Speaking of new mods, the (whole, not only PbP) boards could use a couple. I might understand the hesitation in baning users, but I don't understand how some of the posts aren't deleted or moderated. I don't even mean the vulgarity or spam (at least the entertaining ones), but it strikes me as odd that, for example, insulting other users is allowed. I skimed through the CoC when I registered and I saw that it ISN'T allowed. So... I don't understand how the moderation in here is working. Not enough time to do your job?
I offered myself, but I get it that I'm not long enough on the boards and I don't have many posts, contributing ones to boot. But come on, there should be someone else who could do that. Agita, JaronK, Sinfire Titan, veekie, Lycanthromancer? Anyone?
The BGs have made it clear that they take a hands off approach to most situations and let the posters handle it themselves. The general rule is don't be a douche, so you can get away with a lot as long as you are right or don't cross a vague line in the sand (the line isn't spelled out but most people know it before they cross it). For the most part this works out pretty well overall. I know there are some people who will annoy me or piss me off when they post, but as an adult I either ignore them or don't let them get to me.
This. In the time I've spent on the boards (i.e. since the first great 339 exodus), there were three permanent bans that I remember well (not counting scores of spambots): OneWinged4ngel, Ubernoob, and AndyJames.
The first made himself a pain in the ass to the BGs themselves, specifically Meg, for a good while before being banned.
The second had a modus operandi similar to what people are complaining about in Sunic now, but kept it up for a longer time before finally being judged not worth the trouble. I'm not sure what the last straw was here, but I think it was the BGs getting complaints about podcast listeners being turned off from the podcast itself by the climate on the boards. This is the one I remember the least, however.
The third openly attacked and mocked opposing ideologies as well as people who defended them, and went on for a long time as well. The final straw was a personal attack on a poster's recently deceased mother that had nothing to do with the topic on hand, as I recall.
As you can see, it takes a lot to get yourself banned around here, and in each case I'm pretty sure there was a 'last straw' that pushed things across the line. BG isn't GitP, or even WotC, and this is important to keep in mind. More mods don't matter much when the climate rarely gets actually bad enough for them to step in. It's not that there aren't enough to do the job, it's that it's an emergency job.