I have no intentions of joining any more RP Groups on deviantart. And I most definitely have no plans on ever moderating one again.
A few notes to current/future mods for RP groups. They get far too large and far too cliquey and near-impossible to keep track of every single character after a point. Especially so for the moderation team. 100-plus member groups often get overwhelmed by said members, and it's even worse for the groups that try to keep track of statistical things for every single character. Having to add, remove and edit a bunch of charts and lists (and graphical things) constantly eats away at your own participation timeframes. It's not that the mods don't want to play with the members, but that the way the groups are set up often makes it really time-crunchy to even do so.
Eventually, the members may get bored and refuse to do anything, even if you offer them rewards for participation. And no matter how much you try, that more than likely will not change. Most groups don't last beyond a couple years due to this fact. I have been in moderation for various roleplaying websites for nearly 16 years now and have seen this happen nearly every time, even when NOT in charge of main group functions or events. If you can somehow surpass this problem, you've reached a point I never could. Congrats on that.
The next point on large groups is the fact you WILL have to learn quality control. Just because a lot of people want to join does not always mean YOU want them all to join. Some people misbehave no matter where they go. These ones will eventually become easier to spot. It's not your fault. But people will start to blame you anyways. Because you're the one with the power to say yes or no. It's a very common fate for moderation to get hated by the normal members (and member hopefuls). Even if you think you've become desensitized to it after a point, it will still wear you down over time. You can't hate them back. Even if you want to. It only fuels their anger and doesn't help your group in the slightest. Venting to your fellow mods can only do so much. Your only true defense is blocking and reporting repeat-offenders to the site staff, but even then it doesn't truly remove the problem. It gets tedious. REALLY quickly. The larger the group is, the more frequent this is going to happen, and the higher chance your group has of being labelled "elitist" just because you try your best to keep the group neat and tidy for your members. It's a very draining cycle. You can never please EVERY person. Do not even try. Do what you can, but do not ever try to do EVERYTHING. You can't. Sadly the truth.
Also? Do NOT lie to your members about why somebody was kicked/banned from the group. The less you tell them, the more likely it'll keep happening, and that's not beneficial to you or them in the slightest. Be honest. Be respectful. Be PATIENT. Just like you, they can't read minds either. If they don't know what the problem was, nothing's stopping them from doing the same later and getting in trouble next. Don't let that happen. You really do not want to get hit with the "I was banned for no reason" thing from them.
To those of you starting groups in this vein, I am giving you a friendly pre-warning: it is HELL to keep these things up to date and active after the first few months. You might start to regret it. But if you have the willpower to plow through it and keep on trucking, then by all means go for it. And good luck. Have fun, but take care of yourselves too. =x= <3