Name: King Obama
Steam ID: STEAM_0:1:6063307 00:07
Reason you were banned: According to my source through the grapevine, "instigating"
Name of admin who banned you: Unknown (sort of)
Why you think this is unjustified:
A) I am not an instigator
It is difficult to explain why I am not an instigator without addressing the reasons I suspect the person or persons who banned me have accused me of being an instigator. Without acknowledging that these are incidents of instigation, I'll address these points.
1. Name changing. First, there's no rule in the MOTD that requires non-member players to keep the same name or even identity. If I were a hacker or tker, I would understand more scrutiny. But I'm not a hacker or tker (though that is disputed by some, as I'll address later on). I change my name all the time because I see no reason not to. I've never actually found a name I wanted to keep permanently.
A subcategory of this issue is "It's my first day." This is my tagline. When I say this, most regulars easily identify who I am. It's just like someone keeping the same name. It's my way of saying "hey bros it's me." I've cut back on this in the past few weeks because I have lately observed that it pisses some people off, even though it is completely inane.
2. Complaining about imbalanced teams. I haven't complained about this in a while, but I readily admit that I used to do it. In fact, it's the primary reason I left the clan. But the admins have gotten a lot better at balancing teams lately.
Last time this came up, I was instructed to take it to the forums and leave it out of the server. I complied. I haven't raised the issue in server since that time.
B) Concern that this ban is motivated in bad faith
A few select players on this server have consistently accused me of cheating. All three of the players mentioned below have raised such accusations in recent weeks. Naturally, I'm concerned that these players are using their influence to retaliate against a player who kills them more often than they'd like, even though most of these players kill me often enough. The rate at which these players accuse me of hacking has actually made me hesitant to shoot them more often than once, out of concern that they'd retaliate by banning me. This concern recently proved to be reality.
1. Hoosbenfartin. Just last week, after I killed Hoosbenfartin, he said "oh there's no way you're not using a hitbox hack." Not long ago, he banned me on suspicion of hacking, for which I was ultimately cleared.
2. Frank&Beans. About 1 in every 3 times I kill Frank&Beans (that's a conservative estimate), he says something to the effect of "you are so full of shit," or "I should have known it was you with that bullshit." Admittedly, I don't believe he has never used the words "hack" or "cheat," though this was heavily implied by his tone and the context. I understand how this sort of talk is considered endearing between clan mates or friends, but I think it goes without saying that Frank and I don't share this kind of relationship. So there was no room for comfortable accusations.
3. Murder. It's rare, but he does it and its annoying.
C) Recent incidents
Last Friday, I joined the server with a brand new name (Homer Simpson). Lt.Col. Frank&Beans somehow figured out who I was. (I hadn't said anything to tip him off so I guess it was my play-style.) As of that evening, Frank and I hadn't even communicated with each other (except for a brief communication from Frank, which I'll get to in a bit). Out of nowhere, Frank proclaims a new rule: I (king obama) will be permanently banned next time I change my name. My immediately reaction was that this would be a completely blatant abuse of admin power. Frank warned that if I used the words "admin abuse" one more time, he would permanently ban me, "ya smart ass kid." My concern was that Frank was upset with me for getting what he considers to be "questionable" kills, especially on him. He had already complained twice that night after I killed him (again, he my play-style probably gave me away).
Anyway, about two minutes later I got a domination on Frank. Not bragging. This is an important fact. Because when this happened, I realized that he may have an ulterior motive for banning me. In light of his constant complaints about my killing him in questionable ways, I was legitimately concerned that I was about to get banned for killing him one time too many. So I immediately informed him that I would be leaving the server before this was escalated to a banworthy offense. Then I immediately raised my concerns to a general by PM. (I don't know if I have permission to name him.) Was there a more proper way to handle this incident?
The other incident involved Hoosbenfartin. As previously mentioned, he accused me of hitbox hacking. I responded that I've never hacked.
In closing, I'll note that I am a model player.
Don't get me wrong. I'm by no means saying I'm good. I'm saying I'm a model player. But what do I mean to say I'm a model player?
First, I switch to the losing team more than any other player on this server. You all know this is true so I won't bother substantiating it. I do this out of fairness and because I want to play against a team that isn't one sided and because someone has to do it.
Secondly, I move up. In most cases, I am 2nd or 3rd place in flag caps.
These facts tend to suggest that I'm not a troll or instigator. I'm just a guy who is playing the game. The fact that my name is different all of the time is a superficial issue at best.