Banning seems a bit excessive right now, I see several people have been naughty boy'd despite having posted here for well over half a decade or more. B3D used to be more active in the past, and while I appreciate attempts to keep up quality over quantity, I'm not sure twitchy trigger-finger banning of oldtimers is the right solution TBH.
If someone's making a mess, they have to be subject to the same rules as everyone else, regardless. Years here doesn't give
carte blanche to poop up the place. And very importantly, as Brit says, people get warnings (you wouldn't believe the number of warning posts being issued!). It's not like people are getting surprise bans with no opportunity to avoid them. Prior to next-gen rumours, the console forum was in a comfortable place with low noise (and low content, because there was nothing to discuss with these crusty old consoles
). An influx of new posters and some people with history who had been hibernating (those who turn every signal thread into a business discussion, for example) really messed things up the past months.
That meant we had three options:
1) Don't get involved. This would enable natural dialogue without concern for warnings or bannings for the users, and ensure business discussion in every single thread and make following that actual technical side of the new consoles nigh impossible.
2) Establish some managed discussion to keep separate lines of discussion separate. This means more work for the mods and those that don't care for tech or business to be able to have their discussions.
Neither is a perfect solution, each having pros and cons. Given the remit of B3D as a tech site, and the prevalence of other forums across the internet where free-for-all discussion is embraced, option 2 seems the logical choice. Option 1 would put an end to what is different about B3D.