Staff Complaint - Snakebittenn, Shenaanigans

[Guest Menown]

BYOND Key: Menown

Staff BYOND Key: Snakebittenn - The Banning Party / Shenaanigans - The Discord Banning Party

Game ID: N/A

Reason for complaint: The curtain's being pulled back so expect a wild-ass ride and hang on to your britches, ladies and gentlemen because it's about to get heavy.

So, a large source of contention has been my character Mrrrrhazmanq's opposition toward homosexuality and other forms of things considered deviant on Adhomai, and in Adhomian society. Due to our playerbase, this is an INCREDIBLY unpopular character archetype, but it's the only way I was able to swing being able to play a transgender, or even gender dysphoric Tajara like I was able to before we had the shift in lore into what we have now for Tajara.

Due to the conditions of the imposed rehabilitation, this has lead to an extreme aversion to things that are considered deviant within the character, leading toward an extreme separation of work and personal life (as should be expected in a professional environment, honestly.) After numerous discussions with Alberyk, I've been instructed to refrain from comments and actions deemed homophobic against non-Tajara, which I felt was an acceptable notion when it comes to the PRA's standpoint on cordiality with non-Tajara corporations like NT.

My assumption was that tonight, I was banned for an interaction with Taika Thompson (I wasn't actually given an unban reason that details anything other than my apparent OOC behavior, which isn't raising any bells so I'm somewhat confused regarding that). The interaction in question involved a discussion regarding gender-fluidity that came out of nowhere over the radio, to which my character politely asked if they couldn't have that conversation (a not entirely unreasonable request, and something I checked with Alberyk on, to which he deemed acceptable enough). The conversation ended after a short and heated argument over the radio at the behest of an officer, and the round began. Some time into the round I was greeted with my ban message, notifying me that I was being banned for OOC behavior, and wasn't showing a willingness to change, with no actual information beyond that.

I accepted that, because I can't really appeal again after my previous unban appeal, so I went to Aurora's discord to discuss it and say my goodbyes with a group of people I've spent almost a decade with, to which I was told to make a complaint if I had an issue with things. I wasn't originally going to, until when I was accepting Alberyk's proposal I was suddenly kicked from the discord (later learning I was banned by Shenaanigans.)

Now, the general crux of the issue lies with the fact I'm not exactly certain what I've been banned for, because any forms of OOC comments I've made recently haven't had anything to do with anything relating to this ICly, outside PMs I've had with members of our community via discord itself (not the main discord) where they've expressed their opinions on things. I've also been outright stripped of my ability to communicate with most of the server due to my present banning from the discord itself, with notifications on what I did to earn the discord ban (outside discussing my permanent ban which isn't something I feel warrants getting a boot in the ass), or specifics on why exactly I was banned from the server itself (the game server).

Edited October 16, 2020 by Menown
Forgot my name.

[Garnascus]

Its hard for me to have an opinion here unless i see what was actually said. @Snakebittenn @Menown if you give me the game ID i can look at logs. 

[Guest Menown]

Just now, Garnascus said:

Its hard for me to have an opinion here unless i see what was actually said. @Snakebittenn @Menown if you give me the game ID i can look at logs. 

I don't have the logs before it, nor do I know the game ID, as I am banned so I can't check.

[Garnascus]

Alright, i will ask @Snakebittenn to explain his thought process for this ban as well as any logs, notes or things of that nature that can help establish a track record here. 

[Guest Menown]

I've got an inside man claiming "b9E-aFLO" to be the round, as well. I can't confirm that however so take that with a grain of salt.

[Snakebittenn]

To start off, the logs we’re going to be posting tonight do not reflect the full story, and there are private elements such as DMs and personal testimonies that have only been sent to Garnascus, in the interest of respecting the privacy of those that have come forth. All of the publicly available logs can be found here: https://imgur.com/a/1PhzbXU

The reason the both of us agreed to banning you is based upon a pattern of toxic behavior that has gone on for many months. Namely-- the harassment of other players with IC bigotry, OOC aggression/salting, a stern refusal to stop or adjust even when approached by multiple players, and a breach of the agreement you made in your last appeal to improve.

