Before I start in, I'll give those candidates who weren't here for chat #1 5-10 minutes to respond to any questions from that session that they feel they want to weigh in on.
@LessPop_MoreFizz Platform exclusive only, would be the way that would work in-engine. Being able to filter on it for tag preferences would be keen, but it is not feasible due to the tag limit and the breadth of cross-platform. So unless that gets changes, I think it's too idealistic to try and leverage the system through tags. Maybe with tag sets and tag wikis, but not on the questions.
@tzenes I have been appointed on three separate occasions within gaming communities and forums to serve as a moderator in some fashion, though nothing truly noteworthy. Of them, one of them was for the upkeep of an encyclopaedia of information on the forum for in-game items. While they all help, I think the greatest asset is my experience as a pro tem.
The format is open - feel free to ask your questions unprompted, however please try to wait until the candidates have answered the previous questions so we're not flooding them with questions. (:
@GnomeSlice Always believe in good faith unless the first posts are explicitly not (downright advertisements or hatespeech). The first step is to always try to walk with the user and seek a better resolution - sometimes by public intervention, other times by private contact. I haven't doled out a single suspension outside of spam users, and ideally it'll continue that way.
@Shaun Shift the tone from deliberation to decision-making. My current plot goes as follows: Work with the moderators to narrow down the possible options to what is functional, and propose the filtered options to see if anyone can provide a stronger analysis for those options, and draw the decision from there. No straw polls, no simply quantitative schemes.
@Oak I actually turn to the Bridge, if it's not serious. Of course, there's a 1/3 chance this fails spectacularly and a simple legal check throws the room into a warzone. If it's serious, then I turn either to our Gaming mods or to the Lounge for assistance. If I can't find anyone, I'll weigh the necessity of action on the severity of risk. I use no "default" action.
As questions are asked, please star them so that they're easily found in the starred list. Save your stars for questions so the list is kept clean please.
@Oak It's a bit obvious which side I fall on, isn't it? ♪ There is a lot of information that is valuable to people, but for the Stack Exchange system itself to work we can only handle certain types. So to that end, I am conservative towards what works with the system.
@Oak When I'm not sure how to address a flag, I discuss it in the site moderator room, and if I feel immediate action is necessary I bring it up in the global moderator room, where helpful moderators are always on standby for your difficult flags.
@Oak Tag maintenance. The scale of the system demands that someone needs to be on top of these. I've honestly been a bit too lax on this in recent times, especially since launch, but I will probably pick up on this again.
@tzenes I spend a lot of time on Meta Stack Overflow, and I also talk spend a lot of time on the general moderator room. And for whatever I miss, there's two users on the Bridge who are on top of even more things. I'm not expecting an issue (and this also covers @GnomeSlice's question just now)
And I hope y'all mostly run this because the KU/MU game is on tv...so if you need my attention, @lert me because I may or may not be paying half attention. hides
It's got its own name but I call it the Fridge because we first used it more like a place to put post-it notes to each other than a comm bay, thanks to time zone issues
@tzenes I'm a mod on RPG.SE which would obviously translate fairly well to being a mod on Gaming.SE, albeit with a lot less traffic. My real world moderation/leadership experience is a bit harder to apply, but the temperance and patience go a long way, especially in resolving disputes and dealing with problem users.
@GnomeSlice We don't get those, we get StarCraft2: with no space, haha~ But to seriously speak - it should be removed. All of my thought on this is elaborated in a recent Meta posting
@GnomeSlice I don't know what the community thinks about them. Personally, I'm fine with it but if we decide against the [Game name]: [Question] format, I'll edit them out.
@tzenes Maintain a professional atmosphere with interactions, continue to understand the engine, and keep track of the community. Basically - know how to behave, know how it all works, and know what people want. But ultimately, be myself - I'm not saying that I am the Community, but as a community we are also individuals.
@GnomeSlice Assuming you mean [GameName:], and not the page title feature that was added recently, I would like to see those removed. The latter we have no control over, but I'd like to see it removed as well.
So the new "suggested edits" bit is really neat, however I've been seeing a lot of edits that basically amounted to--
"Removed X from the title because it
was already in the tags"
Is this stackexchange policy somewhere? I guess I'm just not understanding the rationale behind it; I could s...
This isn't quite related to the Town Hall chat, but is it [status-bydesign] that nominees with a negative number of votes appear as 0 on the voting page?
