Nonsense

[GommeInc]

It seems kinda standard for a forum of this size to have 4 SMs, Moderators are for more specialised forums or (at least) one per forum. Members come and go quite often, so they may just stick with SMs because finding a good number of Moderators is a bit difficult, especially when quite a few have left and some people just aren't interested anymore. The lack of activity may have something to do with it too :/

[Chippiewill]

I honestly don't know how the moderation system works, but I'm sure normal moderators do partake in moderating otherwise the role would've been dissolved long ago.

It's only really recently, moderators have been promoted to smods because a lot left, then some came back which has now led to there being more smods than mods.

Members come and go quite often, so they may just stick with SMs because finding a good number of Moderators is a bit difficult, especially when quite a few have left and some people just aren't interested anymore.

I would have thought 2-1 or 1.5-1 would be around the right amount.

[GommeInc]

Depends how you view mod systems. Quite a few forums I have used don't have super mods, or only hire special people for mods with expertise in an area. It's quite useful as it means any attack on a forum can be dealt with quickly, while mods either lack global power or the power for advanced tools such as banning, deleting etc. Maybe Habbox have looked at reducing the number of mods, because they see super mods as more useful in general? I can see your point though

[Chippiewill]

Depends how you view mod systems. Quite a few forums I have used don't have super mods, or only hire special people for mods with expertise in an area. It's quite useful as it means any attack on a forum can be dealt with quickly, while mods either lack global power or the power for advanced tools such as banning, deleting etc. Maybe Habbox have looked at reducing the number of mods, because they see super mods as more useful in general? I can see your point though

I suspect it's just more recently since so many mods became smods and then Apple got removed because he's secretly Mint and all that, it's just left a lacking of moderators I think. And they can hardly rehire a super moderator back as a moderator because it's a waste when they'd do more good as an smod. It's probably just the way it's turned out over the past couple of weeks.

Edit: And Syko resigned

[HotelUser]

I'm not sure about the other normal moderators but I haven't found a lack of things to moderate in the Technology section at least. I know James, Sarah and General Management can see our statistics so I'm sure if moderator activity is reduced overall they'd pick up on it fairly quickly.

[Chippiewill]

There's definitely been a shift in the ratios in the past two years..



Four Smods ****-ton of mods

[Grig]

^^ I think those were the days when the moderating system was more relaxed in terms of the fact they didn't put that much pressure on mods. Nowadays a mod has quite a tough job with all the logs and targets, hence they are a lot more dedicated to the job. Also, the forums have been cut quite significantly and are not as active as they once were, yet another reason for less mods.

I agree with the ratio bit, that there should be more normal or specialized mods, but Nicola's hiring was a good decision as she was one with experience and apart from Martin the only other experienced S Mod on the team. This isn't unheard of as there were 4 SMods when Gairon and Oli were forum management.

[Martin]

Firstly, only up until recent times there have always been 4 Super Mods for long periods of time. I think it's underestimated the amount of work thats required of smods, and it's far more than just checking over posts etc. I can't really see any problems with there being an inbalance at this moment in time, since Supermods are required to do everything that normal mods do and more, so surely it's not really going to cause any huge problems.

I think it's all fine trying to compare things to the past, however times change, and perhaps a different balance is needed for the current conditions. I don't think you can assess what kind of moderation we need when you're not behind the scenes to see what kinds of problems we deal with. It has to be remember that SuperModerators are responsible for all sections of the forum, and it's far more useful and easier for us to be able to get to rulebreaks and deal with them as quickly and efficiently as possible with there being more chance of us being online. 2 newer Smods yes, and it's therefore much easier to have Nicola and myself available should help and guidance be needed here.

As Jin rightly pointed out in another thread: These things are really down to management to decide, and there really is no need for public disapproval of every single staffing issue that's made. Department managers often know what they are doing and will do it for the good of the department. These decisions are not made with haste, and they will be for the good of the forum. Taking something positive like an additional smod (Which will keep the forums far better moderated), and turning it into something negative for trivial reasons like this is unfair. "completely unnecessary and over the top" makes this situation sound far more serious than it is, especially considering Four supermoderators was always a decent number to have.

I understand there could be changes soon anyway, but in the meantime the current positions within the moderation team are fine, and if anything this will improve the moderation not hamper it in any way.

[Sarah]

Hi,

Moderation is currently being dealt with by Forum Management and General Management - so watch this space. In terms of "General Management and Forum Management" doing the same role - we actually don't. We don't moderate the forums only if we come across something or if someone alerts it to me via MSN (even then I will ask a Super Moderator). We focus on managing the moderators and checking on them. We also have other roles and is not merely focused on Moderation. It isn't in the description on how to do our jobs that we have to Moderate - but once a moderator always a moderator in my eyes.
In terms of General Management the only person you will see edit posts will be Hecktix as he is the AGM Staff. This means that any staff breaks can not be dealt with (Super) Moderators and he proceeds to take a course of action against the rule break. You may sometimes find a AGM or the GM moderating but that is because like me - if they come across it they will deal with it themselves (not always) or they will report it.

Some people under estimate the role differences between a Normal Moderator and a Super one - they have to do more work in terms of moderating the whole forum thus it would be an advantage. For example if there was a rule break in Feedback and less amount of Super Moderators it would not be dealt with until one came online or an Administrator saw it.

[Tintinnabulate]

Hi,

Moderation is currently being dealt with by Forum Management and General Management - so watch this space. In terms of "General Management and Forum Management" doing the same role - we actually don't. We don't moderate the forums only if we come across something or if someone alerts it to me via MSN (even then I will ask a Super Moderator). We focus on managing the moderators and checking on them. We also have other roles and is not merely focused on Moderation. It isn't in the description on how to do our jobs that we have to Moderate - but once a moderator always a moderator in my eyes.
In terms of General Management the only person you will see edit posts will be Hecktix as he is the AGM Staff. This means that any staff breaks can not be dealt with (Super) Moderators and he proceeds to take a course of action against the rule break. You may sometimes find a AGM or the GM moderating but that is because like me - if they come across it they will deal with it themselves (not always) or they will report it.

Some people under estimate the role differences between a Normal Moderator and a Super one - they have to do more work in terms of moderating the whole forum thus it would be an advantage. For example if there was a rule break in Feedback and less amount of Super Moderators it would not be dealt with until one came online or an Administrator saw it.

As I said in the VM, unless they are lazy are morons, you don't need four. When the forum used to be at its peak, they used to keep 2 super mods and more normal mods and it used to work perfectly.