Punished account name: BeensMC Platform or server punished on: Skyblock Ban message if applicable: Bullying and harrassing community members is not tolerated on Skyblock Have you read the rules? Yes Do you think this punishment was incorrect? It is. Why should you be unbanned? I'm a bit confused and saddened. I certaintly wasn't ever trying to bully anyone, im assuming this is in regards to the map we made following Sis' warning from Houzo regarding spamming. We made that map as a lighthearted joke and it wasn't ever intented to be malicious or hurtful, more so try and cheer up Sis because she was rather distraught about the whole situation. I wish someone would've talked to me and communicated before we went for this ban, cause that whole situation got blown out of proportion, and I was just trying to make my friend feel better. Unban me or not, I figured id try and clear the air. Please list any other times you were punished on Skyblock: Feel free to pull up my record If you know, tag the staff member that banned you: frezology Do you understand and accept our rules and code of conduct? Yeah
Hi Beens, Thank you for appealing, I will be handling your appeal. Please be patient while myself and the staff team discuss further about the incident and moving forward.
Hi Beens, thank you for your patience during this appeal. The reasoning behind the incident could have been somewhat acceptable, however we believe this was more than just a light hearted joke and it goes deeper than just banter. Not only was the staff member harassed publicly over an unintentional mistake, they were also subject to private interrogation over various platforms, and then further subject to the several map arts mocking the staff member created and then distributed. Sugarcoating the whole situation as a joke is quite frankly disrespectful and stubborn, please take into consideration how all of this made the person feel, and how exaggerated the situation was made towards the staff member by everyone involved. To further explain how this was bullying and harassment rather than light-heartedness , let’s dig deeper into how the map art incident occurred. The map art was strategically duplicated. If it was just a light hearted joke then why create 14 different maps of the same art so if one was wiped, you could easily dupe more? It shouldn’t have mattered if it was wiped or the map deleted. The intent was to make sure the art would not be erased because it was already known it was the wrong thing to do, against the rules and to specifically target someone. Additionally, the distribution of the several variations of map art to a large number of people as if to almost expose the staff member further added smoke to the fire, whether it was intended to be malicious or not. Your appeal currently shows no remorse or accountability towards the staff member involved even though you are aware of why the incident occurred and your contribution to it. Therefore, as it stands, you are not giving any reason to be unbanned. Is there anything you’d like to add that could change this?
Before I address the other parts of this reply I'd like to address this first. From the get-go this entire situation has been confusing to me, as the staff team can't seem to collectively decide weather it was a mistake or not. If it was, then I think it would only be fair to remove Sis' warning, but then again I have no idea what is what at this point, in regards to that. In regards to the map art and the duplicate allegation, we typically do that when making any map art as A: it's easier to just click while your on the panel to make copies versus going in your inventory and crafting them, which is a pain; B: it never hurts to have more than one version of a map (incase one or more ever get deleted). We definitely never assumed that the map would ever get deleted, in fact we thought it might've been seen as a positive due to it's very light hearted nature and the fact that we were friends with Luka and thought we could maybe move past it with a good laugh. Obviously it wasn't taken that way, and I am sorry to Luka for any pain that the incident may have caused. That was never any of our intentions. Our intentions in making the map was to cheer up one of our very good friends. Sis was at the points of tears when she found out she had been warned - it was a tough week for her and that was breaking point, she certainly wasn't trying to do anything malicious when she spammed. Talking with so many community members about this incident and hearing the support for us has been really nice. This ban honestly almost made me quit the server, as it still to this moment feels so wrong. Just knowing that the players are on our side and care about us is all I need - I don't necessarily need the staff to treat me fairly. I feel a very genuine sense of injustice, and just wished that the staff team had communicated with me in any regard before continuing to make incorrect assumptions about our intentions with our map art. Deep down I know I'm a good friend and an honest player and that our intentions were positive.
To clear this up, the actual punishment was not a mistake, the public announcement of the warning was, which as I said was not intended. Despite this, warnings can be made public and there is nothing against staff from doing this, it's just we choose not to most of the time, and in that instance, Luka forgot to silence the announcement. To explain how warnings work, they basically act as a note on the account for future action, if future action is necessary, such as kicks, mutes, etc. Three active warnings will result in an automated kick. That may be where miscommunication is coming from regarding that and I hope that provides more insight. Warnings expire after 3 days, so cannot be removed as it's no longer active. Let me set the record; the bans were not given out carelessly or out of emotion, this was reviewed by multiple members of staff who, when looking at the whole picture, perceived the situation as harassment and bullying. Although I am speaking to you as the individual and this is your individual appeal, the situation was obviously worsened by the fact that it was a group of players almost ganging up against someone, regardless of if the intention was there or not. Luka should have been addressed by yourself and those involved in the map art incident beforehand. You said the staff team should have talked to you before the ban, but nobody talked to Luka to ask how he felt about it or if he was okay with the map art being created. I understand it may have felt light-hearted between everyone creating the map art, but I don't think anyone took into consideration in any respect how Luka felt. After the harassment and interrogation made towards him publicly and privately, over various platforms, and him having to tolerate that, making map art about it and distributing them to other people isn't the best way to make a joke about it. I hope you can understand and empathise with how Luka felt targeted by the situation, and it certainly came across the same way to the rest of the staff team. Despite the above, I want to thank you for apologising in a heartfelt manner, I am sure Luka will appreciate that and it would be nice if the others involved in the creation and distribution of the map art could reciprocate this to him. Whether or not you feel injustice about the situation, I hope you can learn from this for future occasions. Never assume that someone is going to be okay with it, always ask first.
I would like to clarify some things. For one, I did notice Luka was harassed by at least one player in particular following the warning. I did DM him on Discord about the situation just asking questions in a non-hostile way, I'm more than happy to provide screenshots of that convo. I honestly never tried to harass Luka throughout the incident. Was the map art in hindsight a bad idea? Yes. At the time we honestly thought it was a positive. Would the map have ever been made if the warning never happened? No. We thought of the map as a great way to move on from any negativity created from it. I can only try to explain that the map was designed to be a light hearted joke. I know the staff did not see it that way, and I am sorry. I did not know at the time that the map would have me punished this harshly. We have seen other maps featuring content such as "Legalize dirt trade" and plenty of sexual-based maps so we thought this one wouldn't draw any punishment. I have learned from this for my future Skyblock interactions, and ask for forgiveness.
As you know we don’t take any forms of harassment lightly, especially when there are multiple incidents to consider, hence the lengthier ban than you may have expected. If you see any maps that are sexual or encourage rule breaking, please report these to us. We do try our best to remove any map arts such as the ones you stated, however we won’t be able to get them all without the help of the players, so please let us know if you see any around. I understand the map art you created was a catalyst from the warning, I hope you can take from this situation that there are better ways to go about these things. Sometimes it is better to leave the situation alone and cheer up your friend by taking them away from the scene too, rather than get further involved, in a joking way or not. As I said the warning in itself was no mistake. It saddens me to hear that they felt distraught or saddened about the warning, but I hope they can learn from it and understand where boundaries lie when it comes to minor chat offences. I believe you now understand where we are coming from with this ban and I’m happy to see that you are showing accountability and responsibility, and I want to thank you for cooperating and being patient with me during the appeal process. You should be unbanned within a couple of minutes.
Thank you for creating an appeal, your appeal has been accepted! Please make sure that you read our rules here before continuing on as normal! Thread closed and moved to Appeals Archive.
