Home EN General Discussions & Questions

Join the official Goodgame Big Farm Discord today!Join our Big Farm Discord Server


Are you looking for a community of like-minded farmers to discuss your farming experience with? Look no further than the GoodGame Big Farm Discord Server!


Our server is the perfect place to connect with other farmers from around the world. Whether you're looking to chat about strategy, share tips and tricks, or just make new friends, our community has got you covered.


And that's not all - as a member of our Discord server, you'll also have access to exclusive giveaways and other special events. It's the perfect way to stay up to date on all the latest news and updates from GoodGame Studios.


So what are you waiting for? Join the GoodGame Big Farm Discord Server today and start connecting with fellow farmers from all over the world. Just click here to join the fun!

Why is there NO Moderator from the USA?

ZaxynnZaxynn Posts: 132
To have only 2 moderators from the same country is .....well let me stop this sentence. now.

Yes there use to be 3 until recently, 1 from the UK and 2 from Australia.

Never in my 20 years of online gaming have I ever seen a forum with only 2 moderators or just 3 for that matter.

Never have I ever been a member of any forum to include alliance forums for online strategy games with only a couple hundred or so registered users that they didn't have moderators from both east and west hemispheres.
Post edited by Zaxynn on

Comments

  • Latten (DE1)Latten (DE1) Posts: 6,246
    edited 25.10.2013
    Hey Zaxynn,

    we're always looking for new moderators, so of course players from the Americas can feel free to write an application, too :)
    That said, we of course check everyone applying, and while we obviously are looking for people who know how the game and the forum works, our first priority is to see if they are actually good with people and have a generally "nice" and talkative aura around them. We want our players to come along nicely with our mods, not to opress them and make them feel scared of GGS Representatives.

    Believe it or not, it's not easy to find that kind of players who then also are interested in being a mod in the first place :)
    Anyway, we are searching, and everyone who wants to help out can leave us an application in the designated subforum.

    Also, and this is just a reminder, we're not huge fans of "backseat modding", which includes telling our moderators how to do their work, and when to do it - I noticed a bit of it in some of your previous posts, and I'm kindly asking to take it down a notch :) Our current mods are doing their best to keep you guys happy, and we're very glad we have them around, but they obviously can't be anywhere at once.

    I thank you for your input on this matter, and it's great seeing you being concerned about our forums though :)
    I hope you'll have a great day,
    Timo
  • jaystarr2jaystarr2 Posts: 1,657
    edited 25.10.2013
    Latten, is there an actual job description anywhere of what mods are supposed to do? The obvious thing they do is "moderate the forums" but that in itself doesn't seem to require that you are nice or talkative. What skills/qualities would you be looking for?
  • djgreeneyes (US1)djgreeneyes (US1) Posts: 1,766
    edited 25.10.2013
    Jaystarr2: I had wondered that myself - thanks for bringing it up.
  • monica79538monica79538 Posts: 1,932
    edited 25.10.2013
    Um I think he stated it quite nicely in his post in this thread. I can think of only 3 people on the forum that fit that description--and no, I don't think I am one of them either ;)
  • Larino (INT1)Larino (INT1) Posts: 4,572
    edited 26.10.2013
    jaystarr2 wrote: »
    Latten, is there an actual job description anywhere of what mods are supposed to do? The obvious thing they do is "moderate the forums" but that in itself doesn't seem to require that you are nice or talkative. What skills/qualities would you be looking for?

    That^ If I knew what was coming at me I may consider even more becoming a mod. I am constantly hopping back and forth considering, but am totally afraid I would overload myself with work, while I am trying to get my stress level down lately. I would not like to end up like Rhon, running over the forums 24/7 to read ALL the threads and remove what I should be removing and edit what I should be editing and.... yeah. Did that disqualify me yet? :P Please tell so I can quit considering :D
  • duchessogravityduchessogravity Posts: 178
    edited 26.10.2013
    I would think that if there were more than just 3 mods. that the job would not be as stressful or involved...
  • ZaxynnZaxynn Posts: 132
    edited 26.10.2013
    Latten wrote: »
    Hey Zaxynn,

    we're always looking for new moderators, so of course players from the Americas can feel free to write an application, too :)
    That said, we of course check everyone applying, and while we obviously are looking for people who know how the game and the forum works, our first priority is to see if they are actually good with people and have a generally "nice" and talkative aura around them. We want our players to come along nicely with our mods, not to opress them and make them feel scared of GGS Representatives.

    Believe it or not, it's not easy to find that kind of players who then also are interested in being a mod in the first place :)
    Anyway, we are searching, and everyone who wants to help out can leave us an application in the designated subforum.

