ban question

[bluehathacker]

Good eve Moderators,
Wanted to share a sentiment that is talked about a lot with gamers. That topic is the length of time it takes to hear back on a ban request submitted. Its discouraging to go through the trouble of submitting the BRQ and get it right so that the mods can properly look it over, only to have it sit there for over a week w/ no answer. I understand the job you guys do is basically volunteer, but there must be a better way to review the BRQ's so that theyre answered in a timely fashion. Just wanted to voice a concern,
Thank you

[Haunt]

Hello @bluehathacker ,

Like you said, we are volunteers, thus this is like a hobby, we work on this when we have time outside of school/work/RL responsibilities. For example, I'm working on my dissertation proposal right now and coming deadlines are stressful so obviously i have less time for ENT.

I also wonder, if you've taken into consideration that it doesn't really matter how long it takes for us to process ban requests. I agree, it looks bad and is annoying if your requests sits there for days/weeks, but in the end, if the violator did break rules and you filled the request properly, they will get banned. They will be out of games for the same amount of time, no matter when the ban request is processed.

If you have any suggestions on how to make this process faster, we are all ears.

I'll move this topic to General Discussion as it's not really a complaint.

[bluehathacker]

Good evening,
Thanks for getting back to me on this. I can appreciate the real life aspects your going through as I am employed and work a full week plus time at home as well. I only recently found out that this was a volunteer thing for you guys. That being said, thank you.. and I wish I had a better suggestion on how to answer the ban requests faster. One thing comes to mind... have those moderators be responsible to the ban request forum on a rotating schedule. Not sure if u do that now, but it may spread out the responsibility and allow for more mods to have input on the BRQ.
Thanks again.

[Merex]

It's been discussed before and ultimately decided that no mod here on ENT will be put on a schedule for the reason stated by yourself - volunteers. Of course, we will see to it that every mod is active within a certain period but otherwise, such are free to contribute at their own discretion.

[gurjop]

Does it help if "randoms" review the requests and post what they would do/see in the request for more exact timestamps or whatnot, or does it just clutter the posts and make the mods work harder?

[bluehathacker]

Thanks Merex.

[Haunt]

Does it help if "randoms" review the requests and post what they would do/see in the request for more exact timestamps or whatnot, or does it just clutter the posts and make the mods work harder?

Yes, it does help. But engaging in an argument with either OP or the offender obviously does not help, so if you decide to write such posts, focus on the facts and not on their personal opinions.

Also, @gurjop if you feel like giving back to the community and want to do ban requests, you can always apply for staff. I for one think that we can never have too many good moderators in our team. If you're interested, check out the wiki page we have about staff applications.

[ItsWhiteBeard]

When i responded to someone asking for a mod to take a look at his request, it was swiftly removed.

Is "You should not expect it to be processed in a near future, since my own ban request has been out for over a month. Good luck" that bad? Its just a statement of the current situation over there in the ban request. Feels like the mods are more interested in silencing trifling comments that doesnt even offend than taking their time to actually process the ban requests.

And to Haunt for his earlier comment, it does actually matter how fast the ban request is processed. Why you ask? Well, hear me out. Someone breaks the rules, and a ban request is dropped. All good so far, but then it doesnt get processed fast, and said offender keep doing the same thing over and over again during that time. Even playing with the same people who dropped the ban request in the first place. Since they dont learn anything during that time. If it gets processed in a fast pace, they will learn earlier, and people around will benefit from it.

[Astros]

@ItswhiteBeard

ENT provides a free service. Reviewing ban requests takes time. Some ban requests take much longer than others. As you can see, ENT is ALWAYS looking to add new staff members. Instead of insulting us, why don't you take the initiative and help out?

[ItsWhiteBeard]

@Astros

I personally try to help out as much as possible with my own ban request by providing proper information and timestamps.

I dont think im insulting someone, im simply stating the current situation from an ENT member's point of view, u can certainly see that the sarcastic tone is very light salted at most.

And for you, Astros i think you are taking much time to actual do mod work, and ban requests. But as things stands right now, i think you are pretty much alone which is very unfortunate. But that doesnt mean i dont have the right to complain and to bring the problem into light. But when i see mods trying to put a lid on the problem, as if it doesnt exist... that doesnt make things better, in the slightest.

[Letbell]

Well, there is a possible solution that we can reduce the needs and times for ENT moderators on ban request (Some of the ban request might be minor and isn't worth looking through)

How about we connect our ENT game profile w/ reputation rating? Something like... that if the system detect anything that less than 60% reputation rating on our game's profile. The system will withdraw the post and won't appear in the BR section. So that ENT will always have more time to review on more serious and major cases.

I was thinking the reputation scores is based on stay/leave rate (since you'll get auto-ban anyway), that way we can weed out the game ruiners that attempt to backlash against moderator =P (aka me? )

[AmnoN]

@itswhitebeard @bluehathacker

To summarize and add my own comments/ suggestions:
1) We are volunteers and have lives (school, jobs, etc.) that get in the way of us living on the forum.
2) We do what we can when we are able to, but some people simply feel the need to waste our time with useless/ invalid ban requests (either rage requests, payback requests, or simply refuse to read the rules and do not know them prior to submitting) - these take time to sort through since it usually involves going through the game anyways

Suggestions:
1) People should read the ban request wiki before posting. We do not flat out deny these requests as there may be some merit to them. Some users continue to do this after being instructed to go read the wiki and told exactly how to do this. I get the feeling that those individuals feel that it is our job to fix their ban requests for them - it is not.
2) People should actually try to appeal properly instead of us having to go 5 rounds with them over what they did wrong - that is also a HUGE time waster for mods. Those people know exactly who they are since it happens every single time they appeal - again, we do not flat out deny these since there may be an opportunity for them to change their attitude and show that they are willing to work with us.

Overall, we are all volunteers and have to put up with mountains of time wasters and complainers who take time away from actually being productive on forums. The community should work together do their part to help this process go faster. We are trying our best, but as I mentioned, our system is not perfect.

@letbell That could work (in theory) but there are challenges around how a reputation score works - Xbox Live has one but it is quite flawed as anyone can post. You could build one around someone's ban history, but too many people smurf so it is a bit of a challenge and punishes others on the same network (IP address) as them. Again, I am open to this, but there are many challenges that would have to be addressed first.

[ItsWhiteBeard]

@AmnoN

I pretty much think that everyone already knows that mods are volunteers, since you all use that as a calling card to every comment "We do this for free, we do it on our own time". Yes we know. But it doesnt mean its okay. Or that we should ignore the problem. There is a lot of stuff that could be done to improve the current situation.
As an example, when times like this comes (When pretty much every mod is absent) someone could make an info board at the index / front page like a public announcement that informs all members. "We are sorry, but right now many of our moderators are on vacation bla bla, so it will take some time to get to your requests, appeal etc, please bear with us".
That would make every member aware of the current situation and will not spam nonsense. They wont expect any request to be processed in a near future either, since it has been announced.
Its just an example, but rather than doing that, you mods chose to silence every comment that critize the slightest thing. And keep saying "We volunteer and thats all there is to it".