Management Changes; NAPZ

Due to the recent and drastic changes to the websites management, I'm reposting the logic I stand by in hoping that NAPZ will be unbanned. My original thread was closed due to the bias of an admin that is no longer supporting XJ thus is the reason I am reposting this. Before I get in trouble myself or people start taking shots at my attempts to bring this issue back to light, please refer to the comment I've just made; the admin that originally closed the thread is no longer part of the discussion thus a new discussion should be set in place in giving NAPZ a fair chance. There is a whole bunch of other stuff in my original post in which I have neglected to remove despite being irrelevant, I've just copied it straight from that thread. Enjoy.

Alright, before you close the thread I’d appreciate whoever opens this up and sees the wall of text to take the time to read, understand and potentially consider or add to the points I’m going to address. The reason behind the thread does in fact stem from why I believe Xtreme-Jumps should reconsider letting NAPZ become more involved in the community through unbanning him, though I’d like to bring up a few other points alongside some further suggestions that I think the Xtreme-Jumps team should consider. Let’s start with NAPZ.

Like many of the members within this community, NAPZ has a long history. He’s been around. I’d like to break down why I believe he should be unbanned into a set of contents to hopefully make this flow a little better, alongside successfully tying ‘why he should be unbanned’ into the rest of the arguments I will attempt in making, thus;

Part I.
I. XJ; Individual and Bias opinions
II. NAPZ; Past
III. NAPZ; Essay
IV. NAPZ; Current State
V. NAPZ; Future State and Summary

Alongside these topics, I’m also cherishing the opportunity to discuss a few topics near irrelevant to NAPZ though directly related to Xtreme-Jumps;

Part II.
VI. XJ; Map-Checking
VII. XJ; Tournament
VIII. Community; Aliasing

Part I.

I. XJ; Individual and Bias opinions

Let’s begin. I wrote a thread a long time ago that got me into a lot of trouble regarding the opinions and views of the XJ staff which essentially was drawn from a comment outlining that the community is run on the views and opinions of individuals rather against what I thought at the time was a more ‘moral’ system. Just in case you want to see the thread (which is a fantastic read mind you) please feel free to view it here; -link- . Regardless, my basic point was that the staff at XJ need to understand their role beyond their own bias in attempting to make the right decisions for the community as a whole. This is an argument I stand by, though in browsing through the posts again, refreshing my memory, ndR raised a really good point; the notion of ‘invisible’ admins against the admins at XJ who are actually involved in the game. He’s right, and I wouldn’t want the admins at XJ to be disassociated from the game so I completely understand the difficulty in approaching situations without bias. I believe bias can be both a good, and bad thing. For example, me; I’ve been banned from XJ multiple times, and the only reason I managed to get myself back here was because of admins who knew, and get along with me. There is little to no way I would be here typing this, if it wasn’t for the bias of admin’s who legitimately liked me, because although I believe being unbanned is a good thing, was unbanning me the best thing for the community? I think so, but I’m sure many of the other admins, and maybe the community, might not agree. What’s my point? Well, from what I’ve both seen and heard, the admin’s don’t like NAPZ, thus it is hindering rather than helping. I have absolutely no idea nor solution to the problem of admin’s, their views, and how this ties into individual cases, but thought it was important to bring this fact of reality up because in this situation it is pretty much guaranteeing NAPZ stays banned, which, I do not, nor do the majority of the community, agree with. This is the reason I believe he’s not being given a fair chance, and it is the perfect stepping stone into the rest of my piece; Why NAPZ should be unbanned.

