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Legion GUA
10-12-12, 02:57 AM
Greetings,

Please call me Legion (or Legion GUA). I have come here on request of Petoux to inform you that a member has been banned for false reasons. What he has told me was that apparently he got banned from this site as part of a joke. After he got banned, he sold his computer to someone else who on this forum goes by the username of TheOnlyGhost. This resulted in TheOnlyGhost having the same IP address as Petoux, and subsequently got banned (because the IP addresses matched and hey, making a new account to dodge a ban is against the rules in most fora). However, TheOnlyGhost isn't the same person as Petoux and is a victim of circumstance and shouldn't have been banned.

Petoux asks if the admins could please remove the ban from TheOnlyGhost (he currently has a new computer with a new IP adress). If the admins wish to contact him, he told me to give them his spam-email adress (though I don't want to post it online in a forum I don't know anything about, so I've omitted it from this post).

I... Hope I'm being understandable. Petoux is a friend of mine on another forum and he only contacted me some time ago. I'm not sure if I have the gist of it. Of course, it may also seem somewhat unbelievable, but I am only here to relay the message. I hope I am posting this in the right forum, because I haven't quite taken the time to orient myself here. My apologises if I have posted this in the wrong area - please inform me where I should've posted instead.

I would like to know which admin I can contact to relay the above (and below) message as well as the e-mail adress on which Petoux wishes to be contacted. Any help with that will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time, and my apologises for any inconvinience.

Legion


My friend from this website:

www.althanas.com

got falsely banned because they automatically assumed it was me (because it has the same IP address that I used to have ... i bought a new computer).

I got banned from that site (on purpose as a joke) sold my old computer (the IP that got banned) to my friend ... she started a new account and I assumed they wouldn't bother checking the IP address ... I was wrong, and now she got falsely accused and banned for no reason. She couldn't stop crying, the poor thing.

Would you do me a HUGE GIGANTIC ENORMOUS favor and let them know (create an account if you have to) that they made a HUGE mistake and should unban her ASAP.

The account she goes by on that site is TheOnlyGhost ... please, please PLEASE do this. My friend got falsely accused. :/

Thank you so much (assuming you'll do it)

You're the best!

^.^

P.S.: Tell the admins on the site that if they want to discuss this with me to email me on my spam email (that's the email address I gave her since I never use it) I will make sure to check it if they have questions:

[e-mail ommited to reduce spam]


PLEASE HELP!!

Thanks.

<3

... I'll have to ask him why, if he has a new IP adress, didn't make a new account on this site himself to rectify the situation. It'd be dodging a ban (which is bad), but if done only to help someone who got banned despite being a victim of circumstance it doesn't strike me as a bad thing to do. Especially considering I have a different IP-adress and it might seem like I'm Petoux pretending to be a different person. Which isn't going to break the suspecion that he isn't the one owning the TheOnlyGhost account. Grah.

This... Is going to be messy. I'm sorry for that. As I said, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Max Dirks
10-12-12, 11:32 PM
TheOnlyGhost is not currently banned VIA account or IP at this time, so I'm not sure what you're talking about.
Letho
10-13-12, 03:05 AM
Also, isn't an IP address linked to your network connection and not your computer? So if you IP ban someone, they can't access the site from that particular location, regardless of the computer they are using. And likewise, if you take your computer somewhere else and use someone's connection, you can technically access the site unless your account is banned as well.
Legion GUA
10-13-12, 06:04 AM
TheOnlyGhost is not currently banned VIA account or IP at this time, so I'm not sure what you're talking about.
Yes, this was quite confusing for me as well when I decided to check whether or not she was banned. However, it seems like both Petoux and TheOnlyGhost are on the same home network, and thus share a single IP address (as there is only one modem going out). I do not know how exactly Petoux was banned, but if it was an IP ban, the ban would affect all people on said network.

I can't say I know TheOnlyGhost, so I can't speak for her. It may be wise to contact her via her e-mail adress to see what is going on her end. Or perhaps check if she and Petoux share the same IP adress to see if that's the problem.


Also, isn't an IP address linked to your network connection and not your computer? So if you IP ban someone, they can't access the site from that particular location, regardless of the computer they are using. And likewise, if you take your computer somewhere else and use someone's connection, you can technically access the site unless your account is banned as well.
This may very well be the situation. I can unfortunately only relay what Petoux tells me (hence the e-mail adress I sent Max Dirks to contact Petoux on).

