By now it should be clear that the worst mistake the devs made was to explain their actions.
When they simply could have banned outright, they instead admitted some culpability in a flawed system, and took punitive action to correct the situation. Their error was not in making a flawed system, but in giving the fraudulent players a second chance.
And this is what happens:
We get page after page of self-serving nonsense- they really were only looking out for the game;
We get faux indignation at 'unprofessional' treatment- the patent unfairness of imaginary actions;
We get hairsplitting- I'm not guilty if I told you about it earlier but still took advantage of it;
We get egotistic posturing masquerading as 'facts'- the people who spent 'months' working hand-in-hand with the developers, all for the greater good (because M2S care about you, Mr. player), admit to defrauding the game and the community, and yet are shocked- indeed, mortally wounded, that we 'unfairly' refuse to believe them
I find it amazing that people who have fraps of every battle, recordings of voice chat, and plenty of chat logs– people who, after every battle, run to the forums to turn their losses into wins, who post whatever snippet of chat they can find– are unable to find a single clear record of these 'months' of 'serious conversation' with the developers.
I also find it amazing that these same children persist in the "but we pointed it out" argument- as if telling the developers that there was a problem somehow gave them the right to exploit that problem when it was not immediately fixed. It doesn't: even if they were able to produce proof of this imaginary discussion, it would in no way absolve them.
The only 'truth' to be found here is that the members of these fraudulent corps have the same profound sense of entitlement as an eight year-old. It's the same brazen selfishness that lets them demand a response when they deserve none. It's the same massive ego that, upon getting said response, attack it as 'unprofessional' and 'unreasonable.'
And somewhere, just like children, they hope that amidst all the words and shouting, we'll lose track of the fundamental point: You did it, you admitted it, and you deserve much more than you got. You should be considering yourselves lucky, but you want to take that reprieve from the executioner's block and turn it into the keys of the kingdom.