Oh look another rant..

[wolffox]

Now, MOD75 blahblahblah. You want to know the reason why you guys complain so much about that MOD number? Because that MOD actually does its job, gives warnings, explains before banning or kicking, and when they do, everyone goes RAGERAGERAGE, because MOD75 does their job. Meh! Sad situation, we get mad that the people doing their job, and we get mad at the people that don't do their job. Now, which do you prefer the silent ban, or actually being told before you get banned?

Honestly, I agree with this bit. MOD75 is one of the ONLY mods I have seen lately, actually doing their job. :T But as I've said before, and I will CONTINUE TO SAY THIS:

The issues that are happening on FeralHeart can be blamed, 99%, on THE COMMUNITY ITSELF. NOT THE MODS OR ADMINS.

I understand what you're saying Ritza. FeralHeart does need more mods, in my opinion. Ones that will be active not only on the forum, but in-game as well. I see mods online on the forum all the time. But if the community can't learn how to behave, they need to be taught. In all honesty, sometimes **I** go around, patrolling the main maps and making sure people aren't acting like idiots. If they are, I get screenies and report them.

Basically, all I'm saying is that this is NOT the fault of the admins/mods, entirely. Kov doesn't provide the tools for them to do their job properly. I hardly ever see any mods in-game doing their job, however... I understand not all of them speak in their red text all the time, and they shouldn't HAVE to. But given the circumstances, and how out of control the community is, I believe it's needed at the moment, until the majority of users on FeralHeart can settle down and stop acting like a bunch of immature children.

[Evanescence]

Oh look, its the exact opposite of my post!

http://feral-heart.com/index.php?option=com_jfusion&Itemid=2&jfile=index.php&topic=7652.0

Sir, read that. Please.

[Toxikk]

Some of that is true, but the entire thing is goody goody goo goo with no constructive criticsm.
Or describing any flaws.
So it isn't 100 percent true..
:/ FH /does/ have problems

[Rukata]

Wow. Long thread. Now, I'm going to post a wall of text; if anyone wants, feel free to quote me out of context. I don't mind, short sentences where your arguements/agreements are directed at makes it easier to understand without reading long paragraphs.

Intro/Kov Issues
I think a very large portion of FeralHeart going south is, indeed, the community. There are fairly large numbers of rude, mean and other types of riffraff on the server. Keeping in mind that there will always be some sort of troll or a bad seed in the community, no matter what it is, the number is still just a bit higher than it usually is, but that's because Kov doesn't provide proper tools for anyone to work with. Of course, I'm referring to the stupid waste of space - the report button. If Kov could successfully implement a good system in game for reporting, than it would make the staff more efficient at stopping any sort of trouble that occurs in the game, and faster. With the current system where you send in unchanged screenshots to a staff member, and they read it in their inbox when they log online, it takes much longer for action to be taken, and with trouble makers you have to treat them like you would when training a dog that something is good or bad - if you don't take action nearly immediately, then it's wasted effort, because they won't easily connect the punishment or reward with what they did.

Admins/Moderators
Secondly, there needs to be more staff and/or the current staff need a system for the hours where they moderate - when there isn't even one staff member online, then it increases the chance someone will cause trouble. If you just had 6 mods in different timezones, and certain hours they should moderate at (let's just say) 4 hours from 12 PM to 4 PM, then they would cover every time of the day, and therefore, the zero zone would be eliminated, which may cut down on trouble. Of course, you could decrease the amount of hours a mod should be required to work, which would mean you'd need more staff to not over-extend yourself, and of course, if a staff member has a special occasion where they can't work, you'd need back up mods that are able to take their place in an emergency. Obviously, schedules would also need to be worked around school and work as well. I am aware that you should pick your moderators and admins wisely, for fairly obvious reasons, but there are many people who would gladly take up such a task, and would be good at it. Admins shouldn't be allowed to moderate in a situation where their friends/family are involved - if someone is reported and they're the sister of a mod, of course there's a fairly high chances they'll get away with little or no consequences. Being related to a mod or a friend of one should mean that they cannot be given discipline by the mod they know.

Community (normal members)
The third one is, people (the community) actually need to help with these problems - if you don't report it, it won't be fixed, no punishment will be given, nothing will happen! You're not a tattletale if you report someone doing anything against the rules - if it's a rule, and someone breaks it, you have every right to report them, no exceptions. Even if it's your friend or relative, you know it's wrong and you should still report them. If you don't know it's wrong because you haven't read the rules, then you're part of the problem with bad seeds in the community; I honestly believe that anyone who doesn't report something because they haven't read the rules should be instantly banned from the game for a period of time. I'm positive that anyone who can type also knows how to read (especially in FeralHeart where it's just a 3D chat room with not much else). All rules for pretty much any game or forum are very straightforward, it's not like they usually use long, complicated words that a normal person wouldn't understand, not only that but they're almost always very fast to read.. which means there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't read them. If you choose not to, your just as bad as the people who are going against those very same rules that you ignore, and shouldn't be allowed to play. End of story.

