The Ethics of a UrT Moderator

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The Ethics of a UrT Moderator

Postby Pirat » 01.11.11

Howdy!

I've been a moderator for a few months, and during that time (and
before), I got a lot of input on the rules of the game servers:

  • !rules
  • http://www.dswp.de/old/wiki/doku.php/dswp:rules
  • Instructions and opinions from other moderators or admins (in game,
    on mumble, or on forums)

As each source gave me different input on the rules, I need
to finally sort out what's Right(tm) or Wrong(tm), because this
latent cognitive dissonance is killing me. :-)


Anyway, I would like to hear your opinion on my (current or planned)
behavior on a few scenarios described below. If you agree or
disagree, I would like to hear from you.


{ Hint: "guy" means also "girl", of course }


General

Generally, my escalation strategy on someone's "misdemeanor" is as
follows:

1) I call the guy's attention to it (via chat).

2) If he still doesn't stop, I "!w" and/or "!slap" him.

3) If he still doesn't stop, I either repeat step 2 up to 3 times or
so to have B3 kick/ban him, or I "!k" him myself.

4) If he still doesn't stop, I "!tb" him for some time (10m to 1d,
depending on situation/mood).

Depending on the respective situation and/or my mood, I sometimes
shortcut this escalation procedure here and there, and the time for
temporary bans varies.


Individual Scenarios

  • Cheaters

    I take demo(s), "!lt", "!id", and "!tb 1d" the guy, and post
    everything via <http://dswp.de/postdemo>.

    When I'm on other servers where I have no rights, I do two
    things:

    a) I ask the guy why he's cheating and/or I politely (yes, I include
    the word "please") ask him to turn it off.

    b) I try to join his team and constantly block him, so that his
    aimbot/autoshoot will kill me and he will get kicked
    automatically due to TK.

  • Team Attacking / Team Killing / Blocking

    I always use "!fa" right after a TK or every other minute, just in
    case someone hit me. TA/TK/Blocking happens, I would not
    excommunicate anyone for that. :-)

    The only exception is when someone out of extreme noobishness or even
    purposefully does excessive TA / TK / blocking.

    In case of noobishness, my reaction is the aforementioned
    default.

    In case of purpose, my reaction is:

    1) I "!tb" him for some time (1h to 1d, depending on situation/mood)

  • !cyclemap

    I currently act inconsistently. In future, I would like to let
    !cyclemap always pass. After all, a vote is democratic.

  • !nextmap with non-sensical maps

    If 45 players are on, and someone calls a vote for firing range ...
    well, why not. If people see they have made a mistake with that
    choice, they can still do a !cyclemap.

    If a map choice would pose a threat for the server's stability or
    would make it impossible for anyone to play, I would !veto it, of
    course. Is there a list of problematic maps or a list of other
    things that can do harm to the server and/or the gameplay?

  • Spam / Advertizing / Annoying chat

    If someone spams, i. e. either writes excessive amounts of the same
    information over and over (incl. vote spam), or tries to annoy
    people (like that one guy who always asked everyone if we would have
    anal sex with him and the likes), I show the aforementioned default
    reaction.

  • Cursing / Insults

    Cursing is part of life, period. Fuck the FCC! ;-)

    Humorous insults (as far as I can tell that) are also no problem.

    On insults meant seriously, I react as follows:

    1) I say "HINT: Please kill each other politely, thanks. :-)".
    2) If he doesn't stop, I tell the guy to behave (via chat).

    After that comes the default reaction strategy, with a "!tb" time of
    10m to 1d, depending on situation/mood.

  • Camping

    This item is tough. There have been a million discussions about that
    before, so I don't want to start it all over again. But if you
    strongly disagree on my thoughts, please write a line or two.

    I can understand both positions:

    a) Camping kills the dynamics and speed of the game, as it turns the
    playfield into a virtual mine field.

    b) Camping is part of a Real Life(tm) battle, too. (But isn't the
    motto of UrT "Fun over realism?".) And it's a nice challenge (for
    good players).

    Because playing (non-campingly) when there are many campers is probably
    an insurpassable obstacle for not so experienced players, and because
    we want people to have fun on our server (at least I guess so :-), I
    tend to reject at least excessive camping (whatever definition might
    suit that).

  • Nazism / Racism / Chauvinism etc.

