First of all I would like to start with some context into this complaint:
I was recently banned for extending gameplay of a dota match by 20 minutes without affecting its outcome: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=140113&p=542087&hilit=pinheadlarry#p542087
I have since respectfully served the ban without appealing. Therefore, the complaint should not be viewed as an attempt to bypass the appeal process or a sly effort to reduce one's ban duration.
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My complaint has to do with Merex not following ENT policies (or at least have formerly been), and refusing to respond to a user's request for additional information the policy.
After being banned I sent Merex the following private message which I tried to word as respectfully as possible, despite disagreeing with his verdict:
pinheadlarry wrote:Subject: [DOTA] ban reqeust- pinheadlarryMerex wrote:Should be fairly clear in 6,000+ games that you
don't conduct your own solo/careless play in a 5v5 team-based
match.
This will mark 4th offense overall towards similar actions in
the past.
Banned until the 20th.
Hello Merex,
I am wondering why I am considered a chronic offender and was given a longer ban because of this? As you correctly stated, I have been banned 4 times in 6000 games for this offense over 6 years. That is about 1 offense every 1500 games... 1500 Games is at least a 1000 hours of gameplay. And I haven't been banned for this in over a year despite playing so many games. What I am trying to get at, is I am actually a very very low frequency offender (I have been banned for refusing to cooperate in 0.07% of all games I have played on ent). Does ent not consider duration between bans or amount of games played when determining if a player is a chronic offender? To me, it seems a bit unreasonable, that most people who play less than 500 games over 2 years, could commit 4 offenses like me, yet be given the same ban duration as me despite having played 1/6 of my games.
I just want to be clear, that I respect your opinion and judgment regarding my ban and I hold no animosity towards you for banning me. Please view this as a message with the intent to be constructive and not an attack on your judgement.
The reason I did not post an appeal is I do not feel it would be productive since I am well-aware of ents rules, and I respectfully disagree with your judgement. Therefore, it would be useless for me to link you the rules in a appeal since I know them, and since I respectfully disagree, I would have to lie to say I am sorry since I feel innocent. However, I do understand your point of view regarding why you banned me and I will respect that.
What I would like to know, is why you designated me as a repeat offender and therefore gave me a longer ban, despite my ulta-low offense rate?
Thank you for you time!
pinheadlarry.
Merex refused to answer this message. The reason I opted to PM Merex was to avoid this being a big deal and to hopefully either resolve or enlighten me as to Ent's repeat offender policy. However, Merex has unfortunately left me with few paths of recourse.
My first complaint is that Merex administered a ban during against me that was excessive in length and counter to ENT's policies on repeat offenders or at minimum, inconsistent with other Mods.
Reasons I feel this ban duration was excessive:
1. As correctly noted by both Astros and Merex, I merely extended gameplay by 20 minute with no effect on the outcome of the game. Naturally this is not malicious in nature with the intent to lose a game and should be categorized as a very minor ban offense at most.
2. I am approaching 6000 games with only 4 similar bans during this time. This is an offense rate of about 0.07% and should hardly constitute slapping someone as a repeat offender. Ent has had a policy of looking at ban frequency when adjudicating ban lengths for repeat offenses.
-On a side note, what is the current ENT policy regarding frequency of a particular offense that ENT considered a "repeat offender" and thus warranting a longer ban duration? (Merex refused to respond)
Kappa is a very well respected and established ENT mod that has recently adjudicated 2 bans that strongly support my notion that Merex was acting counter/inconsistently to ENT's policy:
1. viewtopic.php?f=24&t=140000
In this ban, jewz_did_9-11 destroyed items and afked which had a clear effect on the outcome of the game (unlike my ban which had no effect on the outcome). Kappa, levied a 3 day ban for an offense that is purely malicious with the clear intent to game ruin and lose the game (again, unlike my ban). Therefore my initial ban without any premium for "repeat offenses" should have been lesser to be consistent with Kappa.
2. viewtopic.php?f=24&t=140369
Here is another ban that had a malicious tone that once again possibly changed the outcome of the game. In this case, the offender was classified a repeat offender with multiple offenses. Kappa, in this case levied a 5 day ban which is once again inconsistent with Merex's actions.
I believe this evidence makes this complaint of substance against Merex and therefore is appropriate to post in this forum. It is worthwhile to note that I did try to resolve this with Merex in a civil fashion (via a PM) to avoid pursing a formal complaint.
This is what brings me to my second complaint, Merex, as a mod should act professionally and diligently to answer questions regarding ENT policy
I believe ENT mods are expected to be accessible to its users. I am sure ENT mods would agree that requests for information regarding ENT policies is a reasonable grounds to send a PM and that mods have a duty to understand and inform its users when questioned about such policies. Obviously ENT rules and policies are not meant to be a secret yet Merex refused to respond to my request for information (possibly because he realized he acted in contrast with them?). I feel Merex should be reminded of the expectations mods are expected to adhere to.
To summarize, my two complaints are:
1. Merex does not abide by ENT's repeat offender policy, or at minimum, adjudicates ban durations inconsistently with other mods for repeat offenders
2. Merex, has a duty to respond to respectful messages that ask for clarification on ENTs policies.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I hope we can reach a positive resolution.