chessmec: Yes, but why not have it both ways if it'll work? That way there's a front line of defense against trouble makers (The moderator) and then a member on their own volition can choose to view objectionable or off topic posts by the unsocial miscreant and fully deal with it on their own. This is a good argument to have it for paying members only. You paid for, you can see it if you want to. Most moderator's don't willy-nilly hide someone, but there are on occasions where you still might want to view a particular person post even if it shouldn't have been placed for public discussion. Don't forget, moderators can also delete posts too. Usually for profane posts a moderator will put someone on hide and ask the person that posted the post to fix it up. Another reason to put someone on hide is to stop a disruptive person from wreaking havoc with the board and just cluttering up space from more legitimate or on topic posts. That requires the blanket hide or outright banning of the person in the moderator's view. One size fits all, doesn't work as well. Having it flexible can keep more people happy.