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Frequently Asked Questions: Forum Moderation

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  1. #1

    Event Frequently Asked Questions: Forum Moderation

    This is a guide for both veteran and new posters provided in an effort to relay FlopTurnRiver forum moderation policies to our posting members.

    Q: Who are the moderators?

    A: The moderators are listed for each respective forum when clicking on the Poker Forum tab near the top-left of most FTR pages.

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    Q: Are FTR moderators paid employees?

    A: No, they are not. In the vast majority of cases, moderators have earned their privileges via consistent contributions combined with specialty knowledge that make them a natural fit for their respective forum(s). Our moderators here at FlopTurnRiver are volunteers who are interested in assisting the community.

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    Q: What is FTR's stance on Moderator censorship?

    A: In regards to forum management, FTR moderators have a broad scope of authority which has been earned by their contributions. WE DO NOT CENSOR OUR MODERATORS, NOR DOES THE OPINION OF ANY GIVEN MODERATOR NECESSARILY REFLECT THE OPINIONS OF THE FTR ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF OR BRAND NAME. FTR Moderators are welcome to express their opinions on any topic and members are welcome to agree/disagree with that opinion provided disagreements don't become personal/result in flaming.

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    Q: What is FTR's stance on Administrative censorship?

    A: Administrative members of FlopTurnRiver form part of our staff. While at times their opinions will indeed reflect an official company stance, they are still welcome to express their views on a wide variety of forum topics, which members are in turn welcome to agree/disagree with provided disagreements don't become personal/result in flaming.

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    Q: What is your stance on financial disputes and/or scammers? When are bans implemented and why/why not?

    A: Financial transactions that take place on the FlopTurnRiver boards are ultimately the sole responsibility of those who engage in such arrangements. Although staking is permitted, the FTR staff and brand name are not responsible for any transactions that take place on these forums. Trading is done at your own risk!

    The difference between a financial dispute and an outright scam is important in these cases, and the Moderation team handles them on a case-by-case basis. Outright scammers are obviously not welcome on the FTR boards.

    Whenever a financial dispute hits the public boards, our main concern from a moderation viewpoint is that all parties are able to communicate their grievances/opinions publicly. If it later becomes evident that one member owes another member money, we take the following steps:

    (A) If the posting member in debt maintains an open line of communication with the person he/she owes and takes reasonable steps to settle in a fair and equitable manner, we do not implement a ban. The reason for this is because priority and consideration from a moderation standpoint goes to the person who is owed. Outright banning a member in these situations often achieves nothing except to give the person in debt an excuse not to communicate. However, we place an "undertitle" in a player's profile, linking to the thread in question, if there is a dispute that the community at large should be aware of (i.e. "Trade with Caution," "Scammer," etc). These undertitles are rarely removed even when a debt is paid in full, as it is valuable information for those who regularly participate in our Staking Forum.

    (B) If the posting member in debt does not maintain an open line of communication (or shows no reasonable intention to make good on the debt), then we normally ban this member outright (with undertitle) unless we are specifically asked not to do so by the person who is owed funds. A judgement call (which will include feedback from the person who is owed) will then be made on whether to label that user as an outright scammer.

    (C) If it is not evident who is owed funds, or whether a debt exists, the moderation team does not get involved in banning (unless there are personal flames being posted, in which case we might issue a temporary ban). The reason for not outright banning in these cases is that our responsibility lies within allowing all concerned parties to openly communicate their views.

    (D) Outright scammers are banned with undertitle.

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    Q: What is the moderation team's stance on other forums?

    A: In a nutshell, all poker forums serve a purpose to the community. Each may have its own "style," but I personally am not a fan of "forum wars." There are valuable, quality, mindful posters on all of the well known forums who are a benefit to the poker community as a whole. In fact, many posters split their time between two or more forums. As a general rule, don't create inflammatory, general posts flaming another forum. All forums (even those that are non-poker related) have their share of great and not-so-great posters, but out of respect for those who do contribute, it makes little sense to encompass an entire forum's reputation on trolls, moderation policies, and other topics that do little or nothing to benefit the poker community.

    Also, it is in our best interest to maintain an open line of communication with certain moderators/representatives of other forums when it comes to sharing information on outright scammers.

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    Q: I got banned by x-poker-forum and want to post about it. Can I?

    A: No thank you. These types of threads/posts will be deleted. The FTR moderation team has enough on its plate dealing with in-house tasks. If you are banned by another forum, you will need to take it up with the representatives of that forum.

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    Q: I am a troll (i.e. my posts are generally abusive, unhelpful, inflammatory and contribute little or nothing to the topic being discussed). What is your stance on this?

    A: If it's attention you're after, you'll be far better served by finding a subject that interests you, and providing relevant information by posting in the corresponding thread. However, we don't take kindly to posters who dump on our boards. A temporary to permanent ban will likely be issued in short order if you're a troll.

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    Q: How do you deal with spammers?

    A: Aside from outright scammers, this is probably the least-desired group for any forum. If you spam our website, chances are the forum manager will personally edit your post to "ima pos spammer." You'll know I've done this when you see an "edited by dhubermex" message at the bottom of your spam post, which you won't be able to see once you're banned. Don't spam our boards!

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    Q: Why aren't passwords to FTR exclusive events released ahead of time to all members?

    A: We release passwords early to our Qualified Members who have displayed a consistent posting history on FlopTurnRiver. If you would like to become a Qualified Member, read the following thread: How to Achieve Qualified Member Status

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    Q: Why don't you respond to Private Messages from new members concerning exclusive event passwords?

