Correct me if I'm wrong, but the set of rules is just a cheat sheet for mods, therefore, unquestioningly "adhering to the letter of the law" may not always be justified and objective. I just want to say that formally yes, El duderino_ allegedly violated several rules ... but given that the moments when the whole forum gathers in one place are extremely rare, the moderators probably should have shown more flexibility in making decisions.
Btw, speaking of "unfairness towards other threads", I would also say that drawing such an analogy is pointless, since I see a colossal difference between El duderino_'s thread and the threads of the "Game and Rounds" section. And the point is not at all about the declared remuneration, but about the strengthening of bitcoin culture and the value of opinions, (in fact, this is another reason why I believe that the place of thread X in the section of speculation). In any case, no matter what decision the moderator made, I feel that El duderino_ is justifiably outraged as I think he is one of the last people on this forum to pursue pragmatic goals.
You call it flexibility, but in a few months time someone else will call it favoritism, corruption and / or a lack of integrity on either my part or the entirety of Bitcointalk staff. While different interpretations and exceptions can be made for subjective rules (e.g. in determining what is a low value post with regard to context), I don't feel comfortable deciding on exceptions for a rather clear cut guideline from the big man himself:
Yes, incentivizing posting is totally disallowed in the altcoin sections, and in the other sections it must be confined to Games and Rounds.
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Altcoin giveaways involving incentivized posting are not allowed anywhere on the forum, but certain incentivized-posting games (not altcoin giveaways) are allowed in Games & Rounds.
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Most giveaway threads are no longer allowed in the Alternate cryptocurrencies sections.
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Similar threads are already restricted to Games and Rounds in the non-altcoin sections
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As I've mentioned in my previous post, if theymos gives the go ahead to move the topic back to Speculation, El duderino_ will be free to do so.