>>I'm fond of sleuthing people based on IP? I don't know what
>>to say besides that I'm probably the most lenient and
>>conservative staff member who currently has the ability to see
>>IPs and/or ban people. If I have such a reputation it's news
>>to me, and surprising. Doubly so, in fact, because most of
>>the players I "sleuth" accuse me of being Valg or Baer.

>Yes. In your own words:
>
>http://forums.carrionfields.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=6&topic_id=60716&mesg_id=60739&page=
>
>If only you could be held accountable in the same way you like
>to hold other people accountable for their words and actions.
>Wouldn't that be something . FWIW, I don't think you're Valg
> you're not a big enough asshole) or Baer (you are too
>competent and technical.) If I had to pin an identity on you
>other than your own, it would be Nep, but I don't think you're
>him either. You sometimes do a good job imitating his
>purposefully opaque explanations of game mechanics, though.

Ultimately, there's a difference between being *able* to research an associate a player with past characters, and constantly doing so. Overall, the system is designed to allow BOTH Immortals and players the separation between past characters. It takes a specific desire and effort to make these associations, which in day-to-day business isn't needed or wanted. That extra effort is done when that information is beneficial to what's going on, such as in his above post where Umiron states he will do some snooping to get context as towards the poster's sensibilities. Similarly, in a rules violation where we need to know whether we're dealing with a consistent/repeat offender. As a perfect example of taking each as they come, there's at least one very active player that if I'm correct, had once been a trouble-maker and banned for quite a time. They've since come back, have not been problems, and so is treated as any other character would be.

>>Nep cheating et al
>
>It is a fact, but if you weren't around for it I can
>understand why you wouldn't take me at my word (or care too
>much about it). I realize it's "old news" at this point but
>keep in mind I'm using it as a great example of why
>transparency and accountability are hugely important,
>especially since he (as far as we as a playerbase know) never
>faced any consequences for it. I do get that this is a hobby
>and you are effectively a volunteer - you're a prolific coder
>and, regardless of how big of an asshole you might think I've
>been in this thread, I do respect and appreciate that. I'm
>simply arguing that this doesn't exempt anyone from being held
>accountable for the things they do, especially if they're in a
>position of authority.

I've played CF for 20 years, but most as a player, so I'm just going to pass on any Nepenthe topic given I was a player any of those times.

>>Staff members have been caught cheating and forced to leave
>in the >past. All I can say is that in my time here, it's
>never happened and >nor has anything been swept under a rug to
>my knowledge. In that >regard, I think we have a fantastic
>team these days.
>
>Oh? Which ones? This is the first time I've seen you guys
>publicly cop to this literally ever. This is exactly the sort
>of thing that should be public knowledge. I've seen tons of
>silly, whimsical echoes that shame players who have been
>denied for rulebreaking -- interesting that this doesn't seem
>to happen when it's an imm.

Again, I've not been around to be involved in such, but as a business Manager, but no private business I've ever been involved in have we ever had a policy of publicly informing "customers" of what repercussions occurred to "staff" in an incident. Sometimes a punishment is firing, sometimes it's dock in pay, sometimes it's lack of promotion. If they remain on "staff", it's never done good to air that laundry. It's handled one way or another, and moved on. Similarly, if a player gets punished for cheating, we don't air that to the world for the vast majority of offenses. Dock in exp, or slay, or whatever according punishment, then move on. As far as cheater gechoes, I've ONLY ever seen them on denied characters, which said characters no longer exist. No-one ever sees "TMNS gets eaten by an angry fido" or "Isildur got whacked by Biff Plankenchest", etc. (Names picked at random, no offense guys).