Moderator interviews/Moe
From RelicWiki
- This interview is transcribed from the original thread.
This series of brief interviews will hopefully give some people a little bit of an insight into the folks that help keep law and order around their neck of the woods and hopefully be mildly entertaining at the same time, and so without furthur ado...
Today we're interviewing the ever-lovin' admin Moe, whose yearbook entry can be found at the following location:
http://relicnews.com/yearbook/2006/223/
As an appendum to this interview, this thread http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?p=1936994#post1936994 is required reading and very relevant to the points raised in this interview. It's also very informative in itself.
This interview is somewhat backwards, with topics you'd expect at the end at the start, but that's what happens when you don't take dorkdav's advice and write some questions beforehand. Also bear in mind this interview is pretty long, so don't be surprised at spontanious beard growth during reading, and if you have any suggestions for improvements for future interviews I'm all ears.
And now, after all that, the actual interview:
Obtuse: Ok, obligitary bio, go!
Moe: I'm 24. THAT IS NOT OLD. I was born in Germany, and I've lived there most of my life, not counting two years abroad. I am currently finishing up my... well I guess the English equivalent would be a Master's degree in physics.
Contents |
The Wallpaper Debacle
Obtuse: Ok, something that's just come to my attention is the wallpaper debacle
Moe: Yes, that was rather ugly.
Obtuse: would you mind briefly explaining what went on there for those not in the know (like myself)?
Moe: Ok the ultra-short version is this: Buggo had released a few DC-themed wallpapers with unit renders. The community asked for renders of Tau units, and also for concept art, renders or screenshots of units that didn't make it into the game. Buggo responded with a wallpaper with Tau units, some of which were not in the game.
Obtuse: Right
Moe: The community reacted by accusing Relic of false advertising, since not all of the units on the wallpaper made it into the game.
(http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?t=114164&highlight=%22wallpaper%22+%22sue%22 is the thread in question)
Moe: I think I made it clear in the thread, and in that general post on the state of the community that I just put up. I found it pretty disappointing, and highly damaging. We spent years asking Relic to do exactly this kind of thing, and they are finally responding. I hope that this incident didn't do any permanent damage.
Obtuse: Aye, I can see this being a bit hit for Buggo, especially being new. Anything like this reflects very badly on her office credibility. So, excusing my ignorance, how did the situation turn out?
Moe: Well, the thread was eventually locked by ionfish. Since I had gotten involved in it myself I didn't moderate it, I try to avoid that. Nothing much happened afterwards.
Obtuse: Do you know how it impacted Buggo?
Moe: I can't say.
Obtuse: I'll see if I can get her thoughts some time. Okay, enough about that somewhat unpleasant topic. Something I've always wondered is where you get your moderating style from. Is it modeled on anyone or is it entirely original?
Moe: I think every one of us has his or her own style. You develop it eventually. And you can't copy someone else. It never works.
Obtuse: Have you seen that happen?
Moe: Yes, once or twice people couldn't find their own style. That's not to say they failed or anything, this is something that either comes to you or it doesn't. It's one of the reasons why we have the junior mod program. We look at people and think "hey, this guy would probably make a good mod", but the only way to find out is to recruit them and send them into the fray.
Obtuse: Fair enough.
Moe: Oh, one thing I should add to your earlier question. I forgot to mention that in my post. Both Buggo and Tranj have taken all this abuse and kept going. They've remained polite and friendly and understanding. And I have immense respect for their patience and understanding.
Obtuse: Aye, I'm very impressed that they've never lost it, but then, the alternative being what it is...
Moe: The alternative would be to ignore us, and I hope that doesn't happen. But they are both awesome people, and they have stuck with us this far. Anyhow, I dragged this off-topic. Back to your questions!
Forum-Relic relations
Obtuse: How much communication is there between the moderating staff and Relic, if any?
Moe: Well, basically there have been three "ages" if you will: The early days - Relic was very small and very new, the various fan-sites had a very close connection and the relationship was very close as well. You can read some of the interviews from the early days on RelicNews.
Obtuse: Aye, I've read a couple. Very fun. I was puzzled by how old they were, though.
Moe: Then Relic got larger, and everything kinda drifted apart. There was not a lot of communication. I joined around that time. We did exchange emails with a couple of devs, and UberJumper, our resident Relic stalker, kept bugging them via IM about bugs and stuff. That, and he probably yelled at them from the bushes where he had his telescope set up. Ok strike that last, I never said that.
[Moe does the shifty eyes dance]
Moe: Anyhow, then came Tranj and later Buggo, which is where stuff really picked up. We do communicate frequently. Either we point out issues (like that Russian publisher problem, for example), or Buggo will ask us for input. She's asking everyone for input, look at all the polls she's been posting.
