Complaint: Disappointment with moderators in forums

I am typically pretty appreciative of the work the moderators do in the forums, but I have been dissatisfied of late.

Recently, in the off topic section, there have been topics closed for discussing religion and misleading thread titles. Around this time, a user has taken it upon himself to accuse me* of various things (ranging from flaming to trolling to -- I kid you not-- promoting murder and genocide) for no apparent reason in random threads in the off topic section. I responded by telling said user to "fuck off" (as many have probably noticed, I am not great at dealing with trolls or personal attacks), which led to more harassment and offensive accusations.

The course of action for any moderation staff would be obvious-- punish both of us to some degree to dissuade the behavior, or at least warn us. I shouldn't tell people to fuck off, I shouldn't have to deal with such things as being accused of promoting murder in a thread titled "Do You Remember the First Time You Created A Topic?", and others should be allowed to enjoy the off-topic section free of flame wars. I have been submitting reports, but these have apparently been ignored.

I realize that the mods do have much more important things to do than worry about the off-topic section, but I think that preventing the conversion of a subforum into a flamewar battleground is a larger priority than making sure every thread has a good title.

I think there needs to be either more training or a larger mod staff. I also would like to reiterate my suggestion that the rules be more codified-- this would make it easier on the mods and the users.

*EDIT: And others. Just mostly me

I shouldn't tell people to fuck off

No, you shouldn't. You shouldn't be using this sort of language here at all.

I have been submitting reports, but these have apparently been ignored.

You don't know this. Not all moderation actions are apparent.

@bufferunderrun said in #2:

No, you shouldn't. You shouldn't be using this sort of language here at all.

That is true-- I lost my cool after the statement "Clousems flames others, gaslights people, but primarily pushes pro-genocide destructive ideas, praises or defends people who gunned down Americans in cold blood, using American weapons." I need to be better about that.

You don't know this. Not all moderation actions are apparent.

That is also true, but I have a very good suspicion based on a couple of facts:

1. There has been no change in behavior of the user in question
2. I have not received any warning or punishment for my part, either

2. I have not received any warning or punishment for my part, either

Well, no one reported you yet. But you will receive one now.

@bufferunderrun said in #4:

Well, no one reported you yet. But you will receive one now.

That , once again, is fair, and I note that the mods have already taken action on my post (which is the right thing to do).

However, I find it immensely disturbing and UNfair that the post that led to it remains. Am I to understand that it is acceptable to randomly accuse people of "pushing pro-genocide destructive ideas, praises or defends people who gunned down Americans in cold blood, using American weapons", but not to use the "f-word"? And that it is more acceptable to bully others than to stand up for oneself?

EDIT: I'll do you one further: If that IS the type of behavior lichess promotes, why have moderators in forums at all?

It sounds like you might not be suited to forums in general. they are full of people with strange views who delight in pushing ones buttons on topics and provoke. this is pretty normal for the internet sadly. You have to have a pretty thick skin nowadays . It would be lovely to not need that but the reality is that often 'biting back' with a comment gets you into just as much trouble as the person who wound you up in the first place.

@bufferunderrun said in #2:

You don't know this. Not all moderation actions are apparent.

Chatbans are, you get a notification and you can see if someone you expect to be chatbanned starts posting into the void.

I am absolutely one of the "other" people (receiving disgusting accusations and being highly upset with forum mods), I have experienced harassers who deserve not one but MULTIPLE lifelong chatbans by common standards, and yet they can keep on posting and spreading their bs happily.

It's not just militant islamists and propalestinensians in Off-topic. It's also evil-spirited hypocrites in e.g. the Carlsen-Niemann controversy or any other discussion on cheating.

@BaronVonChickenpants

I'm usually a bit better about dealing with trolls (although I'm not going to say that I am great at it), but after a few days of getting accused of supporting genocide with no apparent recourse, it does tend to be a little harder to hold back.
It is funny that you used the phrase "just as much trouble", though-- again, the post that pushed me over the edge still remains, but a moderator thought it would be a good idea to delete MY post (which apparently hadn't bothered anyone until I brought up how I shouldn't have said it). I guess there's a world in which swearing is more offensive than being accused of supporting mass murder and genocide?

F degree to forum mods. I could already say this for months and I think I ranted once or twice in Discord about it.

It says all if I prefer to not look into Off-topic (or at most to grab popcorn), and if I'm infuriated about the degree of hypocrisy and insolence of some people here, where mods literally don't care.

I've also been said there are new forum mods and things would be better, but no, they're not. It's clearly evident from a 1-month old account with ostentative-religious username making 300+ boards in off-topic and shamelessly spreading their ideology.