[INFO] In the name of transparency...

[Viking Jess]

Hey YoFans! In this thread, I'll be trying to unpack some of the misconceptions around moderation and how we enforce our Rules of Conduct.

To start us off...

1. We encourage people to use the report feature. Please don't try to shame anyone for reporting something, for any reason. We would much rather close a report that we deem unwarranted than have to deal with the resulting drama from finger-pointing. By the same token, please use the report features to call something to our attention, rather than post about it directly. One of the reasons we don't employ player moderators is to protect you from having to police your peers. A friendly mention is one thing, but accusing someone of rule-breaking only exacerbates things.

2. When it comes to moderation and account actions, you see what we allow you to see... which is very little. We keep PMs, warnings, bans, and whatever else private on purpose - even knowing that others won't see it. This is because we care about your privacy more than we care about any potential for a perception of inconsistent moderation. As an important followup to this, whatever you may have heard from another player is what they've chosen to share. It may be truthful, but it also may be half-truths (or less, in some cases). Only a Viking and an account owner will know these details without doubt.

3. Warnings (and other account actions) are entirely what you make of them. We don't have a set limit for the number of warnings someone can get. As moderators, we issue warnings or 'time outs' (depending on what's happened) to let you know that we've noticed something in your posts that is misaligned with our Rules. If we notice that you don't seem to be trying to better follow them afterwards, that is when we'll consider things to be a little more serious. We don't send them for fun, we don't mean any of them personally, and we certainly don't target certain Yos over others for warnings as I've seen some imply. The general idea is that if we (as Community Managers) can spend less time moderating, we have more time to spend advocating for and communicating with all of you about YoWorld - and our approach to warnings follows that logic.



And now... We're going to try something that makes me mildly anxious (I'm sure you'll all understand why!)

This thread will remain open for questions for a limited time, after which it will be locked and we'll resume our policy of not allowing the discussion of moderation.

Please note that you are free to ask general questions. I will do my very best to answer. Please understand that I will not at any point be able to divulge account information, so there may be questions I am unable to answer.

More importantly, note that if there is any sign of behaviour that contradicts the spirit of the purpose for this thread (which is entirely intended to help us all get along a little better), it will be locked immediately. Any attempts to hijack or cause drama or turn the discussion to individuals' accounts will result in account action, up to and potentially including a permanent restriction from these forums.This kind of activity will be very heavily moderated. Basically: stay away from I/you/"my account" statements as well as "I got a warning for..." and "[name] got away with..." and the like. This is not an attempt to trap anyone, so please please don't make me enforce this part!

Okay. Ready for some communication? I sure (hope I) am! GO!

[Leeum (130695460)]

Hey Jess,

Thanks for a post filled with transparency! It's refreshing.

One thing I do wish is that we'd get a follow up when our report is at least acknowledged by a Viking. Currently, we don't know if you see our reports and if our specific reports are even acknowledged. Also, why can only one person report a post? Sometimes it deserves more than one

[Leeum (130695460)]

Also - another question:

Why does it seem that Vikings can sometimes be stricter with some posts (not players, POSTS) than others? Sometimes posts can be moved instantly without a question, other times they're allowed to stay right where they are (even if it doesn't seem to make any sense.)

[Mrs Poker (2830693)]

Ok, I have a question. If a person has received a perm forum ban, and believes that the reason they were banned was not as bad as others they have read, what can they do if they think the decision is unfair? I assume more than one viking does bans, so do they confer and discuss what is comparable?

Oh second question - if someone receives a perm ban, is there any appeal process?

I have no particular person in mind. I hear, I see, I watch - it feels unbalanced in my opinion.

[SUSHIgirl (111646228)]

It would be nice to have David back or anyone who checks in on the weekends. Seems like a substitute teacher day here every Saturday lately

[Viking Jess]

One thing I do wish is that we'd get a follow up when our report is at least acknowledged by a Viking. Currently, we don't know if you see our reports and if our specific reports are even acknowledged. Also, why can only one person report a post? Sometimes it deserves more than one

I both love and hate when I get to blame someone else (because it's not our fault, but also because we can't fix it )! Both of these are on phpBB. My understanding was that there was an option to ask for a notification when a report was closed - see the screenshot below.


Here is what that report looks like from the other side:


I'd love to PM a reply to every report, but the added work would be astronomical. I can file a bug if that option doesn't do anything though!

