Introducing The Bulbagarden Board of Appeals

[Keldora Dragon]

Are there going to especially be preventative measures taken if a staff member decides to appeal against another staff member?

Also my comments on the appeal form-

To fill in a complaint against abusive actions by staff members

Which staff member is the problem?*

This sounds way too harsh. I think it should be re-worded. "Which staff member is the problem?" should be re-worded to something less severe like "Name of the staff member involved in this appeal." "Board Appeal Form" sounds a lot better than "complaints form" as well. Or something along those lines. I hate the use of the word "punish" and as a former mod I would feel that this whole appeal system would scare me from doing my job. I don't like this image of the staff here walking on thin ice going on in my head. Or being unable to defend themselves, especially if it's another staff member making the appeal.

Anyways just my opinion.

 

[Fig]

Good ideas on the wordings. I've made the appropriate changes.

Regarding staff members and thin ice, there was always the possibility of a moderator's action being reviewed. It's necessary to any sort of fairness (and to be fair, there have been, many times in the past, mistakes and even abuses of power by moderators. The vast majority of infractions/bans/actions are perfectly fair, but not all). In the past it usually involved a hackneyed conduct review board which never worked; or the head administrator looking into things, or the rule director looking into things. One way or another, the topmost members of the staff always had the power to look into allegations of mistake, and try to figure out what happened. (And topmost staff is who you have here: evkl and I are the people who have actually run Bulbagarden from 2003 til today, for Archaic).

Staff reporting other staff will be no different from staff reporting members. People who aren't sure that what was done was the right thing, should have a way to make sure that it was. This is why staff can appeal.

However, you can be sure that (except in grave circumstances), no one will be punished without being given a chance to explain their actions. The board of appeal exists to protect people, user AND staff both, from unfair punishment or treatment . Punishing moderator is only somethign that will occur when absolutely necessary for that goal (usually because of power abuse or repeated refusal to listen to explanations of what is expected from staff members)

 

[Keldora Dragon]

Ok thanks for clearing that all up. And thanks for listening to my input too! The wording is a lot better now. I'm glad users and staff alike are able to review policies together. And I have high hopes that this system will succeed better than the old conduct review board. Besides was that old system ever even used? I remember evkl made a post of problems that were brought to the conduct board (leaving out names of course) once and it seemed like they were planning a monthly report on it but I never saw any other mention.

 

[Pidgeot]

I have a question: If someone fills in a complaint form, how long would they have to wait to get a reply?

 

[Fig]

It could be a few days, as evkl's availability can sometimes be limited.

 

[Mumzy]

This is a very good idea! I haven't seen any problems here, but I know a lot of places that is bad about that. Like unreasonably closing entire threads just because users get in fights.

 

[Bluelatios]

I would like to report an unreasonable act of moderation on the thread
http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/f228/members-bmgf-125647/.
I have been careful to explain thoroughly my case. The thread was closed without reason or debate, and I believe you need to take a better look at its message. I will be here pretty much all day to discuss this matter formally. Thank you.

 

[Fig]

@Bluelatios

There is a proper way to appeal described above. Posting in this thread is not it.

We don't want this thread to become filled with assorted appeals.

 

[Bluelatios]

Yes, I have sent the official appeal. Please review it, as it is a very serious matter.

 

[Fig]

We will review it as soon as the board of appeal can meet (evkl has been busy lately), along with several other very serious things that also need our attention.

 

[Bluelatios]

Thank you, and please keep in contact with me by PM. I'll be available for the whole week, actually. Best of luck.

 

[bandage_scizors]

These questions prompted on my mind.
1.Can a board of appeal(s) member inhibit on cases which he/she is involved?
2. Does the board have a temporary restraining order? (I think that this board is a court of appeals, despite differences in meaning)

The board must be democratically elected not appointed. Appointments to the board means a bias to the process of fair judgment. I accept the seniority of the board members but must be elected.

 

[evkl]

@bandage_scizors

1.Can a board of appeal(s) member inhibit on cases which he/she is involved?

Not sure what you mean by "inhibit," but board members do not sit on cases where they are involved.

2. Does the board have a temporary restraining order? (I think that this board is a court of appeals, despite differences in meaning)

I'm really not sure what you mean by this. Could you explain?

 

[Sylver Hummingbird]

I know this wouldn't affect me since I'm so good, but if someone got in trouble for something and they get infracted, can I appeal for me to take the blame if I prompted the person to do implicitly, and it was went unseen by the moderators? Or would we both get infracted?

 

[evkl]

I know this wouldn't affect me since I'm so good, but if someone got in trouble for something and they get infracted, can I appeal for me to take the blame if I prompted the person to do implicitly, and it was went unseen by the moderators? Or would we both get infracted?

Can you PM me some more specifics? I'm really not sure I understand what you're asking here.

 

[Sylver Hummingbird]

I know this wouldn't affect me since I'm so good, but if someone got in trouble for something and they get infracted, can I appeal for me to take the blame if I prompted the person to do implicitly, and it was went unseen by the moderators? Or would we both get infracted?

Can you PM me some more specifics? I'm really not sure I understand what you're asking here.

If I said something which could cause me to be infracted and I don't get one, while someone does the same thing a few posts later and he does get an infraction, can I appeal that it was my fault and I were to be the one to get an infraction instead of the other person? Or would we both have the infraction together?

 

[evkl]

I know this wouldn't affect me since I'm so good, but if someone got in trouble for something and they get infracted, can I appeal for me to take the blame if I prompted the person to do implicitly, and it was went unseen by the moderators? Or would we both get infracted?

Can you PM me some more specifics? I'm really not sure I understand what you're asking here.

If I said something which could cause me to be infracted and I don't get one, while someone does the same thing a few posts later and he does get an infraction, can I appeal that it was my fault and I were to be the one to get an infraction instead of the other person? Or would we both have the infraction together?

I'm weary to give an opinion without seeing the specifics of a case like this. If it comes up, feel free to let us know and we'll have a look.

 

[Fig]

Just a quick update regarding what's going on here.

Some of you may have noticed that the latest staff chart doesn't mention a Board of Appeal, and instead has evkl and I listed as vice-webmasters. We wanted to simplify things and abolish hyper-specific roles, so that would be why. Otherwise, vice-webmasters (and the webmaster) remain the final authority on Bulbagarden, and will take care of serious complaints. So that part hasn't changed in any significant way.

---------

The second thing that's changed is that we've had many appeals (many, many, many) that resulted from a member and a moderator misunderstanding each other, or a member misunderstanding a rule, as well as many appeals about minor disagreements between a member and moderators.

We can't handle them all, and having the higher-ups barge into every little things like that makes our moderators feel we don't trust them at all. This isn't good for anyone. As a result, instead of trying to solve every dispute ourselves, we'll be redirecting complaint to the person best suited to handling it. If there's a misunderstanding, we'll ask the mod who gave you the infraction to explain. If you and he have a small disagreement, we're going to ask the relevant section head to clear the issue. In both cases, of course, IF they cannot resolve the conflict they'll pass it back to us to make the final decision.

Of course, very serious cases (those involving bans, or bad forum rules) are still going to be handled directly by evkl and I.