Concerns About Moderator Conduct, Transparency, and Fairness

By Pickenchox · · 505 views · 9 upvotes · 27 replies

Now that my 24-hour mute has expired, I'd like to address it respectfully.

I understand that moderators have a difficult job and that moderation is sometimes necessary. My concern is not simply that I was muted. My concern is how it was handled.

I received a 24-hour mute with no warning, no explanation, and no opportunity to correct my behavior. The comment that resulted in the mute was, in my view, relatively mild compared to the profanity, insults, and other inappropriate comments that regularly appear in chat without moderation.

What makes this especially concerning is that the moderator who issued the mute is also a member of a competing guild. Whether intentional or not, that creates the appearance of a conflict of interest. Confidence in moderation depends not only on fairness, but also on the perception of fairness.

Adding to those concerns, I just recently learned that the moderator in question bagged about and celebrated the mute in their guild chat, along with a laughing emoji. That behavior is difficult to reconcile with the impartiality and professionalism that should be expected from someone entrusted with moderator powers.

I am not asking for special treatment. I am asking for consistent standards, transparency, and accountability. Moderators are held to a higher standard because they possess authority over other players. When that authority is exercised, players should be able to trust that decisions are based on rules, not personal relationships, guild affiliations, or grudges.

I welcome disagreement, but I believe these concerns deserve a fair discussion.

Not all heroes wear capes or armor. Some stand up for the integrity of the game, even when one of their own guildmates goes astray. I would like to personally thank them for the risk they took by relaying this information to me.
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Replies

gmaail ·

This is so sad to read. As early players, we're already facing a lot of stress from disruptions caused by technical issues. Reading that some moderators are misbehaving and potentially breaching the code of conduct they're supposed to follow is making the experience in this community even worse.

Actions taken by moderators should be public and not kept hidden in private guild servers. Their actions are supposed to provide guidelines on what's allowed and what's not within the community, therefore they should come with an announcement and an explanation. Keeping these actions hidden and lacking transparency can only be interpreted as a personal attack.

Kaling has already caused immense damage to the community, deliberately disrespecting private boundaries just to create issues for fun. Constantly reading that this guy is receiving some kinf of protection (i previously experienced that too) from the moderator in question is disgusting. Also, the fact that this guy, despite allegedly trying to scam the company, is receiving better treatment (such as being warned before moderator actions are taken) than an OG player is completely unacceptable.

Blueprint Baron ·

Auris warned us weeks ago not to talk about anyone’s family or we would be banned or muted or something. Sooo there is that.

JINX - Big fat hero ·

-I understand and share that moderator should have a common pattern of dealing with players. Guess there is some missing guideline by the admin about this, but honestly I don't know. What I mean is that having a warning (declared) before the actual mute is a good practice. So that could be (for me) the only reason for having concerns about what happened

I don't understand why now we are taking these screenshot in public. Or better, why are we using them as a proof of "they are doing it because we are in competition". We're all in competition here. And you, or better, AZ (your guild leader) was pretty angry when screenshot of your private guild channel got leaked and led to the block of the future token distribution. So now I ask, why doing this now? We all use private channel to say private things, say stupid things and sometimes to use emoji or word that would obviously lead to a ban/mute/add whatever you want or just make other players angry.

I understand doing this on the forum so community choose and decide. But still, I think I personally said bad things, lot of person here said bad things about game, admin, mod, etc in private chat. I got bad and good experience with almost all the mod, and I believe they are doing their best in this chaotic state of game where new bugs appears every day.

All in all, I don't think Varg has anything personal on you or your guild. It's just the continuous situation of war, not competition, war and troll/flame that is going on since I was here (4 months already). I like when images are shared and I do it too, we can joke and throw shit at each other. But some other times chat get lot of toxic and I prefer to step aside.

