Invalid Report against Wink

Name of Staff/Player:

Wink​

Steam ID of Staff/Player:

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Your Steam ID:

​

Which Server:

Forum/General​

Which Map:

Forum/General​

Which Round:

Forum/General​

Time of Occurence:

Forum/General​

Reason For Report:

Disregard for the rules, Abuse of power, Targeting Players/Groups, and a general poor attitude.

Wink regularly disregards the rules, using 'Admin Discretion' to enhance the standard punishment, leaving me to wonder why there are even rules and standard punishments in place if the Staff are willing and able to make up their own at a whim.

This can especially when it relates to players that were part of the old staffing team before the purge, their friends, or players who generally don't get along with him and their friends. While there isn't much explicit evidence of this, I am hoping that the collective knowledge of the current staff, as well as the general trends in the appeals and reports made against him, will at least lend some credence. And, failing that, that Wink himself might be willing to admit to at least some fault.

It has reached the point that several players, most being amongst those mentioned above, feel targeted to the point of distress by Wink, and feel that Wink is explicitly encouraging such behavior in other members of the staff and playerbase.

Rightfully or wrongfully, it isn't a stretch to say Wink is the most disliked admin right now, and that doesn't just come from nowhere. He regularly talks down to players, and doesn't follow decorum that is standard in the server when it comes reports made against him, or appeals made to him, sometimes showing passive aggression of vastly-varying levels, especially when involving veteran players he disagrees with. And just because this is subjective doesn't mean it should be dismissed out of hand. If you, as members of the community, truly believe in making yourself and the server better, take the criticism and do something with it.​

Evidence And/Or Witnesses:

Here I am going to list some Ban Appeals for comparison. I'd give more, but this is the only evidence accessible to common players.


This appeal was accepted because of it being his first offense in a great number of hours.
This appeal was denied, because of his great number of hours. Please note, this is also a veteran player who has very few past offenses, but who is also friends with Xpro, who has a known feud with Wink.



I am also going to list most of his ban appeals related to discretion. I say most because I might have missed a few. I didn't include mic-spam reports, or reports like this one, were you can clearly see the reason for being denied.
Denied-Trolling: Player is Ex-Staff that had relations to the purge.
Accepted-RDM and Leave: Player is new, No rank
Denied-Toxicity: Player has relations to Xpro. Please note this appeal sponsored a Valid report against Wink.
Denied-Toxicity: Player is Xpro himself, a Veteran Player Please note this ban was for exclusively discretionary reasons.
Denied-Toxicity: Player is veteran player with history. Please note that regardless of how warranted punishment was, Wink made many assumptions, and further extended punishment beyond protocol.
Accepted-RDM and Leave 5th offense: Player is new, No rank. Please note this is their 5th offense, and while we don't know what is said in private, please compare to all his other RDM and Leave appeals.
Denied-RDM and Leave 2nd offense: Veteran Player. Please note Wink's only involvement was globalizing the ban.
Denied-Trolling/Toxicity along with This and This. All three of the players were relatively new, one without rank.
Accepted-RDM and Leave 5th offense: Player is new, No rank. Please note that, once more, we don't know what ws said, but compare to all others.
Accepted-RDM and Leave: Player is new, No rank.​

 

@wink @Falcor @Opalium

It would be much appreciated if at least some open discussion about this could happen instead of keeping this all behind the scenes. Many of the problems people have, Including my own, is the complete lack of acknowledgement that anything is wrong. Even if the report is denied, you have to admit that something is wrong with this all.

 

Hey @Silent Artemis,

This seems to be the main 'argument' you based your post around. I'll break it down by explaining the outcomes of my 13 forum reports:

https://www.seriousgmod.com/threads/report-against-helixspiral-wink-hingle.38387/
Invalid report for liking a status.

https://www.seriousgmod.com/threads/report-against-wink.36599/
Easily invalid report, based off a misconception about a slay a gave a player based off a kill on suspicion.

https://www.seriousgmod.com/threads/report-against-wink.36693/
Another easily invalid report, based off a slay I gave to a player for killing simply due a detective shooting at him.

https://www.seriousgmod.com/threads/report-against-wink.36834/
Invalid report, based off a slay I gave to a player based off his response to the report, not accepting a clear change in story after he found out his story wasn't what happened.

https://www.seriousgmod.com/threads/report-against-wink.37257/
You already linked the appeal for this one, which was denied on the basis of it being an administrative decision. Falcor went on to invalidate this one, as she was part of that decison and agreed with my reasoning. Disruptionz too agreed with reasoning to a degree, but disagreed with the length and made it a time served.

https://www.seriousgmod.com/threads/report-against-wink.37612/
You linked the appeal for this one, this was a mishanded situation on my part between @zomborg and @Janppa , as I should of given him a more clearly worded warning myself against the behavior he was exhibiting instead of using a 1 day global for that purpose.

https://www.seriousgmod.com/threads/report-against-wink.37922/
Invalid report, on the basis of 'banning too fast for rdm and leave'.

