Ok, now we`re talking. I appreciate all of you contributing to the discussion. Honestly, this really does help me.

In the midst of these discussions, other ideas have arisen.
Two compromises have been suggested...

- Verification that provides true identity to the Ax Moderators, but not published publically. This is a compromise that suggests providing the best of both scenarios. We (ax) would know their identity, but the rest of the world would not. But, would this really help with the issues? At a quick glance, it would seem to deter people from registering, yet the Axer would still not be any more accountable for their comments than before. What if someone had a legal dispute with something said about them on Ax? We wouldn`t give out their identity without a court order. The only benefit of Ax (alone) having their identity is to prevent people from re-registering after they have been banned. That could be useful, but at what cost? Is that worth deterring new registrations just for that alone?

- Having two levels of registration...normal and verified. This was the original idea that I had for the Verified Axer concept. This is another compromise which would allow un-verified Axers to contribute to the forum in some limited way. MattJ brought up the point that there would be a large gap between visitors and registered users and passers-by would probably wonder why they should register. This cites another deterrent for new memberships. The potential for this idea lies greatly in the details. What would be limited? From a moderation standpoint, would it still be possible for Axers to abuse their anonymity? Perhaps there would be an increase in abuse of anonymity just to spite the whole "Verified Axer" concept.

...Here`s an idea.

Taking that concept of two levels of Ax registration (verified, non-verified)...perhaps there could be an option for non-verified users to have their posts reviewed before they are sent. This would require some volunteers to read new posts. People could contribute, even to the same forum, but their posts would be delayed heavily. Imagine posting a message only to have it actually get published 1-2 days later. It is doable...but tedious.