[TheRuffKnight]

This may be unprecedented, and if that proves to be some sort of problem with those in charge of managing the forums then I apologize. However, I feel incredibly compelled to voice my concerns and frustrations surrounding this ban. I would like to start this post by stating that I am not in any way friends with Shou; perhaps acquaintances at best. As such, I believe that I am coming from a completely non-partisan perspective with my concerns.

My initial concern is that this ban strikes me as something motivated by bias. I'm aware that Shou has a track record of not getting along well with many community members, but disliking someone is a far cry from a valid reason to ban someone. The primary reason I'm concerned with this ban being motivated beyond breaking any rules is the dissimilar enforcement of "punishment" for said violation. I have known and seen multiple players who have created Gokus that played homage to the character in very much the same way as Shou had done with his character (remaining anonymous for obvious privacy reasons). I would go as far as to say that I am the most culpable of playing off the original character with my since-retired Goku playby Terry Leather, whom a vast amount of the community has interacted with on numerous occasions.

Beyond that is how this rule has been enforced amongst different people. Associates of mine (who again, will remain anonymous in this post) were contacted by GM's regarding conduct that was treading the line with this rule and discussed the issue directly with them. From everything I have gathered of this situation, Shou had received no such warning that his character was crossing the line of plagiarism. Instead, a ban was immediately placed on him while he was still in the middle of a scene with multiple other players’ characters. I feel it is important to clarify that both of these situations occurred within the exact same week. Where other’s received warning, discussion and compromise; he was punished with no deliberation over the rules that his character crossed.

One last concern I would like to raise, however mild, is that lack of response to this thread. I overlooked several ban appeals preceding this one and saw that the majority of them received same day responses. Understandably, the lack of response could likely be attributed to a different GM handling the ban than Slydria, who has shown themself to be quite on top of ban appeal responses. Beyond that, I also realize it could simply be a result of busyness. Regardless, I would only like to mention the slight distaste left in my mouth when seeing the unresponsiveness to his post.

I’m aware that this is only a two week ban and I hope posting this doesn’t put me at any odds with the GMs, Shou, Dev or anyone who I’ve mentioned above anonymously. I often make a stern effort to refrain from vocalizing most of my concerns for worry of the fact that it will offend someone, but this is one such occasion that I feel obligated to forego that worry and bring some frustration to light. Even if it were only a one week ban, I feel that there is a strong necessity to keep the enforcement of rules consistent and just. Along with that, I would like to finish by stating that I firmly believe this ban was unwarranted and avoidable; if not at the least, deserving of some attention on his appeal request.

tl;dr Justice should be blind, but that doesn’t mean it is. Shou’s ban comes across as far more personally targeted than the judgment would be on any random player.