed you 'cause I loved you guys. I didn't realize that you weren't having fun."

As someone prone to those kind of jokes I know I'd be horrified if I was actually upsetting someone and would stop immediately. If I'm going to give offense I want that to be deliberate. I suspect most people feel the same.

Yeah, I sense that too. I personally prefer the 'speak your mind' sort of discussion... which I enjoyed at The Other Place till politics flooded in. Sometimes this place gets a bit too kumbaya for me... and certain posters seem to like playing victim... which leads me to be a fan of some of the feistier participants. I prefer some Fight Club foreplay before the circle jerk starts.

To use the pub analogy, some people want a nice quiet drink in a wine bar and others want a rollicking time down some dodgy old dockside boozer.

It's a fine balance though. It's not the politics that stop me posting at the other place, it's the signal to noise ratio.

I'm in a similar position to you on that though, despite my own rather arch debating style. I hope people don't mind being singled out (it's useful to give actual examples) but I actively enjoy crossing swords with Tenbones or Kruger. Because I know I can take the gloves off without fear of hurting their feelings.

How do you reconcile the two groups though? I know people were strongly against my previous suggestion of a debate subforum. How about specific debate threads?

First month of ThePub we tried out red text for "Mod Talk" - it didn't go over well, I think Endless especially was against it.

Too many bad associations at this point.

A LARP forum I was on used emotes instead. Usage:

[mod hat on]Calm it down a bit you two.[/mod hat off]

That might work? It feels a bit less formal than red text.
 
An in depth debate is good. In one of the recent locked threads there was an interesting discussion going at one point between EmperorNorton EmperorNorton and CRKrueger CRKrueger where terms were being delineated. Discussions like that do let you see the finer points in game design and why something may or may not suit you.

I think the problem is that they are a big tonal shift from typical "chat" here and are prone to the participants being labelled pedants if they arise, especially from topic drift. Maybe (and I more mean this as just something better for users for clarity rather than formal mod policy) they're best in their own threads clearly flagged as such in the OP.
 
Would you guys and gals like something like thread prefixes here, which are just one or two words in a box before the thread title with disclaimers about what the thread might involve? If you google “Xenforo thread prefixes” you can see what I am talking about.
 
Would you guys and gals like something like thread prefixes here, which are just one or two words in a box before the thread title with disclaimers about what the thread might involve? If you google “Xenforo thread prefixes” you can see what I am talking about.
I cautiously like that idea, as long as it's made clear that it's a guideline and people can't use it to police threads they start.
 
Prefixes seem a good idea. If you want a casual conversation link it as wine bar, if you want no holds barred bare knuckles and broken bottles over heads list it as dodgy dockside bar for example.
 
I'm dubious of how effective it will be at containing knife fights to a particular local but I'd be down for being proven wrong.
 
I'm dubious of how effective it will be at containing knife fights to a particular local but I'd be down for being proven wrong.
I think it would stand as fair warning to others what the tone of the room could become.
There is always a chance that a bunch of marines will go into Rosies's bar and wreck the place, however. In that case we may need to all just go to the officers club down the road and wait until the MPs sort it out.
 
I'm dubious of how effective it will be at containing knife fights to a particular local but I'd be down for being proven wrong.
I don't think it will contain them necessarily. What it would do is take some of the responsibility away from the mods and back onto individual posters. There's a big difference between someone complaining that they were attacked without warning and someone doing so when they've actively chosen to participate in a no holds barred thread. Equally, "be more polite" is less likely to cause argument if people were told they'd be doing that up front.
 
Would you guys and gals like something like thread prefixes here, which are just one or two words in a box before the thread title with disclaimers about what the thread might involve? If you google “Xenforo thread prefixes” you can see what I am talking about.

I kinda find them annoyingly reminiscent of TBP myself.
 
Here's a question: sometimes heated debates on here will overtake a thread even if it's only 2 or 3 people involved, but while some posters find this upsetting/annoying, others think that the fight should just be allowed, since they aren't technically breaking any rules and/or some posters just enjoy that sort of thing. There's also been complaints that no one can have a debate here without immediately being heckled or mocked by other posters.

