Should Ratimov aka Symmetrick be in DT1?

[Learn Bitcoin]

If we are already dealing with assumptions, it seems that 1miau got into a similar situation after the drama against him. He previously started several competitions, but he decided to cancel them all. (He also left the signature campaign.)
However, perhaps a different interpretation of the withdrawal of sponsorship by Ratimov influenced him to change his decision once again.

1miau returned the funds he received from sponsors and the rest funds his own funds. I don't think he was motivated by Ratimov in any way. Ratimov was a sponsor there and promised to contribute to the prize pool. He could do it and leave it if he wanted. But in 1miau's case, he was the organizer and was planning to take a break. He already left the signature campaign. Moreover, 1miau decided to continue the giveaway, and he edited his posts already as he said in another thread;

Regarding the giveaway: topic is already edited and prizes will be paid out to the winners as promised.

I was one of the sponsors, and I received the funds. Since he decided to continue the giveaway, I will send the funds once again. This should prove that a person like 1miau cannot be motivated by "Trick".

[1miau]

If we are already dealing with assumptions, it seems that 1miau got into a similar situation after the drama against him. He previously started several competitions, but he decided to cancel them all. (He also left the signature campaign.)

All of my giveaways will be paid out as planned. I'll publicly announce the winners when the giveaways will conclude.

I was one of the sponsors and I received the funds. Since he decided to continue the giveaway, I will send the funds once again. This should prove that a person like 1miau cannot be motivated by "Trick".

That's very nice from you but I'll cover these 0.5 mBTC for you to avoid tx fees. 
Many thanks for your contribution of course.

[suchmoon]

This can be interpreted in different ways, therefore I am of the opinion that it is not enough for red. Signature is payment for some kind of service, or promotion, and if you remove the ad from your sig space, you will not be paid.
In Ratimov's case, he wanted to pay for the improvement of his reputation, but he didn't get it, maybe that's why he doesn't want to pay.

But the offer was not contingent on him getting a certain amount of reputation or something like that. The way the offer was made it looked like him calling himself a "sponsor" was all he wanted out of it. He gets that for about 11 months out of 12, and then withdraws the offer. Does not seem right no matter how I try to look at it.

And even IRL courts often don't consider "fairness" in contract disputes. In other words, if Sym engaged in a bad deal, that's kinda his own fault.

Anyway, I'm not advocating for red trust, but I also probably wouldn't oppose a flag if any of the participants of the contest can provide solid reasoning based on the facts of this "sponsor" deal alone (without detours to plagiarism and all the other drama).

[digaran]

Well if you want reasoning, since there is no written contracts on paper, typing the words and posting them should be enough of evidence.
How do the escrow providers operate if not by posting? Though they provide signed message as proof of holding the funds, not as proof who is posting, so the post alone is logically considered a written contract.

They have received their implicit benefit out of this sponsorship, the participants however did not receive the promised benefits.
On a side note, love how you guys are worried about leaving a tag and want to have solid reasoning. Wish we had that in our universe where I'm from.😅

[yahoo62278]

This can be interpreted in different ways, therefore I am of the opinion that it is not enough for red. Signature is payment for some kind of service, or promotion, and if you remove the ad from your sig space, you will not be paid.
In Ratimov's case, he wanted to pay for the improvement of his reputation, but he didn't get it, maybe that's why he doesn't want to pay.

But the offer was not contingent on him getting a certain amount of reputation or something like that. The way the offer was made it looked like him calling himself a "sponsor" was all he wanted out of it. He gets that for about 11 months out of 12, and then withdraws the offer. Does not seem right no matter how I try to look at it.

And even IRL courts often don't consider "fairness" in contract disputes. In other words, if Sym engaged in a bad deal, that's kinda his own fault.

Anyway, I'm not advocating for red trust, but I also probably wouldn't oppose a flag if any of the participants of the contest can provide solid reasoning based on the facts of this "sponsor" deal alone (without detours to plagiarism and all the other drama).

When someone opens a thread and offers to sponsor a contest, they should just send those funds to someone to hold and consider them gone. There's no reason for them to be able to back out then. Look at all the merits folks gain by hosting contests and such. Building reputation and using it to their advantage, but when shit hits the fan they change their name and kill the contests then try to fade away.

Totally unacceptable IMO.

[shahzadafzal]

Ratimov gave multiple reasons over the years.

Ratimov?? Who is Ratimov?   You mean Symmetrick?
This drama will never end. Ratimov changed his username, now he is Symmetrick  

Hold on, what just happened? How did Ratimov manage to pull off a username change? You take a week off from a thread, and it's like stepping into an alternate universe – either the thread got wiped out, or we've got a brand-new OP. Absolutely mind-blowing! Hats off to Ratimov, seriously well played.

So Symmetric (ex. Ratimov) went to the full length of lodging a request with a site administrator just to change his username? AFAIK this is the only way it's possible to be done outside of being a VIP (50 BTC donation).
And it was granted just like that? Uhhh... Weird but ok.  

