Fair enough Naznatips. Stof has already commented that he was looking at revising the forum rules but that he didn't absolutely think it was necessary (or something like that). I know there will always be questions of interpretation and application. People usually have a better understanding of things when they have an idea of what they are standing under.

jeese, how ridiculous. People expect American like democracy to be implemented to the tee in every aspect of their life.

You know what? My house is not a democracy. If you come into my house I can tell you to leave for whatever the hell reason I want. You do not have the freedom to do whatever you want in my house, and I can make up whatever stupid rules I want. If you don't like it, then you can leave my house. That is not ridiculous, that is not absurd, that's plain and simple and I would extend the same respect to your house, and you would expect it without question. If you came into my house and told me my rules are stupid, or wanted to debate the validity and consistency of my rules, or the justice of said rules I could care less. My house is not a democracy. My house, I pay to be here, I put work into my house, you have no right to come into my house and tell me how to do things. If you want to make a suggestion, pay some me damn taxes and maybe I'll consider it.

This is ioi's house. If you don't like what he's doing, no one forces you to be here. Hell, just check the numbers and leave if you want. You can enjoy this site without ever having to talk to a mod, or put yourself into a position to be judged by them. You want a better community, go find one or create one yourself but just bitching here doesn't fix anything. You think you have a right to complain here? When was the last time you were forced to pay ioi something to be here?

I should have posted earlier;  you took the words right out of my mouth.  His point would have had much more meaning if he had not started with such an insult to the site.  Although, I don't think that a ban was really needed.  A warning; yes.  A ban; not so much. 

However, there are a few other factors that probably didn't help him.  

1.  I think that he only had about 30-40 posts.  I don't think that that is enough time to earn the respect of anyone very easily.  He was still within the first-impressions stage where any one of his comments could greatly change how a person views him.  

2.  He insulted something that ioi has spent nearly countless hours trying to perfect.  I wouldn't find it hard to believe that that was a personal hit towards ioi and the site, so ioi's reaction doesn't really surprise me.  Had he tried to use constructive criticism instead of insults, I doubt that there would be much of a problem.

3.  Not only did he insult the site, but he also seemed to be attacking it and the mods.  His second, and technically, third sentence accused the mods of banning people for speaking out against them.  I believe the situation that he was talking about was how Leo-j had been banned.  The  quote was:

 Sorry to cut this short( I am going to a lan party now).  In the end I think that ioi was more in the right(than the wrong) for banning crucial, but to me a warning first would have probably been better.  A warning would have also probably avoided this whole situation.

That is a bad analogy. While ioi owns the site, the users are what make it special. Set-up rules that are bad and people will leave, or just not stay and the site dies. Forums have to be democratic to a certain extent to continue to exist. Any silly notion that those that regularly post on the forums should just deal with whatever arbitrary rules are set-up is beyond stupid. The rules have to be fair and questionable to have any kind of serious community.

And if the community doesn't like it they can leave. It can be ioi's loss if they do, but he's not obligated to listen to them.

That's why the community is able to make suggestions, but not demands. ioi is in no way obligated to obey or explain himself to anyone here. That's why accusations and demands for answers and never letting it go so incredibly dumb. If you want to make a suggestion to make it better, great. But demanding justice, and ranting about it, arguing with anyone who will listen, dumb.

Anyway guys, I have to get back to cleaning up the game database, but I hope that's helped alleviate some of your concerns. I certainly want posters to be happy and comfortable here, and I'm sure ioi does too. At this point if you would like something changed please submit it as a suggestion. I don't think there is anything more to be gained by continuing this discussion. The members absolutely make the site what it is, but understand that ioi goes through a lot to keep it up and running as a great place for people to come and discuss video games. No one and nothing is perfect.

No it is not. Not speaking up in a passionate manner when something upsets you is dumb. You should always be willing to rant against anything you think is just plain wrong. The attitude of "if you don't like it, leave," has killed more internet forums than most can count.

Well, I see that what I said earlier did not say this clearly, but I meant to say that I thought his very small insult warranted a warning and not a ban, but that I could understand if ioi chose to give him a very brief ban.

As being "down to debates on the severity of the punishment", that's what this was always about. Punishment ranges from nothing, through informal admonition, through formal warning, through one-day ban, three-day ban, etc., through one-month and three-month ban, through year-long ban to permaban.

Saying "well he deserved a ban, so any length of ban is at the discretion of the mod" does not seem right to me. If that is not what you meant, please explain in more detail. If that is what you meant, please justify in more detail.

 The house argument is a little bit of a straw man. With the proper badge a person can come into your house, seize your property, put you in jail and hold you there without bail and without providing you legal counsel. That's just in America, not sure about other parts of the world.We're talking about legal authority here, right?

No one is forced to pay ioi anything to be here. True. You do have to spend time to be here. As you get older you'll find that it becomes more important to invest wisely. 

To use your reasoning about "a better community", what does your "bitching" here accomplish? Should anybody be influenced by what you have to say? Do you have a right to say it?