[Resolved] Ban appeal

[Dinkster]

In-Game name: Dinkster
Time of ban: 14:55
Date of ban: 26/7/2025
Steam ID: STEAM_0:1:93847491
Reason for ban: Harassment
Additional comments: i have no idea what lead to me getting banned all of a sudden, much a less a perma-ban. the only possible conclusion i can come to is that when i joined a game around that time, there was a guy called D4rkstar who was saying the hard R non-stop. i reported him and vilewitch (Autumn) gave him a 3 day ban for inappropriate language. my guess is that whoever banned me thought i was him by accident since our name look kinda similar (both start with D, end with lowercase r, about the same amount of letters etc.)
i really hope this is just a misunderstanding since i really love playing this game and the players inside it, and everything i say is just for laughs anyway

 

[NovaCancy]

Thank you for your appeal. After reviewing the details of your ban, we have decided to reject your appeal.

Your ban was due to repeatedly flirting with and making sexual comments towards multiple trans women in our servers, even calling yourself a chaser and making comments on their steam profiles. Some of these instances lasted for multiple hours. Considering that you're a former staff member who should be intimately familiar with our rules and our stance towards harassment of other users, especially based on immutable characteristics such as gender identity, we've decided to issue the standard permanent ban that we usually do for cases of harassment such as this. Whether you intended them as "jokes" is irrelevant, since they made enough people uncomfortable to file reports against you.

You will be eligible for re-appeal on 7/26/2026.

 

[Dinkster]

Thank you for your appeal. After reviewing the details of your ban, we have decided to reject your appeal.

Your ban was due to repeatedly flirting with and making sexual comments towards multiple trans women in our servers, even calling yourself a chaser and making comments on their steam profiles. Some of these instances lasted for multiple hours. Considering that you're a former staff member who should be intimately familiar with our rules and our stance towards harassment of other users, especially based on immutable characteristics such as gender identity, we've decided to issue the standard permanent ban that we usually do for cases of harassment such as this. Whether you intended them as "jokes" is irrelevant, since they made enough people uncomfortable to file reports against you.

You will be eligible for re-appeal on 7/26/2026.

i never called myself a chaser. i literally don't even know what that means (but according to Urban Dictionary it means "someone who dates a lot of trans people". i never claimed anything like that).
i also only ever made one comment on a single trans person steam profile. it wasn't anything sexual at all and after that every time i played with them they were talking to me like they always did (also i was never told by them that the comment i made on their profile made them feel uncomfortable or anything like that, if that was the case i would've apologized and deleted it).
also, i cant even recall a single time the "flirting" i did as jokes was directed towards any trans player. i only do it to players i know are male and would find it funny.
i also want to mention i never got a single person telling me i was crossing any lines they had or that i made them uncomfortable. if that was the case i would've listened to them and stopped saying stuff like that to them. i never mean any harm with jokes, if i did offend anyone with what i said then i do want them to know that wasn't my intention and that i apologize.

 

[Dinkster]

also, i cant even recall a single time the "flirting" i did as jokes was directed towards any trans player. i only do it to players i know are male and would find it funny.

now that I'm re-reading this i noticed this line doesn't sound the way i meant it would. when i wrote "male" i meant a biological one, AKA someone who is not ftm (female to male trans).
just want to make sure i don't sound hateful because like i said that is not (nor will it ever be) my intention

 

[vilewitch]

Hi, I'm not one of the moderators that typically handles reports, but I would like to chime in here as one of the trans women that was involved in this situation. While you did not directly call yourself a chaser, what you said and your behavior has directly implicated you in this. Several trans women have mentioned being uncomfortable around you, and one mentioned being harassed on and off by you for about two hours in-game.

You directly asked me the other night if you "seemed like the kind of guy who was trying to flirt with trans people," and when I pretty bluntly replied with "Yes, that's not uncommon," you said "Damn, I thought I was original." Joke or not, the behavior you've portrayed towards myself and others is largely really disconcerting and seems to prove that this isn't as much just a bit as you're making it out to be.

As for why nobody came forward directly to you on this, simply put: they were uncomfortable. I don't play with you frequently, but I was uncomfortable, especially given that a lot of people in the EU playerbase tend to be a bit on the edgier side and may or may not push back against hearing someone try to fight back against "just jokes." Women are often made to feel helpless in situations like this for fear of causing issues and inviting unjust vitriol towards them for defending themselves, and that extends into online spaces. Usually the defense mechanism for that is continuing to be friendly and cordial, to mitigate the risk of harm, which was what I was doing.

Aside from this, you make a lot of jokes involving sex and race that often toe the line of what content is allowed on our servers. You as an ex-staff member should know as well as any of us that comments such as these are against the rules of our servers, especially given that there are often minors present who do not need to be hearing a bunch of rapid-fire jokes about these topics that often invite other people to join in. I do not have any ill will towards you, but I do think it would be a good idea to step back and take a break to reflect on the behavior discussed here. It may not have been your intent to discriminate or fetishize a minority group, but it really makes it hard not to feel like it when multiple women have complained and you make comments such as that.

now that I'm re-reading this i noticed this line doesn't sound the way i meant it would. when i wrote "male" i meant a biological one, AKA someone who is not ftm (female to male trans).

