Full Disclosure: DemonicSei

[salmonofdoubt]

Recently, I was reading the main chat in Lackey and saw a discussion involving DemonicSei. Knowing that his behavior needed monitoring, I tuned in. Someone had posted a link to a site which was apparently created by DemonicSei. It had a list of tournament reports and not much else. I went back to playing magic.

Later that day, someone started talking about the site again in the main chat. This time DemonicSei was present, and denied all knowledge of it. When I went to check the link again, it no longer functioned. Sometime after his site became public knowledge, it mysteriously disappeared. Luckily, a few diligent chatters found that it was still viewable in google's cache, a record from earlier that afternoon.

Edit: Here is a link to the cache:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:p2_w5SEcMo8J:demonicseismagicwebsite.yolasite.com/my-blog/archive/2011/March+demonicsei&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com

Clearly DemonicSei did not want anyone seeing this site. But why? It was just a collection of blog entries about magic decks. Today, after being personally accosted by DemonicSei regarding the recent evidence of him cheating, my curiosity got the best of me. I returned to the remains of the site and noticed that he posted under the name "<NAME OMITTED>" It was the only tidbit of information that DemonicSei could possibly be trying hide.

After a quick google search, I found that the name had been used by many accounts, mostly on Star Wars and Lord of the Rings CCG sites, and something called "Decktech.net". I stumbled across a partial thread on Decktech titled "The Trial of <NAME OMITTED>." Unfortunately, it only contained the last handful of posts made in the thread, but it hinted at something serious. Evidently there had been a mock trial held online to judge <NAME OMITTED> about one year ago. It ended in him getting permanently banned from the site.

After some more scrounging around, I was able to find the entire thread. Some of the links were outdated, but the skeleton remained intact. It's extremely long, but I wasted some time and read through it anyway. I will summarize it for anyone who is interested, but here is the trial in full (read it from the bottom up):


http://www.decktech.net/wars/forums/buzz.php?showmore=1&id=9738


It paints an image of a small, intimate online community that builds, rates, and plays decks for the Star Wars CCG. This thread is from a section on their site called the "buzzboards" where more generalized, off topic discussions are held. Needless to say, the parallels of Decktech to Lackey are uncanny. A person by the name of <NAME OMITTED> had driven some members of this community to the point of desperation. What begins as a farcical suggestion to hold a "trial" in order to decide how to deal with <NAME OMITTED> spirals into a full inquiry with someone representing <NAME OMITTED> as his "lawyer" and a "prosecutor" interviewing witnesses and posting evidence. Watching the process transform from a flame war into a thoughtful debate was quite unique and interesting to read.

As I scanned through the proceedings, it quickly became apparent that DemonicSei was just <NAME OMITTED>e's newest pseudonym. Some of his behavior on Decktech mirrored his actions on Lackey, albeit much more involved given that he had been a member there since December 1995. Many members of the Decktech community had become personally acquainted with him, almost all with strongly negative experiences.

The head moderator of Decktech, "Dredlox," agreed to be the ultimate arbiter, and assigned a defense and prosecution. Of all the people who posted in the thread, Dredlox was the only one who voiced support and empathy for <NAME OMITTED> throughout the entire trial.

After minor debates about how legal rights transferred onto the internet, people started posting evidence of <NAME OMITTED>'s transgressions. Among the posts were accusations of sabotaging deck ratings, spamming email and phone numbers of his perceived enemies, and assuming someone else's identity. But most disturbing were threats of physical harm at tournament meet-ups (some members of the site claimed to not go to said tournaments due to fear of violence).

The main argument of the defense was that <NAME OMITTED> should be given a second chance. He had allegedly gone through some medical issues and was in the process of sorting things out. Additionally, he had served a one month ban without any problems up to that point in time. However, it was immediately met with arguments from people who had suffered at his hands. They countered by saying this was just part of his cycle, and that over the years he has said and done terrible things, pretended to repent in order to regain access to the community, and then fallen back into his old habits. Apparently he had a reputation on another site referred to as "PC" where he had already been permanently banned due to similar behavior. However, he was generally acknowledged to be a master of getting around bans by setting up proxy accounts and using multiple computers to dodge IP tracking.

