Hello Lokans,
I'm 404Lucas and today I want to appeal my Hate Speech ban from 9 months ago. I come here with an apology and explanation, to explain in depth what I did, and that I've taken the time to learn from my poor choices and that I've matured as a person.
I'll start with my past in the community. I've been actively playing Loka for years, as well as Minecraft in general. Of course like almost every PvPer I would sometimes lose my temper and say something mean, but I never was an intensely hateful person that would harass others or cross the lines. On Loka itself I have received one warning for hate speech months before my ban, and that one warning was enough for me to realize that words aren't meant to be just thrown around carelessly, and I started to put more consideration into what I say, and I kept my record clean after, well, until the Deszczowka Alliance ban wave.
So, what went down? In March I joined the Deszczowka Alliance, as well as the alliance discord, where I was one of the people with Leadership perms. The discord was centered around the infamous N-word, where every role or channel name was related to it, as well as its name. For obvious reasons I won't quote it here, but you get the idea. I didn't name any of these channels or roles, but it doesn't change the fact that I participated and played a role in spreading hate and racism. I wasn't a huge fan of it, but I decided that it would be better for the alliance if I were to just go with the flow and ignore all that, and just use the discord as is, without causing arguments about how we name the channels and other things, I believed winning the month was more important than how the channels were named. Looking back at my choice, I came to the realization that prioritizing winning the month over speaking up about such a racist server was wrong of me.
What did I do after the ban? For the first couple of months, I stepped away from my pc and video games in general, after that I've remained fairly active in the community, helping my friends run my town, getting new players to join it, or I would sometimes play on pvp servers and interact with others. During that time, I've had lots of time to think about what happened, and I've realized what I actually did wrong, because for some time I didn't really think I was at fault. It took me some time to figure out the simplest things, that I already should have known, but failed to act on back then. Words matter, and I realize how that discord server and my actions may have impacted others. With that being said, I'll move on to the next part of the appeal.
The apology: First of all, I owe an apology to the community as a whole. To both the staff, any players, and anyone involved in this ordeal. By allowing the biggest alliance on Loka's discord to be a nest of hate and racism, I made the server look like a place which allows, or even encourages, this behavior to hundreds of new recruits. This might have potentially damaged Loka and its staff's reputation, and costed Loka some players, who decided they don't want to be a part of such toxic place, and that's on me. Towards the staff I'd like to say sorry for making you waste tons of time and energy on this whole "case". Both investigating the discord, and the aftermath had to consume large amounts of time and energy. I know that countless people were sending messages to staff and debating with them about the supposed unfairness of the whole thing, where they would really just express their madness at you, for being fair and protective of your community.
Secondly I wanted to express my gratitude. Due to your very strict anti-toxic / anti-racism policy, you have managed to create a place, where people from all around the world can enjoy the game without having to worry about being harassed for who they are, or what language they speak, or whatever else they might have gotten harassed for elsewhere. This policy itself has been slowly affecting the rest of the entire Pot-PvP Community, where all Loka-affiliated players who for example try their strength at tier-lists keep toxicity in mind and keep their temper in check, not allowing them to ruin the experience for others. By that I want to say that I understand your choice from March 2024 about banning me and the rest of leadership, if you let that thing slide back then, hate would continue growing and it would swallow the community from the inside, make it the same as many toxicity-filled communities in Minecraft or other games overall.
To wrap up the apology, I wanted to apologize to all the past members of Deszczowka Alliance. By my ignorance I put you all at risk. If I took action back then and spoke up, maybe nobody would have gotten banned, and you wouldn't have been forced to sit in a hate filled discord that could potentially make you feel bad or not safe, I understand how racist words can affect someone, and I am truly sorry for participating in that.
Also a few words about my conduct after the ban outside of Loka. In these months I haven't said a single hateful thing to anyone, over anything. Not on Minecraft, not on Discord. I didn't alt, I've just accepted that I messed up, and deserved to be banned for what I did. I reflected on my behavior as described above, and hope I've now served my time, and that I'll be allowed to come back now that I've matured as a person. Knowing who I am today, and how much I have changed, I can confidently say that by allowing me back into the community, I will only affect it in a positive way, by continuing to grow my town by recruiting new souls, and teaching people how to play. I hope my post reaches the right people who I affected and that they find it honest as it is, and whether I get unbanned or not, I wish you all Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!