For those of you running that feel [Identify This Game] has a place at Gaming.se: Why?, what value do you feel it contributes to the site, and to the internet as a whole? Specifically, what do you think is the benefit to these questions beyond the fact that you don't see them as harmful. For those that don't feel it has a place, how would you propose to... prod the community in that direction?
@badp It is to an extent, but I'm asking it from a somewhat different angle. If you feel you've answered my specific inquiry in your reasoning in the Meta thread, that's fine.
@LessPop_MoreFizz I don't like cutting scope for no reason. Sort of a Laissez Faire theory of moderation. I also feel, as @badp said, that they improve the quality of the information on the internet.
For example, Help me identify these two old games from before I knew English well (with “screenshots”).
Mapping these to existing close reasons, there are two that fit.
Too Localized. What value does this question have to anyone else on the planet, other than the one person who asked? In other...
@LessPop_MoreFizz I feel they're fine, but some of them are a little vague. However, I guess the community would decide if it's [not a real question - ambiguous or vague ] or not?
Continuing with the 'problem question categories' thread, our track record with [Tech Support] (or whatever you want to retag it is, looking at you @badp) is, quite frankly, terrible. Do you think we can improve it? If so how? Or for that matter, if you think we can't, or perhaps shouldn't, should we punt on these and begin to consider them Off-Topic?
@IvoFlipse A different perspective, mostly. I can't argue for skills necessarily - I do have a volume of expertise, experience in the system, and knowledge of how Stack Exchange works. But I can't say that the other candidates lack that. What I can say that I know is different, is my perspective on issues. Even if we fight on the same side, we still see it differently.
@GnomeSlice Remember, we're trying to make the internet a better place. That means we don't give into, or follow every meme we find. We have standards that are both different and higher than the general internet.
@Oak On principle, I don't use reputation to measure anything more than what it is intended to as a measure of participation. Some users can be highly contributory without accumulating a ton of reputation.
AskUbuntu seems to accept them, and probably has many more than we do. Thus I must assume SE can actually do Q&A&Q&A&Q&A&Q&A&Q&A, it's just us not being good at them.
@LessPop_MoreFizz It's not going to be easy, if at all possible, to improve these. This is mostly because gamers aren't really the best people to solve tech support. We're the people who have the questions.
@GnomeSlice I was just agreeing with @JuanManuel about the this not being the internet (there are no easy answers). I answered your other question above
As best, the majority response from us will be "Me too!", which doesn't lead to a lot of solving. There are simply better channels for it. As mentioned in the past, we have at previous metrics had 0% success rate in solving any tech support question with the exception of self-answers which we had no part in.
@LessPop_MoreFizz I think [tech-support] is fine here, but the ones that are more general (not specifically gaming related) should be migrated to Super User.
@TrickyM66 Pretty much my standard time here, which is roughly throughout the EST day. I observe the site itself during the day and also monitor the chat room invisibly.
@LessPop_MoreFizz I think we should keep [tech-support]. While we haven't answered nearly as many as we have pure gaming questions, we have accepted answers on about half, and multiple answers on more. I disagree with @GraceNote about gamers not being the best at answering those questions. Not the most motivated perhaps, but most help desk types I know, don't know much about graphics cards and versions of Direct X. We are our own best resource.
@TrickyM66 I think I will be able to start dedicating it as much time as I did in the beginning shortly, which was a lot (I was having personal problems which didn't allow me to continue with that kind of dedication in the past months)
@TrickyM66 Roughly the same as now. I'm in and out during most of the EST day, and spend some concentrated time on the weekends. Since I have a new baby in the house, I will also be on at very random hours of the night
@GnomeSlice The transcript for the chat is publicly viewable at all times. Anyone could be reading it at any point, honestly speaking. So I'm afraid that even if I stopped, you probably won't have much cause to be any more comfortable.
@Maybe-Mods: What are your methods for dealing with users who need help with something? How far are you willing to go to help out a user with a problem or question?
@GraceNote and other mods, since many of you want to keep paring down the scope of the site, what do you see as our core scope? What is gaming.SE about, and will never be Off Topic?
@GnomeSlice If they're asking a normal question on the site, I go as far as I could to help anyone - if I know the answer, I provide it. If they have a question about the engine, be it through Meta or in comments, I try to address their concern to the best of my knowledge, and research the need if none is found.