II. NAPZ; Past

As I mentioned at the beginning of my essay, NAPZ has been around for a long time. He has both done, and admitted to some not so great things, but has apologized and been up front about all of it. I hate to sound like a broken record but the things NAPZ did wrong, are very similar to things that many within the community seem to think is okay when it comes to others. This ties directly back into my post about individual bias and opinions. Let’s take a few classic examples which I, and others, have discussed multiple times; kayne. I like kayne, don’t get me wrong and I hate having to continually use his case but it seems to be the most obvious logical flaw in keeping NAPZ unbanned. In most gaming communities, cheating is beyond the worst thing anybody can do, which is understandable. I can only speak to communities I’ve been a part of, but most of them meant long-term of lifelong bans from communities, LAN events, tournaments, everything. For some reason, completely unknown to me, Xtreme-Jumps seems to think cheating is okay. Not only was kayne caught cheating multiple times, he used different aliases alongside the distribution of cheats and then, the community decided to give him demo-checking rights. Absolutely absurd. This type of behavior sends the wrong message to everyone; it’s okay to cheat because you can still make it at Xtreme-Jumps, you can be anything you want. Even an admin.

Let’s move onto another case. heL. Who too took part in an immense amount of wrong doing. Similarly to NAPZ, recorded and submitted demo’s under an alias that wasn’t his. Yet, he is unbanned, and hailed as a hero, the community loves him, as do the admins. Moxx, for example, decided to do a ‘late night fun on the park bench’ (still waiting for late night; omg0) with him or whatever (which was great, don’t get me wrong) but further reiterates my point in that bias and opinions scope every single outcome at XJ. So whilst heL is being hailed as king, NAPZ stays banned because the admins don’t like him? There is a whole bunch of other cheaters that managed to get themselves unbanned, I mean, if I cheated and got caught submitting a demo or using an account (this actually happened, kz[a] Hazard used my XJ account whilst I was with him IRL, I got unbanned straight away) I’m almost certain I have enough of a relationship with the admins (maybe rofl) to talk my way out of a ban.

The notion of ‘chance’ is interesting and entirely subjective. But using kayne as an example; lots of chances, EVEN me, I’ve been banned (not for cheating) many a time but still continue to be given ‘chances’ (granted that these ‘chances’ in my eyes are completely ridiculous and mean little to nothing, maybe this is a topic for another time anyway..) In both circumstances, heL and kayne, both players have essentially ‘proven’ themselves within the community as being able to play kz at an international level, legit. You aren’t even giving NAPZ a chance; this is where the real issue lies (I will reiterate this point later on).

III. NAPZ; Essay

The process an individual takes in getting themselves unbanned is writing an essay outlining that they accept and understand why the ban was put in place, and help give reason as to why they believe they are deserving of another ‘chance.’ I personally agree with this process; it means a player, or community member, must take both the imitative and time, in putting together their thoughts and pretty much, a little bit of effort, in ‘proving’ to the admins that they understand their mistakes. For anyone to sit down, think about what they’ve done, suck up their pride and admit fault; this is probably the best way possible to assess a community member’s ability to be let back into the community. NAPZ wrote an essay, an essay which I’ve read multiple times, an essay in which he outlines where he was wrong, understands and admits fault, and then (like every other member that has been unbanned through the ‘essay’ system) vows to come back as an active and upstanding citizen within the community. I mean, what’s the problem with his essay? It seems to tick all the boxes for me, is there a secret word or something that he forgot to write down? The main argument against NAPZ’s essay is in regard to NAPZ’s ‘lying’, I understand what leggie is saying (and love him immensely) but the notion of NAPZ’s ‘lying’ is completely irrelevant and not an argument that I, or anyone, should see fit in him remaining banned. The basic premise for leggie’s concern stems from NAPZ’s comment in his essay which reads;

"As you guys may know I got banned from xtreme jumps a couple months back for recoding for someone else. At first I thought it would be kind of nice to let someone else have a world record" (NAPZ)

To which leggie pointed out as a lie (the reason NAPZ remains banned), because;

“he only recorded for micke cos micke gave him like 20 hacked steam accs.” (Leggie)

