7
7632
Guest
This situation is quite complicated, so bear with me on my presentation of facts and reasons for appeal. I will attempt to leave no important detail out, and I contend that we will all benefit by telling the truth and learning from mistakes.
In summary, we have arrived at a peculiar scenario, as I am 1) finally accepting and acknowledging responsibility for what happened and 2) appealing the ban so that I may transfer it to Jon so that he may have an alt. I'm not entirely convinced that it's necessary for me to appeal the ban in order for Jon to be allowed to own it and play it here. It seems to me that it could have simply been unbanned upon notification of ownership transfer. No matter the results of this "appeal", I'm hoping that Jon will be able to play the alt.
In the event that I am permanently banned, I ask for the right to come online one last time so that I may transfer my holdings to Jon. He rightfully owns much of what I have, and it is not fair to punish him for my actions (which is another argument to just unban the account so that I may give it to him).
In conclusion, I apologize for not knowing what I needed to know. I apologize for not properly handling the aftermath. I apologize for concealing it all. I am now informed, and I hope you will forgive this trespass against your trust.
-Antilogy
A few months ago, after I returned from my second hiatus, I started with a new character named Firebeard, a confidence dwarf. He was my primary character until I decided to play Morgan again, in which case Firebeard became an alt. Around the time of the beginnings of the Thieves Guild, operated by Balatro, Firebeard and a couple members of the thieves guild went to the opening of the Lady Luck. I was playing both of my characters at the same time, which is something I don't have a lot of experience doing. At one time, both accounts were at the event and things were getting complicated. From what I remember, my alt followed a couple other thieves guild members to the roof. There were no signs saying we couldn't be up there, no guards by the door, et cetera. The three of us were there in-characterly, but not involved in a roleplay at that time. We were running around the roof, not realizing anybody else was up there, and we weren't rping with eachother because we were on teamspeak talking, and you typically don't talk much when you want to be quiet.
I looked at my other account, and when I returned to look at Firebeard's progress somebody had found us on the roof, screaming at us. He was relatively far away, and not within Firebeard's visual range. Rather than emoting or responding to the requests to stop, I made a decision for him to run. I ignored the pursuer's requests to stop, not realizing that he wanted me to stop so we could sort through the "chase". I thought he was simply saying what any pursuer would yell at a target...
Soon, I ran out of space and made a decision to jump. I miscalculated how far the drop was and decided that the drop would be low enough for him to survive with negligible injury. Firebeard is a con-man, and I thought that he would have the agility to survive the fall and be able to go away at the speed of a dwarf injured but desperate to escape. I made it about 10 blocks or so, before I was teleported back to the top of the building.
That was extremely disorienting, and I didn't really know what happened. I thought the pursuer had some sort of GM power due to the event and had teleported me back, which I viewed as powergaming. I was angry and confused, but I soon found out that he was just as confused as I was. We exchanged a couple words, and he accused me of powergaming by not stopping to emote that I was running. I countered that if I had, he would have caught up with me.
The next thing I know, I and another member of the thieves guild were kicked with the explanation that we both were powergaming. The other member, who was also on the roof but not involved with the incident, logged back on quite angry, and the handling of that event eventually caused him to leave the server.
When I logged my alt back in, I was simultaneously messaging both the pursuer and the staff member who had teleported me and then kicked me. My pursuer and I agreed to restart the RP, with Firebeard having jumped off the roof and been seriously injured or dead, and drop the powergaming accusations. At the same time, the staff member accused me of powergaming, to which I disagreed.
The guise of my argument was that 1) we had resolved the issue and agreed to restart the RP, 2) the issue was not that I had jumped off the building (see point 1), but that I had run rather than emote. The problem, at least in my eyes, was that it didn't occur to me that I was supposed to emote that I was going to run. I've RP'd before, and served as staff on other RP servers. I had never encountered a chase scene requiring an emote to tell a pursuer to run, because that policy is biased toward the pursuer. We always deferred the mechanics of our game, and although I have read the forums extensively, I never encountered a discussion on how to handle chase scenes.
Anyway, I argued my point, believing in my logic, to which the account was banned. I was warned, but the warning was about power gaming and not about privately contesting whether I had powergamed. The ban stated that I would be able to appeal the ban to prove that I was understanding of the rules of powergaming and capable of not powergaming in the future.
When the account was banned, I was on my other account and witnessed what was said immediately after the announcement. A few players asked why the account was banned, and people asked why. At first, the staff member accurately described why, but later misrepresented what my argument was about, stating something along the lines of that the account was saying that staff doesn't do their jobs yada yada (which at the time was a sensitive subject and more common topic of criticism).
