@astrowarr
So a full explanation.
Okay, so as you already know, Spongs broke all of the blocks surrounding the obby End platform with the intention of jumping anyone who came through the portal, knocking them off, into the void, and getting their hearts. The first person that Spongs actually tried this on was SB, but SB managed to attack him and knock him off the platform first upon going through. SB then killed Spongs a few times as Spongs had a bed set in the stronghold and so could keep coming back immediately.
Eventually Spongs and SB cut a deal because SB wanted to do this trapping method too! They would work together to attack anyone coming through the portal. Spongs would hit whoever was coming to the End into the void and get the heart and kill credit. Then he would let SB kill him so that the hearts were stored more safely and wouldn't be lost if he got knocked onto the void by whoever they were attacking next. In exchange, SB would get a cut of the hearts. SB even helped Spongs find a better setup for their trap!
So first person that comes through is Zam. Zam had actually happened to find the Stronghold that Spongs had set his bed at and realized what Spongs was trying to do, but SB was killing him doing! Since Zam realized that Spongs/SB was trapping the End platform, upon going through she tried to web her feet immediately upon entering to keep herself from getting knocked off. However for some reason blocks were not allowed to be placed on the obsidian end platform...? So her attempt failed and she was knocked into the void, Spongs earning the heart. (This comes back later which is why I mentioned it, but between Spongs, Zam, Yungy, and Only, none of them had any idea why things were coded into the game to prevent blocks from being placed on/next to the End platform. It made sense to none of them, and to their collective knowledge there wasn't like... Any kind of rule to explain it nor any rule about camping the end platform. Not to mention that this was a poor decision in the longterm given that there are a few farms (obsidian is a big one) that require placing blocks on/next to the End platform! So it was a poor decision to have included it, and no one knows why it was included!)
As per their agreed upon deal, Spongs lets SB knock him into the void to stow the heart they earned for now. But upon respawning, Spongs finds himself caught in a bed trap!!! As it turns out, when Zam happened to find the stronghold that Spongs was at, she used Spongs' respawning and running back into the end death loop that SB was putting him through to find Spongs' bed and to trap it with a pufferfish! So Spongs was trapped at his bed, unable to respawn unless he wanted to go through a pufferfish-induced deathloop! Thankfully for Spongs, he was in a call with Fruitberries and Fruit was willing to come to his bed to free him, but he was pretty far out, so it would take some time. During this time, SB would abandon the trap and go off to do who knows what.
Spongs is eventually freed, and Zam isn't even mad about losing the heart (which SB now has), especially after getting her revenge by bed trapping Spongs and watching him die to a custom-named Pufferfish like 50 times lol.
So Spongs goes back to his posistion, ready to trap, but without SB to help him anymore. He's kinda just accepted that because he wasn't able to get back immediately like they has originally planned that SB would be keeping the heart, which isn't great for him, but it's whatever. He was conned, but that didn't matter a ton.
Next to go through was Loppez who, as you know, combat logged so as to not fall into the void. She was called out on combat logging, but in spite of that, she REFUSED to log back on! Like. Disconnecting upon falling into the void as a split second panic reaction? Understandable. But refusing to log back on to accept the death? Like... Come on! Was the trap cheap and did it suck to get caught in it? YES! But that's the entire point! It's perfectly fine and valid to be mad at having been trapped like that, but ultimately with how Lifesteal works and the rules of the server, it was an entirely fair and valid trap and death! To the point where multiple people knew of the trap and had no issue with the concept of it, up to and including an admin! Loppez, I love you, but you had absolutely NO leg to stand on in those decisions! The only fair thing to do in that situation, I think, is to let Spongs kill/knock her into the void.
Next to go through was SB. Again. But he had an elytra on this time. For this one, here's a clip that includes both perspectives of the events:
SB KNEW that there was a high probability that Spongs was on the other side, actively attacking, immediately locking him into combat because he HELPED SPONGS WITH THE SETUP! SB's argument is that he didn't know that Spongs was there attacking, thus making it a combat situation is only half true. He knew that there was a decent likelihood that Spongs was there and knew that if Spongs was there, it would be a combat situation. SB's argument is that he was already flying when he went into the portal, so he wasn't using the elytra in combat, but rather he was already flying and Spongs just happened to hit him while he was already flying. Because of the previous point, this argument seems pretty disingenuous to me, and seeing the clip only solidified that feeling. Because to me, it looks like he just jumped in regularly, and then immediately used the elytra which is different to already using the elytra upon going through the End portal.
To me, the order of events went like this: Spongs is in combat > SB enters the End > SB (by going to the End) enters combat > SB uses his elytra > SB is hit by Spongs. So to me, SB used his eltyra in combat. But as Infume says in the clip, "What's he going to do? You're an admin."