Small additional comment, I believe you meant that you trying to say that you were only making these comments towards cis men, and not MTF people. FTM is the abbreviation for trans men, and "biological male" is often a phrasing used to discriminate against trans people (such as saying that a trans woman is "biologically male" to say that she is not a woman.) I cannot speak for others, but you have made at least a couple of sexual jokes towards or involving me. I'm aware your intent was not malicious here, just offering a correction to help inform.

 

[Dinkster]

You directly asked me the other night if you "seemed like the kind of guy who was trying to flirt with trans people," and when I pretty bluntly replied with "Yes, that's not uncommon," you said "Damn, I thought I was original."

I'm 90% pretty sure there was something said between those lines, maybe by someone else? not sure

and one mentioned being harassed on and off by you for about two hours in-game.

like i said before, i would've stopped if they or anyone else told me to

As for why nobody came forward directly to you on this, simply put: they were uncomfortable. I don't play with you frequently, but I was uncomfortable, especially given that a lot of people in the EU playerbase tend to be a bit on the edgier side and may or may not push back against hearing someone try to fight back against "just jokes." Women are often made to feel helpless in situations like this for fear of causing issues and inviting unjust vitriol towards them for defending themselves, and that extends into online spaces. Usually the defense mechanism for that is continuing to be friendly and cordial, to mitigate the risk of harm, which was what I was doing.

honestly i personally never came to this conclusion. it's probably a mixture of me never being put in a situation like that and that i would call it out because I'm that type of person. i 100% get what you mean though, it just never crossed my mind.

Aside from this, you make a lot of jokes involving sex and race that often toe the line of what content is allowed on our servers.

this might sound bad but that's just what i find funny... also i would like to think i never cross the line, even if I'm sometimes near it

especially given that there are often minors present

i kinda don't agree with this as a defense that much to be honest. at the end of the day my jokes are in a shooter game. the genre itself is not targeted for kids. i think this is more a matter of parental controls but idk

Small additional comment, I believe you meant that you trying to say that you were only making these comments towards cis men, and not MTF people

yeah that's what i meant, i just forgot the term

"biological male" is often a phrasing used to discriminate against trans people (such as saying that a trans woman is "biologically male" to say that she is not a woman.

sorry, i had no idea i will try to avoid using that term to avoid misunderstandings

 

[vilewitch]

As of this time, your ban will remain in place for the foreseeable future. While your explanation does give some insight into your thought process, it still doesn't excuse the behavior. It reads more as a deflection of responsibility rather than acceptance, which does not instill us with much confidence that these issues won't continue should we overturn the ban.

like i said before, i would've stopped if they or anyone else told me to

honestly i personally never came to this conclusion. it's probably a mixture of me never being put in a situation like that and that i would call it out because I'm that type of person. i 100% get what you mean though, it just never crossed my mind.

Women and trans people overall are at a much greater risk of further harassment when speaking up against offending parties in a bad situation. It's important to recognize that it might not be immediately clear when someone is upset. However, often pushing a lot of focus onto a part of a person's identity, such as gender, race, or religion, is very liable to make someone extremely discomforted. Asking light questions is usually fine, but making a huge deal out of someone being a woman and/or trans does not usually feel good to the receiving party in general, as it leads to people feeling otherized even if the messaging is intended to be positive.

this might sound bad but that's just what i find funny... also i would like to think i never cross the line, even if I'm sometimes near it

i kinda don't agree with this as a defense that much to be honest. at the end of the day my jokes are in a shooter game. the genre itself is not targeted for kids. i think this is more a matter of parental controls but idk

These are not matters of debating personal opinion; they are directly part of our rules. Jokes about racial stereotypes and explicit sexual content (going much more explicit than making a simple dick joke) are both not in line with the guidelines of our server. This game does not have an age rating, is not gated to exclusively adults, and often has at least a couple minors on the server. As both a regular and an ex-staff member, you are expected to be especially aware of these things.

As previously stated, you will be eligible to re-appeal on July 26th, 2026. Please note that this is not a personal attack on you; I very much vouched to speak up as I do believe you are capable of learning from this, and that this might be valuable to hear. Please take care, and thank you for your appeal.

 

[Dinkster]

Please note that this is not a personal attack on you

i know it's not, no worries

 

[снiпер]

The person who disliked me on the ban appeal was caught harassing transgender people. Later, two administrators discuss how to properly name those who have a dick in their pants. The best Tf2Mod of the year 10/10 at your fingertips brr brr

 

[vilewitch]

Locking this thread to prevent further off-topic discussion.