Recently, there have been many complaints about OldCP's moderators. Although it can be helpful to hear what the public believes you are doing wrong, it's far more helpful to learn what you can do to fix these problems. As head moderator, I believe I'm suited to give advice in that area. I've highlighted the two main complaints that moderators may receive, and I'd like to see these tips and guides applied to moderators' behavior from now on. This post will go over technical moderating, not roleplay moderating (i.e. I will not outline how to deal with attackers, as that is a Knight’s job.)

Please read thoroughly.


Being inattentive.


There are times when a user is very clearly breaking the rules and a moderator in the room will not take action. Why? Because that moderator is too busy doing something other than moderating the room. How can we fix this without making moderation a dreadful chore?

Tip #1: Always have the chat log open.
Keeping the chat log open makes it much easier to keep track of what people are saying. You can monitor multiple conversations without having to move your eyes to different spots in the room, making it far less likely to miss something.

Tip #2: Leave the room if you’re going AFK.
Staying in the most popular room while you’re not watching your screen makes things more difficult for three groups of people: the people you’re supposed to be watching over, other moderators, and yourself. If you decide to check another tab while logged in, you should go to your igloo or private chambers. Leaving the room informs everyone that the room isn’t being moderated by you, so players are more likely to take screenshots of poor behavior and other moderators are more likely to help you out. Also, leaving the room prevents you from getting in trouble for potentially letting rule breakers slide by unpunished.

Tip #3: Put different windows side-by-side.
If you absolutely must check Discord, the forums, or any other website, remember that you can make your windows smaller and put things side-by-side, like this:



By doing this, you’re able to check back and forth between the game and your other window much quicker, therefore you’re far less likely to miss something on OldCP.




Being biased.

”This moderator let their friend spam snowballs, and I got punished for doing the same thing? It’s not fair!” — Lex, probably. Although we all want to be a good friend, it’s very important to hold everyone accountable for their actions in the same way. It is also very important that you never hand out harsher punishments to a user due to personal bias.

Tip #1: Have a conversation with your friend.
If you find yourself in a situation where your friends are breaking the rules and you feel guilty for taking action, try having a conversation with them about it. Let them know that you can get in trouble for letting them break the rules and you’d really appreciate it if they helped you out by being more appropriate. If they refuse, you have no choice but to treat them as you would treat any other rule breaker.

Tip #2: Ask another moderator for help.
If you’re truly afraid to stand up to your friends, try asking a different moderator or an administrator to punish them or speak to them for you. You can explain the situation to them and request to keep the report anonymous. You can also ask another moderator or administrator for help on resolving conflict between you and any other user if you find it hard to contain your emotions while moderating. It can be a lot easier to work things out with someone when you have an unbiased third party involved. However, it’s important to stay cool and confident as a moderator, so this is a trait you should work on improving.

Overall, you should never allow your friends to get away with breaking the rules, especially swearing or bullying, and you should never use your rank as a tool for personal revenge. There is no excuse for this so I recommend you sort things out and make a plan as soon as possible, or there will be major consequences.



To wrap this up, I'd like to ask that everyone restudies Damen's "restorative approach." The restorative approach is a great way to solve simple conflict between two users to ensure that rules won't be broken again. However, we have to understand that this will not work on every situation. Sometimes a stern ban is the best solution to ensure users' safety. Assess each unique situation to determine which course of action is most appropriate. If you need a second opinion, you are always welcome to ask me or any other moderator.

I believe everyone has the potential to be a great staff member as long as they put in the effort, so please take these tips into consideration. Thank you for everything you do!

Please feel free to add your own tips below so we can all learn from each other.
thanks milan for helping with this post

Awesome post, I think this will help all of the mods improve!

Great post, Chelsey. This was really helpful.

This was very helpful. Thanks Chelsey!

Great post, Chelsey. I think this was really needed.

Thanks for this post. There's a lot of great stuff in here!

I do the side by side tab thing a lot!

inattentive is probably the biggest issue we have, this really helps a lot with that. great post chelsey!

Awesome post! Hopefully, we can compile some good information here! If I may, I'd like to share some things I've learned over 7 years (yes I'm old, don't remind me ) of moderating and administrating online communities.

1) One thing to keep in mind with the Restorative Approach, and fiery events and arguments in general, is that it's always better to let everyone calm down a bit before a situation can begin to be resolved. This gives everyone time to be able to think about things more rationally, and a higher chance of a successful outcome. Point being, don't be too quick to write off a situation as a lost cause and know that you may have to force participants to take some time to cool off.

2) Don't be afraid of making mistakes! We all take the wrong action now and again, but don't let that stop you from taking action in a situation. What matters is acknowledging the mistake was made and attempting to fix it, even if all you can do is say "hey <name>, the action I took was inappropriate for the situation, and I apologize". Try not to let other's criticisms bother you; rather, use it to learn from for next time.

Learning how to handle situations takes time and practice, and you can only learn by doing. It's time for me to get off my soapbox now, lol. I hope people can find this helpful.

EbonJaeger wrote on 18th April 2020, 09:46 PM:

Awesome post! Hopefully, we can compile some good information here! If I may, I'd like to share some things I've learned over 7 years (yes I'm old, don't remind me ) of moderating and administrating online communities.

1) One thing to keep in mind with the Restorative Approach, and fiery events and arguments in general, is that it's always better to let everyone calm down a bit before a situation can begin to be resolved. This gives everyone time to be able to think about things more rationally, and a higher chance of a successful outcome. Point being, don't be too quick to write off a situation as a lost cause and know that you may have to force participants to take some time to cool off.

2) Don't be afraid of making mistakes! We all take the wrong action now and again, but don't let that stop you from taking action in a situation. What matters is acknowledging the mistake was made and attempting to fix it, even if all you can do is say "hey <name>, the action I took was inappropriate for the situation, and I apologize". Try not to let other's criticisms bother you; rather, use it to learn from for next time.

Learning how to handle situations takes time and practice, and you can only learn by doing. It's time for me to get off my soapbox now, lol. I hope people can find this helpful.

these are really good tips, thank you ebon!! #2 is definitely something i struggled with when i became moderator for the first time

This is truly really helpful and a great reminder to current moderators and for those to come, thank you for this.

LOL

Thanks Chelsey, I will announce the new mods today. What do you think to me doing a public mod training live stream tonight? Then I can go over restorative approach again. @Sled If you agree, tell everyone I'll be doing it at 4 PM EST

Damen wrote on 19th April 2020, 12:23 PM:

Thanks Chelsey, I will announce the new mods today. What do you think to me doing a public mod training live stream tonight? Then I can go over restorative approach again. @Sled If you agree, tell everyone I'll be doing it at 4 PM EST

really good idea, do it

Pffft moderating, couldn't be me