Moderating system for maps

[Jip]

Hi all,

I'd like to suggest a change to how maps are moderated. The current system has quite some manual labor and discussion that I see happening on one of the faf Discord servers.

I am copying the idea from Hackage: https://hackage.haskell.org/upload
Hackage is a huge index full of packages for the programming language Haskell.

The idea on hackage is that on default someone can not upload any package unless he / she has become a Hackage trustee. You can become such a trustee by showing to some other trustee / moderator that you can add (reasonable) value to the community. Once you are a trustee you're less restrained from uploading packages.

I propose a similar system:
- On default, a user is not a 'Forged Alliance Forever trustee'. If a user uploads a map it is hidden by default and cannot be made visible / searchable by the author. The author can host the map and people can download the map from the vault when joining the game (like with any hidden map).
- If someone wants their map to be visible the author needs to become a trustee. This phase can be handled by the current committee overseeing violations. The author attempts to convince the committee that the author can provide (reasonable) value to the community. Some of the authors maps can be send in as evidence.
- Once someone is a trustee he / she can upload maps that can be immediately visible. If an author violates the vault rules the author can lose this status again.

This prevents manually hiding maps such as:
- A map that is made to play for me and my friends.
- A map that is some extension / remake of some map.
- A map that does not abide to the rules of the vault, such as 1 stratum maps.

Generally these maps are made by new mappers.

It also prevents a lot of discussion in terms of why a map is hidden by the moderators. Now it is simple: your map is hidden by default and if you want it to be visible then proof your value to the community by convincing the committee.

This is under the assumption that 'hidden' maps are not deleted from the server and can be seen by the moderators if required. As far as I am aware there is no way to delete a map, hence the map could still be played.

From a programmer perspective it would require adding a flag or two (map trustee / mod trustee) to each user, changing some of the interface when you want to upload a map / mod, check on uploading on the backend what flags the author has and take appropriate (automated) actions and giving moderators (of the committee) the capability to set or remove this flag for some user.

This entire post is a thought I've been playing around with for a while. I am posting it because perhaps it can be useful.

[biass]

This is what has been tossed around as "sacred vault" for a while and if you ask me I think it's a universally bad idea.

Considering I do some map hiding and know how this works, we have to go from

- Hiding offending maps (in the 20 most recent maps, only two or so could be classed as such)
- Discussing why, which typically isn't too hard

To

- Reading a "sales pitch" of 80% or so maps, which will already be painful enough for anyone with experience in that particular area and not solve the "too much discussion" part
- Then going to allow said map to be unhidden, which instead of only one or two offenders, is now at maximum the other 18)

Map hiders would likely not be capable of allowing people to be a trustee, so a request to do so would then have to be passed along to a server moderator - red tape hell
It bogs down the experience for any new creator trying to wade through that tape, and many would not be bothered waiting around for that and just not create
And then finally, it requires code.

I know the vault has some problems. I'm not convinced this does or ever will solve any of those problems. And if they did, it wouldnt be worth the new problems such a system would bring.

This is under the assumption that 'hidden' maps are not deleted from the server and can be seen by the moderators if required. As far as I am aware there is no way to delete a map, hence the map could still be played.

You are correct

[Farmsletje]

- Hiding offending maps (in the 20 most recent maps, only two or so could be classed as such)

ahem

https://puu.sh/Fype4/b45676e377.png