It's just frustrating watching the same discussion, the same question, the same thing being repeated again and again and again. I don't really understand what happened to make you (talking about both Vox and Ordo) developing such hatred for each other. But after 4 months I can tell you that I got pissed off about this narrative of favour from one or other side. And I guess this could influence players and mod too (as I'm pissed off I guess even Varg was). We are all different and I believe we all act in good purpose

About Kaling I got only one thing to say, he was in your guild, he started dropping good things, you were blessing him like a diamond and he was like the best player you ever had.
Then he reveals for what he was, he may have started insulting (don't remember who started) and then you got furious and insult him too. A troll must be left alone and no attention should be given, if not, you are playing his game and he is winning

Just wrote that without even thinking too much. Got lot of things to say, hopefully we could start a new chapter on the game, with new rules and less spy or incongruity. Just play the game and build a better one
Goodnight

A-Z Prince of Ordo ·

"special guild" that's classy i like it. Just warn for future mutes.....done. I love the "brotherhood" talk and OG's and players should stick together nonsense. lol yall silly with all of this. all i wanted was a warning before a mute like everyone else should get. EVERYBODY should get warning. PERIOD.

Pickenchox ·

When we see news stories about troubled kids or people who do terrible things, we often ask ourselves: how did they get there? Where does the fault lie? Was it nature, nurture, or some combination of both? When a player enters general chat cursing, excessively pinging people, posting pornography, and showing absolutely no chat decorum, suggesting that poor upbringing may have contributed to that behavior is a completely plausible observation. It is not an attack on anyone's family; it is a comment on the guidance and direction that person may have received growing up.

That said, even if someone disagrees with that statement, it is in no way a "no warning, no explanation, immediate 24-hour mute" offense.

From someone with your extensive experience receiving moderation actions, you know that warnings and explanations are normally provided. In each of your three bans, you were warned and informed why action was being taken. You also knew full well that messaging newly joined players to discourage them from playing and posting on Twitter that the game was "total trash" were actions likely to result in disciplinary action.

Despite that, you were still given warnings, explanations, and a clear understanding of what behavior crossed the line. That is precisely why the handling of my mute stands out. There was no warning, no explanation, and no opportunity to correct the behavior before a 24-hour mute was issued.

If moderation standards are to be applied fairly, they should be applied consistently to everyone. The issue is not whether moderators should enforce the rules; the issue is whether players are being treated equally and afforded the same transparency and opportunity to correct their behavior before punitive action is taken.

A-Z Prince of Ordo ·

yeah i really don't want to open up old Ordo/Vox drama. it's been civil until today. this shouldn't even have been a Ordo vs Vox thing in the first place. it's flat out...Warn before mute... or treat everyone the same.... case closed. it's really hard to put that stuff in the past when it keeps coming up. trying really really hard to be civil then we get randomness dropped in our laps. my recent frustration is and was 100 percent about someone getting muted without warning.

Septimus ·

Leadership has already decided that private conversations are fair grounds for moderator discipline. That precedent was set when I was removed as moderator and banned from the official TokenLordsRPG Discord based on private messages obtained through a private server breach. My conduct occurred outside any official capacity and was never intended to be public.

That standard is now on the table, and it applies to every moderator.

The moderator being discussed here engaged in private conduct that reveals a clear conflict of interest. They used their moderation authority not to serve the community, but to protect personal relationships. This is not a matter of someone having a bad moment. This is a moderator demonstrating, in their own words, that their loyalties lie elsewhere.

Consistent enforcement of conduct standards is what gives the moderation team its credibility. When the same standard that applied to one moderator's private words is applied equally to another whose private conduct reveals an active conflict of interest, it shows this community that the rules exist to protect everyone — not just some.

The precedent exists. Apply it.

JINX - Big fat hero ·

If all you want is a warning before a mute, why such post with chat leak and conflict of interest supposition? Seems more a revenge for Kaling incident (to me at least)

Pickenchox ·

The screenshots were relevant because they directly contradicted the explanation being used to justify the moderation action. The public narrative was that this was a routine moderation decision based solely on my conduct in chat. The screenshots tell a different story. They show a moderator discussing and celebrating the mute in a guild channel, complete with a laughing emoji, which raises legitimate questions about professionalism, impartiality, and whether personal feelings played a role in the decision.

