I'm a moderator on a couple of other internet forums. One in particular is quite large and attracts more than its fair share of "high maintenance" characters.
I do not know what exactly one has to do to be a moderator around here, but if it's anything like the other forums I'm involved with, I'd say it's something like:
- Be a long-term, proven, positive contributor to the forum.
- Frequently say things that the other moderators agree with and are in line with the forum's stated rules and policies. Clicking on the "report post" button when yourself or others are in violation of forum rules demonstrates that you are aware of what the rules are and you desire to see them enforced.
- Demonstrate an ability to combine diplomacy and discipline.
- Living in a timezone that is under-represented in the current set of Mods can also help; they can always use more people on the graveyard shift who are alert and online when they are not, to help provide 24-hour support for cleaning up spam attacks, breaking up forum fights etc.
Some moderators are appointed in limited or restricted capacity, at least at first; they might be given charge of a particular subforum where they've been particularly active. Jane Turner is a recent appointment in charge of the newly created BGS subforum, for example.
Remember, forum moderators are not, for the most part, paid staff of Frontier. They're volunteers. And they're human, they make mistakes. If you believe you (or someone else) has been moderated unfairly, there is a process as outlined in the
forum rules. And no, starting threads along the lines of "Waaaah, waaaah, i got moderated, it's so unfair!" is not part of that process.