Game Administrator Application
Start
In-game Username: NightHarlaw
Discord Username: NightHarlaw
Characters you play: Audra Tarvos
Aarmur
Nia Tarvos
One-Who-Dreams
Fixer
On average, how many hours do you expect to admin per week: Most likely 4-5 hours a day.
How old are you? 18
Do you have any SS14 experience outside of Goob Station servers, or any SS13 experience? I do have minor experience in monolith and a few rounds on omu, but that’s about it.
Do you have prior administration experience (SS13/SS14 experience preferred, please also post a way for us to verify this)?
I do not.
Have you ever been banned from any SS14 or SS13 servers?
I have been banned once on Goob, a 1 day ban a few months ago.
Detailed Questions
What role do you think game admins serve on our servers?
I believe admins are there to help the players on the server with whatever they might need, be it questions or rulings and such, and to enhance the experience of everyone on the server so they can all enjoy it. They, as well as this, should handle moderation fairly and without bias.
Why do you want to become an administrator for SS14?
Repeating myself a bit, I want to help with moderation as a whole and keep most peoples experiences good and fair. I won’t ever be able to please everyone, but keeping people in line is something I would consider good for the community.
What are you primarily interested in doing as an admin?
I am by no means a sort of SS14 veteran, but I’ve been playing goob for what I like to call a pretty long time. I feel like for that reason I’ve seen a my fair share of moderation issues on the team and would like to help the team, especially in MRP. The things I’m primarily interested in is to do moderation and to keep the servers clean of any bad actors, as I’m sure there are plenty.
What are you least interested in doing as an admin?
For me that would be having to argue with people. While yes, staying out of bias is a good thing, usually arguments only lead to things getting worse if the person on the other side is close minded in how they think or simply arguing in bad faith. I do think arguments can be productive, yes, but that implies both parties have a good mindset in the argument. However, most people who argue in ahelps don’t.
How do you feel about the current roleplay status on the servers?
The current roleplay of the server, at least on MRP, is okay at best. I feel the largest issue with the current RP status is simply how antags are made and how frequently they are spawned. People such as security can’t deal with people in character when there are people dying to things like heretics and changelings so it often devolves down to simply just not being able to do a lot of RP because the amount of threats. However, I do also feel that RP is very possible and people are willing to do it, it’s just hard and not very encouraged with game mechanics or the community.
Other than banning problematic players, what admin actions do you believe have the biggest positive impact?
If done well, I do believe admins interacting with the game through peoples actions lies very positively with the people and simply RP. Things such as simply doing whispers into peoples minds when you see something can greatly help with RP, making people really want to get into character and play it out. Antags such as slaughter demon with it’s demonic whispers make for extremely good RP, but for admins they can use admin whispers. For example, if an admin sees someone arguing with someone or simply doing some RP, (if they know the context) they could use admin whispers to mess with them a little and encourage greater RP.
Have you ever had a good experience with the game or a game admin? If so, what was it?
I have had many, many good interactions with the admins and game. The character I mainly play, One-Who-Dreams, has had plenty of ‘lore’ in the MRP server and a lot of it is thanks to admins and what they do. For example, there was some mass hallucination event happening and an admin, who knew what my character did, decided to mess around a bit and give me whispers related to my character. It was enjoyable, and later determined a whole thing for my character.
Have you ever had a negative experience in the game or with a game admin? If so, what, if anything, would you do to prevent other players from experiencing this?
For the most part, no. The only recent admin interaction I’ve had that was negative was someone getting banned for being a “raider” even though they had multiple hundred hours.
Scenario Questions
Scenario 1
It is the start of the round. There are 60 players on the server. The game mode is traitors, traitors have not been selected yet. There are three players who decided to observe the round instead of join it orbiting you. Two of them are encouraging you to “do something funny”.
To begin, anything I would do would be first prefaced with a vote, but 90% of the time it would simply be ignored. Perhaps I’ll joke around a bit in dead chat with them but that’s about it. If I do happen to do something, it would be voted for before hand, especially if it effects the round.
Scenario 2
This scenario takes place on LRP. The Head of Security has decided to coup the Captain. The Head of Personnel agrees with the Head of Security and has taken up arms in case it is necessary to aid in effecting the arrest of the Captain. The Captain is hiding with the Quartermaster in the cargo shuttle to avoid the Clown who has stolen the captains saber as a non-antag. There are five people named in this scenario. Please describe what actions, if any, you would take in relation to each, and why.
