Ask the Mods questions about the Forums!

[Space Kerbalisation Tech]

I just noticed a strange thing (not sure if this has been asked before)

in a lot of forum page categories, when you go to the last page it shows some unusual threads: e.g. in https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/forum/16-gameplay-questions-and-tutorials/page/989/

https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/forum/34-add-on-releases/page/153/

https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/forum/18-the-lounge/page/356/

The unusual thing is that the oldest threads all show that they were made by “guest”, in January 1st, 1970

when i click on it it displays the error message “there are no posts to show” or “something went wrong please try again”

is this some sort of glitch or something because i’m pretty sure neither ksp or the ksp forum existed back then (for historical reference at that time the Apollo program was in progress, since it was only one year after Apollo 11)

[Kerminator K-100]

7 hours ago, Space Kerbalisation Tech said:

The unusual thing is that the oldest threads all show that they were made by “guest”, in January 1st, 1970

 

I think this has been noticed before. If I remember correctly, this is an error from the great forum purge

[RealKerbal3x]

8 hours ago, Space Kerbalisation Tech said:

I just noticed a strange thing (not sure if this has been asked before)

in a lot of forum page categories, when you go to the last page it shows some unusual threads: e.g. in https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/forum/16-gameplay-questions-and-tutorials/page/989/

https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/forum/34-add-on-releases/page/153/

https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/forum/18-the-lounge/page/356/

The unusual thing is that the oldest threads all show that they were made by “guest”, in January 1st, 1970

when i click on it it displays the error message “there are no posts to show” or “something went wrong please try again”

is this some sort of glitch or something because i’m pretty sure neither ksp or the ksp forum existed back then (for historical reference at that time the Apollo program was in progress, since it was only one year after Apollo 11)

Not a moderator, but this is probably the Unix epoch bug. Computers think the beginning of time is midnight on 1 January 1970, so when forum software updates mess up a thread, the displayed date gets reset to that - it's kind of a default.

[Vanamonde]

Forum software transitions sometimes lose or distort very old posts. Members can also ask to have their account information removed. When those things happen the software substitutes the word "guest" for missing names and the default date of 1/1/70 for missing times. 

[Maria Sirona]

Moderators, how did you become moderators? Just curious

[Vanamonde]

2 hours ago, Maria Sirona said:

Moderators, how did you become moderators? Just curious

When we need some team members we either invite a forum member to join or announce that we are taking applications. Candidates must be 1) over 18 years old so that they can legally sign the non-disclosure agreement, 2) have a history of being helpful and friendly on the forum, and 3) be good at communicating in writing. Once you do join, you would be expected to be logged into the internal moderators' Slack channel at all times while moderating so that we can consult with each other and discuss moderating policy. We are all volunteers, we do not get pay or any other form of compensation for moderating, and we all started as forum members. If that sounds interesting to you, keep an eye out for our occasional calls for new members. 

[Maria Sirona]

Me being me, i have some questions again.

1. What if a moderator abuses their power?

2. Is there some place for the mods to discuss things that is closed to the rest of us?

[modus]

I think your second question was answered in the post above yours.

[Deddly]

1 hour ago, Maria Sirona said:

1. What if a moderator abuses their power?

Since moderators are chosen on the merit of their long-standing behaviour on the forum, it would be much more likely to be a misunderstanding rather than an actual abuse of power. Regular users often see a situation only from a single perspective and don't have the complete picture of what has happened, so such misunderstandings can easily arise. Having said that, moderators are subject to the same rules as everyone else, so if you ever feel that a moderator is abusing his or her power or otherwise acting unfairly or inappropriately, please report them using the forum reporting tool as you would any other person.

Edited September 7, 2021 by Deddly
Added a little information

[Vanamonde]

4 hours ago, Maria Sirona said:

1. What if a moderator abuses their power?

Then the community managers would intervene. Our bosses have access to everything we do and could investigate and take action as needed. 

4 hours ago, Maria Sirona said:

2. Is there some place for the mods to discuss things that is closed to the rest of us?

We have both an additional subforum and a continually running Slack channel. 

[Admiral Fluffy]

6 hours ago, Vanamonde said:

an additional subforum

What’s it called?

[Dman979]

1 hour ago, Admiral Fluffy said:

What’s it called?

It's called updog.

[Vanamonde]

2 hours ago, Admiral Fluffy said:

What’s it called?

Never you mind. 

[ColdJ]

Yup. The sheer power of the subforum would cause the average users mind to go catatonic, best not to mess with things that us mere mortals could not comprehend and leave it up to those who were deemed worthy and raised from the mundane by the Gods to the positions of the enlightened ones.

