Runners:
Scumbag
kpaca
Kijin
Shalako
jonnyjonski
Tordeck
Madding
pinkfloyd/badman/Checkbox
1. The precursor suspension and banning. Internet Satan's removal marks the parting shot for this contest. Solid and entertaining stuff.
Internet Satan Banning
9th August
2. Then come kpaca's suspension and banning. The shot heard round the world. Some would claim this one defeats all competition, In any case, a solid, solid runner-up! :thumbsup
( N_S )' suspension
So Scumbag got suspended for posting an IM from kpaca (who was suspended) looking like this: "Harkius, the staff-sponsored troll". If this was hotly contested by the gutter, it was no less controversial in the Mod Lounge. It took place across
multiple threads, and as usual, we couldn't agree. I personally thought it was a really innocuous post and that while it technically broke the rule, the penalty should match the crime. Many agreed with this PoV, or thought it didn't break the rule at all, while others argued that the rules said X, and we shouldn't exercise favoritism just because this is a loud Gutter member. The vote was pretty close to tied, but I argued that in the case of a staff that doesn't make up its mind, the ruling should favor the user, who is the one to face a tangible penalty after all. This only sparked more discussion, and Scumbag served his suspension (though only one week, despite it being his second suspension). Only a couple of weeks later did we finally reduce the suspension to an infraction, but I don't know if anyone got to know that, and obviously the damage was done already.
Guys, I've been speaking with
beloved suspended member kpaca on AIM, and he just threw this one:
(18:30:51) kpaca: ****
(18:30:58) kpaca: The staff sponsored troll
(N_S) posted on behalf of a suspended user and will be back in 1 week.
6th August( N_S )' ban
Fast forward a week or so, and we have a situation where, from our point of view, Scumbag was trolling CI pretty relentlessly, and was posting in the Gutter to boast about his trolling and encouraged others to do the same. This was a pretty big problem in our eyes, and was making the Gutter the exact thing
it shouldn't be (a troll central). Rather than penalizing the entire Gutter for this kind of troublemaking, we were talking about what to do with Scumbag. Banning was indeed brought up as a possibility in the Global Lounge, but it was abandoned rather quickly. After discussion between the admins, we decided to just infract the posts in question.
[...] and because of all the trouble Scumbag had caused recently, we decided to go with the ban. There was maybe one staff member who disagreed, I think.
Yup. this last rules BS made me understand that the current administration is corrupt beyond any possible repair.
I'm done caring about shit like that, I mean, I have a multi million € research going at full steam, what the fuck am I doing with my life, trying to argue with a bunch of neckbearded manchildren trying to act like they're the Thomas Jefferson of magic cards
forums? Lord am I stupid.
From now on its just tbgte and gang activity. Gonna try to have fun around here while the remaining good places of this site still stand.
Hey, one more retroactive infraction.
I'm in the Danger zone!
Suspended by tomorrow? y/y
I'm getting retroactively infracted like there is no tomorrow ever since I've stopped posting in CI
Banning was indeed brought up as a possibility in the Global Lounge, but it was abandoned rather quickly. After discussion between the admins, we decided to just infract the
posts in question.
Scumbag, however, had somehow heard that we were discussing whether or not to ban him only that he was either told, or interpreted it as us scheming our way into getting him banned. As I understand it (I could be wrong - hey, that is basically the point of this thread, I want to know this stuff), Scumbag decided to post the Curse information he'd been withholding because he thought he was about to get banned anyway. From our perspective, Scumbag was posting this as a retaliation to the two infractions I had just given him. This was a friggin big deal for the site (much bigger than the closure of a random club house, or honestly anything else that had happened to the site since January 2005), and probably the most significant leak ever, and because it was done in retaliatory fashion (again, the way we saw it), and because of all the trouble Scumbag had caused recently, we decided to go with the ban.
There was maybe one staff member who disagreed, I think.
****: hasn't changed much since...
GutterNS: seems far fetched, even by the standards of current staff
GutterNS: also, why you playing knight in shinning armor?
****: don't get me wrong, your ci rants border on the annoying, but its still a dick move to ban you essentially for disagreeing with staff policies
****: i don't condone it
****: but this is what we are at. you're a goner
GutterNS: well this first retroactive infraction gives some credence to your "theory", but what evidence do I have this is not coincidence?
