Pardon on behalf of ~DaVinci~

[Field Marshall]

As a regular forum user I dont think Tom was deserving of a permaban.. yes some of his posts may have been considered spam BUT from the posts I remember he was always poliet and civil to others. A trait we should be encouraging on here,

Seems more than a little odd that ppl that have scammed, cheated and been constanly rude to others get to stay while ppl like Tom are perma banned.

What kind of message are you as admins/mods trying to send to the forum community as a whole?

Perhaps the whole banning system needs an overhaul,

eg 1 ban 2 weeks
2 ban 1 month
3 ban 2 months

DaVinci broke the rules far more than just 9 times; as Ear stated, he does have several verbal warnings in his user notes, as well. Verbals are meant to point out to a user, "hey, post like that are against _____ rule. You should avoid further posts like that." Temporary bans are a sterner approach to give the same message. In 6 months, DaVinci ignored all such warnings until he was perma-banned. Only then does he see the error of his ways and is willing to change.

I believe he does wish to return and has learned his lesson, but none of his actions since his ban support that, so I have nothing to use to convince the Admins.

As to the scammers and whatnot...Admin Jason has no rules against such behavior, which means the forum staff cannot punish someone for that. If you want that to change, take it up with Jason at the Friday meeting.

FF, this isn't a witch hunt, I have no intention of using this as a barrage against the people who run this forum. Please don't turn this thread into a flame thread. Nevertheless, most of your comments were applicable, so please don't feel detered.

Psycko, I completely understand what you are saying. Please don't get me wrong. Let me state some of the fundamental facts that I believe that we are both agreed on:

Tom's permaban is justified.
Tom's remourseful.

What we disagree on is whether Tom has shown enough restraint and behaviour to warrant his return. I emplore you to consider this heavily with his previous post counts and commitment to the game both on forums and ingame, Tom IS a valued member of the gatewars community and IS a great addition to the game. I know a couple of people who have lost interest since his departure and to be honest, that little boy brings such a sparkle that even after 6 years, my interest is now fading.

If you want to play to rule, then keep going down this route and block it. I don't blame you, it's your job. Though, prehaps though, if the forum staff could possibly look past his short arrogance in his short period after his ban and maybe give him another chance to redeem himself.

I recently applied for the moderators that were recently issued and was rejected, I then made it my goal to become a moderator for the next bout. I am putting all of that at risk by requesting this and any reputation I may have built up recently will be tarnished if I am wrong. I am prepared to oversee all of Tom's posts daily and will accept all responsibility for any wrong doing.

Though, this will not be. I have complete faith in Tom to help move the community forward and to be a good contribution.

I would not of said such nor banned/inactivated said accounts if I/we were not sure it was him.

Eari, if it's true, then I agree. He should not return. Though, without prejudice if Tom says to me, that he did not make an account, I have to trust him. He has been a good friend for a couple of years. If I'm wrong, then his rehabilitation means very little. Until the evidence is overwhelming, I have to dispute this. Prehaps we should take this to PM as opposed to creating a whole additional subject?

[Psyko]

Juliette and I will discuss this once more before one of us posts our final decision in this matter.

[Field Marshall]

Juliette and I will discuss this once more before one of us posts our final decision in this matter.

Many thanks for your consideration!

[Psyko]

It is the opinion of the current Ombudsman team that it is still too soon to make any kind of pardon for DaVinci. We recommend this be brought forward on the 3 month anniversary of his ban (July 25th).

While we understand DaVinci is an active player and poster whom is valued by certain players and forum members, that is not enough reason to excuse his actions over the past 6 months. Field Marshall, you say you believe DaVinci has shown enough restraint this past month, and yet we have seen him create an additional multi and post unnecessarily in another user's Ombs thread. Quite frankly, we would not call either of those actions ones of "restraint".

DaVinci may have the ability to keep certain members interested in the game, but if one person is the only reason they continue to play and they lose interest after said person is not on a forum, then they were never true players in the first place.

If you want to play to rule, then keep going down this route and block it. I don't blame you, it's your job. Though, prehaps though, if the forum staff could possibly look past his short arrogance in his short period after his ban and maybe give him another chance to redeem himself.

You essentially asked us not to do our job. Our job is to consider the entire community and to represent the members of the forum. The big picture here is that if we support a pardon on DaVinci's behalf, despite his recent actions, because of his activity and popularity, then we set a terrible precedent and take actions that are not in the best interests of all.

We must make our decisions based on the rules and the evidence at hand. There is little to support a pardon for DaVinci at this time, and instead of taking it to the Admins when they are sure to shut down the pardon, we would instead like to wait until there is a much better case for DaVinci and he has a higher chance of getting his pardon approved.


[LOCKED]
Any and all replies to this decision should be PM'd to Juliette and myself. This is a final decision with this specific pardon request and is not up for debate, though we are open to discussions.