Ginlang - Indefinite Suspension

  • Ginlang has been suspended indefinitely for leaking admin discussions (specifically, a short excerpt of a discussion regarding a fairly controversial ex-admin as of recent) to a group of non-admins, which eventually dripped down into said ex-admin's hands. This suspension is the result of a lengthy investigation that was initially top secret, with only a select few knowing about the situation. Once I ruled out all Senior Admins as suspects, the investigation became knowledge to them as well. As I've concluded the investigation, I'm making the results public in the interest of transparency.

    What happened?

    On March 30, _TheRedX sent me a screenshot of a few recent messages from an admins-exclusive channel on the Discord server, giving his thoughts about the matter. When I demanded to know who was leaking the screenshots, unsurprisingly he refused to give the identity. The fact that he of all people was able to see messages in admin channels immediately raised the alarm for me, so I swiftly began an investigation. However, to avoid making the mistakes made when Anti was suspended, I decided to handle this investigation by gathering evidence first and then talk to suspects afterwards.

    The approach I took to this was highly unusual: I actually collected little details about the leaked screenshot and compared them to screenshots posted by all staff members with access to the channel. The three important things I figured out from the leaked screenshot that I used to figure out who was responsible for the leak is as follows:

    • Horizontal screen resolution (original was cropped)
    • Country of origin (calculated using timezone differences)
    • Discord theme

    If all three factors matched the leaked screenshot, the admin was considered a probable suspect. The reason I didn't consider it the smoking gun was in case there were more than one admin who fit these parameters.

    Evidence

    This is the screenshot that ended up getting leaked:
    https://i.imgur.com/EGTLbiL.png

    From that screenshot, I learned a few things about the screenshot and its leaker:

    • The screenshot was taken on a mobile device with a screen that has a horizontal resolution no greater than 720 pixels.
    • The leaker was using the AMOLED dark theme exclusive to the mobile app, with profile pictures being set to a rather large size.
    • The screenshot was taken by someone in a European country within 2 hours of the messages being sent.

    When I compared those details to details gathered from screenshots posted by every admin, ginlang fit all three pieces of criteria. His phone screen had a resolution of 720x1600, he had the Discord AMOLED theme enabled, and he was from the United Kingdom.
    https://media.videogamesm12.me/QemCaqtFteqi4wjH.png

    The smoking gun was the fact that all the icon and font scaling lined up perfectly in addition to the others. Nobody else fit the description as well as he did.
    https://media.videogamesm12.me/BmVCIlUpskIf68St.png

    (Background is the leaked screenshot, the foreground is a screenshot Ginlang posted elsewhere).

    I confronted him about it, and thankfully he admitted that he was the source, though he claimed that he wasn't the one who screenshotted it, but someone else who was watching a screenshare he was doing elsewhere when he was briefly in the channels. You can believe him or not, it doesn't matter as he still allowed non-admins to see an excerpt of a serious conversation in admin channels.

    What's going to change

    The situation highlighted a flaw in how much of a gray area the staff conduct policy is when it comes to what information can be provided and what can't be. In the near future, I am going to start working on a policy that clarifies what information can be provided and what cannot be, so non-serious things (like joke remarks posted in the admin chat) wouldn't be considered a big deal. It would also introduce more transparency as players can then request things like how many entries they have in the punishment log. However, for the time being, this suspension will fall under the old policy, but future cases will be treated with this new policy once it is completed.

    image.png

  • This isn't worthy of its own thread, but due to the nature of the offence not being inherently malicious and the honesty displayed by ginlang even when he knew what was coming, he will continue as a hub moderator.

    Patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter.

  •   uvb Anti’s suspension was for the exact same leak you were responsible for. Don’t pretend like you did not know that, it was the most talked about topic in admin-discussion for a while.

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      uvb plus why would I have said anything? It’s up to the admin officers at the end of the day and I didnt have a say in anything.

    This is ridiculous. You were the one who leaked the screenshots. If you saw Anti get taken down for something you did, and you kept silent, you’re an asshole. About Video having the final say, if you told him it was you he would have definitely taken that seriously - as would have all the senior admins.

    You were dishonest when you let Anti get suspended for leaking DMs. There were countless admin-chat discussions about a mole in the server, and you not only kept quiet about you being the mole, but you also contributed to said discussions. There was a mention of a mole on the forums too, on an admin-only thread - I find it hard to believe that you did not know the admin officer team was on the lookout for the mole. You still kept quiet.

    I am contemplating filing an IBR for you as you watched Anti get suspended for something that you did, which I can argue is the equivalent of framing someone.

  • Quote

      RedEastWood Zarcana’s suspension was for the exact same leak you were responsible for.

    Anti's suspension was not for leaking this screenshot. iirc it was for the IP addresses that were leaked the same day.

    Quote

      RedEastWood If you saw Zarcana get taken down for something you did, and you kept silent, you’re an asshole.

    You could call me an asshole but it would not have changed the fact that my say wouldn't have done anything, Video unsuspended anti because he has the authority to.

    Quote

      RedEastWood You were dishonest when you let Zarcana get suspended for leaking DMs

    Again she did not leak DMs.

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      RedEastWood discussions about a mole in the server, and you not only kept quiet about you being the mole,

    If you read the entirety of the post you would know that it was not intentional. I still take full responsibility and accountability for it.

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      RedEastWood I am contemplating filing an IBR for you

    Not necessary though, me being suspended is not enough for you?

    Quote

      RedEastWood you watched Zarcana get suspended for something that you did

    Again, anti was not suspended for something that I did.

    Quote

      RedEastWood which I can argue is the equivalent of framing someone.

    I haven't framed anyone in this situation.

  • Quote

      uvb Anti’s suspension was not for leaking this screenshot. iirc it was for the IP addresses that were leaked the same day.

      uvb Again, Zarcana was not suspended for something that I did.

      uvb Again she did not leak DMs.

    I am telling you, she got suspended because of the same DMs you leaked. You do not know more than me about this. I was at the forefront of investigating the leaks and I know for a fact that Anti was suspended because of what you did.

    Quote

      uvb You could call me an asshole but it would not have changed the fact that my say wouldn’t have done anything, Video unsuspended Zarcana because he has the authority to.

    This entire argument is nonsensical. Video is an incredibly competent EAO and if you had told him it was you, it would have been much easier for all of us.

    Do you really want to go toe-to-toe over what seems to be such a one-sided argument? I don’t understand what leg you even have to stand on. Anti was suspended for what you did, and you kept quiet. It was also the topic of conversation in admin lounge for a few days - leaking DMs in particular.

    Either way, I will open the IBR and we can see which argument holds more weight. Us arguing amongst ourselves is pointless.

  •   uvb Please, we are not stupid.

    This is what the suspension post reads-

    “by cooperating with a rogue player and providing an unauthorized player with access to admin-only channels and information.“ - nothing about IPs is mentioned. It is mentioned that they cooperated with a rogue player, which is exactly what you did. It is mentioned that they provided an unauthorised player with admin-only channel view, which is exactly what you did.

    You also liked that post.

  • Final smoking gun.

    On discord someone asked why Anti was suspended.

    You replied with this: “Afaik they were suspended for leaking admin only channels to people”

    Quote

      uvb iirc it was for the IP addresses that were leaked the same day.

    Not only have you lied to me, you have treated me like an idiot. Any chance of sympathy is lost.

    EDIT - I have undertaken the necessary steps to post an admin-only discussion on this forum. Here is ginlang admitting to knowing why Anti got suspended, and knowing that she got suspended for what he did

    https://i.postimg.cc/9QX2GXTR/FDEC2…-B0369-B348.jpg