Before Satchmo pulled the trigger, i was very close to doing it myself. I stopped and I decided to get the opinions of the other mods first and not one of them disagreed with the decision. I didn't ban boo boo but I would have.
Banning long standing members like boo boo is a difficult decision and it isnt made lightly. There's a reason I didn't go through with the ban myself and yet stopped to get the opinions of others first. I knew it would be controversial but I have to say that in my opinion it was a decision that not only had to be made but it was something that should have happened a long time ago.
Established members who contribute to the forum are not members we like to see leave or members we enjoy banning but if any of us feel that the decision has to be made for the good of the community then it will be made. And yes, that does mean that I feel this was for the good of the community.
Boo has, in the past, been someone I have enjoyed conversing with and when he wasn't going around continously insulting and provoking other members, he contributed a lot to the site. However his behaviour, for the most part, i felt was disruptive and the fact of the matter is he was warned on countless occasions that his current behaviour would incur moderation and he refused to change it. He recieved warnings, infractions and short term bans over the years as we tried to make it clear to him that under the rules of the site, he could not continue behaving as he was and he simply refused to take notice of this. Once you have given him numerous short term bans then there really is not another lenient option remaining when he comes back and picks up where he left off. He exhausted all of those options and never changed his attitude nor took any notice of the warnings he was given.
Someone wanted to be shown what rules he broke? The
FIRST rule of the forum is:
Boo has been a member of this forum for years. He knows the rules. He used to be a mod for Gods sake. Not only did he either never learn this rule or simply choose not to follow it but when he was actively moderating this forum he went on an impromptu banning spree and banned the accounts of half of the members of the forum. He has shown a pattern of insulting other members, of not heeding warnings and even said himself that he thought the mods would continue to give him longer and longer bans until he got a perma. He knew his behaviour was against the very same rules he was once entrusted to enforce, he knew that his behaviour was going to get him banned and he outright refused to change it.
If you feel that behaviour like boo's is something that should be allowed here then thats your opinion and you're entitled to it. But the fact remains that it IS written in the rules that to insult, troll or personally attack others will not be tolerated. Other forums are happy to accomodate this kind of behaviour, wont moderate it and will allow the forum to break out into petty arguments and squabbling instead of trying hard to keep the forum as on-topic and as welcoming as possible. The way I see it is that this is the job the mods try hard to do here, without taking away the right people have to their opinions and active discussions. Some members may feel we achieve this and some may not. Again, if you feel we don't accomplish this then you are entitled to your opinion and to voice this opinion but each of us will moderate the way we see fit and based on what is best for the site in general overall. If one of us makes a decision that proves unpopular with the rest of the team then that would be addressed too, its not like we do whatever he want. But on this occasion i think that at least the majority of the mods are in agreement.
I knew some members wouldn't like this and believe me, it gives me no satisfaction to have the account of one of our longest standing members banned but fact of the matter is that he had more chances to avoid this than the vast majority of members will ever get. He knew this was coming and had countless of opportunities to stop us from doing it. He chose not to take any notice.
The month long ban he recieved not so long ago was his final warning. I'm sure a lot of the mods would have made the case that he had used up all of his lives before that one too but it served as his last chance. When he insults forum members just hours after serving this ban for insulting forum members, he didn't really leave us with much choice.