Take a look at this ban

[Raelbo]

Sorry man, it doesn't matter how much sense you make, SLOWLLY is too busy riding Soda's nuts to change his mind. You're arguing with a fanboy, and thusly, unless you side wholeheartedly with Soda, he's not gonna pay attention to anything you say.

hehe

What grates me most about this thread though is the number of people who are jumping onto the "GM is clueless" bandwagon without having any of the facts.

The fact that Sodapoppin put an edited version of events on his youtube video about it which really does make him look like a victim is also sad and needless to say gives me an opinion of the guy which is not pretty in the slightest. At least with the whole Swifty ban, Swifty was very contrite in his response, acknowledging his mistake apologising and asking for leniency.

Sodapoppin is acting like a classic sociopath, attacking those who had the audacity to serve him justice. In the end he is moron though. By hurting Blizzard he is actually hurting himself. His stream depends on the success of the game because he is a parasite living off the game. I don't think he even understands what he is trying to achieve out of all this.

[Raiju]

I don't think he even understands what he is trying to achieve out of all this.

Drama is good, drama gets views. Quite clearly succeeded there with the subs and donations he got.

[Terahertz]

To the people saying that sodapoppin should've just given the gold back; it was about principle. He already said that the 1k gold was nothing to him but that it was about the principle of getting banned for accepting gold. All sodapoppin knew was that some random gave him 1k gold. Sodapoppin also said he wasn't duelling at the time (note: I've only seen his video about the ban, not the livestream and I didn't see him duelling. Not to mention that duels usually cost more than 1k gold to begin with. Back in EU his standard was about 3k~ I believe).

Again, it was about principle.

[Raelbo]

That said, the GM that issued the ban is probably still going to get fired over it. Blizzard is extremely draconic when it comes to the behaviour and merits of it's GMs, according to some ex-Blizzard employees AMA interviews on Reddit.

Not a chance in hell the GM is getting fired over this one. He (or she, no offence intended if I got this wrong performed his job very well.

The GM was polite;
explained the issue very clearly;
allowed Soda to give his side of the story;
accepted Soda's side of the story;
offered a solution which was fair to all involved (give back the money and no harm done);

When Soda refused to co-operate, the GM remained polite, but a bit more firm and made it clear that if he was not going to co-operate there would be trouble.

Even when Soda started ranting and tried to bait the GM into an argument, he remained calm, avoided getting embroiled and acted swiftly, firmly and decisively to end the debacle.

Soda really left the GM no other reasonable option.

IMO Sodapoppin deserves a perma-ban for his subsequent efforts at tarnishing the game's reputation. Unfortunately, this would simply do more harm than good because of all his fanboys. It's just stupid that it should have to come to this though. You would think that Sodapoppin, who derives a lot of financial benefit from the game, would recognise that harming the game is hurting himself.....

[Raiju]

Not a chance in hell the GM is getting fired over this one. He (or she, no offence intended if I got this wrong performed his job very well.

According to the reddit ex-blues, a few 4's on your surveys can get you fired.

[Yakshamash]

IMO Sodapoppin deserves a perma-ban for his subsequent efforts at tarnishing the game's reputation. Unfortunately, this would simply do more harm than good because of all his fanboys. It's just stupid that it should have to come to this though. You would think that Sodapoppin, who derives a lot of financial benefit from the game, would recognise that harming the game is hurting himself.....

I thought same, but not. He brought so many wannabe pro pvpers, especially those followers on Stormscale EU. Honor capped in few hours, just killing gankers in Outland. See, they still can be usefull.

[Raelbo]

Drama is good, drama gets views. Quite clearly succeeded there with the subs and donations he got.

At what cost? You don't slaughter a goose that lays golden eggs just to enjoy one nice meal....

Once he had calmed down, anyone worthwhile human being would have been introspective, recognised his mistake and manned up about it. But not this guy. Oh no, he has waaaay too much ego to even consider that. No, instead he refuses to recognise his own role in this and engages in a dishonest campaign against Blizzard, encouraging fanboys like SLOWLLY to go and fight battles that can only harm the game.

Classy.

- - - Updated - - -

According to the reddit ex-blues, a few 4's on your surveys can get you fired.

Emphasis on the word "can". That doesn't mean they "will". Also, never trust a disgruntled ex-employee.

They have a fairly standard performance evaluation system. It is understood that their job entails occasionally having to mete out disciplinary action, and it is obvious that players who have received some sort of account infraction are going to be harsh on the GM. Which is why these actions are always audited by a more senior person to make sure all is legit. Furthermore, with a "high profile" action like this, it's likely the entire staff at Blizzard will have been aware of what happened here. What this guy will get is a pat on the back and a word of support from his direct superior, as well as all his colleagues to tell him well done on handling a tough situation in the right way.

FYI I have a brother who worked for Blizzard as a GM for about 5 years, so I reckon my "source" for what life at Blizzard is like is somewhat more reliable than the guy who "reddit" on the internet.

