An appeal for moderation

[Nystul]

I don't think it's just the grammar corrections that scare a lot of people away.  It's the reputation of elitism that does it.  Granted, this elitism has toned down quite a bit over the years (with minor flareups every so often), but a lot of people still expect to either be ignored completely about a point they're trying to make or bug they've found or whatever decent post they're trying to make  or else are pummeled into the ground (figuratively speaking) for daring to have an opinion while not being a Good Ol' Lurker™ (GOL).  It really did feel like this was a good ol' boy network.  If you weren't a known code diving monkey or hadn't been an active poster since DSF, you were nothing.  You could have screenshots showing your point, have a detailed explanation of how you tested whatever you were testing and it would still go unnoticed unless one of the GOLs happened to decide later on to test it.  Yes, random posters who claimed to have found something out shouldn't be believed without question when they post, but a lot of things seemed to be completely dismissed and not even looked into or corrected if they were known to be wrong.  For a while it seemed that GOLs would only respond to GOLs, with the exception of flames and unnecessary negativity.  Those were spread around to everyone; some deserving, some not.

I'm not referring to the off-topic forums much, but that's because I tended to avoid reading it much of the time.  I frequently came here strictly for good behind the scenes info and seeing how people were treated in the game forums, I didn't want to see how people were treated in the off topic forum (which are typically worse).  I did poke in there now and again, but ran off without ever posting because my opinion on the OT stuff wouldn't matter anyway.  Now, as I said at the beginning, this has toned down but people's perceptions can take longer to change.
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There are two separate issues. On one hand, you have the official moderation and administration of the Lurker Lounge. On the other hand, you have other standards that are set by the Indians instead of the Chiefs. Any elitist attitudes that have existed here certainly have not been started by Bolty. Along the same lines, I don't think I have ever seen Griselda correct a spelling error, or censure someone for failing to read a strategy guide before asking questions. I also don't think the staff here is as prone to show favoritism towards GOLs, as you say, as the other GOLs may be. On the other hand, the moderators take a relatively hard line (by internet standards) when it comes to other things, like obscene language, confrontational language, and hotbutton issues.

Personally, I have never had any concerns about the way the LL staff handles moderation. On the other hand, there was a time when I gave up on the LL primarily because of elitist attitudes and harsh tones towards newbies (which had nothing to do with the staff, DSF-era regs, or even major strat contributors, in my opinion). I could rant on that issue for hours, but it is mostly water under the bridge now. Now it is a different dynamic with different problems, because a lot of the DSFers are still here, and a lot of the "newer" D2 Lurkers have been here for years now, and the fresh influx from D2/LoD has been a mere trickle for quite some time. At any rate, there are plenty of people who don't have any problems with the general attitude of the lounge, but may think the moderators are bit too tight about certain things. For others, it is the opposite. You can't please everybody, all of the time. It doesn't hurt for folks to express their concerns though.