Not quite sure what this topic will actually accomplish but I've been thinking about this for awhile and it seems that perhaps I'm not the only one.

Recently we had a thread where we were accepting nominees for a couple of open positions on the Metaverse Council. I was somewhat surprised to not only have Evil Stormbringer's name suggested but to also see that he had a reasonable amount of support. However, as a banned character it was clearly not appropriate to accept his name in nomination, however I would like to bring up the topic of another chance for Evil Stormbringer for general discussion and see how folks feel about it.

I want to preface this with my take on the how and why people get banned. I also want to state that all of this is merely my own personal opinion.

Starting out on these forums no one knows you and you know no one else and so it's usual that folks start out posting a bit tentatively. Over time people become better known and more comfortable and there is a tendency to "let things hang out" a bit more. Also over time a "forum persona" tends to develop and people just seem to "go with the flow" and simply perpetuate the stereotype.

The other thing is how you tend to perceive others here on the forum. It takes some period of time before you begin to notice specific personalities. I find myself vaguely recognizing someone’s name or avatar long before I begin to start remembering whether I’ve in general agreed or disagreed with them in the past. Over time, impressions are made that categorize folks into people that you like or people that you dislike. Often you can’t even remember specific instances just vague overall generalizations of whether you feel certain folks are being a d*ckhead or whether you feel they’re cool. Of course in other instances there may be very clear instances where direct offense was given and these tend to stick out in your mind. Even in these cases there can be a whole range of mitigating circumstances. Perhaps you just caught them at a bad time. Perhaps you inadvertently pressed all their buttons and to them their response was justified. In any case I’m not trying to justify abuse, I’m just trying to point out that it’s usually not as one sided as it seems to those directly involved. Usually to an unbiased observer these things come down to he said/she said and the matter of who is right and who is wrong just really doesn’t matter.

The bottom line of all this verbiage is that a persons persona is *not* the person and that how anyone feels about anyone else is often more a matter of perception than one of reality.

Still going along here with my interpretation of why people get banned, I think it’s more due to a long term general perception of a particular person’s behavior rather than the result of any specific incident. Of course there always is a "straw that broke the camel’s back" incident that actually "causes" the banning. The conversations that I’ve had with folks that have been banned usually have centered around not understanding why they were banned because similar previous behaviors by themselves or others haven’t resulted in a banning so why should this one. The answer is that at some point the perception of "the powers that be" reaches a tipping point and that’s pretty much the end of it. There’s no argument and no reasoning that can be made. People simply have had enough.

So what is it that I’m trying to accomplish here. I think it’s no secret that I like Evil Stormbringer. I certainly don’t agree with many of the things that he’s said. I certainly don’t try to justify his behavior to those he’s offended. However, even when he’s been an @$$ (and it must be admitted by even his strongest supporters that he can be a major one at times) I’ve always been able to see the person beneath the persona. When pressed or otherwise forced to look at his own behavior with a critical eye I’ve seen him able to laugh at himself. It’s also very clear to me that he loves this game and has the best interest of the community at heart, things that I hope even his fiercest detractors would be forced to admit as well.

I’d like to see Evil Stormbringer be given one last chance. Yes, I know that he’s been given several "final" chances already, but that doesn’t change my opinion. I would hope that those that support him and this idea would respond to this thread and express their support as diplomatically and responsibly as possible. I’d also like to see that even those that he’s offended could perhaps find a little forgiveness in their own heart and respond as well. Judge not lest ye be judged.

Finally, assuming a reasonable response to this thread, I’d like to see Stardock respond to the will of the community, along with a reasonable expectation of better future behavior on his part, and give Evil Stormbringer one more final chance at redemption.