[deadman1]

In all fairness the ban may have been stupid, but the GM gave him a chance to give the gold back, and in the end he was banned for 3 hours.

No big deal. You can talk principle all you want, but what is the "principle" you are standing up for at that point? Just give the dumbass his 1k gold back and move on.

[Raiju]

FYI I have a brother who worked for Blizzard as a GM for about 5 years, so I reckon my "source" for what life at Blizzard is like is somewhat more reliable than the guy who "reddit" on the internet.

I have a friend who worked for blizzard as a GM, too. I am more than aware and without going into details I think you are painting a very positive picture of it, although it depends on where your brother was based I guess.

[deadman1]

Unsurprisingly the TS left out one important bit.

The GM approached him, informed him that a player had traded gold for a duel and asked the streamer to return the gold.
The streamer said it was probably a misunderstanding.
The GM gave him the name of the player in question so that he could pay back the gold.
The streamer says that he doesn't like the guy, has him on ignore for spamming, and therefor will not return the gold. Claiming that he didn't do anything wrong. This while he is currently in the middle of accepting gold for duels as he is approached by the GM.

Mind-boggling that he didn't realize he would get account action for this.

That all may be true, but he never said that he would duel that specific person for that amount of gold, that is what is important.

Also he did include that the GM gave him a chance to give it back, and he did say that he had the guy on ignore, the only thing he didn't include is that he was dueling for gold at the time.

And you have to take into account that streamers are given small amounts of gold like that for no reason all the time.

[deadman1]

That right there can violate the EULA and ToS. Ignoring someone and accepting their trade from before you ignored them isn't cool.

How do you know that they are going to spam you before you accept the trade?

Please tell us your ways oh mystical one.

Seriously though, he never agreed to the terms why is that his fault. The GM even said that he has no proof the streamer accepted the challenge.

I think that the streamer acted dumb and should have just gave the dude his money back, but lets not ignore facts.

- - - Updated - - -

If a GM contacts you though and asks you to resolve a matter you should just agree and do what the GM requests, imo. Instead of arguing for sake of principle.

That said, the GM that issued the ban is probably still going to get fired over it. Blizzard is extremely draconic when it comes to the behaviour and merits of it's GMs, according to some ex-Blizzard employees AMA interviews on Reddit.

That is like saying "If the government comes to your home and tells you what to do and how to do it, you should just do it because they are always right."

LOL

No you don't always listen to authority even if they are wrong.

In this situation I agree with you, but as a general statement, I couldn't disagree more.

[Raelbo]

To the people saying that sodapoppin should've just given the gold back; it was about principle. He already said that the 1k gold was nothing to him but that it was about the principle of getting banned for accepting gold.

Yeah well, that makes him an idiot then. He didn't get banned for accepting gold. He got suspended for refusing to give it back once the misunderstanding had been cleared up. He got suspended because his "principles" are arrogance, narcissism and hubris.

Again, it was about principle.

If the guy had any principles worth having like, let's say, respect, humility, self discipline, fairness, justice, reason, it would have never come to this. He would have read what the GM had to say, and responded with a simple, "ok, didn't realise he gave me the money for a duel, I'll give it back." Everyone would have been happy.

If you watch the original stream, he is arguing for the "principle" that if he never responded to roflcopter then he is entitled to keep the money, which is utter BS. He was never entitled to keep the money. He was entitled to think it was a gift up until the point that the GM pointed out that it wasn't, at which point he actually became obliged to give it back, because otherwise that becomes known as stealing.

[Mosotti]

So another one of those "banned for nothing" threads, when in fact the motherfucker was banned for something pretty clear

It's hilarious how people use words like "principles", justifying the plain ol' theft...

[DPA]

Maybe the ingame actions wasn't enough to ban him.
However with the way he's acting up behind the screen, I for one would have loved to see the livechat support guy say "permanent".

[Raelbo]

That all may be true, but he never said that he would duel that specific person for that amount of gold, that is what is important.

Not really that important since the GM never pushed the scamming angle. The fact that he never said he would duel the person implies that it was a genuine misunderstanding (ie Sodapoppin genuinely believed it was just another random donation). But it does not entitle him to keep the money once the misunderstanding has been cleared up.

And you have to take into account that streamers are given small amounts of gold like that for no reason all the time.

The gm did take that into account and gave him plenty of opportunity to rectify the situation and give the gold back without any further consequence. HE refused.

[DPA]

His behavior is absurd. "I wipe my ass with 1k gold". Ok? Congratulations? Be the bigger man and give it back.