To start off, the IC bigotry centers around your portrayal of a homophobic, transphobic Tajaran character. While this is certainly not forbidden by the Tajaran lore, your portrayal goes far beyond what other players portray and to a much more heinous extent than the lore demands. Tasteful depictions of this behavior that employ subtlety and keep in mind the expectation to function in a multi-species workplace are regularly done, but your character is one that essentially goes ballistic when presented with anything tangentially related to a non-cisgendered/non-heterosexual character.

You go out of your way to have these hostile reactions ICly, when it would be easy to simply exit the conversation or just not chime in at all. There’s a case to be made for this being unrealistic in a character who could easily be fired for causing constant disruptions to the workplace but, even worse than that, your roleplay and focus on this specific aspect of the lore has made many users uncomfortable to the point of not wanting to play on the server when you are present. People have come to you before, despite any anxieties, and asked you to dial back your behavior. They have tried explaining what the issue is, offering ways to improve, and appealing to your sympathies only to be brushed aside as “overreacting” or “incapable of separating OOC and IC”. A bold claim since you yourself often carry grievances about your character not being given work or others fostering IC relationships into OOC with complaints of favoritism and cliques.

Previously, your mishandling of Tajaran traditionalism was to the point that you had to be asked to stop loitering around the Medical lobby calling people homophobic slurs, only to shift to derailing any conversation vaugely related to LGBT content and guilting characters into shifting topics. Or repeatedly insulting them if this does not work. The claim that you are only now going after Tajaran characters for their “degeneracy” does not hold any water when you look at the numerous incidents of your character harassing human characters for so much as mentioning their sexuality where you could see it. This has demonstrated both a lack of concern for the feelings of people around you, and the conclusion that your actions are based in spite rather than an interest in bringing a theme to the table or, as you’ve claimed, “motivating protest against bad lore”.

If this was your intention, you could have posted on the suggestions or lore canonization boards on the forums, struck up discussion on the Tajara sections of the lore discord, or approached the lore writers directly to bring up your concerns. Instead, you chose to cultivate an actively unpleasant environment for players of LGBT characters just to make a point.
 

On top of all this, you agreed the last time you were permanently banned (for a storied history of breaking rule #1) that you would improve, and that any further rule breaches related to OOC conduct would be another permanent ban. While initially you did indeed seem to improve and have less of a presence in OOC spaces in general, it’s clear that that grace period has waned and you are back to your old self. It was thus our opinion that you have displayed the exact same behavior that got you banned once, show no intention to improve (instead blaming conflict on the people you are hurting rather than taking any responsibility), and have burned through all your chances and our goodwill. We gave you time and opportunities to get better as well as play a different character that does not incorporate these aspects of lore you supposedly hate so much, you just didn’t take them.

 

https://forums.aurorastation.org/topic/9467-resolved-ban-request-menown-06mar2018/?tab=comments#comment-90920

https://forums.aurorastation.org/topic/14315-resolved-player-complaint-menown/?tab=comments#comment-135777

https://forums.aurorastation.org/topic/14586-unban-request-menown-lessons-in-futility-and-backtreading/

https://forums.aurorastation.org/topic/14588-staff-complaint-boryatheslayer/

https://forums.aurorastation.org/topic/14607-menowns-ban-appeal-a-new-hope/

[Shenaanigans]

Hello. The "we" in Paradox's response refers to me as the second party, since it was a joint decision to apply this permaban and I wrote the justification for the ban itself that shows up in the server-side record. Paradox and I equally contributed to both that and the above response so we are in agreement on all points.

The reason why I applied the Discord ban is simply because a person who is permanently server banned should not have access to the other official platforms the community uses. It is not the place to discuss your ban or argue against it and I am sure you can reach various users through Discord PMs if you wanted to speak with them. 

