I'm not pro banning but man...I really wanted that kid gone. He was wrecking every thread. It doesn't take long with a guy like that before people start drifring off and traffic is reduced to the weirdo and a couple of regulars arguing.
That's always the fine line to walk.
Yeah. I know you wouldn't have banned him if he hadn't asked and that's correct. One out of 10 of his posts were sane and relatively intelligent. It appeared that my tactic of ignoring his shit posts was working for me and a lot of others too, then no warning....
That works too. I wonder if he was frustrated that tagging guys he thought would jump in on his side wasn't getting any response and that's what drove him to drink the bleach.
If I feel like a poster is a vine that has wrapped itself completely around the boards and will ultimately drive away traffic, then I take action.
Behind the scenes I was PMing with Pasadena a lot in trying to school him to become better. I never threatened to ban him and I didn't have plans to let him go, but things couldn't continue in the direction they were going, and I was applying subtle pressure, like braces on teeth.
I PM'd with Chilly a couple weeks ago and he is very reasonable. I think he understands the criticisms. He agreed to not post on the main board. The thing is that his posts aren't altogether bad, it's just that he posts so prolifically that it feels like the boards are being choked by vines. So how to promote free speech while not driving all the patrons out of the bar?
Anyway, we'll find middle ground and get things sorted out. He's not a bad guy.