https://www.seriousgmod.com/threads/report-against-wink-and-pop-star.37923/
A slightly mishandled on my side, I should of made sure the moderator who issued the kick had the evidence and context it was used in before it was corrected to a ban.

https://www.seriousgmod.com/threads/report-against-wink-falcor.38232/
An invalid report made technically against me lead on the basis on a forum ban I gave correctly for following the guidelines of offenses for commenting on reports/appeals, with the main accusation of 'protecting' me.

https://www.seriousgmod.com/threads...ver-banned-thehomiekos-from-the-forums.38294/
Invalid report for giving a discretionary punishment.

https://www.seriousgmod.com/threads/report-against-wink-mr-disco.38717/
Valid report, I should of gone to my lead and requested to see the deleted posts with accurate timestamps, instead of using mine, and even then I should of given a better warning than that.

https://www.seriousgmod.com/threads/report-against-wink.38773/
Invalid report, reporting a shoutbox ban that should of been questioned otherwise.

https://www.seriousgmod.com/threads/report-against-sage-and-his-master-wink.36620/#post-335364
Valid report, due to a miscommuncation between me and one of moderators at the time

Keep in mind there is another one still in progress right now I will not cover. In all of these reports, I maintain a consistent tone and decorum that is appropriate to see coming from a staff member.

Another big argument of yours seems to be not 'willing to admit fault'. Seeing as you've gone through my appeals looking for evidence to make an opinion based report against me, did you miss this? Or maybe this? In both of these, I do admit and correct a fault I made in my judgement, and I am always willing to do such a thing when I encounter it. The above handled appeals have no faults in my judgement as far as I can see.

I became a staff member since I wanted to serve the community and it's playerbase. I do so currently by treating all players equally, helping to make both the servers and the forums both a fun and fair place where justice is applied uniformly. I'm sorry to hear some members of the playerbase don't see eye to eye with my actions, but I truly strive to make this community a better place.

I'll tag my lead admin @Falcor to go over this report. In the future, I encourage you not to make opinion based reports on staff members and perhaps create a thread instead.
edit:missed a report, its in now and count updated
God bless,

~wink

 

I heard that this report sponsored a policy change about RDM and Leave, which if true, shows the type of thing that I am talking about.

Since you are so entirely unwilling to say there is any problem, I doubt this report will be marked valid. However, I do ask that the other staff reading this, Especially @Falcor, take note of the following:
Veteran Players and new players alike are feeling a lot of toxicity in the forums/Servers as of late. Much of this has been directed at Wink, and only some of it could be called justified. Just because he has been subjected to unfair criticisms and judgments does not mean that they are all invalid. There are members of the Ex-Staff and their friends who love this community dearly, but are regularly attacked or targeted by other players, and end up getting punished or warned at much higher rates than their peers. I have a direct screenshot involving Wink with such things that I cannot show because they wish to remain anonymous, but I hope that my long-standing status as a trustworthy person will lend some credence. Though, as shown in the very first report he listed against him, it is inappropriate at best to endorse something that is obviously spam against a player who he had just conflicted with and banned.

I love this community dearly, and I want to see it get better. I am aware that my constant outcry against Wink adds to the toxicity I mentioned above, but it needs to be addressed. He does not deserve the constant criticism he gets, but neither is he innocent. Even if we take away literally everything else, making constant discretionary calls in place of the already existing rules sets a bad example, because discretionary calls were intended for extreme circumstances, not everyday use.

 

Also, just an update, he removed me from his friends list on steam the moment I tried to talk to him about this after he got out of school.

Edit: To Clarify further, it was the very moment I sent the message, without any time for him to have actually read it. While Nit-Picky, it shows the dis-interest in actually trying to come to an understanding.

 

I don't think there's nothing to discuss in Steam pms, as anything needed to be said can be said here. http://prntscr.com/euw6g0 In my eyes, there is no understanding you are trying to come to. Rather than trying to come to an understanding, you just imply I've done something wrong vaguely.

I feel like your idea of what administration discretion is and how it is used properly needs major clarifications. Discretion is given to the administration as a tool to ensure fairness among our players, not just in extreme circumstances like you imply. Administrative discretion is not used when accepting or denying ban appeals like you imply, since moderator's can accept/deny appeals whether or not they see fit without our input. I believe my usage of discretion has been on target with the goal, of keeping things fair and fun for our playerbase.

Like I said before, I treat all players equally when staffing and issuing punishments when the case calls for it and keep multiple factors in mind. In some cases, it is called for to alter protocols when dealing with clearly experienced players if the case calls for it. I suggest you look back on those ban appeals with this in mind.

 

In regards to the steam PMs, I have tried multiple times to talk to you and have always been ignored. So there is that. Not to mention you removed me well before it was possible for you to have read that post, as short as it was, since you removed me instantly.

And going back to Winchester's appeal, how does that promote a sense of fairness and fun? Since you didn't mention it, I am going to go ahead and assume that there was a policy change directly related to how you decided to use discretion. When compared to other player, who either have multitudes of offenses, or to the player I mentioned in the report, who had a great deal of hours and was accepted because it was first, why was Winchester's denied when he was denied for the nearly exact thing? For whom is this fair or fun?