[Leeum (130695460)]

One thing I do wish is that we'd get a follow up when our report is at least acknowledged by a Viking. Currently, we don't know if you see our reports and if our specific reports are even acknowledged. Also, why can only one person report a post? Sometimes it deserves more than one

I both love and hate when I get to blame someone else (because it's not our fault, but also because we can't fix it )! Both of these are on phpBB. My understanding was that there was an option to ask for a notification when a report was closed - see the screenshot below.


Here is what that report looks like from the other side:


I'd love to PM a reply to every report, but the added work would be astronomical. I can file a bug if that option doesn't do anything though!

I always select that option, it's never done anything though

[Viking Jess]

Also - another question:

Why does it seem that Vikings can sometimes be stricter with some posts (not players, POSTS) than others? Sometimes posts can be moved instantly without a question, other times they're allowed to stay right where they are (even if it doesn't seem to make any sense.)

As a Community Manager, part of my job involves going to meetings, learning about new features, relaying feedback and bug reports and whatever else, conferring with product people and marketing people and our Player Happiness team, etc. We aren't everywhere at once. Moving threads as a more consistent thing is (somewhat) new as a thing we enforce, so it's not as ironed out as some of our other Rules. We'll get better and more consistent with it over time.

[Leeum (130695460)]

Also - another question:

Why does it seem that Vikings can sometimes be stricter with some posts (not players, POSTS) than others? Sometimes posts can be moved instantly without a question, other times they're allowed to stay right where they are (even if it doesn't seem to make any sense.)

As a Community Manager, part of my job involves going to meetings, learning about new features, relaying feedback and bug reports and whatever else, conferring with product people and marketing people and our Player Happiness team, etc. We aren't everywhere at once. Moving threads as a more consistent thing is (somewhat) new as a thing we enforce, so it's not as ironed out as some of our other Rules. We'll get better and more consistent with it over time.

Thank you for the answer!

Would it ever be possible to actually have a standalone forum moderator, who's sole job is to moderate the forums?

[Viking Jess]

Ok, I have a question. If a person has received a perm forum ban, and believes that the reason they were banned was not as bad as others they have read, what can they do if they think the decision is unfair? I assume more than one viking does bans, so do they confer and discuss what is comparable?

Oh second question - if someone receives a perm ban, is there any appeal process?

I have no particular person in mind. I hear, I see, I watch - it feels unbalanced in my opinion.

Any time any YoFan is banned from any YoWorld-related service, we're open to re-evaluating! As a general rule, we try everything we can to keep YoFans in YoWorld and enjoying the parts they want to participate in.

For Forum restrictions, send in a ticket. The Player Happiness team reaches out to the Community team, and a discussion is had - though it's not often compared to others' behaviour, it's more along the lines of "do we believe that the person will follow the Rules in future" or "was the infraction so egregious to leave the restriction permanent". It's not unheard of to have them overturned, no matter how long it's been or who applied the ban in the first place.

[PinkSnowDrop (115645703)]

Interesting thread!! Hope we can all keep it nice and calm in this thread

Hey Jess,

Thanks for a post filled with transparency! It's refreshing.

One thing I do wish is that we'd get a follow up when our report is at least acknowledged by a Viking. Currently, we don't know if you see our reports and if our specific reports are even acknowledged. Also, why can only one person report a post? Sometimes it deserves more than one

Ooh this is a good point actually, maybe allowing us to make more than 1 report at a time (no spamming though) would help highlight a bad thread quicker!

Ok, I have a question. If a person has received a perm forum ban, and believes that the reason they were banned was not as bad as others they have read, what can they do if they think the decision is unfair? I assume more than one viking does bans, so do they confer and discuss what is comparable?

Oh second question - if someone receives a perm ban, is there any appeal process?

I have no particular person in mind. I hear, I see, I watch - it feels unbalanced in my opinion.

Agree with this one too, without pointing fingers and getting into any specifics, there are quite a lot of people currently banned as well as being banned for a long period of time.. yet some people don't actually seem to get banned for their actions at all?

[Viking Jess]

It would be nice to have David back or anyone who checks in on the weekends. Seems like a substitute teacher day here every Saturday lately

This is about as blunt as I'll probably ever be in a reply here - please forgive me if this comes out wrong!

I'll be very happy to see David come back, but we can't begrudge him the time he's spending with his family. His little one, and I'm sure his fiancée, very much appreciate his being able to take this time with them.

And (the blunt part) - I hope you don't all begrudge me taking weekends off. The last thing I want is to burn out from working too much (much as I love you all, this is work), or end up resenting anyone because I'm interrupting "off" time. Everyone needs a break from work sometimes, and 'disconnecting' on weekends keeps my relationship with Yo healthy

[Viking Jess]

Also - another question:

Why does it seem that Vikings can sometimes be stricter with some posts (not players, POSTS) than others? Sometimes posts can be moved instantly without a question, other times they're allowed to stay right where they are (even if it doesn't seem to make any sense.)

