Permanent Ban Appeal - MikeRaft Unban (unbanned)

[MikeRaft Unban]

In-game Name

MikeRaft

Steam ID

“76561198184046658”

Please provide a link to your previous denied appeal.

https://www.roleplay.co.uk/
In your own words, please type why you think you were banned.

I think I was banned due to the fact that I was a part of the gang ket when it was blanket banned. This was due to, as Wilco has said “today you have carried out RDM and VDM during a Roleplay event (a wedding) and are currently involved in RDM right now on S1 with multiple gangs”. This was nothing to do with me, as I was not at my computer at the time, and while I was there at the start, all I did was go around and act as a happy onlooker to the wedding. In short, I think I was banned because I was in a gang with people who came foul of the RDM/ VDM rule.

What have you been upto in the last 6 months+ ?

In the last 6 months I have started playing ArmA 3 a lot more with my main focus being RPUK, taking up about 90% of my time on ArmA, and have been enjoying it a lot. I joined had joined the MTO team and was doing regular feedbacks and working my way up in the NHS, a section of the server I have always had a liking for. More recently I was promoted to CST and have been doing interviews and helping with the more background elements of the NHS. I have deeply enjoyed doing this and helping out as I feel that it is a hugely important element of the server, being the only purely roleplay faction and one that sees everyone, cops, civilians, rebels, new joiners to the server and veterans.
I have also been playing rebel as well, as it is nice to have a bit of variance on the server, and have been enjoying that too, trying to bring another aspect of life into my roleplay. I have been around through different gangs, styles and members wise.

Why do you want to return ?

I want to return as I enjoy playing on this server, as the roleplaying quality is much higher than other places and I have put a lot of time and effort into the server as a whole. I enjoy my position in the NHS and would hate to lose the option to play under the medic name and also lose my window to helping the community with recruitment of new medics. I also really enjoy the average rebel/ civilian life as it has given me countless moments that I am sure I will remember for a long time, as they were funny, memorable and/ or meaningful.
I have also made quite a few friends on the community from all areas of the server, and would hate for a blanket ban to be the thing that ultimately prevents me from playing with/ talking to those people.
The server has overall been a really nice way to unwind when I have been tired or bored, and I have pretty much always been met by someone who just wants to have a good time on the server. This is quite possibly the main aspect I would miss, as many other communities have a much more combat focused community, resulting in simple spontaneous roleplay being almost impossible.

Why should we unban you ?

I think that you should unban me as I have put a lot of time and effort into the server, and trying to make it a better place. I was also not involved in the situation that resulted in me being banned, and I wouldn’t want that to be the reason I am not allowed to play on this server, one I have enjoyed for so long.
I also try contribute to the server as a whole, working in the NHS as a CST to answer questions, help people out, do interviews and resolve situations, but also trying to be reasonable in other situations which may not be part of the NHS, such as rebel/ police liaisons but also trying to help people who are new to the game get into the server and enjoy it more. At the end of the day I think that the server should be fun, and that is what it was to me. I would certainly be more careful with the activities I partake in and people I spend time with if I was unbanned, as I wouldn’t want to be banned again.
Finally I have never been banned before, and feel that if I were to return I would be more careful and cherish the time I spent more overall.

Please confirm this unban request is for you.

Yes

I have read and understand the unban appeal process

Yes

Please confirm you understand there is no timeframe for your appeal.

Yes

I confirm 6 months+ have passed since my denied appeal.

No

Before you submit this form please confirm you have fully read the rules click here

Yes

 

[MikeRaft Unban]

After Wilco's comment on Kevin's unban appeal regarding members of the gang KET moving to other communities and thus not being instantly denied of appealing, I feel it right to say that I was put on rosters on other communities without telling me, even after I requested not to be put on them, as I didn't want to play on them after hearing reports about how they were run. I did instead just take a break from ArmA for a while as I waited to see how these appeals would go, hoping I would be unbanned and could return to RPUK, the server which, from my perspective certainly, is the best for roleplay and as a well rounded Altis life server. I am also aware that, contrary to Kevin's statements about "everyone from KET" playing other communities, that while some have moved after accepting their ban, others like myself have simply put games like Altis life on hold in order to see if these appeals are accepted or not. 

     In short, I wanted to say that I have not been playing other communities and have been instead waiting for this appeal to be processed before I make my final decision on what I am doing next, and wanted that to be put into consideration when you are going through these ban appeals.  

 

[Drew]

The part that concerns me here, is that I personally know a lot of people during my time here in the staff team and watching over people in game. Don't take offence however I never managed to see your name in game or associated with anyone until you joined this gang.

Then all of a sudden, problems start arising. Names start getting dropped in the staff chats.

One thing regarding these appeals for the gang Ket. Is, I haven't seen anyone saying that they take responsibility for their actions whilst in the gang, everyone is on the defensive.  So, I'm going to ask here, how much involvement did you have with the low quality RP's and the constant gunfights? 

 

[MikeRaft Unban]

Don't take offence however I never managed to see your name in game or associated with anyone until you joined this gang.

