Jagster08/Solid_Snake619 appeal for unbanning. [Resolved - Upheld]

[Morpheus]

Hello again, I’m appealing once again for my permanent ban placed upon me in late August 2014 by Naelwyn/Michcat for inappropriate behaviour towards the server admins. As I’m sure you’ll remember from my previous appeals, I acted initially out of immaturity and rage, and while in my mind during the time I did not consider my actions and their consequences, as time has passed I have begun to realise the idiocy of my actions and therefore once again apologise for what I did in the past. I personally acted maliciously towards michcat in a pathetic tiff over roleplay and hence I am truly apologetic, and as this half-year has passed, I’ve been forced to endure the pain of listening to my friends roleplay, plot and adventure on Hollowworld, as well as often being disincluded due to my banning. I understand why I was banned and I appeal to show not only my apologies but also to implore you to lift the ban I have borne over the past 7 months. I truly and wholeheartedly promise that I will never lash out at the server and staffs ever again and furthermore promise my face would not be seen again if I ever do, as I beg for a final chance. On my last appeal I was told that I should prove my maturity and interaction with the server, and while of course I have had difficulty in the sense that I cannot attend roleplay events physically; I have been interactively roleplaying over the forums and other means with the people of Wolfstadt (who have ties with my roleplay character). Furthermore, I have attempted to become more well-known with the other players, being present in teamspeak for the majority of each week since my previous ban appeal. I attempt to contribute to any issues which come up with my peers, and often attempt to help others should I be able to. I understand that this does not ‘make up’ for my idiocy, but I truly wish to be a part of the server once again, and to play, roleplay and adventure on Hollowworld with my friends.

 

[Somnastra]

So, when I could quote every post of yours in a single entry, I'm not sure that really demonstrates or proves anything as far as your maturity and interaction with the server. You've made a total of seven posts since your last appeal, and five of them seemed to be aimed at your personal RP. That roleplay thread you mention is ... well, rather in a grey area. It is unfair to expect to have made any character advancement while banned, even if it is through the forums.

So I'm afraid my original statement still stands, and I'm not sure I see any progress being made towards an unban.

 

[Spark]

So, when I could quote every post of yours in a single entry, I'm not sure that really demonstrates or proves anything as far as your maturity and interaction with the server. You've made a total of seven posts since your last appeal, and five of them seemed to be aimed at your personal RP. That roleplay thread you mention is ... well, rather in a grey area. It is unfair to expect to have made any character advancement while banned, even if it is through the forums.

So I'm afraid my original statement still stands, and I'm not sure I see any progress being made towards an unban.

Can I ask what it is you want from him exactly? There are plenty of other people that haven't interacted on the forums and have been unbanned. Also, the main point, what is he meant to post exactly?
He can't exactly post on threads to do with events, because he can't attend them.
What's the point in replying to almost every thread on the forums?
Would you rather he spammed the forums with meaningless posts? Maturity also includes knowing when to post, and when not to.
He has been doing a forum RP as it's relevant for him to post, it can be all voided, since it's known that you can't develop your character whilst banned.
He has been on the server Teamspeak almost EVERY day, acting maturely, because he has something to talk about there.
Since when has posting on the forums been a requirement for being part of the server?

He has been banned for almost half a year. People have been trusted to have matured in this time without any interaction with the community.
This is his first ban.
To quote Sally, a trusted staff member:

I'm not a fan of grudges , anyone can get caught up in the moment, and mistakes can be made fairly easily. It always takes guts to stand back up and say you did something wrong.

Also, I know bans are handled on a case by case basis, but people have been unbanned for X-ray, which used to result in a non-appealable perm ban, within 1 day of appealing.

To quote you in the response to his last ban appeal:

In the meantime, interacting maturely on the forums and making certain you keep a handle on your temper is probably the best way to ensure that we'll respond positively.

Firstly, this can imply that Jag was initially/previously acting immaturely, and you asked him to change his behaviour. Since this time, there is no evidence of immaturity - he has made appeals within particularly lengthy periods of time, not been impatient, and any comments he has made over the forums/teamspeak/whatever have not been at least in my opinion at all immature.

Thank you for reading, I hope you take my post into consideration.

 

[Somnastra]

It was an oversight not to lock this, and this has been rectified. The standard procedure is to warn and delete posts when they're in a restricted forum, Spark, but I'm not going to do that in this situation because I have something very important to say.

The onus is on the person who was banned to demonstrate the way in which they have changed, not on staff to divine the ways which they are interacting with people they are already friends with in an environment that has little or infrequent moderation. We consider every ban and appeal on an individual basis, and the circumstances of this situation are different even from others who were banned for similar reasons. The burden of proof is increased when the ban is made within such a short amount of time of rewhitelisting, and the compounding effect of the response to that ban (which may not still be visible to anyone but staff - who can see deleted forum posts/profile posts/etc) make this different than x-ray offenses, too.

I have no grudge against Jagster, and that's the truth. I can't help if you believe I'm being disingenuous, because I really have no reason to dislike the guy. I wasn't involved in the situation that got him banned, and I did not interact with him before he was inactive for such a long time. My response was a candid and polite summation of the sentiments of the entire staff team. The decision on this is as near unanimous as you can get: you might notice that in a previous ban appeal I said that he had no advocates. This remains true. His activity on the forum has done nothing to garner any support, and that is what I had asked him to do. This does not mean suck up, nor does it mean making useless posts.

The ban stands.