So I just came for the fun... I am not looking to take on a ton of new games but with that being said... I am already pretty disappointed... I noticed a game and a run that I can beat. I noted all rules for the game and the category and followed them 100% .... so the 1 mod who makes the decision is the current record holder that I beat, and they make new rules so my run all of a sudden doesn't qualify .... You guys let the mod be the 1 and only decider for the game? They get to make up rules as we go along so their run stays on top? .... Seems a bit gate keeper-ish to me..... Since I am new here, I'll ask ...... Is this normal? They let the mod who owns the record make up any rule they want at any time?
There are 27,174 games on this site, and there are about six staff members. They can’t possibly oversee every rule change made on every board.
That being said, if you have an issue with how a moderator is running a board, you should first politely ask that moderator for clarification. If that doesn’t work, take up the issue with the other game mod. I’m guessing this is about the game Stranded Deep, which has two active mods.
Stranded Deep .... the only run i submitted ... any% .... i followed every rule:
- new game
- no starting crate
- glitches allowed
- etc...
I submit the run, and then received a message "So I realize it’s not explicitly stated....." and then proceeds to make up a new rule .... and then now the new rule is on the page... without asking anyone, without anything but his own opinion...
this is allowed? Mods can make up rules on the spot? that's quite fishy, especially when that rule is in his own interest
he has 95% of the records in this game ... and now I see why .... I took the record so he makes up a new rule to keep the record?
Yes, mods can change the rules whenever they need to. There isn’t any sort of approval process, because site staff can’t oversee every board, and that game doesn’t have a large community to consult with.
What was the new rule?
"the mods can change rules when they need to", well, they didn't need to, unless it was only to keep a record.
so wait, when there's 2 mods on a game ... 1 of the mods can just do whatever he wants whenever he wants? i submit a run and then get a message saying "So I realize it’s not explicitly stated....." and ""I’ll be adjusting the rules descriptions"
aren't rules made to avoid things like this? they should be explicitly stated. I glitched the game, and it says glitches allowed. I glitched the game that allowed me to import custom into a brand new save.
when this "mod" has 18 of the 20 records .... and then changes the rules to make sure he doesn't have only 17 of the 20 records .... that's not a good look on the entire community .... gate-keeping? can't accept being 2nd place? no matter what it is, this exposes a bias, mods can change the rules on a whim so they keep records -- even if nobody agrees, they answer to no one.
Two mods can decide between themselves how rule changes should be approached. It isn’t unusual for a mod in an unpopular board to change a rule without publicly consulting with the other one (you don’t know that they didn’t talk about this).
I obviously don’t know the specifics of this game, but if you’ve discovered a new glitch, then it’s certainly possible a rule change may be required.
You shouldn’t jump to automatically assuming that this is abuse of power. It sounds like you still haven’t taken the minimum courtesy step, which is reaching out to the mod who rejected your run to ask for clarification. You should’ve done that prior to making a complaint in the general forums.
"Your account is less than 7 days old, you cannot message anyone" yeah. and i did send a message on a different platform. i took the minimum courtesy step. and it's not a new glitch. i saw the glitch on a tutorial from over a year ago. so yeah, i am understanding this now, the mods can do what they want and when they want even if it helps them keep the records in said game they mod... gotcha....
so much for convictions.
btw... i didn't claim it was abuse of power, i said it's a bad look on the entire community because it sure comes off as an abuse of power
theres 2 mods, ask the other one about that rule, when it was created (since he said that it existed before) and why it exists
exact words from said "mod" : "Yes. I set the standard for every single run that has a run." this is ridiculous. 1 rogue mod can just make up a new rule that will keep him in 1st place.
- i submit run, following all rules.
- mod messages me 10 minutes later and says rules have now changed.
- i ask mod if he is the "decider"
- mod says "Yes. I set the standard for every single run that has a run."
- mod threatens to just flat out reject the run instead of creating a new category
this is NOT a problem to anyone else? this sure is a bad look for the entire community. if 1 rogue mod can do this, why can't others? trust factor just went way down.