I'm speculating that all these discussions and topics might have played a role in convincing the higher-ups. Looks like the tide turned in his favor amidst all these allegations.

[GazetaBitcoin]

Looks like the tide turned in his favor amidst all these allegations.

You may be confused, since you did not read most recent posts made within this thread. For Ratimov Symmetrick the situation is exactly the opposite from being in his favor.

[BitcoinGirl.Club]

we've got a brand-new OP

The OPs may seem brand new but you can not do anything with the quotes and mentions, can you?

When someone opens a thread and offers to sponsor a contest, they should just send those funds to someone to hold and consider them gone.

That's what I thought too. But after reading a few members I interpreted it like this:
I promised to send donation to a charity but at some point my circumstance changed, I can apologize as a gentleman and seek a leave. A few members thought it as a donation and if that's the case then I think it's okay not to be harsh towards the account.

Although considering everything that happened and judging by all of it, I do not think Ratimov is worthy to trust with any kind of cash [corn] but if we start leaving negative feedback for it then I think his forum journey will over. I don't think he will have any motivation to continue since many campaign managers will not consider him valuable for their campaigns.

[examplens]

All of my giveaways will be paid out as planned. I'll publicly announce the winners when the giveaways will conclude.

Unlike him, you have shown integrity by acting reasonably. I'm glad that's the case. You still need to try to ignore the trolls, who couldn't wait for the chance to crucify someone with authority.

When someone opens a thread and offers to sponsor a contest, they should just send those funds to someone to hold and consider them gone. There's no reason for them to be able to back out then. Look at all the merits folks gain by hosting contests and such. Building reputation and using it to their advantage, but when shit hits the fan they change their name and kill the contests then try to fade away.

Totally unacceptable IMO.

He did not open that thread, nor is he the initiator of the contest, but Halab. Ratimov later got involved with sponsorship, Even without his sponsorship, there was prize money.
Certainly, everything he has done lately shows a really bad character.

Hold on, what just happened? How did Ratimov manage to pull off a username change?

It is possible to change the username if there are valid reasons for it. It was discussed after the post you quoted.

Absolutely mind-blowing! Hats off to Ratimov, seriously well played.

Are you being sarcastic here?
If you pay a little more attention to all his steps and how it was seen by the other members of the forum, you will understand that it was not exactly played the best by Ratimov, on the contrary, it's almost disastrous.

[DYING_S0UL]

All of my giveaways will be paid out as planned. I'll publicly announce the winners when the giveaways will conclude.

Had a small question, 1miau. What giveaway?

Apparently, I always miss important events, I wonder why I sleep so much!

[Learn Bitcoin]

I was one of the sponsors and I received the funds. Since he decided to continue the giveaway, I will send the funds once again. This should prove that a person like 1miau cannot be motivated by "Trick".

That's very nice from you but I'll cover these 0.5 mBTC for you to avoid tx fees.  
Many thanks for your contribution of course.

Thanks 1miau, but I believe there is enough time to announce the winner since we are not even close to the block number yet. So, I guess the mempool will have fewer unconfirmed transactions. I would love to contribute these tiny 0.5 mBTC, and I will send it whenever I see the mempool has cooled down a little bit. It feels good to see you come back, try to improve yourself, and take things positively. Please allow others to criticize if they can in a healthy way. I am sure you will find a lot of positive things in it. More importantly, avoid trolls. You won't be able to satisfy them.  

[LoyceV]

Sym-whatshisname said "sponsor". That's very different from "donor". Sponsorship is very likely to be a contract because it implies that the sponsor is receiving something in return. Words matter. No one forced him to call it that, his choice, his contract, his failure to execute.

He basically bought some temporary reputation without paying for it when he decided his reputation isn't worth the money anymore.

Would we judge this case equally if there were no previous 15 pages about Ratimov's case?

I would have felt more sympathy for him if he had a good reason to cancel (90% of) his sponsorship, instead of doing it after something that looks like a tandrum. But I think the end result would have been the same: no tags handed out.

"Trick".

This new nickname fits nicely

How did Ratimov manage to pull off a username change?

In the past week, at least 4 users got a name change.

[Learn Bitcoin]

"Trick".

This new nickname fits nicely

Do you think so?
I guess that was pointed out by someone already, and I thought it fit better.

In the past week, at least 4 users got a name change.

I haven't seen any application thread for a name change. Did they send a PM to theymos for that? Look at my username. I get unnecessary daily mentions of useless topics like Helping kids learn Bitcoin, teaching kids about Bitcoin is not in vain, etc. Whenever people use this word, I get notified via Telegram with TryNinja's bot.

What is the good reason for changing a username? Is my reason good enough to consider?

@GazetaBitcoin, Sorry for off-topic.

[1miau]

All of my giveaways will be paid out as planned. I'll publicly announce the winners when the giveaways will conclude.

Had a small question, 1miau. What giveaway?

I'm sometimes doing very small giveaways, like here.
It's not much but it's honest work. 

So, I guess the mempool will have fewer unconfirmed transactions. I would love to contribute these tiny 0.5 mBTC, and I will send it whenever I see the mempool has cooled down a little bit.

