Ok seriously, what's with all the flaming of Dave? His logic seems sound to me.

Perma-banning isn't really a disincentive to b0tters for the following reasons:

(i) Almost all b0tters use alt accounts to b0t from and not their main account. Since these alt accounts are easily replaceable, perma-banning them will not deter the b0tter.
(ii) A lot of b0tters choose to do so because they have become bored with the game and are tired of farming but are reluctant to leave the account they built up or the friends they have made along the way. They are people who would otherwise just quit anyway but, as Mati said, are waiting for a merge to bring new action. So a perma-ban for these individuals will really only accomplish what they were considering doing anyway. At least with unbanned, known b0tters we can know where to port to for a solid and reliable plundering.

Yeah, more merges would be better, but only if the whole inactive account thing is worked out prior. Maybe we haven't had a merge in a while because Evony is secretly working on this issue...I mean, a girl can dream, right?