If you are not biased, then why did you believe that him being banned was a poor decision?
My real problem with the ban is with the moderators. They act selectively against users who are problematic for them and/or who are unpopular with the community. And mainly even in those cases, it is usually in regards to behavior that takes place here on the forums.
Equally bad behavior, and even worse behavior, is often completely overlooked when the victim is a relatively "minor player" on the site, or if the behavior was mostly within the context of a debate/comment section.
What mystifies me most, is that "verbal warnings" and "temp bans" seem to be the only tools the moderators are ever willing to even consider, much less utilize. If someone does something that breaks the rules, I believe there should be an immediate reaction to rectify the situation. If I make a post insulting someone, then the post should get deleted ASAP. I could say the most horrible things possible about you right now, and I would likely get a verbal warning (at most), while the horrible comments themselves would still be preserved here for all eternity. Why should actions that violate the rules be preserved that way? Just delete them. If statements that violate the CoC got deleted, people would be less likely to such things in the first place.
The only thing the mods will delete are votes. And even that is sketchy, as some votes that blatantly violate the rules are left intact, while others get deleted for highly subjective reasons. And if someone votes an hour before the debate closes and a moderator can't get to it in time? Oh well. Tough luck.
On top of all else, the moderators actually encourage (and some times commit themselves) some of the most problematic issues that I've observed, such as allowing obvious trolls to harass people who vote against them.
Basically, my issue is with the "
spectrum of force" options that the moderators currently use. Their options are basically do nothing, or temp ban. Nothing is the most common option, with only the most outrageously severe repeat trouble makers getting petty temp bans that serve no real purpose. There should be a TON more options in between those two points, as well as beyond those two points. And the fact that most bad behavior is simply ignored or given a verbal warning is the reason why this place is basically a troll nest of the worst order.
I will give the moderators one thing; I recently appealed a moderator decision that I disagreed with, Virtuoso agreed to reconsider and eventually made the right call. That gives me a minor ray of hope. But it is a small one against the mountain of problems this site faces.
If this community really wants the drama to stop (and thats a big IF) then the only way that can ever happen is with better moderation. Smaller offenses need to be handled quickly with small responses, such as deleting rude comments. Bigger offenses need to be dealt with more harshly, without months of verbal warnings proceeding actual action. And frankly, certain users who do nothing but troll the forums without ever contributing to an actual debate need to face the very real possibility of a permanent banhammering.
Really what it boils down to is this:
Do you want this to be a serious debate website?
Or do you want it to be a life support system for the dying DDO community?
Because you obviously can't have both.
