Night of the Long Knives?

[Maerlande]

Now I wonder, if they do have to listen to the users, which side should they listen to.

To continue my argument, this is easy to answer. The one that sells the game. There are a number of ways to look at who helps sell Dominions. Personally, I think it's the big contributors who write guides, help noobs, make mods. So if it was me, I'd sure as heck listen to Baalz, QM, Sombre, lch, Llamabeast, GP and so on. Because, like I said, the entire purpose of this forum is to make Shrapnel and Illwinter money.

Again: What makes Shrapnel money? Selling games. How do you sell an old game like Dominions? Advertise. And what the heck is cheaper advertising than free content, guides, mods etc. Heck, they even get free multiplayer servers with hosting fees paid by volunteers.

[Maerlande]

What communion thread?

[FAJ]

Did Sombre even want to stay on these boards? The moderation team tells him, "To stay here, you have to follow the rules". He says, "I will not follow your rules". Was his ban a surprise to him? He never came off as an ignorant person to me, I am sure he knew the consequences.

Sombre is a great contributor, and like everyone else I am not happy he is banned from the community here. It is a niche game with very few active contributing members of his magnitude; it sucks hard that he had to be removed.

I don't think the moderation team is in the wrong for banning him. I just think it sucks and the community is worse off for it.

[ano]

I would like to humbly ask that Sombre’s sentence be sweetened. Please temp ban him as per the forum rules. Consider this, if you will, an act in favor of the community.

I'd like to second this.
I never used any of Sombre's mods, and I never liked the most of his peppery words, and I do not think that people should be treated in different way depending on their contributions (to community or wherever), but, as many people said here, the rules say there should be some temporary bans before permaban and if moderators are here to check the fulfillment of the rules, they are supposed to fulfill them themselves. It doesn't matter who the banned user is, the rules should aim for being equal for everybody (although it is clearly unreachable)

[Agrajag]

Hi. I've been away from this forum for a very long time (because of lack of time for things like the mega timewaster that is Dominions.), and I've recently resumed lurking and now I feel like I need to post.
As an ex-moderator (ex due to the same lack of time that caused me to leave this forum), I think that the case of someone explicitly stating the he refuses to follow the forum rules (which I understand is the case) is a very complicated one from a moderator's perspective because intentionally breaking the rules is much worse than breaking them by accident (including in a fit of anger).
That said, I found that the best solution in case of repeat offenders that are important contributors to the community is to repeatedly punish them (in escalating gravity) until they realise that the severe punishment is not worth the short term "fun" in breaking the rules. Even if they disregard the rules, they eventually stop breaking them out of fear of punishment, while still contributing to the community. IMO a permaban is a tool reserved for obvious spammers or trolls (mostly people that are unproductive and don't contribute, and that have been spamming\trolling since their first day on the forum.)
So to sum up my opinion from what I've been able to gather on this event by reading the forum, it seems like the punishment is too great and not in the best interest of the community, but it is not unjustified because openly disregarding the rules and explicitly stating your disregard for them is a very difficult thing to put a moderator through and doing so does not only show disrespect for the moderator (for putting him through it) but for the community as well.
Personally, from what I remember of Sombre back when I visited the forum consistently I find it hard to believe that he would act in such a way.

That is all I have to say and I shall now resume lurking (since I have little time for more than lurking.)

[rdonj]

Well, it appears to be a bit of a moot point anyway, since sombre has stated now that he doesn't even want unbanned at this point. He is not coming back.

Neither is burnsaber. So the two most prolific modders in the community are gone for good, and that section of the forum will be much, much quieter without them.

[sector24]

I would say the forum is run "efficiently". I wouldn't say it's run "well". Here's why I think this; when I moderated forums in the past, I always made sure that I was also a member of the forums that I moderated. I contributed in a positive fashion, occasionally joked around with the members, but most importantly the members knew that I was a fan of the game first, and a moderator second. And if I had to bring down the ban hammer, I did it with the member's understanding that I am one of them and it was best for the community. They didn't always agree with me but they understod that I understood their interests. The people who work at Shrapnel are distinctly "outside" the community.

I don't know if you have a favorite Dominions nation/spell/unit, or a list of things you like (or don't like) about the game. I don't even know if you play Dominions 3 or have even tried it. I don't even know if you like video games or just work at Shrapnel because your husband does. You have invested nothing personal to Dominions 3, so when you are called in to ban someone its like you're the meteorite from deep space that purges Atlantis from the seas.

When this happens in the future, I think a better approach would be for one of the volunteer moderators who is a "member" of the forum to do the banning and you support them in your decision. When Shrapnel Games does the banning it makes you look like the faceless entity the draws universal ire while at the same time making it look like the volunteer moderators can't actually moderate without you. Additionally, it's very poor form to delete threads without explanation. A simple, "We are removing this thread from public view pending a review" goes a long way towards appearing less totalitarian.

I don't post this to be negative, I hope something constructive can be taken from it. Even if your decision was correct, you lack (and have always lacked) the soft touch that makes hard decisions bearable. I think the biggest stink about the whole thing is that it doesn't seem like the community believes that Shrapnel Games has the best interests of Dominions 3 at heart.

[Ragnarok-X]

I feel like sombre is trying to force Shrapnel into granting him free passage, like THEY should ask him to please return. That is wrong.

[Squirrelloid]

Sector24: Part of the problem is that our community-raised moderators rarely participate in the community anymore. Since I've joined I've only seen Edi really contribute to the bug reporting thread, and Ballbarian seems to not have done much more than post his map making utility. So to anyone who hasn't been around forever, both of them seem like outsiders.

[Humakty]

I'm all for the rules, and fully support the decision of the mods/admins (what would I do in their stead ? Not that easy to figure out, methinks), but it is sad to see a pillar of the modding community disappear like this, especially when, like me, you've used their production for hours of play.