Staff Complaint - Snakebittenn

[Rotharia]

BYOND Key: Rotharia

Staff BYOND Key: Snakebittenn

Game ID: b9C-aOvt

Reason for complaint: After returning to Aurora after quite some time away I log in as my Skrell character, Blorp Worshol, only to get bwoinked minutes later to Snake telling me that my character couldn't have the first name Blorp as it no longers meshes with the skrell lore. This character already has an accepted skrell backstory and I see no reason why a character I've spent forever playing should be deleted just because of a change of staff. As a player that doesn't feel fair or friendly at all.

Evidence/logs/etc: There was an event going on after I ghosted and the chat was quickly filled so I wasn't able to gather any logs. Check the round logs to verify.

Additional remarks: Please contact me on discord at Rotharia#6158 if you have any further questions.

Edited October 14, 2020 by Rotharia

[Arrow768]

Will be handled by the Loremaster / Deputy Loremaster as this complaint is regarding the conduct / decisions of a Lore Writer.
You also posted a incorrect gameid. The correct one is: b9C-aOvt

[Arrow768]

2 hours ago, Rotharia said:

Evidence/logs/etc: [...] Check the round logs to verify.

Here are the logs for reference:

Quote

[2020-10-14 05:38:16.154] b9C-aOvt ADMIN: PM: Snakebittenn/(Nagisa Seventeen)->Rotharia/(Blorp Worshol): Hey. Skrell lore writer here. We're generally a 'no' on your Skrell being named Blorp. It's a bit of a joke name. Your surname is pretty much fine as-is, but the first name's gonna have to change.
[2020-10-14 05:39:08.322] b9C-aOvt ADMIN: PM: Rotharia/(Blorp Worshol)->Snakebittenn/(Nagisa Seventeen): Yea I've had this character a long time dude, I only just recently came back to Aurora but it wasn't a problem then. Why is it a problem now?
[2020-10-14 05:39:31.160] b9C-aOvt ADMIN: PM: Snakebittenn/(Nagisa Seventeen)->Rotharia/(Blorp Worshol): 'A long time' is the reason. That was an entirely different lore writer and lore team.
[2020-10-14 05:39:49.690] b9C-aOvt ADMIN: PM: Rotharia/(Blorp Worshol)->Snakebittenn/(Nagisa Seventeen): So I don't get grandfathered in? At all?
[2020-10-14 05:40:31.368] b9C-aOvt ADMIN: PM: Rotharia/(Blorp Worshol)->Snakebittenn/(Nagisa Seventeen): Can you at least give it time to see how the character plays? He's not a joke character.
[2020-10-14 05:41:34.825] b9C-aOvt ADMIN: PM: Snakebittenn/(Nagisa Seventeen)->Rotharia/(Blorp Worshol): We don't do grandfathering, especially not where it concerns a name like Blorp. You do not get a free pass. Again, your last name is fine, and your roleplay presumably fine as well, but I just need you to change your name.
[2020-10-14 05:42:42.936] b9C-aOvt ADMIN: PM: Rotharia/(Blorp Worshol)->Snakebittenn/(Nagisa Seventeen): It's not going to happen, I have an accepted skrell application for this character, I am not changing it because of a change of staff. That's not fair to me.

[6 minutes later]

[2020-10-14 05:48:47.542] b9C-aOvt ADMIN: PM: Snakebittenn/(Nagisa Seventeen)->Rotharia/(Blorp Worshol): You seem to have missed the part where I told you I'm the /Skrell lore writer./ I am the one that controls whether you even *have* a whitelist or not. We do not want you to play a Skrell named Blorp. You either change your name, or lose your whitelist.
[2020-10-14 05:49:10.627] b9C-aOvt ADMIN: PM: Rotharia/(Blorp Worshol)->Snakebittenn/(Nagisa Seventeen): Trust me, I didn't miss it.
[2020-10-14 05:49:46.578] b9C-aOvt ADMIN: PM: Rotharia/(Blorp Worshol)->Snakebittenn/(Nagisa Seventeen): Respectfully, get off your fucking high horse.
[2020-10-14 05:51:06.690] b9C-aOvt ADMIN: PM: Snakebittenn/(Nagisa Seventeen)->Rotharia/(Blorp Worshol): Alright, you can make a staff complaint about this, but consider your whitelist stripped.
[2020-10-14 05:51:13.416] b9C-aOvt ADMIN: PM: Rotharia/(Blorp Worshol)->Snakebittenn/(Nagisa Seventeen): Will do.
[2020-10-14 05:52:23.830] b9C-aOvt ADMIN: PM: Snakebittenn/(Nagisa Seventeen)->Rotharia/(Blorp Worshol): While we're processing that, do me a favor and put your character in cryo.

