Alright so now we're on to my least favourite part of these games, the part where I address the poor behaviour. The most obvious one being Ghostface and in fact that's the only one I'm going to mention here as I believe the rest is resolved. I have all my reasoning below but I'll get to the conclusion quickly.
@Ghostface Killa is, henceforth, permanently banned from this section. He is not welcome to play here, he's not welcome to continue posting anywhere within this section, he is not welcome to contribute whatsoever. If he can't follow this then I'll ask an admin to ensure he can't post here anymore. Nor can he engage with the section outside of it, such as via profile posts or DMs. If he does this, please report it.
I like the strike system. I think it's a very fair way of addressing behaviour and allows for people to improve said behaviour without being harshly punished. But sometimes it's just not enough. I could give 3 strikes for his behaviour this game and it won't be enough. Permanent bans are reserved for people who I just don't want in the section. Usually because I think they're bad people or pose a threat to others. This is not about whether I like or dislike them. It's about whether I feel like they are functionally incompatible with the values I want to see within this section. Those being that people treat each other and the games with respect, that they grudges and vendettas out of the game and that they present themselves without using slurs or epithets that are simply no longer acceptable.
Ghostface has proven, time and time again, that he isn't compatible with these values. And time and time again, he has gotten away with basically no punishment. The worst of this was before the time I started leading the section, and usually, a site ban came his way and the matter wasn't dealt with afterwards. But I do share responsibility on this. I've seen him go at people in ways that are, to put it politely, indecent, I've seen him use slurs and even borderline harass users, and because it has more or less wrapped up by the time the game ends I've done nothing about it. That's on me. I take full responsibility for being derelict on this and I apologise for it.
The reason I did so is because I wanted to be lenient with this section. I wanted to give people extra chances rather than being firm, and it really wasn't until this last year or so that I realised that hoping people will police themselves does not work these days. Which is why you've probably seen that I've gotten quite a bit more strict. There is also, subconsciously, a part of me that is conflict averse. Especially with people like Ghostface, my thinking would be that as long as it calms down I can avoid direct confrontation and don't need to worry about it. I think most of us here probably cam empathise with that. But I can't be like that any longer. And I don't want to be.
I'm tired of Ghostface's behaviour. I'm tired of him using homophobic language to insult people. I'm tired of seeing him call people "retards" and receive absolutely nothing in retaliation. I'm tired of the rampant transphobia he has towards some members of the community. I'm tired of seeing this show every time things don't go his way. And most of all, I'm tired of seeing people here get bullied into accepting his poor behaviour or feel threatened into kowtowing to his demands. And make no mistake, that's exactly what he is: a bully. A 41 year old manchild with a massively overinflated ego that plays the Internet tough guy because he has nothing else going for him in life. And I'm done seeing him, waste of space that he is, continue to get to ruin games because no one stands up to him.
Fuck him. He can take himself, fuck up that he is, and his sweaty ball sack that he can'tstop talking about, and he can fuck off to whichever place is left that's dumb enough to keep him around. He can be someone else's problem. I'll speak for the community - we don't need the likes of him here and we certainly don't want it. I can see what is coming next. I'm sure I'm about to get hundreds of threatening messages from him on Discord and I'm sure he'll try and find ways to circumvent the ban, to which I say let him try. His ego will give him away before long and obviously, if there is any suspicion that it's him or that he's trying to get you to act as his proxy, I ask that you please report him to keep him out of here for good.
That's all I have to say on this matter. Hopefully I've outlined why Ive made this decision enough for you but if you do have concerns, please raise them with me and I'll discuss them as and when I can.
