Night of the Long Knives?

[Quitti]

Originally Posted by Ragnarok-X

I feel like sombre is trying to force Shrapnel into granting him free passage, like THEY should ask him to please return. That is wrong.

No. He's not asking for anything. Other members of the community are. There is a certain distinction there.

[Valerius]

Originally Posted by Quitti

No. He's not asking for anything. Other members of the community are. There is a certain distinction there.

True. He's refusing to do something (refrain from attacking others). Some members of the community are defending him and asking for either a temporary ban before a permanent one or that he just be allowed to ignore forum rules.

As far as him not being given a temporary ban first, I can see the grounds for that objection - if he was willing to following the rules going forward. But Sombre was forthright that he wouldn't comply with Shrapnel's request so I'm not sure there's much point in postponing things.

The idea that he should be allowed to ignore the forum rules is in my opinion obviously a bad idea. Either you make an exception for him or you drop the rules completely for everyone. I don't think either of those two is a good idea (though the first one is worse). Maerlande mentions that IRC is anarchy. That's great; I'm glad people enjoy it. But I don't think the Shrapnel forums have to be the same - having two different arenas with different standards is a good thing.

Look, I understand that people are defending Sombre both because they're friends with him and because they value his contributions to the community and feel they outweigh any negatives. But people place different value on different things. Some people value a friendly community more than they do a huge availability of mods. And it's not an invalid point of view.

Also, some people dislike Shrapnel (not sure why since they seem like a decent company to me) but you can't possibly imagine they wanted this. I think they put this off precisely because it's a no-win situation for them.

This is a situation of Sombre's creation and it's his choice whether or not to resolve it. My guess is all he has to do is refrain from attacking people. So there's some people who really annoy him. Just ignore them and interact with the people you like. It doesn't seem like too much to ask. It's unfair, to say the least, to put all the burden on Shrapnel and ask nothing of him.

[Soyweiser]

Originally Posted by Valerius

But Sombre was forthright that he wouldn't comply with Shrapnel's request so I'm not sure there's much point in postponing things.

Under the current rules I'm not entirely sure that a permaban would have happened eventually. The infractions are designed to go away after a while. Sombre just said he didn't care, he thought the whole system was a joke, and part of a powertrip by the mods. (As he explained on IRC). That he was banned only proves his point.

Originally Posted by Valerius

The idea that he should be allowed to ignore the forum rules is in my opinion obviously a bad idea. Either you make an exception for him or you drop the rules completely for everyone.

True. Why then the exception for Sombre? No tempbans, do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars.

Originally Posted by Valerius

Look, I understand that people are defending Sombre both because they're friends with him and because they value his contributions to the community and feel they outweigh any negatives.

You are forgetting one reason. Defending him because he is right. He should not have been banned and it was part of a powertrip. (Not saying that I agree with this, but it is a valid reason).