First off, let me just say I really appreciate those stepping up to bat for me here and all the kind messages I've received besides. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the sentiment and love to see the league coming together as a united community on anything, let alone this whole mess.
Second, I feel it's important to emphasize that I am not innocent in all of this and do need to take some responsibility here - while I was never shown the data myself, I can confirm I should have been more diligent about following established deadlines and ensuring late submissions were not awarded TPE. Having not done a deep dive myself I can't tell you how many times it happened either due to me providing leeway or something to do with the tools we use to grade, but I can assure you I did not intend for anyone to be negatively impacted by any of it. In cases where I was more lenient, I had the best interests of the league at heart and only wanted to help players enjoy their time here, not to hamper it in any way. The screenshot Darkness refers to is likely me telling general management chat that I have given credit for predictions submitted within the 15 minute window of the deadline - I realized this was not a good habit to continue, and have been trying to make a more conscious effort ever since to curb it via automated moderation (which I didn't know was available, but HO provided one day), which unfortunately didn't work, and most recently a discord reminder bot.
Regarding the two specific incidents cited - yes. I looked back at the records and found that, as a staff member of PPT, I gave myself 1.5 TPE in S24 for late submitted predictions as well as one other user. Since it was half a year ago I don't recall whether I wasn't paying attention and submitted then later graded via mobile, or if it was something I intentionally did as a stupid newer user to the league. Regardless of which it was, I apologize and hope that 1.5 TPE hasn't given Watts too much of an advantage over others (I shouldn't jest, but the argument for personal benefit is kind of silly to me here). I also gave 12 users TPE for late submissions to a PT in S25, one user of which was r0tzbua (who happens to be my good friend now, but was still quite a new user to the league then so probably really was an acquaintance at that time).
In any case, I feel a little sick that this decision is taking a toll on players rather than just myself. For that, and anyone else who might have felt slighted by anything that happened over the course of my tenure as PPT Head (from the middle of S26 to now) or even as a PPT employee (as a S24 newbie), I hope you'll accept my heartfelt apology.
While I don't think this warranted a firing given previous precedent, I do believe I deserved some form of punishment regardless and would have readily accepted a fine. Despite some encouragement from members of the league to do so, I will not be submitting an appeal for two reasons: first, I was planning to step down from PPT after this season. In my mind, submitting an appeal is kind of a waste of appeal team's time, and maybe somewhat petty given that I wouldn't stay in the position much longer anyways if I succeeded and was restored as PPT Head. Second, I sincerely believe much of this was driven more by a personal falling out I had with a member of HO as opposed to the issue itself. While I believe the myself and potentially the PPT at large should have been held accountable for these errors, I do not believe we would have reached this point without that relationship in play.
By submitting an appeal, I believe it would create more unnecessary drama for the league and potentially my personal life - so frankly I don't want to have any part in it anymore. So I accept this ruling and hope we can all carry on - I will remain a part of this league and continue to support this amazing community however I can for the time being, whether it be through my involvement with Dallas and Austin, or as a member of Dotts (assuming I get to keep my job there?)
tl;dr I'm sorry, I agree I should have been held accountable but don't agree with the severity of the punishment.
Second, I feel it's important to emphasize that I am not innocent in all of this and do need to take some responsibility here - while I was never shown the data myself, I can confirm I should have been more diligent about following established deadlines and ensuring late submissions were not awarded TPE. Having not done a deep dive myself I can't tell you how many times it happened either due to me providing leeway or something to do with the tools we use to grade, but I can assure you I did not intend for anyone to be negatively impacted by any of it. In cases where I was more lenient, I had the best interests of the league at heart and only wanted to help players enjoy their time here, not to hamper it in any way. The screenshot Darkness refers to is likely me telling general management chat that I have given credit for predictions submitted within the 15 minute window of the deadline - I realized this was not a good habit to continue, and have been trying to make a more conscious effort ever since to curb it via automated moderation (which I didn't know was available, but HO provided one day), which unfortunately didn't work, and most recently a discord reminder bot.
Regarding the two specific incidents cited - yes. I looked back at the records and found that, as a staff member of PPT, I gave myself 1.5 TPE in S24 for late submitted predictions as well as one other user. Since it was half a year ago I don't recall whether I wasn't paying attention and submitted then later graded via mobile, or if it was something I intentionally did as a stupid newer user to the league. Regardless of which it was, I apologize and hope that 1.5 TPE hasn't given Watts too much of an advantage over others (I shouldn't jest, but the argument for personal benefit is kind of silly to me here). I also gave 12 users TPE for late submissions to a PT in S25, one user of which was r0tzbua (who happens to be my good friend now, but was still quite a new user to the league then so probably really was an acquaintance at that time).
In any case, I feel a little sick that this decision is taking a toll on players rather than just myself. For that, and anyone else who might have felt slighted by anything that happened over the course of my tenure as PPT Head (from the middle of S26 to now) or even as a PPT employee (as a S24 newbie), I hope you'll accept my heartfelt apology.
While I don't think this warranted a firing given previous precedent, I do believe I deserved some form of punishment regardless and would have readily accepted a fine. Despite some encouragement from members of the league to do so, I will not be submitting an appeal for two reasons: first, I was planning to step down from PPT after this season. In my mind, submitting an appeal is kind of a waste of appeal team's time, and maybe somewhat petty given that I wouldn't stay in the position much longer anyways if I succeeded and was restored as PPT Head. Second, I sincerely believe much of this was driven more by a personal falling out I had with a member of HO as opposed to the issue itself. While I believe the myself and potentially the PPT at large should have been held accountable for these errors, I do not believe we would have reached this point without that relationship in play.
By submitting an appeal, I believe it would create more unnecessary drama for the league and potentially my personal life - so frankly I don't want to have any part in it anymore. So I accept this ruling and hope we can all carry on - I will remain a part of this league and continue to support this amazing community however I can for the time being, whether it be through my involvement with Dallas and Austin, or as a member of Dotts (assuming I get to keep my job there?)
tl;dr I'm sorry, I agree I should have been held accountable but don't agree with the severity of the punishment.
![[Image: kyamprac.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/kyamprac.gif)
