Mods, am I allowed to say that the Xbox Series X has been a failure or will I be banned for it? Just wondering, really want to know my swimlanes here on the forum.
Also, If I buy gold and troll PS5 threads, will I be immune from being banned? I really don't mean this as a bribe, just innocent curiosity.
As always the context (i.e. which thread, and at what point you choose to post your take) is telling of whether you are trying to have an honest discussion - as is the way you present your case. For example, putting a driveby comment in response to an Xbox/Sony news release that is just 'Xbox/PS5 has been a failure' then it's likely your post will be viewed dimly. We don't have a set-in-stone constitution as at the end of the day it's a messageboard, and some posts need to take into consideration peripheral and non-surfaceable personal issues. It's pretty clear when people are starting threads to elicit a reaction, like
this one yesterday, and sometimes it is even clearer based on the users previous history. What might be a benign comment for one poster is a passive aggressive troll from another, hence the break for this
specific user for what appears at surface level, not a big deal (but based on previous warnings, reply bans and even recent activity - within the last three days - etc. is just a clear attempt to fly an antagonstic post under the radar). If this was a user with no previous console warring or antagonistic posts then it's likely it would be treated as face value. The benefit of the doubt has been eroded for some users over time. For some basic guidelines, these pretty much cover how we escalate/make decisions.
Light touch: 'Edit' the post and just send a notification to stop it and move on (usually for people with no prior warnings/reply bans and clean history).
Light touch: Reply ban and a notification to stop it (this is usually for people with no prior warnings/reply bans but do have the odd comment in their history).
Medium touch: Warnings (can also be coupled with above). This is for people who regularly try to derail threads into the same arguments.
Firm touch: Temporary ban. Issued for people who have a number of warnings or members who have a clear history of consistently console warring in most threads. Consistent offenders will bypass Light touch and Medium touch. If there is an element of 'good behaviour' prior then the ban may be a few days up to a week, rather than two weeks).
Firm(er) touch: Temporary ban/Permanent ban. Longer temporary bans are issued at this point for those users refusing to change. At the end of the day, reply banning users from multiple threads is a massive overhead, and we are less likely to engage in these 'benefit-of-doubt' measures if the user is consistently in mutiple threads causing drama.
You will see most bans for console warring these days affect the same 10-12 users by and large. What we are seeing now is these people expecting other members to be fast tracked straight to bans because that is where they have built up to over time. Hopefully, they now reflect and understand how annoying it was for other members to read their drivel while they were being reply banned/warned without bans. Now they will have to experience this from the other side. If they can't self moderate or develop the maturity to participate honestly then they will still be treated as above. If they are being baited deliberately then this is also taken into context, and the reporters are told they 'reap what they sow' to an extent.
Being a gold member has no effect on moderation. You have seen gold members permabanned on the ban page.
As an aside, can we get this thread back on topic now please? We will have to issue reply bans if necessary, because it's not easy to pick through pages of personal/tangential arguments before coming to posts that are genuine questions/appeals etc.
Thanks folks!
Soapy Wooder