@GnomeSlice A long way. At some point such discussions have to be moved off the public site, but I'll do what it takes, as long as the user isn't trolling and is actually interested in learning
@GnomeSlice As far as I can. I'll research it as much as a can, and will form an answer unless there is absolutely no information about the question (or if there's not enough to form a decent answer).
@CRoss There's always been a misconception that Gaming is "All things Gaming". To me, the most core aspect is "Gameplay questions" - things about what happens in games. That isn't everything and I don't wish to say it is, but as far as undeniably on-topic, that's what I'd start with.
Question: We have seen a large number of issues where we've seen moderators (and regular users) change their opinions over time. Obviously inconsistencies in policies can lead to misconceptions and other bad things™. How do you plan to handle shifting opinions on crucial issues
@tzenes Sites evolve, people evolve. Even the whole game-rec issue was about this - many anti-rec users started as pro-rec. And even in spirit, I am actually pro-rec. But for the site to truly prosper, and thus is my answer to your question, I am anti-rec. Site health and consistency is more important than one's own opinion. Always make sure policies are structured to be clear. Figure out what is erroneous and fix it, through various measures.
@tzenes Keeping the FAQ up to date, making official and up to date faq meta posts, and being consistent in application of the current rules. Removing comments to the contrary where possible, but I won't promise a comment scrubbing every time my opinion shifts.
@GnomeSlice You have to work it out to a consensus that all the mods can at least live with. You learn what really matters, and sometimes when you disagree you stuff it for the good of the site.
@GnomeSlice There is no "Goto >:3" plan of action. Sometimes it means you need to work it out between the moderators as fast as possible, other times you need to stash the goods in a corner until things are cleared up.
Corollary to @gnomes question: How do you plan to deal with issues where it's largely irrelevant how you feel, but when the community consensus seems to run counter to, for instance, broader SE policy/admin directives?
@GnomeSlice I will openly admit that I if I thought it was destructive to the site, I would overrule the will of the community, provided the other mods were on board. After such a decision was made I would go to some lengths to convince the community of it's necessity.
@GnomeSlice Juan answers my thought mostly. Even if I feel strongly, I stick with what works. Sometimes that is what the community will think. But when it is harmful, I will make a stand.
Question: How do you handle a situation where the community is making a genuinely harmful decision, something you know is either unsupportable or hurts the community as a whole?
@GnomeSlice I will openly admit that I if I thought it was destructive to the site, I would overrule the will of the community, provided the other mods were on board. After such a decision was made I would go to some lengths to convince the community of it's necessity.
What do you think of the State of Tagging as a whole on Gaming.SE? If you had infinite time/energy to go through the site and retag everything, what would you improve?
@TheThreeModsToRuleThemAll: What if the greater S.E. policy changes (via update or feature add, or other) in some way that negatively impacts our particular site? Do you stand up for us?
@LessPop_MoreFizz If it boils down to it, the most important thing is to explain why it is harmful to the site or opposed to general policy as proposed by @tzenes. Sometimes this will come in hand with a foregone conclusion, other times it may be somewhat possible for a saving grace. But the important thing is not just to get the harmful stuff out as quickly as possible, but to also explain so that people understand.
@LessPop_MoreFizz I think tagging is overall good. I would get rid of a few tags I don't see as being useful, such as tips and `theory, but otherwise it wouldn't change much.
It's not always going to be popular. And this is probably the most difficult part of the job. But if it is actively harmful, it is pretty much required to stand firm on it. Even if it means being less lenient than the Team.
@TheThreeModsToRuleThemAll: What if the greater S.E. policy changes (via update or feature add, or other) in some way that negatively impacts our particular site? Do you stand up for us?
I realize that most of my questions probably seem contrived.
@LessPop_MoreFizz As I mentioned in one of my earlier responses, one of the things I do when I'm not handling mod flags is organize tags. Figure out what works, what is being ambiguous, figure out what needs to be used more, start trollopping about the questions to see what needs to get tagged...
Mostly, my first goal would be a lot of cleanup with the non-game-name tags, and especially boot out [how-to] and [strategy], which are feeling less and less helpful as they increase in usage.
@LessPop_MoreFizz I'd add console tags, as I feel tags are used to organize and sort. Say, for example, somebody was an expert at PS3 questions. If some of the questions about PS3s aren't the PS3 tags, the user may miss those questions. To finally answer the question, I would put a console tag on every question that it would make sense on.