After which the whitelist has been stripped.

[Snakebittenn]

I've had a pretty good sleep since last night, and despite all this rest, I still don't know what you were aiming to accomplish last night.
Literally none of this, especially not your whitelist being stripped, was necessary. It was a simple request: Change your name. Blorp is blatantly a meme name. It's the same as making a Tajaran named P'urr, or an Unathi named Hiss, or an IPC named Beep. It's something you'd joke about in deadchat, or some noise you'd think a Skrell would make (they probably do) that you find particularly humorous. It's not something a Skrell's Quya would name them. At no point did I ask you to delete the entire character, I simply asked you to change only their first name. I'm completely fine with the name Worshol.

There is also the fact that having an approved backstory more than a year ago does not mean it's forever acceptable. I looked over your original whitelist application, and there's many things that no longer mesh with Skrell lore. As a whitelisted player, it's your responsibility to keep up with new lore changes. We don't do grandfathering, as it's never been good for long-term sustainability regarding the writing of said lore.

Despite my own brashness, which I apologize for, this only happened to you because of your attitude. There was no actual need for you to act this way.

[Rotharia]

Admittedly yes, my attitude was poor, but I've never had an issue with admins before and to return to the game and immediately get bwoinked was frustrating to say the least. My biggest issue is that the lore you've introduced is prohibitive rather than guiding. Having every character fit within the same cookie-cutter mold is not conducive to a "living world". Outliers exist across all walks of life and while I'm certainly open to changing the backstory, origin, whatever about my character I am unwilling to change his name. As much as you think it's a meme, you've not given the time to see a moment of his role-play. He is Blorp, that's all there is to say and I am not willing to compromise the integrity of that character.

Edited October 14, 2020 by Rotharia
missing word

[Rotharia]

Bump.

[Mofo1995]

I will weigh in within 24 hours.

[Mofo1995]

ETA roughly 6 hours when I get home from work.

[Rotharia]

No pressure friend, take your time. Just wanted to make sure it had gotten to ya.

 

[Mofo1995]

After some deliberation, I do have to side with Snakebitten here- with some caveats. Back in 2016 when I got my skrell whitelist, I actually went through the same scenario. After about a month of having the whitelist and playing as the character, an admin PM'd me on server and asked me to change the name. They helped me come up with a new name and we wound up hitting it off and becoming good friends until they eventually drifted off and away from SS13 and to greener pastures. 

The point I wanna try to make here is that the lore does change from time to time, and unfortunately, this typically demands keeping current and having to rework pre-existing characters. I do my best to avoid major and sudden changes so that everything can hopefully be seamless for everyone, but it happens. If my skrell was exactly as written when I first made my whitelist app back in 2016 today, it would be completely contrary to large sections of skrell lore. It wouldn't fit at all. But what this all boils down to is the name. You said you're willing to change anything about your character except the first name, and I really feel like "Blorp" is a crazy hill to die on if you're willing to change anything else. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." and whatnot.

I do, however, take unction with how the situation was approached. I think Snake came in too hot in their opening PM to you, and shouldn't have automatically assumed you were a bad faith actor. They probably should've tested the waters a bit more, talked to you about your character's name, and offered to help you come up with a new one or a similar sounding one like that helpful admin did for me when it happened to me. I can see how that might've made you feel the need to be on the defensive and somewhat adversarial side, but I do think you disproportionately escalated while snakebitten never really went meaner than the initial entrance to the convo. 

@Snakebittenn will be given the advice to come into these situations a bit gentler so that hopefully these situations can be worked out without much escalation in the future, but otherwise I've decided to uphold their decision.

You're free to reapply for a skrell whitelist at any time of your choosing. 

This will be locked and archived in 24 hours.

[Mofo1995]

Locking and archiving.