Terraria Wiki:Forum Moderator Nominations/Archive

This is an archive of discussions regarding promoting users to forum moderators. For current discussions, see Terraria Wiki:Rights Nominations. =Nominations for March 2015=

SilverHexxitFights
Closing statement: After two weeks, it has not been clearly decided that the nominee should be promoted to moderator at this time. Therefore I am closing this nomination as unsuccessful. Don't let this dampen your spirits, Silver. Nominations that initially failed have been repeated successfully here on the Terraria Wiki in the past.

Support

 * 1) Silver is quite capable and I think he's a good candidate. 652Graystripe Talk page Contributions Edit count 01:48, March 6, 2015 (UTC)
 * 2) For how great silver is on TFIW why not be admin on vanilla wiki? #IDontKnowHowToSig ~LegoTadhg
 * 3) I believe that Silver could easily "show his worth" as a forum moderator, especially as we could benefit from seeing a couple of users in this particular position. He has been a great help throughout the wiki over time and has also interacted with the community on a level that I can only respect. (Especially in comparison to my own current/recent interaction level.)
 * 4) As Lego said, Silver is a great admin on TFIW, and definitely deserves forum moderator rights. Arthurtilly (talk) 03:12, March 13, 2015 (UTC)
 * 5) I personally think the points brought up in the oppose section can generally be chalked up to differences in moderation styles, which are allowed and even encouraged by the wiki's chat guidelines (though said guidelines will probably need to be made more clear in the future). Oscuritaforze (talk) 08:28, March 19, 2015 (UTC)

Oppose

 * 1) At this time, I'm not confident in giving my support for Silver. I feel that more time is needed for him to grow on the wiki, and in his role as Chat Moderator more specifically. SquazzilTalk 22:32, March 10, 2015 (UTC)
 * 2) While Silver has been a good, contributing member of the wiki for quite awhile now, I'm not sure if he's particularly suited for this role at this point in time. As Squazzil said, I also believe that there should be more time allowed for him to grow on the wiki in general, and in his role as a chat moderator specifically. I kind of feel that he can be a bit *too* strict sometimes. For the record, though, being strict is not inherently bad, it's just that being too strict can sometimes have a negative effect on how the chat (and wiki) functions. Before I continue, I would like to note that I have no evidence, so it's just my word here (though I think that there's other people who can confirm the following, if need be).  Anyways, so to elaborate on my first point: I personally feel like Silver can be a little too strict sometimes. A brief example of this being: Him warning people for saying abbreviated profanity or replacing some of the letters in a profane word. I think that instances like this are unnecessary and that they will only serve to potentially stir some drama. In addition to the smaller instances of over-strictness, there have also been situations wherein Silver has stopped a debate in the chat that I personally believe didn't need stopping. They were relatively calm discussions that didn't warrant a chat moderator jumping in to stop it. I don't think that the first element will pass on to the forums (though there might be other cases similar to it), but I feel that the second might pass on and maybe be a source for some unneeded drama.  As a final note, I personally think that Silver is not active enough on the wiki in general, and the forums in specific. This is also taking into account lurk time, which I'm *pretty* sure that it's not very high at all, from what I've seen (correct me if I'm wrong).  Despite the above, though, I think that Silver would be a good candidate in the near future for this role. I would more than likely be in support of that future nomination, but for now, I think that it's not really the right time.  (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻Swaggins ~ ( The Terrarian Bugle ) ~ ( Contact me )┬─┬ノ( º _ ºノ) ~   01:04, March 13, 2015 (UTC)

Comments
@: As someone who hasn't been able to spend as much time interacting with the wiki as I would like, I'm interested in what you mean by "in his role as Chat Moderator more specifically". If you either wish to discuss this privately or not at all, this is fine with me, just let me know. I am merely curious of the current affairs where I cannot make myself as present as I would like.
 * Re to User:Squazzil


 * I felt I should add some more specific thoughts here, as Path was curious to know more details, and I wanted to clarify the reasonings behind my vote. I can't vote with full confidence at this point because Silver's moderation isn't just a matter of a different style, I feel it can most times cause more drama or tension in the chat than resolve any issues that may be present. I feel it is important to know when to speak up in chat, and when it is more appropriate to refrain. I also believe that chat moderators should strive to be as neutral and non-biased as possible and not allow thier own personal feelings lead their decisions. For example, if seeing a swear word bothers the moderator, but everyone else is fine with it, I think it is best to not use your powers to enforce your own dislikes, rather you should be the "voice" of the chat. This applies to moderations in general. I have seen several instances where Silver has given out warnings where no warning was needed, causing confusion in chat or causing defenses to rise at being warned for very little reason. He has also inserted himself into situations that he was not involved in, and this only served to cause more drama than was needed. I am also concerned that his motivations for editing or being promoted are not for the "right reasons" and I have witnessed examples of this as well.


 * I also wanted to say that many of these instances that I'm referring to have also been witnessed by Swaggins, and because him and I are around the wiki quite frequently, we share many of the same concerns.


 * I want to emphasize that I don't say these things to be hurtful, but it is merely my honest opinion based on what I have seen in my time here on the wiki.