    1) I ask the guy why he thinks/says that and/or why he has such
    a nick name.
    2) I ask the guy to stop that and/or to change his nickname.

    After that comes the aforementioned default reaction strategy, with
    a !tb time of 10m to 1d, depending on situation/mood.

I've seen people in game, on mumble, and on forums insulting those
Nazis / racists / chauvinists in a way I would never insult
anybody, except maybe in the heat of the moment, if he
currently actually (i. e. in Real Life(tm)) threatens my or someone
else's health or life or has just actually done that in front of my
eyes.

Most of the people in the world don't like Nazism, racism,
chauvinism, cheating etc. But many people seem to forget that these
people are not acting voluntarily like that; instead they're victims
themselves, due to some sort of violence and pain that was inflicted
on them before, maybe even during their whole life. This also
includes non-physical violence and pain, like e. g. hatred,
buddying, ignorance, and having no future.

I would like to ask everybody to reject Nazism, racism, chauvinism,
cheating etc. themselves, but not the people behind it. They are
human beings just like you, and yes, even you could end up
acting just like them, it's only a matter of the experiences you
make in your life.

Insulting and ignoring your fellow human beings will not help,
even if they act anti-socially. This will most likely make them behave
even more anti-socially -- and if they can't do that in the game (due
to being banned), they will wreak their anger on other people in
Real Life(tm).

Is this what you want?

I can fully understand the emotions you have, if you're directly and
actually affected by Nazism, racism, chauvinism etc., but if you can
find some way to turn your anger into something else and try to see
yourself in these people, I would ask you to do that. It would
probably make this world a better place.

Thanks for reading.


.
Last edited by Pirat on 01.12.11, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Ethics of a UrT Moderator

Postby HumppaLakki » 01.11.11

First at all, nice thread and i totally agree with most of the things you said.

Just some short things that i would do a bit different ( yeah i know, i handle nearly everything a bit different just in case im often rage kick :D)

Pirat wrote:
If 45 players are on, and someone calls a vote for firing range ...
well, why not. If people see they have made a mistake with that
choice, they can still do a !cyclemap.


cyclemap will be canceld by me all the time i see it cause most of the time (just i think i noticed over the, guess 2 years, im admin here) it will end up in a votespam on everymap cause there are allways some player who doesnt like the current map. And normaly if 45 players are only only 10 or maybe 15 vote at all and thats not democratic anymore.

Some maps will be never seen when im online especealy when the server is full. In most cases for just simple reasons. It will make the server empty, slows down B3 a lot cause of to many warnings in a short time and kill the fun for everyone. Those are the small maps like Dressing room, Cemetery666 or Firing Range. And of cause subterra cause of the "cycle out" bug.

Pirat wrote:
[*]Nazism / Racism / Chauvinism etc.

1) I ask the guy why he thinks/says that and/or why he has such
a nick name.
2) I ask the guy to stop that and/or to change his nickname.

After that comes the aforementioned default reaction strategy, with
a !tb time of 10m to 1d, depending on situation/mood.[/list]

I've seen people in game, on mumble, and on forums insulting those
Nazis / racists / chauvinists in a way I would never insult
anybody, except maybe in the heat of the moment, if he
currently actually (i. e. in Real Life(tm)) threatens my or someone
else's health or life or has just actually done that in front of my
eyes.

Most of the people in the world don't like Nazism, racism,
chauvinism, cheating etc. But many people seem to forget that these
people are not acting voluntarily like that; instead they're victims
themselves, due to some sort of violence and pain that was inflicted
on them before, maybe even during their whole life. This also
includes non-physical violence and pain, like e. g. hatred,
buddying, ignorance, and having no future.

I would like to ask everybody to reject Nazism, racism, chauvinism,
cheating etc. themselves, but not the people behind it. They are
human beings just like you, and yes, even you could end up
acting just like them, it's only a matter of the experiences you
make in your life.

Insulting and ignoring your fellow human beings will not help,
even if they act anti-socially. This will most likely make them behave
even more anti-socially -- and if they can't do that in the game (due
to being banned), they will wreak their anger on other people in
Real Life(tm).

Is this what you want?

I can fully understand the emotions you have, if you're directly and
actually affected by Nazism, racism, chauvinism etc., but if you can
find some way to turn your anger into something else and try to see
yourself in these people, I would ask you to do that. It would
probably make this world a better place.