I wasn't all that bothered by the fact that my alt was banned and it had not quite dawned on me that all of my accounts should be banned along with my alt. Only my friends knew that the account was mine. I did not understand why I was not allowed to restart the RP, angry that I was accused of powergaming, and upset that the reason the account was banned was consciously misrepresented.
Thus, I went straight to another staff member and had a discussion on teamspeak. While discussing the matter, I made my points and accepted the staff member's position, which was that it was powergaming, but that chases in RP are difficult and potentially biased toward the pursuer. Eventually, it dawned on me that all of my accounts were to be banned. I was prepared to argue (I'm going to be a lawyer, that's what I do), when the staff member calmed me down and we reached a fair agreement, which was that I would drop the issue and it would not be reported that I owned the account. I had two or three other accounts at the time, and it didn't bother me. I thought it was fair that I wouldn't be completely banned in exchange for not pressing the issue.
I was not inclined to make the ban appeal, which I didn't even consider doing until I talked with the staff member, because I didn't want to be completely banned and I didn't want everybody to know it was me who was banned. To make the appeal, I could have either posted with this account, or make a new forum account (with the same IP, which means staff would lead it back to me).
Thus, I accepted it and moved on. I completely forgot about it until recently, when my friend Jon, who is whitelisted, wanted an alt and asked me about this, to which I told him about it. I told him that if I could get the account unbanned, I would give it to him. I contacted the staff member who helped me resolve the issue in the first place. That request went unanswered. I contacted another staff member via skype, who told me (rightfully so) of that member's inability to unban the account without a proper appeal. I was advised to make a new forum account tied to the ban to write the ban appeal. I decided, on my own accord, to post with my main account and accept the consequences, whatever they may be.
I looked at my other account, and when I returned to look at Firebeard's progress somebody had found us on the roof, screaming at us. He was relatively far away, and not within Firebeard's visual range. Rather than emoting or responding to the requests to stop, I made a decision for him to run. I ignored the pursuer's requests to stop, not realizing that he wanted me to stop so we could sort through the "chase". I thought he was simply saying what any pursuer would yell at a target...
Soon, I ran out of space and made a decision to jump. I miscalculated how far the drop was and decided that the drop would be low enough for him to survive with negligible injury. Firebeard is a con-man, and I thought that he would have the agility to survive the fall and be able to go away at the speed of a dwarf injured but desperate to escape. I made it about 10 blocks or so, before I was teleported back to the top of the building.
That was extremely disorienting, and I didn't really know what happened. I thought the pursuer had some sort of GM power due to the event and had teleported me back, which I viewed as powergaming. I was angry and confused, but I soon found out that he was just as confused as I was. We exchanged a couple words, and he accused me of powergaming by not stopping to emote that I was running. I countered that if I had, he would have caught up with me.
The next thing I know, I and another member of the thieves guild were kicked with the explanation that we both were powergaming. The other member, who was also on the roof but not involved with the incident, logged back on quite angry, and the handling of that event eventually caused him to leave the server.
When I logged my alt back in, I was simultaneously messaging both the pursuer and the staff member who had teleported me and then kicked me. My pursuer and I agreed to restart the RP, with Firebeard having jumped off the roof and been seriously injured or dead, and drop the powergaming accusations. At the same time, the staff member accused me of powergaming, to which I disagreed.
The guise of my argument was that 1) we had resolved the issue and agreed to restart the RP, 2) the issue was not that I had jumped off the building (see point 1), but that I had run rather than emote. The problem, at least in my eyes, was that it didn't occur to me that I was supposed to emote that I was going to run. I've RP'd before, and served as staff on other RP servers. I had never encountered a chase scene requiring an emote to tell a pursuer to run, because that policy is biased toward the pursuer. We always deferred the mechanics of our game, and although I have read the forums extensively, I never encountered a discussion on how to handle chase scenes.
Anyway, I argued my point, believing in my logic, to which the account was banned. I was warned, but the warning was about power gaming and not about privately contesting whether I had powergamed. The ban stated that I would be able to appeal the ban to prove that I was understanding of the rules of powergaming and capable of not powergaming in the future.
When the account was banned, I was on my other account and witnessed what was said immediately after the announcement. A few players asked why the account was banned, and people asked why. At first, the staff member accurately described why, but later misrepresented what my argument was about, stating something along the lines of that the account was saying that staff doesn't do their jobs yada yada (which at the time was a sensitive subject and more common topic of criticism).
I wasn't all that bothered by the fact that my alt was banned and it had not quite dawned on me that all of my accounts should be banned along with my alt. Only my friends knew that the account was mine. I did not understand why I was not allowed to restart the RP, angry that I was accused of powergaming, and upset that the reason the account was banned was consciously misrepresented.
