RULES FOR MODERATORS

"I always wondered if the mods practice what they preach. It said somewhere that the mods don't get their tickets checked. That means they could ignore the rules if they wanted."

I'm not sure where you heard that, but it's certainly not true. Mods do need to have their tickets checked, and they aren't allowed to do it for themselves.

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"What happens when a mod gets caught breaking the rules?"

Hopefully that wouldn't happen. But if it did, they would probably have to stop being moderators fairly quickly.

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TECHNICAL INFO

"How does the mod thing work, is there some sort of extranet you use to check the pictures?"

Yes, that's exactly right. It's just another tool on the extranet that Thomas and Mirar developed for us.

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MODERATORS CHOICE

"How does Mods Choice work, do you all just take a vote or something?"

No, each picture is picked by one moderator. While moderating a ticket a picture might catch the eye. It might be because it's very well done, or the colours are particularly joyful, or the moderator likes the composition, or anything really. Just so long as the moderator thinks it has something special about it. Obviously not everyone agrees with everyone's choice! But we let people have their own opinions. Of course the picture has to obey the rules, and pictures that are "borderline" should never be chosen. Another "rule" for picking mods choice is that we try not to give it to the same people all the time. So if someone had a mods choice last week (or month) maybe they won't get it again this week/month even if the picture is very good.

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MORE ON BEING A MODERATOR

"I'm considering applying to be a Mod, but I was wondering about the workload. Do Moderators have to put a regular, assigned amount of work, or is it a "whenever you have the free time" type of thing? I don't have free time on a regular basis, but everyone once in a while I've got hours and hours to kill (and they could be put to very good use on Elfwood!)"

No, you don't have to put in regular, assigned amount of work, but we do ask that at least a few hours a week be possible. It's really not worth it if you can't do a ticket or two a day!

One thing that I really insist on - students should STOP moderating before exams and go study! Real life study is so much more important then volunteering on Elfwood.
Of course, Students who are moderators can always make up for it during the holidays!

CLEARING UP ISSUES

"Hi
I, and a few others are wondering why it is that certain pictures are rejected when they clearly fit into one of the check box categories when choosing a subject in extranet.

The moderators rarely leave a clear explanation, or they tell you that it "this has no apparent fantasy element to it". I do not understand now this can be so if it fits into a suggested category in extranet.

Perhaps the categories need to be moderated so that us laymen uses can understand what exactly is classed as "high fantasy"

Today I was personally affected by this when a moderator return a drawing of the triple goddess. To my understanding this falls under "religion, spirituality etc" which is the very first option in extranet.

It seems that a number of people have been left confused when they have had drawings returned by moderators. Therefor, i would like to request that someone plainly explains what can and cannot be but on Elfwood.

Thankyou for your time.

Elli Scott"

Thanks for your email Elli!

The categories are there mainly for the search engine. It would be possible to have a picture of a normal animal rejected as not fantasy yet there is a category for "normal animals" in the extranet. But fantasy pictures can also include normal animals. If you have a picture of a knight on a horse, you might choose "Man, men" "Warrior, Fighter, Mercenary, Knights, Paladins" and "Normal Animals (Cats, horses, fish, etc)" from the category selection all would be suitable and help people find your picture on the search engine.

While it's obvious to me, even without a description, that your picture is the "maiden, mother, crone" aspects of the goddess, not every moderator comes from the same background, and not every person in the world understands different religious/pagon structures. Obviously the mod who got this ticket didn't recognize it, and you would have to give an explanation in the description rather then letting the picture tell the story. Descriptions can help a moderator make the decision.

Another example. If I were to draw a picture of Alcides' face and put as a description "this is a picture of Alcides" the moderators would reject it. But, if I were to say "Portrait of Alcides (which is an alternative name for Hercules)" then the moderators would know who I meant, know that Hercules is fantasy, and allow it in.

We try, but still, we can't expect the moderators to know everything.