Mods Removed, Retired from Service...Burgess Unwillingly

Another shakeup at Gamefaqs following bovergate. What's it mean moving forward?

Full list here courtesy of Flintlock_Staff. Keep in mind that not every mod on that list was removed today, but it's been confirmed that over 10 mods were removed mostly for inactivity. The story broke when former mod Burgess called attention to how he has fallen from Mt. Olympus and now walks among us. Krystal confirmed that other mods were kicked for "Activity, behavior, modding habits, etc." while surviving mod Mike1494 said "We can't discuss details of individual mods. But I've seen quite a few mods who are really popular on boards but never actually modded any posts or entered the queue in my time." But many users wanted to know why Burgess was demodded, and when Krystal explained the loss of Math Murderer and others to inactivity but remained silent over Burgess, some assumed that he was one of the mods kicked for bad behavior. Burgess responded that the demodding was not his choice:

Since he didn't go further into details than that, users who asked what specifically got him demodded were met with this answer.

Some asked whether Krystal deserved credit (or blame) for removing users' favorite and/or least favorite mods, but others noted that this was a fairly routine housecleaning and Burgess didn't think it was Krystal's effort to remove him. Users also asked whether mods like Error, Raptor, or The Admiral would be demodded too. However, the demodding is now over and Krystal has said new mods and promotions would be decided over the course of this week. Maybe the new batch will be better.

To those who complained and said the mod they liked was a good poster: that's great. They haven't vanished off the face of the earth and can continue to be a good regular poster that you like. What concerns the staff is whether or not they were good mods.

Impressions: quite a few people were glad to see Burgess demodded and he had few defenders who made comments, although a poll about it was split. Math Murderer was widely seen as a good mod who was demodded for inactivity and will be missed.

User quotes after the jump.

Bover87 Demodded for Account Hijacking

After weeks of pressure and inquiry, SBAllen has weighed in on a recent case of a stolen account. Simplest explanation: bover got his hands on an account that wasn't his, used it as an aid when applying to be a mod, and has now been demodded once these actions came to light.

This issue spilled across multiple boards as longtime users provided evidence, kept up the pressure, and eventually brought about the change. Here at GUAC we decided to take a neutral monitoring of the events, since the charges were pretty serious and...iffy at the start...but after enough effort, bover's misdeeds were established and there is now one less mod at gamefaqs. This was all brought about through the actions of folks like hotdogturtle and Mecha Sonic, who worked to help prove that bover was not the original owner of the account he said was his. Through an uphill battle (as we'll see below), users in action brought about a change in the system. That's something worth noting.

Long explanation after the page break:

Tales from CE: Krystal in Decline

From time to time CE will swell with a sort of anti-mod, or anti-specific-mod, sentiment. The topics will go on and the people who complain will have their topics closed, then people complain about the closed topics until those topics get closed, then that's usually it because people who try to restart closed topic discussions get modded. Fresh off a screenshot competition, I caught up with one of these cycles this past week and it doesn't look good for Krystal109. Some have already argued that there is an abuse of power going on, among other things below.

As for this writer, we were originally optimistic about Krystal but decided to head more toward neutral, since we can see the reason behind some of the complaints, but not for some others. We'll let readers decide. The criticism came in the following forms:

Unprofessionalism: Users pointed out how Krystal's posting style is...how do we say...not always up to a typical adult's level. Spelling and grammar errors? Not so bad when they're rare and mistakes are corrected. But with Krystal it seemed to some users that, while she was being paid for this position, she made multiple mistakes in her messages and even in official site announcements. People are perfectly willing to give out some mulligans, but the grace period has to end at some point. Hopefully Krystal's FAQs are written better than her posts.

Krystal was also criticized for using the official gamefaqs twitter account to give her personal opinon about a game, and it seemed strange that this happened when she could've brought it up the normal way on the site like anyone else.