Thus, I went straight to another staff member and had a discussion on teamspeak. While discussing the matter, I made my points and accepted the staff member's position, which was that it was powergaming, but that chases in RP are difficult and potentially biased toward the pursuer. Eventually, it dawned on me that all of my accounts were to be banned. I was prepared to argue (I'm going to be a lawyer, that's what I do), when the staff member calmed me down and we reached a fair agreement, which was that I would drop the issue and it would not be reported that I owned the account. I had two or three other accounts at the time, and it didn't bother me. I thought it was fair that I wouldn't be completely banned in exchange for not pressing the issue.
I was not inclined to make the ban appeal, which I didn't even consider doing until I talked with the staff member, because I didn't want to be completely banned and I didn't want everybody to know it was me who was banned. To make the appeal, I could have either posted with this account, or make a new forum account (with the same IP, which means staff would lead it back to me).
Thus, I accepted it and moved on. I completely forgot about it until recently, when my friend Jon, who is whitelisted, wanted an alt and asked me about this, to which I told him about it. I told him that if I could get the account unbanned, I would give it to him. I contacted the staff member who helped me resolve the issue in the first place. That request went unanswered. I contacted another staff member via skype, who told me (rightfully so) of that member's inability to unban the account without a proper appeal. I was advised to make a new forum account tied to the ban to write the ban appeal. I decided, on my own accord, to post with my main account and accept the consequences, whatever they may be.
In summary, we have arrived at a peculiar scenario, as I am 1) finally accepting and acknowledging responsibility for what happened and 2) appealing the ban so that I may transfer it to Jon so that he may have an alt. I'm not entirely convinced that it's necessary for me to appeal the ban in order for Jon to be allowed to own it and play it here. It seems to me that it could have simply been unbanned upon notification of ownership transfer. No matter the results of this "appeal", I'm hoping that Jon will be able to play the alt.
There's a lot at play here, and as always with anything I'm involved with, it's complicated. To begin, I arguably (I'll return to this point later) power-gamed. I then contested the point to the point where that account was banned (justifiably or not). Next, I knowingly concealed the true identity of the owner of the banned account to avoid the consequences.
The staff member who kicked, banned, and justified the ban unjustly kicked my friend, causing both of us angst and eventually leading to him leaving the server. The statement, as best I remember it, that angered me most was something like I was uninformed of the rules and not capable of playing on the server until I informed myself. The so-called public justification of the ban was equally aggravating.
The staff member who helped me resolve the conflict knowingly concealed the identity of the operator of the banned account, and showed sympathy for my case.
The staff member who helped me decide how to resolve the scenario is also knowingly concealing the identity of the operator of the banned account.
One might reason that it would have been smarter to come clean immediately because my reputation, experience, and clean bill of RP infractions may have saved the account from being unbanned and saving us all from this mess. To this I have two responses: 1) hindsight is 20/20, and 2) I was afraid that my reputation regarding clashes with staff would actually hurt my chances of resolving it.
Next I'll propose how to handle everything, beginning with myself. I think all of my accounts should be (temp)banned until my appeal is accepted. My accounts are "Antilogy" "Attorney" and "Lindsay (the name of my fiancee, who is just starting minecraft and has never played on the server). This is the appropriate result for one alt being banned. I don't deserve the preferential treatment I received and I want to come clean for everything that happened, no matter the consequences. I do humbly ask to be informed of any banning.
Furthermore, while I did conceal this for so long, I also immediately told a staff member, and that staff member also chose to conceal it. I don't think either act should be punished, because that staff member acted in what he or she believed was the best interest of the server, and I deferred my concealment to that staff member.
The first staff member, who initially chose to conceal, should also not receive any sort of negative repercussions, again because it was believed at the time to be done in the best interests of the server.
The second staff member, who kicked me with warrant and my friend without warrant, then temp-banned, should not receive negative repercussions. That person was trying to do a job and acted, once again, in what was believed to be the best interests of the server. Quite honestly, it was a very confusing situation to begin with, and if i were in that person's shoes I may have done the exact same thing. I believe this person made mistakes, but that is my personal opinion and I am not trying to pass judgment based on my own opinions.
The final staff member, while concealing my identity, encouraged me to try to resolve it. I see no reason why that's a problem.
The staff member who kicked, banned, and justified the ban unjustly kicked my friend, causing both of us angst and eventually leading to him leaving the server. The statement, as best I remember it, that angered me most was something like I was uninformed of the rules and not capable of playing on the server until I informed myself. The so-called public justification of the ban was equally aggravating.
