I realize that I may have been relatively lax in enforcing rules that have been discussed lately. Let this be a clarification and a warning. It's hard to intervene at a specific time in a specific thread and ban accordingly, so here's my attempt at starting anew. Consider these 2 points 2 new rule ammendments:
1) Beginning at 6 pm EST tonight any member who instigates a fight/flame war/shouting match will be awarded a 3-5 day ban per my discretion. The ban will be discussed by the mod team and may be amended as needed. Any member who responds to an instigating post, thereby continuing the stupid fight will be awarded a 1 day ban. Anyone who returns from a ban and must be banned again will be banned permanently. If 2 or more users decide to gang up on another poster, feeding off of each other's stupid energy until the entire thread is hijacked and transformed into a worthless pile of crap, those 2+ members will be awarded bans of 7+ days. These bans will be awarded regardless of the length of tenure on the site.
Certain posters on this site have gotten absolutely out of control in the past few weeks, and they're making this place less than fun. I am not saying you can't argue. I am not saying you can't disagree. I am not trying to make Talksox a dictatorship where people need to be afraid of what they say. If you're hesitant to post something, wait a minute and consider it. If you're still hesitant, don't post it. Or post it and suffer the consequences, if you prefer.
I'll specifically be looking for posts that reference past fights, include name calling among people with a past history (if Youk of the Nation wants to call me an idiot thats fine. I think the people I'm referencing here know who they are), blatant and grossly unfair overgeneralizations among people with past history, and general stupidity. Baiting someone into starting a fight will be considered instigating a fight.
Additionally, the posting of a "Fail" or similar picture in response to a serious baseball related post will result in a 1-3 day ban.
2) No explicit words in thread titles
I hate to be a killjoy. I'm not a killjoy. At times, I have fun on Talksox. But holy crap has it not been fun lately. These are not killjoy measures. Most people won't be affected by these rules. You don't have to change 99% of the things that you say. No one will be banned for jokingly calling someone an idiot or strongly disagreeing in a pleasant way. The rules will remain in effect as long as they have to, until the offending parties are either permanently banned or fundamentally change the ways in which they interact with the other members of the site. Treat each other as if you were talking face to face and stop the stupidity.
Yeszir out.
edit: And I swear to you, if anyone PMs me asking for a ban, referencing these rules or something that I said in a thread, and it turns out they actively participated in a flame war, they will be banned permanently.