Shuffl3 - Moderator Application

[Shuffl3]

Byond ID: Shuffl3

Colonial Marines Character: Random Name

Age: ~28

Gender: Male

Timezone: CDT

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

20-40

Do you have any previous experience in being staff (not just SS13)? Not in this kind of environment

Did you play any of the previous Colonial Marine servers? Nope

What are the 3 biggest servers you play on besides CM? I haven't played on any other servers in some time.

Provide links to any previous Colonial Marines applications that you've made: N/A

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

Have you ever been banned for more than 24 hours on Colonial Marines? Not that I know of.

Have you ever been banned for more than 24 hours on ANY server? If so, which server, when, and what for?

/tg/-Metacoms, Bomb Memes, being a whiney little shit. Classic learning\familarization mistakes that I grew out of years ago, nothing particularly egregious.

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

Common Staff Situations:
Write a description of what you would do in each of the following situations. Do not write on the same line as the situation - use the space below it or make space as needed. Failure to do this proves your inability to follow instructions and your application will be automatically denied.

1. A player randomly shoots someone at round start and MPs have detained him.

At face value this is what I would consider an IC issue. I'd be impressed if there weren't any ahelps about it, but unless somebody is accusing the player in question of something interesting I'd probably just let things play out. If the usual due diligence with notes doesn't reveal anything to act on there's no reason to break the 4th wall. Maybe point the player out to a mentor if they appear fairly fresh to the server.

If there is something interesting going on though, Id probably PM the player about what happened. Then seek clarification from one or more of the ahelps that seem to be primarily involved. Open up the logs to corroborate their accounts with an objective source and try to identify the exact flavor of Fail-RP going on so that I can explain how it violated MSR 1 and depending on the severity of the incident throw in GR 0.2, GR 7, and even GR 1 if applicable. Wrap it all up with an appropriate administrative punishment which would at a minimum include noting the incident. Then attempt to clean up any severe fallout that could of impacted the round.

2. The ship has a breach to space and a bunch of players have died or are dying as a result.

As far as I know these can't really happen anymore, I'd probably be useless in this scenario and Im not sure what the current precedent is with this. I'd kick it upstairs to higher ranked staff and try to help out with damage control if I could. If there are ahelps coming in that indicate some kind of foul play I'd start investigating to track down a culprit.

3. You see a player walking around the ship naked and clearly lost.

Its either a new player or some absolutely brilliant ERT/Survivor bit. If its the former, I'd point him out to a mentor. In case of the latter, probably just watch and see how it plays out.

4. A player is being very rude to you in Adminhelps and requesting to speak to an Admin+ staff member.

Thats tricky. I think every time I've tried to tell someone upset to calm down its only exacerbated the situation. It's hard to say what I'd do without some context. If its a very general rudeness then I think ignoring their attitude and barreling through it while I attend to the actual issue would be the correct course of action. If its very specifically directed at me, and there are other staff members available I don't see any problem with recusing myself. If for some reason I'm the only possible staff member that can handle the situation...remind them of GR 1, their ability to report staff on the forums, and then play it by ear. If they step over the line after that just slap em with the rule break, note it, and be done with it.

5. You notice a player with a name that doesn't fit our naming rules. The player 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.

Assuming that no free pass showed up in their notes. Id ignore their first two points and tell them that not reading the rules is no excuse and to make sure that they used a different name going forward. Note the incident and enforce MSR 2 as ruthlessly as the name violation deserves.

6. You see a Maintenance Tech running around in armor and carrying a rifle. The security level is green with no threat present.

Unless something shows up in the notes, IC issue. Any MP should jump on this chance for quality RP and if they're not its nothing a subtle nudge in the right direction couldn't solve. It'd be something to keep an eye on though but I don't think its actionable on its own.

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

Admittedly, the medical system is one of my blind spots. And while it does strictly break MSR 12, I feel like the skill system should make untrained attempts at surgery pretty realistic. Obviously in this scenario, I've already jumped him. So I'd probably buy some time to check notes/logs to see if there was some RP going on that could maybe mitigate punishment by asking him, "Why do you think that's an excuse?" Reply to whatever he says next by Quoting MSR 12 at him, warn him about bending the rules, and probably note the incident in his history.

