Block Individual Commentors

[Deleted2547005User]

No, if they choose not to heed bug reports and fix them then the mod will be trash. Believe me, I would have loved to have the ability to block rude/mindless posters when I was still modding. I would endorse such a system wholeheartedly even if it was abused, but the overwhelming problem I see is the current report system. Say I block a certain member from my file(s), they then report me and/or the mod out of spite or justified. A member of the staff has to read the report, choose what to do, then deal (or not) with the report. This spells a nightmare of members generating report after report on the same person and their mod, whether or not their blocking to a particular mod was justified. This nightmare does have an advantage of weeding out those mod authors who are simply being trollish and blocking people based on difference of opinion or being an outright ass, but they'll get lost in that sea of reports.

 

If a system was installed that forced the mod author to tag the comment that made them decide to block a particular member, it would help prevent abuse, along with sending that information to a database for Administrators and Moderators so when the offending member reports that mod authors blocking them, they have the reason. Then the mod or admin can simply tell them to suck it up and change their attitude, ban them if their comment was especially rude or trollish, or punish the mod author if they over stepped their bounds.

 

I think if it was possible to implement such a system, and I'm sure it is - but I'm no coder - I would endorse it, but we need a few more staff members to help with that sea of reports and block system. I would join the staff to help out, but I'm probably not the best choice - I am overly direct and to the point, which is constantly misread as being an ass, and I've worked on controversial mods in the past.

[Georgiegril]

I have seen some very unkind statements made on mod author's pages, and it distresses me. Often enough to post something supportive to the mod author and to encourage them to ignore the trolls.

 

Generally speaking, I think the moderators and the community do a good job of maintaining a positive environment. That said, there are exceptions. My main reason for ultimately being unable to lend support to the mod author block is that if a poster is being rude to one modder/member, the chances are very great indeed that they are doing the same thing everywhere they go...if not yet, then soon, and probably until they get banned. Blocking them from one mod site does not prevent them from inflicting their unpleasantness to other modders, on forums, etc. Moderators need to know about these people, the trolls behaviors need to be documented and it is much more efficient to have the banning (or warning, or strikes) happen at a site-wide level. In addition, this prevents the troll from being able to take the position that they are being targeted by you, and that they in fact are the victim.

 

Having had just a few very unpleasant incidents with trolls (now banned) I empathize with anyone in the situation of having to deal with that sort of abuse, and I am also very grateful to the moderators, who in my own experience, have done a fantastic job of keeping this site a positive place, as much as possible.

[DaedalusMachina]

I support the idea of giving the Mod Author limited moderating power over their own comments section, as that would ease the workload to the official moderators.

 

Some detracting ideas include that the troll would move on to another user and harass them, and that the system would be abused by certain Mod Authors to block people who are merely against the mod.

 

Some ideas I have of getting around them:

 

If someone is Blocked by a Mod Author, he is flagged. If he is blocked by several Mod Authors, he would have acquired a lot of attention, and the official moderators could see that this person has been blocked by several, and may even be a troll, which would bring a more permanent action.

 

If you give Mod Author's limited numbers of Blocks, they have to choose carefully who to block, thus preventing its likely abuse.

[dunmermaiden]

I don't think that giving the whole forum a place where people can talk about whatever whatever is a good idea at all, pretty soon it would digress into illegal chatter and people being snotty to eachother.

 

As for the idea for authors being able to block users from commenting, yes, that would be ideal, perhaps like the rep up system where one has a only a certain number per day unless they have premium service. And perhaps those with premium could have one step further and be able to block a certain ammount of users from downloading their mods?

[DaedalusMachina]

I for one am not sure how a Free Speech Zone really came into a discussion about blocking troll commentors, but I have two things to say on the subject.

 

1.) That topic should probably be it's own suggestion.

 

2.) If you want to talk about something freely, that could happen literally anywhere else. They keep that stuff off Nexus for a very good reason.

[JimboUK]

I for one am not sure how a Free Speech Zone really came into a discussion about blocking troll commentors, but I have two things to say on the subject.

 

1.) That topic should probably be it's own suggestion.

 

2.) If you want to talk about something freely, that could happen literally anywhere else. They keep that stuff off Nexus for a very good reason.

 

I've been a member of a site where someone thought that was a good idea, it wasn't. Things soon spread to other parts of the site.

[ginnyfizz]

I think the trolls need policing, but giving mod authors the right to actually block certain people from downloading their files could actually lead to a lot MORE maliciousness and trolling. It could well be used to settle scores from outside this forum, for example. If that were allowed I am pretty certain that you or I would get blocked by some even though we have never once been guilty of trolling mod comments.

 

I have heard a lot about free speech, which actually doesn't exist on a private forum, but how about "innocent until proven guilty?" . You should not be able to block someone from downloading your file or commenting just because you dislike the person. I may be uploading something soon and I am sure that some "usual suspects" will turn up and troll, but until they actually crawl out from under their stone and start with the nasty trolling comments, then I will not take action. When they do, I will hit report. If there is a genuine bug report, it needs to be listened to.

[DrakeTheDragon]

While I doubt you'll be loosing out on anything important when you're blocked from downloading ones mods out of spite or due to an off-site disagreement, I still see no use in doing that either.

There's this bunch of morons coming along yelling at me that my stuff isn't lore friendly and they'll never be going to download or endorse it, and all I do in response is blocking them from downloading it? I can hear the laughter from far away already even without a voice chat system.

 

Silencing trolls in your comments "after the fact" may give you some peace at least around this place, but it will not stop them from being trolls at other places outside of your control, whereas clicking the Report button usually will. And they will go out of their way to keep trolling you by other means, if only for silencing them. It's a "won a battle but lost a war" situation.

[ginnyfizz]

Could not have put it better myself. What I am involved with is not lore friendly and that's why I have a feeling my report button may need to be used. Even though the readme will tell the trolls in pretty blunt terms to shove off and that trolls will be reported, I expect the worst comments will come from the lore fiends. I would far rather report trolling than try and block comments and downloads. As you say, defeats the object of releasing a mod. Staff here are pretty strong on trolling in the file comments.

[Nephenee13]

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