Update: I have recieved an update from Petoux regarding TheOnlyGhost's situation. It does look like her IP address is banned, despite not having been banned officially. Also, if it's true that the email-adress being shown to contact the staff is invalid, that... Seems like another issue the administrators might want to look into. ^_^;; Though it would explain why I've been asked to come here and relay the message.


Thanks for the update, she is still banned and this is the exact message that is displayed:


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vBulletin Message

Sorry. The administrator has banned your IP address. To contact the administrator click here



She clicked "here" and it lead her to an invalid email address. She tried logging in multiple times in multiple ways and it is still giving the same message. Let them know this, thanks. Keep me updated, she still can't log in ... and she is ancy to roleplay in her threads and talk to her friends asap. Lol
TheOnlyGhost
10-15-12, 10:14 AM
I thought it was a mean practical joke, especially when I was banned at my 100 post EXACT mark. I thought it was a prank, guess not. Oh well, glad it is fixed.
Max Dirks
10-15-12, 10:54 AM
You probably got caught up in the anti-spam system Ghost.

And I think it's been enough time. If Petoux promises not to plagerize and understands he's on a short leash I'll unban him as well.
TheOnlyGhost
10-15-12, 04:34 PM
I'll talk to him about it and let you know. :D

EDIT: What EXACTLY did he do? Because he said he made a bad practical joke in the tournament, but he never joined. O.o
Max Dirks
10-15-12, 05:47 PM
He plagiarized other writers during a tournament.
TheOnlyGhost
10-15-12, 07:20 PM
Not the smartest "joke" I must admit, even if it was "practical". I will let him know though, and let you know if he takes up your offer at all. :D
Legion GUA
10-16-12, 01:41 AM
So, everything's been sorted out now? o.O

Alright. Looks like I'm done here, so thank you for your time, MaxDirks (and everyone else who helped). Hopefully this situation won't occur again.

Goodbye.
Rayse Valentino
10-16-12, 02:02 PM
There were no practical jokes involved. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?22552-Bye-you-got-punked-by-the-way&highlight=Petoux) He pretty much ripped off a lot of different threads, bragged about it, flipped the bird to the site and flounced. I'm surprised GUA.com didn't ban him, considering he stole from them. I don't care if Dirks unbans him or whatever, but he seems pretty unrepentant.
Legion GUA
10-19-12, 01:36 AM
Hello again.

From what I've been told, TheOnlyGhost lost the ability to connect to Althanas again. I am not certain what exactly is going on - maybe the situation which got her 'banned' in the first place has not been resolved yet. In any regard, when she tries to log on, she recieves the message that an administrator has banned her IP address (despite her account showing no sign that she has been banned). This is the message she recieves;


vBulletin Message

vBulletin Message
Sorry. The administrator has banned your IP address. To contact the administrator click here
Max Dirks
10-19-12, 08:17 AM
We use a service called Akismet to handle forum SPAM. It's possible that one of her IP addresses has been tagged by that service. If that is the case, then she would have to contact them directly to have her IP removed from that service. Meanwhile, I suggest she clear her cookies regularly and continue to try and access the site. For good measure, I removed Petoux's IP ban but left his user name ban. He can rejoin the site if he wants, but as a new user/character.
Legion GUA
10-19-12, 08:20 AM
We use a service called Akismet to handle forum SPAM. It's possible that one of her IP addresses has been tagged by that service. If that is the case, then she would have to contact them directly to have her IP removed from that service. Meanwhile, I suggest she clear her cookies regularly and continue to try and access the site. For good measure, I removed Petoux's IP ban but left his user name ban. He can rejoin the site if he wants, but as a new user/character.
I shall relay that information immediately. Thank you for your time.
Luned
10-19-12, 11:55 AM
2707

Sooo, I just tried to register a new handle and received this message. Maybe it's a similar issue?
Max Dirks
10-19-12, 12:22 PM
It's possible. However, I can't duplicate the issue. I just created a new account here at work with no problems.

The program is currently set to test registration emails and IP addresses of known spammers. Then it'll monitor your first few posts for words like "porn," "viagra," etc. If you use them it will moderate you.

Try again and let me know if you can register. If not, we may have to look into a more user friendly SPAM prevention system.
Logan
12-09-12, 10:56 AM
Or you could always use one of the hundred free proxies out there to register. I mean...there ARE ways. ;)