[Redlinelies]

This is just for the middle part you wrote there Zani, cause it feels like I have to explain some things.

This is just another situation when the mods is used as an excuse/valid point to even out the non balanced boards in debates like this, and it just gets more and more out of place as threads like these go on.

People really don't seem to understand here that you can't just make up ohh so perfect plans for how the moderation should be done and run.

Ofcourse your text sounds all fine on the paper, get mods, get schedules, get more mods, work around busy times, find people willing to help, sort the ZP times and the list goes on. It's good!

I buy this! I really do. It all sounds nice, but the problem with this is that users don't notice, and wont be able to see what's done to full when it comes to the moderating part of the game, or they simply to refuse to drop the thought that they don't know or wont be able to know about it no matter how hard they try.

Infact, this is more the community in my eyes than it is the mods fault/the lack of mods and how things are they way they are inside the game. As I have stated in so many threads before this. Even though there seems to be lack of mods around. This is no excuse for the rest of the community to behave like crap in game! Sure, people wont be following the rules as good if there were 15 mods compared to 100? But it's still no excuse.

And just for your guys notice out there. Several new mods has in fact been added to moderate the game not long ago. Just to make that clear.

Another thing I need to cover up is this get schedules part, and work around times when other mods are away.

Firstly!
Even the mods. Our beloved mods in the game that always ruin the fun for the trolls, are here to play the game just as you and me. Just because they're mods, doesn't mean they should be linked to some sort of contract demanding them to moderate the game at certain times of the day.

And don't start writing just yet, cause I'm not done.

The mod position is no full time job! People don't get paid for this, people don't get their time back for this. In fact, they probably don't even get credit for the job they're doing. Just dealing with people breaking the rules and complaining over and over again. They work for free, here to help us, everyone, to make the game a better place that people play on.

Just as in the real world mods in the game probably work different amounts of time, or in different ways even. But they're all here help.

People here can't just expect people to get schedules and start going to work on FH. They deserve their freedom to play the game when they feel like it, and I'm not saying now that this is an excuse for mods to stay away from the game and never monitor this place. But it sometimes feels like people think FH has it's own headquarters laying somewhere with mods getting paychecks in their pockets.

And people, please don't say something blunt like "Well, if they aren't willing to do that extra work, then why even be a mod?".

Okie, but why not just get more mods, there's lots of people that wants to help?

Well, this one should actually be rather obvious. Now lets just ask simple questions.

Wouldn't you guys want nice mods in the game that you can trust? Mods that knows the rules well, mods that are active, mods that got sense of understanding, mods that aren't looking for the attention of being mod, mods that want the game to be a better place?

This is a nobrainer yeah? This is something everyone wants. But how exactly would the moderating help if there was a mass recruiting of ingame mods? Having a game where tons of mods are running around won't really help that much if the people of the game refuse to change.

I'm certain that a few more mods could be added and it wouldn't hurt, would probably just do well for the game. But it doesn't work to just throw a mod position around.

And just because you mentioned it. Yeah, someone might be lucky to know the mod that catch them doing the bad action. But I really think that if anyone here really broke the rules to an extent so they'd deserve a longer ban, the mods wouldn't try to cover it up. Maybe they would be lucky getting a warn? But all the bad fishes get caught eventually. They are trusted to do their work, and if the community decide not to trust them, then what should you put your trust in? They didn't win their mod position in a lottery.

Another thing that's very important that everyone should keep in mind that most of the mods aren't really able to explain how things are or what they have to say since they are... mods.

Something that would probably help would be if tools were given to the existing mods. Rules easily accessible from inside the game menus. Fixed glitches and what not.

I do believe admins and mods are well aware of when it lacks something or when something is not going the way it should. Why does it always seems like we here on the forum are the ones knowing the best about how things are, when most don't even know anything about the mods and their works.

The point is, getting all these things sounds good on paper. But in reality it's not that easy, and maybe not even fair depending on which angle you are looking from.

I'm really what's written were a bad idea or anything, but it just doesn't work.

Yarp.

