[aves911]

Just for everyone's peace of mind, I'll offer up the administrator point of view.

I think the key complaint in this thread is that several members feel that a fellow member, in this case Ricochet, was banned for activity that members have found moderators performing. And these members would be correct. Both members and moderators are guilty of flamming, curtness, and an ocassional bending of the AF Guidelines.

The difference, and THE REASON why some members get banned and moderators do not, lies in how the respective parties deal with the consequences of their actions.

A member is not immediately banned for flamming, or for being rude or insulting. There is a process. The member is warned first and if the activity continues they are usually warned again, and in Ricochets case multiple warnings. A ban is only instituted after a series of warnings and all of us have discussed the matter for a number of days. Members do not get banned because the bend the rules once in a while, they get banned because when they do bend or break the rules and we ask them not to do it again, they do not listen.

This is why you can find many examples of threads where members have broken rules but have not been banned. Those members heeded the moderators advice and were curteous enough to follow the guidelines in the future.

Moderators are the same way, I have yet to meet a moderator who refused to stop an innappropriate behavior when I asked them too. And when I do, they will first be demodded and then subsequently banned if the behavior continues. Its as simple as that.

So I hope that all of you in the Honda forums that are feeling like the victims of moderator hypocrisy can see that reason Ricochet was banned and not countless other members or a handful of moderators who have done similar things is because these members and moderators realize their mistakes and work to correct them. Unfortunately, members like Ricochet, while in this case respected for his knowledge and well liked by some, do not correct their behavior. And AF cannot support members who refuse to follow our guidelines. Its simple.

While this post is lengthy, its important for me to try and convey why two members can commit similar violations and one will eventually get banned and another wont. We aren't nazi's, we understand that everyone is human and that all people get mad or worked up, or just make an honest mistake or two and thats okay. As long as that member heeds the moderators warnings and shows an interest in being a well mannered participating member in our community. On the other hand, members who don't listen and continue to break the rules must be dealt with, as unpleasant as it can be at times.

Hopefully, this helps clarify some of the confusion and will allievate the sense of wrong doing that some of you have.

-Jacob