[Tim Brooks]

Having been a bystander through most of this and owner of these forums, here is my take.

I’m personally saddened by the ban and consequent bans

Having talked to everyone involved I can assure you that Shrapnel Games, the admins and the moderators feel the same way.

They are free spirits and not shy about expressing their opinion, if at times bluntly.

Agreed, but bluntness is so easily misinterpreted. In the process of expressing their opinions with bluntness they ran people (mainly new members, but also some regulars) off of these forums. This is not the way Shrapnel Games wants these forums to operate. And the escalating bluntness was where we drew the line.

although they’ll likely always push the limits, they are overall positive and an important part of this community, we don’t want to lose them.

Pushing the limits - that is what we are no longer willing to tolerate. And yes, they were important to the community. And still are. They are free to continue to make mods, find a community that is willing to put up with their behavior, and support Dominions.

We said originally that we would consider having them back, but that they must follow the rules. This is the disconnect to me. Sombre was banned because he was given this choice. The moderators asked him to follow the rules and play nice. His reponse was I will continue in the way I always have and ignore your requests asking me to change my behavior.

And as far as Shrapnel's side, who knows what to believe? We've just been given some rumor and innuendo of a past pattern of bad behavior.

You know. The admins and moderators just yesterday had a discussion about this. Should we have an open door policy when it comes to forum discipline? I am still of the opinion that what people say in PMs should remain private unless they give their consent. And I still believe that contacting people by PM and asking them to follow the rules is a better choice than making every instance of this public.

But since Shrapnel is unable or unwilling to share documentation, who's to know the 'truth'? Unless and until Shrapnel shares those records, there are always going to be some people who doubt their sincerity. If they can't share that information, they better get used to some people being left with a bad taste in their mouth over the issue that started this whole imbroglio.

And once the documentation is shared, there will still be two sides, as we have seem through this whole fiasco. Is it not true that whatever we shared would be open to interpretation? I think so. The ban to Sombre came because we interpreted what he said. In the last eleven years, this isn't the first time something like this has happened. We went into the ban on Sombre totally knowing that 'people would be left with a bad taste in their mouth'.

Three more people got banned, and several others have expressed their intention to pack their bags and leave for good. Was it really necessary to let it come to that?

It is sad that it came to that. But predictable.

Where are these temporary bans I've heard of?

This seems to be a sticking point for alot of people. The three banned after Sombre, well they wanted to be banned and were. Temp bans only work with people who are willing to change. Sombre indicated he wouldn't change (yes, that is how we interpreted what he said). Why temp ban someone who told you he would ignore your descipline measures? To make the community feel better? See I don't believe it would have made the community any happier. After we got to the permanent ban, we would be right back here doing this anyway.

In my opinion, the way this whole situation has been handled has made Shrapnel seem very unprofessional.

Does anything along these lines ever make a company look professional? My guess is no. But you know what? Do you really think we would be any more professional if we posted details about a users behavior that would potentially reflect negatively on him after he's been banned and not allowed to make posts in his own defense? That allowing people to run off other forum members, allowing name calling and the use of profane language, etc. is going to make us look more professional.

The bottom line. We did what we did not out of anger. Not because we disliked people. And definitly not to make people angry. We took action because we felt we had to. Every day Shrapnel Games makes decisions. Usually they are right, but sometimes they are wrong. But you know, you go into it with your eyes wide open and you live with the consequences.

Thanks for listening.