Toribash Blog

Two to three local mods are current being recruited by Fee to fill positions in Discussion and Rapid Threads, and if you really impress him, possibly Off-Topic too! Applications close Friday and there have already been a lot of applications, so if you want to help the community, you need to get in quick! The official recruitment thread can be found here.
We talk to Fee, the man running the recruitment, and Hyde, one of the best mods Discussion ever had, to find out how things work from a staff perspective and to give us little insight in to their mysterious world.

I talk to Hyde about what it was like to moderate Discussion!

Gorman: What were the main parts of your job as a local mod?
Hyde: Managing the section, cleaning it up, making sure users knew the rules, and helping beginners learn where their threads are supposed to go. As a discussion mod, I also had to make sure the topics could last, and topics that had little to no material for discussion were closed.

G: Did you find the job fun and/or fulfilling?
H: Well, discussion has long been my passion, so I enjoyed doing it. I enjoyed the new rush of positive activity brought into it.

G: What do you think are the most important attributes someone should have to be a successful local mod?
H: Patience. Not all people have common sense, which kinda pisses you off(wonder why they call it that), so you constantly have to gently nudge people in the right direction. Patience and enthusiasm are the two main characteristics a person needs to have to be successful as a local moderator, as without patience, the job would get very infuriating, and, without enthusiasm, you wouldn’t have the motivation needed to actually do it.

G: Is there any kind of ‘phillosophy’ you hold with regards to how you do your job?
H: Not really

G: Any best/worst moments, or other things you want to share?
H: Deleting 8 of gorman’s posts in 1 thread(Gorman’s note, Hyde probably “purified” 100s of my posts during his reign, now that is dedication!)
Probably, the worst moment I ever faced in discussion was after the forums were compromised in December, and the board was flooded with “hackhackshackshacks” threads. The best has to have been the day when discussion got around 80 posts(most of which were absolutely fine), which means that I am doing my job in keeping it thriving, which makes me happy.

I talk to Fee about the recruitment, and the recruitment process!

Gorman: Where did the previous local mods for discussion and RT go?
Fee: Firstly, a search was done on all the local moderators to gauge their current activity within the boards they were assigned to. Any that flagged an unacceptable activity level were sent a PM giving them three days to respond justifying the drop in activity. Any that did not respond were removed. The others were given two weeks to increase their activity dramatically. After that point another check on their activity was performed and any that had not improved were also relived of their position.

G: What are some of the top attributes you look at when picking your local mods?
F: Most local moderators are picked by the entire staff team, so I can only give you what I personally would look for. In my opinion by far the most important quality is a good understanding of the board’s purpose. Past experience aside any user with a shred of intelligence can learn to be a local moderator. Other than that it is subjective to the board in question for example a Support local moderator would be expected to have a good technical understanding of the game. On top of that activity is a must for obvious reasons.

G: Are you getting a lot of applications so far?
F: Yes I am actually. More than I had expected.

G: There are plenty of smods around, do you assign them to particular sections or do they just do whatever reports are there?
F: As far as reports go it’s open season to the smods, this is our baseline activity gauge and every smod is expected to answer these within a 2 hour period (we are much faster). Some smods prefer to leave Market reports for the Market Squad but other than that we will all handle any report. Once the reports are answered most smods have a preferred section or sections they like to work on they aren’t assigned to us they just sort of fall into place.

G: I don’t see too many of these recruitment threads, is this the way local mods are usually recruited?
F: That would be because local moderators are not normally recruited. Boards are usually pretty well covered and if not we normally have a line of users willing to take them on. If a board is in drastic need of moderation I believe the normal course of action is to approach users who show promise in said board or push other local moderators into them. Personally I prefer this method as it gives anyone who is interested an opportunity to show us why they would be fitting for the job.

G: A lot of people think of becoming a local mod as a gateway to becoming an smod, is this accurate?
F: Well I suppose you have to start somewhere. But that is completely dependent on the user. Some could easily handle a local moderator position but couldn’t necessarily handle an smod position. Past experience can only get you so far, but if you are willing to work hard and not be a complete idiot chances are you will at some point get recognition for your work. Whether that be in the form of a smod position really depends.

G: How are smods recruited?
F: Having never been around during a recruitment process and being one of the more junior smods on the team I don’t think I could answer that accurately.

G: Are there any other boards looking for reinforcements?
F: We are in the process of reviewing board moderation activity. So keep your eyes open for more recruitment around the forum.

G: Thank you for your time and for your answers
F: o7

If you have the passion and patience to moderate Discussion or Rapid Threads, then apply by sending a private message to Fee, the application has no set format but remember to include your GMT, activity hours, past experience and of course, mention which board you are interested in moderating.
The new local mods are set to be announced on Sunday, so head over to the Discussion and Rapid Threads subforums to congratulate the new staff!

Good luck!

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