[Guest Menown]

21 minutes ago, Snakebittenn said:

The reason the both of us agreed to banning you is based upon a pattern of toxic behavior that has gone on for many months. Namely-- the harassment of other players with IC bigotry, OOC aggression/salting, a stern refusal to stop or adjust even when approached by multiple players, and a breach of the agreement you made in your last appeal to improve.

OOC Aggression/salting how? I don't have people approaching me to stop. Instead I have to actively reach out to talk to people about things, especially when it relates to this. If people are becoming uncomfortable about IC actions that aren't outright rule breaking or against the lore, I can't see how that's my fault. If you expect us to do something different, make rules against it or change the lore, don't get mad when I follow it.

 

23 minutes ago, Snakebittenn said:

You go out of your way to have these hostile reactions ICly, when it would be easy to simply exit the conversation or just not chime in at all. There’s a case to be made for this being unrealistic in a character who could easily be fired for causing constant disruptions to the workplace but, even worse than that, your roleplay and focus on this specific aspect of the lore has made many users uncomfortable to the point of not wanting to play on the server when you are present.

My character shouldn't have to leave a room because people refuse to separate their workplace and their gender identity or sexuality. Not one person has made an IR over the matter, so to act like there's a case to be made when literally NOBODY has done such is honestly poor. There are IC avenues to curb bad behavior that I've always recommended to people, don't get mad at me when people don't take them. As for the ending subject in the above quote, you're literally suggesting my character do what people are OOCly doing. You're suggesting I the player have an issue with the sexuality and discussions present, but I truly couldn't give a fuck. I'm roleplaying a transgender Tajara who was forcibly rehabilitated by an exceedingly oppressive society that not only oppresses those with his ethnic persuasion, but also his deviances as they're so defined according to said society.

 

26 minutes ago, Snakebittenn said:

Previously, your mishandling of Tajaran traditionalism was to the point that you had to be asked to stop loitering around the Medical lobby calling people homophobic slurs, only to shift to derailing any conversation vaugely related to LGBT content and guilting characters into shifting topics. Or repeatedly insulting them if this does not work. The claim that you are only now going after Tajaran characters for their “degeneracy” does not hold any water when you look at the numerous incidents of your character harassing human characters for so much as mentioning their sexuality where you could see it. This has demonstrated both a lack of concern for the feelings of people around you, and the conclusion that your actions are based in spite rather than an interest in bringing a theme to the table or, as you’ve claimed, “motivating protest against bad lore”.

I haven't been asked to do anything regarding the medical bay lobby. I am not my character, and I'd appreciate you stop acting like people are actively telling me things OOCly, Snake. My character commonly works with the medical staff, and has shown a clear willingness to put aside his prejudices when it comes to duty and others, as shown when he worked with a roboticist to save Cart Kanara when the subject had his appendix inflamed and required removal. One of his friends (Jaqeulyn Roberts) is considered a deviant by him but he remains cordial because the person understands that the topic is a tough one around him. In fact, Fernando Gonzales, Jaquelyn Roberts, Aen Nnohne, and Cart Kanara are the most prominent group of people he feels conflicted about his prejudices for because they mean something to them. None of them are objectively bad people but they are defined as such by the indoctrination he received.

Here's my new found restrictions placed by Alberyk on the date of the ban, where my character was no longer able to go after humans for deviancy. I accepted the restrictions and we came up with an IC method of handling it where somebody from the Party spoke with him about it, and addressed how it doesn't represent the Republic well enough to be going after non-Tajara. Since that instruction, there had been no issues outside a discussion cropping up about gender fluidity, to which my character asked rather politely to cease the conversation which he was responded with implying that he claimed the speaker's existence is an insult.

34 minutes ago, Snakebittenn said:

If this was your intention, you could have posted on the suggestions or lore canonization boards on the forums, struck up discussion on the Tajara sections of the lore discord, or approached the lore writers directly to bring up your concerns. Instead, you chose to cultivate an actively unpleasant environment for players of LGBT characters just to make a point.

