This is obviously a very key rule in a community like RuneGear that essentially revolves around Black Market RuneScape trading. Without such a rule in place, people would get scammed and leave the forums. RuneGear wouldn't be as large or nearly as great a community as it is today without such a rule in place.
Dykerosoft said:
NOW,
I understand that all scammers must be treated the same and exceptions cannot be made. That is exactly what I like to see in a community: equality.
However, when someone is caught scamming it seems that they do not receive a permanent ban.
Now I ask you:
What the hell is the point of even having a Rule 6 in place if breaking it just gets you a nice little vacation away from the forums?
A: That's right, you've guessed it. There is no point, as rule 6 has obviously become completely and entirely redundant.
When a new member comes to the forums with the intention to scam and sees that actions towards scammers are lenient and do not include a permanent ban; what are they going to think?
A: They're going to think something along the lines of "F*CK YES! I've found a safe haven. Even if these guys are all dope, I can scam one of them, then come back to post with them at a later date."
When a new member with good intentions and the desire to join a good, relatively scam-free community shows up here, what will cross their mind?
A: "So I've found a community that tolerates scamming to some degree, where even a staff member was not permanently banned after being caught scamming. I think I'll take my business elsewhere, to give myself the best shot at not being scammed."
RuneGear is a constantly growing expanding community that we all care about.
I want to see it flourish and be around for many years to come. To continue such healthy development, there can be zero tolerance for scamming. There must be permanent bans for those who are caught scamming, no exceptions.
I've had experience as staff on a couple of different RuneScape forums. Though that was several years ago, I did learn a lot. Though those forums are no longer around, the reason they lasted as long as they did was because we were able to keep scammers out.
As RuneGear continues to grow, it is essential that scammers are kept out of the community. I have seen scamming plague communities time and time again, leading to eventual emigration and/or abandonment by most of the members.
I realize that scamming isn't really a common theme on RuneGear yet. But as the amount of active members keeps pushing up it will become a problem, which is why it would be beneficial to begin cracking down now.
So if it wasn't already obvious, my suggestion to the staff of RuneGear is to make bans for scamming permanent. No Exceptions.
That is all, thank you for your time.