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

It really depends on those what those 4 aliens are. If its not possible for them to queen, probably best to just let the round time out. However, if there is a queen it would be easiest and least disruptive to strongly suggest that they hijack the dropship somehow. If the force balance is majorly favoring the marines, maybe some kind of whisper in the ears of the right people could get them to make that last deployment.

9. The round ends, a MARINE starts shooting a hostile CLF member and the CLF member Adminhelps complaining he was killed after the round ended.

I'd say IC issue, but you dont want something silly like this starting a PR. So just explain that EORG only counts if its FF and maybe quote them the entry from the rules.

10. A marine is running around disarming, punching and stealing gear at round start.

Id say IC issue and let the MPs handle them. But, this kind of behavior really edges over into fail-RP territory and roundstart is an important time that establishes the tone of whats to come. Drop him a PM and ask why. Sleep if he persists. Check notes for past history, issue a warning and advise them to follow the roleplay guidelines then note the incident. If this is a pattern of poor behavior, apply the appropriate administrative action.

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

Oof, this is a blatant violation of MSR 1. Check logs to confirm, check notes for any previous history that might increase the severity of the punishment, explain why he is being punished and how. Then apply the punishment and note the incident.

12. An issue arises that requires Admin+ abilities.

Summon a staff member that has Admin+ abilities through the appropriate channels.

13. There are minor racist comments going on IC. 9 of the 10 people are laughing and RPing but one player gets offended and Adminhelps about it.

The difference between minor racism and major racism can be fairly subjective, but if I think its minor I probably just tell him that somewhat offensive stuff is acceptable RP and encourage him be offended IC. Maybe keep an eye on minor racists and remind them that staff is always around if starts getting out of hand.

14. A marine opens fire at round start in briefing killing multiple marines and instantly logs off.

Its either a blatant violation of GR 7 or a very interesting story. Either way that player can explain themselves in Appeals. Note the incident and apply the full punishment.

15. You see a player playing a xeno larva/chestburster run towards the frontlines and die.

I see a player getting PMd immediately about suiciding as a larva and breaking GR 9. Check notes for previous behaviour and apply the relevant actions.

16. You see a xeno memeing, saying AYYLMAO, REEEEEE etc in hivemind chat.

I like to see hives self-moderate this kind of behavior, but it has a nasty way of spreading during certain rounds. PM warning plus note for violating XSR 1 if its just them and their history is clean, OOC about the servers stance on low-rp xenos if it starts getting repeated throughout the hive.

17. A xeno player calls the shuttle a "dropship". A different xeno player complains to you that it's metagaming/failRP to call it a "dropship".

Explain to them that its perfectly acceptable, maybe go a bitt more in depth like that the xenos don't communicate with words but ideas. Remind them to read the rules and roleplay guidelines again.

18. A Command staff player at briefing near round-start mentions there are aliens on the planet.

Hopefully its just a slip or some bit the player was doing about farwa or yiren, Id wait to see they really were referring to the Xenomorphs. Command staff should be very careful about meta. If there wasnt some clever twist, Id check their notes before PMing them about breaking GR 9. Barring any relevant history with that player, issue them a stern warning and add a note.

19. A Marine kills another Marine on the EVAC Pod to take the last spot and claims it was RP as he was saving himself.

Quality RP, IC issue. I'd like to think that players wouldnt ahelp stuff like this, but I wouldnt be surprised if they did. IF the dead marine demands justice I'd have to check the logs and see if there actually was an attempt at Roleplaying. If the aggressor made a decent show of themselves instead of just blasting Id explain to the offended party that shouldn't of been surprised. On the other hand, if the RP wasnt up to snuff with poor escalation, lack of communication, etc. Id probably warn the aggressor thats its not RP if its youre just justifying it to yourself and that just shooting a guy "cause" violates MSR 1. (edit: notes, punishments, etc.)