Topic can be viewed here: -link-

The fact that NAPZ recorded for micke is true, he did; it’s not right and against the rules, but his motivation for doing so is beyond the point. Whether or not NAPZ recorded for micke’s hacked steam accounts doesn’t and shouldn’t matter; it is also impossible to prove. NAPZ could of recorded the demo for 1 million hacked steam accounts, who cares? And who knows? It poses no relevance to whether or not he should be unbanned and (would love to insert some misc sociology information here but won’t) why is morality being brought into this? NAPZ admitted to the act, he did the wrong thing, and he apologized. Why does XJ or anybody care what he did it for? Would it be different if micke paid him money? If he did it for drugs? If he did it for hacked porn accounts? It is beyond the point and the real fault is him recording the demo, not his motive for doing it. Pointing out that he ‘lied’ is an excuse to keep him banned when all else has failed. Hacked steam accounts or not, it is of little importance to NAPZ’s case and the absolute last thing XJ need to worry about; for the sake of staying open minded, sure, if it was the other way round and you had someone like micke with (hypothetically assuming that he knows how) the knowhow to steal accounts, MAYBE it would be a liability for XJ thus the argument ‘we can’t unban him as he may take our accounts.’ What is NAPZ (assuming the above) who clearly can’t steal anything but world-records (lul) going to threaten within the community? Even making the micke argument would be a long stretch and I’d probably write another wall of text if that were to ever happen lol logic people. Logic.

To summarize thus far, NAPZ wrote his essay, he apologized and did exactly what the community asked of him. I’ve completely ruined the argument regarding his ‘lies’ and proven why they should play no part in him being banned. Other members of the community are respected and given ‘chances’ while NAPZ remains banned due to lack of association with the XJ staff. Refer to paragraph one if you need a recap on why I’ve used the term ‘association.’

IV. NAPZ; Current State

NAPZ has been playing actively as of recent. Most notably getting public times and interacting with the community in the game, as opposed to on this site. He’s pretty good at kz. He has a number of fanboys that follow him server to server and his current form isn’t bad. Definitely in shape to contend at a world-record level. Why is this important? This community thrives on its members. Without people actively recording, the community will die. You probably see my point before I’ve even made it, though, in looking back at my previous paragraph, NAPZ wrote in his essay that he’d like to become actively involved in the healthy competition that is the world-record list so why keep him from doing so? In a community that slowly, but inevitably, dying, why keep him from recording demos? His offer to record demos for XJ helps your site more than it helps him. He is willing to put in the time and effort to essentially HELP keep things active and interesting and because of (false) pre-assumptions and stubbornness he remains banned.

These days jumpers come and go, you’ve got KeltA coming back or whatever, but then you’ve got other top tier players who will continue to leave. NAPZ is active, he’s ready, willing and able right now, if he wants to record demos why keep him from doing so.

The definition of ‘world-record’ tends often to get confused when we discuss what it means in kz. A ‘world-record’ is the absolute best anyone in the world can do at completing specific maps. The reason this term gets thrown around so flippantly is because a player like LEWLY is probably not going to waste his time on maps he dislikes; thus the world record holder of maps of lesser popularity completely contradict the term world-record SO what I’m saying is NAPZ is at a level when he can compete (I believe) for the maps in which do remain actual examples of the term ‘world-record.’ The other point I am trying to make is; if a player can complete a map quicker than another player, this means the player is then the ‘world-record’ holder, Xtreme-Jumps is a MEDIUM for this exact point and should NOT be a restriction. Before I move on (hate to bring this up again) if kayne, who has cheated multiple times and is allowed to record ‘world-records’ is allowed, why isn’t NAPZ? The only function Xtreme-Jumps holds, is the ‘submit’ button and ethos in the fact that it has been around a long enough time to call itself the ‘official’ community, holder of the ‘official’ list of ‘world-records’ (the absolute best of the best). The whole “privilege, not a right” mentality XJ operates under doesn’t work when you align it against the pure definition of what a ‘world-record’ is. Checkmate. I’m almost certain, someone will bring up some sort of elite sport wherein cheating brings a ban; which means a player cannot be eligible for a ‘world-record’, just in-case someone thinks it’s a valid point; don’t make me bring up kayne again, alright champ?