You don't know what conversations I've had with lorewriters. I've spoken numerous times to Alberyk, Mofo, and even Coalf regarding how I could play a character I was comfortable with. Initially none of them involved any form of rehabilitation. I had spoken with Alberyk about possible character concepts such as a Tajara raised in the church and masquerading as a Suns Sister. I spoke with Mofo about rehabilitated miners. I spoke with Coalf about possible medicines, or surgeries, or other forms of concepts that would allow me to play the character I was comfortable playing and the only plausible form that I managed to get accepted was one that was rehabilitated. And by that it was implied they were now in line with traditional Republican thinking, which combined with the aggressive and rebelliousness nature of the Zhan-Khazan lead to what you see ICly.

 

37 minutes ago, Snakebittenn said:

On top of all this, you agreed the last time you were permanently banned (for a storied history of breaking rule #1) that you would improve, and that any further rule breaches related to OOC conduct would be another permanent ban. While initially you did indeed seem to improve and have less of a presence in OOC spaces in general, it’s clear that that grace period has waned and you are back to your old self. It was thus our opinion that you have displayed the exact same behavior that got you banned once, show no intention to improve (instead blaming conflict on the people you are hurting rather than taking any responsibility), and have burned through all your chances and our goodwill.

I reduced my OOC presence substantially. I don't partake as often as I used to in OOC discussions, nor do I resort to grievances when things happen ICly that I OOCly didn't care for. In fact, I had begun reporting others for the exact same behavior that got me banned, or even trying to stop them in OOC before they themselves got themselves in trouble. The round of the ban itself, I remember the most I said in OOC was related to a rather delicious meal I had gotten from Taco Bell as a treat. It was really good.

[Guest Menown]

13 minutes ago, Shenaanigans said:

The reason why I applied the Discord ban is simply because a person who is permanently server banned should not have access to the other official platforms the community uses. It is not the place to discuss your ban or argue against it and I am sure you can reach various users through Discord PMs if you wanted to speak with them. 

So why am I allowed via the forums, if I'm not allowed the other official platforms. How do you suggest I reach the other users on discord when I no longer have access to their profiles since I no longer have access to the server's discord. Before I was banned, you went "You know what you did" and that's it. No notification I was being banned or what even for.

[Guest Menown]

Addendum: I'm going to be addressing the imgur album as I forgot to do so.

There's a massive collection of IC logs that are usually preceded by my character asking for a conversation they're uncomfortable with to stop. One of which is Jaquelyn Roberts, a known homosexual by my character who considered her his friend because she knows to separate it from work, or at least keep it away from him. She's very much aware of the things the character went through.

The OOC side of things are either me making jokes (as Traps are Gay is a relatively known meme, and I agreed with Alberyk about stopping that since the word Traps itself is banned on the public discord. Not exactly a showing of me being OOCly aggressive or salting, so I fail to see the relevancy.) As for my comments toward Estoy, we were discussing what the usual person can see, so bringing up a clear disability is quite frankly useless. It isn't me trying to be mean, just logical as most people can't actually see behind themselves, regardless of a disability.

As for the disabled comment itself, it's hard to ascertain the context of the quote which as shown with the "traps are gay" thing, can be clipped out and posted elsewhere to make somebody look like a fool.

Yes, I do get angry that people repeatedly keep choosing their metabuddies for their personal assistants. I find it incredibly disingenuous to decide to have a friend join you in-game as an assistant when there are others available and you decide to ignore them. Anybody would be feeling the same way. Imagine somebody comes to medical and wants to be operated on by their friend who is a surgeon, despite the fact you're available as well. At a certain point you start to feel like the only way you're going to be given work is if none of the others you know will be selected are on.

As for the IC comments that proliferate the rest of the logs presented, the majority of them are as stated, aggression from a very angry, very repressed Tajara that was removed from his home and life at 14 and imprisoned for visiting the wrong extranet sites and trying to learn more about who he was and why he felt like he did, until 2458 when we decided rehabilitation was acceptable and said Tajara underwent association therapy that produced adverse feelings when met with forms of auditory or visual deviancy to suppress his desires. You're looking at the best concept I could come up with to play a character I wanted to. The anger, the aggression, the rehabilitation, all of it was required to justify his existence and why he wasn't shot in a labor camp and left in a ditch somewhere. My statements regarding the issues and defense of my character are me explaining why my character finds issues with things. He doesn't go around berating gay bars after work, he sleeps. So the time he's at work, he'd rather focus on work instead of the things that make him feel uneasy and sick.

