Do you mean this post?
https://forums.taleworlds.com/index...se-have-perks-implemented.429462/post-9517513
Almost all of the reports which came out of that thread were for posts that were impolite at worst. Action was taken, and that post was it. Take a look at all of the subsequent replies in that thread and ask yourself if it worked. It is the consensus of the moderation team that punitive action is not always necessary, and--when it is reasonable to do so--an attempt should be made to deescalate first. This serves two purposes, both of which we believe are beneficial: it establishes boundaries regarding conduct for everyone to see, and allows the discussion to return to normal.
We've steadily shifted our policies toward transparency and greater visibility of inappropriate conduct, and away from direct warnings/mutes with only private explanations given. I'll issue a warning on
@Fietta 's first post in this thread so you can see one of the tools we are now using to this effect. Warnings, thread locks, mutes, reply bans (which are thread-specific) and general bans (forum-wide) are all deterrents which we hang over users' heads to keep things in check, but we feel it's generally better received if we aren't openly threatening users with those. We can typically deescalate by simply being present and active in a thread which is getting heated, nudging it back on track openly or by merely participating in the discussion of the topic.
On that note, we prefer not to lock threads unless the discussion has clearly degraded to a point where it will likely not recover or if it's
a pointless troll thread. We don't lock threads just because an answer is given to the OP, and probably never will. We have a long-established precedent on this forum that just because a correct answer is found doesn't mean it's the
best answer, and a discussion about finding a better solution is completely valid.
The goal is to help our users understand that disagreements and arguments are acceptable, as long as they're topical and don't deviate into mud-slinging.
Not all annoyances constitute harassment, which is literally a crime and is generally well-defined. Being called a fanboy or toxic in a handful of threads on an internet forum, even by the same user in all cases, doesn't qualify as actual harassment. It can be considered trolling, though, so report it if you feel so inclined. We may not act on a particular post which you have reported (in a case where a user has multiple offending posts), but we don't condone users tailing each other from one thread to the next just to troll.
Lastly, as much as some users (like Musashi, above) may like to paint themselves as martyrs for honest criticism, we don't have any policy for quashing negative feedback, and many of the moderators have posted negative feedback themselves.
Because sending ****-you messages to moderators, calling them dip****s and pieces of ****, accusing them of constant bias, suppression, and abuse is a great way to make friends on the internet. We don't let users treat each other that way on this forum. Even a casual glance at the on-topic boards will clearly show you that we don't suppress negative feedback here.
