Q:Mod rules and laws?

May I have a copy of the Terms of Use/Rules/Laws that modderators must follow and what would be considered "abuse of power" and all of that. I've completely gone over the CBSi ToU several times, but have not come across any of the rules regarding mods and site staff.

I too would like to know about the rules the mods should follow. Issuing bans without explanation is unacceptable.

@ezioismyname: the mods know what they're doing,they only issue a ban if the offense is repeated for countless of times,no warning? Why not pm them? It's the most effective way

@iown2ps4s: well,if you have trouble with the rules,go break the ice with the whole moderator team through a pm link.http://www.gamespot.com/pm/compose-mods/

For your information,I'm not an actual moderator,but I'm more than happy to give a hand to them

The people who got banned never got warning. They had a p/m page that mods were invited to. They banned everyone in the thread with no warnings. Probably doesn't help they were being bad mouthed, but there was no disruptive activity.

@Smashbrossive50 While I appreciate your enthusiasm and thank you for your assistance this is not the information that I require. I have no quarrel with you so I may ask that you please resign your stance on the current sitrep.

Hi there,

We Moderators are only Volunteers if you aren't aware of that fact. If we find reason enough to ban users and they have no strikes we confer with each other before an Ban is dealt unless given Strict orders by one of our Community Managers

the mods know what they're doing,they only issue a ban if the offense is repeated for countless of times,no warning? Why not pm them? It's the most effective way

Smashbrossive50

In all honesty it depends on the Severity of the Rule Broken by the User that defines what they earn whether that be a Warning, Strike, Suspension or Ban

If you have questions you can contact us by clicking the

CONTACT THE MODERATORS

The GameSpot moderators are here to help. Click here to send a private message to our entire mod crew.

I thank you for that information, in fact a Community Manager is the one in question. I already know you guys are volunteers. I can now see that you are all bound by the the same principles as standard members, so asking you guys would get me nowhere. It's safe to assume that the Community Managers are the ones with a rulebook or guideline for analysis.

Your link only sends a message to the entire mod crew. Is there a link that includes the Community Managers as well?

@iown2ps4s yes it does It should have all 4 of them in it if it doesnt I know that DigitalDame, Girlparts and Ohaifrancy are in it if you send them a message just add Zorine and you will have all 4 + the mod Crew

@jp_ Is there some sort of warning that is supposed to be issued? What about private conversations that are not disruptive to the forums or comments?

@ezioismyname: If we find reason enough to ban users and they have no strikes we confer with each other before an Ban is dealt unless given Strict orders by one of our Community Managers. Yes normally we send out a Notification to let the user know why they earned a Warning/Strike/Tempban/Ban

@jp_ Understanding this is GameSpot's site and we all fall under their rules, are P/Ms subject to the same rules as the comments and forums? And what if no warning or explanation as to why you were suspended or banned is given?

Issue will be handled by pm like others have said multiple times.

This is a bug reporting and feedback forum, not a place to converse about moderation on you or others. There is a reason you can pm all moderators and/or specific users, use it.

In addition, I would like to note that moderation history or reasoning behind moderating a user can only be requested by the person who was moderated. Information like that can only be given out by the person who was moderated by their own choice. Its none of your business until the person in question tells you.

To clarify. Yes, PM's do still fall under the umbrella for TOU enforcement. A classic example of this would be if say, a user was being stalked and harassed by another via PM. We will take action on those accounts. There are other examples of when PM's become subject to moderation but that is often the most common.

As far as warnings go. They do not always need to be issued. It states clearly in our Terms of Use that the site reserves the right to remove someones access to the service at any time and without notice.

In regard to the incident that you are referring to, yes there were mistakes made in the banning of several accounts who were not a part of any greater violation. However, there was a long list of offenders who were and will remain removed from the service as a result of the discussion.

On behalf of the Mods I am very sorry to those who had not made any offense, those accounts have since had their access restored (this action happened on 5/2 - Friday at around 6:00pm PT).