It's not the worst thing in the world to continue the argument about why XBL should be free (it really should be). The issue was that such posts were off-topic, making a simple thread about a good deal into another flame war.
If those posts had been made in a "should we pay for LIVE" thread, fewer of them would've been equally bannable.
On a side note, i've really fallen off my game. Full time work will do that to you
Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.