[The_Muffin_Man_]

Server you were banned on (SMP/Discord): SMP

Minecraft name: The_Muffin_Man_

Reason for your ban: X-ray

Who banned you: RTY/melaniebeedot

Why should you be unbanned: Okay, I am in a difficult position so I will try my best to reconcile it by being 100% up front and honest. I am not trying to avoid taking responsibility, I am not trying to weasel my way out of anything, I just want to explain myself so hopefully things can be worked out. I realize how dumb this may sound and how it may sound like I'm simply lying,but I was not x-raying. I realize that this is what all x-rayers say but I legitimately was not x-raying. Firstly, I would like to say that I acknowledge how x-raying is awful. It is a cheat that seriously ruins SMP servers like hometown and never in a thousand years would I succumb to using it. It isn't fair to those who earn money legitimately and it can easily ruin server economies. I 100% do not condone its usage and think it is a cheap and dirty hack to use. In realizing that it is hard defend myself in saying that I wasn't using it, I will try my best to be honest at every turn and try to explain my behavior. I'll start from the beginning. I had just started playing on the server again and was advised that the quickest way to earn money was by mining. I had earned about a thousand dollars by selling items from the drop party and thus quickly invested in a god pick and devoted myself to mining. At least initially, I was mining with XRenaissance who I bet could also testify that I was mining in my legitimate fashion. My mining style is odd, but I believe I have perfected it after years of play. I /wild, dig about either in zig zags or straight strips (I also hope to find caves or ravines to make it easier). Then, every so often, I dig perpendicular to my tunnel from my position as far as my reach allows because I believe that allows me to uncover some ores that are hiding from my 1 block tunnel or Cave limited point of view and this sometimes works, but it oftentimes does not as well. I'm sure evidence will show that I dig these off-shoot tunnels and find nothing but cobblestone many times. I will say this, over the last couple of days my mining efforts have been more lucky than I could've hoped and sometimes I would dig a tunnel and soon find diamond and I would literally think "Oh my lord, they're gonna think I'm x-raying" and sometimes I almost even said this in chat but decided against it because it might needlessly incriminate myself. In general, I believe that my odd mining style (which I would be glad to elaborate more on) in combination with a decent amount of luck (even though there were stretches where I found nothing but cobble) attributed to what may seem like x-ray. I even dreaded this combination when I was mining but figured I was being paranoid. I realize that this combination of factors may clearly seem like an x-rayer trying to cover for himself, and there's not much I can do against this. I am trying to be as thorough and honest as possible and I will cooperate with all future inquiry too, but you must believe me I was not x-raying. Another thing is that I would always bring plenty of torches with me and keep my mining well-lit. This may be wrong but I think x-rayers do not need to use torches. There was one time I was mining a tunnel in the dark with my screen brightness on max and my face pushed closer to the screen because I was too lazy to grab more torches but in general I always use torches. There also must be evidence of me /wild'ing to places, digging straight down and then digging some short tunnels only to find nothing and then /wild'ing to another location to try my luck again. I could be wrong but I don't think x-rayers do this. With my luck, came many periods of the worst luck, where I just mined basic ores and cobble for a while, hopefully this shows and at least slightly bolsters my case. I apologize for the lengthy appeal I just really am trying to show all the evidence that might even slightly suggest that I was not x-raying. I wish I had more evidence than logic, but I will keep trying. I literally dreaded that this might happen whenever I found diamonds quickly so maybe I should've taken some screenshots or something. You can ask XRenaissance and I bet he would be able to testify that there were times when I couldn't find a dang thing and how I mined a straight tunnel for who knows how long. I can't do much but promise you that I was not using x-ray, and hope that this lengthy, thorough appeal gives that notion credit. If I was x-raying I would have simply owned up to it and pledged to do better, but I really was not using x-ray hacks. If you would like more explanation I would gladly give it to you, I realize my situation and will do almost anything to reconcile it but I really think this is a misunderstanding. I spent hours mining, in my thorough, yet odd, style and had some luck and some misfortune. I was partially with a friend who can hopefully back me up. I used tons of torches in almost all my mining efforts. I would never betray the server that I love and hopefully this degree of explanation reflects that. Using x-ray on a server like this would be an awful thing to do, and I recognize that and would never ever do it. Please believe me. Also, I mined all different types of ores, even though I was targetting diamond, and if I'm not mistaken, most x-rayers seldom pay attention to these other materials, like coal, of which I mined many stacks.



Why do you want to come back: I just began to play hometown again after months of being unable to. I love playing on this server and would never intentionally break the rules. I 100% understand the actions of the staff. I realize how part of my mining efforts may have seemed suspect, and am not mad at them, I simply believe that there is a misunderstanding here. I love the community of a server like this and I was playing with a good friend. I would not have wanted to ruin it by using an awful cheat. I even bought VIP2 because I love the server so much. It truly is a remarkable server and I really want to be a part of it again. I promise I will never use any cheats, and that I never have. They create unfair advantages and honestly ruin the work of many and the general honest vibe of a server like hometown. If I am let back on, I pledge to continue to be straightforward with my affairs and be honest in my play. I was not using x-ray hacks and I would happily explain myself further if it will help let me back on. I love this server and would never jeopardize my connection with it. I realize the weaknesses of my argument but I implore you to recognize my thoroughness and straightforwardness. Please believe me. Thank you for considering me. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to clear my name.

