Who Got Banned and Why

[Trazz]

Slothy/Xp has been banned from all platforms for one month for trolling and breaking server rules.

[Greggy G]

Gumline has been permanently banned for harassment and disagreeing to cooperate with warnings to stay away from certain individuals.

[Caution]

Gumline has been permanently banned for harassment and disagreeing to cooperate with warnings to stay away from certain individuals.

 

 

After talking with BD's & the IM, I'm overturning the ban (and the warning itself). There was a bit of discussion that seemed like opinions may have been swayed as well - but, for simplicity's sake since the end result is the same, I'm just going to say that it's a veto.

 

First and foremost, I want to be explicitly clear about the environment I expect at SG, in a nutshell, referencing harassment / sexual harassment - this has nothing to do with this specific situation whatsoever. I've worked my entire adult life in some department of the federal government (and I'm the union rep now) - so we receive extensive training on harassment & sexual harassment. Bom mentioned it in another post somewhere that our rules and expectations here at SG are based on actual rules of society, which I believe to be 100% true. At the same time, however, we need to recognize we're not in a formal environment that requires the microscope of Human Resources.

 

I expect everyone to be allowed to play, post, hang out, etc., here free of legitimate discrimination against race, color, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, etc. I expect every higher up to look into each and every allegation of harassment or sexual harassment. All of this being said - that does not mean that we're being extremely PC or not allowed to joke around. Sometimes we investigate things that are obviously sexual / regular harassment, but oftentimes it's not. There's usually a lot more backstory to a situation. That's where confronting a person and saying something to the effect of "You are harassing me. Please stop" and then leaving the channel helps us, as investigators, make a determination that it is harassment after that point (minus somebody being ridiculous about petty crap). Without that, unless it is extremely black and white, action probably shouldn't be taken, because it's almost impossible for us to prove gross negligence / malice. Even in a situation that is completely black / white, a formal investigation (including an interview of the accused) typically occurs.

 

---------------------

 

On to this specific scenario:

 

I'm not trying to air anyone's laundry out in public, so I'm going to withhold from using names as much as I can. If you're anyone involved and you'd like further clarification or to get with me after, please feel free to shoot me a PM. I watched a 17 minute video - not just listened, but physically watched the chat in a private game. In the video, which was the spark of the aforementioned warning PM, I observed admitting to intentionally trying to get Gumline banned, refusing to leave to another channel when prompted by someone else to avoid Gumline, intentionally trying to engage in conversations with him in order to get him to admit to saying something (that really wasn't even bad to begin with), and a few other less-than-desirable actions.

 

I think there were some parts that were dumb to complain about, some parts where 'feeling the room' should have occurred, and some parts where the issue was confronted and resolved...ish. There was also a BD sitting in the channel, actively engaged in the conversation - if there was legitimate harassment occurring, messaging the BD on the side to say something if you're afraid or nervous to confront the individual directly would have worked wonders.

 

The 'official' warning under threat of ban that Gumline received is overturned for the aforementioned reasons.

 

After the fact, he joined a channel that had the user in it. The warning PM received by him was not clear in mentioning to avoid joining any channels, it simply said to avoid contact (which could go either way, because it doesn't really specify what that means). When asked if he had received this PM, he said he did not. There was no read-receipt, no verbal confirmation, Gumline was never pulled into a Discord channel to discuss the situation, etc. I find it just as likely to not be received as it is to be received - meaning tie goes to Gumline. There's no reasonable expectation nor trend of established forum activity to warrant thinking it is more likely to be received than not to be received. Gumline's response is what got him permed, which was probably not the best response, but didn't warrant a ban either way because it was determined that he might not have gotten the warning to begin with. No one needed to engage with him beyond 'Here is your warning - you've been served'.

The permanent ban Gumline received is overturned for these reasons.

 

------------------------

 

To the people involved: Stay the fuck away from Gumline.

 

Gumline: Stay the fuck away from them.

 

To everyone else: If someone is harassing you, do everything in your power to inform the person harassing you, remove yourself from the situation, and then report. Do not stay and engage. This is not saying that the harassers get to roam free while people being harassed are force to succumb - what it's doing is providing you with all the ammunition you need. If you can come to us and say 'I told this person he was harassing me, I told him to stay away, I left the channel, and he keeps following me around...', odds are that's enough to punish in some capacity.

 

If my expectations are unclear, please let me know.