The staff member who helped me resolve the conflict knowingly concealed the identity of the operator of the banned account, and showed sympathy for my case.
The staff member who helped me decide how to resolve the scenario is also knowingly concealing the identity of the operator of the banned account.
One might reason that it would have been smarter to come clean immediately because my reputation, experience, and clean bill of RP infractions may have saved the account from being unbanned and saving us all from this mess. To this I have two responses: 1) hindsight is 20/20, and 2) I was afraid that my reputation regarding clashes with staff would actually hurt my chances of resolving it.
Next I'll propose how to handle everything, beginning with myself. I think all of my accounts should be (temp)banned until my appeal is accepted. My accounts are "Antilogy" "Attorney" and "Lindsay (the name of my fiancee, who is just starting minecraft and has never played on the server). This is the appropriate result for one alt being banned. I don't deserve the preferential treatment I received and I want to come clean for everything that happened, no matter the consequences. I do humbly ask to be informed of any banning.
Furthermore, while I did conceal this for so long, I also immediately told a staff member, and that staff member also chose to conceal it. I don't think either act should be punished, because that staff member acted in what he or she believed was the best interest of the server, and I deferred my concealment to that staff member.
The first staff member, who initially chose to conceal, should also not receive any sort of negative repercussions, again because it was believed at the time to be done in the best interests of the server.
The second staff member, who kicked me with warrant and my friend without warrant, then temp-banned, should not receive negative repercussions. That person was trying to do a job and acted, once again, in what was believed to be the best interests of the server. Quite honestly, it was a very confusing situation to begin with, and if i were in that person's shoes I may have done the exact same thing. I believe this person made mistakes, but that is my personal opinion and I am not trying to pass judgment based on my own opinions.
The final staff member, while concealing my identity, encouraged me to try to resolve it. I see no reason why that's a problem.
This is an appeal, either merely for the account "wabwab" or for all of my accounts, depending on how staff handles this post.
The appeal is based around the idea that I power gamed. Power gaming is addressed in the "Roleplay Survival Guide", shown in the following spoiler:
I'm aware of what powergaming is, and my best articulation is that it is "the use of over-powered tactics or abilities to influence the outcome of a roleplay in one's own favor." Under the server's definition and my own, I unknowingly power gamed. I have found no references to the requirement that one in pursuit must emote the pursuer to notify the pursuer of the intent to run, and I still contest that such a system is biased toward the pursuer because it gives them time to catch the one in pursuit.
I agree that, if we accept the requirement, then I power gamed. I believe that I was not fairly notified of that requirement before the incident and that it is not inherently obvious or reasonable to roleplayers that it is required, necessary, or even desired to emote before running. As such, I believe the ban itself was unwarranted and done without thought as to why a roleplayer might get confused in such a scenario.
I agree that, even if I had emoted and the person had properly waited for me (which I'm not convinced would be the case for the average roleplayer), I still would have jumped off the building and attempted to run, and that that attempt is also powergaming. That was a miscalculation on my part and I am the only one responsible for that mistake. I was prepared to take full responsibility for that mistake by restarting the RP being injured or dead, but was never given that opportunity.
I was not aware or informed of the chase mechanics, and regardless of proper notification, that is the true problem, and in a way the staff member who banned me was correct in stating that I needed to be more informed of the specific rules power-gaming on this server. The incident itself is what taught me about the chase mechanics, as I found no reference to it on the forums in subsequent searches. Regardless, I am now properly informed.
I am also responsible for escalating the point and pushing it to the point where I was banned. I was angry at my friend being kicked without warrant, confused about who teleported me, and confused about why I was wrong. Because of those things, I overreacted. Now that I am informed, repeated negative behavior is much less likely.
Finally, I am responsible for concealing all of this for staff for months. As I said before, I accepted the arrangement with the staff member. I should have accepted responsibility for what happened, regardless of my reputation or whatever, because in the long run this has hurt us all and is now a lot more complicated than it should be.
For all of this I am sorry. I've learned more about why it's powergaming and why I'm wrong, and even though I still disagree with the chase mechanics, I agree to abide by them without any more objection. I didn't handle the aftermath very well and illustrated my mistrust for the objectivity of staff in a most unfortunate, if until now invisible, way.
I hope you understand that, in bringing up what I perceive to be others mistakes and not merely my own, I do not want to excuse my own actions by illustrating theirs. Instead, I want you to understand my frustration see why I reacted the way I did. I believe it to be a misunderstanding, a slip through the digital cracks, that escalated into much ado about nothing.