Hi, thanks for the reply. Firstly, in reference to your comment on not seeing me around much, while I of course believe you, I struggle to find a reason for it other than the fact that I always try to stay on the right side of the rules and keep a pretty average low profile. Even so I have been on the server for just over a year now and in that time have accumulated over 2000 hours almost entirely on the RPUK life server. In that time I joined the NHS and managed to work my way up the rank of CST and had been holding that spot for a few months at the time of my ban. Simply put I have certainly been active and so the only reason I can see for your lack of notice towards myself is that I have always stayed in the good books of the staff team, so not been especially watched.

how much involvement did you have with the low quality RP's and the constant gunfights? 

Onto the question of “low quality RP” in the gang; I have a few points to make, which also links to the other half of your question about the “constant gunfights”. Firstly, my main reply is the way cops interact with rebels, as they are pretty much the most frequently interacted with by rebels. Quickly to add, my view of rebels on the island is that they should try to stay in character, like everyone else should strive to do, meaning that they would show traits of a person who rises in opposition or armed resistance against an established government or leader (source of definition: Google). Of course you can try lie your way out in RP but as initiation is so often “Sir, please place your hands on your head, don’t run or you will be tased”, which you can either comply with or try resist. Compliance would mean giving into the oppressing force - not going with being a rebel, and would also be seen as shameful in the gang. Other option, resist and try get out - armed resistance to the oppressor and the "honourable" thing to do in a situation like that to the gang in RP. Now, due to the initiation by the police being so closed in nature, situations either end up with the person complying and, in RP especially, being seen as weak or disregarded as “not a real rebel” or in conflict. The large problem is that the branch that leads to conflict will usually consist of only about 3 sentences between the police officer and rebel, which would be seen as low quality RP, as the verbal roleplay window is then closed. This scenario happening frequently due to gang size, police force size and the tendency for officers to go for the arrest even if realistically they might know it isn’t going to be simple and is likely going to be life threatening, I feel, would be enough for staff team to start to tag the gang as one which only pursues low quality RP. Even so, I personally do enjoy simply verbal roleplay, such as pretending (meaning conversing in RP) to have an average conversation with a civilian about how their day has gone, the weather, lunch, scone or scone pronunciation, anything.

This ties in with your question about gunfights. You are right; the gang did get into a lot of gunfights, but the way that I justify that is that, in roleplay they are a rebellious group on a Mediterranean island off Greece which has fallen to borderline martial law and anarchy. What groups would do, and do indeed do in real life, is rob civilians, have public clashes with police officers on the streets and attempt to get their own view across to the other members of the population. I feel that, similar to the purpose of the ex-unmc, rebels should be there to make life hard for people supporting the state, or opposing the views of the rebel gang, and realistically, I don’t think that the combat element of rebel groups/ other people’s interactions should be suppressed, as long as other elements of roleplay are followed by the members of the gang – such as helping protect the civilians that are being taken by officers.

Overall, I admit there was a lot of gunfights which I was involved in, and some of the roleplay conducted certainly could be questioned on quality but I do also believe that a lot of it can be explained and I hope I presented in a way that you can see my point of view.

Thanks for reading

MikeRaft

 

[Drew]

Okay, thank you for your reply. @MikeRaft Unban

Can we discuss a little bit more about the RP wedding event?

Obviously these guys are in the gang, you're in the teamspeak you have GPS ect ect, did you not hear any conversations or witness anything about the people ruining the event? If so how come you never reported it?

 

[MikeRaft Unban]

Hi Drew, in reference to the wedding event and the plan to ruin it, I am not exactly sure about all of the facts. At first it was meant to be a joint gang setup and we were going to take them hostage in order to make a rarely possible RP situation possible, or at least that is how I understood it. We went in and there was a rigged control of who could go in and we were allowed in with guns in order to stage our attack. We got into the church and acted as happy wedding guests, excited to enjoy the festivities and like. At that point real life situations arose and I had to leave, so I excused myself in roleplay and then left. I come back an hour or so later to be told we were all banned. That is all I know, but if you have other questions, I will do my best to reply to help understanding of the event.
Thanks for your time,
 
MikeRaft

 

[Drew]

Moving forward, do you still affiliate yourself with those involved in the RDMing? Trust is an issue with these types of appeals as I'd rather not worry about you being unbanned from our server whilst sitting around with the people who do not care for our community possiblly clouding your judgment?

If I was to unban you, do you agree that from here on out you need to be aware of those you chose to associate with? 

I'd highly suggest sticking to the NHS considering the amount of messages I received about your roleplay in the NHS

 

[MikeRaft Unban]

I certainly agree that I need to watch the people I hang around with and in terms of who I talk to now, I do try to distance myself from those who try to badmouth the server and who could try to cloud my view of the server and community as a whole - both because they are bad people and because I want to be able to play the server without other people trying to make me do things I regret, or causing me to get caught up in other people's mistakes. 

 

[Drew]

I'm going to give you another chance here. Considering nothing has been mentioned in regards to you being a main concern or trouble maker. I hope that you make the correct decisions in the future. 

Welcome back. Don't waste this chance and make me regret this decision.

Unbanned.