Darth Fanboy wrote:This is the dumbest sounding idea on this forum ever. by the time you get everything set up the situation is either completely out of hand or never develops.
Well, I'm trying to come up with an idea. Take a look at Lagomonster's post after yours; apparently the Mods could use a bit of support. I think my Star Chamber idea is a good one, at least in theory (obviously or I would not have posted it), and so I presented it precisely so it could be looked over by more people and either saluted, or flaws I had not thought of are exposed. As far as convening quickly, see below.
Also, if it is a sitting body, just with rotating seats, then it is already in place to deal with whatever comes up, as it comes up.
Are you even listening to yourself? I'll go into coordination flaws more later but you're going to try and get rotating groups of ten handpicked by the staff THAT YOU SAY IS OVERWORKED and then coordinate them all into your moronic inquiry.
Actually, the idea would be a lot simpler than you may realize. If you have time, you can simply say "I can help oversee anything that comes up, at least until August, when I will be on vacation".
Or, if it is a body that is always convened, but with rotating seats, then it is even easier; nothing has to be assembled in the midst of a problem; the Mods can just say "we need some help overseeing this thread, the meltdown potential seems high".
That's one of the reasons I brought this up. People could volunteer, or be asked by Mods or peers.
That really didn't answer my question.
To me, it seems you're treating this like a done deal that I am trying to ram through the board's acceptance. It's not. It's an idea I had to fit what seemed (to me) to be a potential problem. The whole purpose of this thread is to discuss merits or flaws, and contemplate improvements that could make this useful, or, if it is too flawed to be salvaged, then reveal it as such and move on to the next idea.
Again, having a standing body that is ready at any given moment, can alleviate that. Or, if that is too much of a bother, maybe have some hand-picke people ready to go to "jury duty" once it becomes evident a problem is developing.
So people need to be on call for this? I think you seriously overestimate how much of their time most people are willing to invest in this board that also care enough to do this. We do have a select few people that do care and are willing to put in the time, they are called
moderators.
And Mods can't do everything, all the time, and they, too, get tired, distracted, or sucked into threads or frustrated. As to whether people would care enough to devote the time, those people probably wouldn't do Star Chamber stuff very often, if at all. But the board is full of regular posters, mini-mods, and people who have a lot invested in the board overall, so you might be surprised. We're coming up on a 10-year anniversary for the board; a lot of these people have been here since "Day One" (or before, for the ASVS folks) or close to it. The truly disinterested have probably already drifted off.
It's not "backseat modding" if it is part of the plan. If the Mods appoint them, then it is official. This is a way for Mods to stay out of a fray, and say "Imma let you guys handle this, let me know if you're ready for a titling or a tempban or something, because I don't have time to constantly monitor this thread".
Which completely defeats the purpose of a moderator if he is just going to delegate his or her admin given authority. The board isn't a democracy. Policy is set, moderator enforces policy, having a discussion if there is a unique situation or gray area that isn't easily resolved. There is no need to convene and coordinate the schedules of ten other people to do this. This is an international forum with posters from multiple continents and even more timezones, you think you're going to get this done quickly even with people picked in advance?
Actually, having people across multiple time zones is a help. If everyone in a Star Chamber was in, say, the US and Canada, then that would leave gaps in coverage. This wouldn't be a handful of people all working together at the same time, constantly monitoring one thread, this would be someone who would be on the board at his or her normal times, but also willing to keep an eye on potentially problematic threads and report to a Mod if things get out of hand, if Mod hasn't yet had time to get to it or notice it.
Bear in mind, this isn't replacing Mods throughout the board-- this is to help Mods better use their time when the Mods feel it is useful. The Mod doesn't have to accept their suggestion, but it gives more flexibility.
You're basically just admitting this is useless. If a mod wants a hand there are other mods and a mod forum. We're back now to your bureaucracy fetish.
If a person who's serving on a Star Chamber makes silly recommendations on a constant basis, then they won't be called on anymore, so that people who make "useful" decisions can take their place. As for bureaucracy, remember this isn't a special forum for special posters to gather and discuss things, and preen, like the Senate became. Seriously, think about how low-key this would play out-- no special sub-forums, no special vote threads, but rather a couple of PMs between a Moderator and a handful of people who aren't involved in the debate:
"There's an IvP debate starting up. Could you keep an eye on that and let me know if things get out of hand? I can't be on 24/7, and these things tend to devolve."
And that's it.
The Star Chamber would have zero ability to influence board policy or rules, so there'd be very little "Bureaucracy" at all.
Right now we have a thread becoming an increasing trainwreck until finally, the problem gets so big a Mod just wades in with a banhammer.
Seems like that thread was locked in rather short order without the need to convene your ridiculous internet jury.
Seriously, dude, I never said that a jury would be convened for every. little. thread. You're applying an extreme interpretation.
Or, as a better solution, we could find more people like SCRawl to join the ranks so that there are actual moderators with actual authority in more places.
More mods or mini-mods may be the better solution. Like I said, I'm just proposing an idea, not trying to convince you that "this is gonna be done, and you're gonna do it!". Mods could use some support. This was my way of proposing some support without adding people to the Administration. If you have different or better ideas, then by all means, let's have them.