Waffles has been a community I have been part of since OiNK went down. The death of OiNK came as a surprise to me as I think it did everyone, and I joined many torrent sites in hope of finding one that could be a replacement. I decided to stick with What and Waffles, but have invested most of my time in Waffles mostly because of the familiar faces I saw there and its initial “lead” on What. Since I have been here, I have spent a lot of my time helping users in the forum, reporting bad torrents, contributing my own music, and participating in the community. For some reason I felt as if I had an obligation to give back what OiNK gave me. I think this is best exemplified by a persistent effort to contribute to waffles. Besides being part of the community, I have developed somewhat of a kinship with many Waffles/OiNK users many of whom are waffles staff. Some people I can name right of the bat are chelle, lhnz, firestorm (who helped me with my iPod), m3unit07, yemd, zaP, Killjoy are all people I have become quite familiar with. Though I can’t exactly say I have had 100% positive relationships with each, I can say that I think they have been, for the most part, fair and very helpful to myself and others. In light of the overwhelming positive relationships I’ve had with Waffles and its users/staff there have been a number of issues in which I haven’t been on my best behavior and disagreements have arisen. A couple of weeks ago chelle asked me to stop “pestering” users about their account status and m3unit07 asked me to stop querying other staff members about staff decisions. This was more or less a final warning, and I realized it as such so I agreed to both, and halted any such activities. Two days ago, on the 18th of February, I had a conversation with zaP. Before I continue I would like to say I have known zaP/kraut and have become quite familiar with him. My purpose of the conversation was just to say hi more or less and show some interest in him. Anyways, I am including the log so the exact conversation can be noted: Session Start: Mon Feb 18 15:08:26 2008 Session Ident: zaP 02 sup son 02 dude 02 I saw you retired? 02 getting bored or just that kinda time to throw in the towel zaP? 13 both? 02 oh 02 I see.. 02 m3 said they weren't recuriting, that's still true? 02 :X 02 zaP what are you doign with yourself now adays 13 jerking off? 02 thats boring 13 depends 02 mmm 02 meaning what Session Close: Mon Feb 18 15:35:56 2008 I feel that a distinction need be made regarding the “subject” of our topic; at the beginning of waffles (many months ago) I asked zaP whether or not he offered to be staff or was asked. He replied saying that he initially was reluctant but consented to help them out for a while. When I saw that zaP was no longer staff, I assumed that he quit either out of boredom, or his agreement to help out for a while had run through. It did not occur to me that perhaps he was forced to quit or some staff decision had been made regarding him no longer being staff. My question therefore was intended just to ask him about his personal reasons for quitting (in order to determine whether or not his initial statement of “just helping out for a bit” was still true). I feel, therefore, that the subject of my first question was a continuation of a previously held conversation. In no ways did I intend to question staff decisions. The next question asked of concern, “m3 said they weren’t recruiting, that’s still true?” was intended to inquire about the state of waffles: whether or not they needed more help since he was no longer staff. I was not trying to ask about future staff decisions; instead it was just a follow-up question, suggesting that perhaps Waffles needs more help since you are no longer staff. In retrospect I can see how this statement can be interpreted in either way so I didn't persist at the time, but my intent was not to inquire about staff decisions. I am very proud to be part of the Waffles online community, and if I was to be banned I would view it as a major loss. If Waffles didn’t mean anything to me I wouldn’t be writing this explanation. I ask you to give me the benefit of the doubt and look at my point of view – that I wasn’t intending on being nosy about something that isn’t my business, instead that I was showing interest in zaP – and one more chance. I did not mean to inquire about staff decisions, and if it came across that way, I can only apologize and guarantee that I will be extremely careful about any future conversations I have. If anything about this is unclear, feel free to contact me on irc or email me. I realize not everyone gets this treatment so thanks for taking the time to consider, angusb.