I honestly don't see a mod being disliked or disrespected, unless it was in some type of useless conflict. Mods simply attract more attention then the casual user and because of that fact it makes them way more popular then they would ever be as a casual user since they're more noticeable and have some firepower against the trouble makers. As crazy though as it's sounds, it's the truth no matter how much you want to sugar code it, same thing applies on mIRC chats only the Mod is an AOp.
Now I admit, I've been both, but when I was a Mod here I never really wanted to because I wanted the other users to respect me as an individual rather then having the couple odd users that will only talk to you because of the status you have. In any case I accepted it, mainly because the community was lot smaller back then and they were in need of Mods at first I declined but later my conscious kicked in and figured I should at least contribute my part when needed to the forum, which I did. And we all drank sake, and roasted some marshmellows by the hot springs, the end!
Bleh, there's my 2 cents...
