lol smartys good one

"i am talking about respect for people that do things for you."
Respect for what? Nobody has to respect the moderators, people just have to be willing to listen to them. Ideally the moderators will be respected, but that's something only they can determine.

And respect does not translate to "oh, of course they can use their powers however they want as long as nobody's account gets modified." I respect KT, especially for stepping up and admitting that mistakes were made. That doesn't mean I would like it if she quit and sent an email to everyone letting them know. Moderators are in a position of power and as a result we expect a certain level of behavior from them in using their powers.

That doesn't mean mods can't have fun. The important thing to keep in mind is that mods should be using their powers in a professional manner. That means that when a moderator, forum or game, is acting in their capacity as a staff member of IC, they need to behave in a mature and respectful manner. Off-color jokes on IRC? Sure, just not in #mod. Posting messages to everyone in the game? Probably not the best idea.

"my posts in this thread may have been a bit harsh, but i am rather allergic to people that whine for the sport of whining, that blow minor mishappenings over the top, and make a not-so-important-GE out to be the end of the world as we know it."
Instead of simply dismissing the concerns that were raised in this thread, you should be asking yourself why they were raised in the first place. Nobody is saying that the GE is on the same level as, say, KB's deletion of PP. However, the concern is with a lack of professionalism in the mod team as evidenced by this GE.

You could make the same argument about the number of times you use KILL, an IRCop tool meant to help police the server, to disconnect your friends from the IRC server.

You could make the same argument about Nolio making a thread about the worst players in IC and a month later making an announcement about stopping that type of bashing while still keeping the thread open.

You could make the same argument about the (f)mods that participate in spam threads rather than closing them.

The issue is not the GE, the GE is a manifestation of the issue.

smartys, if you'd learn to read, or if you'd get off your high horse to read the letters, you'd notice that i did say this wasn't the smartest thing to do
however, i am also stating this is not the big deal some people are making it out to be, nor are the other things you mention.

as for professionalism, i repeat what i said earlier, we are not professionals, and we do make mistakes as well.

as for the other crap you produced: i, and i'm pretty sure this goes for all mods, have never used any of our powers to offend any other person in any way possible

and let me finish by saying i find it very ironic that this is coming from you.

I don't have the time nor patience to read through this whole mess. 

Remember this is a community of individuals playing a game, not a corporation.    If someone is uptight about a funny message (not even provocative) , who really cares.  I think that for anyone who does a free service to the entire community they are at least allowed to joke about their job (especially in a non-damaging way).   

I've seen some pretty bad mod decisions before, this is not even close.  Asking the mods to not have any fun while playing IC  is pretty ridiculous, they are just like everyone else on here..wasting some time  between work/school/whatever.

It speaks volumes about the maturity of certain invididuals that they would get upset about this.

I think your missing the whole point again Primo. Your reaction once again shows your childish behaviour you have been showing this entire thread.

"you'd notice that i did say this wasn't the smartest thing to do"  Yea you said that, page 4, after flaming everybody that gave comments on the mod team.

"must act in a professional and courteous manner when in their role as staff."

hah, says the guy that got fired for not doing that.

and running this game is not the same as running a company, the word game is automatically associated with being playfull, if we're all going to be grey, standardized blobs that do our jobs straight forward, this game would have been long dead.

and gekko, i thought it was painfully obvious, but the obvious seems to be less obvious for people that get sick sexual pleasure out of whining.

"hah, says the guy that got fired for not doing that."
Actually, as I said in my post, I was fired for fixing Pinwheel. Which I did the day after Stefan told me not to use my mod powers to do anything like that. Stefan was right to sack me (and as I said before, I wanted to be sacked). I wasn't sacked for anything related to my pleasant demeanor.

I would appreciate it if you didn't spread inaccuracies about me, though.

"and running this game is not the same as running a company, the word game is automatically associated with being playfull, if we're all going to be grey, standardized blobs that do our jobs straight forward, this game would have been long dead."
Have you seen the player count lately? If the game isn't dead, it's getting there.

And you seem to ignore me every time I say this, but I'll try it again: nobody says you can't have fun and be a moderator at the same time. You just have to be able to know when you're representing the game as a staff member and when you're not. If you are, then you need to act professional. If you're not, then you don't.

whatver you wish to believe, or make people believe

and you don't seem to be reading what i'm saying.
cause i have non-stop been saying that is EXACTLY what we're doing. you may have a different opinion on that, and to be honest, there is not one thing in this universe that is less interesting to be than your opinion.

with that i end my contribution to this thread. i invite you all to whine as much as you please, and get off over it as much as you want.

You people can't even define what the standards are for the "modship-profession". So you can't even say if he did or didn't conform to them...

If you want to start talking about what is proffesional and what isn't .. I think making a joke that doesn't affect anyone really is not unproffesional what so ever..

so you guys wanna discuss over opinions?

maybe primo could have responded better, but you guys whine of nothing and I can imagine that its irritating

I say lets all get together and have a group hugging session

Smartz and primo line up u get the very middle

"You people can't even define what the standards are for the "modship-profession". So you can't even say if he did or didn't conform to them..."
Nobody asked us to, although I think I did a fairly good job doing so anyway.

First off, a moderator should be courteous in his/her interactions with players. That means responding to PMs, emails, chat convos in IRC, etc promptly and in a polite manner. That means dealing with any issues the players may have as quickly and efficiently as possible. That means correcting, admitting to, and apologizing for any mistakes or problems the user may be encountering. That also means dealing with players cursing at you, calling you names, etc (although you can feel free to not warn those players not to curse at you and then not pay attention to them). Basically, think of the rules you would have if you were doing phone tech support, minus the script you would have to follow.

Second, a moderator should enforce the rules without regard to friendship, special knowledge of the player, etc. A cheater is a cheater and nobody should get special treatment. Repeat offenders should be given harsher punishments than first time offenders. Smaller offenses (eg: cursing in an ingame message, minor spamming) should be punished less harshly than larger offenses. Related to this idea, the moderator should remember that he/she is not above the rules. Players are given tools and expected to use them a certain way. If they don't (eg: spamming a forum, registering multiple times), they are punished. Similarly, a moderator should use his/her powers in the ways they were intended to be used (eg: Galactic Messages are to be used to alert players in a galaxy about something that affects their galaxy).

Third, a moderator should strive to be a part of the community. That means being active, participating in IRC, the forum, talking to players, etc. This is one of the most important duties of a moderator. If the player base doesn't feel connected to the moderators, there is a buildup of resentment and a lack of respect. We can see it right now if we look at how people feel about Stefan.
Just to emphasize this, consider what happens when someone who does not actively participate in the forums becomes a moderator. A lot of people in their welcome thread post "who is this person and why do they deserve to be a mod?" Without that connection to the players, the moderator is not trusted. The trust between the moderators and the players is something very special and important.

Courteous, fair, and active. Those sounds like three good pillars to start with. If I missed anything obvious or if anyone has any other suggestions, I would love to hear them.

"The evidence, it represents each one's personality, Primo is childish and fun while Smartys is serious and responsible..."
Well, the Internet is serious business.
http://esum.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/serious.jpg

"Smartz and primo line up u get the very middle"
Don't confuse Smartz and me.

you missed the group hug