Burn the witch! ~ oh, wait...

Well, if that what was done, it was a lot more technical then what some people have done, and been convicted of hacking, but it also did not give undue power to the hacker, as lower tech means would have done, as from what I can see she just fished unsecured pages from their forums.

It still counts as hacking though :P and I doubt she really does not think so herself. At least this way, everyone knows who she is, unless she has a few other accounts floating around :O

After a conversation with a concerned player, I wanted to say the following:

Whether it's popular or not, I will always advocate on behalf of the players, and I will always give them the benefit of the doubt. And if that comes back on me, then it's fully on my shoulders.

Giving players the benefit of the doubt means having faith. And for as thin at that is, that's exactly what i'm working with here. Faith and trust. Faith that players will be willing, on a second chance, to stay within bounds. And trust that they'll be good to the word they have given me.

And that also means that i'm putting the faith and trust that the rest of the community as in me squarely on the line. If that trust gets burned in the future by a decision I make, then I take the full responsibility for it and the consequences of it.

as you can guess i agree with Shuji and Cait... this ISNT a second chance this is a 3rd she's proven she cares nothing for the rules and just tries to find way to get around them..... no faction should have to worry about someone hacking in to there forums to get member lists or ANY information. Unbanning her is just showing her or ANYONE that might get the idea that its ok the admins will just let you back after they think people have forgotten what happened.

I have to agree with the majority, this decision is ridiculous. We are definitely setting a precedent here and it just gives other flagrant rule breakers a defence for wrong doing. I have no doubt the words "I can't be banned for this, this was no where near as bad as Sia etc etc" will be used in the future.

Really bad form team, sorry.

My two pennies worth.

“Whether it's popular or not, I will always advocate on behalf of the players, and I will always give them the benefit of the doubt. And if that comes back on me, then it's fully on my shoulders.
 ”

Several times in the past "perma-banned" players have been unbanned by the administration by various admins, with the warning it's their last chance. While I personally had no discussion brought forward regarding this, I respect Arete/whoever's decision it was to unban.

This is a player driven game, and we'd like to think the best of everyone, giving someone another chance is something I'm generally comfortable with, assuming they realize that if they screw us, they're done.

I don't see how this sets a precedent for allowing rule-breaking. It has come up as obviously wrong, was met with consequences, and anyone who breaks the hacking rule in the future should be more than aware that what they're doing is wrong and therefore flagrantly violating a rule which will be met with even stronger punishments.

The Perma in Perma-ban does stand for permanent, right?

And yes, second chances are fine. Third, not so much.

Also, the "we'll watch her closely" doesn't really provide any guard against her doing it, it just means that she can do it again and be punished after the fact.

Eh, personally, I'm kinda glad that the administration is into giving second chances. I mean, if I ever did something that was against the rules, even if I didn't fully understand that (not saying that I think anyone could not fully understand that fact that hacking someone's website is against most rules of any game...), I would definitely want a second chance. Go Arete!

she got banned just slightly longer then someone who brakes the multi rules for something that is far worse.... and for something she has done and been warned about before.... and even someone with a multi ban tends to lose assets as added punishment. how is any of this at all fair?

You missunderstand Arête, the precedent isn't that rule breakers will get away with it, the precedent is that punishments will be weigh against this. 44 days and a slap on this wrist? Hardly apt is it?

Knowing something is against the rules, and knowing the administration just went through a whole debacle over a situation, and *still* breaking that rule, means we'll punish even harder.

Being unable to comprehend the clear rules that everyone else has no problem understanding and following is an issue within itself. What happens the next time someone "doesn't realise" something is illegal, either Siarica - in the midst of breaking another rule - or the next person who uses it as a defence?

Siarica has a history of ignoring rules, from the Art forums/custom images, all the way up to hacking a faction's forum. Second chances don't apply on the dozenth offence.

This is just simply ridiculous. Might as well throw out the punishment tables completely and just make a mockery of bannings. Yes, people have been unbanned from perma-ban before, but not after a month of committing the offence.