Some complained when Krystal said she wouldn't date black people due to cultural differences, a point which they argued was racist. Others thought that she was bringing up inappropriate subjects, in a manner not fitting for an admin. In one topic she talked about "vag smells" and when someone said this was unprofessional, she asked why it isn't refreshing to have an admin who doesn't act like a robot. But no one has complained so far that she acts like a robot. If anything, they have complained that she's too far in the other direction. Better to be a robot than a punchline.

Krystal's race comment came up mere months after a moderator was removed after posting a similar message, and this point was not lost at CE.

Krystal herself didn't handle the complaints as well as some would've liked, with critics saying she was dismissive or insulting toward the community that she was supposed to be drawing to the site. In one topic she asked her critics: if they think they can do better, why didn't they apply to the position? The problem with that is that regardless of how they act, the typical user expects a paid administrator to act more professionally. When one of Krystal's selling points was that she knew the community, as a regular user just like us, her new argument - that no one else could hope to perform the job as well as her - was another dismissive claim that downplayed others, even as she was acting more unprofessionally on the boards than quite a few other users and even some of the trolls.

Abuse of power: critics stated that Krystal had revealed someone's usermap over the board's chat, which she denies, but also made clear that she could do it whenever she liked if she wanted. Users also complained that when they brought this up on CE, Krystal would delete their messages and it added to the impression that she was covering something up.

Not only was Krystal closing down topics that complained about her actions, topics that simply asked about what was going on were closed. Even after the swell of complaints, Krystal continues to close down topics that she deems "complaint forums" on the board. We here at GUAC have long suspected that moderators have closed topics simply because they were getting criticized in them. Did Krystal need to lock these topics, when they would've purged on their own in a day or two? Her actions only added to the idea that she was covering up something and was unable to accept criticism.

Finally, Krystal joked about shutting the board down for a little just to see how annoyed people would get.

Taken together, many posters said that Krystal was having a "meltdown."

Quote compilations below...

The Lighter Side: New Mod Faps for Almost Ten Years

The things you see board hunting...

What hunter out there can forget the day they first came across the proud proclamation, "I claim this board in the name of Strokers EVERYWHERE! Fap fap fap." The topic has been a familiar presence to those who regularly hunt the boards to one of the site's largest game systems without topicality. A curious attraction and a little TMI if I say so myself. But this time through I couldn't help but notice the TC, FAHtastic, recently became a moderator. Aside from his now-moderating and involvement in a CYOA, I'm not quite sure what else he does, as the fapping topic is where the majority of his active messages are located.

Mod duties haven't slowed down this fapping enthusiast, as he continues to keep us informed with semi-monthly updates. Between his late May fapping and June stroking earlier this year, however, he did make one concession:

Moderator...stroking.

Probably shouldn't keep using an auto-flag word. Hrm...

Keep that modding arm strong, bro! And remember:

GUAC News: 9/13/14

Well it's been awhile and I just feel like the stories are piling up. So before this turns into the Olds, let's begin.

Trolling 101: A Lesson for Clueless Moderators

It's another Tale from CE we'll be telling tonight, because we just couldn't turn down covering a recent double standard that has reared its ugly head. -Gavirulax- has once again taken the mods for a ride, played them like a fiddle, and took the time to openly gloat about it.

Who is Gavirulax? WikiFAQs notes:

Gavirulax is a former class 1 KoS user who has accumulated more than 900 confirmed banned accounts since joining GameFAQs...Gavirulax recieved a Cease and Desist order from CNET and was told that if he ever acted out again, they would sue...Gavirulax has since stated that the entire Gavirulax persona was an act, and he's really nothing like his online alias...He also offers money to people and asks them to do things.

So it should be pretty obvious that if anyone's a troll at gamefaqs, it's this guy, right? Sorry.

