[pseudalopex]

I don't think I've ever seen a community with more than 1 moderator and 0 written rules. At least not for very long.

I used to help moderate a community. Spelling things out only helped us. Fewer incidents. More consistent moderation. Less litigation.

[luckylion]

That's true, but it's either vague ("don't be an ass") or it's primarily a thing to have to get the moderators on the same page, not something the community needs, isn't it?

In my opinion, if the rules include value judgements, they're superfluous as rules, because accuser, accused and judge can easily come to vastly different results. If you try to get beyond that and formalize it, you end up with books, and by that time you've transformed your community into a rule-book-writing community.

[pseudalopex]

The community wanted the moderators to get on the same page. They were also tired of discussions turning into arguments like whether insulting things by calling them gay insulted gay people.

We didn't end up with books.