Over the course of a couple of days and a long statement written by <NAME OMITTED>, the main moderator, Dredlox, posted his decision.

<NAME OMITTED> was banned for a year, and on probation for 10 years after that. His sentence was strict. Any transgressions would lead to an immediate permanent ban with no exceptions. But the main message from the ban was clear: Unplug yourself. Spend some time away from the computer and reorganize your life.

<NAME OMITTED> seemed to take the decision gracefully. He apologized to everyone and even claimed to pay damages by donating money to the Star Wars CCG site in honor of people he had wronged. He took his leave and did not show up again until April 24, 2010. His sentence was issued in March, less than 2 months earlier.

Immediately, there were a flurry of confused replies. No one could imagine why <NAME OMITTED> would violate his ban so quickly and obviously. He was only posting a review and a decklist when he was spotted, but he had still violated his agreement in this thread: http://www.decktech.net/lotr/resources/buzz.php?showmore=1&id=9766

His only supporter, Dredlox, returned to the thread and admitted with a heavy heart that <NAME OMITTED> was permanently banned from the site. But the rabbit hole went deeper. In his attempt to ban <NAME OMITTED>'s main account, he found multiple alternate accounts from the same IP address that <NAME OMITTED> had been using even before April 24th. Users started reporting other abusive accounts they suspected <NAME OMITTED> was running. Most disturbing was the immediate change in policy for Decktech: Dredlox issued an announcement that no new accounts could be made (it was referred to earlier in the trial that the frequent creation of multiple accounts was a cultural expectation of Decktech) unless they were directly approved by him. Through a process of attrition, he would weed out the remaining accounts until Decktech was purged of <NAME OMITTED>. His final words to him were:

"It's just a matter of attrition at that point. Without new accounts, and us diligently banning any old ones that he may still have the password too, he's off the site. <NAME OMITTED>, you are gone. Forever."

How could one person affect a community's customs so thoroughly, cause dozens of people to spend days debating over tiny details of misbehavior, and change a site's policy so completely that it's main moderator would have to waste hours just to get rid of him? <NAME OMITTED> is capable of terrible things. If you read the trial, it is clear that he has been unbalanced at different points in his life. It is also clear that Lackey is his place of refuge after his fallout with Decktech. His post on the Lackey forums from May 5th, 2010 states, "I just recently started playing Magic in real life but this is a blast for me to test decks before buying the real cards (I play standard only)." This was less than two weeks after his transgression on Decktech and permanent ban.

While <NAME OMITTED> also clearly has eras of his life (as reflected by the internet) where he is stable and productive, the Trial of <NAME OMITTED> is a clear and obvious example of his inability to break the cycle of online abuse and trauma he causes. Throughout the entire trial, people claimed that they had heard his song and dance of repentance many times before, and that he would relapse. Those skeptics were not disappointed, and I fear that the Lackey community may be in danger for the same reasons. This post is a necessary step to warn the community about what I have just learned myself.

If we are to coexist with <NAME OMITTED>, then there are lessons to be learned. We should not agitate or goad him at any time. We should be supportive of his activities outside of online CCGs. Evidently he is a father and husband; we should encourage him to spend time with his family.

While I realize that this story may be interpreted as agitation, I believe it is an opportunity for <NAME OMITTED> to see an episode of his life from an outsider's perspective, and to perhaps realize that he has spent too much time online given that a complete stranger can parse together such a detailed narrative using only google. Please, DemonicSei, use this moment to reevaluate your life and your behavior on Lackey. You're welcome here as long as you are the kind, productive <NAME OMITTED>, and not the violent, angry one.

Despite what your history suggests, I hope you can maintain a positive attitude here. I will leave you to contemplate your own words from your defense in the trial:

"Give me a chance and see if I earn it. I'll show you that I will because I like Decktech. In fact, I like it more than any other websites where I participate. Put me on a probationary period. I honestly think that I've eranedthe right to try and remain on a website that I clearly love. You'll also see that I have a lot of reasonable and useful content to offer DeckTech. Just give me a chance to show it."

EDIT: Name omitted by admin

[Cyrus]

posting in an epic thread

[Trevor]

Usually, posting a person's real life information, without their permission, is not allowed and I would remove the references. But since the link provided mentions his real life name, it seems pointless to omit it in this forum. I guess I will, in order to set a precindent in this forum.

