Yesterday, Xeris, a representative of the NASL, posted an accusatory thread on TeamLiquid against Avilo, using statements like:
"You used the same account but changed IP's every time, which was pretty funny. "
"[votes]...were also almost all made from one account. So, am I believing you or the CEO of uservoice? "
"What I said was that you used the same account for your votes, whether it was you specifically or
someone doing it for you."
"...knowing that you possibly rigged the voting"
These were PMs - standing for "Private Messages," which he made public on a forum. And whilst he sort of retracted his statements and much later apologized in a backhanded manner, the damage is done.
Any publicity, even if it's bad, is better than no publicity; however, there's an exception when it comes to ruining a good man's name. "A man is only as good as his name." Xeris made an inflammatory statement public, based on circumstantial evidence.
How many times have you heard a judge tell court reporters, "Strike that from the record?" And tell the jury, "The jurors will disregard that last statement.?" As for me, it's rather difficult to forget something once I've heard it. Sure, as a juror you can't take it into account, but it is, nevertheless, in the back of your mind, embedded in your subconscious.
"The polling doesn't matter, but someone trying to cheat the system does matter." Obviously, anyone with an ounce of sense knew it was fake since it's inception, but yesterday in his thread Xeris admitted it "So we
can't in good conscience keep you on a list to be considered knowing that you possibly rigged the voting."
According to the CEO of Uservoice some 20,000 votes were fraudulent, "...But HE [Avilo] was smart enough to change IPs." The CEO said "he" implying Avilo, without a trace of evidence.
Firstly, I question why the NASL waited until the last minute to remove Avilo from the roster? They knew weeks ago that someone named Athene went in and hacked votes to spell his name. Avilo told them and others what happened. So, why wait and then make public statements inferring that Avilo is a cheat? "It could have been someone else doing it for him."
Secondly, I question the number of votes with which Avilo was left. Many of GameReplay members gave him their votes. I gave him all my votes, plus forwarded the voting link to my email contacts. Viewers of his stream voted for him. People from FB and his email contacts voted for him. It was one of those "You tell three people, they tell three people, and so on and so on and so on." So, for Avilo to be left with 43 votes, as is reflected on the "fake" roster, is incomprehensible.
All this, however, is irrelevant. The point is Xeris, representing the NASL, publicly attacked Avilo's honesty and integrity based on speculation. Since that thread was made, Avilo has been the victim of public contempt and ridicule by his haters, and some who were his fans, but now have doubts. This thread has caused Avilo emotional suffering and distress. When he tried to defend himself, he was greeted with even more vile accusations.
I've known Avilo personally for quite a while now. I know his moral ethics and can say, without a doubt, that he had nothing to do with vote hacking. While the 13 pages of mostly forum bashing was eventually closed by the moderator, Kennigit; I, for one, wish it had been closed before Avilo had to endure pages of bashing by people who obviously have neither the intellect, nor the compassion to see that Avilo is the victim.
Fortunately, there were posters, who whilst remaining neutral, supported Avilo. Ipp and Liquid Tyler both made lucid, intelligent and well thought-out posts. Many people agreed with Tyler, and Kennigit, whilst remaining impartial closed the thread with Tyler's brilliant post.
Nevertheless, Avilo's veracity is on the line and might very well affect not only his StarCraft career, but any and all potential employment opportunities. Therefore, it is my intention to personally contact the CEO of Uservoice to determine what proof they could possibly have that Avilo was in any way involved in this malicious act.
To be continued...
UPDATE: I tried reaching Uservoice several times via telephone on the 24th and again on the 25th. Finally, on the 25th, I sent a message via Uservoice help desk and within a couple hours "Daniel" responded with an email and asked me how he could help. I returned his email with the problems relative to avilo, the NASL and the accusations regarding the voting process. Waiting to hear back from him.
However, after checking the Uservoice team, it appears that "Daniel," who I am almost certain is the same Daniel that handled the NASL account is not the CEO as stated by Xeris, but the Business Developer. Guess that's irrelevant at this point, anyway. lol
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