****: here's the thing
****: the fact you decided to stop posting in the public sections of salvation foiled the initial plan
****: and they had to go for a backup
GutterNS: which is?
****: what do you mean?
GutterNS: the plan
****: just like with kijin and kpaca: having very strict standards and giving you infractions once there is an opening, even a rabbit
hole one.
****: however, since you gave up on posting about the staff in CI
****: like you posted in the gutter after you got angry after Nai
****: they are reviewing your most recent posts in order to give you the necessary 3 infraction points
****: and then cue to ban
GutterNS: ....
****: btw, its not going to stop at you. kpaca and kijin are next.
GutterNS: oh come the fuck on, you are trolling aain, no way they'd do that much, it would be too obvious
GutterNS: not to mention really sordid
****: do you really think all these things are a coincidence?
GutterNS: you expect me to believe this?
****: your suspension for reposting a joke, kijin and kpaca being put on a year probation for voting on a poll and thanking a post?
****: just you wait and see
****: the higher ups want to cut the dead wood at salvation
****: so that Curse has a nice and clean site once they assume operations
****: with no loose ends
****: i suspect people want to show they made a nice cleaning up tor the new owners
n****: therefore every last one of you guys will be history by the end of the summer
****: don't tell me I didn't warned you afterwards
( N_S ) and his gimmick doktorcaligari have been banned for making malicious actions against the site.
I've just learned something from all this Nai bullshit: The reason why I was banned from MTGS was because I was expecting to be banned.The punishment was actually spelled out AFTER N_S was banned.
The ban wasn't specifically for the leak of the information, but that leak was involved.
Just prior to his leak of the information, N_S was complaining about how he had gotten two infractions and how we were supposedly going to retroactively find something else to hit him with. Just after commenting about how he was trolling to make a point, he started revealing this information, including the incorrect bit that this
would bring 'big changes to the Rumor Mill' and that everyone could 'only guess if unauthorized spoilers would still be allowed'. N_S also fully expected to be banned.
After a discussion on this, we decided that he was actually outright attempting to get himself banned by spreading information he knew could be harmful.
It wasn't that he was spreading the information, but which information he was choosing to spread and how he was choosing to spread it.
Kpaca's suspension upgraded to banning
Okay guys. The staff have looked this over and
have discussed what to do about it.
Of the major points, it was decided that this had to be dealt with a little more forcefully given that this isn't the first time there's been a problem with suspension evasions via gimmicks. But on the other side of this is the fact that this wasn't a huge evasion on either count.
As such, there will be a punishment for the suspension evasion, but it won't be an auto-ban or auto-suspension, given that the violation was minor.
1. Kpaca and Kijin will be put on a 1-year probation. Any infraction gained during this time will automatically be extended to the end-date of the probation. Should either be up for a suspension during this time, that suspension will be upgraded to a banning. The staff may reevaluate the length of this probation after 3, 6, and 9 months. Infractions earned during the probation will not be adjusted if the probation's duration is adjusted.
2. Kpaca and Kijin are banned from using gimmicks for the duration of this probation,
except when explicitly authorized or excused by the staff. Failure to follow this rule will result in banning.
I don't think that 2 will really come up in the future, given that I doubt either of you will be suspended anytime soon. However, this applies towards any gimmicks, including gimmicks used for Mafia use. Just make sure we know it's you.
To TL;DR this: You're on probation for a year, checked every three months. Any infraction you gain will be extended until the end of the probation, and any suspension from infractions will be a ban instead. You also can't use gimmicks unless you check with us first.
Please, guys, work with us. I want to be able to PM you guys in 3 months and go 'okay, that bullshit is done, thanks for being awesome'.
Kpaca was suspended for knowingly and intentionally leaked material known to be off limits, and re-posting it when it was initially deleted. This resulted
in a ban due to his probationary status.
Kpaca posted twice about Curse in the Gutter Compromise thread. It has been determined that Kpaca likely acted in anger when an as-yet unknown person told him a rumor that the Gutter was to be closed.
We believe these responses constituted direct violations of a standing moderator request. That he proceeded to repost it immediately after he determined an admin had deleted his post makes it more clear.
