A question for the moderators

[Creepah]

Hi Hi Hi Hi.

Recently, I have noticed that many moderators defend the management and senior staff, and their position on matters, quite valiantly. In most cases, this is valid and I too share the opinions of these moderators on these issues. But the question I pose today is:

If the senior management made a decision which you disagreed with and so did the community, would you still defend the wishes of management, or stick to your guns and show your support for the opposers.

Firstly, I'm not saying that moderators should always 100% agree and defend the decisions made by senior staff, however it is true that they in most cases stick up for them even when the community is against it. So I'm interested in the opinions of mods. What would you do? How far would you have to go for you to no longer support senior staff, and even resign? What are some example decisions which you would disagree with?

All opinions welcome

 

[YourAverageTiger]

If I was a mod, I would resign if:

1. Someone was demoted unfairly
2. Someone was banned unfairly
3. Someone Dox or swatted me

Pretty much

 

[Karivar]

If I was a mod, I would resign if:

1. Someone was demoted unfairly
2. Someone was banned unfairly
3. Someone Dox or swatted me

Pretty much

ily

 

[JoelJCE]

I recognize that this question is directed towards current Moderators, but this is precisely the reason that myself and many other players are no longer staff members. We love this community and will continue to encourage its growth, we just don't agree with some of the administrative decisions that have occurred for one reason or another.

And for the many extraordinary ex-staff members that have left under these circumstances, it's quite a shame, really.

 

[Scott]

I would say that everyone would stick with their opinions and if they felt a decision was unfair they would speak up, but I am not going to lie to you. Most moderators, despite disagreeing with a decision, will still defend the Sr. Staff. In most cases, it's because the moderator doesn't want to get in any trouble for making their opinions public; however, I must say that there are ways to get things done peacefully. One simple way is to just put together a Google document with any policies you want removed/changed or any suggestions you have (you can do this as well). And, another one is just to get on TeamSpeak and talk with a Sr. Mod there. I have done both of these and not gotten in any trouble for it.

As for myself, if it's a decision that is fair, but I dislike then so be it, I guess I'll have to get over it. If it's a decision that is unfair, then by all means I would speak up. Personally, I see myself as a fairly opinionated person, and I am not afraid to share my opinions with anyone (unless they are mean or hostile). It's something that's just in me, and nothing will change that. Nevertheless, I've had 1 maybe 2 or 3 times where I have actually disagreed with a decision, and I'm still trying to get those things changed.

Adding on, resigning will only hurt your chances of getting things changed, so if you plan on doing so please don't.

 

[Ceroria]

I'm sure every staff member has something they aren't 100% on board with. I for one would like to know more about what the devs are working on. More communication between the dev team and the community would be nice so there is less confusion. I understand the leaderboard update has taken longer than expected but it would calm a lot of flame if there was a lengthy explanation as to why.

Other than that I am rather happy with the recent decisions made by our team. We are truly trying our hardest to repair some broken ties between the staff and community because all we want is the best for the network.

What the community needs to understand is that not everything is possible with the resources we have. Our devs are human that have real lives and are capable of making mistakes, and the same goes for the rest of the staff team. We do everything to improve the network with what we have. If proposals from the community were made with more understanding of our capabilities, we would get things done more efficiently. That ends up bringing it back down on us, the staff, to keep you all informed.

I hope that made sense xD

 

[KiDD]

As stated above, there will always be things some will not agree on. Although, if it's an upper staff decision, it's an upper staff decision. They have more authority, and have the right to make a responsible decision, which is expected based on their position in the staff team.

You simply cannot agree with everything, but that's the way the world works. Everything doesn't revolve around your opinion, wants or needs.

 

[Holiday]

Actually, yes. I have stood up to not only Sr. Staff before, but others with much more authority over me for certain decisions that I have not agreed with. Each time, I've done so by presenting them with evidence to backup my opinions. One time, I even wrote a 2,000 word statement about my views and it really did pay off in the end! It all depends on how you present it!

