I may as well post my thoughts in the one thread that hasn't been purged from existence yet.
Firstly, I agree with Sanz that being told to "take it off the forum" is silly. I don't have an "off the forum" relationship with the moderation team, and I don't particularly want to send them (as a whole entity, that is) an email about anything. I do however use this forum, and have for years, and so when people start going crazy and banning half the users on it, it's bound to provoke a reaction and thus a public discussion.
Regarding the issues themselves, a "public warning" is more than just a reminder of the rules, it's something equivalent to a public display of force from the mod team. All this crap along the lines of "take it off the forum", "the decisions of the moderation team are not up for discussion" and so on is similar. You're running a public website for the general enjoyment of its users, not a military boot camp, and there's no need at all for the combative attitude taken by the moderation team as a whole for a long time, but particularly in the last few days. Publically warning people with a potential ban for minor violations of the rules is bound to provoke a reaction, because it is a personal matter, evident in the way these warnings are distributed. There's some excellent points made about the inconsistencies in the applications of the rules, but that's almost beside the point at this stage, in my view. People shouldn't be banned for the sort of thing they're being banned for at the moment, end of story. That includes both those who actually do get banned and those who do the same thing but don't.
The reality of the matter is that throwing around mass bannings is not going to improve the forum atmosphere, it's going to ruin it. Unless you're banning random spammers, you're removing people who contribute in a positive way to the forum - they make threads, create discussion, and they have friends here. So, unless their behaviour is absolutely intolerable along the lines of severe spamming, racial abuse etc, there's no reason at all to ban them from the site except to pointlessly exercise what is, after all, a largely meaningless position of authority. Moderators are there to keep things generally under control, to stop the forum being flooded with advertisements for viagra and infantile screaming matches about whose country is better, they aren't there to purify the universe of anything they deem unworthy by closing half the threads on the front page of Off Topic and threatening everyone who has a joke at their expense. (FaaipDeOiad)
I dont know how to take a quote from one thread to another,so please excuse this post if it looks untidy,i just copied and pasted it....just wanted to say that its a good post,well written and i agree with the sentiments contained within it...
__________________