(Q)What kind of a loving God would He be if the wicked were never punished?(/Q)
What kind of a loving God designs an infinite torture chamber and then creates imperfect beings, which He knows will fail to live up to His standards, to fill it with? The very idea would cause the Marquis de Sade to retch in revulsion!
God has provided man a way of escape from bondage to sin, has provided man a way to have a relationship with Him, and has provided man a way to escape the hell that was made for Satan.
Man, in his natural, unredeemed state, loves sin, and wants sin with no consequences. The only problem with that is there is a God Who is righteous, Who will not tolerate sin and rebellion against Himself, and Who will, in His perfect justice, judge sin and punish it. It is incontrovertable proof of the love and mercy of God that He sacrificed His own Son; His Son who took on Himself the punishment and wrath of God against the sin of every human being that has ever existed, who exists now, and who will ever exist, so that those of us who actually commit the sin and rebellion against this holy, righeous God can escape the hell that God created for Satan and those human beings who spend their lives wanting nothing to do with God.
God knows that nobody can live up to His standards and so He, in His love and compassion towards a fallen, sick world, provided a way for us to be clean before Him.
Now whether or not people spend eternity in hell is up to them, not God. God doesn't want anybody to go to hell and has given man a way out of that fate.