Naw, not yet… a few here needs to get their asses booted first!

I honestly wouldn't mind ads as long as they are related to the hobby in some way. If there were Nifty LED ads with a coupon I know I would use it. Even game room related like wall art would be fine.

Robin, you say that most crack downs are a collective decision but I know first hand of specific incidents where a particular mod that was personally vested in a subject was heavy handed in suppressing discussion (on topic mind you) to the extent of trying to cajole via pm the thread starter to post they wanted the thread closed so this mod could close the topic. That's rogue moderating imho. I would guess, if everyone wasn't afraid of reprisal from the mods mentioned, there would be 2-3 common names mentioned. This isn't a systemic mod issue. The snarky moderated comments are annoying and none have ever been made towards me.

I don't get the hangup with ads as long as they are done right. I do hate pop-ups though. If Robin is relying solely on income generated from Pinside, ads would certainly make sense and I wouldn't begrudge that.

Do mods have terms or are they mods indefinetly? I think two year terms with voting would freshen up the mods.

I fixed it smarty.

Please stay on topic...lol

i was trying for a thread eject....

Fixing isn't allowed.

LTG : )™

Over moderation? Maybe, sometimes.
Easy to fix.... if JJP/PPS/DP/Jpop/SkitB would stop their shenanigans, that would clear up 96.7% of the thread drama

Buuuuuuuuuuut seriously.

For all the horseshit to wade through, getting help from folks in this community (especially people like Lloyd) make this site a bargain at nearly any price....

Same here

I'm still alive. I just got held up for awhile trying to trade my mod paycheck for some cool pink patent jackboots.

Seriously though, thanks for the nice words guys. I did hide for a short bit after the latest psycho targeted me, but mostly I've been dealing with a sick husband, post-op mother in law, and extra work stuff. But I'm still around, and you can always reach me via PM if you need me to look at something or yell at me.

** on topic **
I promise that the mods are doing the best that we can. It's just a bit hard when some people want no moderation at all and use Pinside more as a place to hang out with virtual/real friends and chat, and some want it to be a strict information-only forum with no off-topic posting at all. Add in that there's no black/white definition for "family friendly" or "off topic" and there's lots of gray area (or is it grey area?) for us to work in... and lots of ways for us to unintentionally piss someone off. Believe me, there's no way to make everyone happy.

We have thousands of posts a day with only 10 of us, and that's when we're all 10 actively working and not busy with life. We will never ever see everything, so what we moderate has a lot to do with the reports that we get from Pinsiders. I counted over 60 posts in one day on one thread, from multiple users, against multiple users and multiple posts. Naturally we're going to focus more on that thread than the hundreds of other threads that nobody has reported anything in. (EM sub-forum, I'm looking at you. ) So we don't mean to single out any particular thread or person, but sometimes the moderation has to focus on what people are telling us is a problem and try to do something about it. And with us being in different times zones, different countries, and having jobs that keep us away for hours, it's usually not going to be an immediate response.

Here's a short list I've come up with of how you can help us better help you. (insert Tom Cruise/Jerry Maguire gif here)
*If you see something that needs attention, report it.
*If you post "can a mod please close this thread?" in the middle of a post in a random thread, we're probably not going to see it unless your fellow Pinside then reports that post to us so that it is brought to our attention. If you actually want it to be seen, PM us or report it.
*If you have an issue that is a bit more pressing and needs attention quicker, PM a mod or two.
*Don't know who your mods are? Get to know us here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/welcome-to-the-pinside It's a stickied topic if you need to refer back to it later.
*If you agree with what someone says, give them a thumbs up or make a nice post. Make friends. Pinball friends are great- they sometimes give you good ideas, free stuff, invite you to pinball parties, or offer to let you stay in their vacation homes.
*If you disagree with someone on a regular basis, put their butt on Ignore. "There's a button for that," and it will make your Pinside experience better.
*Be nice to new people, make them feel welcome. They're probably here because they have been lurking for awhile and/or just signed up because they got their first machine, and most need help. Help if you can, and just a "hello" is great too. If that new person immediately looks like a troll or spam account, report them instead of engaging them.

What else? Got ideas? Start a Moderator Feedback thread (under the Pinside sub-forum) or list them here.

This should be fixed. At least tell people why and who brought the hammer down. I don't blame you for wanting to post less if you still don't know who or why even after opening a mod thread.

Or if it's seen as a bad thing to have the mod named publicly for every action they take, then at least internally have it logged so it can be addressed in a mod thread instead of no one knowing and no one stepping up.