    Also, and this is just a reminder, we're not huge fans of "backseat modding", which includes telling our moderators how to do their work, and when to do it - I noticed a bit of it in some of your previous posts, and I'm kindly asking to take it down a notch :) Our current mods are doing their best to keep you guys happy, and we're very glad we have them around, but they obviously can't be anywhere at once.

    I thank you for your input on this matter, and it's great seeing you being concerned about our forums though :)
    I hope you'll have a great day,
    Timo

    IF you are referring to some of my replies then I find it interesting that you never sent me a Private Message with any concerns. That said, there is a major difference in how one would reply as just a regular member compared to how one would reply being part of forum team. For example, I would never call anyone out in public without at the very least attempting to have a Private conversation with them to resolve any kind of issue first.

    I still find it difficult to believe that you have not been able to find one in the USA.

    The only thing I have to say for the record about the current moderators is that it is grossly unfair for them, being that there are only 2 and many threads to check.
    With that kind of volunteer work load it's more of a non paid part time job with very limited time to even play the game to which the forum is related to more or less be an officer in a cooperative and/or alliance.
  • ZaxynnZaxynn Posts: 132
    edited 26.10.2013
    Larino wrote: »
    That^ If I knew what was coming at me I may consider even more becoming a mod. I am constantly hopping back and forth considering, but am totally afraid I would overload myself with work, while I am trying to get my stress level down lately. I would not like to end up like Rhon, running over the forums 24/7 to read ALL the threads and remove what I should be removing and edit what I should be editing and.... yeah. Did that disqualify me yet? :P Please tell so I can quit considering :D

    I've seen many of your posts.

    You would make a good resource for players. I think you would be good at editing as well. I also think you would do well in consolidating multiple posts.
  • jaystarr2jaystarr2 Posts: 1,657
    edited 26.10.2013
    Um I think he stated it quite nicely in his post in this thread.

    Clearly, I don't think he did at all. It's obvious you want people who have some sort of people skills and who are "nice", but that is really vague, and beyond that there is a LOT more to moderating. Imagine you're applying for a job, and all you were told was that you had to be nice to people and give them information. How would you interpret that?

    Specifically for this forum, do you want people who are also leaders, in that they can direct discussions a certain way (which would require a particular personality type to do so); do you want people who will be sufficiently firm as to confront people directly to tell them to stop doing something if necessary, or how many times should you warn people; what about things like communication skills--what if someone is super nice and friendly but can't spell to save their lives? How should a mod do under pressure? What if you are in a situation where you have to ban a friend? How familiar do you have to be with the forum rules, and what would you do in a situation where the rules were silent? How much do you have to know about how all the forum moderator buttons (that the rest of us can't see) work? And what sort of workload are we looking at here?

    Giving that sort of information would really narrow it down from people who were merely nice and talkative, since I know a lot of fantastic people on here who are nice and talkative, but probably wouldn't be great mods for one reason or another. So having more information about what specifically would be good modding qualities would really help!
  • monica79538monica79538 Posts: 1,932
    edited 26.10.2013
    I could post some links to some extremely hurtful discussions from over the past few months--I don't think it is appropriate to post them here though.

    People earn respect and it is lost in an instant with a few words.
  • ezio auditore3ezio auditore3 Posts: 2,399
    edited 26.10.2013
    Good point Jay :) But I think the biggest concern for all of you is time because everyone has a life and they can't be on the forum for a long time so in my opinion Zaxynns request shouldn't be US moderators it should be multiple moderators I'll give you guys an example according to my time zone. Kat and Tess start posting around 3 am here and they stay until almost 12 pm......... Now according to my time zone we need someone to fill the gap between 12pm and 3am. I come home at around 1pm from college and I can use my mobile to get to the forums at anytime. During this time someone else can help out and after we leave there can be two US moderators in the time it takes Kat and Tess to come back :)
  • tove999 (SKN1)tove999 (SKN1) Posts: 71
    edited 26.10.2013
    Jaystarr.. You are asking, as if this was a payed daytime job.. This is a place to have fun, primary. The current mods sure seems like they think this is fun, they are widely liked and accepted, and they answer a WHOLE lot of questions. What more can you ask for! Except more of them, of course ;)
    Well, Theres your job description.. Simple, eh! :)
  • jaystarr2jaystarr2 Posts: 1,657
    edited 26.10.2013
    tove9992 wrote: »
    Jaystarr.. You are asking, as if this was a payed daytime job.. This is a place to have fun, primary. The current mods sure seems like they think this is fun, they are widely liked and accepted, and they answer a WHOLE lot of questions. What more can you ask for! Except more of them, of course ;)
    Well, Theres your job description.. Simple, eh! :)

    I ask because there is a sense in which it IS like a job, and therefore requires a clear job description. :) It's not a paid, daytime job to be sure, but as I write there are 37 threads, which I infer means 37 applications (although I could be wrong).

