Muting and Hiding don't remove the content from the site. If I sign out or log on another account, the threads are still there. The problem is that self moderation now has more mindshare than global moderation. The masses are more likely to "moderate" content on an entirely subjective level, leaving inappropriate and often rule breaking posts and threads to flourish and run free. Moderators are less biased and in place specifically to adhere to the forum rules, though what content does or doesn't get filtered there is, again, subjective (though no where near as much) because they are only human. And therein lies an inherent problem. [i]Human[/i] judgement has been replaced for automated "hide" systems which are expected to function properly with more than one variable in place. As we are all well aware now, abusing this system is a breeze, and we need to worry about the mean time before it is supposedly rectified. Thus, we come to a crossroads. On the one hand, relaxing the rules was a good change. Muting and Hiding are healthy evolutions of our once primitive user interaction experience. But on the other hand, we must not forgo forum rules and moderation or "lay off" our ninjas. If anything, Muting and Hiding should be more effective in delivering content to them for their less biased viewing. Without active moderators backing the system, threads like "X console owners are phaggots and should kill themselves" remain on the front page because the community thinks it's funny to post in them. Lurkers can't hide these, and new members who don't understand the system think the forums have no restraint. If that's their cup of tea, these kind of threads begin to snowball with new members' help. Bungie must make a choice. They either up the ninjas' presence in addition to sorting the issues with automated systems and user controls, [i]or[/i] they simply offer a few tweaks to the system and leave it at that. I'm not buying their "control your own user experience" anymore because I've already muted/reported 400 accounts and I not only still see stupid threads and posts being made, but also have no guarantee anything was done to them. Giving users "moderation tools" in place of actual moderation screams laziness and a lack of control over the forums to me. The new tools should be a ways to assist that control, not one to replace it. Again, the problem is the people posting these stupid threads are expected to hide and report these stupid threads. TL;DR: Fix the system and slap ninjas with more wet noodles.