When someone is given moderation powers, they are entrusted to apply rules fairly and consistently. If evidence exists that calls that impartiality into question, it is reasonable for the community to examine it.

Had this simply been a warning or even a mute that was clearly explained and consistently applied, there likely wouldn't have been a controversy at all. The issue is not the punishment itself. The issue is the appearance that moderator authority may have been exercised in a biased manner, and the screenshots are part of the evidence that support this.

JINX - Big fat hero ·

The second screenshot though was just a reply about a totally different thing and aspect. Here he just showed his thought about THAT argument. And was after all the general and vip chat frustration that came after you were muted (because there was some intense chat, ngl)

Hana ·

I'd say the image is concerning.

Dommong ·

I will let most of this stay in the past.. I do want to bring up the whole integrity, fairness, and perception.. I am not sure how you still have Ruby a day or two after purchasing it, but seems that you get a few extra days every time you have Ruby. If you really cared about the integrity of the game I think you would mention if you Ruby lasted a few extra days as I am sure you would call out others if they were in the same boat.

You talk about how one guild seems to have more power because of the mods in it yet things like Ruby extension for you and nobody else is awarded, dragons happen to be pulled more with ordo players, you all have had developers in your personal guild chats, etc. When you had a developer and a mod in your guild all was well but since they were removed and now you have none, it is a problem all of a sudden. You and AZ got really upset when another player shared your guild discord chat in a DM yet you post other guild chat to the public for them to see. Seems to be a lot of double standards going on here..

I just want to call a spade a spade. There is nothing going on behind the scenes to suggest foul play from our end. One mod giving you a little mute because you took a personal attack on a player (called bullying) should not have caused all this drama. I am hoping the trolling/bullying will end now because of this..

We all want consistency and integrity through the game. This includes having high tier subscriptions end when they are supposed to. I personally purchased Ruby after everybody a month ago and yet Chox still has his 24-48 hours after it should have ended. For reference, it is currently 6/19 and shows you purchased Ruby on 5/17. Everybody else who purchased Ruby around the 17th of May has ended except yours..

Much love and you know I do want to keep the peace and always will. Just want to call out some things that have happened recently and in the past.

You know I am always the one to handle these conversations privately but just following the leader on bringing it to a forum.

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Pickenchox ·

Your post tells me you either didn't read General Chat, didn't read the numerous forum discussions, or didn't speak with your guild leader. Any one of those would have answered the concerns you raised, whether legitimate or otherwise.

That said, while I don't owe you an explanation on either matter, I'll save you the time since I know you're busy in real life, and we do have a cordial relationship outside of the fabricated guild rivalry in general chat.

Regarding Ruby: as TL explained to Blue in General Chat yesterday, I was incorrectly shadow banned by the system and was compensated for the time that was lost as a result. There was no secret extension, special treatment, or hidden benefit. The reason was publicly addressed by the developer.

As for the moderation issue, I'm not sure why you think this should have been handled privately. The mute was issued by a TokenLordsRPG moderator acting in his official capacity under the claim that my comment constituted abusive speech. That makes it a moderation matter, not a guild one.

One of the other moderators did reach out to me after several inquiries from other players seeking to understand the reasoning behind the mute. While I strongly disagreed with both the premise of the mute and the fact that it was issued without any warning or explanation, I was prepared to let the matter go.

However, when I became aware of the post in your guild chat, that changed my course of action. I will not remain silent when I am being targeted unfairly.

What raises questions isn't the mute itself. It's the fact that the same moderator boasted about the action in your guild chat and celebrated it with a laughing emoji. That behavior seriously undermines the claim that this was a neutral, objective moderation decision.

You mention integrity, fairness, and perception. I agree those matter. That's precisely why moderator actions should be transparent, consistent, and free from even the appearance of personal bias.

