Shoutbox

Ok, I read this whole thread (once and a half times) and what I can add to the many posts in here I agree upon (and the few I don't agree upon), is this:

It all comes down to having respect for eachother and to have respect for the rules! Think before you post something, read threads before posting something and report spam/abuse/wrong things with the report button.

And if you need to argue with someone, try to keep it a clean and a mature discussion (I know this isn't always easy though).

Rules are to be respected, not to be broken. If someone doesn't stick to them he/she will get punished.

If people follow the rules (and I mostly mean the "common sense" rules, not only the "don't do this don't do that" rules) then there is no reason for a mod/admin to take any action in the first place. So please don't blame them if things get worse on a forum, it is mostly the users themselfs who make or brake a forum.

If anything needs to be changed it is not a reputation report system, local mods, stickies, etc. (as those are all means to keep a problem under control, or mask it if you like, it is not to solve the problem), it is the behaviour of the people who use a forum. If everybody has a good mature senseable behaviour on a forum, then there wouldn't be any need for mods/admins/rules/whatever anyways...

(all this goes for IRC also... heck, for every kind of community...)