Edited October 18, 2020 by Menown
Added the full picture of the trap comment.

[Garnascus]

Will need time to look over all this.

[Guest Menown]

Just now, Garnascus said:

Will need time to look over all this.

Take your time, Garn.

[Guest Menown]

2 hours ago, Snakebittenn said:

We gave you time and opportunities to get better as well as play a different character that does not incorporate these aspects of lore you supposedly hate so much, you just didn’t take them.

 

2 hours ago, Snakebittenn said:

If this was your intention, you could have posted on the suggestions or lore canonization boards on the forums, struck up discussion on the Tajara sections of the lore discord, or approached the lore writers directly to bring up your concerns. Instead, you chose to cultivate an actively unpleasant environment for players of LGBT characters just to make a point.

 

2 hours ago, Snakebittenn said:

the conclusion that your actions are based in spite rather than an interest in bringing a theme to the table or, as you’ve claimed, “motivating protest against bad lore”.

@Garnascus Here's a catalogue of my own conversations on the Relay OOC: https://imgur.com/a/nztRw6k, within DMs with lore devs, and other comments I've made addressing my stance toward the lore. I've been an exceedingly vocal opponent to the lore, so to claim I follow it purely out of spite is relatively disingenuous. There was a time where I told myself I was doing it to be better than some that have hurt me in the past, but I've since made up with those people, and realized I'm doing it to try and reclaim something I lost. There's not one single person that plays that I know of that feels this lore actually adds anything meaningful outside conflict and a display of what Tajaran society is like. It was a knee-jerk reaction to people within the community that were causing trouble, like sending IC nudes randomly and behavior commonly associated with furries.

If I truly was doing any of this out of spite, or an eagerness to make things worse for people, than the sheer timeframe listed within these logs says I've been running this con a DAMN long time, and have done it for no point than to hurt people that weren't even part of the community when I was discussing this shit with people but I feel it should be clear this isn't the case.

[Garnascus]

Can you tell me what exactly IS this lore that you have a problem with? I dont know anything about cats. Also, some logs have been shared with me that are of you. In the screenshot you claim "My intention isnt to drive people away but to drive people to come out in opposition in what i feel is something largely useless in our lore". It seems your character is causing harm to others in the process. What are your thoughts on that? 

 

[Guest Menown]

Many people have issues with the Tajara and their stance on LGBT issues 

By bringing light to something that a lot of people dislike, I'm able to hopefully bring change to it since as said, many people dislike that lore. It's not my overall intent playing the character but it makes some of it worthwhile.

If I'm hurting people, I don't know what to say. All one can do is realize it's roleplay and I the player am playing a character. I'm not actively hunting others down to make things harder for them. The lore deals with a lot of difficult issues, and sensitive matters and it's important for people to understand that it's just roleplaying, nothing more. If I have to walk on eggshells whenever I even think about what I'm roleplaying then what's the point of it? May as well give us approved lists of character concepts that are certified to not raise tension.

[Guest Menown]

Second post because I accidentally submitted. Don't post from your phones, friends.

I approached both Shenaanigans and Snakebittenn OOCly on an issue where people were feeling like I was a homophobe. Snakebittenn outright called me transphobic, and Shenaanigans called me a virulent homophobe because of my character's IC actions. This makes the fact they both came together and decided to ban me feel like a targetted attack on somebody they can't separate from their IC character. When I brought up this to Shenaanigans, I was told I'm victim bullying when I claim people should be able to separate IC and OOC, when it's a commonly enough expected thing amongst our players.