 

[CatastrophicFailure]

6 hours ago, ColdJ said:

Yup. The sheer power of the subforum would cause the average users mind to go catatonic, best not to mess with things that us mere mortals could not comprehend and leave it up to those who were deemed worthy and raised from the mundane by the Gods to the positions of the enlightened ones.

 

And that’s without even mentioning…. 
 

…The Forbidden Library! 
 

Spoiler

Yes, that’s a thing. The mods never actually delete offending posts… they simply move them, to an additional additional subforum, the entire contents of which are… forbidden… 

 

[Mikenike]

52 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

The Forbidden Library

Wait. I thought that it was long forbidden to talk about it. I thought it was like the only thing that was never to be talked about on the user side of the forum. Like politics.

[Dman979]

4 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

Yes, that’s a thing. The mods never actually delete offending posts… they simply move them, to an additional additional subforum, the entire contents of which are… forbidden… 

No, we do delete a significant number of posts. But like any bureaucracy, we make copies in triplicate before deleting them.

[AtomicTech]

6 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

And that’s without even mentioning…. 
 

…The Forbidden Library! 
 

  Hide contents

Yes, that’s a thing. The mods never actually delete offending posts… they simply move them, to an additional additional subforum, the entire contents of which are… forbidden… 

 

Interesting, I'll have to rise to the rank of mod to adventure to the dark side of the forums.

[ColdJ]

13 hours ago, AtomicTech said:

nteresting, I'll have to rise to the rank of mod to adventure to the dark side of the forums.

Ahh, but there in lies the rub. No one that want's to be a moderator will ever be a moderator. All the moderators were happy members like us, happily going about their forum days, when the powers from above plucked them from the mundane and said "You have been deemed worthy, from now on you are a moderator." Any who said "Do I have to be?" got the reply "Do you want to keep coming here?" and that was that. So if you strive to be a moderator then you will never be worthy to be ascended.

[AtomicTech]

I see, the gods have to choose me.

[CatastrophicFailure]

5 hours ago, ColdJ said:

Ahh, but there in lies the rub. No one that want's to be a moderator will ever be a moderator. All the moderators were happy members like us, happily going about their forum days, when the powers from above plucked them from the mundane and said "You have been deemed worthy, from now on you are a moderator." Any who said "Do I have to be?" got the reply "Do you want to keep coming here?" and that was that. So if you strive to be a moderator then you will never be worthy to be ascended.

There’s a TV Tropes for that. 

[Gargamel]

On 9/9/2021 at 8:58 AM, ColdJ said:

No one that want's to be a moderator will ever be a moderator.

Not necessarily.     I was one that was chosen when the asked for anybody interested. 

[ColdJ]

4 hours ago, Gargamel said:

Not necessarily.     I was one that was chosen when the asked for anybody interested. 

So nice to see you once more.

Has been quite awhile I feel sure.

Glad that your back.

Once more on track.

Where people like spelling it MOAR.

 

[ShuttlePilot]

I have a different type of question here:

How are you not already dead when there is so much mental load on you. Wouldn't it be difficult to moderate the forums almost every single day? I couldn't take this, how do you even. Just tell me your secrets how are you not dead from this much moderating. Or is it a relaxing job? (I don't think so).

Edited September 11, 2021 by ShuttlePilot

[Gargamel]

5 hours ago, ShuttlePilot said:

How are you not already dead when there is so much mental load on you. Wouldn't it be difficult to moderate the forums almost every single day? I couldn't take this, how do you even. Just tell me your secrets how are you not dead from this much moderating. Or is it a relaxing job? (I don't think so).

It's not relaxing at all.   At least the act of moderating itself isn't.   When we're called in, there's something happening and we usually have to be the big meanies.   That's never fun.   Sure you get a little satisfaction out of banning a dirty dirty spammer, but it doesn't make up for being the referee.  Yes, it does take a toll after a while.   But that's why we do things like the Threads of the Month, etc.   They allow us to find the greatness in the forums and to highlight it. 

Our previously mentioned mod chat really helps out.   Not only does it help discuss forum matters, the majority of the talk is non-forum.   These folks are my friends.  We enjoy playing other games together, vent life issues, talk about sportsball, etc.   But sometimes you just get burned out and need to step away for awhile.   That's why we have a team. 

But for the most part, the moderation of the KSP forums is mainly housekeeping.   Moving threads into their proper place, approving new posts, etc.   Having to make a stressful decision doesn't happen that often.