- 404Lucas
I'm 404Lucas and today I want to appeal my Hate Speech ban from 9 months ago. I come here with an apology and explanation, to explain in depth what I did, and that I've taken the time to learn from my poor choices and that I've matured as a person.
I'll start with my past in the community. I've been actively playing Loka for years, as well as Minecraft in general. Of course like almost every PvPer I would sometimes lose my temper and say something mean, but I never was an intensely hateful person that would harass others or cross the lines. On Loka itself I have received one warning for hate speech months before my ban, and that one warning was enough for me to realize that words aren't meant to be just thrown around carelessly, and I started to put more consideration into what I say, and I kept my record clean after, well, until the Deszczowka Alliance ban wave.
So, what went down? In March I joined the Deszczowka Alliance, as well as the alliance discord, where I was one of the people with Leadership perms. The discord was centered around the infamous N-word, where every role or channel name was related to it, as well as its name. For obvious reasons I won't quote it here, but you get the idea. I didn't name any of these channels or roles, but it doesn't change the fact that I participated and played a role in spreading hate and racism. I wasn't a huge fan of it, but I decided that it would be better for the alliance if I were to just go with the flow and ignore all that, and just use the discord as is, without causing arguments about how we name the channels and other things, I believed winning the month was more important than how the channels were named. Looking back at my choice, I came to the realization that prioritizing winning the month over speaking up about such a racist server was wrong of me.
What did I do after the ban? For the first couple of months, I stepped away from my pc and video games in general, after that I've remained fairly active in the community, helping my friends run my town, getting new players to join it, or I would sometimes play on pvp servers and interact with others. During that time, I've had lots of time to think about what happened, and I've realized what I actually did wrong, because for some time I didn't really think I was at fault. It took me some time to figure out the simplest things, that I already should have known, but failed to act on back then. Words matter, and I realize how that discord server and my actions may have impacted others. With that being said, I'll move on to the next part of the appeal.
The apology: First of all, I owe an apology to the community as a whole. To both the staff, any players, and anyone involved in this ordeal. By allowing the biggest alliance on Loka's discord to be a nest of hate and racism, I made the server look like a place which allows, or even encourages, this behavior to hundreds of new recruits. This might have potentially damaged Loka and its staff's reputation, and costed Loka some players, who decided they don't want to be a part of such toxic place, and that's on me. Towards the staff I'd like to say sorry for making you waste tons of time and energy on this whole "case". Both investigating the discord, and the aftermath had to consume large amounts of time and energy. I know that countless people were sending messages to staff and debating with them about the supposed unfairness of the whole thing, where they would really just express their madness at you, for being fair and protective of your community.
Secondly I wanted to express my gratitude. Due to your very strict anti-toxic / anti-racism policy, you have managed to create a place, where people from all around the world can enjoy the game without having to worry about being harassed for who they are, or what language they speak, or whatever else they might have gotten harassed for elsewhere. This policy itself has been slowly affecting the rest of the entire Pot-PvP Community, where all Loka-affiliated players who for example try their strength at tier-lists keep toxicity in mind and keep their temper in check, not allowing them to ruin the experience for others. By that I want to say that I understand your choice from March 2024 about banning me and the rest of leadership, if you let that thing slide back then, hate would continue growing and it would swallow the community from the inside, make it the same as many toxicity-filled communities in Minecraft or other games overall.
To wrap up the apology, I wanted to apologize to all the past members of Deszczowka Alliance. By my ignorance I put you all at risk. If I took action back then and spoke up, maybe nobody would have gotten banned, and you wouldn't have been forced to sit in a hate filled discord that could potentially make you feel bad or not safe, I understand how racist words can affect someone, and I am truly sorry for participating in that.
Also a few words about my conduct after the ban outside of Loka. In these months I haven't said a single hateful thing to anyone, over anything. Not on Minecraft, not on Discord. I didn't alt, I've just accepted that I messed up, and deserved to be banned for what I did. I reflected on my behavior as described above, and hope I've now served my time, and that I'll be allowed to come back now that I've matured as a person. Knowing who I am today, and how much I have changed, I can confidently say that by allowing me back into the community, I will only affect it in a positive way, by continuing to grow my town by recruiting new souls, and teaching people how to play. I hope my post reaches the right people who I affected and that they find it honest as it is, and whether I get unbanned or not, I wish you all Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!
- 404Lucas