I'm literally being punished because people can't separate IC and OOC right now, and they feel like I'm targetting them as a person. Does anybody come to me about this? No. I have to come to people and initiate contact on the matter, and when I tell people that they should separate IC and OOC, I get called names and then banned within hours of response. That isn't the way to get people to be open about any issues if they're worried they're going to get personal attacks from Moderation staff over their roleplay.

[Garnascus]

Let me just go down a short laundry list of all the important points made in this thread. I have spent a number of hours reviewing all the screenshots, logs and evidence provided to me. I have read all the evidence posted here more than once. 

Is it ok to play a problematic character to the point of upsetting people?

The short answer to this question is yes. The longer answer to this rightfully demands an explanation. menowns character is accurately described as homophobic, transphobic and generally not as progressive as most crew who find themselves aboard the aurora. A number of screenshots are linked here in this thread detailing interactions menown's character has over the relay and the general radio on station. They generally follow the pattern of someone bringing up the topic of relationships, homosexuality or transgenderism in some way, shape or form. Menown's character responds with "can we not" or "can we please not do this". Then of course either or an argument starts, or other player's characters insult him. That of course is justified. I think its fairly reasonable to say that menown's character is engaging in transphobia and homophobia. Our species page for tajaran does justify this sort of mindset with the following 

Quote

Because of the Tajara's history as a repressive, conservative species, they have not grown too open-minded or liberal - unlike humanity's progressive views for example. Overt displays of affection and especially homosexuality among Tajara are looked down on and treated as a deviancy. This sentiment has existed before human contact, implying societal influence during the royal rule. There exist discrimination and bias against other races of Tajara - particularly against Zhan-Khazan for their purported low intelligence and rebellious tendencies. As a result, Tajara generally avoid interbreeding between races. An extension of the racism which prevents Tajara from breeding outside of their race can be found in the general public's extreme revulsion to notions of relationships outside of the species, an act which is considered an intolerable fetish to most.

https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Tajara

I can absolutely understand why menown's character is upsetting to people. I am not a trans person. I am a straight white male and I cannot pretend to speak for issues the LGBT community faces. I imagine your existence as a member of this particular member is constantly challenged. Either by a good portion of society who think being gay is immoral and all transgendered individuals are mentally ill or your loved ones who think you are "just going through a phase". Oppression does not always come with sticks and stones. It can come with smiles and nice words. Do you mind "cooling it" for thanksgiving with the family? Why do always have to make this about politics? I’m just trying to help you. 

Again, I can only speculate but I imagine oppression felt by our players mirrors the kind of things menown has said. Hey, do you mind not being gay at the dinner table? Can you not bring up your trans stuff at thanksgiving? I think I can understand why this would be upsetting to people. I have always felt in my tenure as staff here that we have a duty to the rules. We should the kind of rules that foster an appropriate environment. It should enable our players to act in good faith and should always be what we use to assess a player's actions. It is impossible for me to create a consistent framework by which we analyze the harm done to an individual by actions that are not against the rules. If this is all this complaint centered on I would lift the ban right now.

Unfortunately, there is more. First I want to explain a little bit of how our philosophy works. Let’s say we have two players new to the server. The first player joins as an engineer during deadhour and fixates on the lofty goal of setting up the supermatter engine. Unfortunately, the player makes a few critical mistakes and the engine starts to delaminate. Nobody is around to help him, and all the available staff are busy playing warhammer 2. The engine explodes and an emergency shuttle has to be called. Do we ban this player for causing an extreme amount of harm to the rest of the server? Of course not. He made a mistake, a genuine one. He did not intend to ruin the round for the rest of the player base. He was simply trying to learn. We can teach this kind of player and thus we are very lenient with this type of player. 