20. You see a fellow staff member give wrong information in an Adminhelp or incorrectly enforcing a rule.

I dunno, depends on the social dynamics of the staff group and how staff communication works. If theres a whole "we're all in this together, living and learning" community vibe and I think its wrong but nobody else said anything Id probably go naive and ask if its wrong/propose what I thought was right in a general staff chat. The group weighs in and one of us learns and we all get better. If theres a like a political pecking order going on id probably side-chain privately with them to avoid affecting that. Either way, it gets figured out and the staff maintain face.

20a. You see a fellow staff member abusing his powers in-game.

I mean, there's abuse and then there's abuse. Probably razz em about it privately. But if its egregious, document and kick it higher.

21. You see a player talking in OOC chat about what he did with your mom last night.

If the player is trying to be mean, or get a rise I like to think i'd ignore it. If they're trying to banter, I'd just remind them that I have two gay dads.

Any additional information you'd like to add?

I'll occasionally disappear for work.

[Lumdor]

Your answers are not bad at all.

I'd like to ask you why you use Random Name for when you play marine?

Also, could you go into more detail on your bans you've gotten on TG?

[Shuffl3]

It's just how I've come to enjoy the game. There are so many strong personalities interacting in a round its still entertaining to be a faceless NPC around them. Without a reputation to worry about you can focus on your role and not worry about lasting fallout if you want to take a chance and try it in a different way. Its pretty easy to just go with the flow and not take anything personally.

My metacoms perma appeal is public on the /tg/forums. Just a bunch of kids in a computer lab late night trying to figure out how hands work, not to much to go into. Other than that I cant recall which ones were longer duration bans or not so I just included what I recall that seemed serious. I used to get frustrated and salty before I managed to wrap my head around what the game is and I got /asked/ (read temp-banned) to take a cool-down once or twice. And becoming an atmos-master faster than acquiring the maturity one needs to wield such power responsibly left me on the receiving side for a bit. Namely, being naive and foolish with max-caps+ as a non-antag. Once when I set one down on a table as a joke a passerby grabbed it and opened the TTV, and another incident where I tried to SD and take out a wiz with me but missed and gibbed a few other players in collateral damage. I'm fairly confidant that I ate a temp-ban for those.

[Lumdor]

Appreciate your answer on your ban; it cleared up many concerns that I had.

Though, I'd also like to ask you about your latest note on our server that you received for using a xeno bug.

[Mizari]

Pretty good answers in my opinion, nothing to note that couldn't be cleared up with a trial.

+1 from me buddy, good luck!

[Shuffl3]

Hard to say, I don't recall being PM'd and warned about abusing a bug

During the only incident that springs to mind, I saw something unusual and wanted to see what would happen. Afterwards I hit up the gitlab and while I was looking for similar issues I learned that it wasn't a bug but that everything was "working as intended." It definately breaks the verisimilitude of the game though so I'd call it as power-gaming. Next time I saw an admin in dchat I asked for their stance on it and they more or less confirmed my thoughts.

Just one of those scenarios anybody will eventually run into in a game like this with active development going on.

[Lumdor]

Like your answers to everything.

I'll give you my +1 for a run at trial.

[awan]

Because a lot of old applications have correctish replies to questions I try to ask one that is not on applications from the past.

A survivor disposaled themselves on roundstart and by the time you notice it they have logged out. What do you do?

[Shuffl3]

Man, curve ball. On maps with disposals systems taking a ride as a survivor is encouraged through the map design but at the trade off of getting mangled by the journey. There's a certain low-rp connotation to "disposaling" yourself as part of ritualized suicide attempt but without some kind of hard proof in the logs I think it'd be tough to discern a willful breach of GR 11 from a survivor paying a hard price for a life lesson and logging off in shame. I'd probably ask another staff member what the precedent is for a scenario like this.

If im just guessing what to do though...If the survivor is dead or critted I'd check the logs to see if they did any of that to themselves, check note history to see if this is a trend of behavior, make a note to help establish a trend or in case this is the start of a trend. Unless there's like an arbitrary amount of identical notes I'd probably leave it at that.