Thanks for reading.


.


You are deffenitly right with your arguments but...
at first, me for myself were a long time in the right winged music scene (long time ago) and i have seen there a lot and now there is just a zero tolerance reaction on racist nicknames. They will be banned everytime i see one. And i wont discuss about the reasons someone call himself "jewcrusher" or "Hitler" ingame. He only can be a retard and just imagin how it is for 44 other players when the admin starts to discuss with such a retard. So for me... Racist nickname = ban.

if it is an Offensiv or Chauvinism nickname may warn him to change his nick.

And there was one case i was like ... "god thanks i dident meet this fucker in real life i would have had killed him" Thats was about a nickname like "pedophil" or similar and he start to talked about raping babys. If you see something like that. BAN. Zero Tolerance for something like that.

And last but not least :D You often talked about that you first talk to the guy who does something wrong. Just take care it will not end up in a stupid discussion on the server. There for we have this Forum and IRC :)

Just some opinions and things i would do differnt :)
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Re: The Ethics of a UrT Moderator

Postby Pirat » 01.12.11

HumppaLakki wrote:First at all, nice thread and i totally agree with most of the things you said.

Just some short things that i would do a bit different ( yeah i know, i handle nearly everything a bit different just in case im often rage kick :D)

Pirat wrote:
If 45 players are on, and someone calls a vote for firing range ...
well, why not. If people see they have made a mistake with that
choice, they can still do a !cyclemap.

cyclemap will be canceld by me all the time i see it cause most of the time (just i think i noticed over the, guess 2 years, im admin here) it will end up in a votespam on everymap cause there are allways some player who doesnt like the current map.

Oh, I've (nearly?) never seen that, but that's probably because
other mods do !veto on each !cyclemap. :-} Hm, if I would !veto
a !cyclemap, I cannot do a !cyclemap myself for consistency/justice
reasons. Damn, do I have to play deception? ;-) But at least
the map cycle can be influenced (pseudo-)democratically, so I
should be okay with that.

HumppaLakki wrote:And normaly if 45 players are only only 10 or maybe 15 vote at all and thats not democratic anymore.

Hm, that's a good point. I wonder what people would do in
a Real Life election, if the turnout would be only 1 third ...
Whether that's still democratic or not is a philosophic
question which I'll delay to a longer session on the loo. ;-)

HumppaLakki wrote:Some maps will be never seen when im online especealy when the server is full. In most cases for just simple reasons. It will make the server empty, slows down B3 a lot cause of to many warnings in a short time and kill the fun for everyone. Those are the small maps like Dressing room, Cemetery666 or Firing Range. And of cause subterra cause of the "cycle out" bug.

Ah, thanks for the hints! I'll try to remember whenever someone
suggests that.

HumppaLakki wrote:
Pirat wrote:
[*]Nazism / Racism / Chauvinism etc.

1) I ask the guy why he thinks/says that and/or why he has such
a nick name.
2) I ask the guy to stop that and/or to change his nickname.

{Nazis / racists / chauvinists are humans, too }

You are deffenitly right with your arguments but...
at first, me for myself were a long time in the right winged music scene (long time ago) and i have seen there a lot and now there is just a zero tolerance reaction on racist nicknames. They will be banned everytime i see one. And i wont discuss about the reasons someone call himself "jewcrusher" or "Hitler" ingame. He only can be a retard and just imagin how it is for 44 other players when the admin starts to discuss with such a retard. So for me... Racist nickname = ban.

Okay, I understand that... By asking people for their reasons, I want
to accomplish two things:

  • I want to show that I care for them (I really do!), and
  • I want to make them think. The logical pain caused by
    cognitive dissonance will make either their head explode
    or eventually make them find out of that reality bubble --
    at least that's what I hope.


HumppaLakki wrote:if it is an Offensiv or Chauvinism nickname may warn him to change his nick.

And there was one case i was like ... "god thanks i dident meet this fucker in real life i would have had killed him" Thats was about a nickname like "pedophil" or similar and he start to talked about raping babys. If you see something like that. BAN. Zero Tolerance for something like that.

I think I would have handled that pedoguy exactly like a Nazi:
If it's only the nick, ask/discuss, then warn/slap/kick/ban, and
if he talks shit, some steps are skipped, and the ban is near.

