Character name: Tate Brier
Ban type: Server
Ban length: 7 days
Ban Reason: "In an external Discord with friends, was a spectator to numerous instances of metacomms. Evidence gathered suggests they engaged in some of these discussions knowing it was metacomms."
Time ban was placed: 7 days
Server you were playing on when banned: Manuel
Round ID in which ban was placed: 214015
Evidence provided after a request:
So far as I can possibly remember: I was never in that Discord to metacomm, or for an in game advantage. I did not engage in discussions of such, and what I was talking about in the pictures was completely irrelevant to the other, rule infringing content. I did not act on any information I had seen there, and I never shared any in round information. With that said, here's the rest of the story.
I left the Discord server in question less than a month after the events in the included pictures. The timestamp for Figure 1. dates itself to December 1, 2022. From checking some DMs, I had left on December 23, 2022. I left specifically because I was bothered by certain things, specifically xPokee. Furthermore, in both pictures, I was talking about something completely off topic. In Figure 1, I was talking about a previous TG round, since I failed to find an associated log near the time of posting, but it was around the time that I was frustrated how people acted when interacting with chefs and the kitchen. In Figure 2, I recall it being a joke about character height not being very important. From trying to find the context, Figure 1 did not even seem to be related to TG, and it appeared to be promptly pointed to the correct avenues of communication.
For transparency, since it is quite far in the future from the incidents in question: I rejoined that server, reluctantly, in order to watch anime and movies together, because someone mentioned they were having a watch party, and said there when I asked where. Similarly from before, checking DMs, I was in there for a grand total of 2 weeks, from April 19 to May 4. So far as I remember, during that period, I only really came in to watch and discuss streamed media. At this point I am quite confident I was not paying much attention aside from what I came there for, and I generally avoided interacting with people like xpokee, vecter, and vaporwhisp, because they made me uncomfortable.
I am in a lot of Discord servers. Every single one of those servers is also muted - instead, I check my inbox on occasion. With that in mind, confirming whether something that I was not 100% involved with was a major rule infraction isn't something I do, and I wouldn't expect anybody except for active admins to do so, if only for the fact that they'd be trained and involved in the work at the same time. Admins will see more ahelps in 10 minutes than most players will see in their entire lifetime. I think that difference in perspective, experience, and context is important. It strikes me as too harsh to lay a ban on me for talking about completely different topics, over something I remembered so little of that it took me multiple days to gather my thoughts on, and mentally prepare to share.
Why you think you should be unbanned:
Considering all the above, I do not think I am guilty of what I'm charged with. I was talking about completely different topics from the other people included in the images, and otherwise do not recall ever engaging in behaviour that would break the rules, unless failing to notice a problem would count as a punishable offense.
Anything else we should know: It took me this long to post my appeal, because this situation was dropped on me by surprise, with no communication. I took my time to try and work out what had happened, and overcome the slew of negative emotions or anxiety related to it. So if it seems petty to appeal with so little time on the ban itself, it's because I used the time to try and be diligent, and after consideration, still think it's unjust. The time is not my main concern - I'm concerned that the note unfairly represents my situation, and will be referred when looking at me in the future.
