[Salty]

ABSTRACT

Overall, the two issues that I am addressing in this thread are “selective staffing” and the moderation bot. I decided to put the abstract (commonly referred to as the TL/DR segment) at the beginning of the thread so that way you don’t have to scroll all the way to the bottom! What inspired me to make this thread were the results that unloaded from both of Shaye's discord unban threads. 

If you want to see what my overall opinion of these two things are without going through the specifics, scroll down to "CONCLUDING REMARKS." 

ISSUE #1: “SELECTIVE STAFFING”

On the discord feedback form that Kaptain provided, one of the things that I said was a big issue in the community was an inconsistency amongst HOW staff members are delivering punishments. There are those who have done a very good job of giving verbal warnings in chat, and then there are some who seem to never say anything but do all the strikes (in theory of course, this segues into another issue I have with the discord; more details later). There is a rule and punishment guideline thread, but something that is missing is an explanative document showcasing HOW staff should handle situations as they arise; I couldn’t find a file for these on the PH DR or Murder rule pages, but the TTT one has a Staff guideline and “scenario” fill out for staff apps that see if you know how to appropriately respond to the situation. I think Discord should have that same type of form set up so the staff committee can look at what a potential staff candidate would do in certain situations and steer them the right way if what they put is different from what is expected of them.  

Something that Jammin said on Shaye’s unban thread (https://www.dinklebergsgmod.com/site/sho...413&page=2) that rubbed me the wrong way was what he considered to be “selective staffing.” What I think the problem is that people on the staff team might potentially be ignoring when their friends say things such as that, but if someone they don’t like says it, they would administer the punishment without a single hesitation. I do not have any proof of this of course, so this is mere speculation.  
Regardless of whether this is a thing or not, the best solution in my opinion is to instill expectations for the discord staff team (but in more detail than Avi’s thread here: https://www.dinklebergsgmod.com/site/sho...?tid=11562). Why should they more detailed? That’s easy: that way, we have documentation that can be used to help keep members of the discord staff team accountable and help the Discord Staff team understand what is expected of them. I know that my knowledge of how the Discord staffing is very outdated, as I was a member of the team back in the Summer of 2020, but I was always told “just use common sense when moderating the channels.” This typically is good advice, but the problem is that you’re dealing with 6 different perspectives of what is considered “common sense” and that can lead to potential issues for the team.


 

ISSUE TWO: THE MODERATION BOT

Now, on the matter of the moderation bot. This is something that has always been a pet peeve of mine with it, but I finally have the gall to say it professionally:
 
THERE SHOULD BE TRANSPARENCY ON WHO ADMINISTERS A WARN/BAN THAT REGULAR MEMBERS CAN ACCESS AND SEE.
 
When Shaye was banned here [what the fuck (dinklebergsgmod.com)], the bot did not inform of a reason. Yes, I understand that it was due to an automatic softban that was administered after reaching the threshold; however, we members should be able to see who administered the warn. There is no secrecy behind who uses commands on someone in any of the servers, so I do not understand why the discord is different. The staff members need to be able to be held accountable if they are not doing their job properly by more than 5 other people who are staffing the discord with them.
Someone might say “Well, Shaye might have the bot blocked, that’s why she didn’t get the message.”  I can counter this argument easily; when I received a softban after harassing a member of the community back in 2021, I was not sent a DM from the moderation bot saying that; I just simply did not see the Dink’s Gmod discord anymore, and that is something I’m not entirely sure is intended or if it is a mistake/bug.
 

CONCLUDING REMARKS

I think that a LOT of the challenges discord staff face right now (i.e. being called abusive, etc.) can be fixed by having an updated “expectations” thread that goes into further detail as to how to professionally handle situations that may arise (i.e. not throwing the power hammer around and abusing commands [not that anyone is doing this, at least not that I’m aware of] but instead professionally defusing the situation) and adding transparency of WHO is giving the strikes/bans to again, hold the staff accountable for their actions. This may not be a job, but as staff, you are a leader and influence others whether you think you do or not. Just like any other SUCCESSFUL leadership team, the Discord staff need to be able to be held accountable.
These are my opinions on the matter; if you disagree with me, feel free to. I do not think my way is the only way that’s right, I just simply wanted to give input and see if others agreed with how I feel about the state of things.

Thank you for your time,

Salty