Feeling puzzled about a rail forum (venting)

[Deleted]

There is a section on the forum dealing with delinquent ticket issues where passengers who have had a brush with RPI's resulting in the threat of prosection can seek advice on the best way forward.
The problem I have is that at least half of those seeking such advice show no remorse whatsoever in the sense that the only regret they appear to have stems from actually being challenged.
EXAMPLE Guy shows a concession ticket at the barrier but cannot produce the Network Card he is supposed to produce. He got a PF. Now he is complaining bitterly about his appeal against the PF having been rejected.
The logical response to such a post is to inform the OP politely and courteously that he was in the wrong and had no grounds for an appeal.
The Admin appears to frown upon any criticism of such a person's actions or attitude.
I have been "warned" several times for being "rude to other users" when all I have done is to tell the person in a reasonable pleasant way that they are in the wrong and should expect to bear the consequences of their actions.
I am told I should be "more friendly". Why?
How can you be "friendly" to someone who has dishonestly tried to get a free ride and been caught? I have also been told I appear to have the mindset of an RPI despite being an ordinary punter.
Although the rail forum claims to be neutral and informative, it seems to me to be biased against the TOC's insofar as the passenger is always right irrespective of the trouble they've put themselves in. Not my kind of place. Unfortunately it seems to be the only one of its type.

[snoggle]

What you've fallen across is the peril of a moderated forum. It is very rare that they are run by people who can genuinely balance the views of a wide range of people. Something like ticket fraud can bring out what might be viewed as "fundamental" views about right, wrong and someone's sense of "entitlement". The moderators won't want to deter people discussing their problems nor will they want the forum to act as "judge and jury" in case it upsets or deters people from posting. To be fair a forum is not there to be "judge and jury" - it is down to the transport operator or whoever might run the appeals process.

I started posting to groups on usenet which is largely unmoderated. To be frank it is a more natural environment because the more extreme people or views are "knocked" into shape by a group dynamic rather than one person (or a small group) acting as moderators. That logic rarely applies these days on web forums as they're a different beast. Every group I've ever been on has had "flare ups" and people storming out - sometimes as a result of what I've said. To be a little blunt these sorts of groups are meant to be fun and really shouldn't be taken too seriously (and I am guilty of taking them too seriously myself before someone accuses me of hypocrisy)! Real life is more important.

If you want to stay on the group in question then you have to moderate yourself from posting on matters which bring you into conflict with the moderators. That's life I'm afraid. You are not in a position of power, the moderators are. Sometimes we have to learn to "keep our gobs shut" in real life, same applies in the virtual world. I have to do it all the time on groups and on Twitter. The issue is that we leave a "trail" and people are perfectly capable of following those trails. If we don't want to be "followed" then we must be careful in what we leave in "public places".