I might be wrong but I can see more people agreeing with moderation that discussing it so, more moderation can be a solution.
I did suggest a method of harsher moderation, and it does seem a couple of people think it's time for more strict measures to bring the game back in balance, so to speak. I'll repost it here in case anyone didn't see it. That being said, it's clear from what Ban said that there is a points system in place - this could be converted or changed as people see fit. Say 10 points per offence, maximum of 50 before the strongest actions are taken.
I'm personally of the opinion that we should start to use the new UserID field in our profiles a bit more to be honest to link forum accounts to game accounts so that warnings on your forum account will have consequences against your game account should you not stop.
In one other browser game I played, you basically had 5 chances on the forums before they not only banned your forum account but deleted your game account as well. This also worked in reverse as well, if you committed infractions with your game account via the messaging system it contributed to this limit of 5. I don't recall if there were punishments for hitting 3 or 4 warnings but there should be.
I know it sounds draconian, and it is. But as far as moderation on forums and IRC has ever gone I've always been zero tolerance and do not stand for crap, full stop. And I'm very aware that it may scare people off using the boards in fear of them being punished. But in a similar token it will remind people to be civil and courteous instead of risking getting a warning.
That said, you could use a similar system without linking it to a game account as well, with different punishments for each level of warning. Say a private warning for first offence, public reprimand for second, all the way up to a forum permaban for the fifth.
There is one other problem, mind. For any change to work, everyone must be on board and treated somewhat equally. That means no immunity from the rules for anyone except Tom himself. As far as in-game options go I'm thinking about what Tom said. Has it been suggested in the past regarding a "Total War" kind of option or declaration - as in war until destruction rather than surrender? I wouldn't want to draft a feature request if it's been rejected before or if it's unworkable in the eyes of the devs.
(On that note, I recall making a topic a long time ago about a similar subject as this, namely the fact I felt that there needed to be stricter moderation and people in general, no matter who they are, needed to stop being so venomous to one-another. It generally apart from some discussion was ignored which is par for the course, really.)