Well I finally found out why I was ejected. Was for posting a panel from a Batman comic that had some mild innuendo in it as part of an exchange.

Still digesting what I think of it, but at least I know now.

I won't inline it, but here's the panel if you anyone wants to see: http://aurich.tumblr.com/post/29977892806

My suggestion is to go with ads and donations over $N allow for the ads to be disabled in he user control panel.

I can't believe you post that shady cartoon stuff.

It was obviously entrapment!

We have been FF for a while now so what are the stats saying Robin?

I also think all moderators could learn more from Robin, Tiger, Blonde and Gweem.. the proven senior team, and some need rotating (as with all walks of life), it is a tough gig and not everyone has what it takes, maybe a probation period is an option (even tougher as it is purely voluntary). Kudos to anyone who puts their hand up to do it though.

Disruptive architecture brings innovation!

Couldn't have said it better.

Sometimes I read threads where people are getting all worked up and think "what's wrong with these dudes?"

Your on-line persona should mirror your real life persona. If that's the case, I wouldn't want to meet some of you jackasses.

Couldn't have said it better. (Again)

When I use other sites like Facebook, they just fail in comparison to Pinside. Facebook should buy Robins services to redesign their shit site.

rd

That's just because those guys are REALLY old.

Pinside is fine just the way it is
Moderators get it right most of the time

Relax, it is just Pinball

From what I've seen, this is right.

What a lot of guys seem to forget (or not know) is there are 100s of people reading your posts. Including lots of kids, both boys and girls. These kids are the future of pinball, they need to be encouraged and welcomed.

My 13yr old daughter is active on Pinside. She is a good pinball player (#2 in NZ and played twice in the World Champs) and she is both reading and starting threads here. Here is her first thread from the other day. An OT thread, but you have to start somewhere.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-worst-b-grade-movies-ever

Good thread, lots of good discussion and no name calling or carrying on. If a 13yr old can do it, everyone should be able to do it.

rd

True, but it only takes one DB with a bad attitude to turn it into a train wreck. And there are quite a few DBs around here. (And yes...I'm fully aware I'm on some people's DB list!)

It's funny that most of the people complaining are the people that are consistently getting ejected, warned or whatever. I think it's fine as well.

If everyone would just pull one off before coming on and typing, pinside would be a better place

This isn't true. Aurich and I hardly ever get ejected. And when we do, it's for really stupid stuff. That's the argument.

Wow. This thread exploded.

I've never been thread booted.
I've never been suspended or whatever it's called. I've never had a harsh word for anyone here. I don't think that's ever warranted.

But I have two principle beefs regarding moderation.

1. My bud Chuck was ejected for simply asking when JPoP was going to finish a game. A reasonable question with a completely disproportionate response by the mod.

2. Forcing the fellow with the confederate flag avatar to change it. That's PC gone mad. I wonder if we can still discuss Bally Dixieland here.

I've blocked a few PinSiders because I don't want to see their posts. No big deal. It's an available method that more folks should employ rather than rushing off to complain to a mod.

And now, back to helping hobbyists with tech questions, the principle enjoyment I derive from PinSide.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.Team-EM.com
http://webpages.charter.net/chibler/Pinball/index.htm
http://www.PinWiki.com - The new place for pinball repair info

I've campaigned hard for people to do this but my fan base just continues to grow.

Pinside is great. The trolls aren't. These days I spend way more time in the arcade than online. This site has become so much more about bickering and less about pinball. How many freaking threads do I have to see bashing people and businesses? Screw that. Get back to helping, troubleshooting and being awesome to each other.

The confederate flag thing was a hoax but yeah, I've seen a few odd thread ejects, mine were deserved so I won't complain about my own

Edit---although my first eject was because the moderator is buddies with the person I directed the post at, so that one was very biased.

Don't f*ck with my buddies ....

Thanks brah it's pinheads like you that keep us wanting to donate our time to help the site out! I think sometimes we all forget it's just pinball man it's what binds us and keeps us coming back to talk with each other. Keep on flippin that's what it's all about.

This isn't going to be popular, but I'm going to say it anyway.

We are all guests of Robin and team on this site. His rules are exactly that, his rules. Why this is a mind-blowing concept to some completely escapes me. I'm 90% snarky wise ass and maybe 10% helpful on here. I occasionally get a warning or whatever and I ease off. If I really feel like digging in and being an asshole about something I ease off and back out. If you are breaking rules and get busted who cares if somebody else gets by with it. You are not following the rules.

