It's a shame 2p2 isn't better modded in a lot of places. In mod forum slapfests it seems (and I'm obv biased) that frequently it's the SE mods and a few thoughtful supporters against the masses. I think that ATF is particularly embarassing. Most threads are like this: Poster X presents one-sided view of some issue. Mods assemble like Voltron to counterattack regardless of how valid (or not) the poster's issues are. It's a feeding frenzy to defend other mods and it's pretty sad. Someone recommended that ATF should have an ombudsman and I think that's a great idea.
FWIW, I recently posted the following in the mod forum (about a month ago) in response to a question asked of my by Rapi.ni. It was largely ignored (though I didn't really expect a response to be fair, and whatever, I'm given ample leeway to do what I deem fit in SE which is 90% of what I care about anyways, though I really do wish OOT was modded much better than it is).
Quote:
Open and honest discourse and debate is something that was very highly valued in the early days of this site (at least going back to when I joined in 1999). I think that it's something that Ma.t in general encourages, but that many of the mods (particularly the poor ones) tend to get a very pack-like mentality to circle the wagons, especially in ATF and to a lesser extent in here, where I think there's a "look at those idiot whiners" culture. It's part of why I thought that whoever-it-was that recommended an ombudsman was a good idea to keep an honest unbiased perspective on things.
I think M.at is at times overly loyal to the mods (you continuing to be a mod is a great example) because he really appreciates the effort the mods put in. So I understand his perspective, but it's allowed a number of really terrible mods over time to exist way longer than they should have. The solution is to listen to the customers sooner, rather than ignore consistent feedback.
The site belongs to Mas.on, but the forums belong to the posters. The mods are there to serve the posters for the betterment of their forums. When the posters have issues with the mod, almost always the issue is with the mod and not the posters of a forum - its their forum after all. The customer is always right.