V.O.R.E. Station

Byond account and character name: Elizaspider, several characters.
Discord ID (if applicable): Arde#9583
Banning admin: Unknown.
Ban type (What are you banned from?): Discord Ban
Ban reason given: While no reason was explicitly given, I've come to presume after this time that the reason was my constant escalation of politically-charged arguments.
Ban length: Permanent
Approximate time ban was placed (including time zone): Late 2018
Your side of the story: It's been almost a year. I can barely remember my reasons for each individual instance. I do know I was tempbanned on several occasions from the discord for exactly this. Eventually, I earned myself a permaban from the discord. In hindsight, I feel that part of the cause was a lack of restriction of political discussion. I feel as though a rule against bringing up politics, or at least against debate over certain "hot topics" could have saved everyone involved a lot of headache. However, that doesn't excuse the way I acted. I was a dick. I showed no restraint. I thought I was untouchable. I wasn't.
Why you think you should be unbanned: I've gone through a lot of changes in my life since the discord ban. Changes in friends, changes in medication, changes in community. I feel as though I'm finally strong enough to show the adequate level of restraint required to prevent this from ever happening again. It wasn't an instant change, to say the least. But I think I've finally come to the realization that I might be ready to appeal again.

elizaspider wrote:Ban reason given: While no reason was explicitly given, I've come to presume after this time that the reason was my constant escalation of politically-charged arguments.

You assume correctly.

elizaspider wrote:Your side of the story: It's been almost a year. I can barely remember my reasons for each individual instance. I do know I was tempbanned on several occasions from the discord for exactly this. Eventually, I earned myself a permaban from the discord. In hindsight, I feel that part of the cause was a lack of restriction of political discussion. I feel as though a rule against bringing up politics, or at least against debate over certain "hot topics" could have saved everyone involved a lot of headache. However, that doesn't excuse the way I acted. I was a dick. I showed no restraint. I thought I was untouchable. I wasn't.

I am not going to disallow everyone from participating in hot topics because you can't keep chill about it. Furthermore, it was not just politics that you'd throw a fit over. Everything from video games to different preferences in roleplaying, you'd throw a tantrum over. If the topic was something you didn't care for, you would have a fit. So, even if I did ban politics, the problem wouldn't stop.

I have tried many times to show understanding and leniency because you're still the founder of Vorestation. I'm really disappointed that we had to enact this ban in the first place. You should know better, and I'm not convinced anything would change if we let you back.

That said, maybe I'm wrong. You say things have changed. Let's hear people vouch for you. Open to community discussion.

I appreciate your response, really. It just disappoints me that you jump on one particular part of my paragraph, and essentially ignore the last part. Maybe I should've made the last part longer, to get it to grab at your attention more? I apologize that it made me seem like I was making demands, that wasn't my intention. I apologize.

So while I dont know if they've changed but Im pretty open to the idea of letting em back in.
After all, its been a decently long time so I believe them. Plus if they have changed? Neato!
So all in all Id say sure! Though Im just one person.

Its a little difficult to have a stance on this, I think, for a lot of people, who weren't there to see the discord arguments take place. Seeing the previous ban appeal, though, is a bit of an alarm because, well... There are quite a few people here that are in the LGBT community or have partners that are. I'm sure a lot of them, like me, had to deal with JAQoffs who would start with simple questions that get progressively more personal and insulting under the guise of "but im JUST ASKING QUESTIONS GUYS WHY U SO MAD". I'm not going to claim you had this motive, this is just to hopefully clear up a potential reason for the reaction that came about as a result.

I really should make a habit of proofreading my posts before posting. They tend to come off as rambles, and usually have entire sentences that would be better off omitted. I'll do what I can to work on that in the future.
My emotions are running pretty high right now, and I don't know what else to say, other than the above. I'm just not sure what to do to help my cause.

Given that you've opened up to community discussion, I'll give my input, as brief as it may be.

In the past, this individual was hugely toxic to the community and seemingly any discussion there. While I'm sympathetic to people who have gone through a rough time and have since worked on themselves to be better people, I've got some doubts with this. What struck me most while reading this was something that Ace commented on also, which was blaming their poor behavior on not specifically having rules to prevent anybody from discussing topics that would incense them. This statement strikes me as an indication that they didn't think that they were actually in the wrong, which makes the "I was a dick." stuff feel a lot more like lip service than an actual apology. Otherwise I don't understand the need for that quip in this appeal.

But as I don't think I've spoken to them since their ban, I don't know if they actually have changed or not. My initial impression given this appeal is negative though.

I have been in regular contact with Elizaspider for about a year now; I would say that we definitely are friends at this point. I, too, can get suckered into arguments when I really shouldn't; and I, too, have ruined relationships because I said stupid things instead of just taking a minute to cool down and think.

I am here to vouch for Elizaspider's return. They have shown to me an awareness of their faults and an intent to improve them. Just last month, they took the initiative to halt a politically charged argument that was brewing between us when I just couldn't take the hint.

As for this ban appeal itself... I agree, you really should proofread what you post. As your friend, I am going to be hard on you for this. I've already given you my criticisms personally about the talk of "hot topics"; it was an irrelevant point that was deconstructed immediately and did nothing but hurt your appeal.

All that said, I am giving my support. They are a good friend of mine and neither of us have managed to ruin it so far; they have been working hard to do better and will continue to improve if given the chance.

I have read every post here so that I can give out my clear thoughts on this ban appeal.

While I haven't been in contact with him for a long time and our conversations are minimal I can say that he can be a good person even before the ban. While it is true that he can get a little carried away with many topics more so than some of the other players he can be a pretty chill person when you try to avoid the magic words that can piss anybody off, like swearing in every sentence that you say or nagging someone constantly, for examples. And yes, the ban due to that argument that got him banned was necessary when it happened and I do agree that we shouldn't make heavy restrictions on what we say because one person can't keep their cool on it. If that was the case, then there would be more ban appeals on the ban appeal subforum by now.

If what Vorr says is true, then I think it couldn't hurt to give him another chance even if it's considered as one-too many for some. So, I'm going to support this appeal since it is possible for time to mend one's mind. And if I have to be honest, everybody has that moment where they wanna start a fire or throw some kindles into the already existing fire.

Kligor wrote:So while I dont know if they've changed but Im pretty open to the idea of letting em back in.
After all, its been a decently long time so I believe them. Plus if they have changed? Neato!
So all in all Id say sure! Though Im just one person.

While the positive feedback sounds nice, I am afraid this is not the feedback I am looking for. This is open to community input, but messages of support purely on good will and hopeful intentions aren't going to sway me in this situation.

Vorrarkul wrote:I have been in regular contact with Elizaspider for about a year now; I would say that we definitely are friends at this point. I, too, can get suckered into arguments when I really shouldn't; and I, too, have ruined relationships because I said stupid things instead of just taking a minute to cool down and think.

I am here to vouch for Elizaspider's return. They have shown to me an awareness of their faults and an intent to improve them. Just last month, they took the initiative to halt a politically charged argument that was brewing between us when I just couldn't take the hint.

As for this ban appeal itself... I agree, you really should proofread what you post. As your friend, I am going to be hard on you for this. I've already given you my criticisms personally about the talk of "hot topics"; it was an irrelevant point that was deconstructed immediately and did nothing but hurt your appeal.

All that said, I am giving my support. They are a good friend of mine and neither of us have managed to ruin it so far; they have been working hard to do better and will continue to improve if given the chance.

This on the other hand is more what I am looking for. People who have been in contact to see if there has been any changes.