Obtuse: True, it's very impressive. Is there anything in particular she wants from the mods?
Moe: Lunch money. No wait that's me!
[I stick my toungue out and roll my eyes]
Moe: She'll ask us for input on certain things. We make recommendations based on our experience with the community. In the beginning we bombarded her with info about Dawn of War, the community, the history.
Obtuse: Ah, nice one.
Moe: But after she put a restraining order on us we calmed down, and now we can even get within ten feet of her without breaking the law!
Obtuse: Good going >.<
Moe: I'm kidding, she's been great, and the amount of feedback we can get back and forth through her is amazing. On top of that she's an awesome person and an absolute delight to talk to.
Obtuse: Have you seen any of your advice put into action?
Moe: Yes, she definitely takes into account what we have to say. I think that's a very important thing that she does, the community needs someone who listens to their concerns.
Moe's views on the community
Obtuse: Definitely. Being ignored drives the rage-monkeys. Okay, without straying too much into a Buggo-centric interview (as cool as that would be), let's talk more about yourself. What's your current view on the community? In comparison, say, with how it's been in the past.
Moe: In short, it's a great community. It's not too small, but not as large as, say the WC3 community, so you definitely get that "large family" vibe. I think that the fact that there is this much discussion about balance shows that people care, and that people love the games. And when you see things like mod projects taking off, or stuff like hangar-8s banners and badges, it shows that this community has so much talent and creative energy. The community is filled with crazy people, with nutty people, and the most visible ones are mostly completely insane, but that's what makes them so loveable.
Obtuse: Yeah, I remember being very pleased to read one of the Relic people saying that they're happy people are on the forums complaining, they'd much rather that than no-one caring.
Moe: There's a lot of truth in that. The day that nobody complains is the day that they have failed. There is no way to please everyone, so that by default means that if nobody complains, nobody cares.
Obtuse: Definitely. Speaking of members of the community, how much do people change on the boards? Is the person who starts off as a spammer doomed to be one forever? Do you see people change?
Moe: People grow and evolve. Take the whole DoWS vs RN thing for example - two years ago people were at each other's throats, now those same people are moderators or senior members here and there.
Obtuse: Have you ever been part of making that change yourself?
Moe: I can't take credit for how people grow. I did take part in a PR effort a while back on DoWS. When someone got banned on our forums, he went there and ranted about it, and Uber and myself followed him over and calmly explained our point of view. I think that got a lot of things out in the open.
Obtuse: Yeah, I saw that, I was kind of put off, being as both forums were where I enjoyed going.
Moe: I think at some point people realized how silly this rivalry was. Let's face it, the DoW community wasn't exactly huge back then. And having a divide like that was counterproductive. DoWS caters to a different audience I think, so it's perfectly natural for us to coexist and complement each other rather than competing. If someone asks for expert replays, I'll refer them to DoWS, because they have a lot more high-level replays than us for example.
Moe, University and Work
Obtuse: Aye, that makes sense. Okay, in the tradition of this interview of doing things backwards, would you mind telling me a little more about yourself personally?
Moe: What do you want to know?
Obtuse: Well, you're currently attending university, from what I've gathered. Could you tell me what goes on with that?
Moe: I am specializing in medical physics. If all goes well, I'll be starting on my thesis project in a month or so, which will have to do with modifying ultrashort laser pulses for diagnostic purposes. We want to get a better look at the retina of the human eye to learn more about certain diseases like AMD.
Obtuse: Whoa, awesome. What's AMD?
Moe: Age-related macula degeneration (I *think* that's how you spell it in English). It's nasty, results in people going blind, and there's currently no viable cure. If we can understand what this disease actually does and where it comes from the medical guys can hopefully figure out how to cure it.
Obtuse: So is this a field you're hoping to work in after university?
Moe: Well, I actually prefer the surgical applications, where you actually get to cut stuff with a laser rather than just illuminating it. I prefer blowing stuff up, you see. But yes, that's the general field I can see myself working in. Also, that would give me a chance to build my orbital laser cannon of doom and become supreme overlord of the world.
Obtuse: Would you want to be working in Germany?
Moe: Germany, the USA, Canada would all be fine.
Word association
Obtuse: Okay, some quick word association before the questions from the audience. Inq.
Moe: Oh god.
Obtuse: Spam.
Moe: Yeah we actually got spammed by an Al-Quaeda bot earlier. Wtf is wrong with people...
Obtuse: Relic
Moe: Homeworld.
Obtuse: Homeworld
Moe: Ground-breaking. And don't you say "ground-breaking" now.
Obtuse: (smirking) Multiplayer.
Moe: Something I can't join because my router hates me.
Obtuse: Flaming.
Moe: Happens far too often.
Obtuse: Ban.
Moe: The last resort.