The appeal is based around the idea that I power gamed. Power gaming is addressed in the "Roleplay Survival Guide", shown in the following spoiler:
OP (Over-powered) Characters: These are never fun...not for anyone, including the roleplayer of the OP character. Nothing will keep good RP away from you quicker than playing a character who always has to win, or take center stage. While it's always a good feeling to have your character be victorious over someone or something, keep in mind that /everyone/ generally wants that, but we don't always get it. Just like in real life, characters have limitations, and those are what make the roleplay more interesting in the end.
That doesn't mean you lose every time, but that you can take hits and damage as well as dole it out. On the opposite end, playing a none powerful character can often bring unexpectedly amazing roleplay that you would have missed out on otherwise.
Examples of Power-Gaming:
Having imaginary guards/followers/friends that protect or give information to you is a form of power-gaming (And Meta-gaming in some cases)
Using "Power" phrases, *He bashed his shield forward, flinging [Name's] sword away from them, into the grass*. This removes the other players choice of what would happen when the power-gamer thrusts his shield forward.
That doesn't mean you lose every time, but that you can take hits and damage as well as dole it out. On the opposite end, playing a none powerful character can often bring unexpectedly amazing roleplay that you would have missed out on otherwise.
Examples of Power-Gaming:
Having imaginary guards/followers/friends that protect or give information to you is a form of power-gaming (And Meta-gaming in some cases)
Using "Power" phrases, *He bashed his shield forward, flinging [Name's] sword away from them, into the grass*. This removes the other players choice of what would happen when the power-gamer thrusts his shield forward.
I'm aware of what powergaming is, and my best articulation is that it is "the use of over-powered tactics or abilities to influence the outcome of a roleplay in one's own favor." Under the server's definition and my own, I unknowingly power gamed. I have found no references to the requirement that one in pursuit must emote the pursuer to notify the pursuer of the intent to run, and I still contest that such a system is biased toward the pursuer because it gives them time to catch the one in pursuit.
I agree that, if we accept the requirement, then I power gamed. I believe that I was not fairly notified of that requirement before the incident and that it is not inherently obvious or reasonable to roleplayers that it is required, necessary, or even desired to emote before running. As such, I believe the ban itself was unwarranted and done without thought as to why a roleplayer might get confused in such a scenario.
I agree that, even if I had emoted and the person had properly waited for me (which I'm not convinced would be the case for the average roleplayer), I still would have jumped off the building and attempted to run, and that that attempt is also powergaming. That was a miscalculation on my part and I am the only one responsible for that mistake. I was prepared to take full responsibility for that mistake by restarting the RP being injured or dead, but was never given that opportunity.
I was not aware or informed of the chase mechanics, and regardless of proper notification, that is the true problem, and in a way the staff member who banned me was correct in stating that I needed to be more informed of the specific rules power-gaming on this server. The incident itself is what taught me about the chase mechanics, as I found no reference to it on the forums in subsequent searches. Regardless, I am now properly informed.
I am also responsible for escalating the point and pushing it to the point where I was banned. I was angry at my friend being kicked without warrant, confused about who teleported me, and confused about why I was wrong. Because of those things, I overreacted. Now that I am informed, repeated negative behavior is much less likely.
Finally, I am responsible for concealing all of this for staff for months. As I said before, I accepted the arrangement with the staff member. I should have accepted responsibility for what happened, regardless of my reputation or whatever, because in the long run this has hurt us all and is now a lot more complicated than it should be.
For all of this I am sorry. I've learned more about why it's powergaming and why I'm wrong, and even though I still disagree with the chase mechanics, I agree to abide by them without any more objection. I didn't handle the aftermath very well and illustrated my mistrust for the objectivity of staff in a most unfortunate, if until now invisible, way.
I hope you understand that, in bringing up what I perceive to be others mistakes and not merely my own, I do not want to excuse my own actions by illustrating theirs. Instead, I want you to understand my frustration see why I reacted the way I did. I believe it to be a misunderstanding, a slip through the digital cracks, that escalated into much ado about nothing.
Apart from all of my accounts being unbanned so that I may play and so that Jon may have the alt he deserves, I suggest refining the definition of power-gaming and stating the chase mechanics so that all of us are notified and can fairly and properly execute a chase scene.
In the event that I am permanently banned, I ask for the right to come online one last time so that I may transfer my holdings to Jon. He rightfully owns much of what I have, and it is not fair to punish him for my actions (which is another argument to just unban the account so that I may give it to him).
In conclusion, I apologize for not knowing what I needed to know. I apologize for not properly handling the aftermath. I apologize for concealing it all. I am now informed, and I hope you will forgive this trespass against your trust.
-Antilogy
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