Let's get one thing out of the way: I am not an alt of Byrne's or something. I'm just an irl friend, and I'm actually the guy that recommended this place to Byrne in the first place! So most of you will probably attack me for unleashing that terror upon this forum...sorry :P
Alright, so everyone here knows Byrne. Probably most people here hate him. I promise he's not a bad guy irl, he's just kind of an arrogant douche every now and then. Which...yeah, that can be an aggravating aspect of his personality.
Yesterday Byrne told me he got banned from Smogon for no reason. I didn't really believe him, but upon looking at his most recent posts and listening to his story, I kind of don't see why he was banned either. Looking over his last twenty or so posts before he was banned, the only one that could be seen as bad was when he said this:
Now, let's see if that's not the whole reason. I watched as he tried to go to Smogon and on the "banned" message it says that the reason is because he's a:
Okay, I think everyone can I agree that he's a prick and a troll sometimes, but I don't really agree with that reasoning. From what I could tell from the last month or so of his posting, it seems like he was actually becoming a better overall poster. He was actually contributing to discussions and started a few threads that also created lots of nice discussion (the Star Wars thread, the 2013 NBA season thread). He was also involved in several outside activities with members, such as Fantasy Sports. From what it seems to me, over the past month he was actually starting to contribute to the community. A month ago a ban would've made sense and he wouldn't have even cared enough to tell me, but now he was actually starting to make friends and (gasp!) care about this place, and he was banned at a time when he wasn't even really doing anything wrong. Shouldn't someone have to be breaking a rule to be banned?
I don't really think he deserves pity, but I do think he deserves a better explanation and some reconsidering. I personally left this place a long time ago, but Byrne was having fun on this forum and as a relatively unbiased bystander, I don't see why he should be banned.
Hopefully this thread doesn't get instantly locked and I don't get laughed at. Byrne was certainly a controversial user, but a year-long banned doesn't seem warranted to me.
Alright, so everyone here knows Byrne. Probably most people here hate him. I promise he's not a bad guy irl, he's just kind of an arrogant douche every now and then. Which...yeah, that can be an aggravating aspect of his personality.
Yesterday Byrne told me he got banned from Smogon for no reason. I didn't really believe him, but upon looking at his most recent posts and listening to his story, I kind of don't see why he was banned either. Looking over his last twenty or so posts before he was banned, the only one that could be seen as bad was when he said this:
Which he said as a joke simply because he dislikes Obama and a good majority of Smogon supports Obama. It's a common criticism of Obama that his policies are Socialist. I understand how people would want to attack Byrne for making a silly generalization like that, and he maybe even deserved a warning, but banned? I don't get it.
Now, let's see if that's not the whole reason. I watched as he tried to go to Smogon and on the "banned" message it says that the reason is because he's a:
Okay, I think everyone can I agree that he's a prick and a troll sometimes, but I don't really agree with that reasoning. From what I could tell from the last month or so of his posting, it seems like he was actually becoming a better overall poster. He was actually contributing to discussions and started a few threads that also created lots of nice discussion (the Star Wars thread, the 2013 NBA season thread). He was also involved in several outside activities with members, such as Fantasy Sports. From what it seems to me, over the past month he was actually starting to contribute to the community. A month ago a ban would've made sense and he wouldn't have even cared enough to tell me, but now he was actually starting to make friends and (gasp!) care about this place, and he was banned at a time when he wasn't even really doing anything wrong. Shouldn't someone have to be breaking a rule to be banned?
I don't really think he deserves pity, but I do think he deserves a better explanation and some reconsidering. I personally left this place a long time ago, but Byrne was having fun on this forum and as a relatively unbiased bystander, I don't see why he should be banned.
Hopefully this thread doesn't get instantly locked and I don't get laughed at. Byrne was certainly a controversial user, but a year-long banned doesn't seem warranted to me.
