We do on occasion ban members from the forum — recognize that this is not a decision we ever make lightly or without provocation. In the history of the site, we have only banned a handful of people. Recognize also, that this is not done on a whim, or after a person breaks one or two small rules. Members who break the rules are informed that they have broken the rules every time that they do so — if they break the rules several times, it should not come as a surprise to them that they’ve been banned. If you’ve been contacted several times by the mods/admins about your forum behavior, you should be asking yourself a) what you can do to improve your behavior and not get banned, and b) if this is the right forum/site for you if you are unable to follow its rules. Additionally, on certain occasions, we will ban a person outright for extremely inappropriate behavior (swearing after being told not to, or using racial epithets, etc.). In such cases, the member will usually receive at least one warning or strike, but after that, if they continue behaving in such a completely outrageous and inappropriate manner, we will immediately ban them.

There’s a common practice among those who are banned to PM all their friends and tell them how “mean” the mods or admins are, and how unfair the entire situation is. If someone comes to you with a sob story about why they got banned and how mean and awful the mods are, please take it with a grain of salt, and be aware that you are only getting one side of the story. We never make banning decisions without a great deal of thought and discussion, and it’s never done without reason. We’re just doing our jobs to keep the site and community a happy and healthy place — follow the rules, take seriously any communication from the mods, and you have nothing to fear.