Definitely.

The mod team has a seperate "Truck Stop" when it comes to how the Mod Team functions and what can be improved. We'll definitely talk about trying to implement a feature like this.

I really don't think she's insulting, but criticizing. Their restrictive policies are a joke and have no place in the modern world of global commerce. That is a valid opinion and I can understand how someone can hold that view while also opposing it. That's when actual discussion needs to happen.

This whole scenario sucks. That thread was one of the few reasons I've bothered to check this site lately - it's not like it provides actual up-to-date sales information anymore. I was hoping for more threads like that one, but sadly it looks like it won't happen now.

Damn that is a shame. I really enjoyed her posts and her tech analysis, and I believe from my experience that she was well liked by the community. It's a shame that one mistake from the mod team (and it was a mistake, you either moderate everyone in the thread or you moderate noone) could cause her to leave the site. Hopefully this is a decision that she reverses.

However I am pleased to see that the ban was overturned. One of the great things about this site is that it's perfectly possible for the mod team to admit a mistake upon re-evaluation of the facts and further discussion, and to rectify the situation before anyone gets hurt (most of the time). It was one of the key things which I tried to do and to work on admitting mistakes, and most importantly learning from them. I don't see that changing anytime soon and having this approachable mod team I'd say is both very important and woefully underappreciated. 

As for the whole report thing, I'll not say anything else but to say that from experience what Smeags said is very much accurate and that should be that. I even recall saying something like that in this thread only a couple of days ago...

So yeah... Sorry about all the drama Smeags but it seems as though the correct conclusion has been drawn. 

First off I want to thank everybody for the support I've received whether in public or private.  The community is truly fantastic on this website that holds everything together. 

With that said I want to clarify I did not call anybody a troll but pointed out that he isnt fooling anybody.  And as questionable as the ban may or may not be im not here to dispute it.

To continue forth, my ban was not the only questionable ban on the day.  Even more questionable was Chazore's ban for disagreeing with my ban. It wasnt even back seat moderating, just an opinion that the ban was unjust. You may try silencing the community, but the more you push, the more it divides the community.

 But that isnt all.  Angelus was also banned for making an observation on Ethomaz throwing around the word megaton. 



 Not only is the word being exaggerated, but the mods chose to leave Ethomaz's Megaton title on the Steeet Fighter IV PS4 Port release date.  I say chose to leave it because i reported that thread for a title change, but it remained.  That thread went on to receive 90 comments that was filled with ridicule and embarrassment for multiple things ethomaz said.

Then there is Tachi’s ban which was obviously talking about China’s policies, not the country.

So what does all this come down to?  The bans were not only unjust and appears a little ban happy, but shows a lack of thinking "why" this is happening. Why are they posting this?  The community is fantastic here, but continues to be divided.  None of these bans were aggressive, but opinions and observations based off trends.  It comes to logical decisions after that on what should and shouldnt be banned.  The word troll is not being thrown around by anybody, that is fact. And nobody’s country was insulted either.

Nobody is asking for the freedom of youtube posts, but theyre asking for members to be treated fairly and come to logical well thought out decisions and not to be banned for practically nothing.  And maybe this forum isnt the place for everybody, but you need to remember that individuals make this website. Not moderators, not the numbers, not me.  The users, and i for one will support them.

Likely a culmination of things as she's been slapped on the hand before for very debatable offenses.

Right you are, though I'd direct you to her wall to avoid further heartache with regards to this topic. 

Jay, you weren't moderated for calling anyone a troll. I'm not even sure why you're bringing it up when it's not even in your ban report. The report already gave a detailed reason for why you were banned:

Flaming (It really wasn't necessary to try and discredit daredevil.shark with references to his Twitter account. The rules are quite clear on this "13.Insults and flaming.Inciting abuse or harassment - of anyone. This includes attempting to discredit any user based on their preferences." Also taken from rule 13, point 9 "Similarly, avoid discussing the user who created the thread in a negative, insulting, or accusational fashion, rather than discussing the thread topic itself. If you feel a topic is baiting, trolling or rule-breaking, report it.". In this case you should have simply reported the post. On its own you might not think this post is moderatable but as seen here (http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=7218064) you seem to be making it a habit of getting personal while trying to skirt the lines. The mod team has discussed this and agreed that this is not acceptable. Please take more care in the future. Reach out to us if you're unsure.)

No one accused you of saying anyone was a troll, only that you tried to use outside elements to try and discredit a user instead of just easily debunking his points. That was the issue.

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As for Chazore, despite the fact that he is an intelligent and supportive user that we would love to have on this site, the fact is that there is a repeated history of back seat moderating/site policing. In the past six months, he has been moderated for this sort of activity 12 times, so there is a history, there is a pattern. Again, going back to Veknoid's ban report:

Other (For this wall post: "This sounds like it was discussed from the very beginning rather than after it happened and with all these rule sections being thrown up, not even I got rule sections thrown at me...I feel Jay's ban was both planned and harsh, especially given the others that were banned have been pulling stunts for ages and weren't banned for a long while until now." I understand that you're invested in this site. I know you want to protect the community from rule-breakers and protect members from what you consider unfair moderation. But you need to understand something: you are NOT a moderator on this forum. You do not have the authority to censure forum members or moderators. If you don't like the way the mod team does things, then send the team a PM or, failing that, post a formal complaint in the mod thread (as long as it's done in a respectful way). But do not attempt to police the forums. And do not imply that the mod team searched for an excuse to justify a premeditated ban. Please refer to rule #18 for more detail: "Problems With Moderation. If you have a problem with a moderator or a moderation, send the moderator who issued your moderation a private message (Rule 11 applies to PMs as well as posts, wall posts, and any other moderator-related conversation), and if you are still dissatisfied, send a private message to the Lead Moderators. Do not post these issues in the forums, outside of moderator-sanctioned threads, or on the moderator's wall - doing so will result in moderation action against you.")

The issue was obviously him insinuating that we just somehow "planned" your ban. It's just completely untrue and to suggest such a thing comes off as groundless criticism with no chance to actually help any party involved. And so his continued site policing got him in trouble.

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And Angelus... the comment had nothing to do with the topic and instead tries to shine a negative light on the thread creator. Again, our past actions help to define who we are, and Angelus has a history of making off topic comments to try and discredit those he has issues with. He's been moderated twice about the off topic shots in the past two months, so this is not a lone instance of this particular issue.

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Honestly, I feel that all three bans were executed well and explained thoroughly. And one more thing:

"You may try silencing the community, but the more you push, the more it divides the community."

These sorts of over-simplifications and gross generalizations help no one. We're not "silencing the community". We're applying moderation to those whom we deem to be breaking the rules provided. So to make such a baseless accusation is just not the way to go about this.

Im not going to read your entire comment right now.  DOnt have the time right now, nor am i intending to dispute any of the above.  However, i brought it up because people were talking about calling a spade a spade.

None the less all the bans i mentioned were uncalled for.  Not ban worthy at all. This will be my last comment in here.  

Sorry, read edit.  Im rather busy right now and dont have time