RedOktober12 - Moderator Application

[RedOktober12]

Byond ID: RedOktober12

Colonial Marines Character: Valentina McTavish

Age: 22

Gender: Male

Timezone: GMT+0

On average, how many hours are you available per week to moderate?

This can vary; at time of writing, relatively few due to dissertation deadlines approaching (21st April). However, on a normal week I could expect to play between 1700-0200, while being available for most of my day.

Do you have any previous experience in being staff (not just SS13)?

Some limited experience in the erepublik eUK community, years and years ago. I believe this must have been 2011-2012. I moderated an IRC & forum, while distributing resources within that game's janky war system.

Did you play any of the previous Colonial Marine servers?

No.

What other servers do you play on?

I occasionally play /tg/ (both bagil and sybill) and rarely play Baystation. CM is the only one I've frequently played recently, however.

What are the 3 biggest servers you play on besides CM?

As above. I've only played those two servers.

Have you had an application to Colonial Marines before?

No.

Are you currently a staff member elsewhere (not just SS13)? If so, where?

No.

Have you ever been banned for more than 24 hours on Colonial Marines?

No.

Have you ever been banned for more than 24 hours on ANY server? If so, where and When (roughly)?

No.

Are you familiar with the chat program Slack (its use is required)?

I know of it, but have never used it.

Common Staff Situations:
Write a description of what you would do in each situation (BELOW) the situation. If you start it on the same line, I'll assume you can't follow directions and auto-decline your application.



1. A player is firing his weapon in the briefing area near the start of the round.

Observe the situation; if the marine has ceased firing, I'd check the logs to determine if it was an accident or deliberate griefing. if it was limited to one deliberate shot that failed to kill, I'd send a warning and let the situation be resolved IC by the MPs, while adding a note describing the behavior. If he continued firing I'd sleep him and demand an explanation, and link the rules he's breaking. I'd then probably throw down a ban for 24 hours, explaining the ban and directing them towards the rules. I'd add a note and keep an eye on them in any following rounds. If marines had been killed by what was clearly deliberate griefing, I'd resurrect them. if a repeat offender, between one week's ban and permaban, depending on their prior warnings.

2. The Sulaco has a breach to space.

Check logs. If an accident, I'd leave it. If it's done by a player, regardless of whether accidental, I'd probably ping them and make sure they understood that deliberate breaches are against the rules and ask them to show some awareness in future. if deliberate I'd ban based on their prior notes. If a first time offender, a twelve hour ban for ignorance of the rules. If they'd been warned for ignorance of the rules before, I'd consider increasing the ban up to 48+ hours depending on the severity and number of notes of the player

3. The marines want the nuke codes because they claim they are losing too many marines. There are currently 4 aliens and 20 marines in your /who.

Obviously don't give nuke codes. I'd post a MOTHER update informing the marines of the number of xenos remaining, and create some IC reason for a push ('The General Staff expect the crew of this vessel to complete their assigned task. Retreating in the face of inferior opposition would reflect poorly in any resulting court martial proceedings'). If a CL was alive, I would attempt to correspond through Fax to potentially arrange for the deployment of a PMC to hurry the round along, with an express condition that would liven the round up. Preserving an infected marine in stasis for the company springs immediately to mind, but something round specific to make the round more interesting for the obviously cowed marines before ending it. If there was no CL, I'd send a distress beacon either way.

4. A Sulaco researcher has made several napalm grenades and hands them out to marines. One of the marines throws the grenade into Logistics. There are no admins or other moderators online.

Assuming the intention of the marine is to be a dick, and not to fight the entrenched xenos in logistics, I'd sleep them and ask if they meant to throw the grenade. If they claim it was an accident ,and if on review of the logs it looks like they're telling the truth and have no prior notes, I'd fix the damage and warn them that if they did it again they'd face a ban. Add note, move the round along. If it was clear griefing, ban for 24 hours. If a repeat offender, I'd go for either a week's ban, or perma, depending on their previous warnings.