If there are several identical notes that proves a trend of behavior, the logs show that they helped finish what the disposals started, or if there's a sketchy note history and they're healthy, Id issue a punishment for violating GR 11

Healthy with no history or damning logs...probably sit on it for a time in case it was just a DC and leave a note if they dont show back up? Its a role with limited slots, and logging out improperly is certainly a problem. But an SSD survivor isnt going to critically impact the round. Without some kind of precedent to follow I'd probably just stick with a note.

[Sir Lordington]

Honest and straightforward with your bans, decent answers and good reasoning. It's a +1 from me.

[awan]

I like the replies aswell and think this trial can go well. +1

[Cry of Wolves]

one more question before you recieve the hail of +1.

You see a xeno actively devouring humans and climbing into a hole that leads to a enclosed wall. They spit out the human and leave through the hole, leaving the human trapped and hidden inside of the wall. How do you respond?

[frozentsbgg]

No Objections seeing this go to trial
+1

[NethIafins]

Well, noone yet went thru your responses in detail, so let me do that

► Show Spoiler

1. Pretty well detailed and good answer but assumption that we will be swarmed with ahelps is a bit wrong. If you get no ahelps, you can be almost 99% sure it was a misfire or misclick. If you get ahelps, then shooter was almost certainly malicious.
2. As a non-trial mod, you have tools to fix breaches. Bad answer but this is acceptable since our devs do good job with Atmos breaches chances and you may never see issues with it.
3. Good answer. How you going to determine if that was survivor? What if marine player threw his ID?
4. You can ban them per SR 1 if they are completely out of proportion. Other than that - good answer.
5. Awesome. Even the free pass mentioned.
6. Good.
7. Good. Remember that admins can use rule 0 and Grant some medics surgery skills (for HvH events for example)
8. Fine answer. Be sure to cooperate with admins and mods currently present on solution.
9. Good.
10. Good.
11. Alright answer
12. What channels? Hint, you have word I'm searching for in app.
13. Sure, fine answer. But that guy may as you to let him shoot those said racists in the face for "obvious RP reasons". The moral is, be careful about what you tell them
14. What punishment?
15. What actions?
16. Good.
17. Why you want to remind them of rp guidelines? They are just asking why other xeno said dropship
18. Fine. What will you do if that happened before?
19. Good.
20. Wow... What a response =). Well in general we use mod-say or PMs if someone does a mistake.
20a. Never talk to staff about blatant abuse of power. Always kick it up.
21. Sure

I'll be honest with you, with all responses I seen to your app I thought it would be ideal up and thru. However it seems you gave this app a thought only for first 8-10 questions. After that it can be boiled to
"Apply required punishment" with no details. Nowhere I found ban time escalation which we actually have public and it is in sticky topic for this forum.
But this all can be trained. What bothers me more is that you did first half normally and second... Well... Half in half.

Moderating is a routine, you can't give 5 people your full attention and do detailed investigation, and then haphazardly ban sixth, because it may be the sixth one that bites you with staff report because you did something wrong. I'm not saying you have to give 30 minutes of investigation for each situation, but you should give everything a good enough amount. I can see in the app that it might be an issue with you.

I trully hope you prove me wrong with answers to questions in my response, and I would be happy to help you during server modding, but I personally give you -1

Best of luck

[Skysoldier]

I'm going to support what neth said here and give you -1, I personally believe that this application needs to be over some line of effort and frankly, I don't think this is.

While the answers are to an extent seemingly fine it feels like most of them are general handwaving at the answers.

I'll monitor how you have and will answer the questions on this thread and maybe change later.

[Shuffl3]

The runner in question has definitely crossed the line here, that's for sure. If the humans are dead or dying then I'd approach this as a break of GR 8. Its hopefully a player thats new to xenos and still getting a feel for the do's and do not's of xeno life that thought they were being clever. Unless there is a note history that includes a repeat performance I think I'd leave it at a warning and a note.

