That is not actually what it says. The qualifier of 'substantial' is not present, which is not an insignificant difference. In other words, there is nothing wrong with a public accusation of cheating so long as it is supported by proof or evidence. This fact should not be overlooked by us.
This would be a literal word-for-word reading of the Social Contract, but I believe that it is generally not appropriate to accuse someone publicly, proof or not. The fact is, as a player there is nothing at all you can do about cheating, abuses or violations. The only reason to ever make such accusations publicly is to try and negatively affect other
players' opinions of the players you are accusing, and potentially influence how their characters will act as a result. If there is evidence of wrongdoing, it should be forwarded to a ruler (for an OOC ban), the Titans, or us, the only people besides Tom who can actually can do something about these things. After all, what if the accuser is wrong? How much evidence is enough evidence to make it not a violation of the Social Contract? Considering the purpose of the Social Contract (to create a specific atmosphere in game), I find it strange that it does not simply blanket ban public accusations of cheating altogether.
At the moment I will respect ^ban^'s interpretation (because the wording does indeed specifically carve out this exception), but I don't care for it and I think that wording could stand to be reconsidered. I fail to see how anything good can come of permitting IG public accusations of wrongdoing under any circumstances.
As pertains to this case, I don't see that Don Smith has done anything wrong, but I do find it disturbing that Vanimedle' would seek to spread allegations of cheating or abuses privately in such a way as it could influence IG events. What if the ruler of Cathay now looks less favorably upon an alliance with Toupellon because the player behind the character has been biased by these accusations? In my opinion this type of libel is even worse for the game than public accusations of wrongdoing, as it is clearly indicative of an effort to influence IG actions by OOC means. Can you think of any other reason to speak privately to the ruler of Cathay about these accusations? He can't do anything about them if they're true. The only reason to say that to him would be to negatively influence that player's opinion of Toupellon and perhaps make Cathay more antagonistic toward it as a result.
In short, there's a lot I don't like about this. I would very much like to know if Vanimedle' has any evidence to support his claims.
