Admin abuse: GySgt. J. Flores

[The Migrating Coconut]

First of all, this does not require any immediate unban or act by MP or the 1st MRB, the ban issued has already been lifted, citing 'complaining isnt a bannable reason' as unban reason.

This complain is about a ban issued to me as below:

Nick as shown on the ban: not a bazooka player
SteamID: STEAM_0:1:4693592
Issued: 01-03-22 18:29
Length: 2 d
Stated reason: Ignoring Admins
Banned from: Web Ban

My usual nick: The Migrating Coconut

This ban had no valid reason for having being issued. I was never warned for anything by this admin or any other on that day or earlier, as can be seen by checking the server chat logs. So I did not and cannot possibly have ignored any admins. For the last year or so I always play with voice_enable 0 because I want to, as I did on the first 3 or 4 years that I played here, so I certainly did not hear or speak anything. Besides, I did nothing against any of the server rules on that day or earlier, and there would be no valid reason even for issuing any warnings whatsoever, let alone a ban many hours after I disconnected.

 

The only brief interaction that I had on that day with the admin GySgt. J. Flores was on Anzio many hours before the ban was issued, and it happened as this, per the server chat and event logs:

--- previous messages, after at 2 Jan 2022 19:34:01 my team won a 2nd round against Promon and the admin GySgt. J. Flores' team, score was 2x1 ---

not a bazooka player: 2 Jan 2022 19:34:10 the wanker team did it again
Promon: 2 Jan 2022 19:34:20     fLORES HELP US
not a bazooka player: 2 Jan 2022 19:34:26     rofl

*For clarification, I was referring to a player on my team with the nick "Willy Wanker", this player:
http://gm.1stmarineraiders.com/playerinfo/315775

I was celebrating the unlikely 2nd victory of our team even on very adverse conditions, after having lost a quick round at 2 Jan 2022 19:19:13, (less than 2 minutes after the map started) and being in trouble for much of the time before this round ended, and having a very small team k/d ratio. I used a reference to the nick of player "Willy Wanker" for comedic purposes, which is some kind of thing I'm surely known to do by now.

--- when the next round started, my first kill was the admin GySgt. J. Flores ---
2 Jan 2022 19:34:35     Kill     killed GySgt. J. Flores [1st MRB|MP] with U.S. Grenade

--- and then the interaction with the admin GySgt. J. Flores ---

GySgt. J. Flores [1st MRB|MP]: 2 Jan 2022 19:34:54     whats so funny coconut?
not a bazooka player: 2 Jan 2022 19:35:05     funny stuff is funny
not a bazooka player: 2 Jan 2022 19:35:15     do you have a problem with funny
not a bazooka player: 2 Jan 2022 19:35:17     ?!?
GySgt. J. Flores [1st MRB|MP]: 2 Jan 2022 19:37:08     dont be a dick, i know you.

My three messages above are the only times on that day when I directed my word at the admin GySgt. J. Flores.

--- and after we lost a 2nd round at 2 Jan 2022 19:38:04 while playing for a couple of minutes with 3 or at times 4 less players, score was 2x2 ---

not a bazooka player: 2 Jan 2022 19:38:31     2x2
not a bazooka player: 2 Jan 2022 19:38:36     and we have 3 less
not a bazooka player: 2 Jan 2022 19:38:37     let's go
GySgt. J. Flores [1st MRB|MP]: 2 Jan 2022 19:39:11     unreal, all games crying, non stop
not a bazooka player: 2 Jan 2022 19:39:34     anyone can win against a team with 1/2 k/d
not a bazooka player: 2 Jan 2022 19:39:42     literally anyone
GySgt. J. Flores [1st MRB|MP]: 2 Jan 2022 19:39:50     cry more

The four messages above were the only times on that day that the admin GySgt. J. Flores directed their word at me, as far as I know.

After this brief interaction, I played for around 5 more hours (12 maps of 25 minutes each, Palermo, Donner, Lennon_rc3, Harrington, Santos_b3, Colonia, Jagd, Argentan, Avalanche, Flash, Kalt, Colmar) before leaving without any incident, as can be seen on the server logs. The web ban (a kind issued when the player being banned is not connected to the server anymore) was issued some time after I disconnected. I don't know exactly how long after because the server chat/event logs and the SourceBans logs have different timezones set and I don't know the offset between the two (back when I was an admin I knew, but I don't remember anymore).

I can maybe assume that the admin GySgt. J. Flores may have got personally offended by my remarks on Anzio that their team has lost 2 rounds even though my team had a team k/d ratio of 1/2. Our team had at some times 3 or even 4 less players (I must add, without the admin GySgt. J. Flores switching teams to balance it out, as they were playing on the team with more players. Instead, I was accused of 'crying'.). Or maybe my kill just after they lost a round might have thrown them over the edge, and the rage kept brewing for all the hours after, until the pressure was too much and exploded with issuing a ban, I don't know. Or yet maybe they are digging old (already solved) issues when at another opportunity I had offended the admin GySgt. J. Flores and I was banned for this (the ban was converted to a formal written warning afterwards), when I used an offensive word to classify some unsportsmanship acts (failing in fairness and ethics, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sportsmanship) that were happening, as:
-only ever playing on the team which is winning;
-switching to the other team or even leaving the server if their own team starts losing;
-not joining the game (after connecting to the server) and quitting if there are only slots available on the team which is losing;
-never switching teams to the other team when the other team is losing, even when the other team has 3, 4 (or more) less players;
-on the other hand, if the team which somehow now has 2+ less players (or sometimes only 1) is seen as stronger, they are quick to switch to it;
As the acts above are not against any rules, there is nothing to be done regarding those, and that is water under the bridge, on my side at least. They might only be frowned upon, if anyone wishes to do so, as I surely did and will always do. The ethos of cheaters always include a stronger desire to win than to play in equity and fairness (I'm not accusing anyone of cheating, it is just an observation). But I digress... let's get back.

During the entire time that I played on that day, I was never warned in any way or kicked by any admin, and this ban for 'Ignoring Admins' had not even a resemblance of a valid reason for having been issued. Besides lacking the proper steps of "first warning, then kicking, then banning, except in extraordinary justified cases" that has been a staple of 1st MRB admins, it has no foundation in any rule that could have been broken by me on that occasion, as none was.

PS: After a really long time I just logged in into the 1st MRB forum to post this and this direct message was waiting for me there:
----------------------------------------------------------------
"
From Flores 1st MRB 253

Started conversation: May 14, 2021

You're a fucking coward, you say things without a name. If you have a problem, say it to the face, idiot. Its a game.

Keep it up, until you fill up with bans and you won't be able to play any more on our server
"
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So, the admin GySgt. J. Flores is one of those. In the many years I've been playing online here, I've observed a few admins use this deceitful tactic to get rid of people they don't like, which is to issue many minor bans for anything regardless of having valid reasons until the person has a permanent ban issued due to so many accrued bans. Well, this might explain a lot about the ban I'm referring to on this admin abuse complain.

 

Screenshot of the message below:

[S. Larson 1st MRB]

I will be locking this topic for the time being while we look into this and go through everything. Please understand that it may take a few days before we respond.

 

If there is more that you need to add, you may edit your original post and add it there. We may reach out to you for follow up if we have questions.

[S. Larson 1st MRB]

After spending some time looking into this, we will be addressing the matter internally and will be taking steps to ensure this doesn't happen in the future.