Instead of closing down a thread or threadbanning in such cases, what are the feelings about simply moving such arguments to their own threads and allowing them to continue (within reason), such as what happened with the "This Old Argument" spin-off thread that was excised from the trends in gaming thread?
 
I somewhat reluctantly ended up as Facebook friends with a (at least in my view) somewhat notorious poster on another site. I've seen absolutely none of that behavior from them away from that site and in fact have been quite happy I accepted the friend request.
Something about the atmosphere and personalities at that other place just seems to set them off. Some people are assholes without help, but there is much truth to the phrase it takes two to tango.

I'm not sure which poster you friended on Facebook, but I think I know what site you may be referring to.

I like Pundit's forum, I really do. But in all honesty, I view it as more of an internet bull session nowadays than anything else, while the Pub is a better place to just chill and actually talk about gaming and having fun.

I've got to admit, I like the moderation here. And no, I'm not kissing up to them either.

Anyone who has me as a regular without either banning me like RPG.net/Onyx Path (or just disliking me like Pundit presumably does) has the patience and tolerance of a saint.

Shout out to Endless Flight Endless Flight TristramEvans TristramEvans and Baulderstone Baulderstone

I love you guys, and I'm thankful for the Pub. It's a tight ship and I'm glad to be part of it.
 
My question is why do people need to knife fight about elf games? Presumably we all manage to go to work and have discussions with family and co workers without needing to be combative or rude to them. Why does that need to be here? What's the add to the forums?

I don't want people walking around on egg shells but having a back room where people are fighting is going to spill out in my opinion.
 
I honestly don't think you have to change a thing at the moment. So you've had a couple of threads go tits up in the last week, never mind. These things happen. The tone of the site is still largely the same as it was, and it's still the least annoying forum for talking shit about rpgs. I think this is a bit reactionary to what has been probably your busiest week as board mods and admins. If these kinds of weeks crop up more often in future, then I think its right to revisit things. At the moment i'm not sure what you think the problem is.
 
My question is why do people need to knife fight about elf games? Presumably we all manage to go to work and have discussions with family and co workers without needing to be combative or rude to them. Why does that need to be here? What's the add to the forums?

I don't want people walking around on egg shells but having a back room where people are fighting is going to spill out in my opinion.


Oh, I'm not talking about a back room or ghetto forum, literally just moving certain conversations to different threads, maybe with a warning in the new thread title that indicates its a heated exchange. As for WHY, well, I think that goes back to people having different tastes in how they like to converse. Some people really enjoy a pedantic back and forth, for others it causes a lot of stress and anxiety.

I mean this as an alternative to thread-banning.
 
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I honestly don't think you have to change a thing at the moment. So you've had a couple of threads go tits up in the last week, never mind. These things happen. The tone of the site is still largely the same as it was, and it's still the least annoying forum for talking shit about rpgs. I think this is a bit reactionary to what has been probably your busiest week as board mods and admins. If these kinds of weeks crop up more often in future, then I think its right to revisit things. At the moment i'm not sure what you think the problem is.


I don't think there's a problem per se. We just had a long PM with one poster who had a lot of problems with things, and I think Endless created this thread to invite him to discuss it openly with the community, and to see if anyone else was bottling up similar or other concerns. Moreover, I think it's just good to have these threads periodically - it's been over a year since the last one, and the Pub has grown since then.

I don't think any big changes are going to come, maybe a few tweaks in how we handle a few things, but we still want to maintain a very light touch to Moderation. I'm deadset against more and more rules.
 
Here's a question: sometimes heated debates on here will overtake a thread even if it's only 2 or 3 people involved, but while some posters find this upsetting/annoying, others think that the fight should just be allowed, since they aren't technically breaking any rules and/or some posters just enjoy that sort of thing. There's also been complaints that no one can have a debate here without immediately being heckled or mocked by other posters.

Instead of closing down a thread or threadbanning in such cases, what are the feelings about simply moving such arguments to their own threads and allowing them to continue (within reason), such as what happened with the "This Old Argument" spin-off thread that was excised from the trends in gaming thread?
I like that idea.
My question is why do people need to knife fight about elf games? Presumably we all manage to go to work and have discussions with family and co workers without needing to be combative or rude to them. Why does that need to be here? What's the add to the forums?

