by lewiselder1 » Sun Aug 19, 2018 11:31 am
Occam wrote:lewiselder1 wrote:while Moderation is usually bound by the rules, Moderation can step outside of them if justifiably necessary. They’re not the law and if we see Moderation as an extension or delegation of Wouter, if it’s necessary to ensure the game runs right and it’s an exceptional or important matter, Moderation has every right to act outside of them. In other words, Mods are expected to stick within them, but are not exclusively bound by them.
In that case calling them "rules" is, at best, misleading. So let's rename them to "guidelines" or "rules of thumb".
lewiselder1 wrote:Moderation should never be dictators, but are also never 100% bound by the rules 100% of the time
Moderators
are dictators insofar as they can dictate the rules as they see fit. If they deliberately break those rules they become something
far worse.
1. I don’t think it’s misleading to call them rules at all, this is a very small minority of cases where we would do it and only when it’s absolutely necessary and in the interest of the game as a whole. We’d never do this is the community at large thought it was unfair, because then we’d be failing in the goal of making exception to the rules; to ensure the game is fair and runs smoothly. By exceptional circumstances, if it’s something very minor like invalidating a formerly valid RP law that was going to be overturned anyway after a long debate to avoid confusion in the future, that justifies it. Something like inactivating an obviously inactive party even if they’ve not totally aligned with the rules, as you may have seen discussed in the Inactivation Requests thread, wouldn’t be enough. It’s hardly as if the rules are useless — but they’re not infallible, they’re not written by lawyers, and I think if it’s absolutely necessary Moderation can step outside of them in RARE circumstances
2. Moderators are bound by the rules almost all of the time and can only change them with consultations or step outside of them with serious justification. At the end of the day unless people are largely unhappy with Moderation I think we’re doing something right.
I go by Ashley now and use she/her pronouns. This is a really old account, I don’t play now.
I was a mod in classic for a bit, then I helped make Marcapada and WM there for a while. As of 2020 I’m co-ordinating Pachapay’s development.
