[Livia]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

Do you have evidence of this because I can't imagine where you got this idea from since you don't have any knowledge of anybody else's infractions aside from your own so how do you know that these baiting posts are overlooked? You can't know because you are drawing conclusions based on nothing.

The appeals section was removed because most people misused it to insult the mods or would waste everyone's time trying to appeal infractions that they obviously deserved. Very few people used the Appeals section correctly.

I have had posts removed and been warned/infracted, whilst the gloating post to which I reacted has been left there for all to see. That's how I know. I remember a joke being made about my husband aftger he died. I went lost it and my post was removed. The offending post was left there ALLLL day until I begged a mod to remove it - it was Marc, actually, who finally removed it. I have the evidence of my own experience, I don't need anecdotal evidence from anyone else. This isn't the only experience I've had of this either. And I won't be alone... So there's my evidence. Other people will have theirs too. I could find plenty of evidence of your own posts breaking forum rules and being overlooked.

If the appeals section was abused the answer is not to remove it, it is surely to put an end to its abuse. As I've said before, give people, say, 300 words max for a plea of mitigation to be look at but the mods. Once a decision has been made no other correspondence will be entered into on fear of a ban. You don't remove something for everyone because a handful of people abused it. If you don't have an appeals section then allowing one set of forum members to infract and ban another set of forum members, but not be open to any kind of punishment themselves, is ridiculous. Unless you feel that you, as a moderator on this forum, are entitled to refer to people as "dear" knowing that it's aggravating, and being personal and thoroughly unpleasant to the point of baiting... and then handing out infractions to people doing the same, is acceptable.

I think those same people who abused the appeals section are the same ones who abuse the report button... of course, I only have anecdotal evidence about that... but I'm sure plenty of people are in a like mind.