It is not.
forum |ˈfôrəm|
noun ( pl. fora, Amer. forums )
1. a place, meeting, or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged
moderate |ˈmädəˌrāt|
verb
1. make or become less extreme, intense, rigorous, or violent : [trans.] I shall not moderate my criticism | [as adj.] (moderating) his moderating influence in the army was now needed more than ever.
Forum moderation is just the 'moderation' of discussions within the fora. To make those discussions "less extreme".
As a moderator, I don't care if your opinion doesn't match mine or the guild's in general. I care about the way you choose to share that opinion.
If you present your opinions in a reasonable, polite, and calm fashion, then I may join in the discussion as any guild member with an opinion on the issue is free to do, but I wont 'quash' them in any way, no matter how 'wrong' I feel they are.
If you post your opinion in an argumentative, abusive, ranting fashion, then no matter how 'right' your opinions are I will calm your arguments down.
i.e. I will 'moderate' them.
I will do this by; attempting to post reasonably in response in order to try to calm you down; by asking you to calm down and encouraging you to post in a more considered fashion; or, as a last resort, by editing, locking or deleting your posts and sending you a Private Message to instruct you to try again once you've calmed down.
Unfortunately people who are in a particularly 'passionate' mood, one that would cause them to post in a 'ranting' fashion, tend to see any kind of moderation as censorship.
The strange thing is that usually these people see others (particularly officers) posting similarly 'passionate' opinions in response, and feel they shouldn't be allowed to do so.
The point here is that everyone has the 'right' to voice their opinion on any given subject or issue, provided they do so in a polite, reasonable manner.
As a guild, we welcome constructive criticism, suggestions and ideas. That's how the guild has grown and will continue to grow.
Please, don't confuse 'passionate discussion' with 'closed-off argument', and don't confuse 'moderation' with 'censorship'.
"Opinion sir, can never be moderated. Temper, however, can be, and should be."
