Yes folks this story gets more shameful by the minute.
For those of you new to this story, Magic The Gathering Pro Tour competitor Lucas Florent has received a lifetime ban as a result of posting "threats of personal physical violence" against Helene Bergeot, Director of Organized Play Programs for Wizards.
Lucas Florent, or someone posting as Lucas, has posted the following comment on MTGFrance.com forum-
"I made a joke on the french forum, i said i was going to rape helene bergeot at worlds, after the announcent, i personally know helene and i sait right after it that i was gonna have a talk with her about the meaning of the announcments, and know i receive this.
Lifetime Suspension / Revocation Worlds 2011 Invitation
Hello Lucas Florent,
This message is to inform you of the result of an investigation stemming from threats of personal physical violence made in an Internet forum against a specific Wizards of the Coast tournament official on November 2nd, 2011. While dissent, feedback, and opinions on the game of Magic and Wizards’ Organized Play strategy are welcome, threats of personal violence are not tolerated.
Your DCI membership is suspended permanently. Your invitation to Worlds 2011 in San Francisco November 17-20 is revoked. You are not eligible to participate in DCI-Sanctioned events. You are not permitted to enter the venue of any Grand Prix, Nationals, Pro Tour, or Worlds event locations. Violation of this prohibition may result in further action including that of local law enforcement and other legal action. You are not permitted to participate in WPN/DCI events under this suspension in any fashion. All future prizes, byes, invitations, or other benefits of your members are also forfeit.
If you have questions regarding the above, or wish to add to the investigation's evidence by further statement, please reply.
Andrew Heckt
Wizards of the Coast"
Later in the day Lucas Florent, or someone posting as Lucas, has posted the following comment on gatheringmagic.com
"Im still flying to SF, i clearly understand the difference between our cultures now, i m not saying any of them is the best, but in eurpoe we have president inviting girls to sexual parties on camera and this doesn t make much noise.
I understand the post the the people who say it can never be a joke, that s how you grew up, i recently started working in an american company and we had a whole course on sexual harassing, something you dont even hear of in france.
Again my words were wrong and i even explained my self right after that, i should maybe had deleted it, but yeah this forum is basically of 200 people who know each other, and it didnt shock anyone in there, everybody understood it as a joke, in fact it only got backtraced via a threat (of the other guy alexandre something) that he posted on a personal website, and then they found this post."
And believe it or not, people are coming to this guys DEFENSE!
I posted my thoughts on this yesterday-
"This should serve as an example to all the internet trolls out there. There are consequences to your actions on the internet!
I praise WOTC for this move."
And got this response to my thoughts-
"You are incredibly stupid and ignorant. I hope you'll die in a fire."
Talk about missing the point.
This is not just a black mark on MTG players, but on all gamers.
Thus far this is the best comment I have seen in all of this-
From gatheringmagic.com- "Your words have consequences? Who knew. Apparently a lifetime of being snarky on the internet doesn't prepare you for the real world. Try making that joke at any job or professional setting and see how it goes over.
The penalty may be harsh but it sets a clear example for others."
Truer words were never spoken.
Read more about this story here-
http://www.gatheringmagic.com/player-receives-lifetime-ban-for-threatening-wizards-employee/
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I get that there are some differences in culture, but I don't buy that anybody in their right mind can think to get away with a rape "joke." Europe is a hotbed of human-made calamities such as genocide and "ethnic cleansing," and any European trying to hide behind the defense of "this is okay here," is clearly ignoring their own history. Or learning nothing from it.
ReplyDeleteRape is not funny, and I think the punishment fits. If somebody at my table threatened to rape another player, they would be out of the game and asked not to come back. Why should it be any different for a tournament?
As to the awful replies people are getting over this, it is an unfortunate truth that people in general enjoy the anonymity of the internet to shield them against the terrible and stupid comments they make. The gamer community is certainly no exception. Both tabletop and video games attract kids, who have yet to develop the skills for clear and critical conversation, as well as some adults who never developed those skills.
We are not all like that, and like any community, should not be judged only on the bad behavior of a few of our individuals.
Many great points. Thanks for the feedback.
ReplyDeleteI still cant get over people thinking this punishment was "harsh".
For crying out loud people have gone to jail for saying what he did!
He can no longer play a card game. That's the kind of punishment you give a child who flunked math!
He got off easy.