If there is something that can strongly be argued against the decision, then argue it. After all, you can't argue something for no reason. You have to persuade and prove it to them! It's what the New Oxford American Dictionary's definition of "argue" is: "give reasons or cite evidence in support of an idea, action, or theory, typically with the aim of persuading others to share one's view"

 

[Col_StaR]

I'll admit it: I don't agree with some mandates that are given to me, just as I don't agree with some of the opinions that the players demand of me. But my job isn't to enforce my personal will over others, nor to hurt people who won't abide by my wishes. I may be an Administrator, but I am still subject to checks and balances, and I still follow orders. And I do so for the benefit of the community I agree to serve for.

In a professional work environment, it is expected that an employee will inherently support the organization they work for. You would not hear someone working at Boeing telling a customer not to buy a new 747 because they personally think Airbus jets are better. That disloyalty hurts the company they work for, and that employee is more of a liability than a benefit. The employee is free to think whatever they want, and say whatever they want on their private time, but so long as that employee is in uniform and is receiving the benefits that the company gives them, they are expected to behave in a manner that benefits the company.

A lot of people are going to say, "Free Speech! America! Don't tread on me!". " Freedom of Speech" is not "Freedom from Consequence", so invoking your free speech rights is not an excuse to be a jerk and say whatever you want and get away scot-free; plus, the first amendment only protects speech from government intervention, not anything else. So if a Boeing employee endorses Airbus over Boeing, they're entirely justified in being fired; if an MCGamer staff member bad-mouths MCGamer or even endorses another network (and it's happened), they're entirely justified in being fired too.

I have a pretty strong sense of loyalty and civil service, so I will toe the line as closely as I need to if I am ordered to or if I feel it is beneficial to the community. More than once, I have had to do something that goes against my opinion; more than once, I have been told not to do something that I feel strongly for. In both cases, I did so because it would be helpful to the network. When you're in a position like this, you gain a lot of understanding of such things, and gain a high tolerance for them as well.

I will never do anything that goes against my core values, and I will respectfully resign before I am asked to act out of malice, but I have never come close to that line yet. I'm not the type of person who will resign at the drop of a hat, but I invest too much into the communities I work for to allow them to become something they shouldn't. I do what I can to keep everything working.

 

[Fox]

1. Respect all staff members and their decisions: We expect members to listen and respect staff members. Staff can be noticed by their bright red names, Moderators; dark red names, Sr. Moderators; bolder dark red names, Administrators; or rainbow names,Developers.

• You can trust us by making decisions on how to handle anything as we are doing it to better our community. Sometimes, you might not agree completely with us, but you need to understand and trust our judgement in situations.

• There is zero tolerance for talking back or disobeying staff. If you disagree with a staff member and truly think they are incorrect, email to a higher ranking.
• If you see any abuse done by the Administrators, contact ChadTheDJ directly and I will handle it.
• If you see any abuse done by the Moderators, contact Senior Moderators or Administrative Staff. They will handle it directly.

Even if you don't like it, this rule is self-explanatory.

Staff has not had the best judgement on all situations, and this is were the community comes in place and tries to get a better solution —and usually for those community members trying to help make a thread and the thread is remove for drama.

I don't want elaborate more since, whether I did, rule #1 will always stand in a higher position than any argument I could give, so it becomes redundant to try and go against it.

 

[Ava]

We all try to do what we think is best for the community, and ultimately we all sometimes have differing opinions on what exactly is best. I know that none of the administration, including the development team, would ever act with malice or in a way intended to harm the community.

With that being said, no, I don't think there's been a moment where I've blindly supported the actions of other higher-ups in the community; when I openly support a decision, I generally agree with the decision. There's actually been many times where I've debated with Chad, the development team, or the other administrators over something they planned to do because I didn't think it was the right thing to do. There's also been many times where Chad, the development team, or the other administrators have debated with me over something I had planned to do because they didn't think it was the right thing to do. And I think that nine times out of ten in either of these types of situations, internal debate and discussion has led to a better outcome.

That's also generally the same reason the world's largest superpowers are democracies: if only one person is running the show, they're statistically going to make many more bad decisions than if they had a group of people helping them make the decisions.

 

[MCGamerzism]

One of threads in a while i have actually enjoyed reading for a long time!
(Sorry off-topic :3)