Consistancy is definitely important and we always strive for it, however its also necessary that we as mods have flexibility to deal with situations the way in which we feel is best.

We were getting a lot of reports from that particular thread and against multiple users (not just zero and lurker), users were also actively posting in that thread at the time we were discussing what to do. In cases like that we tend to give an in thread warning first. This serves a few purposes from my perspective:

1. to calm users down, and let them know we are actively watching this thread.

2. to avoid mass bannings

3. Should someone continue to break the rules or go against the warning, it becomes clearer that a moderation is necessary.

4. We can still moderate a user if a particular post was bad enough

5. You will find much less borderline, stealth trolling type posts once a warning is given in thread

Once the in thread warning was given none of the reported users continued down that line of posting. This went in their favour.

The next thing we did was look at the posts that were reported. In this particular case there was a back and fourth between Zero and Lurker, we were discussing moderation for both. Definitely some baiting and flaming going on there from both sides IMO. There were pros and cons for moderation, but since the in thread warning was given the mod team decided against it for both.

Perhaps another mod has a different take on this situation but this is how it went down if i can recall correctly and why we made the decisions we did.

Also you are welcome to bring up any inconsistancies in moderation, and as a mod team we will need to answer to those cases with good reason. Just remember that we are not here to be mod robots, with exact steps to take in every situation. It is quite often that we need to take into the account the context of the situation, the users involved, the history of the users, the consequences should we moderate etc. If we didnt do this we would be bad moderators and I can assure you the community would be worse off if we were. Striking a balance between consistancy and flexibility is key to a good moderation team. And also having good logical reasons for the decisions made doesnt hurt as well.

Agreed. I tend to get along well with Xbox fans, due to my regularly participating in MS-related discussion. Ironically, this means I moderate a disproportionately large number of pro-Xbox users, given I am in these threads a lot.

As an aside, I'd like to point out we tend to adopt a similar approach when we know a mod doesn't get along with a specific user. That is, any action will generally be discussed in a group, with another mod making the decision as to what action should be taken,

Stop bullying the mod team Rol!

I'm sorry but I disagree with the ban given to me because of this post:

"But but Pc is cheaper, but but Pc is the master race but but Pc must and is always infinitely better than consoles.

#Ps4masterrace

( At those people that are going to bring up the frame rate difference, tell me when most of the so-called Pc master race have computers with these specifications and that doesn't cost more than a PS4:
Intel CPU Core i7 3770 3,4 GHz or
AMD CPU AMD FX-8350 4 GHz
Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 770 or
AMD GPU Radeon R9 290
RAM 8GB )

Please don't take this as offensive. This is probably the only time a console owner can feel as if he has a copy which is equall to that of the PC version, in terms of graphics." ( To clafiry the last paragraph was written in spoiler text but is written in normal style for these purposes )

Now let's compare this above post to a YouTube comment which is/was super popular:

Nobody Loves You

Nobody Needs You

Nobody Wants You

Nobody Likes You

Don't cry my name is Nobody.

The first four lines, if only those are read can be seen as offensive to the person who is being targeted. Taking that last line into account though turns the whole post from being offensive to giving a huge compliment to whom those four previous lines where directed to.

Let's see my post then. The first three paragraphs can be seen as a method of baiting/trolling PC gamers by telling them that the PS4 is better and that they lie about the superiority of PC gaming and so on but when bringing the first three paragraphs in context with the last paragraph, one can see that the post rather than being a baiting/trolling post towards PC gamers is actually a compliment to them since this is one of the only times ( Referring to the Witcher 3 were the Ps4 and PC version look almost the same ) where the PS4 is even remotely close to PC gaming and overall PC gaming destroys ( in terms of graphics ) PS4 gaming.

I would also like to add that the warning mentioned in the ban report was given exactly four months and 5 days ago which means that even using the progression system this site uses I would have been in line only for a warning if in fact my post was a trolling to PC gamers one.

Here's how I see it; not knowing the particular details of this case.

You received a warning for the same topic in the past, and your post was early in a thread designed to discuss The Witcher 3. Such posts are naturally going to steer discussion down one route and one route only, and thus due to your previous warning a short ban (one day only I stress) was issued. It would be for these reasons that your post was moderated; "context" and "history" both being satisfied. I imagine in this case Raven decided to go for a 1 day ban instead of an additional warning, which is something I respect as I don't have all the details.

Also, comparing to YouTube comments is not the best idea. Comments on YouTube have a vastly different collection of rules to those on VGC, so that comparison can't really be drawn.

If you'd like to know more details I'd advise contacting Raven or Smeags directly through PM. 

It actually was a thread about the PS4 vs PC on how Wither 3 runs on both devices and not a thread to just discuss the Witcher 3. The post itself doesn't break the rules and in fact doesn't place the thread off topic, it's a PS4 vs PC ( Witcher 3 Performance thread ) and I stated that PC gamers expect games to always run better on PC and here is a game proving them wrong, I then went on to state that PC gaming in a whole is much better than console gaming ( in terms of graphics for most games ).

Also from the way Raven wrote the ban note it was clear he just wanted me to stop making fun of the master race when some of their expectations fail to become real ( Previous Warning was about me stating "So much for the #Pcmasterrace" when GTA was delayed back in January for two whole months). I don't know about you but then we also need to stop Xbox fans from making fun of Sony fans when sometimes out of the blue moon Xbox beats PS4, during one month of an NPD even though Sony fans expected the PS4 to win hands down, that's what it honestly sounds like now. ( That's just one example where fan bases make fun at other fanbases, when the product this fan base follows fails to deliver )

Have you PM'd the mod that banned you?

Yes, the thread was to compare the PS4 version to the PC version; however that doesn't give you a right to take a sarcastic pot shot at PC fans and to drag the "master race" into the discussion, which is why I imagine Raven saw the previous warning with a similar tone and decided to go for the ban. As I said before and as starcraft has subsequently mentioned however, the best recourse would be to message Raven directly about the matter. That way you'll be having a conversation with the one who issued the moderation, as opposed to me trying to second guess his actions from working alongside him previously.

Also as for the bolded, I agree. But to be honest we need to stop every group of fans making fun of another because it merely results in a toxic environment and thread/post quality suffers because of it. Ofcourse, if this was the case then there wouldn't be a point in having moderators in the first place because everyone would just get along. Alas; the only thing which can be done is to trust in the mod team and to report any such posts (a report which isn't acted upon isn't going to result in a "negative mark" on your record after all), and then any offenders will be caught and moderated shortly thereafter.

However do note that comments like the final line (italics) are the kind of thing which is what causes such arguments. In general, and I'm not meaning in this thread or this post or whatever now, it's possible to make a point without having to knock down another company, console, game or user in the process. 

I'm curious why it's still allowed to call a console that is still being manufacturerd "dead". It's obviously an exaggeration, but other users still respond by describing how it's being supported, then stress that the console is still good even if the sales didn't meet the initial expectations of the manufacturer. This process usually takes multiple posts, and it derails threads that were presumably about sales. 

I personally find the use of these words or statements stupid. I always have to double check to see if the user was trolling or not, because it's obviously a fallacy said by an individual who is either ill-informed or can't bother to find the words to describe the current state of the device.

If you don't mind me asking; do you have any examples of such comments where a user has called a console or consoles "dead"? I have moderated this and seen it moderated in the past, so any examples would be greatly appreciated. Aside from that the best recourse would be to report the troublesome posts and if it isn't moderated, feel free to send a PM with the post link to the head mod (Smeags/Trucks) asking for clarification of what action was taken and why. Doing this will provide you with a better understanding of what is deemed moddable and not moddable on this site.