Banning members now for something they did years ago under a different staff team is opening a massive can of worms. Good luck staff. This will probably come back to bite you at some point.

If what happened wasn't good enough to ban them entirely, I really do not see the point in a two week ban at all other than just causing issues. It's worth noting too, that at least two members of current staff were around for past issues (on the staff team) - so it's not an entirely black/white situation on that front. Hope this all goes well for everyone in the end, though, and no more bad situations arise.

I don't see the point of banning someone for a past offence for two weeks? If it's so far in the past that you think it doesn't warrant a perma-ban, what is the point of this two week ban that no one asked for? This does nothing but stir up drama, the only one that benefits is y'all in staff. Now you have this two week ban to point to anytime people bring up Stags/Kes's former Neo-Nazi past and history of bullying minors. Like if the past is the past and Kes/Stags is a changed person, this ban is pointless and just for staff optics.

Kes/Stags also copped a previous ban for deceiving staff/bullying, which Moss/Maple were both around and staff at the time. Are we just going to toss her a two week ban every time people get on staff's case about hey, what's a former neo-nazi/bully doing on the site?

Also nothing in my comment is new/not publicly available information, if anyone searches Kes/Stags' history you can find their Neo-Nazi tumblr/posts/plots where they bully people. If you delete this post, you're literally censoring for the sake of forcing the appearance everyone on the site is agreeing with you.

As mentioned in the announcement, this was a difficult balancing act, and we recognize that not everyone will agree with our final decision. We also understand that a simple two week ban doesn't appear to match in severity with what was said and done as mentioned in the announcement, however as Ripped mentioned this isn't a simple black and white picture on any front. Two members of current staff were around at the time these instances took place, however both were moderators that had no real ability to put a ban into affect, and one was a minor that was the unfortunate recipient of a lot of the harassments taking place at the time. Had these things happened more recently, as mentioned, far more drastic measures would have been taken. The time to take immediate, severe action had long since passed, especially when most of the worst of it took place around 7 years ago (the Neo-Nazi past and history of bullying minors that Pikachu mentioned).

A lot can happen in seven years, and people can grow and learn from their mistakes, and following our conversation with Stags we believe that to be the case here, hence our decision against a permanent ban. However, we didn't want to totally ignore what was said and done, which is where the two week ban comes into play. Now, following this two-week ban, it is the intention for this to be the end. They were not immediately banned for their behavior in the past, so it was left to us to recognize it to the best of our ability and address - which we have attempted to do here. Should any others, present or future, question Stag's presence on the site, we will quote their dedication to improving and being a better member on the site, and their willingness to work with Staff. Everyone has a history, some darker and more complex than others, but we all deserve a chance to correct and improve ourselves for the future.

We have no intentions of deleting comments that don't agree with us, that's the unfortunate reality of decisions and circumstances like these, and a position as a staff member on any site, especially one as large as this one. We will never have every member agree with us, and we have to live with that. We can always work to improve as a staff team, just like every member can, which is what we're doing. We just ask that you be patient and understanding, as we each do have lives outside of WCC, as well as most of us balancing a high rank plus staff, and we're doing the very best we can to be a staff team that you all can be proud of and feel comfortable around. Remember everyone, at the end of the day staff (past, present, and future) are just regular members who want to go above and beyond to help the site, and at the core we are people who want to RP cats too. So let's try to keep the drama in our RPs, and out of OOC.

As always, if you have any questions or want further clarification on anything, my inbox on site and Discord are always open, as are the rest of Staff's. We are more than willing to listen and help to the best of our abilities. There's also the anonymous survey, but that does make it difficult to get you an immediate answer on things, as we don't know who you are. We are working on ways to publicly address anonymous survey responses on a regular basis though, and as long as everything goes according to plan that will be implemented soon!

I've debated responding but it has been on my mind a lot lately, especially with their pending return from the ban. I don't suppose it will change anything, given you have already said that you will simply reference their willingness to change. This isn't purely about something that happened 7 years ago as stated. A large part of the harassment was 3/4 years ago. Issues have persisted each time they have been on the site (even when changing names and pretending to be someone else) and caused many people to be highly uncomfortable within the userbase (which is why this was even entertained at all because so much discomfort was expressed - including people on the staff team who did not want to engage with them, myself included). It has been a pattern of problematic behavior, violation of various rules on many occasions, and ill-treatment of others over and over again. I have not been on the site for 7 years, but have witnessed Stags come and go many times. In looking back through my old messages, I have three apologies from them at different points in time due to this cyclical nature of causing issues and treating others poorly. Personally, I do believe people can change and conflict can be overcome (I have built strong friendships with those I did no get along with previously, I've witnessed many people grow). However, given the nature of what has happened and the type of things that have occurred - I do not think a RP site with members of various ages is the appropriate environment to try to foster growth. There are things the staff team is responsible, and there are things they are not. I'm genuinely happy for Stags that they have been finding external support and resources for what they are dealing with, and do wish them the best. But as someone with a young sister on the site, since their return, I have been severely uncomfortable and concerned about the possibility for things that have happened before (things I saw firsthand as a member of the site) will happen again. I don't say this to cause any issues but just to address my concerns as a member of the site, even if it does not change anything, I feel like it is an important thing to be honest and open. I apologize for waiting so long to respond but chose to do so for the reasons above. Regardless of decisions made, my own discomfort is mine to own and I will not treat anyone differently as a result if they are to be on the site.

I apologize if my continued existence here makes people uncomfortable... I understand this is my last chance. Truly, I am sorry for how I was in the past. I know I am being carefully monitored and I have been enjoying my time back...