[Rukata]

I am well aware that the mods aren't getting paid and play the game like normal people - I wasn't saying that the mods wouldn't have free time to play the game, only that it would be nice if the staff could make a point to put in a certain amount of moderating time in a day. I do know they are just volunteers, and are human just like us and like to have fun.

I also understand, being a mod or an admin on several different websites and a game or two, that you should be allowed some freedom, especially when you have to reply to a report and do what needs to be done fairly often - I simply made a point to mention that because I myself haven't even seen a mod ever in game. That doesn't mean that I believe the mods are never on, but I also tend to get on very late at night, around the time when just aussies and other night owls are still awake. Outside of the game, since reporting is usually done in PM's, I've never seen that either, but I do know it goes on.

I was never intending to put it in a way that made an excuse that it was the mods fault; in fact, I said that I believed a very large portion of the problem was the community itself.. when I say very large, think 3/4 of the fault. Then mods not having the proper tools is nearly .75% of the last remaining quarter. The lowest percentage is actually it being the mods fault, at probably .25%. (I know I shouldn't mix fractions and decimals, but you get the idea.) Point is, I wasn't trying to say "It's the mods fault" - I know that most of it is out of a normal moderators control.

As for the bit about getting mods you can trust and mods knowing someone who was reported - I've known far too many corrupt kinds of people in general, not just mods or admins, who have been the downfall of many things in many different ways. I know I should at least trust someone in power even a small amount, but honestly.. I just can't. I'm a good judge of character, even over the internet usually, but I have to get into a personal conversation with one of them. Just hearing what they say to other people is enough to decide whether I can put even a small amount of trust in them - so until I see how they talk to me in a normal conversation, then I can't trust them. Show some sort of respect, maybe, but only if I decide I like them.. otherwise, I'll be very neutral to them - not nasty, but not nice either.

[Redlinelies]

If you know how all these points so well, why mention them without explaining what you mean by them in that case? Cause it wont get that far, and hence the reason why I explained them so clearly as I did. It all wasn't really posted at you though so no need to explain that post of yours.

Secondly, there needs to be more staff and/or the current staff need a system for the hours where they moderate - when there isn't even one staff member online, then it increases the chance someone will cause trouble. If you just had 6 mods in different timezones, and certain hours they should moderate at (let's just say) 4 hours from 12 PM to 4 PM, then they would cover every time of the day, and therefore, the zero zone would be eliminated, which may cut down on trouble. Of course, you could decrease the amount of hours a mod should be required to work, which would mean you'd need more staff to not over-extend yourself

Just an extension of this really so I felt like adding to it.

I'm glad you do understand these things, cause the post was actually not only aimed at your post only, but the community. I do believe that in some places it was stated there's been "posts" about the subject.

I myself was pointing things out the things that didn't seem too clear in the earlier post from you. If you understood these it's all good.

You and me both and some other people have probably been quite a few of these "corrupt" people so we all got our view on that.

You made points just as I wanted to clear them up, if not for you, for others that were reading them afterwards.

Though if you can't trust mods it's your deal completely.

[kiekowolf]

The mods do a great gob and all but they miss a lot of stuff like the other day I was walking around bonfire (cuz the pack i was stupid enough to decide to rp there) I was walking around and I came across a rape line it was there for 20 minute and I was so annoyed that no mod came out or any thing. Know if you think who's fault is it. It's about 70% the community's fault and 20% kovu's fault. Not at all the mods fault that this act happens and went on. Why I say it's 20% kovu's fault? because he does not provide a well planed thought out game I. Replace for IT. He does not proved thing to do I. RPs so that let's people minds stray to the things such as they do that we don't what to happen but if there was more purpose for rp then many that would keep peoples minds off that stuff and on the rp and that would make the community better.

If kovu doesn't want any sort of mods,admin ect.. Why make feral heart. Why make a place were people can get raped and verbally assaulted. I have considered leaving feral heart because of kovu's lack of appreciation for this game he made. He made it so he took the responsibility of making a structured came and that includes making a place were people ca rp without all this raping crap. Either get a piece of mind kovu or hand the game over to someone who cares.

[Toxikk]

Kieko, I understand where you are coming from, but really, the moderators and admins are just fine, coming on as much as they can.
The problem really is, I'm going to point out people yes, is that KovuLKD does not want any more admins or mods. Feral Heart was going great at first, but it's going downhill now because of less mods/admins. If we added more, we could get the back up on it's feet again! No, I'm not one of those people who say this just to become one. I'm saying this because it is the TRUE problem.

[Duskers]

It wouldn't be so bad if the mods could actually do something about the heaps of reports being sent in. But they can't. So anyone who thinks they're doing a good thing is screwed.