Grading Efficiency

Okay, so I’m sure it’s something we’ve all noticed lately. Apps get graded strangely, due to people’s different personalities and levels of acceptance/expectation, and then people get grumpy because they believe that something on their app that got blocked is essentially the same to something on another app that got though. I know it happens, you know it happens, essentially, it’s part of being staff, at times. Well, I’ve thought of a little something that might help us push past some of those variation problems, and actually get some happiness around here (other than the abundance we have, but more happiness is always a good thing ^>^) What I’m referring to is something I came up with while talking to Kyoto earlier today, and he agreed that this seems like a good idea.
This idea? 1 moderator = 1 section. Of course, we can have more per section, to get things done efficiently, but that’s where the problem came from, right? If anything, one section should have no more than 2 moderators (the Magic section and Character sections are probably ones that’ll need 2). Now, it’s a simple idea, but it’ll clear up loads. Moderators know what to do, and when, because they’ll have their own section to watch, and not have to constantly watch all the forums plus the staff topic (because we all know there are people who forget to post there). As well as this, moderators accidentally stealing other people’s apps for grading will stop, because it’ll be one person, and it’ll be your job to grade the app, simple as that. Plus, there will be none of the aforementioned problem where people grade differently and things turn out unfair for some of the members.
Now, I’m already hearing it. “But some moderators aren’t active enough to do that.” Well, if they’re not being active, they shouldn’t be staff, now should they? This is a group effort, and a group is only as strong as its weakest link. If they can’t keep up with it, then they have the option to bow out peacefully, or maybe move to dev if there’s room. But if you’re staff, you should come to know and expect the workload that comes with it. It’s a title, and all titles come with work, no matter the job. To earn the title of ‘Dr.’ you have to earn an entire degree, no? To become ‘President’ of ANYTHING, you have to put your effort into be given the honor of being chosen for that position. Staff is the same thing, guys. It’s a title, and you have to deserve a title to keep it.
I’m getting the feeling this could turn into somewhat of an essay if I keep typing, so I’ll stop here. But yeah, as a summary:
Split the moderators and give them each a section to work in, no more than 2 a section, and probably no more than one for the smaller sections. Give the more active moderators the harder forums to grade, and the ones that are newer to staffing simpler ones, such as the Stats section. This will make things much more efficient, and honestly, I think the site will be a lot better because of it. Thank you for reading!
~ Mizu

I agree and no the lazy ones can't be devs✌

I'm neutral on this. I agree that the way we grade things should be changed, but not to that extent.

Too late Kyo

In all seriousness tho, the only problem I have with this is that what happens if someone disappears? Then that section has no one. I think I have a solution to this tho - if you're good at something, grade a lot of those apps. But if no one likes magic apps, we still have to grade them, so the point I'm trying to make here is feel free to grade and grade but you can't just kick back once your section is empty, especially considering character apps are always gonna be fuller but magic apps are usually harder to grade. Idk if this makes any sense because I just got out of a three hour stats class but yeah!

So long as we get some sort of way to make grading much more uniform in manner i'm for it.

Honestly I'm neutral to this.

There are pros and cons to this system.

Cons:

• If we simply isolate mods to one certain category, they become professions at it however their skills will also become weaker on other categories.
  
  
• If we leave only one mod in charge of a category, for example stats there will be nobody to grade it when that said mod goes inactive or has to leave due to life issues
  
  
• Say nobody has posted an item/pet/weapon for 3 months. What will the mod in charge of that be doing while they wait?
  

Pro:

• More knowledgeable mods can take care of harder apps easier
  
  
• Apps in a said category is grader much more efficiently with one mod in charge, which means less nagging
  
  
• Those categories with tons of apps building up can be taken care of much quicker
  

That being said, I don't particularly like this system however I'm not against it either. I'm simply neutral to this and I'll see how this plays out.

Lady wrote:

After reading some of the responses i think i need to redefine a little on my response. I agree that something needs to be done about the way things are being handled, dropping links in chat is a ill effective way of handling it. I do not particularly care for separation of mods because we ALL work as a team, even dev.
What i suggest is promoting 1 admin/moderator to over look that section JUST TO MAKE SURE THOSE AREAS ARE BEING HANDLED APPROPRIATELY. For example. We have say 12 moderators and Selenia is promoted to be in charge of character applications. Selenia will go through and not only grade what he can, but make sure apps are being graded by INFORMING other moderators. Also, if there are questions about applications, all questions would be directed towards Selenia. ( Meaning that the admin/moderator in charge must have knowledge and excel in that particular area ). Now this doesn't mean that Selenia ONLY does character apps, he will also grade magic apps or whatever. I mean we already ask certain people ( Selenia ) questions about certain areas anyways ( Magic ).

But by making sure that the questions are all getting answered the same is what will fix the issue of misgrading..... That and inform members that they can argue their reasoning.  

I'll agree wholly with practically all of these. Sure, I get you guys don't like that idea. It was just an idea ^>^ We really, really do need some sort of organization here. A moderator being in charge of a section, just to make sure things get done, I personally think is a great idea. Hopefully it would smooth things out, and avoid the problem of having to sort people into categories.

As originally posted I agree you have a main mod for a section and secondary mods in place that can grade if that main mod is away. So let's say Selena main category is magic, secondary mods could be Genesis and (insert name) So if Selenia does have to many or is away Genesis and the other mod may assist.