Steve, any input? 
The moderation gig wasn't anything I ever tried for. So on that front, I can't answer as to whether or not it's anything worth aspiring to, as I had no aspirations. When asked about why anyone would want to do it for free, I think my response is that I couldn't fathom doing this for money where there would be an actual obligation to HAVE to moderate certain threads at certain times. What's the appeal now? Regardless of what opinions you may hold of certain individuals on staff, my honest opinion is that it's run by and large by a great group of people. I have less and less time as I grow older for stuff like IRC, but I honestly think it's a great group of people to chat with about games and what not when I have the time. So, if I lost the position tomorrow, I'd honestly miss chatting with those people.
Aside from that, the appeal is just what practically anyone who is even remotely invested in a community thinks about. Even the people here that really don't care for GAF often say things like "if I was a mod, I'd lock that thread or I'd ban that guy or etc.", and the appeal of taking the position is that you actually CAN do that as a mod. In terms of the stuff you can't be bothered with, well, that's the appeal of it being a volunteer job. I don't HAVE to do anything. And by that I just mean that it doesn't happen that you log on to the forum and see PMs from EviLore containing assignments with deadlines. If such a thing did occur, I'd have probably been fired a long time ago, as having a job and a wife and a kid doesn't present me with a lot of free time. It's one thing to attempt to moderate during your downtime when you're already reading the forum anyway. It'd be another if there were expectations to drop what you're doing and babysit some random thread ASAP.
TLDR: I'm a big dumb loser.