[Maru]

Personally, nothing changes for me whether suggestions are taken or not. My ignore list will still be just as thick as it is currently, and I don't get infractions.

But from that... here is my view... it seems like TiBB has these rollover/aftermath threads quite frequently, but it almost always seems like nothing is done. I know there's probably issues keeping things from being implemented, I get this... but it would seem to be ridiculous to keep polling users when they've said multiple times what they want, and then nothing changes... I don't know the reason to this, I don't even want to guess... it just seems like it's caused a lot of blue-balling there. Not only for the users, but for the staff as well, since this will be the nth thread and nothing has really changed... (not placing any blame in stating this)

Also, it does seem mob rule is legion here. Some of that is a community issue, not a staff issue, but I do think that dividing moderators into sections is a fairer and more consistent system than what is in place, and these names should be on display... worrying about what users will whine about after ever change isn't really the point of it at all. The point is to add consistency and structure to the situation giving clear lines as to what is expected from the people moderating and from the users, and keeping problems in their respective areas... that's the most that I think can be achieved.

As for making people more amicable and getting along with each other... I think I'd said in the past, that people have become more allergic to censorship, and this is where moderating anything now is really difficult. In the past, we would've just locked all dumpsters fire. Not delete posts or anything, just lock them after a warn and then infractions handled in-thread AFTER warns (which should be easy to create a pattern with SD's failure rate)... the only things that are deleted really are heinous things that are real eyesores... but occasionally when we had a user that explodes and starts to meltdown in a thread, it's embarrassing for them, so we don't leave that up and sometimes we may give them an overnight ban if they're having a night (and won't shut up)...

I don't think SD is the only problem area... it's idealistic to think that handling just one area and cutting it off at the shoulder will solve it... there's a fanning of the flames in the chat threads (I've noticed), but nothing that's quite a rule break (most of the time)... those people don't get hauled off in chains as it seems like the most vocal users are punished. If those posts where they are retaliated against are deleted, then it's distorting the picture and also difficult to make either party own their "stuff"... SD is treated as a "problem child", when the issue is sometimes more complex. I think people pretty much separate into their respective "niches", and I think that's another problem... this forum is very clique-y. This is good and bad considering how small the activity is and there being 100 subsections... but I feel like it will be the death knell of TiBB if it is allowed to keep pulling at the seams... (and that may even be inexorable...)

Being unfiltered for a minute, I think the structure that is in place, has no backbone. I don't know that it's because of the individual moderators, but I do think that there's just too much leeway there and it needs to be sorted both internally and externally. Again, there have been several rollover threads... and even when those fixes seem ideal, there's fears about carrying them out. It's clear the staff here feels their hands are tied, is completely demoralized, and that's to be expected with a board full of rivaling cliques, but no clear idea (to them) of who is running things ... the staffing sounds as chaotic as the board atm.

I can't see personally how the current system could even be working. If it's all global moderators... there's no structure there, no expectations... just... browse the forum and have a free for all? All that means is that the most active mods get the most work, take the most on their shoulders, and the least active can easily coast by on delegating... sounds like a complete dumpster fire if I'm honest. I'd be habitually frustrated, to put it very nicely, if I were in that position. It's an unchecked system at the end of the day for all involved... and not at all in balance with the actual running of things.

The way it's worked at other communities, there's a splitting up of areas and usually 2-3 per area mods depending on schedules... it's divided up, and more mods are requested if required. You should have a 1-2 global moderators who can fill in gaps, and ideally an admin or two that is at least active part of the day... so really, 3-4 global moderators if you include admins... but it just depends on what is needed... but I've seen boards with more activity, but less moderators than this and they have made it work. (probably because they pick active enough staff)

Also, a suggestion probably nobody wants to hear... but maybe because TiBB is effectively downsized (inactivity), it may be time to cull/archive/merge some sections... just to make this simpler.

Anyway, I've written too much as it is as some things needed further explanation... just add my words in the suggestion bin. I acknowledge that I only see one side of the issue (public-facing) and while I saw the second part of what happened, I never saw the first... so while we're alluding to a "problem" here, obviously most of us only know some extent of it... but the rollover threads are all the same. Something isn't working and the current system can and should be improved...