We do understand that users may occasionally act in anger, but we have never allowed that to excuse them from the ramifications of their actions.
As such, we have decided to issue a suspension to kpaca for disobeying a moderator request. As he is on probation, this suspension will result in his ban from the site.
THAT was the "leak&
quot; that got you banned Kpaca?
Ugh.
When you are on probation any suspension-worthy offense leads to a site ban.
So, the gravity of what he did might have been Maddingesque, but the probation was the issue he seems to not be telling you about.
Whats funny is i was on probation for accidentally clicking vote in poll instead of view votes while gimmick browsing. The staff didnt notice this, i told them myself because i realized
that i accidentally was evading suspension. Self imposed tattling on myself
Yeah snitched about something i didnt do on purpose to boot. This is like if a large gust of wind blew me into the street so i jaywalked and then called the police
To be fair, the kpaca banning was the gutter equivalent of the shot heard 'round the world, hence why it was my first nom
Kpaca's MTGS appeal
3. Occurring at the same time than kpaca's banning, and no doubt outshined by the former one, Kijin's suspension evasion and banning deserve their own place over here!
I havnt had
time to be at a real comp to type up the type of appeal thats necessary for these twats, but i had an aim convo with nai laying all this out and his response was "well the admins agree with you but the lower mods vote yes to you being banned so your sol sorry"
If you look at the timestamps Sene, i reposted that material before you pmd me or i read that pm. This is ****ing bullHere are the time stamps on the PMs I sent. The one I received from you was sent 04:28 PM.
Here are the time stamps on the posts:
Anyway, ignoring that:
1. Why did you post this, when after N_S' ban it was very clear that it was hush-hush and a serious leak?
2. Why did you not delete the posts after you read my PM?
3. Why did you re-post your post after
correctly guessing that an administrator had deleted it? What made you think that was okay?Because im not sure of this info. Its stuff that is being throw at me that like you said isnt the complete story. But if the site is being sold and we will be terminated, Id just like to be told. We could make a plan to move or move to clans or something.
Well I figured you would just redelete them or otherwise respond to them which was my hope.
Because i hadnt been informed anything and dont appreciate a post of mine in a discussion deleted since i was trying to raise a point. Like i said i read that pm after reposting. It was during my morning toilet trip fyi.Well, I'll make a thread in the mod lounge for discussion about this ban. It's possible that we'll ask you a few questions during the review, so check in regularly.
And I want to say: when I sent you that PM, it was because I was
thoroughly disappointed and didn't want what happened to happen. Seeing you post what you did made me frustrated because I had expected more of you. If you feared that we were about to close the Gutter due to Curse, why didn't you just ask the admins instead of self-destructing in pegs? We would never have ended up in this situation if you hadn't jumped to conclusions.Honestly? I dont trust you guys in private and was looking for honest public dialouge.Also i have over 11000 posts can keep my avatar ala tfe, kcw, butteblues, sakura, etc? This has been like a thing for more prominent members. I was gonna request this for Scumbag once everything settled down, but it never seemed to.Can i*
(cant edit posts)I don't know what I can say here. If you don't trust us,
you don't trust us, but I don't see why that would change in a public verses private setting.
I can assure you that we've been nothing but honest with you. Make of that for what you will.
I think this is a fair request. I've implemented an admin override on your account to retain your avatar and will consider doing the same for ( N_S ).People saying things in public keeps them honest. Theres a larger constituency to appease.
Thank you for that.So am I to assume my appeal is still processing?I don't think you've raised valid grounds yet.
Looking at your posts here and the deleted ones in pegs it looks like you were knowingly acting against the request by Nai and one by Sene. I mean, you realized that an admin deleted your post and rather than pause and find out what was up, you pressed forward
with what was clearly demonstrated as not OK.
I get that you were pissed, and I can understand why: you were fed poor info that ran against all that we had been working for. But letting your rage dictate your actions isn't a viable defense. The current trend in the mod lounge is that the suspension was justified along with the bump to ban per the terms of your probation. The bump feels cut and dry to me, but if you have a rational reason as to why the suspension is unwarranted, we'd like to hear you out.
So, the gist is: your current line of arguing isn't going to be successful. If you'd like to make one regarding where your actions fall under the rules, that is still open to you.[What?