Obtuse: Unf
Moe: \o/
Obtuse: Seriously, the 'unf' thing, where does that come from?
Moe: I actually have no idea, and I fear that if I look it up it'll turn out to be something to do with some form of sexual perversion or other. On this server however it's an expression of joy.
Obtuse: Yes, I've started saying it around the place for some reason, I think it's just an expression of repressed hysteria. Ok, back to a last few word associations. Dolts.
Moe: Lovable.
Obtuse: Handcuffs.
Moe: CJ's wedding gift.
Obtuse: Junior moderators.
Moe: I really need to stop getting those killed in accidents involving electric toothbrushes, it has become embarrassing.
Obtuse: Ok, and finally – moderators.
Moe: We mods work for the community, not the other way around. Sometimes people forget that, I think it's an important thing to remember.
Obtuse: Ok, let's see if we can get a couple of audience questions to tie this up.
[Moe gulps]
Audience questions
Question: Is Moe married yet?
Moe: Nope
Question: Awesome.
Methuselath: Moe, Do you know that your name is a slang in Japanese Anime that means fetish and can sometimes be tied with Lolicon?
[Genre of manga-style sexual artwork involving childlike female characters]
Moe: Yes, someone pointed that out about a year ago. On top of that, someone also pointed out that it's an anagram for "emo". I'm not into either of those things, so I'll just shrug it off as a coincidence.
Methuselath: i was expecting: Yes, I know that and it's intentional, surprising that no one noticed it, so I just hide in my closed and laugh alone
Moe: Well Meth, I'm way too happy to be emo, and I prefer flesh-and-blood women over weird cartoons, so what can I say...
Question: Why do you hate the WH40K universe?
Moe: It makes no sense to me. In addition to that I'm not that big on magic and elves and orks and stuff.
Question: What would have been your ideal universe for a DOW style game then?
Moe: I could see CoH in a modern setting, like the gulf war. Other than that, I like spaceships and stuff. So something akin to Homeworld, albeit in a different universe, would rock.
Methuselath: Moe, how does it feels to be a soulless husk, with only locking and banning to give your meaningless existence a meaning?
Moe: I'm not soulless. We have soul, and he rocks. As for the locking and banning, I don't like doing it. Banning is a last resort, and it means we're effectively shutting out someone from a portion of the community. It can't be helped sometimes, but that doesn't make it something good or fun to do. Locking a thread generally means that we didn't manage to keep it civil or on-topic, so it's basically a failure on our part. Locking is damage control.
Obtuse: Well yeah, locking prohibits discussion, and without that it's just a 'board'.
Moe: That's the only way to run things. The minute you start enjoying this stuff is the minute you should step down and take a break. By "this stuff" I mean locking and banning. I enjoy moderating.
Obtuse: Oh, I forgot to ask: With the junior mods, is it just a case of letting them loose on the population? How much influence do their 'mentors' have?
Moe: They are asked to observe for a little while before starting to actively moderate. After that it's "learning by doing", we do have very extensive guidelines though. The moderator guidelines are about three times as long as the forum ones.
Methuselath: What does it takes to become a moderator?
Moe: Well, you should be a moderately active member of the community and be able to post in a mature fashion. And you have to realize that while moderating can be fun, there will be times where you will get insulted, yelled at and be called a Nazi after spending five hours cleaning up bug reports. You have to realize that you will be held to a higher standard.
Obtuse: Aight, we’re running long, so I’m just going to ask Moe for a final thought.
Moe: I guess since I've rambled on about moderation so much I'll just keep going:
Obtuse: Well, these are the moderator interviews, so it makes sense.
Grabnutz: (eating a muffin) Moe once introduced himself to me as "Dirty Kraut"
Akranadas: (grabbing a muffin from Grabnutz’s basket o’ muffins) Grabnutz, you need some schooling in brownnosing, you won't get anywhere with comments like that.
Moe: The one thing a lot of people don't seem to realize on the boards is the general... idea behind it all, for lack of a better term.
Obtuse: And what would you say that was?
Moe: The boards are here for you, the community. They come with a set of rules, some of which are set in stone for legal and other purposes, like the no warez rule, but others are constantly re-evaluated. If you feel that you are being treated in an unfair way, if you have a complaint, go through the proper channels and we will listen to what you have to say.
Obtuse: Anything else?
Moe: We're not here to get a kick out of bossing around people, or locking threads left and right. The unfortunate reality is that we have to do this on occasion, but nonetheless we do work for you, so if we're doing something wrong, let us know. Oh, personal note: If you need hosting for your mod files, shoot me a PM.
Question: What about non-mod files?
Moe: Question: depends on what they are. If it's related to the relic community, like, say a mod tool, or a DPS spreadsheet or whatever, sure
Question: I feel this interview lacked enough muffins.
Moe: I love muffins.