This sets a dangerous precedent with bannings, and player behaviour. Siarca has been known to have a sting of incidents in this game, and has been banned previously to my recollection, yet when he committs one of the most serious offences in SWC, and doing so in a well planned, thorough, and obviously illegal (insofar as SWC rules), he gets a minor slap on the wrist and allowed to carry on as normal. Appears there wasn't even any secondary punishments after being given yet a further chance. It appears as though there hasn't been so much as an obfuscated attempt to protect the other players of SWC, who actually follow the rules and contribute to the game; rather some fools have decided to have pit on some pathetic little person.

Well I'm sorry, but I'm a player too and I deserve to be able to play this game without players like Siarca breaking the rules whenever they feel like it and then playing dumb and oh so sorry to get themselves unbanned a month later. Apparently though, the thousands of other players who follow the rules and are victims of the actions of these people who break the rules aren't worthy of that level of respect and protection; somehow our needs and enjoyment are trumped by an ASim's soft-spot for people who don't fit in and don't respect the rules or other players.

It's not like was a fuzzy or stupid rule, or there wasn't enough evidence against the person, or the case was handled poorly and with bias. This is simply some people in the Administration reversing a reasonable and precedent backed ban just because they personally haven't given this person a chance before. Well sorry, but siarca's had chances before, and he's flown in the face of them and used them up. Just because you haven't given him a chance in the past doesn't mean you should be overturning legitimate past rulings and bans because you think you can lead people to redemption.

I have faith and trust, too. Faith that players creating multiple accounts just didn't know they weren't supposed to do something that's clearly stated in the rules, so I guess there's no real point in punishing them for doing something they weren't aware was wrong. Just give them two more chances to be sure they really, really know this time for real.

Man, ignorance is a hell of a defense these days, innit.

“Man, ignorance is a hell of a defense these days, innit.

- Syn
 ”

And on that principle, I vote we should go easy on the ASims, they too deserve a second- third- fourth- umpteenth "second" chance too. :P

I`ll just point out two simple points.

Adam A Flynn has spent the last six years in post-secondary centres of learning studying computers, engineering, the internet, all that rubbish. His servers are nearly unhackable and as such are the resting place of Black Sun's mainframe. He and several others spent nearly a month testing and coding the coding for our forums to make them unhackable. So that information cant be extracted from them.

Now my second point is as follows. A person, who we`ve killed three times for their general treachery against Black Sun returns to combine. Thats fine piss off and leave Black Sun alone.
No thats not how it goes, instead they join a group called Silhouette lead by a recreate of another BS victim who was scorned in a past life. She then goes and "tests" her coding skills on Black Sun's forums in an attempt to impress the leader of Silhouette. She is banned for it and a month later released to be given a second change.

I`d say she`s on about her fourth maybe fifth chance to fuck off and leave Black Sun alone. No?

I would like to thank the Arete for the sim news officially informing everyone of the situation and giving their reasons.

Any respect I had for Arete was lost with his ignorant decision. In fact if it was possible I would call for him to step down as an ASim. Period.

It has been pointed out so clearly that Siarica is a repeat offender. The decision to un-PERMAban this player sets an extremely poor example in the face of clear evidence that Siarica knew, and went to great lengths to accomplish, something against the rules. Ignorance is no excuse. The rules are very clear in this case, so is the precedence, and available for every player to see. It's a pretty simple call to make but if an ASim wants to play favorites and have their own pet then I can see where this game is going.

I wouldn't be so quick to blame Arete. Some of us know that Sia has the ability to work the angles and turn a situation around on some people, and it seems that Arete just happened to be the Asim around when she decided to turn on the waterworks and cry unban.

I believe that he just made a mistake, that he got played, and none of the other asims were around to inform him of Sia's record and abilities, if he was unaware of them to begin with, which is quite possible.

Is it nessescarily Arete's fault? Not likely.

Does it need to be overturned, and Sia permabanned for good? Yes.

Edit: Rachel's comment made it into my sig;p

.. wait .. what? Doesn't set a precedent? You'll punish others who do the same more harshly? Seriously?

You let Sia off the hook, but from now on everyone else burns?

.. wow

Sooo ..Sia get's everyone elses second chances too? This has gotta be the biggest looting EVER