Quote:
Originally Posted by Tubthumper
On quite a few occasions, one member of these boards, who you probably all know, comes on these boards every so often and usually ends up with closed threads or a short-term ban. Surely this member, with such a high number of closed threads should just be banned completely as they have nothing constructive to say.
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If anyone crosses the line enough times then yes, they will be permanently banned (and there are people that have been permanently banned - mostly spammers). The reason we are more reluctant to permanently ban people now is quite simply because there is no effective way of properly banning people permanently. Sure, we can ban them, but then if they are determined enough (and most of them are sadly) then they will simply re-register with another account using a different e-mail and IP address.
A temporary ban at least allows them to keep hold of their account and so makes them less likely to re-register, but at the same time prevents them from posting - at least for a time.
There is a handful of members (no, I'm not naming names) that are often getting close to the line (but not crossing it) and managing to piss a lot of people off. Some of these people have caused enough damage to the reputation of the web site that I am seriously considering banning them not because they have broken a specific rule, but because they are contributing absolutely nothing to the online community yet doing their best to undermine the web site's purpose.
I know for a fact that some people no longer post on this site purely because of these "trouble-maker" members. This saddens me and I'm considering doing something about sooner rather than later.