Let’s move on to the second player. This player joins in much the same way and also decides he is going to set up the supermatter. A similar series of events plays out. The engine starts to delaminate and the emergency shuttle has to be called once more. Luckily this time a particular admin had just been caught in forced march by grimgor's WAAAGH so he rage quit just in time to notice the ahelps pop in from the engine exploding. He PMs the player and asks what happened? It’s generally assumed engines explode as a result of an accident. This player however responds "FUCK HRP YOU'RE ALL SHIT HAHA I HAD FUN SEEING YOU KIDS RAGE". He gets banned. Do not pass go do not collect 200$. These two situations are similar in that both players caused the engine to delaminate. Both players caused the round to end pre-maturely. An equal amount of harm was done in both cases. The deciding factor and what spared the first player was intent. The first player did not intend to cause anyone harm and the second player did. Thus, he is a griffon and we ban them on sight. 

I apologize for such a long-winded explanation of why we ban griefers but i want to be thorough here. Your intent, menown I believe is inappropriate. You yourself admit that you portray your character in this manner solely to bring attention the lore and to motivate change. I do not think you can in one sentence claim this and the next sentence say "well its just roleplay" when players tell you it upsets them. You're tacitly admitting to upsetting people being the goal here. You're attempting to generate outrage, controversy and opposition in the hopes this particular piece of lore is changed. This is far outside the established bounds we have of altering the lore and it is disrespectful to the team that writes the lore. Essentially, your intentions are inappropriate and you are playing in bad faith. I am afraid that based on this alone the ban is legitimate. You where on your "last chance" after your last permaban. 

[Guest Menown]

 

18 minutes ago, Garnascus said:

You're tacitly admitting to upsetting people being the goal here. You're attempting to generate outrage, controversy and opposition in the hopes this particular piece of lore is changed.

I literally said said that "It's not my overall intent playing the character but it makes some of it worthwhile." My intent with the character was to play a character I was comfortable with. The numerous screenshots that I posted with my conversations with lore devs detailing my attempt to return to playing a character I was comfortable were fruitless, until I created this concept because the requirement was that my character suffered for being LGBT as showcased below:

If my character was going out of the way to harass people, I could understand it but it's all literally reactionary acts and none of it was meant for OOC change. Having the framework of history stripped away because it's wrong is something we need to be avoiding, so it was my hope that something was going to change ICly, to prompt transition into something better. It literally isn't my fault that people are getting mad OOCly, because when my characters talk, he's not talking to the players, he's talking to the characters. Why am I being punished for people getting mad OOCly about IC actions when I myself have been in trouble for that very thing?

People taking IC stands for things is how things change, and for people to all have these OOC viewpoints of disdain and spite for my character but for none of them to take stances against it ICly through IRs or other forms, and instead just begin attacking OOCly because it's easier is frankly disingenuous. We have methods of handling IC behavior and nobody was doing it. Instead my character got death threats and people instantly snuffing out my character's attempts at roleplay strictly because they felt he was going to start something. In fact, I had people admit to me that they were holding disdain for my character through every single one of their characters, simply because "everything he says over the radio is transphobic garbage". The people I've interacted with the matter have been exceedingly hostile on an OOC level, and yet it doesn't seem to matter because I'm roleplaying something against the grain.

If the pure virtue of causing outrage is something we need to stop, then we need to get rid of any form of asshole characters whose very presence drives people away from the game. Trying to cause meaningful change through IC methods that should remain IC isn't against the rules, in fact it's a driving form of rebellion that I would think an HRP server would embrace, as it involves the climate of the server and prompts action on an IC level. There was nobody calling for equality and a cessation of Tajaran homophobia ICly, instead people just shitting on my character and then me on an OOC level because they can't separate the two.

Edited October 18, 2020 by Menown
Fixed picture.

[Garnascus]

23 minutes ago, Menown said:

I literally said said that "It's not my overall intent playing the character but it makes some of it worthwhile." My intent with the character was to play a character I was comfortable with.

I have screenshots of you saying something else. 

[Guest Menown]

By people I mean IC characters. I've prompted numerous people ICly to come to the realization of the cultural issues of the Tajaran people, in my attempts to garner IC awareness of the issue as I will show from our manifest: Disregard Schwann's character at the top, as she's right by mine so she's included, but the sections beneath Mrrrrhazmanq are all opinions of my character from other characters ICly. They're listed in the spoiler for neatness.
 