Ok, so you heard back from the first mod, and the answer was not to your liking. Next step is to message the second mod, politely explain the situation, and ask what can be done.
I would also recommend you drop the accusatory tone. People will be more likely to want to help you.
i didn't accuse anyone, i stated a fact about the rules. "1 rogue mod can just make up a new rule that will keep him in 1st place."
You keep saying that this mod is changing a rule solely to keep a record, so yes, that is an accusation of mod abuse.
The more likely explanation is “mod made a reasonable rule change which you disagree with.” And you’re welcome to disagree with a rule change, but coming to the general site forums to complain about bias and gatekeeping isn’t going to get you anywhere.
As a mod, sometimes you don't include something in the rules because of how obvious it is: For example, I don't need to clarify on the rules that the run should have video proof, or that the frame rate should be good enough. Yet I had people that submitted runs like that and of course I had to reject them. It's not me abusing my power and trying to keep first place, is just trying to make the leaderboards better. When a run features a glitch that might drastically affect the gameplay, then it makes sense for the mods to at least discuss if that should be allowed, or if it deserves a different category than the original category. As Pear said, given that you are part of the community for the game, you should discuss with the 2 mods what to do with the run. The most logical thing here would be to create a separate category allowing that glitch. Unless of course the glitch is done in a really weird way that depends on hardware, or something like that, that might create a big advantage over other runners. But yeah, either way, you need to discuss it with the 2 mods, aka the "community" of that game, as small as it might be. And what would be good to know is the reason for why the glitch is banned, maybe that explains everything better.
Banning a glitch can happen if it's considered un-fun or uncompetitive, but it should be something game breaking to ban it instead of making it's own category imo. Even if there's a year old video, that means nothing if they never saw it. For example: some goldeneye wall clip glitch was discovered recently from a video that was pretty old and has only recently been implemented in game. The mods have full discression over the rules, but if they ARE making unreasonable stuff generally they can be replaced/removed/reprimanded. Can you showcase what was removed?
So youre saying you imported “custom” (whatever that is) into a new save file? It was technically stated in the rules that you had to start from a clear file, what you did is usually separated as new game+ in most cases since the save file isnt completely new, its altered by factors outside of the run. By default, this kind of things are banned in many games such as GTA V where you can get a slipstream to make your car go faster but it requires new game+ so its not allowed. I think it should have been made more clear in the rules if they knew this existed, however, this is a small mistake which doesnt change too much and I would say that hes telling the truth and he didnt make the rule on the spot since it was already a thing. Also, hes not “threatening” to reject your run, he should reject it if it doesnt follow the games rules. He could make a new category but that decision would belong to him and the other mod.
As I told him, it is a clear divergence from the entire rest of the runs on the board, none of which use custom islands, and not because we didn’t think of it. Not only is not able to be replicated due to using a custom island, it also uses factors set up outside of the run to alter the entire gameplay of the run. I think a new category is entirely warranted. Yes, I set up the rules, however I also don’t explicitly state that god mode isn’t allowed either, yet I would argue that a run using god mode is invalid as well. Manipulation of the cartographer is essentially god mode for the map. I’m the record holder because I run this game more than anyone else, of which are very few, not because I’m finagling the rules for 1st place. Ask any other runner of SD if I’ve ever been unfair about anything.
Furthermore… sheesh… this is not a glitch he is using. In cartographer mode of sd you can place an island on any island you are not currently on. This is to prevent against obvious issues that would occur if, say, the heightmap of the island is raised above the character. You can make every single island of a world a custom island and when you load that existing world as a new game, you wake up on a custom island. A lot of sd youtubers start games on custom islands. So yeah, new category or bust my dude.
And a link to our entire conversation. The last picture is both the beginning and end of our conversation when he blocked me on twitter. I was maybe a little harsh but did not like how he approached me, I’m a person as well. https://imgur.com/a/ULTbD7J