@ganymede said in Review of Recent Bans:
but perhaps you are very sad because you're seeing people on both sides who are worthy, valid, and smart at loggerheads. This puts you in a difficult position because you want to enjoy the company of all, but feel you can no longer do so because that might be seen as "taking sides."
I will chime into say that this is how I feel. I have good friends who were banned and good friends who remain, so I feel a bit caught in the middle.
I missed most of what transpired because it was in the opt-in groups, so I am not competent to speak on the merits of any individual ban.
Speaking generally, though:
On the one hand, I believe in the "house party" analogy to forums and games. If you are at a party, and the host asks you to refrain from doing something, you refrain from doing that thing. If you do not, that is a valid reason for you to be asked to leave. Full stop. There are plenty of us who had thoughts and feelings about what went down, yet still managed to respect repeated requests from admin to not throw more gasoline onto the fire.
On the other hand, I realize the above philosophy is not traditionally how MSB has been run. Especially in the Hog Pit, which basically had "call out perceived bad admin behavior" emblazoned on a banner across its door. So I can also understand how people who felt that something untoward was happening felt justified--perhaps even obligated--to speak out despite requests not to.
So mostly I just wish things had gone down differently, on both sides. It sucks to see the community splinter in two because we are not a big community to begin with.
Nevertheless, I support the changes to the code of conduct. I have long been a vocal opponent of the Hog Pit, believing that there was no way for a constructive section to effectively co-exist in a place where people were so used to mudslinging. Bad feelings and behavior constantly spilled over. I am somewhat skeptical about whether people will stay, having lived through similar experiments with ES, IGU, and even my own Ares forums, but I applaud the effort.