5. A played is starting to talk about the things he did with your mom last night over Ahelp.

Inform them that disrespecting staff is against the rules, and to keep it civil. I'd add a note saying they'd been warned for disrespecting staff. If they'd done it before, and continued to spam ahelp with unsolicited insults that were clearly meant to annoy, I'd probably drop a two hour ban with a clear warning not to do it again.

6. You notice a marine with a name that doesn't fit our naming rules.

Remind the marine of our naming policy, as well as the server's RP rules, and ask her/him to change the name after the round. Add a note outlining the warning.

6a. The marine is arguing that: They've used the name for several years, no one has told them to change it before, and that they didn't know it was a rule.

Reiterate that CM is an RP server, and that the naming policy exists for a reason, as politely as possible. I'd further suggest that a name is what you make of it, and on CM if you roleplay and get into the spirit of the server, you can make a new name fit fairly quickly. Link them to the rules, highlight that ignorance is no excuse, and that if they fail to comply they'll be banned. So long as they change their name after the round, there's no problem. If I see PFC Adolf Hitler again I'd ban them for two hours and notify them that breaking rules, especially after a direct warning, is not okay.

7. You see a Sulaco Doctor with an M41A rifle strapped to his back running around the briefing area. There are wounded in medbay, and the other doctor is in surgery.

Tell them they can't use a pulse rifle as a doctor, and direct them to the roleplaying guidelines. Notify them that their job as a doctor is to work in medbay and heal marines, and that if they don't cut it out, they'll be job banned. if they stop, no big deal. Slap a note saying they were warned on the doctor, and keep an eye on them for the rest of the round. If they don't comply, job ban them from doctor.

8. You see a Squad Medic performing surgery on the planet. He claims it was because there were no doctors in the FOB.

Direct him to the rules and roleplay guidelines and powergaming rules in particular. ignorance is no excuse spiel inbound. Tell him he can't perform surgery, and that if no doctors are present, their job is to stabalise the marine and evacuate them to the Sulaco. If they consent and get back to performing their role properly, I'd let them off with a warning note. if he persists, I'd job ban him from medic for a week.

9. The round is stagnating. There are 30 marines and 4 aliens. The marines won't leave the Sulaco, and the aliens won't attack. What would you do, to "encourage" the sides to engage each other?

Drop a MOTHER notification to get the marines to get on with it. Hint that there would be consequences for the marine's failure to take the initiative. Potentially message the CO IC threatening consequences for their character if they failed to expedite the operation. I'd also probably deploy a distress beacon and see what comes of it.

10. The round ends, and a marine starts unloading his weapons on other marines.

Notify them that EORG is not allowed, explain the term, direct them to the rules. I'd let off a first time offender with a firm warning and a note advising bans on future incidents, based on the fact that they played a full round without griefing, and were more than likely acting in ignorance rather than malice. if they'd dicked around before and had a few notes, I'd drop a three hour ban, or longer if their notes warranted it.

11. A marine who has recently awoken is using soap to slip other marines.

Keep an eye on it. If he keeps doing it rather than getting on with his job, I'd notify him that he's not a clown, but a marine, and they should act like it. Point him towards the rules, and inform them that anything that takes away fun from other players is technically griefing, and that they should bear that in mind.

12. A marine has killed another marine. When you ask him why, he said it was because the other marine had punched him.

Check the logs to see if he's telling the truth. if there's more to the story, I'd adjust my actions. I'd direct them to the rules, and inform him that killing another marine is never justified, and that they should always inform MPs if they're being attacked, and never use firearms on another marine, aside from the exceptions listed in the rules. I'd let the MPs deal with him on a first offense, after reviving the other marine into a stable state where they can be healed back up. If they have a record for shooting marines, I'd give them a 72 hour ban.

Any additional information you'd like to add?