Honestly, if anyone else was in this situation except for SB, I might be on their side. But the fact that SB collaborated with Spongs on this trap and SB being an admin... It makes me think that SB deserves some kind of punishment moreso than anyone else! Because SB himself is stretching the rules a bit here, but being an admin, he needs to be held to a higher standard than the average player! It comes with the responsibility of being an admin! Like, if it was just some rando who came through the portal, had no idea what Spongs was doing, but saw they were falling into the void and so panicked and used their rockets and elytra, only to realize that this was a trap and they were in combat... Like... I would be more understanding and forgiving of that! And I think Spongs would be too! But this wasn't really an "honest mistake" like that! This was not a split second, knee jerk reaction. It was a series of actions taken delibrately because SB thought that he could get away with it and then argued about it after the fact!
And then of course Flow went through the portal soon after this, and Flow also elytrad away while in combat in very much the same way that SB did. SB was in a call with Flow at the time, talking about everything going on with Spongs, so Flow knew FOR CERTAIN that Spongs was on the other side and attacking!
So after this, Spongs would be forced to give up, the path from the platform to the main End island would be rebuilt, and a new rule would be passed that you can't camp the End platform. Fair enough. But what are the retroactive rulings about all of this going to be?
Spongs' argument was that he should get 6 hearts from all of this. One heart from each of the rule breakers (Loppez, SB, and Flow) for each kill he should have gotten, and an extra heart per rule breaker in exchange for them getting to keep all of the loot that they would have lost to the void. (Before you say this is unreasonably greedy of him, just know that he didn't actually expect to get 6 hearts out of this, and I would say that this was the correct argument to make in the same way that a lawyer argues for their client to get WAAAAAY more compensation than they would strictly need. He's having to advocate for himself in this "court" so to speak, so he should highball things to ensure that his compensation is actually fair upon negotiation.)
For Loppez combat logging, they would give Spongs the heart. However they didn't let Spongs get kill credit, and they let Loppez keep all of her stuff. She got off exceptionally lightly, all things considered! I'm hoping that they're letting her off lightly for now because she's new, we're only abouts a week in, and that this is a warning. But if she does stuff like that again, she will be punished much more harshly!
As for the elytra in combat....... Well.... I already told you what Spongs' argument was, and why I'm more on his side in this debate than on SB and Flow's side. And I can see where people can argue one way or another on if SB and Flow broke the rules or not. And I'm sure that you can make your own argument for wether you thought SB and Flow broke the rules or not.
But.
Basically the council said that Spongs would be getting no further compensation.
Because...
Remember that weird thing about not being able to place blocks on or next to the End platform?
They said that Spongs was breaking the rules by exploiting that... Situation...? To gain an unfair advantage to get kills? And so he would get nothing else...?
But. Like. What!?
That was only relevant in Zam's death! The other 3 didn't have a chance to, nor did they try to place webs! And Zam was fine with her death! She had no issues with Spongs for "exploiting" this odd... Thing that no one had any idea why it was like that! And Zam didn't even see it as particularly unfair! ZAM WAS ON SPONGS' SIDE WHEN IT CAME TO THIS "exploit"!!!!! But also... If this was soooo unfair... Shouldn't SB be punished for aiding Spongs in this trap and for using this "exploit" too...?
Basically it feels like they decided to avoid making a call on if SB and Flow used elytra in combat by saying that Spongs deserves no further compensation even if they did because he was breaking a rule entirely unrelated to the situation....? But... Like... Why was the end platform like that!???? Spongs wasn't even aware that the end platform doing that could lead to him breaking a rule! And if it was causing a rule breaking issue, why didn't SB call it out when he was assisting with the trap!????? It's just a deeply baffling situation!!!!
Ultimately, Flow felt bad about all of this and gave Spongs one of his hearts as compensation. So, like... Spongs got up 2 hearts out if this whole thing, but the decisions they came to were kinda incredibly baffling!!!! So yeah.... Spongs was being treated unfairly in my view, and while he ultimately profited from this, it really doesn't bode the best overall.....
Personally I think that out of this, if they're not going to treat Spongs fairly, fine, whatever. But SB deserves some of the blame here and should be punished for his actions if Spongs is going to be! He's an admin, and that comes with responsibilities. As such, he needs to be held to a higher standard! If he isn't held accountable for trying to stretch rules and circumstances like this and get away scott free for things that Spongs is getting punished for, then that could slide into admin abuse!
Flow, I'm fine with not pursuing him about elytraing in combat. He took responsibility and gave a heart. I hope that Loppezz learns from this experience and doesn't do it again. But SB..... You've been here for a while and should know better! Plus being an admin means that we need better out of you!
Sorry it got so long. Also I apologize if the ending is incomprehensible here. This took several hours and all night to write and I'm dying of exhaustion now! Byeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!