I learned early on that you respect others wishes when you are their guest. This bs of being "afraid" to say what we feel..really?? To compare this to Communist China..gimme a freaking break. The good ole days of rgp had Mr FF shit on and troll every other thread. It was simply irritating. I don't miss it, really.

If this pisses anybody off, I'm not sorry. I for one think that the whining gets old. I'm going to try to always remember my big-boy briefs and keep playing by the established rules.

End rant.

Lol! You are awesom Brian, that's funny shit!

I agree with this and I do ignore many things myself on items such as game play or machines. But when people chime in with unsolicited advice, and its bad advice based on uneducated, TV Land shows, it trips my trigger. I've lost count of how many TV lawyers we have on Pinside.

And then theres the macho advice guys. "If I were you I'd go to his house and beat him up" (good grief)

Also unsubstantiated rumors being spoken of in casual conversation as if its a done deal while its really only based on wishful thinking. GAH! My pet peeve.

I admire people who can turn stuff like that off 100% of the time. I'm hit and miss and cannot always turn away.

Theres an expression that was written for guys like me. "He does not suffer fools gladly"

One last thought. I'm not perfect. So when I make a mistake, I pride myself on owning it and apologizing for it. I wish more people knew the power of an apology.

I think the mods should monitor the PMs. Mine get really out of hand sometimes.

As Flank said above, that whole thread was a hoax, just done to get people riled up and anti-mod by someone mad at us. It never happened, he made it up, and when we presented the truth he went on a PM harassment/threat rampage against me, another mod, and a few other Pinsiders. Then he created multiple accounts to keep coming back after we closed the account, threatened me some more via PMs with each new account, and started multiple threads against me that we had to quickly shut down and delete for sheer profanity.

If you want to know why we put anonymous notes on moderations, that is why. Normally if it is a regular on here I will post or PM, but after 3 separate instances of being stalked I'm not eager to put my name on everything.

And you might want to tone down your literal translation. No kidding they don't get paid...

There SHOULD be ads on Pinside. There's plenty of vendors and distributors using Pinside to further their interests. They should be paying to do so.

...and yes, I have enjoyed Pinside for the last few years. I was also a contributing on a Paypal subscription monthly, until the mod abuse and pin flipper nonsense encouraged me to cancel it.

...that is a good example of an overzealous mod abusing their influence. It's truly Robin's website, and what he wants goes, but there's a limit to censorship and mods abusing their position to exert their point of view or personal agenda.

PMs are NOT private here. There was a thread a while back where this was brought up.

I miss the boobies. No wait. They're still here.

And on that note:

image.jpg

Stalking you? It's not me... Stalking...uhm...you. Much. If at all, which is what I am most certainly NOT doing right now.

Lmao!

No, just busy with kids. If Robin needs some money, I'll try to hook him up.

PMs are absolutely private. That is why they are called 'private messages.' Nobody has access to PMs except Robin, and he does not check them unless it is an emergency situation or someone gives him permission, like in a harassment case. He has also asked people not to post screenshots of PMs as well. I am sure he can clarify more on that, but I have been a mod for over 2 years and have never ever been able to see anyone's PMs except my own. Where is this thread/post in question?

While some may be anti-ads, it wouldn't hurt to have ads from pinball vendors. I personally hate ads and have adblock turned on, so perhaps code up your own brew and that way vendors contact directly through the site and get their "ad" up. This would give you guys a lot of control over keeping the ads at least pinball related and not some random adsense junk etc.

In the past we've offered Robin to "promote" us, and others, in some manner. Whether this simply be a sticky topic or whatever and we would give a percentage of all sales based on that promo code. Robin at the time was uninterested. Perhaps time for things like this?

I would personally enjoy some highly visible, yet targeted pinball ads actually. I'm always coming across cool, new to me, vendors with neat products. It should help them get their name out there other than being buried deep in posts

I was kidding, of course.

I think it's important to donate to this or any site you use regularly and that's why I do. This is the first place I visit every day. Damn...I really need to get a life!

Wow, I've been here about a year now and remember the boob gifs when the Predator thread went silent. Now, what Aurich posted is uncool? I could care less about the boobs, but to go to a no nipple rule to a no innuendo rule is a bit extreme. It goes from one extreme to the next. What I hear is people want middle ground.

I do have to say this is the nicest looking forum I have ever frequented and the one with the best knowledge base; period. It also has features that I had never seen before; like ignore, ability to post real embedded pictures, picture tilts, and really cool link between marketplace and forums.

Seriously?

I got kicked off for a week for "Not believing in the Easter Bunny" in a OT discussion.

I'm still scratching my head on that shit.