The issue was never about receiving a 24 hour mute. The issue was receiving a 24 hour mute without warning for a comment that many players viewed as harmless, while far more aggressive behavior routinely goes unmoderated. When that is followed by private celebration of the punishment, people naturally begin asking questions.

If we truly want integrity and consistency, those standards should apply to everyone equally; players, moderators, guild leaders, and myself included.

Dommong ·

Do you not think online bullying is enough reason to mute somebody without a warning? I get maybe the mods should not laugh at something like this, but I would be willing to bet your guild has laughed at others being muted in private especially when it happened to Blue (while you were a mod). Which to be fair, I laughed at a little haha

At the end of the day the main discord can be very toxic. It needs to stop and we all need to welcome each other and help each other.

Having a toxic discord where trolls are out and about making fun of new players is a great way to run off potential investors, long term players, etc.

This entire post is skipping over the fact that chox was hit with a short mute (nothing more serious) because he made fun of somebody’s parents and does not know them personally. It would not have been too bad if the two parties are friends. Just my thoughts on the matter..

I have voiced my thoughts on this matter in discord multiple times that it was a toxic environment. I am happy it has settled down a little and is more welcoming to new players now.

Varg the Stormborn ·

You actively participated in the "witch hunt" as a moderator and now you're accusing me of abuse of power. That clearly demonstrates the double standards at play here. But yes... that 24-hour mute because he accused someone's parents in the general chat was absolutely justified.

A-Z Prince of Ordo ·

so your argument here is "you got an unfair ruby extension" already addressed by TL to your co leader. then you say "there is no foul play going on behind the scenes" quick snap shot proved that to be untrue. The point of this post was literally about getting a mute without a warning. its very simple. We don't have to fight but the recent ruby conspiracies are hilarious.

Dommong ·

Were you removed from the game for 24 hours? If it was just a mute then why did Ruby need to be extended 48 hours? I’ll have to check general discord.

I was unable to play for 18 hours due to bug issues and was not given an extension. Just not the most consistent way to handle it. I know vowels and blue were also locked out during that time.

I know it’s not on you to decide these things, just calling it how I see it.

Vowels of Exabytes ·

To clarify, I was not one of those affected by the access bug, I continued playing as usual during that time.

Septimus ·

This 24 hr mute was a witch hunt of your own. You clearly took joy in flexing your mod powers. By your own admission, English is not your strongest language. Your interpretation of "I blame your parents" is clearly misconstrued. In your native language this might be the worst insult ever, but in this context, in English, it barely registers as harsh comment. Other people have disparaged people in much more egregious terms without a warning or punishment. This however is not the point I'm trying to make, in fact the 24 hour mute is of no consequence.

The point I'm making is I was removed as moderator, and banned from the discord server for complaining in private about my "boss". In your private server you took joy in abusing your moderation powers to mute this specific player. As of yet I am unaware of any consequences for your abuse of power and exercising a personal vendetta.

Your guild mate, who you appear to be protecting, often exclaims that he wants to buy everything, all the pets. Perhaps he has purchased a moderator as the rarest pet.

Varg the Stormborn ·

Kaling is not a guild member of Vox, so there seems to be a misunderstanding. Regarding the 24-hour mute, as you yourself mentioned, it wasn't ultimately very significant, and as far as I know, I had no issues with Chox before this incident. However, I've heard that Kaling shared the Ordos chat with TL, which may have contributed to your loss of the moderator position. It also seems, from what you've said, that Kaling has now chosen me as some kind of lapdog. Given all of this, I'm finding it difficult to continue taking this discussion seriously, and I'd like to withdraw from it for now.

Pickenchox ·

Online bullying is absolutely sufficient grounds for moderator action. The disagreement here is whether my comment actually rose to that level, and whether the response was proportionate, consistent, and impartial.

My comment was questioning how someone ended up behaving the way they do in General Chat; excessive cursing, pornography posts, excessive pinging and tagging, and other disruptive behavior. It was not a personal attack directed at their parents, nor was it harassment. To go from that directly to a 24-hour mute with no warning, no explanation, and no opportunity to clarify intent is what many found questionable.

