Moderation in your game, and how you do it?

[Digital]

So this is here for those of you with active games, as well as those of you with games in development. How do you plan to handle moderation in your game? Are you a strict moderator with clear rules and guidelines, or do you prefer to moderate with a lighter touch and let your communities relatively figure out their own norms and then work within those limits?

There are arguably a lot of different ways to moderate a community. How do you personally approach it?

@Nate, @runeowl, @kami, @judda, @tiff, @Makazu

[runeowl]

We try to lay out the rules as clearly as possible, and then moderate from there. I do take intent and attitude into account when moderating, and tend to have a gentle hand when issuing punishments. If someone has accidentally taken advantage of a bug, I'll simply take away the accidental gold/items and then let them know what's going on. If they've broken a rule and are apologetic and making efforts to fix it, that's a very different story than someone who's actively harassing someone else or are belligerent in their rule-breaking. 

I try to be friendly with everyone, as long as they're willing to work with me on issues

[Nate]

As far as moderating goes, it all boils down to one thing: Treat others with the respect that you would expect them to treat you with. I think any forum community - including this one - boils down to that one single principle. Everything else is then geared towards ensuring that users adhere to that one principle.