Sometimes people take disagreement with their ideas as rejection of themselves. When I used to admin a MUD back in the day I found it far easier to adopt a persona of evil and capriciousness than to try to be everyone's friend. "No, I will not make an exception to the rules in your case. I'm evil, not stupid."
As a mod/chief I have no intention of going back to that style of administration. But I learned that sometimes you have to say "I'm sorry, but that's how it's going to be." Still, I think it important to at least communicate with the user so they understand why and give them the opportunity to learn.
I agree. I'm a mod on another forum. I'll take it to PM,which I've only had to do once, and basically explain what I'm having a problem with and why they need to stop it.
If they refuse,that's their problem.
I prefer to make a public comment to say "yes, I removed this" or "I've banned you, and here's why." I'm okay with having a longer conversation in PM to discuss it, but I feel that transparency in moderation is important.
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