Correct me if I'm wrong, but I get the feeling Thief was talking more about older members rather than mods. The mods bit was just a line at the end agreeing with previous posts.

I don't see a problem with the moderating team myself (hell, the ones I've talked to via MSN or communicated with somehow have all seemed cool), but I think the issue there might partially just be just how things come across to some people. I've had one warning, I saw it as fair, I was happy to wear it. Others might see a warning as unfair if a double standard of some kind seems to exist (even if it's merely a mod missing another similar post. Mods are only human after all. ) In the end, I've seen nothing that really looked intentionally mean on the parts of the moderating team, just a few incidents which a member could take as being unfair. Ultimately though, if a person breaks the rules and the rules are clear, they should be warned...

And Thief's right about the members thing. There does seem to be different levels at times. Hell, even I've gotten crabby at a few members from time to time for something they do, and inadvertently started something I only wished to tackle alone. It really does escalate things. I figure I'll try to hold any of my grievances in the hopes that some others might do the same. It's likely the best way to encourage new members to stay, aye? That and just plain making everyone feel at home.