I think salmonofdoubt's post was not a witch hunt, but relevant to DemonicSei's behavior on this forum and within LackeyCCG. If I were to remove the post I feel it would be infringing on salmonofdoubt's right to free speech unduly. DemonicSei has an equal right to respond, though I honestly don't think anything fruitful would come out of discussing this.

DemonicSei has claimed he is being slandered. Slander is a tort, not a crime, so no "cybercops" (as DemonicSei refers to) would be involved. Also, there is a simple legal defense to slander: truth. If something is true, there is nothing legal you can do to stop someone from saying it. Salmonofdoubt has done some searching and he found information available to anyone on the internet.

I think what really bothers DemoicSei is that bad things you do on the internet can come back to haunt you.

[Trevor]

I'm sick of all this nonsense. I have given DemonicSei far more chances than most people would have in my situation. I am convinced he is full of bullshit, and I don't trust a thing he says at this point. I'm sick of all his threats and nonsense and after numerous warnings, I've decided to ban him permanently.

I'll let him keep his forum account for a few days since he said he wanted to delete his posts.

[Trevor]

I also want to add that no one should be harassed. If you call and prank DemonicSei (as he says happened) or something like that, that's a dumb and immature thing to do.

[salmonofdoubt]

I also want to add that no one should be harassed. If you call and prank DemonicSei (as he says happened) or something like that, that's a dumb and immature thing to do.

I also hope that no one is harassing him, as goading him will only make things worse. Anyway, I thought you should know about this threat he just PM'ed to me. I had just sent him a message expressing my apologies for what my post caused him (albeit indirectly) when he replied with this:

"He wants YOU to think I was banned. Which is fine by me. I got a new username now and will start over. You on the other hand will get your hands full for having brought my PERSONAL infos on these forums. CyberCops (and I'm also thinking of calling the normal police) have told me so. Unless you retract these links to Decktech (I dont mind the content of your posts), you will have your hand full.

I don't hold a grudge against you, but against what you DID."

I'm not sure how to respond to that. Even in his last hours on Lackey, DemonicSei chose to lie and threaten instead of making amends.

[Trevor]

I am now banning DemonicSei from the forum.

[Hooligan]

Bravo... just... wow.

[BuddyChrist]

Problem is I think he's still around!

[Trevor]

Problem is I think he's still around!

Let me know what name you think he is using and I will investigate.

[heynow]

Just reading this for the first time, and I couldn't stop smiling. I applaud your investigative journalism OP, and I think you are a savior to Lackey. I actually stopped going on Lackey for 5 months because of that asshole. Good riddance.

[Memoriam, the Divine Wind]

God damn...
That was an epic read...

[Dr. Zaj]

I do have a story to share about DemonicSei. It's pretty funny. When I first started off on Lackey, I was trying to find what format I'd like best. I tried Legacy, Extended, and Standard. Then I said "Why don't I try EDH?" DemonicSei mocked me stating that "after giving up on Legacy, Extended, and Vintage, you're just gonna whine and give up on EDH too." I disregarded him and built my first EDH using Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund as my very first General. That was about 3 months ago, and I still play EDH on Lackey; so if any of you sees DemonicSei, tell him Dr. Zaj says "IN YOUR FACE!"

[broccolisbane]

I had mixed experiences with DemonicSei. I remember first encountering him playing edh. I was playing a removal heavy deck, which pissed him off, so he started accusing me of copying a decklist off of the internet. I explained tat it was a deck I'd built from my real life collection, but that didn't satisfy him. We ended up arguing for like an hour, which led to a discussion on...education reform of all things. He claimed to be the principal of a school, I don't know if it's true or not, but either way we managed to stand each other after that, and have some enjoyable games in the future. Too bad he couldn't stop his destructive behavior.

[Ayotte]

Good to hear this man has finally been brought to justice after months of his harassing me and blocking off games I started.  He repeatedly threatened me including by forum private messages and escaped banning by pretending he was being impersonated, and his harassment was so unpleasant that I quit using Lackey and started playing on modo.  I checked up on the forums today and I'll surely be using Lackey again.