Maybe my last shot at getting my scammer tag removed

So, having spoken to a few people now, I've decided to post here in the hope that I might get some actual help, and not simply get dismissed. I'm not certain that anything will come of this, but I have more than a few grievances and I'm not certain this should be posted in the ban appeals forum because it's not a SR ban, but here goes...

The long and short of it is that some time ago, back in March, some one on my friends list tried to scam me out of a Bill's hat in a spy crab bet, once I realised I'd been set up, I refused to pay, and they used their personal connections with an admin to threaten to get me banned for not paying, and consequently, after I refused to be blackmailed, I received a ban.... And so here I am.

This happened on RAWR servers and I think this is a link to the original ban appeal,
http://rawrtradeclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=964. As I've appealed there twice already, the first time I think my point was missed or simply ignored, and the second time I was as good as ignored, and then banned from the forums. (http://rawrtradeclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1799)

The event took place very late at night, early in the morning about 3 am and as a consequence I was playing with my sound turned OFF so as not to disturb my family. This 'Friend' and I had agreed to spycrab for a Bill's hat in one of the rawr trade servers, mostly to get a reaction from the rest of the server. The friend, some girl named stefneh claimed to often do spycrab bets, and often bragged to me in private msg about all the stuff that she'd won from them, I explained to her that I'd never spycrabbed anything before because I don't normally like gambling, and she said that it was ok, we'd have a 'practise' run so i could see how it worked, in which case she WOULDN'T claim the payment off me. She spent some time telling me the rules in private message and explained that the first to 3 spycrabs would WIN, in my naivety I assumed that she was just being friendly, and not setting me up.

Whilst we were talking in priv, bearing in mind, whilst the steam overlay is up in game chat can not be seen, she started pasting different rules ( now I see to be the common/correct ones) into the in game chat box... knowing that I was typing and reading in priv not able to see it, and knowing that what she wrote would soon be sent off screen by trade chat spam, also knowing that everyone else in the server would see it and it would be recorded on server logs, and knowing that I was unable to hear neither her, or anyone else on voice. Consequently, we started our 'practise' spycrab game, and I was first to 3 spycrabs. She then demanded payment in the in game chat, and started threatening me in priv to get an admin to ban me. I first of all refused to pay based on our original agreement, and the fact that she'd used different rules, and after a short while she started posting comments supposedly from an admin 'friend' who said they'd ban me unless I paid her. This all seemed suspicious, so again, I refused, as I thought this was another tactic to scam be using blackmail.

In the mean time however whilst we're arguing in priv, and unable to see the game window, the admin did post a single message saying for me to pay or get banned - which I didn't see. The admin however did not speak to me in priv, to ascertain my side of events, instead taking her word in priv and using only her information to ban me. stefneh did not file a formal ban request in rawr forums, and consequently the admin used only the server logs as evidence to ban me for spycrab scamming, even though I was going to be the victim.

ultimately I was so taken in by the argument that she and I were having in private message that i could not see the in game chat window, or single console message, nor hear any verbal communication as my sound was turned off, as I'd explained to her. I offered to play again as we'd arranged, where all rules were known and made open, but she refused, demanded payment and then got an admin friend to ban me.

I am at this point now where I have had to explain this to many people, all of whom are surprised to see that I'm a marked scammer, basically, because I'm not. I have tried to appeal at rawr, and have been dismissed as I mention before, and I find the admins there generally unhelpful and rude, not just with me, but I see many other examples too. (such as http://rawrtradeclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1462 )

I'm posting here to hopefully get some help about potentially getting my steamrep tag removed, because it's really ruined my trading experience, though I'm aware I won't get unbanned from rawr,as that is out of steamrep control. What I am upset about is that I'm now banned from many other communities and marked at many more, when I all I have done is avoid what I can see now to be a very clever con artist. I don't think this is fair.

Thank you all for your time.

Mark, a.k.a JulieT.

p.s. the girls name JulieT, I get alot of questions about it, it's not wierd, it's my daughters name, hope that helps.

Your point was not missed. Your arguments were addressed. Paying back an item to avoid a scammer tag isn't a get out of jail free card.

I'm aware that paying stuff back isn't get out of jail free? But I have nothing to pay back, I didn't gain anything.... I didn't scam anything in this situation, I've essentially been marked a scammer for avoiding being a scam victim ? I don't understand how that is justified...

You ran from a spycrab that you lost. You are obligated the pay the bills hat.
A spycrab gamble is not automatically a scam.

I agree with this. I liked the analogy in the first ban appeal, you can't enter a poker game and if you lose $500, you can't just walk off with the money like it never happened.

It seems you too have missed the point of my argument Duskfall, As far as I am conerned, I had WON the spycrab bet, and more over I was under the impression that it was a practise anyway, so nothing was due to be paid, either way. My argument state the evidence that i've been banned on it setup, and incomplete, making it out as though i ran from a spycrab, though this is not the case.

Take the pants - you suggest I should have paid the bet, even though I was being scammed myself ? if you found yourself in the middle of a scam, would you simply pay anyway, and let yourself get scammed ?

No you lost. Your interpretation of the gamble was the exact opposite of the rule set forth before the spycrab began. Your opponents said that first to 3 loses. You still continued without complaint, so you are bound to the rules set forth, even if you were too inattentive to know what the actual rules were.

From the original appeal:

Your fault.

Well put Duskfall, pretty clear I think.

I don't think you guys read his post. He was saying that different rules were being given to him over steam chat and so he wasn't aware of what was being said over the server.

Now there isn't really any way for him to prove this, and he could very well be lying (I didn't read any of his appeals), but that's what he said. According to the rules he said he was given, he won the crab.

Unless he has screenshots of this, there's no way to verify this story.

I did clarify the rules, I clarified the rules in the priv chat, several times before the match began, this however obviously hasn't been included in the server logs to which everyone refers to. Why would I repeat myself in both in-game and in-priv chats ? How can I be held accountable for the lies that some one else has told after rules have already been agreed...?

I understand, and I'm not trying to give an opinion on his appeal, but I felt like everyone responding missed that he said that

My apologies then, but my points remain the same.

Thank you Jeremy, you are the first to even acknowledge my side of events.

Unfortuantely I did not get screen shots, because at the time, I wasn't aware there was going to be a problem, and I don't routinely screenshot ALL my priv conversations, and to my knowledge thay're not logged anywhere on my computer ( if they are please tell me).

If i had screenshots, this problem would have been resolved a long time ago, and I wouldn't be here now trying to explain my situation. The reason i'm posting here and not ban appeals is because I don't yet have screenshots or other definitive proof as Duskfall suggests, and I was hoping for some help on how to go about getting it, or going about other ways in which I might show that i'm telling the truth.

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Some notes.

Well, link your steam account to your forum account (requirement), and make a proper appeal here in the appeal section, following the guidelines. Link from that to this topic, and from this topic to that thread. Once done so this topic will be locked and I'll look into it.

I would not argue any more and take DataStorm's instructions and follow them right away. At this point you have no evidence or any way of gathering evidence. DataStorm may be able to help you with your plea so listen to him and follow his instructions. He is willing to give you the time of day to look outside the box and give you a chance to be heard one on one with an admin. Maybe even help you if you have enough credit to your name out there.

Thank you DataStorm for considering my perspective, I'll get on it right now, sorry it's taken me so long to respond, I've been at work.

I can't however seem to see the notes you've written where you've put "Some notes" - I can't find a link in that post, nor do I see the notes themselves in the post - I think I've missed something there...

no you didn't miss anything, for those notes are only viewable by admins.