[Caution]

After talking with BD's & the IM, I'm overturning the ban (and the warning itself). There was a bit of discussion that seemed like opinions may have been swayed as well - but, for simplicity's sake since the end result is the same, I'm just going to say that it's a veto.

 

First and foremost, I want to be explicitly clear about the environment I expect at SG, in a nutshell, referencing harassment / sexual harassment - this has nothing to do with this specific situation whatsoever. I've worked my entire adult life in some department of the federal government (and I'm the union rep now) - so we receive extensive training on harassment & sexual harassment. Bom mentioned it in another post somewhere that our rules and expectations here at SG are based on actual rules of society, which I believe to be 100% true. At the same time, however, we need to recognize we're not in a formal environment that requires the microscope of Human Resources.

 

I expect everyone to be allowed to play, post, hang out, etc., here free of legitimate discrimination against race, color, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, etc. I expect every higher up to look into each and every allegation of harassment or sexual harassment. All of this being said - that does not mean that we're being extremely PC or not allowed to joke around. Sometimes we investigate things that are obviously sexual / regular harassment, but oftentimes it's not. There's usually a lot more backstory to a situation. That's where confronting a person and saying something to the effect of "You are harassing me. Please stop" and then leaving the channel helps us, as investigators, make a determination that it is harassment after that point (minus somebody being ridiculous about petty crap). Without that, unless it is extremely black and white, action probably shouldn't be taken, because it's almost impossible for us to prove gross negligence / malice. Even in a situation that is completely black / white, a formal investigation (including an interview of the accused) typically occurs.

 

---------------------

 

On to this specific scenario:

 

I'm not trying to air anyone's laundry out in public, so I'm going to withhold from using names as much as I can. If you're anyone involved and you'd like further clarification or to get with me after, please feel free to shoot me a PM. I watched a 17 minute video - not just listened, but physically watched the chat in a private game. In the video, which was the spark of the aforementioned warning PM, I observed admitting to intentionally trying to get Gumline banned, refusing to leave to another channel when prompted by someone else to avoid Gumline, intentionally trying to engage in conversations with him in order to get him to admit to saying something (that really wasn't even bad to begin with), and a few other less-than-desirable actions.

 

I think there were some parts that were dumb to complain about, some parts where 'feeling the room' should have occurred, and some parts where the issue was confronted and resolved...ish. There was also a BD sitting in the channel, actively engaged in the conversation - if there was legitimate harassment occurring, messaging the BD on the side to say something if you're afraid or nervous to confront the individual directly would have worked wonders.

 

The 'official' warning under threat of ban that Gumline received is overturned for the aforementioned reasons.

 

After the fact, he joined a channel that had the user in it. The warning PM received by him was not clear in mentioning to avoid joining any channels, it simply said to avoid contact (which could go either way, because it doesn't really specify what that means). When asked if he had received this PM, he said he did not. There was no read-receipt, no verbal confirmation, Gumline was never pulled into a Discord channel to discuss the situation, etc. I find it just as likely to not be received as it is to be received - meaning tie goes to Gumline. There's no reasonable expectation nor trend of established forum activity to warrant thinking it is more likely to be received than not to be received. Gumline's response is what got him permed, which was probably not the best response, but didn't warrant a ban either way because it was determined that he might not have gotten the warning to begin with. No one needed to engage with him beyond 'Here is your warning - you've been served'.

The permanent ban Gumline received is overturned for these reasons.

 

------------------------

 

To the people involved: Stay the fuck away from Gumline.

 

Gumline: Stay the fuck away from them.

 

I'm not telling you guys you can't join a channel that has one or the other in it - but be mindful that the situation is under a microscope, and anything further deemed to be an issue will be dealt with.

 

 

To everyone else: If someone is harassing you, do everything in your power to inform the person harassing you, remove yourself from the situation, and then report. Do not stay and engage. This is not saying that the harassers get to roam free while people being harassed are force to succumb - what it's doing is providing you with all the ammunition you need. If you can come to us and say 'I told this person he was harassing me, I told him to stay away, I left the channel, and he keeps following me around...', odds are that's enough to punish in some capacity.

 

If my expectations are unclear, please let me know.

 

 

Also, just for clarification: I have permed Gumline myself and voted against unbans during several situations. My opinion of the situation stands with or without Gumline being one of the people involved.

[Gator]

Greggy G has been permanently banned for refusing to wear a mask while on discord.

[Polarzz]

Manny has been permanently banned for posting inappropriate pictures, saying sexual comments, and failing to acknowledge previous warnings.