[Raelbo]

Just to clear some things up, I took the time to transcribe the conversation from the original stream between the GM and Sodapoppin, with Sodapoppin microphone chat included (which is in and of itself quite insightful as to what his frame of mind was at the time). Note that the link to his youtube stream is missing a big chunk of this conversation and thus portrays a very different story to what actually happened:

Events start at about 2:49:40 in (or thereabouts)

Onikifu: What's going on Sodafloofy, this is Game Master Onikifu, do you have a moment to chat?
Soda: Yes I do.
Onikifu: I have gotten a ticket from a player that asked you to duel and traded you 1K gold
Soda (over the mic): How do I respond to this?
Soda: Alright (shakes head, looks bemused)
Soda (over the mic): uhh that would be the guy, what's his character...
Onikifu: I am only here to ask that you return the gold to him that was traded
Soda: Ok
Soda: Uh
Soda: Heres the dealio
Soda: Im a streamer
Soda: I play videogames
Soda: and people watch me
Soda: and follow me around
Soda: and stuff
Soda: It's weird.
Soda: And ..
Soda: A lot of em might wanna mess with u
Soda: maybe
Onikifu: I understand that, but he paid you to duel which you did not do.
Soda: Ok but I probably didn't agree to the terms.
Soda: He prob just traded 1K gold
Soda: and I didn't even notice his request
Soda: cause im spammed so much.
Soda: twitch.tv/sodapoppin
Soda: im famus
Soda: (over the mic) Oh Jesus Christ, this is a fuckin' hassle
Onikifu: Roflcopterqt is teh characters name that traded you the gold.
Soda: That guy is on ignore
Soda: Cause he spams me so much
Soda: So uh
Soda: he can pound sand
Onikifu: Please just return the gold, or actions may be taken
Soda: so that's the deal..
Soda: But I didn't do anything wrong.
Soda: (over the mic) But I didn't do anything (said with indignation).
Soda: Do you have like
Soda: proof or something
Soda: That I actually did something wrong
Soda: (over the mic) I'm not trying to piss off a GM or anything, just sayin, does he have proof that I actually did something wrong that I did something against the Terms
Onikifu: Yo basically took gold that was for a purpose, and yes I do.
Soda: Ok, so u have me saying
Soda: Ok, ill duel u for 1k gold
Soda: and i took the gold and flew off?
Soda: (over the mic) Really?!?
Soda: Question
Soda: (over the mic) So this is, I, I wipe my asshole with one thousand gold (looking very indignant). This IS principle. Ok. This is principle. Right now. Ok. 100% principle.
Onikifu: NO I do not, but I see him him trading you gold, asking you fro a duel and you ignoring him after you ge tthe gold.
Soda: Because i am ignoring ingame
Soda: I am more focused on my caht
Soda: chat
Soda: on twitch.tv
Soda: if some random spams trade
Soda: trades 1K gold
Soda: and actually trades it
Soda: before i agree to the terms
Soda: they messed up
Onikifu: You should hit cancel
Soda: (over the mic) REALLY?!? Seriously?!? hahaha. What?!?!?...What do I say...
Soda: Is it in the TOS
Soda: that if some idiot comes and gives me gold
Soda: and I accept it
Soda: i have to go by his terms
Soda: even tho i never agreed to them...
Soda: (over the mic) Is everyone reading this? Tell him he's being retarded? I don't wanna say that. I don't want to piss him, I am just literally I'm flabberghast right now about how stupid this is. Oh my God. This fuckin retarded (waves hands in despair). It's kind hard to keep track of, I don't even read my ingame chat. I do not read ingame chat. If some guy comes and trades me gold I'm required to cancel it?!?!? Why doesn't he just not trade it until I agree to his terms? I didn't say in my stream today that I was duelling for gold. I never said that
Onikifu: yes you do, adn since you did not duel him you are in the wrong.
Soda: (over the mic) Mutters some stuff then asks - ok stream, you tell me what I should do. Should I refuse to give him the 1 thousand gold, or should I just give him the gold and call it a day. Because I don't care. It's a thousand gold, I wipe my asshole, you know what:
Soda: I don't think you understand
Soda: I have 10 000 people watching this chat
Soda: right now
Soda: and you expect me
Soda: to return some idiot 1k gold
Soda: that I didn't steal from
Soda: he gave to me
Soda (over the mic) what I am going to say? I'm going to refuse. This is literally retarded. This is stupid. If I get a permaban I
swear I'll call Blizzard because this is fucking retarded. I legitimately...
Onikifu: Please move to a safe area now

2:58:41

[Krommm]

Both parties are idiots, especially some really boring streamer.

[Raelbo]

Both parties are idiots

Yeah, not really going to argue against that. I feel for the poor GM who had to try dealing with this mess. I reckon he deserves a Bells!

[Deleted]

guy was intentionally being a dick. Intent was clear. He effectively scammed someone, whilst streaming! not only is he an idiot, he advertised it.

If some bloke says duel for 1000g, and you accept the 1000g, you have agreed to the terms. No matter that you did not specifically type it.

Streamer took the 1000g, and did not fill his part of the deal.

He got offered a chance to redress this by a very reasonable GM, he refused and acted like a dick.

Deserves ban, should be perma.