Viktoria

I'm excited to experience different weather in Thief, I even hope it is possible to sit on a rooftop and listen to the sound of the rain hitting the tiles.

Noted, thank you very much. x

Fab thread. ~Thanks. I have played very few TDM fan missions, so this thread is really useful to see which missions I should download first. Now I just have to decide which ONE I ought to start with. Hmmm. Decisions.... decisions.

I understand the points made and don't necessarily disagree or agree with the sentiments or potential disappointment, or satisfaction come to that. I personally find it impossible to draw any definite conclusion one way or the other until after I've played. But that's just the way I am. Oh, and just to clarify that I'm not disagreeing over the title in any 'serious' way... that's why I stuck my tongue out when I said it. You have misunderstood my follow-up replies. I wasn't addressing them to you personally, it was a general statement regarding the confusion and in light of said comments in this thread. The only reply addressed to you personally was the first one where I laughed and agreed it would be nice for mods to get paid, and I then added the fact that they don't because they are volunteers. The misunderstandings about roles and agendas etc are definitely not my own; I didn't post them. I wasn't protesting that there wasn't any similarity at all between chairman and moderator. I said I see no REAL similarity between the two and that I consider the differences to be far greater, and that Admin and Chair would be a more appropriate match in regard to the Eidos forum; which is what we're discussing after all. Either way, my explanation was in response to the fact that you initially likened chairing a meeting as "an exercise in listening and not talking", (and that part would be correct) but moderators (at least Eidos mods and other forums I frequent) are not required to do this... so that is where the similarity you initially stated ends. I agree with your later reasoning, one of the duties of chairing a meeting is to manage people in said meeting, so there is similarity there with a moderator; both generalisations can be used interchangeably, obviously. But an Eidos moderator's duty is simply to keep the forum running smoothly in accordance with the house rules; whereas a chairman (or forum admin) is the one who makes said rules and has responsibility and power way above that of any volunteer moderator. No rock and no hard place, honestly. There is nothing difficult about deleting spam and dealing with other minor trivialities. The only time mods attempt to strike a balance is if, for example, a discussion gets too heated and people start to call each other names etc. Mods will come in and remind people not to get personal with each other and try to steer the discussion back on topic. No biggie. The official forum is for anyone - whether they wish to grumble or express excitement... a 'moderator' is really not concerned about peoples' opinions; they are only concerned that members comply with the ToU.

Clearly, there is evidence of confusion with regard to moderators' roles... and I tried my best to clarify the facts. People are free to take it or leave it, of course. __ Anyway... back to the thread. I disagree with the thread title on the grounds that the statement is inconclusive. It might be crap... it might be good. Thief certainly "looks" good on the surface. I just hope it feels good, plays well and presents an interesting narrative. Time will tell.

It is of little interest to me how much money the game has cost tbh; and I very much doubt the forum itself holds much influence in terms of actual sales etc., so forgive me for moving on from this one. I see no real similarity between a moderator and a chairman. In fact, I find the differences to be huge - Admin and Chairman would be a more appropriate match.... mods just deal with the ToU at the lower level. There is no more to it than that. As is typical of the majority of volunteer moderators across many forums; it is not expected of them to listen and not talk. Mods are individuals, fans, so they are reading posts with interest, not listening in any professional capacity, so its quite normal for them to want to participate in discussion. Some choose to join in often.... some prefer to take a back seat. That is their choice as individuals and, as you say, its fine to want to join in if they wish. Joining in on the banter doesn't necessarily make a good moderator, true. People must decide that for themselves. Personally, I judge mods only on how they carry out their duties. For example, are they being fair with warnings and infractions?... if their 'friend' violates the ToU, did they still receive an infraction... did the mod just ban someone because they don't "like" them; or their friends don't like them.... are certain people being allowed to be rude to others, and the mod lets it happen... and/or even joins in... and so forth. At all other times, when not in mod-mode, they are posting as an individual. That is the reality of the situation. Mods don't have orders or a duty to keep things positive and neither do they try to do so. I mean, really, why would they? They are not financially invested in the game. Anyway, if eidos mods were to have such a duty, we're failing miserably, hehe. So we're not stuck between a rock and a hard place in that sense... but we can be "misunderstood" occasionally - hence our current discussion, hehe. I never realised it would be difficult for some to see a separation between an individual person during mod-mode, and the same individual out of mod-mode.... mods literally only 'clock-in' for duty when some newbie account spams the forum, or a member (usually always a newbie or, occasionally, an established member gone rogue) decides its okay to break the rules. Once that is dealt with, time to clock off. I appreciate you chatting with me and hope I have unravelled some of the confusion at least. If not, I'm more than happy to discuss further via PM if you wish. I know this thread is really to discuss the game, so happy to let it return to topic.

Haha, yeah, sorry about my recent posting rate. I've just got myself a new laptop and a Galaxy S4 and I can't put them down at the moment as far as internet is concerned. New toys. I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon. I'm not sure what you mean about mod behaviour, correcting and supervising discussions etc, but presume you mean in regards to implied official information about the devs and the game? If so, then, yes, mods will politely steer people toward facts rather than hearsay... its the official forum, after all. Other than that.... people are free to believe what they want, speculate as they like and post about anything they choose; in keeping with the ToU. There is nothing to forget about being a moderator.... its never subjective. Its all about the ToU and the FAQs. That's it. "Moderator Mode" takes less than 1% of a person's time... (removal of spam, and issuing the occasional infraction) the other 99% of the time is spent being the individual you are. Mod Mode is incredibly brief, simply because the majority of the members manage to moderate themselves perfectly well. There is no such thing as a paid moderator for Eidos. If you are paid, you can't be a moderator, you are an official member of staff. Even if the moderators were to be paid; I'm sure they'd still wish to post their opinions like any normal member and join in on the fun and banter. And why not.

Hmm, I see there is confusion going on between EM staff and moderators... so allow me to chime in, if I may. I expect all staff are recruited in the normal way. A look at Degree achievements and work experience etc. On a personal level, Freyja is a lovely person with a great sense of humour. She's just answering a question there and sharing one of her favourite moments in the game. Just to clarify, Freyja is not a mod... she's the Web Content Manager for EM. I've never seen anyone on the forum "defend" the game (in the way I think you mean).... only answer questions or share opinions. Haha, I wish! There is obviously continued confusion going on between official staff and moderators.All "moderators" are volunteer fans... no coin. All members who are moderators do enforce the rules, absolutely. That is their task. I fear you are forgetting that when they're not enforcing the rules in "moderator mode", they're essentially individual people/fans simply enjoying the same activity other members do, expressing theirr own personal opinions or answering questions from their own personal point of view. Hope the above helps clarify. __ EDIT/PS. I disagree with the thread title... it's inconclusive!

The last dev Q&A session was answered within days of the initial thread inviting questions; so early next week hopefully? There is no set date to receive answers... but we've never had to wait long.

Unfortunately questions are limited to 2, but you asked 5 altogether; and that was why your post was deleted. An explanation was PMd to you via the eidosforums. I gather you haven't logged in since? This is a shame as you could have submitted the most relevant two questions, provided you did so before the deadline. More Q&As with the devs to come.... so better luck next time. I asked questions myself so I hope at least one of them is chosen/answered.