Editing Mod (section)

==An analysis of the Mods==
The true destructive powers of the mods on /tg/ are deceptively subtle. In theory, they are an excellent way to keep the boards clean and focused. In the past, it was widely recognized that trolling itself was actually /tg/'s standard pastime, but certain topics push each fa/tg/uy's buttons in different ways. While most took the trolling in stride and, in fact, many prolific discussions arose from intended troll threads, some individuals just didn't understand the game. It's not about the experience and shooting the breeze to the folks known as tha/tg/uy. It's about winning.

[[File:Faggot Supreme.png|300px|right|thumb|Mods haven't been board-specific for over fourteen years.  The problem is that there's only a few dozen of them, and NONE of them routinely check the ban log.]]
It is known that power corrupts, but a lesser known axiom is that power also turns a mod on /tg/ into tha/tg/uy. That guy that shows up and bans anything he deems as “not related” to traditional gaming. That guy who has a fit every time somebody wants to discuss a setting or idea he doesn't like, even if it is the creative process that creates a good game in the first place. The natural tendency of a good roleplayer, after all, is to give something character, but it is the mod's prerogative to decide what kind of characters are actually acceptable.

Or in other words, mods are like awful DMs that have a predetermined idea of how their players should act, and they don't care how funny it is, you can't play a naked half-orc paladin named “Satan”.

The fact is, leadership and good group organization comes from having a clear set of punishments and rewards. Violating the rules must always be met with an exact punishment, and doing well must be met with reward. Of course, 4chan has no natural inbuilt rewards beyond praise of the fellow fa/tg/uy, and since each mod has his own peeves, there is only one consistent condition for punishment: criticizing the mods.

Mods are known to ban posters on /tg/ for all number of things not necessarily displayed as the board rules. Hence they lack clarity. One mod may have a raging grudge against furries, and thus, on the lookout for furries to ban, he can't tell the difference between a joking discussion of futa Godzilla and a picture of two anthropomorphic foxes banging each other. If the mod can't tell the difference, then there is no rule to follow: merely punishment to be had.

And while one mod will ban anyone for so much as referencing furries, another is out to stop threads that involve video game characters, and another is ready to stop My Little Pony. Fa/tg/uys, not wanting to be banned, eventually find themselves more or less incapable of branching out and doing anything terribly interesting. Roleplaying games are acceptable, but they may not be Iron Claw, set in the Starcraft universe, or involve colorful equines.

One can discuss 40k, but there may or may not be limits. Slaanesh is kind of lewd, and /tg/ is “work safe”, so will your posts be deleted if your daemonette pictures include titties? It depends on the mod, so really, who knows except for the mod that bans you? Then, with that in mind, what's the point in going out of your way to be creative and have fun? What if your picture trolls a mod somehow and you get banned?

Occasionally, when the mods are asleep, a fa/tg/uy might catch glimpses of threads talking about the old days on /tg/. The days when “/tg/ didn't need mods” because everything was really just kind of a joke, anyway. The days when even the trolls, however hated, did have a certain amount of bizarre class that at least made them interesting. To those not in the know, it may seem like oldfags grumping about nostalgia, but it honestly wasn't that long ago. Not only that, but those shenanigans that created all the fascinating stories here on 1d4chan weren't terribly rare in those days either.

Whatever they may say, don't believe them. /tg/ only has one rule under the mods: do whatever the mods want. There is no other persistently established set of rules. It's not your /tg/ anymore. It's not your playground. You don't make the rules, and majority acceptance is meaningless. /tg/ belongs to the mods.