Yesterday, I banned Michael Barnes from posting on Boardgamegeek. The decision was mine and mine alone. There has been considerable outside pressure to ban various users in the past, but I've never bowed to such pressure, nor did I do so this time.

Mr. Barnes had been teetering on the edge of being banned for some time, in my mind. I had made repeated public requests for civility in the past, requests he has ignored. Others have ignored the requests as well, but none, in my mind, as visibly and harmfully as Mr. Barnes.

It was this exchange that pushed me over the line:





(Full link here: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1384471#1384471)

The problem was not that he told me I was full of crap - anyone can do that at any time. The problem was that I made what I consider to be a very reasonable request regarding how people post in the forums, and he basically told me he would do no such thing.

At this point - I felt that I was out of options.

I'd asked one more time publicly for an end to personal attacks. Michael said, publicly, that he had no intention of doing as I requested.

You may disagree with my decision, but I am responsible for the well-being of this entire community and I feel that I made the right one.

Also, it is not my intent to do this regularly.

I know that Mr. Barnes had a lot of fans and I apologize if you feel like I've taken away his voice - but he has since started a blog at
http://fortressameritrash.blogspot.com/ and I wish him well.

Finally this has absolutely nothing to do with the Ameritrash fans and their opinions despite what you may think. Heck, I'm an ATer myself!

Your forum, your rules. Anyone who expects differently should leave the forum and the internet as well.

I might have more of an opinion if I had an inkling of who Michael Barnes is. I guess that means I won't miss him much.

Thank you, Aldie. I appreciate your frankness in telling us as much as you can about the situation.

Thanks for the explanation.

It's your house (or classroom of brats in this case) and it is entirely within your right to decide who is welcome here and who is not.

You did what you had to do.

[edit]
Can we pick a charity for Barnes' Geekgold balance of 14.73?

Hmm.

If the exchange above...the quotes, specifically, were the straw, then yeah, I'd say you did make a bad call on this one.

There's a reason that "public figures" are exempted from libel protection in most jurisdictions; simply that, if you desire to gain a certain degree of stature and public note, then part of the price you pay is to have folks throw cabbages at you. That applies equally to Rick Thornquist and to Mike Barnes (and certainly, to a lesser extent, to guys like me and Chapel).

OK, Aldie, I can't resist...

You're full of crap.

I mean, El Grande, Billabong, and Werewolf all in the Top 10? What are you thinking? On the other hand, your comment has turned me onto Who What Where, which I'm hoping to play in the very near future. So, I hope you're not too full of crap.

Oh, and about all that forum stuff--I'm happy with the site and don't need tons of boat rocking to get my enjoyment here. Just keep doing what you're doing.

Thanks for the explanation, but I still disagree.

Is there going to be a microbadge?

Oh and anyone who'd care to frequent a forum where you can insult people in any way for any reason and never get banned, feel free to visit Asylumnation.com.
About the only thing that can get you banned there is kiddie porn or warez.

Aldie,

Your a good guy. Thanks for maintaining such a wonderful site. Even though many do not agree with you all the time, you still take a stand on what you believe is best for us. Thanks.

Now... I am on to look up Who What Where.

Aldie,

It's good to see someone take a stand and insist on civility in public communication.

It is possible to disagree and debate in a civil, courteous manner. The problem is that most Americans don't know that...