I don't want people walking around on egg shells but having a back room where people are fighting is going to spill out in my opinion.
I think the problem arises when we have one poster seeing something as a "knife fight" and the other seeing the same thing as a "full and frank exchange of views".

Also, I'm rude to my little sister all the time. Because she's a stupid brat who smells. ;)
 
Would you guys and gals like something like thread prefixes here, which are just one or two words in a box before the thread title with disclaimers about what the thread might involve? If you google “Xenforo thread prefixes” you can see what I am talking about.
I don't like this idea, because it can lead to things like "This is a + thread and you're being too negative" or "well I said I wanted a fight in this thread, so suck it up buttercup", neither of which really seem conducive to the atmosphere.

Here's a question: sometimes heated debates on here will overtake a thread even if it's only 2 or 3 people involved, but while some posters find this upsetting/annoying, others think that the fight should just be allowed, since they aren't technically breaking any rules and/or some posters just enjoy that sort of thing. There's also been complaints that no one can have a debate here without immediately being heckled or mocked by other posters.

Instead of closing down a thread or threadbanning in such cases, what are the feelings about simply moving such arguments to their own threads and allowing them to continue (within reason), such as what happened with the "This Old Argument" spin-off thread that was excised from the trends in gaming thread?
I like this idea, because it opens up both discussions for more input, as long as there's an accompanying "cool it" message and no snarky thread titling.
 
Would you guys and gals like something like thread prefixes here, which are just one or two words in a box before the thread title with disclaimers about what the thread might involve?
What do you think they might be used for? A ‘This is my hill’ tag? I’m only partially joking...
Instead of closing down a thread or threadbanning in such cases, what are the feelings about simply moving such arguments to their own threads and allowing them to continue (within reason)
I like forks, I think they can be good for both digressions and friction.
 
I don't agree with every decision which has been made here, but as far as I'm concerned, this is still by an extremely long shot the best RPG forum out there.

Avoid getting boggled down in "forum jurisprudence", it never ends well.
 
You haven't fired me from a meme cannon for "gasp" daring to question heavy handed moderation.

So there is that.

As fir why we have knife fights over elf games... We like to use our heads, its knife ears at dawn, folks! :p
 
Oh, I'm not talking about a back room or ghetto forum, literally just moving certain conversations to different threads, maybe with a warning in the new thread title that indicates its a heated exchange. As for WHY, well, I think that goes back to people having different tastes in how they like to converse. Some people really enjoy a pedantic back and forth, for others it causes a lot of stress and anxiety.

I mean this as an alternative to thread-banning.
It's an interesting idea. If a heated exchange is extracted to it's own thread, I think it would also be good to make it clear that it isn't a free pass to remain heated. The side argument would be removed to its own thread as a last chance for the participants to carry on their disagreement in a civil way or the matter will be closed.

As a general note, I haven't been participating in this thread much as I want to give users a chance to weigh in first, Plus, I've been spending a lot of time in the woods this weekend. There have been a lot of interesting ideas so far. Even if there aren't any policy changes, I already have some food for thought on my approach to things in the future.
 
Oh, I'm not talking about a back room or ghetto forum, literally just moving certain conversations to different threads, maybe with a warning in the new thread title that indicates its a heated exchange. As for WHY, well, I think that goes back to people having different tastes in how they like to converse. Some people really enjoy a pedantic back and forth, for others it causes a lot of stress and anxiety.
It wouldn't bug me, unless I saw it being used by people as a way to ensure 'purity' on 'My Thread'... petitioning mods for a sub-thread the moment anyone posted something they felt was not strictly on topic, too irreverent, or too hostile toward their own sentiments. Trying to keep more outspoken posters away from their discussions.

I think my overall concern, in any forum, is that the mods will hear most often from daintier complainers, rather than folks who aren't as easily ruffled... and that the squeaky wheels will get their grease. Not that this place has become that, so far. So far the level of Mod tolerance has been pretty nice, IMO.
 
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