Era lurker here, who occasionally posted there.
I knew that there were always two sides, and i knew that people said "Era is banning everyone, you can't have your opinion there". But i always dismissed this, and wanted to participate on Era myself. Mainly because a lot of people got their gaming news from there, and a lot of industry figures are also signed up there. Now i know what those people were talking about.
Aside from the fact that Era got in a hostage situation, which it's owners can't even admit and still cater to those crazy people, its mainly the fact how they treat their users there.
Some of you joked about the fact that one could write a thesis about this, but you really could. They are actively banning people just like that, treating them like they are subhumans. And their valid criticism is being dismissed as "trolling". They are creating an "us vs them" situation, which frankly pushes a lot of members away, even genuine innocent people.
And even worse is the fact, that nobody will stand up for you, unless you made yourself a name and people are aware of who you are. "Casual" posters are not worth being listened to. A lot of posters are afraid to say what they actually want to, and those are actively avoiding topics where they know they will be 100% banned. I know certain members who are hyped as hell for Cyberpunk 2077, and they even have an active Twitter account where they hype people up. Usually this members are also participating in the hype threads on era, but now they avoided all the CP2077 that were posted entirely. And literally nobody is able to stand up and say something, because they know they will get banned and have a lot to lose (especially if you are working in the gaming industry yourself).
E.g. Shinobi can get hyped up on Twitter, but see how he never posted in the CT2077 threads? BC got banned for literally being hyped on the game and got perma banned for it (along with other weird reasons). Now somebody posted Shinobis hype tweet and wanted to call him out (at least he/she was being consistent), but apparently "that was not it"?!.
You can tell that Era has mods/admins who love to abuse their "power", and its getting to the extreme. Banning people just like that equals to the Prison Industrial complex in the US. A lot of people are being banned for reasons they can't comprehend. And there is no way to sort this out, as there is no possibility to explain yourself. Hell, i once posted a link and someone told me that its forbidden to post certain source/user/youtuber/etc. People have to actively resort to a ban list, and they have to find this themselves.
Casual people like me, who are fine with the issues people have with the game, are not welcomed there after this, and it couldn't have been more clear. You are not able to talk about games in the forum that describes itself as the "pulse of the gaming industry". This so called digital "safe space" only keeps on brainwashing you, until you literally "become one of them". Sry, but i am a normal dude, living a normal life as a student, who appears to love video games. I don't need the problems/negativity you all have with your life forced upon me, because i have my own.