Well to begin I joined Menewsha in 07' but due to complications I left the forum based community before 08' even hit. When I left I gave the main bulk of what I had to my friend Julianna and kept only one scepter, a few commons and a King’s crown, so that I could have something to show my status if I were to return. I jumped back on for a day or two among the past few years but couldn’t really re-gain that attachment I once had. Upon my latest return last February I was coming back to chat for maybe a few days until I found someone to give the items on my account to. Knowing, or so I thought, that I would never be able to ingrain myself into the community meant to me that I should find a suitable person to give my items to. I was a member of Gaia back in 2003 and people leaving without giving items caused not only inflation but a dwindling amount of an already very limited item. While perusing the website for a suitable beneficiary I found myself in a thread directed at the user Gabriel. The thread had just been created at this point. The thread was an argument seemingly over the ban of Gabriel’s mule Noah. I read the thread (at this point only the administrator, Insomniac, had a post. Gabriel’s was yet to be added) and instantly saw a problem behind the shadow of the ban. The problem of privacy. The user Gabriel had received an automated message saying that he would receive a multi-accounting 250 point violation and the account Noah would be banned. He replied by asking for an explanation. The administrator said that he would not give him an explanation unless it was made public, and if he were to argue at all that it would be made public. At this point it didn’t matter what Gabriel said. The administrator blatantly refused a user an explanation to an infraction. Not only should user be allowed an explanation but it should be required upon request. To not give an explanation to someone who inquires one from you, as an administrator, is completely wrong. It violates the most basic forms of administrative principal. The Banning of his account was not of my interest at all. What did have me infuriated was the privacy breach. I was among the first users to post in the thread and I quickly started on the subject of privacy. I fought and fought for what I believed to be right. I had hoped we had reached an agreement. We hadn’t. For some reason, I cannot say because I am not the administrator, he thinks that I was bribed, that I was put up to saying what I did. He thinks that I acted as a sort of “lawyer” for Gabriel. Shortly after the incident Gabriel was banned. Whether or not he was banned justly is up for debate but I digress. Gabriel and his girlfriend Kylie live together. At this point in time Kylie was away from home. When Gabriel’s accounts were banned they banned Kylie’s as well for fear that he would access them and use them to cause trouble. When I found out about this I decided I then had to defend not only the case concerning the community but this case concerning a single user. I believe letting a bullet fired into a crowd hit the innocent and then in turn do nothing to fix it is wrong. I defended Kylie all that I could. When I first defended Kylie I was again accused of being bribed. The administrator accused me of being paid off. He began to question what was on Kylie’s account that I would be receiving, why I would go to such lengths to defend her. I proceeded to tell him that I was only doing what I believed to be right for not only the individual but the community. He then began to accuse me once more. He said that there must be some sort of payment whether it be on Menewsha or elsewhere. He couldn’t grasp that I was just a concerned community member. This dispute continued for quite some time and along the way I was shown the true opinions of not only the administrator but one of the Assistant Administrators. He argued and argued but I would not let up. Eventually Kylie returned home. We were able to get her IP unbanned. She was then given a “probationary period” where in if they saw no signs of Gabriel on her account, they would unban her old accounts. I stayed mostly silent for this small stretch of time that seemed to be years. Kylie was finally unbanned. I now speak up again. I speak up for what’s right and against injustice. I myself do wish that I would be able to be on staff but I don’t think that will ever happen. I know what it means to have a solid foundation in administrative principal. I co-run decentralize.tv, I own another domain I will be co-running, I’ve ran small guild forums for a large guild in Guild Wars, and I’ve also run school wide forums for my old high school. I have the knowledge and the portfolio to be on staff, the only issue is the outlook of the current administration. I’ve made it obvious I’m passionate, I’ve made it obvious that I hold the community above all, and I will always fight for what’s right. The only reasoning I can think of as to why they would not allow me the opportunity is my defiance. The fact that I will not take the Administrator’s word as law. The fact that I will not just follow, but question why it is that I was instructed to do something. As well as questioning the action itself. The current administration, in my eyes, does not have a very good idea of what it means to be an administrator, nor do they know the meaning of basic administrative principal. If they ever decide to allow me to be on staff I will accept the job with open arms and share my opinions openly with them. Sadly, however, it seems that I will be nothing more to them than an annoyance. I will most likely share the fate of those who have stood for what is right before me and have fallen. With this I leave you with a quote but a revolutionary who came before my time. He may have not handled every situation perfectly but he did his best, and he was an intelligent individual. Although I may not be leaving, I feel this quote directly relates to myself.