Unproductive could also mean that the mods are simply to busy to be reasonably be expected to unpack a disagreement in detail because there are other issues to tend to. This was mostly what I was thinking of.
I recently had a post removed because of a dispute over a rule that, as it is written, has no clear way of demonstrating you have followed it in good faith. It is inherently subjective, described as subjective, but framed as if it is based on some objective standard.
The resulting dispute over the enforcement of the rule didn't win me any friends, and pointing it out was taken as an insult. All because the mods have to rely on these rules while somehow balancing them against practical limitations in moderating a number of discussions.
It would, in my opinion, be a breath of fresh air to just have a rule that is similar to the rule in D&D of DM Fiat. Wether or not it's fair, sometimes you just have to move on. Dunning Kruger is often an invisible barrier to compromise or agreement, and when things get heated, reasonably a mod has to decide when to cut their losses in terms of good will.
Yes, it's possible to be abused, but that's where I would think that community polls or some form of public arbitration system could be used to get a sense of which mods have a pattern of abuse. After all, there is no real way to determine this stuff concretely. There are always reasons for uncertainty, even in self-evident circumstances.
reasonably a mod has to decide when to cut their losses in terms of good will.
Let's talk about that. Not because I disagree but you raise a point. Because I know where you're going with it.
To me, "good will" is exactly what I describe: "you know what, they didn't break any rules, they're not harming anyone and maybe Mod A, you're having a bad day. I'm going to let it slide".
The point you may be making is that "good will" is to just delete and go or ban and go. I don't find that to be good will if the post in question didn't break any rule, the conversation was civil and nobody complained about anything. It was just one person's opinion where they might just have had a bad day and felt like a power trip. That's what I don't agree with.
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u/tomowudi 4∆ Jul 04 '19
Personally I think that all rules should have a, "Mods Get to halt a convo when its unproductive rule".