HumppaLakki wrote:And last but not least :D You often talked about that you first talk to the guy who does something wrong. Just take care it will not end up in a stupid discussion on the server. There for we have this Forum and IRC :)

If the discussion seems to become (or stay ;-) fruitless,
I'll end it, of course, and go on in my escalation strategy
(and maybe skip all points except the "!tb" part, depending
on the course of discussion =).

HumppaLakki wrote:Just some opinions and things i would do differnt :)

Thank you very much for that, your reply is highly
appreciated!
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Re: The Ethics of a UrT Moderator

Postby AimMe » 01.12.11

I agree with most of things, but same like humppa, nextmap/cyclemap votes i handle different (than you). If there is buggy map, map that shouldn't be there or map with error (like map is played but can't be autodownloaded) i'll let cyclemap vote pass (i'll do !cyclemap if vote isn't started). Only then cyclemap can pass. Why? Twice i let them cycle map. And what happened both times? "Cyclemap vote passed". Next map comes, we play for 1:30 and guess what "cyclemap vote passed". And on next map (first time it was casa, so normal map) and it got cycled again!

About nextmap i do as humppa.

And about your logic (talk and then ban) in some more critical cases, i might ask him some question (sometimes even rhetorical question), let him read it and ban him before he answers. He'll still have to think, and will have time for that.
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Re: The Ethics of a UrT Moderator

Postby Pirat » 01.12.11

AimMe wrote:I agree with most of things, but same like humppa, nextmap/cyclemap votes i handle different (than you). If there is buggy map, map that shouldn't be there or map with error (like map is played but can't be autodownloaded) i'll let cyclemap vote pass (i'll do !cyclemap if vote isn't started).

How do I find out about such errors? Just by the number
of players having reduced a lot a few minutes after map change?

AimMe wrote:Only then cyclemap can pass. Why? Twice i let them cycle map. And what happened both times? "Cyclemap vote passed". Next map comes, we play for 1:30 and guess what "cyclemap vote passed". And on next map (first time it was casa, so normal map) and it got cycled again!

Okay, I trust Humppa's and your cyclemap-experiences and have now bound
"say !!HINT: We usually !veto a '/callvote cyclemap', because it often
leads to cyclemap spam." to ease administration and to "calm down" the
players -- nothing is more frustrating than forbidding things without
giving a rationale for that prohibition.

AimMe wrote:About nextmap i do as humppa.

I will do so, too, I just need to know which maps cause problems
under which circumstances. Humppa already gave a small list that I'll
try to keep in mind.

AimMe wrote:And about your logic (talk and then ban) in some more critical cases, i might ask him some question (sometimes even rhetorical question), let him read it and ban him before he answers. He'll still have to think, and will have time for that.

Hm, if I'm out of time (or in a bad mood), I might do just the same,
but usually, I want to give people the opportunity to defend or
explain themselves and not to ignore them, because that's some
not very nice (and, alas, subtle) form of violence that I want to
avoid, if possible.

Thank you very much for your input, AimMe!

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Re: The Ethics of a UrT Moderator

Postby AimMe » 01.12.11

Pirat wrote:How do I find out about such errors? Just by the number
of players having reduced a lot a few minutes after map change?


Yeah, reduced player number is indicator.


For maps, austria is not good for full server couse it ends up in blue spawnkilling red. Dust has similar scenario...
Streets is small, swim is full of nades and blockers.

I can't remember more now, but when i do i'll say it here :)
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Re: The Ethics of a UrT Moderator

Postby Pirat » 01.12.11

AimMe wrote:
Pirat wrote:How do I find out about such errors? Just by the number
of players having reduced a lot a few minutes after map change?


Yeah, reduced player number is indicator.


For maps, austria is not good for full server couse it ends up in blue spawnkilling red. Dust has similar scenario...
Streets is small, swim is full of nades and blockers.

I can't remember more now, but when i do i'll say it here :)

Perfect, thank you! *cuddle* |-)

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Re: The Ethics of a UrT Moderator

Postby KnightINDIA » 01.16.11

I agree wid Pirat on most of the things but cycle map and next map I handle the foll way:-

1) mostly i call !veto
2) if the next map called for is dressing room or small map like streets, swim, prague then call !veto.
3) if some1 repeatedly calls for cycle or next map then he gets !w or !s.
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