Moderation clarification and contesting

[NoelfromNY]

I was recently moderated for a comment that I completely disagree with and would like some clarification. I understand that BGA is against insulting other players. I agree with creating a friendly environment and am against insults.

I was playing a three-player game of Through the Ages. On the penultimate round, Player 2 attempts to attack me. I successfully defend and he is aware he is likely to be in last place. The player who will likely win has the very last turn of the game. He has connection problems, and so Player 2 takes advantage of the situation to expel the player and cancel the game. Less than a minute after time expires and seconds after he is expelled, Player 3 is able to return and shocked at being expelled. So am I at the poor sportsmanship.

04/12 21:20:40 Player 3: cowards
04/12 21:20:46 Me: wasn't me
04/12 21:20:52 Player 2: time is time
04/12 21:20:58 Me: mrd sore loser

I have been moderated for stating that Player 2 is a sore loser. That is not an insult, and I did not call him a baby or make an abusive statement. He demonstrated being a sore loser with his behavior on an hour+ game with one turn left to play and his snide smile after the remark "time is time ". Players like that go against the spirit of a friendly community, and yet he apparently is able to report me and have me moderated for pointing out the poor behavior.

I wrote a short email to contest, but as I understand it there is a fairly good chance they will ignore and not reply. Approximately how long does it take to receive a response if they will respond?

[Jest Phulin]

Please give the moderators time to reply before complaining in the forums.

While I commend you for removing the names of the players involved, your chat log shows that the game took place on the 4th, in late evening/night. This forum post was made only a few hours later. A moderation ban is easy to do (Did the player insult? Yes -- OK, ban.); writing a full clear explanation takes a little longer. Even if the moderator saw your email response immediately, they may have wanted to take some time to rest/reflect on the decision before responding.

Bottom line? Give it time. Time in human terms, not time in computer terms.

[NoelfromNY]

I ultimately did not receive any response so I have no idea what the clarification is. I understand it's easier to just take everything at point blank value, but I disagree with the fact that there is no context in the decisions. This person was allowed to report a player for stating the truth about someone acting like a sore loser and ending a 99% progress game just to avoid a loss. That is not an insult, it's a simple truth about poor sportsmanship.

[sourisdudesert]

99% of moderation contestations I'm receiving are saying "This was the truth / this was the context / I was provoked".

"Sore loser" is insulting, and BGA policy is to moderate any players who insult any other player whatever the "context". Period. This is one of the main reason this service is appreciated by the community of players.

Moderators are doing their jobs. 99% of contestation I'm receiving are pointless (see above), and we state explicitly during the moderation that we do not respond when the contestation is pointless. So you should not be surprised that you didn't receive anything.

[NoelfromNY]

From my point of view that would mean bga policy is more concerned about the act of calling someone a sore loser than a player actually being a sore loser. This wasn't a case of blind insults saying someone is dumb, a baby, or any other derogatory term. A sore loser is a term specific to poor game behavior. Canceling a game on the last turn to avoid a loss fits that bill to me. Can someone feel hurt by being called a sore loser? Yes, because the truth can hurt. That doesn't mean it's an insult. Feeling insulted and being insulted aren't the same thing.

Thank you for replying. I now better understand the definitiveness of BGA's policy. I don't agree with it, as I feel it's overly simplistic, but I'll respect it.

[RicardoRix]

Calling someone a sore loser is not an insult if it is correct.
"Noun. sore loser (plural sore losers) (informal) One who complains or blames others for their loss; one who is easily angered by losing a game or contest, or because of some other misfortune or bad luck."

I think the context described fits exactly the phrase definition above.

I had a similar 'moderation' experience from someone who lost to me and then provoked me by saying I played too slow and writing zzzzzzzzzz multiple times. I never went over allotted game time. I think I used the phrase 'you need to be a better loser', but it was impossible to double check, the chat window immediately used to disappear after a game a few years ago.

The point is that BGA are leaving the door open for people to abuse the moderation process to their own means like this. As part of being moderated, It would be nice to receive some clear evidence and instructions, otherwise it's impossible to tell exactly what you did wrong.

[sourisdudesert]

You definitly did not understand our policy. A player who quits on his last turn gets a leave penalty + lose the game (Elo points loss) + an additional ELO penalty + most often a red thumb. This is harsh, and that is what we want because we do are concerned by this.

And this is also effective: more than 98% of our games don't suffer from a leave, which is the highest rate of all the online boardgaming service as far as we know.

But the most important is: there is no need to add an insult to this.


To conclude, our policy it's far from simple, it is effective, and it's fair.

You also demonstrated (with this forum thread) why we do not answer to pointless moderation contestation. In the future, I won't respond anymore, lock the topics and will refer to this thread for explanation.