The recent drama began in a topic by another account, "To the people here considering joining Gavi's clubs, reconsider" in which the person urges unnamed individuals not to take part in some arrangement Gavirulax was planning. As the topic progressed we learned about a scheme to pay people for filming pornographic or embarrassing actions. Smoking-Man, one of Gavi's alts, said that the deal would be off anyway because the TC was gay.

I acknowledge the following:

- You sent in a PM a while back claiming that you "wanted" to know more information about this;
- We then spoke on Facebook about it, I explained it entirely to you with claiming you were straight;
- I flat out said the following: "while they're AGREED on, you don't need to do it, you can back out obviously."
- You agreed to all the terms outright with the lie in which you claim to be straight, which is being mendacious
- You flat out acknowledged a private message 676607 that "You were gay"; which I had previously asked (more than once) and you denied for the sole fact that if you were it would invalidate the entire thing anyway, and before anyone even THINKS of marking/moderating me for revealing the content of a Private Message, I then I suggest you read post 4 in this not that long ago archived topic which is posted by a Lead Moderator:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/573081-hellhole/69581880 - POST 4

From: #4 | Error1355 (Moderator) | Posted 7/6/2014 1:24:32 AM
It's not against the rules itself to post PMs that you received as long as the PM itself doesn't break the rules.

Note to any moderator that may think of moderating this message (yes, that means you if you're seeing this message either in the queue or thinking of marking it):

I will AGAIN state this because I already have moderation on record on another account because a moderator chose not to read (or didn't know any better), you simply cannot moderate (and if anyone marks this message they should be forewarned in case they are suspended for marking abuse) a post for something a moderator, let alone a LEAD moderator has said is allowed which I will quote TWICE (once above and once at the bottom of the post) for record so it cannot possibly be a mistake if this "is" deleted.

POST 4 IN THE FOLLOWING TOPIC CLEARLY SAYS I CAN REVEAL THE CONTENTS OF A PRIVATE MESSAGE BY A LEAD MODERATOR AS LONG AS NOTHING IN IT VIOLATES THE TOU WHICH THIS DOES NOT IN ANYWAY

Cheers. <3

From this message, we can conclude Gavi wanted a homosexual act performed from a straight guy, but was disappointed that the TC then privately claimed to be gay and backed out. We also know that Gavi is a vet at this and was worried about previous moderations he got for divulging private details. It's perfectly understandable why he put this much effort into defending himself, because he's pretty much outing a gay guy or calling the person gay for having backed out. Is it taunting or baiting to say mods can't touch it? Not on this inconsistent site.

As the topic progressed, users familiar with past Gavirulax tricks and rumors asked questions like "Isnt Gavi that weird guy who sexually assaults people?" and talked about things Gavi allegedly paid people to do in the past. Gavi denied the sexual assault rumors but claimed that was two of his relatives. As for his personal life...

There's also such a thing as surrogacy (which is what actually happened), which my sister was in that case (which a lot of people know about) plus it also meant the kids were related (since my bf artificially inseminated one of my sisters) thus the kids are related to both me and my bf.
Science is awesome ain't it? <3

Reference from just after it happened: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/573081-hellhole/67132424 (see, just like magic).

Me and my hubs were very lucky she was willing to do it, now I (with all my money and brilliant ability to not practice any religion) are free to raise 3 healthy kids with fantastic genes that are connected to both of us, marvelous aye? <3

That Hellhole topic links to a story about how he and his boyfriend had two kids on Father's Day through his sister, and then a third one unexpectedly appeared. He tells us he has named them Jessica, Milagro and Jubair.

Remember that little thing we talked about up above? "Gavirulax has since stated that the entire Gavirulax persona was an act, and he's really nothing like his online alias." Did we not get this?

Why am I going through all this, you ask? This is where my frustration with the mods come in. I'm a conservative on board 261. For this mods call me a gimmick and say no way there's someone like you out there, no way someone can make political arguments like that, you must be a troll. Maybe if I claim to have 3 kids with my tranny husband and name them Larry, Curly and Moe the mods will start to take me more seriously.