In fact, I think console tags should be mandatory (or be a special tag set), but that wouldn't work if the question wasn't console specific. (Can't think of a case right not, but I'm sure there is one).
Question: There have been a number of discussion of topics to include new users (ITG, Redstone Golf, Tournaments, etc), what do you think the roles are of these "getting to know you" questions/events going forward? How can we both be inclusive while remaining on topic for GSE?
@GnomeSlice As much as possible. There is a limit to what you do, since this is SOIS's business after all. If the offense was egregious (which I can't imagine), I would lead the charge of taking our CC data to another site.
@GnomeSlice I'm not afraid to bark at the Team if I think something is highly dangerous to our site. But even then, I also happen to usually understand the motives behind their choices.
@tzenes I don't think we should allow questions just to be inclusive. Lets face it, it's a site about video games, who doesn't have a video game question now and then? I think we greet new users warmly, and make sure they get good responses from the community, and go about running the site as well as we can.
@GnomeSlice Edit my profile to say that I'm an elected moderator on Gaming and thus if I make any strange sounding remarks in Meta Stack Overflow that one should take into account that I do in fact wield a diamond.
Question~: Say that a user with high reputation on the site, respected and adored by the community, grows power-hungry and begins abusing their superpowers in a harmful way. How would you deal with this situation?
I have a better idea. Mods, not democracy, make decisions by accepting answers on meta. Mods may decide to accept the highest voted option, or not for reasons of consistency and higher-ups' compliance.
If there's a tick, it's policy. If there isn't, it is not. If the policy changes, the tick cha...
"when I get elected, as my first act with this new authority, I will create a Grand Army of the Republic to counter the increasing threats of the Separatists. muahahahahaha"
@tzenes Some things are too problematic and host too much of a scale problem. Other things, not simply in theory but in practice, don't have as much of a problem. It's easier to make a blanket call of "No", but I think that based on our own ability to handle some stuff, it is feasible to handle some degree. Work not just on existing trends, but on what the prediction is. Solve it before it becoems a problem, but only when it is turning into a problem.
@Mana Sadly this happens to some extent. I would message them, communicate what's acceptable, and what's not, and revert the damages. If they continue, you don't have any choice but to put them in the box of shame, because a high rep user can cause lots of damage to a site.
@LessPop_MoreFizz a woodchuck would chuck all he could if a woodchuck could chuck wood. The question is: how much ground would a groundhog hog if a groundhog could hog ground!
@HooooooBoyYouGuysHaveGotYourWorkCutOutForYouNow,Haven'tYou?: How flexible will you guys be with possibly trying to have more mods elected if our site grows beyond all projections? More concisely, how would you deal with a rapidly expanding userbase?
> I see the growth of the site as both a good thing, and a risk that has to be managed. As we gain popularity, and have lots of new people who don't know the culture dropping in it will be more important to maintain standards and communicate our culture to the next virtual generation.
We communicate that culture in several ways.
A clear FAQ. Comments explaining why moderator action was taken. Consistency in enforcing community expectations, and holding active, consistent users to the same standards.
@Mana Contact the user and try to work it out. Always talk first. Always try to reach a resolution. Always try to understand both sides of the story. The ideal scenario is not necessarily to get the person to understand our side, but to simply end the conflict and abuse. Keep the prize in mind - a safe and happy community.
@GnomeSlice Rapid nudge mechanics to ideally push for new electees. I actually expected 4 slots but I supposed that due to our own poor conversion rates we don't actually need 4.
@RebeccaChernoff Good luck to all of the candidates! I'm also happy to address any questions on the Bridge of candidates who haven't had diamond experience and are curious about anything.
@RebeccaChernoff I can't promise that I will make everyone happy as a moderator. I can promise that I would do my best to protect, guide, and benefit Gaming.SE. Good luck to everyone, and I look forward to participating on gaming with all of you in the future.
As I have said in almost every other Town Hall, good luck to all the candidates and as always, THANK YOU @RebeccaChernoff FOR YOUR HARD WORK ON THESE!!!
So the new "suggested edits" bit is really neat, however I've been seeing a lot of edits that basically amounted to--
"Removed X from the title because it
was already in the tags"
Is this stackexchange policy somewhere? I guess I'm just not understanding the rationale behind it; I could s...
For example, Help me identify these two old games from before I knew English well (with “screenshots”).
Mapping these to existing close reasons, there are two that fit.
Too Localized. What value does this question have to anyone else on the planet, other than the one person who asked? In other...