Sincerely,
Muffin

[The_Muffin_Man_]

I’ve been thinking a lot about this because I’ve never been in this situation before where I have to defend myself against a misunderstanding (Again, I don’t blame anyone, just want to figure this out) and I’d just like to add some things if that’s okay. Firstly, I have been looking at past ban appeals of x-rayers (mainly in fear of what might happen) and I noticed that people who came clean were given temp bans and the one I could find who claimed innocence was not forgiven. This makes me a little scared but hopefully it means something that I still maintain that I was not using x-ray hacks, even knowing that this is a more hazardous position to take. Even in some of my mining I realized I was getting lucky but there are several instances that I hope you can find (I can specifically remember one from yesterday morning) where I employed the exact same mining strategy at a number of locations and for a long time was unable to find anything. I think these cases of regular, unsuccessful mining are also important to consider. I apologize if this seems excessive or jumpy or rushing or anything. I just really don’t know what to do here, I’m scrounging for anything to help my case. I legitimately was not x-raying and hopefully my hours of unsuccessful mining using the exact same mining techniques will show that.  I apologize that I must maintain this position but it is the truth. I just hope you look for evidence of these unsuccessful trips to see what I mean. Thank you again for all that you do, I’m just kind of freaking out and wanted to provide some more things to consider. Please take your time, I will not bother you again!

[LegendaryRTY]

Hello. I have collected a range of images of your mining leading to diamond veins.
This collection can be found here:


Instance 1: In this first instance you mine straight down, continue straight ahead right into a diamond vein.


Instance 2: You decide to mine straight ahead, right into another diamond vein.


Instance 3: You can just get a glimpse of your mine in the right upper corner. From here you mine down, make a left, heading straight to a diamond vein.


Instance 4: You are exploring a cave. Then you mine through a wall to hit diamond. Behind this you can also (slightly) see that you went through the wall a second time, also to hit a diamond ore.


Instance 5: Here you mine into a wall of a ravine where you found a diamond vein.


Instance 6: Here you mine straight down from a mineshaft and go straight to a diamond vein.


Instance 7: You mined straight down to a cave from a mineshaft. Then you go the end of said cave and dig straight down to a vein of diamonds. 

In all of these instances you find your way directly to a diamond vein. Of course 1 or 2 instances can be luck, but i cannot believe that one can mine directly to diamond at least 7 times with the precision that you show in these images. Furthermore, x-rayers don't always go for diamond only. They also tend to mine easy sell-able items like gold, lapis and iron. I have also come across x-rayers who use torches, so that remark doesn't make any sense regarding this matter. 
I must say that after reviewing these images, it leaves me without any doubt that you did use some sort of cheating to aquire the diamonds in the images above. I implore you to come clean instead of hiding behind a bunch of excuses.

[The_Muffin_Man_]

