I'm still getting reports almost daily in my inbox about people thinking they've been banned unfairly for rating down mods, leaving abusive and unconstructive comments or just generally being a nuisance. There are numerous warnings posted on the site and available within the terms and conditions that everyone has to agree to before they can post or make ratings on the site and I'm begrudgingly taking the time out of doing other more productive things, like adding new features to the site, to write this small article on why so many accounts are getting banned at the moment.

First of all let me start by saying you don't have an inalienable right to post, rate or say whatever you want on these sites. I've been saying this for 8 years and I'll continue to say this; this isn't the U.S. of A., this is a website with clear terms, conditions and rules. Your false perceptions of free speech don't exist here. "But Dark0ne", I hear you say, "that sounds so Draconian, you're not going to make any friends like that!", well, that's how it is folks. It's our way or no way.

We're not some crazy mad men on power trips, we're active members of this community who want to see as many people happy as possible. We're nice like that you see. Unfortunately we want to run a tight ship, a ship where the people making the great (and sometimes not so great) content that you download (for free, I'll add) can feel free to do so without being spat on by every Tom, Dick and Harry that doesn't like something for one reason or another.

Let me reitterate exactly what we want and what we don't want. The terms for rating and commenting on files states that it provides:

• an interface to offer positive feedback on the functionality of the file in question based on the author's initial intentions
• the ability to offer constructive criticism on aspects of the file that could be improved
• the chance to ask for feature requests and discuss such requests with other users of the site or the author
• the ability to ask for help in troubleshooting problems with the file in question
  

I've put the key points in bold because they are the parts that people fall short on and what ultimately gets people banned. Essentially our saying is "If you're got nothing good to say then don't say it". It's so, so, so simple and yet every day I get complaints from banned people who are wondering why they can no longer access the site because they told an author they can go to hell for adding content to the game that didn't fit in with the lore of the game.

The fact of the matter is that over 1,500 new people register to use this site, TESNexus and the forums every day. That's a lot of new people that need moderating. It's why we put up a lot of warnings before you rate or post that if you don't follow our ettiquette then you will be banned, because I don't have the time to go through each individual banned member case day in day out. If I did I'd get no work done at all. Being strict saves us time and allows us to provide help where it's actually necessary to people who actually deserve it. To people who can actually read. I don't think myself and the moderation staff should be penalised because people can't follow simple instructions. The fact is most people get banned from the site because they just don't bother to read our terms, conditions and ettiquette on posting and rating. That's not our fault, the message is very clear: if you don't like it, move along without doing anything.

So what do we allow? We don't want you to not post because you fear the ban hammer, this whole community revolves around interaction and sharing, but we do want you to understand that ratings are for people who have made good use of a mod and who have something productive to say. Give a rating of 5 or under to mods that have missing textures, that don't do what the description says or that have potential but haven't quite cut it for whatever reason. The point is here you need a reason other than just "I don't like this mod" or "I don't think the mod fits the lore". If the mod doesn't meet your standards then provide reasons why and how it can improve. Your rating is meant to provide help, not a way of spitting on the author and saying "screw you it sucks!". Most importantly if you don't like the concept of the mod because it doesn't fit in with your beliefs, your personal feelings, your idea of what is right or wrong or your idea of what fits in with the game then for the love of god don't rate the file; because you're going to get insta-banned. We don't care if you think Octupus-men don't fit in to the Fallout 3 canon, move along.

Lastly I will say that the people running this site are here to make the experience better, not worse, and most of all they're operating on my set of rules, so if you're going to hate on anyone, make it me. I have no tolerance for moderator bashing no matter what's been done and anyone airing dirty laundry about moderator actions is going to be shown the door very quickly. If you have problems with a moderator then you should be getting in contact with me.

There are far more people getting banned on FO3Nexus than there are on TESNexus, even though TESNexus has about 30% more traffic than FO3Nexus. I'm putting this down to the still relative youth of the Fallout 3 community. While the Morrowind and Oblivion community have had time to mature and instill the good ettiquette in authors and downloaders alike Fallout 3 is still young and many people don't understand the boundries there are within the community. The moderation team and I are hoping that this will smooth out over time, because it really is noticeable.