Spoiler

 

 

I've always had a habit of approaching people OOCly when I feel something's off, because it's real easy to glean when somebody's angry at you OOCly. I had approached Sue about some issues months ago where she felt my OOC comments were attacking her personally, which I adjusted my own behavior accordingly and had since made up with her.

I was instructed to cease using racial slurs ICly, which I had felt were a powerful method of showcasing the extreme revulsion as dictated within the lore. I had ceased doing so and instructed others that the charges in question were no longer valid as they no longer made sense for the character.

I was instructed to have my character cease engaging with humans on their deviances ICly, the day of the ban with Alberyk. I complied as required and instead took a passive stance as authorized, where I was instructed.

I've shown a moderate effort to try and comply with every restriction I've had put in place for my character, from a member of the Ministry of Health dictating that he refuse to even interact with homosexuals, to a Consular instructing him only to begin refusing interaction upon learning they they were in fact, considered deviant in Tajaran lore.

My concern with adherence to the lore has always been paramount. I'll follow it like law, even when I disagree with it fully. The thoughts of angering others hasn't ever really crossed my mind until I was told as such by Shenaanigans hours before my ban itself, as due to my own disdain for portions of the lore, I follow them without question because it's expected from a Tajaran player.

If I truly wanted to go after people to the point where I'd be making them angry, I'd have thrown out all the nuance and just made a deviant hunter type character like I've seen numerous other Tajara players do. Instead I tried to nuance my way into raising IC awareness of the lore, because there are vast groups of crewmen that don't know anything about it and instead just believe the character is a raging psychopath.

At no point did I ever wake up and go "time to ruin people's days". I would get on the relay when I was on the bus for work and say hello. There were times where I wasn't even allowed to do that before people began attacking my character ICly, which is fair. I don't hunt and target people like a predator, I join when I feel like it and when I have time. I spend almost four hours a day standing infront of the medical bay unless I'm called for assistance elsewhere; to which I add my character's calls for assistance are arguably much more prominent than any prejudicial remarks or slurs.

If I wanted to target people, I could have done it in eight thousand more methods that didn't involve me playing a broken Tajaran that suffered substantially in life, that would have been much more engaging and fun to play, but the thought never even crossed my mind.

[Garnascus]

Alright, alright. You gotta admit though it looks pretty bad from where i am sitting. After reviewing some new evidence and doing a bit more digging i dont think your intentions where inappropriate. I would post it here but like some of the other screenshots they are private in nature. 

[Guest Menown]

Acceptable. I myself did what I could to preserve some privacy with the horde of logs brought forth, so I understand. It's always looked bad on the surface level because there's a whole lot that goes on that isn't communicated so all that's left is uncertainty and a lack of knowledge due to a lack of communication.

I will assure you, as I stated, that my intentions behind the character and the things presented are primarily the maintenance of the restrictions to play the character as allowed. If things were different and I was able to do what I want without the restrictions present I would, but I can't so it's what I have to work with. Anything

I would apologize to those that were getting upset, but they've either blocked me, or I don't actually know who they are. All I can say is that I'm sorry it was coming across as me trying to start shit OOCly, but it wasn't supposed to come across that way. It wasn't my intention and all I can do is hope that's forgiven because I'm not the best at explaining things, as seen here.

I don't hate anybody, I don't want anybody mad. This place has been a part of my life for almost seven years and I've seen numerous people in my time here. Even the worst of the worst we've had I wouldn't go out of my way to make them angry OOCly because I know what that fury can cause somebody to do when it comes to an online community and I wouldn't wish it on anybody.

I don't really have anything else to add. All I can hope is that I've presented this well enough that you can see I'm not an asshole trying to start things OOCly and piss everybody off. Whether anything comes of this or not, I hope people can rest easily knowing I wasn't trying to anger them or anything else on an OOC level.

[Garnascus]

Locking and archiving. Ban lifted. i actually lifted it when i made my last reply and....didnt....say that i did....

SORRY

Let this be a relic to my shame.