What makes the situation even harder to accept is that the moderator soon after boasted about the action in your private guild chat and reacted to it with laughter. That behavior undermines the argument that this was a purely principled stand against toxicity. If the action was genuinely about protecting the community, then celebrating it privately sends the opposite message.

I understand why people are uncomfortable when screenshots from their private guild chat became public. Nobody enjoys having private conversations exposed. But those screenshots matter because they directly contradict the public justification that was later presented. They provide insight into the mindset behind the action and raise legitimate questions about impartiality.

I also agree that Discord has often been too toxic and that new players should be welcomed rather than driven away. Consistent moderation is part of achieving that goal. The issue is that consistency appears to be lacking. There are many examples of profanity, personal jabs, and inappropriate comments that receive little or no moderation, yet this situation resulted in an immediate 24-hour mute.

At the end of the day, moderators are human. Mistakes happen. Nobody expects perfection. What is disappointing is not the possibility that a poor judgment call was made, but the refusal to acknowledge that possibility. Instead of treating criticism as feedback and striving for greater transparency and consistency going forward, the response has largely been to double down on a position that becomes harder to defend the more context is revealed.

This was never about demanding special treatment. It was about fairness, consistency, and accountability from people entrusted with moderation powers.

Pickenchox ·

I think you're conflating two separate issues.

The 24 hour mute handed down by a moderator has never been compensated, nor have I asked for compensation. What I've asked for is acknowledgment that the situation was handled poorly and assurances that moderation will be conducted professionally and consistently going forward.

The Ruby extension was related to an entirely different matter: a system-imposed shadow ban that was determined to be in error. That error affected gameplay, collections, etc and was compensated accordingly.

Are you entitled to someone else's insurance payout because a tree fell on their house? Of course not. Different issues have different causes, different levels of severity, and therefore different remedies.

I understand everyone likes free rewards, but the fact that one mistake was compensated does not mean every player is automatically entitled to the compensation someone else received for a different issue. Enjoy what you were given, but let's not confuse that with entitlement to everyone else's compensation.

Varg the Stormborn ·

i'd say posting private conversation in public is concerning.

Pickenchox ·

Instead of acknowledging your lapse in judgment and providing assurances that moderation will be handled professionally, impartially, and consistently going forward, you continue to focus on the disclosure of private screenshots. The reason those screenshots matter is that they directly contradict the narrative you have repeatedly presented in public to justify your actions. Rather than addressing the conduct they reveal, you seem intent on shifting the discussion toward how the evidence became public, while avoiding the concerns it raises about the misuse of moderator authority.

Varg the Stormborn ·

Even if some players see such remarks as harmless trash talk, we as moderators have to draw a line that applies to everyone.
This includes the fact that references to family/parents and personal insults are taboo.

Literally, it means "I blame your parents (for you / your behavior / who you are)."
In typical usage, the message is: "There's something so wrong with you that I blame your upbringing," which is an attack on character and family.

If you make your points without such language, discussion is always fine.

Pickenchox ·

The problem is that you're still focused on defending the wording while avoiding the larger issue.

You keep asserting that my comment was an attack on someone's parents, but that interpretation is not the objective truth you're presenting it as. Reasonable people can disagree on whether a generalized remark about upbringing constitutes a personal attack on a player's family. In fact, several people have disagreed with that characterization.

What is not open to interpretation is what happened afterward. The mute was justified publicly on the basis that I had crossed a clear line, yet the private screenshots that later surfaced painted a very different picture of how the decision was actually viewed and discussed behind the scenes.

Rather than addressing that contradiction, you've repeatedly shifted the discussion back to abstract arguments about why mentioning upbringing is supposedly taboo. That's not the concern. The concern is whether moderation decisions are being applied fairly, consistently, and for the reasons publicly stated.

If moderation decisions are based on false premises and then defended with increasingly weak moral arguments after those premises are challenged, nothing is learned from the situation. Accountability requires addressing the contradiction directly, not continually reframing the discussion to avoid it.