I do not needlessly insult people. If I would ever throw a punch at anybody, it probably would be justified and understandable, and rarely for a simple act of mischief.
Insulting someone, whether you believe it is needless or required, is against the forum rules. You agreed to abide by those rules when you signed up to this forum. It really is as simple as that.
Which is a bit of a red herring, given that a lot of them used to participate openly but got tired of the regime so they mostly stayed in the area where the old ways were still, until recently, allowed while others were highly participating members (as you well know). Given that most penguins have posts in the 1000+ range (Hymirl for example has more than 10000 mostly well-constructed posts) it feels quite a bit revisionistic to claim they weren't contributing anymore.
"Where the old ways were still the same"? Really? Please Benis, enlighten me as to a time in the 11 years you have been a member of this community when we have ever allowed the type of posting that went on in the Penguins board? More specifically, when have we ever allowed comments along the lines of those posted in the "Foolish things..." thread to be posted outside of that board?
No, what was happening in that case is that the veteran members thought that the regular people of the community did not have valid comments to make and as such kept to their little corner of the forums as opposed to contributing to the whole.
How many army lists were posted in that board because they didn't want to get comments from Joe Nobody? How many tactical discussions?
What drove most of these "veterans" away is that the staff came to the conclusion that the forum rules would be applied to the veterans board to the full extent. What drove them away is that we told them that posts that can be placed in the public boards are required to be made in the public boards. What drove them away is that we closed down their thread of rage against the community and said that those types of posts were not appropriate anywhere, regardless as to whether the general public can see the thread or not.
Given that most penguins have posts in the 1000+ range (Hymirl for example has more than 10000 mostly well-constructed posts) it feels quite a bit revisionistic to claim they weren't contributing anymore.
And yet, Hymirl is the one of the more common reasons I had received messages from people saying they were leaving the community, because of the "Old boys" feel and "special treatment" they saw on the boards.
But you are correct, most penguins do have posts in the 1000+ range. But if people with 1000+ posts stop contributing to the public boards and only post in the secluded sections, then they aren't contributing, yet their post count keeps rising. That is the point Irisado keeps trying to make.
I am a perfect example of this as well. I am getting close to the 10,000 post mark and yet the past year and a half my posting has drastically slowed. Why? For the simple reason that I am no longer a kid. I became a moderator when I was 17 and the latest I worked till was 3pm. I made an adamant point that nothing would interfere with my regular gaming night (which was on Thursdays), even had that be the cause of a break up with a girlfriend when I was 19. But it wasn't until last year that everything came together and in my life, through work and also volunteering with the local sea cadet corps, that I just don't have the time for a lot of things any more.
It has gotten to the point that my regular Thursday night gaming, where I would go every week like clockwork, has been reduced to only attending during Christmas, March Break, and the Summer Vacation.
There have been times where I go to respond to a thread, look at the time, and realize I have somewhere I need to be. The joys of being a responsible adult now is I don't have time.