 

Let this be a reminder to everyone - we do not and will never condone this type of behavior on any of our platforms. Regardless of age, you should not be engaging in overly sexual conversations or posting sexually suggestive content on any of our platforms, especially after being given countless warnings to stop. Just because you think something is funny or entertaining to you does not make it okay to say or post whatever you feel like. To come around and so jokingly say, "rape a pregnant bitch and tell my friends I had a threesome", or, "catch me with a bunch of fucking Mexicans crossing the border" will never be accepted at SG, not to mention the countless other inappropriate comments and images posted in discord that have come up.

 

While this is a gaming community and we want everyone to have fun, we have to be able to draw the line at a certain point. There are consequences to your actions and in this circumstance, Manny was permanently banned from them.

 

If anyone has any questions or concerns, please contact an IA+ member.

 

To clarify: The lyrics posted here were just a part of the reason Manny was banned, and yes you can say they're "just lyrics" however you'd be wrong. Posting something on one of our platforms about raping a pregnant bitch and then calling it a threesome is just wrong, disgusting, and absolutely unacceptable, lyrics or not. It goes directly against rules we have in place and looks horrible to anyone who comes along and doesn't know that those are lyrics. If you want to hide behind that piss poor excuse and not use your brain for half a second to figure out that you shouldn't be posting that, it's on you.

 

This is the rule: "We do not allow posts or images that are overly sexual, gory, or disgusting." There is no unwritten line that says "oh well as long as it's lyrics it's okay". By the way, for anyone who is unclear on this, SB comments count as posts.

 

Furthermore, there were about 10 pictures posted in discord that were either right on the line of being unacceptable or were well over the line. The pictures that we found absolutely unacceptable to be posting are inappropriate enough that we felt it best to not share them publicly and taint this post. Manny posted those lyrics and was warned to cut the shit and stop using lyrics as an excuse to make inappropriate comments. Mind you this all came up after he'd already been banned for two weeks for sexual harassment and disrespect. You would think at some point in there he would have learned his lesson, but he continued to cross the line of what is acceptable here when he posted those images in discord. Manny has come up way too often in discussion as a trouble maker and has been warned, banned, and overall been given the benefit of the doubt way too many times.

[fantastic]

  

Dominic and Zayne were permanently banned from SG by unanimous vote for general unwanted behaviour, including poaching admins, advertising, and attempting to incite drama over accusing us of stealing. Constructive criticism is fine, baseless slander is not. We have 0 tolerance for that kind of behaviour here. Below are further details regarding the above.

 

Take a look at the below admins at another unnamed community's new TTT server - what do you see in common? Several SG admins were contacted and asked to be admin at another community to help Dominic and Zayne launch a competing server. Note that their admin roster is entirely SG admins.

 

 

 
 

 

 

Furthermore, both Dominic and Zayne decided to hop onto our TTT server this morning and advertise.

 

 

 

Dominic's attempt to start drama is below. TL;DR: he accused us of screwing over people by having subscriptions (automatic donations). Interestingly, Dominic actually supported recurring payments as a BD.

 

Prior to this permanent ban, Zayne was demoted from the Veteran rank for recurring attitude issues and impersonation of an admin while in the rank. He was expected to uphold a level of professionalism needed as both a former higher-up and Veteran, but failed to do so on multiple occasions. Copy-paste from an IA thread:

 

 

 

 

 

After Manny's perm Zayne went onto the servers as "[sG] Xeno" and proceeded to say "all nieces can have a freeday". We do not have video proof of him making that statement on the server. Only proof is @Infinityward witnessing it.

 

Zayne joining the server as [sG] Xeno:



After that Zayne then went onto shoutbox saying "Xeno fucked his niece?"



This was totally unnecessary and unneeded from a former higher up. Zayne has shown behavior unfitting of a former higher up and Veteran.
 

 

 

 

Good luck with your new endeavour, but don't bring SG into it.

[Black Rain]

Scrolls is banned for the day because he REFUSED to admit his love for roux on mic. Un-fucking-believable. 

[John]

Kayden has been banned for a week for posting a lewd picture containing lolis.

[John]

DerpySlerpee and micklandusa have been permanently banned for inciting drama involving Zombie Escape countless times. We are sick and tired of having to deal with drama surrounding Zombie Escape.

 

Case has also been banned for 5 days for inciting drama and leaking info from the staff Discord.