I didnt disobey any mod requests so i dont understand youre argument. Iguess my argument is indeed that i didnt do anything outside of any rules. If anything i should have been infracted this is overly severe.
quote1=ExpiredRascals;9133085]I apologize for the delay.
kpaca, could you elaborate on why you believe your actions don't fall outside the rules? The crux of the case for your banning was that they did, so stating why exactly you think this isn't the case would go a long way.[/quote1]
Kijin SYM leak and Banning
If I say that you broke the law, but don't elaborate, I'm not lying about what you did. I'm just not giving details.
If I say you owe me money, but don't say how much, I'm not lying about this fact. I'm just not giving the details.
N_S's leaking of this information where any number of Lurkers could see it (honestly, not everyone is as awesome as you guys) could have caused major issues. And because N_S believed he would be banned for it, he KNEW he was
doing something that could get him in trouble. Malicious action against the site.
There's no lie here.[/quote1]
[/quote]
4. Shalako's a solid runner too. By Scumbag's own admission, he had his gimmick account "Zombie" Zach hacked and shared by banned Gutter members who wen on one of the most heroic SYM battles over MTGS. Banned post-facto with an hilarious as usual appeal managed by your's truly Nai who never hesitated to dismiss every evidence brought-up by Shalako's, while not be willing to confirm his claims with the other banned members who are just a PM away from being able to be contacted on this site.
5. jonny's threats on the whole city of New York have also been a solid runner up for prize!
Believe you me, I'm not happy about this.Hello friends! You may want to screengrab or save the HTML of this thread!
Earlier today, kpaca was banned for posting "off-limits" material. The off limits material is information you can find with a google search: that MTGSalvation
is being purchased by Curse Corporation for purchase (link I found on google: http://forums.starcitygames.com/showthr ... orporation , confirmed by Nai in the Gutter just before (N_S) was banned).
The question this raises is, aside from why were these people banned for leaking spoiler information as this site was established to do, why your staff have been lying to you all this time? And what does it have to do with the direction (downward) this site has been in for some time?
Clearly this has been on the table since He Who Must Not Be Named was asked to step down, as there was some controversy raised when Azrael mentioned the site buyout in discussions there, but no one really questioned that at the time. But now two of my friends are banned because they mentioned MTGSalvation is being bought by Curse Corporation to secure ties
with WotC and to have back-end management after Hannes almost eternal absence, and all it cost was essentially gutting the site through a new "beautification" process we've all been making threads in here for months about.
For reference, here are the quotes from your administrator Nai about the sale we're not supposed to be talking about here but can plainly talk about elsewhere if you know where to dig after being sent in to PR the situation, only to ban Scumbag as a result:
Okay guys, I didn't want to have to step into this thread at any point and violate your privacy. But this one's rather important.
I'm not sure how this information got out, as we didn't want to release it until we had information. This sale is very much up in the air and we're not 100% sure anything is going through. As such, we need this information to stay secret until we actually know something. Telling people that this site is going to be
bought out when we don't know the details could cause a lot of issues and start people asking questions we don't know the answer to.
Whoever heard of this first needs to let us know who actually gave you this information. We need to make sure that no one's posting it until we actually have confirmation that this is going to happen.
Because there's been so many leaks from so many levels recently, the admins need to make it clear that discussing the potential sale is verboten until we actually have full information. I don't like having to put it this way, but talking about it will be an infractable offense until we can actually make an official announcement.
MTGNews is still very fresh in the mind of many people on MTGS. We want to be able to specifically say what is and isn't going to happen if '[redacted] is purchased when we make the official announcement. Please work with us, guys. This could be awesome for us, but we need to make sure it's happening before we start
discussing it.All I can really say is that there's an offer, discussions are happening, but nothing's set in stone by a long ways. If it goes through, '[redacted] could get a WHOLE lot better.
I've removed the previous posts that give the detailed information, since nothing's confirmed yet. Keep it under your hat, guys. When we get confirmation, you'll probably be the first to know.Because one of the first responses to the information was 'Oh god they're gonna close the gutter' and 'what's this going to do to the rumor mill'. There was already speculation and worry, and nothing's happened yet.Like what? I assume that Scumbag posted that someone wanted to buy the site(and who). So what? Do the Users not get to know that Info? Why is it considered State Secrets?
