[quote=@Hank]
Everything else has orbited around this particular piece of drama, so it's obviously a serious situation and I understand its gravity. And I would like to apologize on behalf of all of us. We regret the sequence of events that has led us here and understand that we're not blameless.[/quote]
First and foremost, I would like to thank you for acknowledging that this isn't a minor matter or that I've "simply been seeking attention". Over the past few days, I've been subject to quite a bit of mockery for creating this topic and it is very refreshing for someone to acknowledge that perhaps I have a point, let alone someone that is authority. That being said, I also acknowledge that the users are somewhat at fault ourselves in some ways, so I apologize on behalf of myself for any faults that I personally hold responsibility for.

[quote=@Hank]
Several of the bans in question will be overturned -- some starting immediately, others in the near future. I will contact the parties involved myself.[/quote]
I've seen that Nytem4re has already been unbanned on the Discord, so thank you (and the rest of the Staff team) for doing this.

[quote=@Hank]
The staff will maintain a public audit log of our actions against offenders and, if possible, we will engage in dialogue with offending users to make sure they understand why we're taking action before we hand out bans. Discord, being as fast-paced as it is, will have to accordingly be moderated faster & looser, but such is the nature of chatrooms vs forums.[/quote]
Thank you for this as well, I'm looking forward to seeing this function being implemented. 

[quote=@Hank]
That said, the rules are not going to be rewritten again. They were changed recently and I believe in them as they stand. I am, however, open to suggestions on the [i]application[/i] of said rules and the moderation policy itself.[/quote]
While this slightly disappoints me, I entirely understand. If it isn't too much to ask, I think there should be notification for when the rules are updated in the future. Perhaps I am misinterpreting this scenario (which I admit is VERY possible, so bear with me), but it seemed as if Mahz had added the "No Discord drama" rule right around the time that J8cob placed the screenshot in his signature as if to find a reason to ban J8cob. Of course, I don't disagree with this rule in general nor am I accusing Mahz of this, but I do think that there should be announcements in the future when the website's rules are rewritten/revised, even if said announcement is only done in the Dev Journal.

[quote=@Hank]
Please help me in deescalating this situation. I have taken a step back, evaluated the current situation as objectively as I can, and in the future I want to hear & fairly treat everyone's concerns with staff members, should they arise again... but not in public threads like this.[/quote] 
I can't really promise anything for the future, but I will seek out staff members before resorting to "going public" when situations arise in said future. That being said, I can promise to help de-escalate this situation and will happily do so. If there is any specific measure that I could take in order to help this process along, then please let me know. I will certainly help to the best of my ability. 

[quote=@Hank]
Any questions?
[/quote]
None, but if you have any for me and/or the other parties involved, then my PM box is always open. Thank you again for responding and thanks to [@Rilla], [@Ruby], [@Sherlock Holmes], [@NuttsnBolts], and [@Kangaroo] for giving this thread a bit of their time. The same goes for all users that offered their thoughts and feedback or simply read along.