Many thanks for your generous offer, LearnBitcoin. But I'll cover this one, it's fine for me. 

@GazetaBitcoin, Sorry for off-topic.

Sorry for off-topic here as well, back to Symmetrick. 

[The Sceptical Chymist]

On a side note, love how you guys are worried about leaving a tag and want to have solid reasoning. Wish we had that in our universe where I'm from.😅

Well, where the rest of us are at, this method is the most prudent when there's a contentious issue.  Some red tags can be handed out with zero debate while others are way more complicated.

You take a week off from a thread, and it's like stepping into an alternate universe – either the thread got wiped out, or we've got a brand-new OP.

No shit.  I read most of this thread when it started, and right now I feel like I need to go back and figure out just what the hell is really going on.  Guess I haven't really been paying attention to this--or at least not enough.

So Symmetric (ex. Ratimov) went to the full length of lodging a request with a site administrator just to change his username? AFAIK this is the only way it's possible to be done outside of being a VIP (50 BTC donation).
And it was granted just like that? Uhhh... Weird but ok.  

Nah, lots of members (including yours truly) have gotten name changes granted via a simple request to Theymos.  Hell, cryptovatorcoolvator even got two of them.  And yeah, I know this has already been addressed.

[GazetaBitcoin]

Ratimov reduced the pledged amount by 0.0435 BTC, currently worth $1649, after 90% of the contest's running time passed.

Now he has a good reason for that. In short, Ratimov Symmetrick made a new "trick":

Today I am leaving the [banned mixer] campaign, thank you for the opportunity to represent this service.

The good reason I mentioned above is, of course, the fact that he can not pay since he is not receiving any payment from a signature campaign (/s).

Now all that's left is changing the payment address for his signature campaign

You did not see that coming, LV! Instead of changing the address, he left the campaign.
And this only proves my earlier statement:

In this guy's case everything looks shady. Even the new name, because "Symmetrick" contains the part "Trick"... Like he is trying another trick. Maybe his final trick before exiting the stage?

[Vispilio]

The way the offer was made it looked like him calling himself a "sponsor" was all he wanted out of it. He gets that for about 11 months out of 12, and then withdraws the offer. Does not seem right no matter how I try to look at it.

Yes that's an accurate analysis, I just found out only a few days ago that the rewards were reduced...

For an event scheduled to last 12 months, if you get the prestige of being its "sponsor" for 11 months and back out of the deal in the last month, naturally this cannot be considered ethical.

Since that contest was mentioned only in this forum and mainly on that particular thread, this didn't get much attention, but if this were a larger scale event, there would be legal repercussions against a sponsor backing out like this, and also going forward all the funds should be secured by the organizer long before the event is concluded for the benefit of the participants...

[Don Pedro Dinero]

Since that contest was mentioned only in this forum and mainly on that particular thread, this didn't get much attention, but if this were a larger scale event, there would be legal repercussions against a sponsor backing out like this, and also going forward all the funds should be secured by the organizer long before the event is concluded for the benefit of the participants...

It does not need to be a larger scale event. The problem here is that the forum is in limbo, the members are from very different countries and we are not identified, but in my country, and I'm sure it's not the only one, you could be sued for something like that, it's about 1.500€.

[Shishir99]

Since that contest was mentioned only in this forum and mainly on that particular thread, this didn't get much attention, but if this were a larger scale event, there would be legal repercussions against a sponsor backing out like this, and also going forward all the funds should be secured by the organizer long before the event is concluded for the benefit of the participants...

If I am not wrong, I have seen some content in this forum where every time participant has to pay fees and they had to pay it before they join. The organizer make sure they receive the funds for the prize pool. Even the sponsors send the funds to the organizer most of the time. I did not check some contest if sponsors paid the amount already or not. But what if Rollbit or Sportsbet denies to pay the promised prize? Wouldn't you guys leave them a tag because they were suppose to pay the prize. Isn't it same like a person promised he will pay if I win, now I won, but he said he won't pay me. I guess it's same. The difference is, the corrent contest isn't ended yet.

[Don Pedro Dinero]

If I am not wrong, I have seen some content in this forum where every time participant has to pay fees and they had to pay it before they join. The organizer make sure they receive the funds for the prize pool. Even the sponsors send the funds to the organizer most of the time.

Well, now that you mention it, at my local board we did a price prediction contest and all 6 sponsors put up the money before it went ahead. It wasn't a bet between the 6 of us, it was open to other people, with some rules like having written at least 1 post in the local section that year.

But what if Rollbit or Sportsbet denies to pay the promised prize? Wouldn't you guys leave them a tag because they were suppose to pay the prize. Isn't it same like a person promised he will pay if I win, now I won, but he said he won't pay me. I guess it's same. The difference is, the corrent contest isn't ended yet.

Well I suppose there would be debate as now, because of the previous positive reputation of those houses, but I'm sure if it was a lesser known house or the forumer in question one with a lesser previous reputation he would already have some red in his profile.