I apologize in advance for the long post. I intend no disrespect toward any member of Smogon.
Over the past year or so, Shoddy chat quality has gone from laughably bad to even more laughably bad. Intelligent discussion hasn't happened in the room in YEARS, as no serious Pokemon player uses it to discuss anything anymore. Even the players who moderate the chatroom rarely participate, instead opting to scan the chat and kick the people breaking the rules. This is a vicious cycle. The terrible chat drives people who are not terrible away, making the chat more terrible as a result. I think that this is a major problem. Since Shoddy chat is a competitive battler's first taste of the Smogon community, it should be an open and engaging place for friendly discussion of Pokemon. We can't leave our welcome mat so covered in shit.
I think the main solution to this problem would be to give moderators more authority in chat moderation, while at the same time giving them more responsibility for maintaining a mood and actually discussing things in the Shoddy Battle chat room. When moderators strictly police for battle requests, porn, and spam, yet don't kick common trolls, idiots, and 12 year olds who think they are witty and the first people to use cuss words liberally in the entire world, you aren't doing much to maintain the atmosphere of the channel. I think giving moderators the power to kick people for being general nusiances, using offensive or racially charged speech, or for basically any excessive trolling would make the Shoddy chat a much better place. The approach also requires moderators and other "smart people" to actually use the Shoddy Chat as a venue for friendly and welcoming discussion sometimes, as well. This two pronged approach would clean up our welcome mat and make users more comfortable with the competitive Pokemon world.
Any thoughts?
Over the past year or so, Shoddy chat quality has gone from laughably bad to even more laughably bad. Intelligent discussion hasn't happened in the room in YEARS, as no serious Pokemon player uses it to discuss anything anymore. Even the players who moderate the chatroom rarely participate, instead opting to scan the chat and kick the people breaking the rules. This is a vicious cycle. The terrible chat drives people who are not terrible away, making the chat more terrible as a result. I think that this is a major problem. Since Shoddy chat is a competitive battler's first taste of the Smogon community, it should be an open and engaging place for friendly discussion of Pokemon. We can't leave our welcome mat so covered in shit.
I think the main solution to this problem would be to give moderators more authority in chat moderation, while at the same time giving them more responsibility for maintaining a mood and actually discussing things in the Shoddy Battle chat room. When moderators strictly police for battle requests, porn, and spam, yet don't kick common trolls, idiots, and 12 year olds who think they are witty and the first people to use cuss words liberally in the entire world, you aren't doing much to maintain the atmosphere of the channel. I think giving moderators the power to kick people for being general nusiances, using offensive or racially charged speech, or for basically any excessive trolling would make the Shoddy chat a much better place. The approach also requires moderators and other "smart people" to actually use the Shoddy Chat as a venue for friendly and welcoming discussion sometimes, as well. This two pronged approach would clean up our welcome mat and make users more comfortable with the competitive Pokemon world.
Any thoughts?