    A: It simply isn't an efficient use of our time to reply to dozens of PMs requesting passwords on the day of exclusive events just to link to our How to Achieve Qualified Member Status thread.

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    Q: How does community perception of individual posters work?

    A: It's very simple... the more helpful, relevant, insightful posts you have on the FTR boards, the more "clout" or "rep" you wield. This extends all the way from brand new posters to the forum manager. The more you contribute, the more likely it is that the community as a whole will engage in discussion with you.

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    Q: Are these all the rules?

    A: No. Although these FAQs cover a large portion of common issues, the administrative staff and moderators at FlopTurnRiver reserve the right to prohibit access to any member, at any time, as we deem necessary. Generally speaking, don't do anything that you would not want a poster to do on a forum you are responsible for.

    If you have any questions/concerns regarding moderation, you are welcome to contact me or a corresponding forum moderator via Private Message.

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    Last edited by dhubermex; 03-30-2015 at 07:01 PM.
  2. #2
    Additional FAQs (regarding staking arrangements & debts)

    Q: Is there a minimum monetary amount that is considered negligible when it concerns members of the poker community?

    A: Generally speaking (but not in all cases), yes. Disputed amounts of less than 1 monetary unit of the currency in question are generally considered "negligible" if that is the TOTAL VALUE of the debt supposedly owed across all online poker forum websites and to all members. However, Moderators are still authorized to use their own judgement if there are extenuating circumstances. Exceptions to this guideline exist for micro-staking, cheating, collusion, password poaching, outright scamming and other situations.

    Q: Whose responsibility is it to bring financial disputes to the boards?

    A: The responsibility lies with the person or people who are owed to bring accusations to the boards. From there, those accused are encouraged to communicate their counter-arguments, work out a payment plan, or dispute the debt as they see fit.

    Moderators are charged with allowing communication between the parties involved in a dispute. However, they also are 100% welcome to provide their own individual, independent input on a dispute (see Moderation Censorship clause in Post #1) with the same privileges as any FTR member when it comes to expressing their own opinions.
    Last edited by dhubermex; 10-09-2014 at 08:54 AM.
  3. #3
    Guidelines for New Posters -- Exclusive Event Password Q&A

    Q: I am a new poster... what is the easiest way to integrate with the FlopTurnRiver community?

    A: Welcome to the FTR boards! The best way to become a contributor within the community is to post relevant questions and opinions that correspond to the forum you are browsing. If you would like to make an introduction, you may do so by posting a new thread in the New Members Introduce Yourself forum.

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    Q: English is not my first language. Is this a problem?

    A: No, this is not a problem. Poker is a global activity and the veteran members here at FTR have plenty of experience responding to posters whose English may not be 100%. You are welcome to post even if there is somewhat of a language barrier, or you can also visit our non-English forums... which are available in Spanish, Portuguese, German, Russian and other languages.

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    Q: I have an opinion on how FlopTurnRiver exclusive event passwords are published. Can I post my views on this or outright solicit passwords?

    A: Please do NOT do this. Poker sites award popular forums with "password protected" exclusive events in which entry is administered by the management of that particular forum. Our stance on this is that we prefer to award our contributing, Qualified Members with the opportunity to participate in these special tournaments by making them a priority. There is an additional aim of increasing FTR brand awareness while enticing new members to sign up and routinely contribute with relevant posts.

    Many of our members have earned "Qualified" status via hundreds (if not thousands) of helpful posts over the course of years. Creating initial post(s) about how to get passwords into freerolls and/or money-added events is not a good way to integrate into the community. If you insist on joining just to solicit passwords or criticize our password release system, then please do so only in the corresponding event thread. Even then, it is unlikely your post will be well received.

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    Q: I was banned and/or received a rude reply after just my 2nd/3rd post... why?

    A: The vast majority of these cases occur when a new poster creates content regarding passwords, or is simply posting generic, irrelevant or nonsensical questions/statements in an attempt to increase post count. The forum manager kindly requests that moderators and veteran members respond to these types of posts (in the first, or first two instances) with a brief, polite reminder that this is a poker community in which new posters are encouraged to contribute with relevant questions and comments.

    After a maximum of 3 nonsensical posts, our moderators and veteran members will likely assume that you are not interested in actually participating and are here to password poach and/or troll. This will often result in you being banned from the FlopTurnRiver boards or at the very least a public reprimand pointing out your unimpressive post history up to that point.

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    Q: I am only interested in poaching passwords for FTR exclusive events and do not wish to contribute in any way for (enter excuse here) whatever reason. I am unimpressed with the way moderators and veteran posters treat "new" members such as myself. What are your thoughts on this?

    A: This is a community filled with knowledgeable members who have dedicated a substantial amount of time to helping out and interacting with fellow members... in some cases, over the course of many years. I have yet to see a veteran member or moderator be rude to a new member who is legitimately seeking out poker advice or community interaction. It requires minimal effort to genuinely become part of the FTR community and can actually be a lot of fun.

    However, if you're only here for free/money-added opportunities, you do not provide a value to the FTR boards, nor do you form an integral part of our community. Therefore, our stance on this type of poster is that they are generally banned after a short period of time.

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    Q: I just noticed that a highly-popular FTR exclusive event was capped at "x" number of players. Why?

    A: This was an intentional decision on our part to ensure that our "Qualified Members" (those who receive passwords in advance) were given the first opportunity to enjoy that particular event while also limiting the amount of password poachers that could enter. If you would also like to receive passwords ahead of time, find out how in our How to Achieve Qualified Member Status thread.

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    Last edited by dhubermex; 04-14-2015 at 04:55 PM.

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