To start, if it’s on LRP I know there is less of a standard there for RP compared to MRP, so my decisions and perhaps reactions would be more lax compared to if it were MRP. But taking that into account, I would first ask the head of security why the even decided to do this in the first place. I ahelp them to just ask what reasoning they had to do this, and if the reason was valid enough, do nothing more. However, if their reasoning was not enough, I would most likely give them a game ban for self-antag as it majorly effects the round progression. Next would be the head of personnel. It makes sense for the head of personnel to assist in the coup, as they would be the next in succession as to be the captain, however I would still ahelp them as for their reasoning to help. Especially if they’re actively fighting. Next is the captain. I wouldn’t ahelp them as they did not do anything wrong, and would simply watch to see what they do, the same with the quartermaster. As for the clown, if they’re actively attacking people then ahelp them and most likely ban them for self antag, but if it was prank and it’s later returned and not entirely stolen then I would likely either let them go completely or give them a verbal warning.
Scenario 3
You are ahelping a player about an issue. The player has no prior noted issues. A few days earlier, an admin had told you that this type of situation should result in a temporary ban for a first offense, and you are confident that this situation is not substantially different from the type that admin was describing. During the ahelp, another admin pings you on Discord with a link to the ongoing ahelp and tells you to just indefinitely ban them and make them appeal. Excluding trialmins and headmins, all admins are equally “ranked”. A headmin is not currently available.
The first thing I would do is consult the rulebook if there’s a real discussion on the punishment of the rule. If there is not a specified time, then I would trust my own judgement on the matter. I would thank the admin for their opinion and otherwise follow my own better judgement. Perhaps a discussion would happen, but nothing more. I wouldn’t want to cause an argument in an ahelp.
Scenario 4
A brand new player has joined, chosen cargo tech, and instantly rushes to get satchel charges and other salvage gear. How do you act, if at all?
I would observe them very carefully to see what they do. They obviously know what they’re doing by grabbing salvage gear and satchel charges, and if they do any type of self antag behavior I would most likely ban them for being a raider, especially if they don’t do any talking at all.
Scenario 5
A security officer, on code blue, spots a mime breaking into EVA, in response, he shoots the mime with lethal force then takes him to medical, in cuffs. How do you act, if at all, and to whom?
Considering it’s a very blatant over escalation, I would most likely ahelp the security officer in response to seeing it, especially if there wasn’t a word said during the process. I would then ask them why they would do something like that, especially if nothing was said and they have access to non lethals. If their reasoning is not solid enough, I would most likely punish them for unreasonable incompetence.
Scenario 6
A chief engineer has been slacking all round, generally ignoring the responsibilities of the department, despite meteors and gas leaks happening all round. How do you act towards them, if at all?
If they are in the middle of something like roleplay and the station isn’t actively falling apart (such as spacing, holes in the station or departments, etc) and they have other employees to do it, then I wouldn’t ahelp them. But if it were a low pop server or they are simply just afk doing nothing, I would most likely ahelp them to ask if they are there and what they’re doing. If that isn’t enough and they continue to do it, I would most likely punish them for incompetence.
Scenario 7
You are adminning with 2 other admins, and recieve an aHelp, you start handling it when one of the others butts in to the aHelp correct you. How do you act, if at all?
I would thank them for their correction, but nothing more. I don’t need to argue with another admin, especially in an ahelp, unless something is very wrong. If we have some sort of problem, it can be solved outside the game and in a more private setting.
Scenario 8
A passenger arrives on station and starts skulking around in maints. Not preparing weapons or breaking into places, but gathering tools, insulation gloves, wires, gas mask, batteries, etc. How do you act, if at all?
I wouldn’t act at all. There’s no need for me to act here, as that’s pretty standard behavior when it comes to tiders. Of course, I’d rather they do something more than just tide, but it’s not against the rules to do so. Unless they actually start to do things against the rules, I wouldn’t do anything.
Scenario 9
You are playing as the HOS in-game when the only other admin online notifies you that they have to leave. Since you are an important figure, you decide to continue playing for the remainder of the round, going SSD when ahelps occur in order to deal with them. While playing, you arrest the clown for non-lethal assault against the HOP inside the medical bay. Just as you arrive at security with the clown in cuffs, you receive an ahelp from the CMO about their chemist blowing up chem. In order to investigate, you quickly hand the clown over to the warden and tell the warden to “deal with them.” While investigating the CMO’s ahelp, you then receive an ahelp about the warden beheading the cuffed clown. How do you act, if at all, and to whom?
I would be directly related to the ahelp when it comes to the clown because of the fact that I was the one who arrested them and gave them to ward. I would quickly finish up the CMOs ahelp as quickly as possible and most likely deal with the problem in character. I wouldn’t want to have bias considering I am currently playing the round and my own judgement could be clouded based on that. However, if the warden continues to do more things like or has done things like that, I would either take it into my own hands or contact another admin to see if they could come online for it, as this sort of situation can be delicate with the rules and all.
Do you have any further notes or information we should know about you?
I am currently a student, though I do graduate in a few months. So, the time I have to moderate might change based on that.
