Fine, I'll go first.
I believe that this forum is missing certain vital parts. For starters, the reason that brought us together has almost disappeared. We all came here because of Battlefield 2. how many old members still play it? How many of the regular contributors actually play and are interested in discussing BF2? Very few. The very basic element of any community - something almost everyone has in common - is missing. We're just people on a forum.
This decline has in itself caused a lack of genuine activity and has reduced the amount of prominent members. While there may still be things that make this forum interesting, the main source of enthusiasm is heavily damaged and people's interests have become divided, reducing the sense of community.
Do not underestimate the need every forum has for role model members. Every large social group has prominent, popular members. These people are moderators without even realizing it. Such an active, popular, and respected member is not only a role model, but also a creator of interesting discussions. This happens subtly, but rest assured that the bulk of a forum listens to the minority. You can't cut out that minority without the bulk changing, like water breaking a dam.
So, what happens when:
a) Interesting discussions happen less frequently and interest less people
b) there are few new prominent members
c) the popular members start leaving
The bulk of the forum - the people who follow others - will suddenly be at a loss. Given a free yet bland environment with nobody to remind them of how to act, they contribute on a far lower level.
The mods come into this at point c - Together with people leaving because of an increasingly stale forum, those loud members who remind the masses of where the extremes are at, get banned. Every community moderates itself: role models are created, along with social norms. Any person who acts outside of these, for example by spamming too much, will be negatively received by the community and will thus be discouraged from posting. Without a reminder of what is wrong, people gradually veer off into that wrong direction.
Another problem is that with a stale forum, people get bored and will want to do something to change that, forcing them towards territory outside of the rules. I believe that the mods are wrong by banning people that are being pushed away by problems in the forum itself, and not trying to tackle that underlying problem.
I believe that this forum is missing certain vital parts. For starters, the reason that brought us together has almost disappeared. We all came here because of Battlefield 2. how many old members still play it? How many of the regular contributors actually play and are interested in discussing BF2? Very few. The very basic element of any community - something almost everyone has in common - is missing. We're just people on a forum.
This decline has in itself caused a lack of genuine activity and has reduced the amount of prominent members. While there may still be things that make this forum interesting, the main source of enthusiasm is heavily damaged and people's interests have become divided, reducing the sense of community.
Do not underestimate the need every forum has for role model members. Every large social group has prominent, popular members. These people are moderators without even realizing it. Such an active, popular, and respected member is not only a role model, but also a creator of interesting discussions. This happens subtly, but rest assured that the bulk of a forum listens to the minority. You can't cut out that minority without the bulk changing, like water breaking a dam.
So, what happens when:
a) Interesting discussions happen less frequently and interest less people
b) there are few new prominent members
c) the popular members start leaving
The bulk of the forum - the people who follow others - will suddenly be at a loss. Given a free yet bland environment with nobody to remind them of how to act, they contribute on a far lower level.
The mods come into this at point c - Together with people leaving because of an increasingly stale forum, those loud members who remind the masses of where the extremes are at, get banned. Every community moderates itself: role models are created, along with social norms. Any person who acts outside of these, for example by spamming too much, will be negatively received by the community and will thus be discouraged from posting. Without a reminder of what is wrong, people gradually veer off into that wrong direction.
Another problem is that with a stale forum, people get bored and will want to do something to change that, forcing them towards territory outside of the rules. I believe that the mods are wrong by banning people that are being pushed away by problems in the forum itself, and not trying to tackle that underlying problem.