The last point I’d like to make within this subtopic is that NAPZ has a following, fans, friends and people within the community that want to see him back and playing. It’s not as though he’s been stricken and everybody hates him, in the previous thread (See above, where I pulled the leggie quote from) there were many people fighting, or at least asking for the team to give him another chance. A few people even said there is no harm in letting him, which by itself should be enough to let him off; instead I have to write another essay in the hopes that XJ will listen.

V. NAPZ; Future State and Summary

As I mentioned above, NAPZ is currently active and playing. He said he wants to record world records so why not let him. His interactions (the ones I’ve seen) with the community seem pleasant, and it’s not as though he’s out trying to bring down the XJ empire; unbanning him is harmless to XJ and, if anything, only help the site (please review previous paragraph in regard to his demo submissions).

To re-cap before I move onto to XJ specific topics; NAPZ admitted his fault, he submitted an essay just like he was supposed to, wherein he; admitted fault, apologized, and promised not to do it again; just like everyone else who’s been unbanned. The argument in which surrounds him ‘lying’ in his essay, I’ve proven as irrelevant. NAPZ is at a level where he can compete, XJ need players that can compete and the term ‘world-record’ means he, like every other play, should have the ability to submit them. I wrote a whole lot more, read through it again, maybe read it three times before you reply.

I think my argument as to why NAPZ should be unbanned is pretty solid, please consider it properly this time. Let’s move on.

Part II.

VI. XJ; Map-Checking

I’ve discussed this point at length (as have the admins I’m sure) multiple times, especially in my previous thread I believe. The only reason I raise this again is to ask what the go is with the map checking system? Many moons ago I remember a specified team, I also remember a long list of map checking issues from the people involved in the team all the way through to its process. Has this been fixed? I feel new maps keep things interesting and obviously keeps the mappers motivated and active. I think back to the days when achieving a world-record (which seemingly meant a lot more back in the day) was a similar achievement to a mapper successfully getting the kz_ tag. This entire mentality seems to have changed and it’s the community, or those that govern the mapping side of the communities, fault. I’m not entirely sure of the current process, nor does it seem as public as it used to be but I think this should be addressed; mapping is a major part of the game and I think it is being undersold at the moment. This is probably why Cosy is doing so well (lol) due to mappers just putting out whatever because a ‘world-record’ is a ‘world-record’ regardless of its quality. I have little more to say on this point, being quite ignorant to it all (and having never been involved) but like anything I’m certain it’s a difficult situation, regardless I’m just pointing out its importance and hope it gets fixed. I mean, reinstating a map checking team, a team with a ‘sense of importance’ (as it previously was) might help; maybe this is in place now, but the ‘sense of importance’ is indeed lost.

VII. XJ; Tournament

Absolutely superb. Potentially the greatest innovation as of late at Xtreme-Jumps. Let’s take a minute to commemorate and congratulate those involved, because no sarcasm, I think it’s absolutely wonderful. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the games, keeping up to date with who is playing who and what maps are being played and it’s been great. As some of you may know, I have long fought hard for a league style play system like this, and I think you guys went beyond anything I had discussed so well done it’s been great. Thank you from me to everyone involved. I just have a couple of things I’d like to say; firstly, I think it’s important to keep the momentum going with the tournament, perhaps in a way that keeps it continual. That is, less of a tournament (obviously tournaments are great) and potentially more of a league. I understand the difficulty in doing this, but in having a continual registration potentially more games throughout the week, it may keep things alive for longer. The format is already setup for something like this, with set maps each week etc. Anyhow, the other, main point, I wanted to talk about was the streaming. I know recently this has been an issue based on lack of viewers vs. HLTV but I think you’d probably get more viewers if you had more games at once. I feel as though people are coming to watch half a map (more or less ofc) and then leaving, sort of ‘stopping by.’ In solving the streaming issue, all I wanted to say is potentially play a list of games one after another, condense it a little more to keep people watching and interested. Not sure if that’s the problem, nor if it will work, just a thought. Regardless the HLTV setup and Twitch is great, was a good idea imo to setup a stream.

