I'm going to throw in my little two cents and then disappear.
I do not get the "perma-ban" thing. I think it should be reconsidered. I do not think it is effective and it hasn't been in 6 years. I believe that the mods should come up with consistent punishments that are published for everyone to see.
Permabans are punishment for everyone, including the mods and players that are not banned.
For the people who do not get perma-banned, we get to listen to the perma-banned people complain and try to find ways to play without getting detected. This takes away from the exciting playing experience and the social atmosphere. Let's be honest, some of the more interesting players get permabanned.
The whole experience is like a family reunion, where the kids get kicked out but not really kicked out. The kids stay at the windows looking in AND trying to find ways to break into the house. That is annoying for the people in and outside the house and for the landlords!
In my opinion it is the mods' responsibility to continue to search for ways to successfully moderate the community and I do not think that permabans are the solution. In fact, I have seen more bad behaviors effectively corrected with short 5 minute- 2 day bans. People that have been banned longer than 2 days usually come back full of resentment and ready to take it out on the community.
This is a call for change!!!