Character Name: Traoc, Munchies, Nattefrost, rnads, LibertyCap, TraocTrash, LegalAlien, AlienLife, Sleighing, RealCracker, Quepe, Lataire, Looters, ScaryManga, MainSuspect, Stoffer, LouCre, CreMont, Sidechain, Compressor, GhostSnare, Hornfail, Jepsen, Eskimoe, Necessities, CandyFlipper, Coart, PinkMean, ShootsDead, Madders, Maddest (all I can remember off the top of my head) Last thing you did: Hunting hackers on starter island, while being in fm on my main, Traoc. Why do you think you got banned?: I really don't know, I've barely been playing the game at all this month. Ban message when attempting to log in: This is an ID that has been deleted or blocked from communication. What GM banned you (optional): Doesn't tell me. I've tried restarting my router and pc, and the message keeps being the same. I would like to know if I'm actually banned or not, and what for if it's the case.
I did get mapowner of a few of the hacked maps while I was hunting hackers though, could be someone thought I was hacking and made a report with wrong evidence?
TimK used server chat to ask if anyone was hacking, I thought it was banter and replied with that super megaphone right after.
I understand you're discussing my appeal in staff, and that I'm not supposed to bump this... but while I'm being kept out of the loop for some reason, would you like to at least confirm that you know this joke was started by TimK, and not me? Being left on read for almost 2 days now has left my mind filled with a lot of "what ifs" and it's bothering me.
I apologize for the delay in getting back to you. It's not that we were keeping you out of the loop, but more of we didn't want to come to any decision lightly as it will set some precedent for future cases. As such we have decided your ban will not be permanent, but reduced down to 7 days in total from when you were initially banned. We want to make sure that it is known that jokes can be taken seriously and we do not want to be banning anyone from the game for making one. However it is also important that we show a strong resolve against those who do break the rules in this game, whether they be making a joke about a believable claim or committing the prohibited act itself. You will be unbanned September 29th, at 13:21 server time.
I believe as staff you set an example for the rest of the community, especially when making public statements. I personally still don't believe I did anything wrong, but I understand from your ToS that I have to respect your conclusion none the less.
That said I gotta say that I think it's pretty ridiculous to start a joke as staff and then punish a community member for playing along with it... I would ask you as staff to consider your actions before making a similar joke next time, if this is the verdict of such a case. TimK is not the only staff member I've seen making public jokes about hackers.
Furthermore you're banning me on believable claim, right? I've not seen you argue that you actually believed me to be a hacker at any point, or at the very least after understanding the context of my super megaphone. I also do not believe the report/reporter, which have had to be just my megaphone without the context, even believed me to be hacking.
Now I'm just spamming my own appeal, but this whole situation got me worked up tbh. I can understand an unprovoked megaphone like that (even though it was so obviously a joke) would result in a 7 day ban on the first offence, but with the context given (that I don't see why you wouldn't be able to confirm), I don't believe this to be fair. Even though your ToS explains your first conclusion of a ban appeal is final I would kindly ask you to reconsider.
This situation has changed the outlook for us on a few things, one of which is how our public words can be misconstrued. There is also a language barrier that can sometimes cause issues with understanding semantics of what is said over text-only message exchanges. We also have been trying to bend our own rule of no tolerance for any sort of believable claim of violating a game infraction, to the benefit of the players. We truly do not enjoy banning good, honest players for mistakes, misunderstandings, or simple ignorance of the rules. I for one much more enjoy unbanning than banning, unless we're talking about the low-life scum hackers and RWTers that are only trying to profit from this game while hurting the community with their actions. They suck. But everyone else, they're all awesome. As it was, Tim did not mean to be joking about hacking, and I know personally that the hacker issue in Royals right now has affected him quite a bit. We also understand that what he said could have been taken out of context as a joke, but when looking at everything logically and with the physical evidence given through chat logs, a rule was broken. As such we are standing by our decision, and it was one that has been discussed for quite some time, and all staff members have had their input on the matter. It was not something that I or anyone else alone decided separately. We also discussed how to word our response, as we don't want to have anything misconstrued here and we most certainly do not want to be seen as making an example of you. A longer ban duration was considered but after much debate and discussion we all came to the conclusion of a temporary, 7 day ban. And please keep in mind that in the past, some hackers have publicly broadcast their misdeeds, whether to show off or to try and coerce others into breaking the rules, or just some other odd reason, we don't know. As such we need to take any and all messages as a serious claim to have committed the heinous acts and react in accordance with the game's rules.
