Let me see if I can't set this straight...
Why the member was banned: There were actually three reasons that lead to his removal.
1) He was ban evading from a previous account, which if you read the rules, is an instant ban. It doesn't matter how productive you've been since your return, if you evade without informing us and giving you the chance to return legitimately you're disrespecting the staff, the rules, and this community.
2) Not only was he evading, but he was doing so with multiple accounts, something we frown upon in general. This aspect of the ban has been blown out of proportion, as it wasn't the core reason. Normally that would be a simple warn, either verbal or to the warn level. However when coupled with ban evasion, it's a major offense.
3) The third and final reason was actually the content of the original report that lead us to the discovery of ban evasion: This member was impersonating an existing member and feigning connections to him and people he knew. Why anyone would want or need to do this I don't know, as you'd be just as credible without the borrowed identity.
As you can see, it was a triple-threat of rule breaking, with the first being the most dire. It's an infraction we take very seriously, and is met with instant an instant ban.
Why mthrnite made this topic: I've seen some accusations of hypocrisy, power abuse, etc, but the fact of the matter is that he did so to have an open dialogue with the lot of you. As was previously noted, one of our rules is that staff decisions are not open for public discussion. This rule of thumb exists to quell what inevitably become flame wars and riots (ala this topic).
We generally encourage members to PM a staff member instead, so that the discussion can be had with minimal controversy from differing viewpoints. Instead of handling a hundred different topics or PMs, or ignoring you entirely, which is a staff members right, mthr chose to do it in this manner.
What you must understand is that a staff member openly invited you to disagree with him, give your input, and so on. He in no way was required to do so, but did anyway for your benefit. That's the furthest thing from fascism or hypocrisy, he was trying to include you all and make sure your opinions were heard.
Stop with the flaming and spam: Seriously folks, flaming doesn't help anyone. That goes for the regulars here who are quick to call the newly registered members noobs, as well as the new member that are up in arms about this matter. Lets be civil, lets be calm. As for posts like "QFT", there's no need to do so. The post is already there, we can all see it plain as day, quoting it and saying nothing in response is just a waste of a post.
I also hope that you all had a chance familiarize yourselves with the rules during this process, as that makes these discussions much easier when all involved know what's what.
What do we have against patches?: The short answer? Nothing at all. We welcome patches. However, as one member stated, a patch either exists or it doesn't. Creating a topic based around the idea of when you may have a patch completed, or asking for a patch contributes nothing.
Additionally, the topics become full of the same old replies. "When will the patch be out?, "Is the patch ready?", "Have you finished yet?". Asking that won't make it appear any faster, again, either a patch is ready or it isn't. If it was, it would have been posted, if it isn't, that's why it hasn't.
Finally anyone can say they've made a patch and string people along for ages, especially during a hot release like this. The fact that this member was using the identity of someone else to post this suggests potential fraud. Now I don't know if this fellow's patch worked or otherwise, but ultimately it doesn't matter as he was breaking the rules to deliver it. And as mentioned, several more rules were broken in the period afterwords.
The final word: I hoped that helps, and if not, well, there's really not much more any staffer can say on the matter. Nor will any good come of these topics, so stop creating variants folks. Which in itself is a violation. As for this topic, it's already spun out of control (as these topics always do), so I'll be closing it up. If you have any additional concerns, PM a staff member.