As a Community Manager, part of my job involves going to meetings, learning about new features, relaying feedback and bug reports and whatever else, conferring with product people and marketing people and our Player Happiness team, etc. We aren't everywhere at once. Moving threads as a more consistent thing is (somewhat) new as a thing we enforce, so it's not as ironed out as some of our other Rules. We'll get better and more consistent with it over time.

Thank you for the answer!

Would it ever be possible to actually have a standalone forum moderator, who's sole job is to moderate the forums?

Probably not? I can't predict the future, of course - but it would be a really odd thing to dole out a whole paycheque for, I'd imagine. Never say never though!

[XxDarkMarioxX (104376062)]

Yeah an thread making comments about me reporting and yesterday at forum party someone accused me of reporting people post on the forums but I rarely report and people can believe that i report threads but simple not true and it just really getting annoying when people think your the one who reports and there more then one person on forums and I would like a feature on forums that tells us who reported a thread if that can be done. Thank you viking Jess for explaining

[PinkSnowDrop (115645703)]

It would be nice to have David back or anyone who checks in on the weekends. Seems like a substitute teacher day here every Saturday lately

This is about as blunt as I'll probably ever be in a reply here - please forgive me if this comes out wrong!

I'll be very happy to see David come back, but we can't begrudge him the time he's spending with his family. His little one, and I'm sure his fiancée, very much appreciate his being able to take this time with them.

And (the blunt part) - I hope you don't all begrudge me taking weekends off. The last thing I want is to burn out from working too much (much as I love you all, this is work), or end up resenting anyone because I'm interrupting "off" time. Everyone needs a break from work sometimes, and 'disconnecting' on weekends keeps my relationship with Yo healthy

Nooo not at all! I think we need to try to take better care of the forums over the weekend to ease the pain for monday!

[Leeum (130695460)]

Probably not? I can't predict the future, of course - but it would be a really odd thing to dole out a whole paycheque for, I'd imagine. Never say never though!

Ah I know, it was just an idea We all know how messy these forums can get on a weekend

[Viking Jess]

Interesting thread!! Hope we can all keep it nice and calm in this thread

Hey Jess,

Thanks for a post filled with transparency! It's refreshing.

One thing I do wish is that we'd get a follow up when our report is at least acknowledged by a Viking. Currently, we don't know if you see our reports and if our specific reports are even acknowledged. Also, why can only one person report a post? Sometimes it deserves more than one

Ooh this is a good point actually, maybe allowing us to make more than 1 report at a time (no spamming though) would help highlight a bad thread quicker!

Ok, I have a question. If a person has received a perm forum ban, and believes that the reason they were banned was not as bad as others they have read, what can they do if they think the decision is unfair? I assume more than one viking does bans, so do they confer and discuss what is comparable?

Oh second question - if someone receives a perm ban, is there any appeal process?

I have no particular person in mind. I hear, I see, I watch - it feels unbalanced in my opinion.

Agree with this one too, without pointing fingers and getting into any specifics, there are quite a lot of people currently banned as well as being banned for a long period of time.. yet some people don't actually seem to get banned for their actions at all?

OH! Thank you, PSD - I meant to mention in that reply and it totally slipped my mind while I was typing.

I've noticed through a couple of YoFans who have written tickets about this that sometimes the forum applies a permanent ban when we intended to apply a temporary one.

Again, we're always always always open to revisiting someone's account status. Please send in a ticket. I'm not guaranteeing that we'll overturn everyone's restrictions, of course, but we'll certainly review whatever appeals come our way!

[Viking Jess]

Ooh another question - is the timer for bans glitched?

Could a 24 hour ban last 36 hours?
Is this just a bug?

[Viking Jess]

Ooh another question - is the timer for bans glitched?

Could a 24 hour ban last 36 hours?
Is this just a bug?

I've been trying to sort this out, actually. Possibly? It also could be running on a different time zone, so "1 day" may be being taken to mean "until midnight (whatever time zone) + day".

[Leeum (130695460)]

Ooh another question - is the timer for bans glitched?

Could a 24 hour ban last 36 hours?
Is this just a bug?

I've been trying to sort this out, actually. Possibly? It also could be running on a different time zone, so "1 day" may be being taken to mean "until midnight (whatever time zone) + day".

Yeah it was weird. I was supposed to be unbanned around 2:30pm EST, but it was actually 2:30AM the following day.