Posted 11 September 2014 - 08:42 AM

...and I'm back from a 5-day suspension.I want to give my opinion on why i think moderation should be used on a case-by-case basis and why the moderators should talk to those who's post they feel needs moderated, but first i want to explain why.I'm not going to repeat what i said in the post that got me the suspension (for obvious reasons) but simply explain what happened to get me my first ever suspension in any game forum.I made a post which i later realized, after Niko gave the suspension, could easily be, and was misconstrued. It was not Niko's fault. They way i worded the post made it look like i was insulting PGI when it was actually a comment on game development companies using existing IP's in general, and i think the reason i didn't realize this when i wrote it is because of my time on the MWO forums.I've been active in game forums for around 20 years. If i like a game i also like discussing it on the official forums. I have been involved in topics ranging from casual discussions to organizing server-wide events and i consider myself to be a polite person, but i have limits and i think the MWO forums have often pushed me past that limit.The MWO forums can be a cesspit. In all my time on game forums I've never seen one in which "players" harass, ridicule, or outright attack the devs. At first i thought it was because of the way PGI have mishandled (my opinion) the BT franchise, but lately it is becoming increasingly clear that it is also because "some people just want to watch the world burn". I had thought that the idiots that go so far as threatening devs was only on these forums. I guess not. It seems to be a growing problem, although tbh i haven't noticed anything like that on the other game forums i use.The post that got me the suspension was short and to the point. I think that my time on the MWO forums has been less about discussing the game and more of just repeating the same things over and over to the point where i just can't be bothered to write out a long post anymore. This i do consider PGI's fault. Because of the lack of communication with the players we are still talking about the same issues since closed beta and the "discussions" just never change. For example, we have been discussing how role warfare should be handled, yet Russ recently said that role warfare was already part of the game because all weight classes are viable. I guess Russ hasn't read the huge amount of threads covering the subject in the past 3 years or he would have said something....So, eventually, i do think that moderators should contact the poster who's post needs moderated explaining the problem. If the post was deleted nothing more needs said, but otherwise the moderator should tell the poster to change the post. I had to contact a moderator and that moderator had to spend time trying to find out why i had been suspended. Please inform people of moderated posts and explain the situation.Of course repeated offenders will be known and in that case i suppose there will be no need for the moderators to contact other than to explain why the poster is suspended/banned.Oh and also, i think that having to pay for the privilege of using a forum is a ridiculous idea. Moderate the offenders, but don't limit the opinions of players to those who can afford to express them.

Edited by Wolfways, 11 September 2014 - 08:46 AM.