I rarely banned people (definitely didn't issue them freely).
However, our rules had definitely become ridiculous. Too many in attempt to cover everything. I think the one rule BF needs is *respect*..the one hardly anyone can follow.
I will say I obviously agree with pan. Old members need to be nicer to new members. That stressed me my entire time as admin. Of course, souless will tell you, being complete *******s to newbies has no effect on the forum what-so-ever.
. I wish that were true.
Our forum rarely gets new, frequent posters, and as I've said for a long time, a lot of it is because of the atmosphere around here. I couldn't change it..but hey, it's possible you guys can.
As you say, only the members can make a change. However, that'll only happen if they want it to happen. I have a feeling several of them couldn't care less.
-edit
Oh, and make a mission statement/plan. BF needs an obvious direction and purpose. Something the members can understand, and something the staff can work towards. We had our peak several years ago, and from there..it seems bf has lost it's direction. Are we a blizzard forum? A general games forum? Just a generic chit-chat forum? What are we.
Without purpose, things go down hill and people lose motivation. Right now I'd say there's little motivation, and bf at the moment is simply a handful of old members who hang around because it's what they've always done.