Is there a double standard here?

[ranc0re]

I joined The Escapist for a number of reasons: Yahtzee, UnSkippable, Doomsday Arcade, and, of course, to be able to voice my opinion on the forums.

What I have noticed, however, is somewhat of an oversensitive group of moderators who feel the need to suspend a number of passionate users on the slightest provocation, even going as far as to discount their votes in the March Mayhem competition. What I don't understand, however, is why the lashing out on specific developers is treated with more severity than attacks on various religions, ideas, etc. (all of which could just as easily be considered flame-baiting).

It's very easy for me to see why so many people at The Escapist are upset. The competition is to decide who The Escapist readership's favourite developer is. With an influx of voters who are coming to vote for ONE specific developer, it alienates the community. Think of it this way:

I'm about to watch a movie with a group of 10 of my friends. We pick a set of 8 movies at random. 1 of these movies, none of us have heard of, nor have we any inclination to watch it. HOWEVER, just before we are going to select which movie we are going to watch, 10 more individuals arrive, say they are going to watch the movie with us, and then proceed to select the one movie none of us want to view, however, we are forced to. We're all upset, and promptly after we view the film, the other 10 people who just arrived leave and are never heard from again. That is until we want to watch another film...

Anyways, I'm sorry if this is in the wrong forum, but this is just how I feel about the competition right now. I'm almost scared to post in those forums lest I get suspended or banned... not a healthy atmosphere IMO.

 

[Nova Tendril]

I have to agree with you. Everyone is acting to sensitive right now.

But I really don't want to talk about it because I think it would result in a ban.

 

[oliveira8]

Its just cause of March Mayhem. It will go away once is over.

 

[m_jim]

What I have noticed, however, is somewhat of an oversensitive group of moderators who feel the need to suspend a number of passionate users on the slightest provocation, even going as far as to discount their votes in the March Mayhem competition. What I don't understand, however, is why the lashing out on specific developers is treated with more severity than attacks on various religions, ideas, etc. (all of which could just as easily be considered flame-baiting).

Sounds to me like someone doesn't want to risk losing ad revenue.

 

[cuddly_tomato]

The way The Escapist handles moderation is known all over the internet among gaming communities. They have no actual rules as such and so the moderation is severely inconsistent, and can range from excellent to extremely poor depending on who notices what. Don't take any of it personally.

 

[Laurefinde]

Think of it this way, the ban hammer teaches some people how to act politely in company. They can still say what they want but with diplomacy (something lacking in so many). So we can learn from it.

Regarding why no heavy ban hammer on other subjects - if no one complains maybe the ban hammer is lenient, just taking a wild guess here but there is always that button on the left that says REPORT.

 

[rottenbutter]

Its just cause of March Mayhem. It will go away once is over.

Until next year that is.

*groan*

 

[the_baku_eats_dreams]

I heard about this and it is totally wrong, I hate it when people cheat in contests. It is a little frivolous a contest, but it is a contest none the less and honesty as well as good old fashion common sense should take precedent over pure facts. Valve totally should have won

 

[Nova Tendril]

Think of it this way, the ban hammer teaches some people how to act politely in company. They can still say what they want but with diplomacy (something lacking in so many). So we can learn from it.

Regarding why no heavy ban hammer on other subjects - if no one complains maybe the ban hammer is lenient, just taking a wild guess here but there is always that button on the left that says REPORT.

Yeah but some people report over the slightest offense.

 

[Johnn Johnston]

It's just because of March Mayhem. There's been a lot of flaming lately, and they're clamping down harder than they normally would. It'll be back to normal before too long.

They have no actual rules as such and so the moderation is severely inconsistent, and can range from excellent to extremely poor depending on who notices what.

Yes they do. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.84119]

 

[oliveira8]

Its just cause of March Mayhem. It will go away once is over.

Until next year that is.

*groan*

Might be sooner than you expect. Spinwhiz said there might be a similar competition in the summer.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/375.103903#1627675

zee link to his post talking about a game vs game showdown for this summer.

 

[Avatar Roku]

Think of it this way, the ban hammer teaches some people how to act politely in company. They can still say what they want but with diplomacy (something lacking in so many). So we can learn from it.

Regarding why no heavy ban hammer on other subjects - if no one complains maybe the ban hammer is lenient, just taking a wild guess here but there is always that button on the left that says REPORT.

