-snip-

I have noticed that there's still a big problem with attacks on sales insiders or people who put in the effort to give everyone a better idea about sales.

There have been multiple attempts to discredit Benji (a ResetEra user, might actually be the same guy who was BenVTrigger on VGC) in the current NPD thread and this is the only post that got moderated:
http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=8937860

That's a moderation for flaming for no other reason than context being ignored despite awareness of the context being displayed here:
http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=8937873

Not only does it look like the actions of the true offenders get condoned, they might get actively protected. Sure, it's okay to doubt someone, especially if said someone has made it repeatedly clear that he does not have insight for more than one retail chain. But there's a difference between reasonable doubt and denial of reality.

This has been an ongoing general problem on VGC, that people with a strong platform bias attack people who provide the community with information. The attacks are launched because the offenders in question don't like reality and that behavior is especially prevalent among PlayStation fans. Examples before the most recent incident:

1. The Amazon thread was under heavy fire because it showed Switch winning. The work of various people who kept the thread up to date was continuously attacked with the justification that Amazon predicted Switch to win one month (November 2017) when it didn't. Switch went on to win December 2017 and January 2018, but that didn't stop the attackers. Amazon did not have a perfect track record before Switch launched, so an occasional inaccuracy did in no way justify the relentless bashing. As far as I remember, nobody ever got moderated for it, despite it being so disheartening for the people who put in the work.

2. Likewise, the follow up to the Amazon thread (Amazon ultimately did see its value as a sales predictor reduced because of a dispute between Amazon and Sony) also came under fire despite being labeled as a work in progress. Same story here: Show Switch winning when it isn't on one occasion and apparently it's all rubbish. No moderations here either. Instead the people who called out the offenders were almost moderated.

3. Most notably, VGC was blessed for a very short time with someone who had access to NPD numbers:
http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/profile/154959/librarian13579/

That was for the July 2017 NPD thread when Switch won the month after the PS4 had won the two preceding months. The insider's credibility was called into question because he had Switch as the winner for the month. The mod team failed to make the proper judgment calls, so the insider decided to stop posting altogether. That brings us full circle to the observation that zorg1000 made.

Conclusion

The mod team has to pay more attention to context and take appropriate measures, because we've repeatedly had insiders and valuable members call it quits because heavily biased people didn't like it that reality didn't line up with their console preference, and because the mod team failed to address such issues in proper fashion. There shouldn't be preferential treatment given to the people who don't contribute in a positive fashion to this community, but it happens all too often. The mod team should know this community well enough to recognize which kind of people are starting the trouble and it can't be that the mod team prefers troublemakers over sales contributors on this forum.

A shame that ioi isn't around anymore, because he didn't hesitate to hand out week-long bans on a whim to people who attacked sales numbers and sales people. Back then people didn't form groups to attack good contributors, because it was abundantly clear what happened to troublemakers. But today it's possible for people to band together and then play the victim when they get called out. Something's not right when there is a higher risk of moderation for calling out bad behavior than committing bad behavior itself.

Do you mind sharing why?

Banned last month for insulting somebody when turning their logic on why we shouldn't be allowed use the term "gays" into other examples to prove my point. Fair enough. When I return from the 3 day ban, i find out my posts have to be approved by a moderator for an entire month.

Considering I'm now on too many gaming forums I said fuck this so did my best to get permabanned. I spent the guts of a month writing "wank" or a variation of that word alongside every post. The mods didn't approve the wank parts of my posts but also did nothing in terms of moderations. So I wrote "Uruguay" on the wall of the guy who I was banned over originally and now I'm banned permanently. I presume that's what it was for. 

Why did you need to be permabanned ? Wouldn’t be simpler to just stop visiting said forum ?

Why did you need to be permabanned ? Wouldn’t be simpler to just stop visiting said forum ?

I have a very addictive personality and find it hard to break old habbits. I wanted to be done with that forum but i knew I'd keep returning if I could. 

First step taken. :P

I did something similar at N4G, but I was WAY more over the top than you. I won't even repeat the gruesome things I said, but I will say that I only initially received a 3 day ban, which really only served to underscore why I was tanking my account on purpose to begin with. I also started to change my username, and used sketchy avatars. I can't even remember what my final username was. About a week in to the process, I referred to the female reviewer that lowballed Uncharted 4 as a hooker, and THAT'S what did me in. Poor SagataSanshiro. Roaming the N4G wastelands, eating cold beans straight out of the can. :(