I'm submitting this application at the recommendation of Staff. I've played CM for about a month, and haven't played SS13 for much longer. As such, my mechanical know how is, while passable, not spectacular. I bring this lack of experience up because I feel that it may necessarily impede my ability to effectively moderate. I understand that these things are learned, and I've not encountered a problem that I can't work my way around thusfar. I further understand that moderators know their business, and that if they believe me capable, I trust their judgement. However, had I not been recommended to do so, I would not have made this application on my own initiative due to my relatively new arrival on the scene. I have regardless really been enjoying the community of the server, and the atmosphere it generally maintains. it would be an absolute pleasure to be able to gainfully take part in the maintenance and development, be it in my capacity as an active, positive player, or as a moderator.

More mundanely, as I alluded to at the top of this application, I'm going to be pretty bogged down with my final thesis until the 20th of April. While this won't knock me offline completely, I'll be limiting my play to particular timeslots in the evening (usually 1900/2100 to 0200/0300). I'm happy to commit my free time to CM, as I practically already do in my capacity as a player, but I'd like to mention that this time might be more limited that it normally would be for me.

[Finefire984]

I'm changing my vote to +1. Other people have seen you often, and the ban time that spoony stated can be fixed during the trial period. I haven't heard anything bad about you and that's the main things I look for is activity and how well you follow the rules you go to enforce. I will change my vote if i hear about you breaking rules though.

[TheSpoonyCroy]

My thoughts on this application:

• Overall, super harsh punishments and that might need to be changed
• For question 2, make sure to seal the breach unless it was caused by the SM, pred explosions, or crashlanding sites
• For question 3, Can't make mother report as a mod anymore. Also we have no power over sending in pmc units. Also probably best not to assign "antagish" goals to the cl, that can only be done via admins
• For question 4, Can't fix the damage. Also might be a tad too much to sleep the guy unless you are 100% sure he will continue to grief
• For question 5, might be a better idea to mute the player's ability to ahelp
• For question 6, due to vagueness, just like to remind you to add in the "improper" name and if super obscure add in why its a reference
• For question 6a, remind them if they don't agree, they can file a staff complaint here: http://cm-ss13.com/viewforum.php?f=118 . For the ban it might be better to make it a round ban (3 hours) instead of 2, however I do tend to avoid banning a player unless they were warned multiple times about it (2 or 3 times) since lets honest people can forget something especially if it occurred early in the round
• For question 7, that wouldn't be in the roleplay guidelines but in the rules under marine rules.
• For question 8, again not in the rp guidelines, those rules would be in the marines specific rules. Also jobbans are permanent, so keep that in mind
• For question 9, again like stated in question 3, you can't make mother reports or send in the distress beacon. Also remember to keep it all IC in terms of punishments, we as mods (and future mods) have to remember, we are simply enforcers of the rules. We should have very little impact on the round, so with that just keep in mind we can give players a nudge but we can't "force" them to do anything we say.
• For question 10, EoRG is just ban with no warning, even if it is the first offense
• For question 11, being a tad forceful here. This is mostly going to be an IC issue.
• For question 12, might want to ask eye witnesses as well on what happened and what started the fight. Also in theory, marines shouldn't be killing each other but in practice, it gets muddy, real quickly. Also ahealing is all or nothing kind of thing. They are either back to 100% or not healed.

Got to say I'm very neutral on this. I like the very thorough application (well compared to other apps) but I feel you might be a tad forceful on a few things that shouldn't be enforced by mods, best example is question 11. Also you are giving extremely harsh punishments on repeat offenders

[slc97]

The heavy handedness is both good and bad. We tend to lean more towards reform than strict enforcement of the rules, but your ability to interpret the rules seems clear.

Pretty much everything Spoony stated can be ironed out in trial, I'll just have to work with you a little closer. I'll go ahead and say +1.

[Feweh]

Accepted,

youll be expected to increase your forum activity however.