Please listen to me. I have looked at all these pictures and realize how it seems too good to be true. I really just want to play again and if it requires a forced "confession" I can do so but I legitimately was not using x-ray and I realize that this is extremely hard to explain. At this point I'm tempted to "confess" just because I want to play at some point. But I NEED to be honest here and I am NOT making excuses. I am trying to present the facts. I will try to reason each photograph and also point you to more evidence. This will be rather difficult as I do not remember each instance. I honestly don't know how to proceed because I am legitimately telling the truth and the more I write the more hopeless I become. Please try and read the whole thing because I will also endeavor to provide counterexamples along the way. Could I perhaps talk over some sort of voice chat, because I would really like to explain myself as best as I can. For the first image, I can't quite tell what's happening but it shows a couple things. I mine straight down and then branch out, how I usually start. Firstly, if I was x-raying, why wouldn't I just mine from the top right into the ravine to save mining and then mine the diamonds from there? Additionally, you can see from other parts of this ravine that I mine into ravine walls at diamond level frequently, in several places. I take many shots at finding diamonds by off-shoots and am often unlucky. In the least, I would say that that mining straight down and then to the side was luck, and I hate to say it because I feel like that just makes me seem suspicious. I want to provide a little idea: when I make these offshoots my goal is to precisely find diamond. They are short and they are numerous. When one offshoot succeeds it will look like a precise strike toward diamond. But I beg you to look back at all my numerous offshoots that did not find diamond. So when a few offshoots succeed out of many, they will seem lucky but I believe it's partially just bound to happen with repetition. I have a specific instance I remember yesterday morning where I did these exact strategies and found basically nothing. I would dig straight down and then in several directions only to find nothing. There is actually one of these many unsuccesful instances shown of this strategy in photographs 4 (to the right), photograph 6 (twice to the left and twice to the right), and in photograph 7 (3 times to the right). And there are a ton more of these failures in other places if you check my mining history. This happened MANY times, especially during this morning. Please look for these. I employed the same strategies as in these photographs and found NOTHING. Here's another strategy of mine: If I found a mineshaft or a cave that is not at diamond level, I like to go to a deadend of a tunnel and dig straight down to diamond level and then do some strips. or I dig through the cave wall if it is on diamond level. Sometimes this works as shown in photograph 6 and 4 but there were many times yesterday morning and that night where that strategy was unsuccesful. Also, for the most part, my diamond digging ends at level y=11 (common diamond level) and I hardly ever go beyond this level, which I believe x-rayers would not hold as a boundary, they would just go wherever diamonds are. I believe that photographs 1 and 5 are explained broadly by my basic strategy to mine straight down and branch out or to mine through many sections of the walls in ravines. I recognize that in these instances I was rather lucky but even other sections of these photos as well as many other instances that you can check show me doing this exact same strategy to no avail. I believe photographs 2,4, 6, and 7 are broadly explained by my tendency to do either of these things at a dead end of a mine shaft or cave tunnel: dig straight down if I am not yet at diamond level or strip mine forward if I am at diamond level. I specifically remember many instances of this same strategy in a mine shaft yesterday morning where I employed this same strategy MANY times and found largely nothing. I recognize that it may seem like I am fishing for excuses but I seriously believe these are aspects of my mining strategy that where some successful attempts out of MANY. If I was using x-ray, I would certainly come clean. I realize that has better chances of getting me unbanned, but the reason I don't is because I was legitimately not using x-ray hacks. I know it sounds dumb but please consider that there is a possibility that there are sometimes cases of luck combined with one's mining style and many many attempts that are not cases of x-ray. Please look for the many times on that night and yesterday morning where I largely did these same strategies and didn't do nearly as well. If I was guilty, I would 100% come clean and move on, and I see how the photos look, but I insist that I was not using any ore-finding hacks. You even pointed out that I don't fully understand the tendencies of x-rayers so that might suggest I am not one. I realize these may seem like the desparate excuses of a guilty x-rayer, but I would have no reason to lie nor x-ray in the first place. To me, they seem like someone who knows that they are telling the truth and scrounging for all facts that might suggest to others that they are. I am desparate to play again, but also desparate to be believed. I can go into more detail if you wish, as well. The photograph I have the hardest time trying to explain is Photograph 3. I do not remember this instance well and perhaps this is where I get the luckiest, but I will try my best to convey what my thought process was. On the righthand side, I see what looks like a strip mine, or is maybe a cave. If it is a cave then this is consistent with my tendency to mind to diamond level at deadends in caves. If this is a strip mine, then I must have realized that I was not at diamond level and then in either case proceed to my basic strategy: dig straight down to diamond level and then branch out. It looks like in this case I branched out and found some iron and coal, which I dug in my zig-zag fashion through, and finally found diamond. I realize how it looks, but this is the best way that I can explain it. Please consider these 3 main strategies of mine that even these photos show to be consistent in success as well as failure. I ask one last time that you look for the many times where these exact same strategies are used unsuccessfully. I am not trying to argue with you. If I simply saw these pictures, I would probably assume x-ray as well. But please consider these other factors and that this may be one of the cases where it is simply a mistake. I know how this sounds. If I was guilty, I wouldn't waste my time, or yours, saying any of it. But consider that if I was innocent, simply trying to make sense of the truth, this is what I would say and have said. I hope that any of this can help me at all. If there is anything I can do please let me know. I will talk via a voice chat, I can find any sort of file that may help. I will elaborate more, I will even "confess" if you want me to even though I insist it would not be truthful. In short, I would do anything to get back on this server and hope that these appeals have been a start. Another thing these photos show is my consistent torch usage if that's anything. I apologize if I seem aggressive or dramatic but I genuinely don't know what to do here. I promise that I am telling you the truth as best as I can although at this point I don't know if I have any chance. Please let me know if there's anything else I can do.

Sincerely.
Muffin

[The_Muffin_Man_]

I have also spoken with XRenaissance who was a witness and can testify if needed. I also have someone else in mind who could give a character testimony if necessary. Thank you again.

[melaniebeedot]

Alright. Let me just start by saying that we don't take player testimonies of character. Anyone can get their friend to back them up, and even friends don't always know when you're using hacks, so player testimonies are not accepted.

Secondly, all of your testaments to "what an x-rayer does/doesn't do" contrasted with your explanations of your own mining tactics, are not proof that you aren't x-raying. We've seen plenty of x-rayers that try to hide their x-raying by employing normal mining tactics some of the time to seem less suspicious.

I have taken the time to review all of your mines myself, as well as I have asked another admin to take an objective 3rd-party look at your mines for an unbiased second opinion, and it has been concluded that we believe beyond a reasonable doubt that you have used x-ray here on Hometown.

Appeal denied.