Vainamoinen: But, as has been demonstrated e.g. yesterday, attempts to overtly influence these decisions by way of breaching the peace will have the contrary effect. Make no mistake, I think the infowars thread should be closed this minute. But to demand closure by way of deliberate insult means that this goal was tainted, and I would even understand if right now that is impossible. :|
First, These propaganda threads are insulted (and asked to be removed) from the very beginning. GOG would not have found a "peaceful moment" to remove it "as if it wouldn't relieve anyone else".
Then, GOG was explicitely asking people to "report" CoC breaches instead of self moderating, so, of course they'd get demands. Choosing to act only when not looking influenced by demands would kinda defeat their "report instead of posting" query.
Then, I think that most of the angry reaction posts come from people whose higher expectations were disappointed (in my view, expectations may be mourned, but raging about them is indeed pointless). Point is, if GOG was applying its CoC, there wouldn't be an issue of too many people asking GOG to apply the CoC, and therefore making it awkward for GOG to apply the CoC.
Then, if GOG was applying its CoC selectively based on how it would look at a given time, or on whether too many people demand it too harshly, it's still a very "tainted" moderation, grounded of [fear of] forumers feedback instead of independant evaluation. It would be caving in to pressure one way or the other. If anything, I find it more charitable to assume that GOG applies its own standards when spotting a polemical post or thread, instead of playing wine-in-front-of-you with forumer interpretations.
Bottom line, the issue, for me, is only with people's expectations. It's about dealing accordingly with the whole reality of GOG's CoC (rules and their actual applications), instead of demanding this reality to change.
The only spike I noticed was a spike of respect for GOG. I think that re-lowering it would paradoxically reduce the drama, by reducing these associated expectations.
When in Rome, etc.
In short, maybe GOG should be flattered by angry people "caring too much" for their forum (and for their image of GOG). But I think that the healthiest, and most peaceful, reaction is to accept it how it is, even if it means caring much less. The forum is in the mod's hands now, let it be exactly as shitty as they mean it to be. If they mean it to be infowars-level of shitty, let it be it and turn the page. No forumgoer will rewrite it.