If the humans are alive and functional...things get interesting. Doing something like that with a perfectly good host leans more into XRS 1, and GR 7 territory with it still being a break of GR 8 and depending on the queen maybe XRS 2. Even with a clean note history I think it should demand a more aggressive approach. Stern warning and note unless there's some relevant note history. But its more likely you''ll find something because you're considering their history of interactions with more than one rule and you'll want to at least imply in PMs that a punishment for any one of those is on the table. (Edit: I think you'd need admin powers to fully resolve the scenario probably to TP the humans out or remove the wall. If briefing an admin in is a mess, id probably just direct them to the situation because it seems cleaner to have one staff member handle a situation beginning to end)

The thing that would concern me most if I ran across this is that this is a fairly visible action thats been known to be poor gameplay for some time. Its much like dragging bodies onto the LZ to be gibbed by the dropship. No player familiar with the server would try it and even if a new player attempted it other players would most likely intervene. If it got this point and no ahelps were generated then it would be in the best interest of the server to remind everybody in the round about the staffs official stance. Keeping stuff like this common knowledge ultimately means less work for staff and better gameplay for everyone.

[Shuffl3]

I mean, yeah. Spot on assessment.

To me, the app process just seems to be set up to filter out people that don't know the rules, lack the reasoning abilities required for the role, and don't understand the game. I didn't think guessing at specifics would help that along. Stuff like the seriousness of an infraction and whether it deserves a 3-hour ban or a 4-hour ban and why seems like something you eventually get a feel for on the job. I'm just player, I only know what I've picked up playing and skimming the forums. I'm not even sure of all the tools and abilities the staff have available to them and how that's split between the admins and the moderators.

I understand that its important for this process is to be selective and I wont have any hard feelings either way it goes. The add I keep seeing pop up asks for applicants in the time-lots I play frequently and promised high quality elite class memes. I don't feel like I'm risking much by participating and I appreciate the time and feedback everyone has presented. Even if I get rejected I'll have been a better player and community member for it.

The forums ate my replies and clarifications to your questions so consider this a placeholder for now. I'll have to rewrite the thing next time I get an opportunity.

[Kavlo]

Application looks good overall and I'm happy enough with the answers they've given in comments.

+1

[Cry of Wolves]

Good response. The action to take is to either warn them heavily or if they have any other note history of poor xeno play, you ban them from the round for powergaming/bug abuse.

You got my +1.

[Imperator_Titan]

You have my +1, great answers to the others' questions. I got none of my own to ask really.

[Aceluke123]

I like this app and you seem like a decent person.
This gets a +1 from me.

[Shuffl3]

► Show Spoiler

1. Pretty well detailed and good answer but assumption that we will be swarmed with ahelps is a bit wrong. If you get no ahelps, you can be almost 99% sure it was a misfire or misclick. If you get ahelps, then shooter was almost certainly malicious.
-Well that's a relief. I've heard the phrase "flooded with ahelps" tossed around enough that I assumed it was just the way things are. Good tip.

2. As a non-trial mod, you have tools to fix breaches. Bad answer but this is acceptable since our devs do good job with Atmos breaches chances and you may never see issues with it.
-Neat

3. Good answer. How you going to determine if that was survivor? What if marine player threw his ID?
-ID fuckery got beat out of me pretty early on as I started playing on CM. Describing a human as "Naked" doesn't even make me think that they wouldn't have their ID on them. I was assuming that it would be readily obvious and that stuff like examine and other context clues like their behavior we're gimmies.

As a ghost or another human player, examine would indicate what role they were and you could check their name against the crew manifest if their ID wasn't present. As a mod, I'd hope that there was some similar verb or tool that staff could use reflexively in a situation like this that would provide more detailed information. I think it could be argued that no Marine would throw away their ID because they're tied to everything from the characters finances to the USMC IFF systems. The server probably has a stance about it under an interpretation of GR 0.2 or MSR 7 but I honestly couldn't tell you what it was and its not specifically mentioned in the rules. It's a common sense thing to me, but its easy to forget how stuff like this is to new players. Either way, a mentor would be able to handle the situation and if the mentor requested mod powers in retrieving the ID I wouldn't see a problem in assisting. Could even do something interesting like steering a bored MP to help out.