Looking back on appeals, and reports, as I have done extensively, the pattern isn't "New players get leniency" it's 'Players who treat me with respect get Leniency' and 'Players associated with something I dislike are far more likely to receive negative discretions'.
Edit: This also goes in hand with what I have heard or talked about with other players on the receiving ends of your 'discretion'.

Edit: And when I talk about you targeting players, it goes well beyond you seeing 'eye to eye' with them. People feel personally attacked by you, to the point were they are afraid to talk in Shoutbox because they know it will only end with them being constantly attacked, and a ban if they try to talk back.



And, so I can get a clear answer on this, is or isn't the policy for RDM and Leave bans now changed?

 

One of the purposes of the reports subforum is to allow for reports to be discussed openly and transparently. Not only are you pestering (and borderline harassing) Wink by trying to discuss your report against him via another method, you're going behind the community's back by trying to handle it by yourself and privately. Whether or not your intention is to post screenshots of the discussion here. There alot of people involved in this report, allow them the chance to chime in.

Edit: to prevent misunderstandings, it is fine to try and handle an issue privately, but once a report is made publicly on the forums, it is best to let the report play out and not try to discuss it privately with the defendant or reporter.

 

I read your response here, and saw the steam message before removing you, and chose to do so since I saw no need for you on my friends list. I can choose who I want on my friends list as a staff member, as it's been established, you can always hit me up on the forums via PM. In the past, I've left conversations with you since you were questioning things you had no direct involvement or need to know in some scenarios.

I recommend reading the reports and appeals again if you haven't, you are going in circles. The policy has not changed, it has always been a recommendation but not a necessity to give some time for players to reconnect if they do leave, and it did lead to slightly more emphasis on that recommendation. There's really nothing more I can say so I'll tag @Falcor

 

Actually I tried to talk to him several times before the report. And as discussions about reports and appeals are quite often handled in private, both by wink and other staff, I do find it extremely hypocritical that I am accused of going behind the back of the community. In this specific case, I am referring to a few occasions where I tried to get Wink's attention. Before I spoke out against him, we were able to strike up a conversation at pretty much anytime. Afterwards, the 'conversation' you saw above was the first time he deemed it fit to reply.

And I would still like a reply to my comment about Winchesters appeal, since going in circles as you put it is re-iterating a point that you never addressed, or addressed in such a roundabout, non-answer manner you would leave the typical american politician proud.


Edit: For clarification, Since Wink made it seem like I mentioned the steam removal as something against his staffing capabilities, I wanted to say that I mentioned it to show I have tried to resolve this outside of a report, and was outright ignored on several occasions.
Further Edit/Clarification: Also, my intentions in messaging Wink were outside of the report. I respect Wink as a mod, even if I disagree with his actions as an Admin, and used to think of him as a friend. It is undeniable you lose much of the human element when interacting solely through reports or on an official capacity, and I was trying to restore that to some degree. I felt compelled to add this after going through a few private conversations/messages.

 

Hi Silent Artemis

I'm going to go through each point you bring up and I'll look at each of these appeals you've linked.

Punishments have always been subject to Admin Discretion. Nothing new here, as we both know.
I have staffed with wink, reviewed his reports and appeals, as well have been on teamspeak or in discussions many times while discussing an instance on the servers where discretion was used.
I have not seem a misuse of discretion, especially to the extent stated in your report. If I could get some examples, I'd like to go over those.

As for the targeting. Any time wink has been reported or i've been contacted in privatem, by some people in this group he has always provided evidence.
And was expained further, if need be.

If people are feeling distressed by wink I would like for them to at least message me about this and what has happened for them to feel this way.

Again this is nothing I have witnessed the many times ive been on ts while he is staffing, or through any other channels like appeals ands reports.
Staff members are free to respond to reports in any manner or format they desire. Within reason of course.

Screenshots and videos show player being warned to cease and continuing to troll, while trying to do so in a way that evaded our written ruleset.

Player left before wink issued slay so ban was issued. Player appealed, wink informs him of a way to avoid this.

Handled in private after the matter. No need for me to disclose players ban history.

This was explained at lengths why the ban was issued. I was personally present on this decision it wasn't his alone.

Player targeted a player as soon as he could kill the player several times.

Mod accepted appeal, player talked to admin since it was extended for usual reasons. Due to circumstance of ban it was lifted.

Due to messages that were sent during the appeal process, ban was globalized. Not extended

Winks evidence and players history show clearly the reasoning behind this.

wink was a mod during this he has no access to discretion.

Damage was unreported and after the aslay feature was added.

Appeals are always up to the staff member that issued the ban.
It is also very complicated to compare every appeal. As you can see there are many factors when certain bans are issued and all appeals.
I see no misuse of power, targeting or a bad attitude in any of this.
I'm sorry for any grievances you may hold against wink but I am certain he does not hold any against players and users here.

As of now this report is Invalid.
If there is anything else anyone needs to add or inform me of please do so.
Thank you
Falcor