This is
secret because, as I've said, nothing's confirmed yet. The deal isn't going through yet. We were going to make an announcement when we actually had confirmation, or at least a promisory note or something. But we're not even that far yet.
Having this information leaked early could be disastrous to the deal.He was expecting it, actually. He posted as much.Alright comment: He couldn't have leaked it, because he didn't have access to the lounge. Someone leaked it TO him. He's not bound by no "code" to keep it a secret if he learns it. Oh but he should have known he'd get banned over that... or maybe he was expecting getting banned anyway? IDK.
T_T[quote1=Nai;8816825:How can I tell you a secret is a secret without telling you the secret?
You're not making any sense at all mate.
23vzx7js]Hrm. Let's roleplay this out for a second.
"Hey, guys. The site may be bought soon!"
"Oh? When?"
"We... Don't know."
"Okay, what's going to happen to the site?"
"We don't know."
"Will anything change?"
"We don't know."
Yup. Seems productive.[/quote1]
The point?
That the information is not relevant to the public at all. Because there is no information. At best we have 'the site may be purchased soon', and that's about it. At best, nothing happens. But people like to speculate. And the problem is that speculation tends to cause issues in mass groups.Let me try to rephrase this.
We don't know if the site is changing ownership. We don't know if it's actually going to happen. We don't know what will change if it will. We don't know ANYTHING right now.
What,
exactly, do you think is relevant to the public?
"Guys, sometime between now and the sun blowing up MTGSalvation may change hands. Something may change if that happens. Stay tuned."
I don't make Miss Cleo predictions. >.>So you're okay with a bunch of I need to take a long, hard look at what I'm doing with my time based on NOTHING?this one is ironic given that they've been lying about the bans, the new site direction, and the sale this entire time, particularly given our history as a site and it's whole "post illegal spoilers that harm other people's IPs [but not our own]"So, wait.Dismiss it as a joke, trolling, or something like that.
Pretend that there is no 'sale discussions' or anything like that going on; to the public at the very least.
That, actually, should be the way to handle stuff like that, not hammering everything with the gigantic Banhammer, like what happened to N_S.
Because that`s very suggestive, and, by now, probably everyone with IQ > 0 will know that there`s something going on, provided s/he didn`t miss the course of
events.
You want us to LIE to our userbase?
And what, exactly, do you think is going to be the response when we come back a week or two later and go 'Wait, no, we were wrong, it's happening.'
We aren't okay with a few hundred irreverent Chicken Littles running around.When the alternative is Banning and refusing to allow Former Mod's back?
Yes. I am fine with a few hundred irreverent Chicken Littles running around. It's info that people deserve to know. Period.hope you guys have answers to my questions!Drama's easier to handle if you actually
have answers to the questions.
Well, no. We said that N_S made a malicious action towards the site. We also said the same thing about Artie. Two completely different situations. And that's it.And here's what I'm saying.Okay. Here is the Crux of what I am saying.
The Chicken Littles will be just as freaked out when they are told the Site is being Sold to Person X as when they are Told the Site is being Sold to Someone maybe.
Punishing people for talking about info that Users should know because of possible consequences that may or may not happen due to a event that may or may not happen makes little sense to me.
Thanks for being willing to Hash this out with me Nai.
It's not just 'Chicken Little' that we're worried about. The Rumor Mill is a
big deal on this site. What if we have to get rid of it? What if we have to get rid of Commander subforums? Perhaps we have to get rid of the Gutter? What if?
These types of questions can cause a LOT of I need to take a long, hard look at what I'm doing with my time. It's easier to handle them if we actually can say 'Nothing will happen to the Gutter, the Commander subforums are just fine, and we'll get some official spoilers before anyone else', or something similar.
If we CANNOT answer these questions? Speculation starts. Word of mouth can cause issues. IF the Site starts having issues, the buyer may back out. So not only do we have I need to take a long, hard look at what I'm doing with my time, but we also have no buyer. So the I need to take a long, hard look at what I'm doing with my time was all for nothing.
We're waiting on the full answers. We intend to say EVERYTHING when we have ALL the information.[quote=&
quot;MandersHex"]Nor should you be.