7. Good. Remember that admins can use rule 0 and Grant some medics surgery skills (for HvH events for example)
-As a mod, hows that work out? Just ask the admins, null the warning/notes?

8. Fine answer. Be sure to cooperate with admins and mods currently present on solution.
-I like to think that teamwork is a given

12. What channels? Hint, you have word I'm searching for in app.
-The question wasn't specific about where these admins were hiding. If they weren't any present I'd use Slack if I had to summon staff that weren't on the server, general staff chat if they were(mod-say?) and a PM if they were but not paying attention cause it makes that *bwoink*

13. Sure, fine answer. But that guy may as you to let him shoot those said racists in the face for "obvious RP reasons". The moral is, be careful about what you tell them
-Ah yes, "Don't subtle message Bill Carson that he feels hungry". In PMs like this It would be better to protect yourself with boilerplate and not take casual shortcuts by assuming that they'll understand IC as "while following the rules and roleplay guidelines"

14. What punishment?
-ThE fUll oNe, obVioUsLy. Long duration ban with a file for perma. I think a case like this can only be handled in appeals because by logging out the player has removed the staffs ability to fully resolve the incident. By issuing a permanent ban it forces the scenario in like a...logical superposition? Where the situation is resolved because the player accepts that they did something worthy of a permaban by not appealing, or that the situation will be resolved eventually because the player has appealed. The only way staff can obey their mandate to follow protocol is to assume that the player intended to grief until they make themselves available to prove otherwise.

15. What actions?
Well I mean, you know...the relevant ones of course. I know that this is treated somewhat more seriously now, but I haven't suicided as a larva enough to say how. I want to say it skips the warning on a first offense and goes straight to a 3-hour ban with a quick acceleration to a Xeno ban for repeat offenders?

17. Why you want to remind them of rp guidelines? They are just asking why other xeno said dropship
-This kind of thing is specifically mentioned in both the rules and the RP guidelines. If they're ahelping it, it means that they havent read them or that they need to read them...better. There's no rule to read the rules but for the good of everybody I think it'd be best to suggest it.

18. Fine. What will you do if that happened before?
-Without knowing more, I feel like this should be treated situationally. Command roles carry the expectation of higher quality RP but certain command roles are also important mechanically. Personally, Id go with something proportional to how much work it would make me do. If its blatantly part of the briefing or If the enlisted jump on it and use it as an excuse to meme and staff have to break into OOC or LOOC to slap marines back into line then that demands a something a bit more than a time out. A time out and a jobban would force the player to go through an appeals process and work to convince the staff that they wont cause this kind of disruptive problem again while still letting them gain experience as they play a role with less potential to disrupt the round. But escalating bans for the only PO that plays on lowpop and slips up once every three months without causing a stir doesn't seem like it would accomplish anything. Probably just let the warnings stack until I felt hopeless and move towards a jobban.

20. Wow... What a response =). Well in general we use mod-say or PMs if someone does a mistake.
-When in Rome. I've seen some things working with non-profits/community groups, I've learned to just go with it.

20a. Never talk to staff about blatant abuse of power. Always kick it up.
-Yeah, its subjective is all. People get weird when the powers come out.

[NethIafins]

Your answers to my question are not serious, which is fine, but be sure to always be professional when dealing with ahelps.

3. You can determine with your tools if they are survivor or marine. Good answer
7. If medic can do surgery it is either bug abuse or admin giving them surgery powers. In either case contacting admin in game is a good idea
14. We don't permaban people first offense, but we check if they are multikeying to grief and disconnect

Alright, you cleared my questions, I'm still not too happy but all this can be cleared with trial.

I change my opinion to +1

[Shuffl3]

I hope you weren't offended. I thought we were getting cheeky.

If I am accepted into the trial program I realize that in interaction with players as a mod I'll be acting as an agent of the server. Its what I consider staff when we interact in PMs as a player and I can't think of any reason why I would be an exception.

Im kinda bummed about 14 though, I thought I nail'd the logic on that one.

[slc97]

Withdrawn at applicant's request.