TL;DR - this website has lost all of its transparency which has led to a complete lack of trust in most staff members and the integrity of the website as a whole.
@BlackBlasses for admin. Joking, but serious
I'm outspoken when I need to be but also tend to stay out of situations like this as to not stir up any unnecessary drama. I know I'm going to have "posters remorse" as soon as I post this, but I feel like it needs to be said.
This would be a no-brainer demote and ban if the instance were recent. However, we've been told it was ten years ago (is that true? I’m supposed to just
trust you at this point?) which makes handling it very challenging.
What is going on here? What has happened to this website, and its integrity and transparency [or obvious lack thereof]?
- A private scam report was made [that apparently was 100% legitimate], on someone who has the most authority on this website aside from the founder, and it was literally swept under the rug as if nothing happened. No details were shared, at all. Similar to the Gladiator situation, the public was left completely in the dark. However this time, no punishment occurred. Heck, the title of Andy's report was changed to "resolved" before you could even spell Andy.
Why was the title changed to resolved on a valid scam report?
- As he noted above, @tbh was banned in 2022 for scamming. He received a three month ban and has now had two of his DNT appeals declined, primarily because he only admitted to scamming when he got caught. Staff members, particularly as the highest ranking staff position on Sythe, are held to a special set of standards. TBH was a regular Sythe user and received the level of punishment that he did, yet an admin does the exact same thing, and subsequently receives a hall-pass while given the right to maintain his position?
- I'm not trying to air dirty laundry, but I've been on Sythe for 16+ years. Most of you were still eating baby food when my old ass joined the community. In that time, I've only ever had one RaS post made against me. Four years ago, I didn't return an account to a buyer who effectively attempted to paypal scam me. I ultimately made him whole, but received a 3 month "black hat" ban for it. I've since applied for mod and was declined because I "can't be trusted with mod tools." Frankly, I understood the decision and am not bitter about it. I’m just unsure how this decision can be justified without acknowledgement of extreme bias.
Why does Andy deserve different? He has ultimate ruling authority on RaS, he has access to every personal staff tool that exists. How can his judgement be trusted? How is he any different?
- Truthfully, I have nothing against Andy personally. I think he's been a phenomenal asset to the site since the day he took a staff position. All of our interactions have been pleasant and he's always been helpful in making my role as CDT Leader smooth when something is needed. I do think he's a good guy at the core, and don't necessarily think he's a risk as a staff member. However, plenty of people have received punishment on this website for having a lapse in judgement that did not define their character or moral compass, myself included.
It's as much about the principle as it is the way the report was handled.
The way this was handled just creates distrust in the community. It feels very biased, political, unfair, and displays tremendous favoritism.
If this were ANYONE else, they'd be banned/DNT'd. Case in point, IMO.
Note: Whether admitted or not, I'm sure that if I ever re-apply for a staff position that this will be used against me by some.
I'm here voicing my perspective, and that's all it is. Whether it is right or wrong is subject to interpretation, and we all have different views and moral compasses.