VIII. Community; Aliasing

Finally, a very short, but what I see as a very important point. Since I’ve taken the time to write a lot, I thought I’d tack on a little extra thought at the end, whether or not this is the right platform to do so, who knows. Recently I’ve been playing a bit of pub, speccing multiple players and what not. I asked an admin (well-known, of this site) who a player was, to which he responded that it was someone aliased to ‘prove’ that any new player that comes along and is good, gets called a cheater straight away. Absolutely moronic. Who knows where this mentality sprung from, perhaps LyNn? I don’t know. But of course, ANYONE in ANY sort of community or competitive environment, who has not paid dues, been around, played, or is at all reputable (has a reputation) is likely to be suspicious. This is the same in any sport/competition in any format around the globe. So for the hero who’s aliasing and trying to ‘prove’ (potentially the dumbest) point, please, stop and assess what the fuck you’re trying to achieve.

That’s pretty much most of what I had to say, I probably forgot a point here or there but I’m sure someone will call me out/pick up on it, to which I will respond accordingly. Appreciate you reading if you got this far.


<3

I genuinely don't understand your point, please reiterate

why should they unban a man who used cheats then had 2nd chance and after that recorded demos for other player?

Originally posted by LAGSTERRrRkz[a

I. XJ; Individual and Bias opinions

Originally posted by LAGSTERRrRkz[a

II. NAPZ; Past

Originally posted by LAGSTERRrRkz[a

Moxx, for example, decided to do a ‘late night fun on the park bench’ (still waiting for late night; omg0) with him or whatever (which was great, don’t get me wrong) but further reiterates my point in that bias and opinions scope every single outcome at XJ.

Originally posted by LAGSTERRrRkz[a

III. NAPZ; Essay

Originally posted by LAGSTERRrRkz[a

IV. NAPZ; Current State / Future

Napz will have a fair trail soon.

We are for a free XJ and if we will decide it's benefic for both XJ and NAPZ to coexist on the same site, he will be unbanned.

And if it will be proven he was wronged during all this time, I will publicly apologize for the situation he was put in.

Originally posted by kzro`CyclopP

Napz will have a fair trail soon.

We are for a free XJ and if we will decide it's benefic for both XJ and NAPZ to coexist on the same site, he will be unbanned.

And if it will be proven he was wronged during all this time, I will publicly apologize for the situation he was put in.

In my opinion, his unban would reflect positively on XJ. I mean... what could possibly happen? If he sticks to cheating, then yes, give him a permanent ban and close the topic. I do believe he deserves a second chance. As far as I am aware, he did not cheat in the period after his first unban.

That's my opinion though, after all rules are rules, but this could only help xtreme-jumps regarding the activity of both recorders and members.

so, cheating, multi accounts, multiple warnings for abusive language, recording a demo for another person, rejected essay and you guys wanted an unban i explained that he's very stupid and wont stop doing stupid things but nope you carried on and since the last time you posted this dumb shit what happened? oh thats right he recorded for somebody else AGAIN so he's broken the rules more than enough but hey you never know... if he gets unbanned then shit they might aswell unban everybody, let monk nikita omg0 all them submit some new amazing wrs

Originally posted by leggie

so, cheating, multi accounts, multiple warnings for abusive language, recording a demo for another person, rejected essay and you guys wanted an unban i explained that he's very stupid and wont stop doing stupid things but nope you carried on and since the last time you posted this dumb shit what happened? oh thats right he recorded for somebody else AGAIN so he's broken the rules more than enough but hey you never know... if he gets unbanned then shit they might aswell unban everybody, let monk nikita omg0 all them submit some new amazing wrs

I used all my energie and patience in this thread http://xtreme-jumps.eu/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?337135.0
and nothing happened...
I doubt that they are gonna do anything but you have my respect for trying LAGSTERRrRkz[a]