Blue Smarties said:
I was banned last Sunday for a week, this was my first ban for such a period and so it’s the first time I’ve experienced the behaviour which others have mentioned previously, behaviour I thought was exaggerated by posters in the wrong trying to sling some mud.
I suppose this is open to interpretation, however the comment "....this was my first ban for such a period...." gives the impression that you've never actually been banned before. Whilst I can't attest as to the length of time any previous ban may have lasted, and whether said ban was more or less than a week, I can state that this recent 1 week ban was actually the 5th ban you had received within the last 2 and a half year period, there may have been earlier bans than this but thats as far back as I could search.
Now, maybe on this occasion, the reason wasn't explicitly explained to you, however given the "previous" with regards to bannings it would seem likely this ban was part of a pattern of behaviour that finally puched the moderator over the edge. It's likely that, in isolation, the final "nail in the coffin" wouldn't be a bannable offence, but when taken as part of a prolonged period of borderline posting/behaviour, it was deemed worthy of a ban. It's also worth noting that the bans have been issued by multiple different moderators so can in no way be claimed as part of any personal vendetta against you by someone.
We try our utmost not to ban regular posters, the vast majority of bans we issue are to WUM's, supporters of other clubs who post in an unacceptable manner, and spammers. The fact that a regular poster, under such a lenient system, has accumulated 5 bans, should really be a wake up call as to the way in which you post. It shouldn't really be a spark for you to query the ways and means by which the moderators make, and inform members, of their actions.
The moderators act as a team, one moderator can't act on their own personal agenda. Personally, if I found Poster A had just received his 2nd, or 3rd ban, I'm of the opinion that's goodnight Vienna for that person. A serial offender, causing problems multiple times on the board, I'd bin them permanently and have done with it. I can't do that however. That's not how being part of the moderating team works. We have to make decisions like that based on a consensus of opinion and, in the majority of cases, we tend to err towards leniency. Rightly or wrongly we don't want to see City supporters banned permanently if we can help it, in many cases we've created a rod for our own backs by allowing troublesome posters to remain well beyond the point of reason in an attempt to try and cajole them into more appropriate posting.
In your personal situation I'd probably just be happy I was still here and able to post, rather than questioning why, on this specific occasion, it hadn't been explained to me exactly why I had been banned, again.