Don't misunderstand: I'm still upset with the staff. But I think you reacted appropriately this time.
And, I know it was hard for you, Nai, to support Scumbag being banned, as it's hard for me to accept it as the right thing to do. But it was.
How is it a lie?Isn`t that a lie as well, then? (At least partly?)
If I say that you broke the law, but don't elaborate, I'm not lying about what you did. I'm just not giving details.
If I say you owe me money, but don't say how much, I'm not lying about this fact. I'm just not giving the details.
N_S's leaking of this information where any number of Lurkers could see it (honestly, not everyone is as awesome as you guys) could have caused major issues. And because N_S believed he would be banned for it, he KNEW he was
doing something that could get him in trouble. Malicious action against the site.
There's no lie here.[/quote1]
I doubt we can stop the 'this will be the death of the site' posts.And then there will be pages upon pages of "What's going to happen to X subform" and "This will be the death of this site" and every single thing that the Sky is falling people say in every CI thread ever.
But the 'What's going to happen to X subforum' threads will last for about 5 posts. And then one of us goes in and goes, "Nothing. Thread closed."
i voted on something in the pegging chamber and then didn't vote when it was raised that i shouldn't have voted.
i
have not tried to appeal because i have already done this dance once.
you guys realize he's in the states. kijin....he's in New York...what the hell are you doing man! Get that guy!!!
Shouldn't be too hard to find right?
quote1=Galspanic;8659243]jonnyjonski theatened a member of the staff. He will take a week off for this.[/quote1]
6. Tordeck's proposes an all-time favorite for suspension's modus operandi
7. Madding's banning for having a girlfriend that had the bad idea of posting on MTGSNominate Tordeck's suspension
It was ria's idea but ria didn't want to be the one to hand it out so he got someone else to do it
Madding's Bleza fiasco
8. And last but not least a bulk nomination for the suspensions of badman, pinkfloyd and checkbox for failing to nominate staff-sponsored forum members
Sene, I don't know how much more information I can give out without violating me and my girlfriends
privacy. Stop telling me that the Belza account is a Madding gimmick. I am not a retard who would evade a suspension with an account that is known to be affiliated with me. The XXXXXXXXXXX email account is a joint email account for different social networking sites that I ultimately yielded to my girlfriend years ago when I got tired of its roleplaying connontations and switched to two other primary emails which I can tell Boubs in private. Look up the XXXXXXXXXXX email account on real life websites like Amazon, Pinterest, etc. The accounts on such actual websites with that email address all are registered to Heather XXXXX. If you look at any newer accounts on Magic: the Gathering websites and stores (this one, SCG, twitchtv, other MTG stores) you will not find any Madding or Kaitscralt accounts registered to that email address in years because IT IS NOT MINE ANY MORE.
Stop trying to be internet detectives. It is creepy and insulting. I own a house with my girlfriend of
almost eight years and we share in interests and hobbies. She uses things of mine because I am creative and come up with names she likes. That is her account, that is her email address, that was her post because she was mad that I was mad, but she quickly lost interest in lolforum drama while I continued to be a whiny little bitch about it around the house.
To reiterate : there is ample proof that email address is used daily on public sites by my girlfriend Heather, and proof that the MTG entity named Madding/Kaitscralt moved to different email addresses for forums/sites years ago. Can I make this any clearer, Sene?
I didn't appeal it because I didn't want to. But Boubs offered his services to us and I accepted. So you can be sure all the above info will be presented to him in a PM if needed including the different accounts and email addresses across different websites that easily dismiss this absurd gimmick charge as a case of flash banning.
Like I am going to circumvent my suspension with a 5 year old account that used to bump my trade thread for me. Give me a little more credit than that Salvation.
It's also sort of poetic that it happened now because I was once banned for being thought to have rigged the forum awards with Belza, only to be cleared by administration and unbanned before that award season ended.
MTGS Forum Awards Fiasco
"I deleted the nominations you posted since, given the history with the people you named, I can't see that being anything but trolling.
-Galspanic"
for the record, i nominated woap for nicest member and arcad for best mod...i guess he doesn't think they are good people
it is now the staff that is the
gutter.
it has come full circle.
he wanted it to stop, and didnt want to suspend 4 people
and then he went and suspended 4 people...