While I would love to have this info, I'm smart enough to know why we won't get it all, and very little will be announced "officially", but this is what I have on this...
Info on mods would be great Mods are volunteers, they do not get paid, nor are they "scheduled" to cover certain times. They are on when they are on and "mod" when they want.
who are they? You will never know. Can you imagine the witch hunts if any of the names came out of who was a mod? Or the other side of the coin, all the PMs that poor guy would get from people complaining about others all night?
what are their rules? Check the TOS.(Terms of service). This Im sure is the base line for the "rules" what a mod enforces of course is up to the mod.
what ability do they have in the game? We know they have the ablity to warn, and mute. Expel ? not sure, but I don't see why not, but that may be a bit more power than HTC is willing to extend to a "non employee"
How are they selected to be mods? I'm sure some volunteer, others are picked. My "guess" is some are the quite ones that put a lot of hours in, while others are "friends of HTC" and are only on now and then and and mod only now and then even when they are on.
Why are they allowed to play? They are not getting paid to baby sit, they are PAYING to play the game like the rest of us, why shouldn't they play?
Are they getting paid to be mods? No
Are they allowed to enforce their political agenda on others etc ? Tricky question, see below.
You also have to remember that there are a couple of "auto mods" as well. There is a library of words that if typed into the radio bar will result in a warning, and auto mutes. There is also the above mentioned mass reporting. If a certain number of people use the .report function with in a certain time period it will also mute the person being reported. The auto mutes can be over tuned by contacting HTC and having them look at the logs. As stated above, if the mass report was done to be spiteful the mass reporters get the mute and the one muted gets his "voice" back.
I think the biggest problem with the "mods" is there isn't a lot of structure. Sure there are the TOS rules, and I'm sure there are some "unwritten" rules from HTC but it is pretty much left up to the mods. On top of that the mods aren't "responsible" for being mods. What I mean by that is they are not held accountable for their time modding. It isn't their "job" and they are not here to be baby sitters. I think their basic job is just to keep the lid from blowing off the pot.
So if a mod is on and and is tied up in a horde.....err mission and and working hard with his fellow horders..... squadmates and they are tuned to their own channel and are on a roll NOEing.... err strategically grabbing base after base then the mod may not be watching the text on 200 much and so a lot of crap goes by with out a mod putting a stop to it. On the other hand, a mod may be on and see all the hording going on and not wanting to participate in that type of play bounces around looking for a fight and so being bored may watch 200 much more closely and so infractions are spotted and dealt with.
On top of that, with out any real structure, mods having little framework to work with are allowed to run the show as they see fit....with in those "unwritten rules" HTC gave them. So mod in a crappy mood see's someone they can't stand come close to stepping over the line and drops the hammer on him. Or see's a buddy going over the line but thinks it's funny so lets him continue. With out a solid framework and being made responsible your going to get these wild swings in the enforcement of the rules.