    If there are 37 applications that they are getting for this forum, and there are only two moderators, then something is stopping otherwise nice and helpful people from becoming moderators. I'm just wondering what that "something" is.
  • Kat Nip (GB1)Kat Nip (GB1) GB1 Posts: 3,796
    edited 26.10.2013
    Jaystarr, let me just say about those 37 threads in the Applications forum - the forum has been there since the beginning of the game which as we know is 12 months now, and some people are just attracted to seeing their own thread in a forum where no others can be seen. Oh, and then you get the threads that are posted in there because they think they're applying to a cooperative, but they tend to get moved to the correct forum. :)
    tove9992 wrote: »
    Jaystarr.. You are asking, as if this was a payed daytime job.. This is a place to have fun, primary. The current mods sure seems like they think this is fun, they are widely liked and accepted, and they answer a WHOLE lot of questions. What more can you ask for! Except more of them, of course ;)
    Well, Theres your job description.. Simple, eh! :)
    Tove, they are lovely words - thank you! :D

    Kat. Kittie_by_otomosc.gif
  • tove999 (SKN1)tove999 (SKN1) Posts: 71
    edited 26.10.2013
    My pleasure, Kat Nip :)
    And Larino, dont think, just do it. You would make a fine mod! :)
    More mods means less work per mod..
  • Larino (INT1)Larino (INT1) Posts: 4,572
    edited 26.10.2013
    Kat Nip2 wrote: »
    Jaystarr, let me just say about those 37 threads in the Applications forum - the forum has been there since the beginning of the game which as we know is 12 months now, and some people are just attracted to seeing their own thread in a forum where no others can be seen. Oh, and then you get the threads that are posted in there because they think they're applying to a cooperative, but they tend to get moved to the correct forum. :)

    Well that was something I was entirely wondering about. I see that button light up many times, but have not clue what these people have written :D Thank you for pointing that out ^^
  • ZaxynnZaxynn Posts: 132
    edited 26.10.2013
    A month ago I checked the "applications" thread for volunteers to become a moderator and it showed empty.

    I just now checked again and still it showed empty, no 37 threads.

    So I started a thread titled "Moderator" and post just like they have for in game applicants that click on the green button to join my cooperative "I would like to become a member of your cooperative" only I posted "I would like to become a moderator of Big Farm Forum"

    I thought there would actually be an applications with questions to answer about my game knowledge, forum experiences, leadership experiences in both games and real life, age, location, times of online access, etcetera. Perhaps even some example situation questions and how I would respond to them. Maybe even a "training program" to become a full fledged moderator as perhaps not all are going to have all the skill to instantly become one however with guidance and some training they can evolve into one just as you would do an apprentice or intern in a real life job.

    Likewise it would also be helpful to know if there are any "minimum" requirements like days and time on a day. IF one needs to stay in the forums for x number of hours a day everyday or only so many days a week. If one has to stay in the forums or they can bounce back and forth from the game to the forums while online.

    There are many questions one can think of for "both sides of the fence" so to speak. I am inclined to think that a general description posted as a sticky thread in the Application section as well as a Form to fill out would enhance the process greatly and cut down on redundant posts and questions. :)
  • jaystarr2jaystarr2 Posts: 1,657
    edited 26.10.2013
    Kat Nip2 wrote: »
    Jaystarr, let me just say about those 37 threads in the Applications forum - the forum has been there since the beginning of the game which as we know is 12 months now, and some people are just attracted to seeing their own thread in a forum where no others can be seen. Oh, and then you get the threads that are posted in there because they think they're applying to a cooperative, but they tend to get moved to the correct forum. :)

    Thank you Kat! I had been wondering about that!! :)
  • FarmerTess (AU1)FarmerTess (AU1) Posts: 2,393
    edited 27.10.2013
    Zaxynn wrote: »
    A month ago I checked the "applications" thread for volunteers to become a moderator and it showed empty.

    It is a private forum. The only people who see any posts In that forum are: Staff, moderators and any posts that you make yourself. So if you make a post you will also see any replies to that post.
  • ZaxynnZaxynn Posts: 132
    edited 27.10.2013
    FarmerTess wrote: »
    It is a private forum. The only people who see any posts In that forum are: Staff, moderators and any posts that you make yourself. So if you make a post you will also see any replies to that post.

    There was no thread count like other in here talk about.
    There was no thread count after I posted in it as well.
    A few hours later when I checked again after posting, I hadn't received any replies yet but a thread count is now there. Says it's up to 38.

Leave a Comment

BoldItalicStrikethroughOrdered listUnordered list
Emoji
Image
Align leftAlign centerAlign rightToggle HTML viewToggle full pageToggle lights
Drop image/file