Pretty much this. The mods obviously can ban of their own initiative, but they tend to do most of their banning on people who've been reported, since that's the only way they can get near as many bad posters as they do.

 

[cyber_andyy]

I've seen perfectly reasonable threads locked for no conciveable reason. What would improve our moderator standards is if they would post a reason for a thread lock, or edit some ones post, with a little note saying what the perp has done wrong.

I might make a thread for that actually.

 

[Avatar Roku]

I heard about this and it is totally wrong, I hate it when people cheat in contests. It is a little frivolous a contest, but it is a contest none the less and honesty as well as good old fashion common sense should take precedent over pure facts. Valve totally should have won

Please don't state your opinion of who should or shouldn't have won as fact. If by "cheating" you meant people making multiple accounts/voting twice, those votes have been discounted. If you meant the flood of Turbine users, that is legitimate and allowed.

 

[randommaster]

People seem to get b& just for beeing one of the first fuve posters on any given ZP.

As far as Mayhem is concerned, apparently some of the forums had massive flame wars (I don't know which ones) and so posting anything along the lines of "X is stupid" will invoke the hammer to prevent a fifty page thread of flaming fiery fire flames.

 

[rottenbutter]

Its just cause of March Mayhem. It will go away once is over.

Until next year that is.

*groan*

Might be sooner than you expect. Spinwhiz said there might be a similar competition in the summer.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/375.103903#1627675

zee link to his post talking about a game vs game showdown for this summer.

I plan on staying as far away from that as physically possible

 

[vultureX21]

I think it is entirely fair to be upset with the influx of voters from Turbine's community (let's not pretend we don't know who we are talking about here) if you feel it affects the integrity of The Escapist. However, there were no ground rules set for voting. No minimum number of posts, no requirements for participation, no regulation of new voters. THAT is what is upsetting people, the lack of regulation, which is a great irony since the general lack of regulation is what makes The Escapist appeal to so many members.

Fact is, they made no rules about the voting system, no prerequisites for voters, and Turbine opted to capitalize on it and flood the voting to win. They didn't break any rules, they didn't do anything dishonest or immoral unless you feel they are violating the unwritten integrity of The Escapist. Some people do, they are entitled to their opinion, as long as they can express it without disgust or venom.

Also, it should be noted that bans and probation measures were first implemented on the truly offensive and volatile users, then even more clamping down became necessary when the first bans and probation measures didn't stick. The moderators want to keep everyone safe and perhaps they've been a bit overzealous, but the intent is noble and the effort to be fair appears to be underwriting their decisions.

It is frustrating when you feel like longtime members are being smothered under blitzkrieg voters, but you know what? If you want to beat Turbine, there are plenty of ways to campaign for votes against them, I haven't really heard much of that going on.

 

[Johnn Johnston]

Its just cause of March Mayhem. It will go away once is over.

Until next year that is.

*groan*

Might be sooner than you expect. Spinwhiz said there might be a similar competition in the summer.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/375.103903#1627675

zee link to his post talking about a game vs game showdown for this summer.

Is it just me, or did anyone else have the huge choir chanting louder and louder in their heads when they read that one sentence?

 

[rottenbutter]

Its just cause of March Mayhem. It will go away once is over.

Until next year that is.

*groan*

Might be sooner than you expect. Spinwhiz said there might be a similar competition in the summer.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/375.103903#1627675

zee link to his post talking about a game vs game showdown for this summer.

Is it just me, or did anyone else have the huge choir chanting louder and louder in their heads when they read that one sentence?

That depends, did you hear a heavenly choir, or an ominous choir?

 

[GyroCaptain]

I heard about this and it is totally wrong, I hate it when people cheat in contests. It is a little frivolous a contest, but it is a contest none the less and honesty as well as good old fashion common sense should take precedent over pure facts. Valve totally should have won

Please don't state your opinion of who should or shouldn't have won as fact. If by "cheating" you meant people making multiple accounts/voting twice, those votes have been discounted. If you meant the flood of Turbine users, that is legitimate and allowed.

Exactly. You don't have to like it, but calling the Turbine hordes or anyone else "cheaters" or railing against their presence is a no-no. The point of this event is not merely to see what the elite on the Escapist think of developers, but to encourage developers to send their (hopefully literate) fanbases here. Grumbling in a passive aggressive way is the closest I've gotten, but I've also gone the "stay here, shape up, and have fun" route with a little "wait, that's not logical!" for fun.