 * So, to conclude, I'm not saying that Silver will never be suited to moving up in his responsibilities here, I just think it might do some good to wait. I can honestly say that if Swaggins had been nominated for Admin a lot sooner than when he was, I would have hesitated to support him, but as time went by, I saw a lot of growth and positive changes he had made and I could no longer think of a reason not to support him. Squazzil  Talk 01:39, March 20, 2015 (UTC)


 * "I feel it is important to know when to speak up in chat, and when it is more appropriate to refrain."
 * "For example, if seeing a swear word bothers the moderator, but everyone else is fine with it, I think it is best to not use your powers to enforce your own dislikes..."
 * "I have seen several instances where Silver has given out warnings where no warning was needed..."
 * Although I agree with these ideas (which basically describe how I try to moderate chat when I'm in there), this is actually what I mean by "differences in moderation style". There are pros and cons to both a more laid-back style and a stricter style. I can't really speak to specifics due to my not having been in chat recently, but based on the general statements above, the confusion and drama you described sounds like it could be a natural reaction to the latter style.


 * Oscuritaforze (talk) 05:06, March 21, 2015 (UTC)


 * I am not against different styles of moderating, there is certainly bound to be subtle differences with each individual, but what I'm talking about is the problems, drama, and tension in chat that have resulted in Silver's approach. If a certain style is causing more problems than solving them, then I think this is something that needs to be worked on. But I think my overall concern is Silver's motivations for being promoted, and for editing on the wiki. It bothers me to see inconsequential edits that change nothing, as well as meaningless comments made on pages merely to boost one's edit count.   Squazzil  Talk 01:02, March 25, 2015 (UTC)


 * I had a question: do you mean that all of my warnings cause drama, most of them, or just some (the strictest ones, I'd assume)?
 * Silver  (talk) 05:21, March 21, 2015 (UTC)


 * Not all of them, no.   Squazzil  Talk 00:10, March 25, 2015 (UTC)

I've stopped censoring abbreviations and/or substitutions (the only times I do so now are where someone just misspells it in an attempt to censor) since some debates. In addition, the debates I've closed have upset parties and/or caused annoyance. When commenting on this, I was informed that I could just ignore them, when I thought doing so would be blatantly disregarding my role as chat moderator. Just wanted to fill you in on my point of view and/or changes to personal guidelines. Silver  (talk) 02:01, March 13, 2015 (UTC)
 * Re to User:TerrariamcSwaggins


 * Good to hear that you've dropped warning people for the abbreviation and substitutions. It was a bit of an overkill, in my honest opinion. :) That does not change my opinion on your general strictness, however. I could honestly see other instances of you being potentially a bit stricter than needed in both the chat and forums.


 * In the case of the debates, though my memory can be rusty sometimes, I *have* seen situations where you, in my opinion, stopped a debate that wasn't causing harm to anyone. From what I remember, there was nobody that was greatly offended or annoyed in those particular instances. There was some jokes getting tossed around, yeah, but I think that those just contributed to the rather light-hearted, healthy debates. Additionally, I think the matter of whether or not something is annoying in the chat really depends on the user who is getting annoyed. A user, at any given time, can choose to go AFK in the chat if they think that something annoying is going on. Especially if all of chat is completely engaged in the particular thing that the user is annoyed about. A debate between all the members currently in the chat should not be stopped just because one person is getting little perturbed about it, in my opinion. Stopping the debate for that reason alone would likely just cause more drama and displays a certain level of over-strictness on your part.


 * * However*, there have been cases where you did make a good call in stopping the debate. Just wanted to let you (and anyone else reading) know that I don't think that every debate you've stopped was a bad call. :)


 * That said, I highly respect your ideals and principles, but would like to see you become a *bit* less strict in moderating before becoming a forum moderator. Just my opinion. :)


 * (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻Swaggins ~ ( The Terrarian Bugle ) ~ ( Contact me )┬─┬ノ( º _ ºノ) ~ 02:54, March 13, 2015 (UTC)

Squazzil
Closing comment: This nomination has unanimous support after about two weeks, so I think it is safe to close it successfully. Oscuritaforze (talk) 08:28, March 19, 2015 (UTC)

Support

 * 1) I will say that, though Squazz's activity level on the forums is quite low, this can be remedied. The positives here outweigh the negatives. If worst comes to worst, she just isn't active enough (although I do realize that her internet is a little iffy and respect that). Silver  (talk) 02:46, March 6, 2015 (UTC)
 * 2) Per whoever was before me (they didn't sign). 652Graystripe Talk page Contributions Edit count 01:48, March 6, 2015 (UTC)
 * 3) I think this would help the wiki #WikiWasMeanForThis# ~LegoTadhg
 * 4) Vehement support from me on this. Squazzsies has been an active, contributing member of this wiki for the longest time, now. Additionally, she's displayed a great amount maturity in most, if not all, of her conduct with other users around here (both in the forums and in the comments). I can understand the concerns about her not being specifically active on the forums enough, but I would like to note that that statement doesn't seem to take into account how much she lurks, which is a lot, given how long per day she's in the chat and such.  (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻Swaggins ~ ( The Terrarian Bugle ) ~ ( Contact me )┬─┬ノ( º _ ºノ) ~   02:01, March 11, 2015 (UTC)
 * 5) Full support from me. Until I can remedy my current IRL disorder, I will not be able to maintain a constant enough watch on the wiki or the forums to be considered "actively patrolling" in most cases. Squazzil has concurrently and consistently managed edits throughout the wiki, while being a noticeable presence and a help when needed. I doubt anything else I could say would differ much from what has already been said (especially by  - personally, I am mostly a lurker when I get the chance, though I do rarely join chat at this point in time).