Nobody needs to be called out in public, but a private message that says "Hey, your post broke the rules. Here's the rule about spam for your future reference: ~~~~~" would be effective. I think the rules would only need more active enforcement if there were an active problem.
I am a firm believer that moderation should be behind the scene as much as possible and it is something I want to address with all of the staff. Forums now give us tools that makes in-post notifications a way to break the flow of the thread and unecessarily put a member in the spotlight.
Spam rules should be moderated with a light touch. Threads don't need to be locked or deleted, they can merely be allowed to die naturally.
I rarely like locking threads. I am more of separating diverting conversations in their own topic and moving spam posts to a thread to post random stuff.
With that said, I believe it is still important to agree in what we can let slide and what kind of action staff needs to take when something becomes predominant.
More than anything, I think we should bear in mind that it's more important to make people feel welcome here, than it is to maintain some strict ideal of utopian forum order.
I agree with this. I think we both witnessed each others stupid mistakes trying to get the hang of forums back in TSR, so I always feel compelled to give the benefit of doubt. I always think that the intention and attitude is what should determine what comes next. Anyway, do not worry. The rules revamp is more about explaining better the 3 rules I originally exposed and perhaps adding a few more for things not covered by the original 3 "commandments".
Personally I have no problem with SPAM areas and forum games. I used to turn down the post count there but that brings confusion on members so I don't think I'd be doing that. I also like to hide the post counter and joining datefrom the mini profile to avoid people being regarded more for their "veteran" status than their contributions. Again, that is not something I am actively considering doing here but I think it kind of shows the way I like to do things.