By the way, it wasn't too long ago that Gavi quite openly trolled 261 (as Molamelerieth) and admitted to it over on Hellhole, but like the mods did let's ignore that shall we. Moving on.

As for that CE topic, we'll just note that Burgess showed up so a mod did see the thing, didn't matter.  He wrote "This is one of the worst topics that I have seen in a long time." And the mods left it at that. Well, they left Gavi alone. Other people, not so much.

By the time the CE topic was locked, Gavi made another topic titled "This topic is closed. - Took you long enough mods...." knowing as many of us do how slow and ineffective the moderators are, Gavi laid out exactly how he trolled the last topic and provoked others into getting moderated:

No, seriously, it did.

RIP all the suspended (or warned, which is ironic coming from me atm) people that devoted their low karma accounts to my cause.

Tyvm. <3

Tempest-Rage - Suspended
MOTTIN - Warned
EnigmasQueue - Suspended

Which again, just goes to show how moderators always seem to miss topics like these, but are quick to call other people "trolls" over the smallest things. We've noted before how the definition of trolling over at gamefaqs is getting someone else offended enough to flame you. So while this rule has been strictly applied to people who didn't mean to provoke anyone, here's a topic that openly does what the Terms were written to prevent and the mods are MIA. When a troll flames, the user is blamed for trolling. When a troll trolls, the users are blamed for "flaming" (in this case, calling BS and noting how terrible a poster Gavi is). We say mods are inconsistent, but the only time they seem to be consistent is when they routinely get it wrong.

the moonlight knight made an excellent observation not too long ago, and it applies here:

GameFAQs' mods and rules end up becoming an arm of troublemakers and trolls, just another instrument to use. Couple this with how little overhead/accountability there seems to be for mods and the apparent 0 incentive for mods to not troll and antagonise users, and how some mods are actually very...supportive of trolls...well, it's a bad time. The system isn't just inept at punishing trolls, but is actually actively supportive of them.

In the end, it's Gavi who marks other people, running to the mods to do his bidding. Gavirulax has been doing this for a long time and he knows how the game is played. All you have to do is "come out" and claim people who don't believe or agree with the wacky narratives you tell are homophobes for calling out your nonsense. Gavi's also been on the Hellhole circuit recently, being sure to tell visitors why they're wrong and the mods were right to take down their violations. So despite Gavirulax's past, apparently it goes a long way if you claim special group status and start sucking up to the mods over at Hellhole. Trolls take note, maybe you can ride this formula out as long as Gavi has.

GameFAQs Community Manager: Change or No Change?

Now that SBAllen has announced the position of Community Manager, some users have begun to ask just what this position will involve. The hopeful among us are more than a little optimistic that Krystal109 will do something about abuses from moderators. Topics and messages from CE arose such as "So now theres someone to mod the mods?" and "is this who we can complain about the mods to???" It's too early to say, but I do think there is a good chance at changing things if the community makes it clear that there are problems with the moderation system that hurt their experience on the boards.

Only time will tell what we have in store for us when it comes to board changes, but I was a little surprised to see that Krystal did not remove the possibility of action - and in fact responded to a user's complaint by saying this is an area she would be looking into.

Now, "looking into" could mean a lot of things, and might result in no action. But it was refreshing to see someone on gamefaqs who is at least open to hearing from users, and doesn't automatically assume the mods are always right, and assume you're always a troll if you criticize them.

Congratulations Krystal. Here at GUAC, we'll be keeping an eye on the developments.

---

P.S. the community manager announcement led to some users inevitably looking up Krystal's name and posting her twitter/facebook accounts. Error1355 responded by saying "Guys, this is honestly creepy" to put up the links and admin Devin Morgan asked "So since you guys are clearly busy stalking someone hired for this site, how about you share all of your personal details, pics included?" Is it stalking, creepy, harassment to link to someone's twitter? Why does this sound familiar?