My faction got banned for attacking Spock and taking out all his systems each day. It wasn't until after some of them were banned that they started griefing the server. I don't think you have a good grasp of what has gone down on the server. Especially where you are never online. All you have to do is look at some of the bans, for example Napther's:
STATUS:
Permaban: player was warned multiple times, player claims to be "admin" another server and therefore should know better. No appeals will be heard.
BASIS:
- Griefing
- Forcefully manufacturing whole-server lag
- Bullying and targeting of specific individuals/groups over a period of time for minimal material gain
- Destruction of planets without followup mining within required timeframes
- Multi-planet destruction without any followup mining
Griefing? For what, attacking Spock's claims?
Server lag? How exactly was this caused because I have still yet to find out exactly how he caused lag.
Bullying with minimal material gain? Last time I checked that is how pvp plays out. And of course there will be minimal gain when Spock only uses 2 block stations to claim with.
And lastly, destruction of planets? This one I don't even know what to think about. Never heard of popped planets being an issue on any other server.
If you really think the lull is due to it being summer then you have a thin grasp on what has taken place on the server over the last couple of months. It only takes the voice of a few to ruin a server's reputation.
Sever owners have the right to refuse access to anyone they don't like, but don't expect them to stay quiet and not voice their opinions for it.