and is pretty clearly meant to rile people up and start something
I doubt it. The complaints are entirely valid, and while the tone is dripping with sarcasm, it does not resort to ad-hominem. A one month ban for something like that is the embodiment of power tripping.
Edit: I have seen that same user make equally sarcastic quips in other threads; that's just some people's public persona. The posts contained no personal attacks, brought valid arguments, and were generally incorporated into the discussion without much of a hitch.
If you have a problem with someone it should be dealt with in a private setting. Rather than a public profile page.
Thing is, moderators have initiated private conversations with me on the forums up until then. This one simply literally refused to "justify [him]self to [me]", thereupon deleted the first set of messages. These people are deathly afraid of criticism and public discussion.
The fact that there are mods with the horsehead "Stop being mad at videogames" icon AND HAVE NOT IMMEDIATELY HAD THEIR MODERATION RIGHTS REMOVED FOR DERIDING THE COMMUNITY THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE
MODERATING just goes to prove that some of these people have no idea what they ought to be doing, have no restraint, and cannot accept difference of opinion.
It's not exactly as if the forums are necessary to playing the game, or even modding it. You can quite easily ignore them.
The forums are there to provide community feedback for a work in progress, feedback which the devs have promised to take into account.
Blocking access to the forums in a gratuitous manner (and there have been users banned for more frivolous reasons than being sarcastic, absurd as it is) can be seen as restricting access to part of the promised features. It is a stretch, indeed, but it can be argued that it is a breach of contract and grounds for a refund.
Edit to the edit; just realized this little gem:
"If you feel you’ve been treated unfairly by a staff member, then you can take it up with another (or even the same) staff member in private (by either sending them
a private message over the forum [...]."
Be banned. Need to PM mod. Can't use the forum PM system because banned.
http://www.nesretro.com/yabbfiles/Attachments/what.jpgYes, yes, I know, IRC and emails to customer support, but still.