Killerhurtz' Server Moderator application

[Killerhurtz]

Server Moderator Application

 

Basic Information

Byond Account: Killerhurtz

Character Name(s): Sybil Rosetta-Sigma, Lua Saudosa, Ashton Murphy, Ebba Sailor, probably some others that I'm forgetting.

AI Name(s):Chii, Viridian Chrysocolla, Shii (borg), Vermillion Carminite (borg)

Preferred means of contact: PMs, Steam (finallygotportal), BYOND chat (Killerhurtz)

Age: 21

Timezone: EST (GMT-5). HOWEVER it is to be noted that I work an irregular shift - and so my schedule would be closer to GST / GMT+4.

When are you on Aurora?: All of the following times are in PST: 20:00 (8PM) to somewhere around 01:00 (1AM). But even though I shouldn't, I regularly reach 03:00 (3AM). On weekends, all bets are off, I can be there whenever - but often play from Friday 20:00 to Saturday 05:00, then from Saturday 14:00 to somewhere between Sunday 01:00-03:00. Though I also have to say, it's not every day that I play either (except for weekends - I spend my weekends on there often)

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Experience

How long have you played SS13?: Depends on your definition. I played for a year back in... 2007 maybe? Then I joined again a year ago. So 1-2 years.

How long have you played on Aurora: 9 months? I think. Though I think I took a month-long break at some point.

How much do you know about SS13 (Baystation build) game mechanics?: A LOT. I'm not robust 'cause I ain't got no reflexes, but there's only one job I can't do (forensics technician). I also know how to exploit the game to do things bugs would prevent me from doing (like did you know there's actually a procedure that allows making new rooms with APCs without the server shitting itself?)

I also have a thorough knowledge of most antag types (I know wizard, I know ninja, I know nukeops, I know traitors and I know revolution/mutiny. The only thing I have no experience in is changeling.)

Do you have any experience moderating for an SS13 server?: No. Then again, my first experiences I was 13, and in this current run I play on Aurora 99% of the time. I DID however put up a private server and made myself admin, so I know how to use most, if not all, mod/admin tools.

Have you ever been banned, and if so, how long and why?: No. Most I've had is an in-game warning early on and a complaint against one of my characters.

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Personality

Why do you play SS13?: Because of an undying passion for science-fiction and the sheer liberty of what's possible. So far there's very few things I thought of that made sense that I wasn't able to do.

Why do you play on Aurora?: Mind-blowing codebase, mind-blowing community.

What do moderators do?: THEY MODERATE (DURR)

Serious answer though, they mediate conflicts to ensure a resolution that's best for the players involved (and the community as a whole in general), and they're the guardians of the server against griefers. Which translates into a wider goal of making the community and server a fun, satisfying place to be in.

What does it mean to be a moderator for our server?: It means having the power to kick/ban nefarious players, issue warnings and generally have the tools to either help rectifying or ridding the server of elements that are undesirable. also msay erp

Why do you want to be a moderator?: Because it's the game I play the most, at the moment. I care about the community, and I want to help. Also I often play during what is considered deadhour (which often seriously lacks moderators), and that's a plus. And finally, I plan on having votes, regularly, for events during extended rounds, to make it more interesting for the players who want some actual thing to do during that (and maybe, with a bit of luck, make Extended a bit more interesting a choice in deadhour)

What qualities do you possess that would make you a good moderator?: The constant need for exterior feedback when uncertain. A vast knowledge of the game so that if someone needs help to do something, they can turn to me. A vast knowledge of what can but should not be done so that I can deny people asking for that. The knowledge of moderator tools. A tendency to be more forgiving, giving more guided and lesser penalties and allowing people to learn instead of instantly laying the smackhammer. erp skills

How well do you handle stress, anger, or insults?:

I'll be honest here. Stress makes me forget things once in a while - I become very track-minded under stress. Insults, it's hard to get to me through.

But anger is a bit of a problem. It can be pretty hard to anger me under normal circumstances (so most of the time) and I usually have decent self-control, but when I rage, I rage. Just... this week, I think? There was an incident involving me being a Ninja and poor handling of a doctor that resulted in me being unconscious for 35 minutes before dying. I absolutely lashed out onto them (and sometimes in ahelp for two reasons; first, the spam system that mutes people whenever they have the slightest damage, like dropping things or having a popped lung, because of repetitive damage, and the second reason was simply that I was angry so it spilled over slightly), even though the situation was being resolved in Ahelp. I calmed down soon after (even though I got again slightly angry at how other people reacted to it), though, and there's no bad blood or hard feelings between me and the other party (we talked once I had calmed down).

So were I a moderator, without a doubt I'd hand over any case that involves me directly (if possible) and that makes me angry, because I'm straight up a dick when I'm legitimately angry, and I also get biased.

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Anything Else You Want to Add:

None. I don't like sugarcoating things, to be honest. I know if you have questions you'll ask them, but otherwise this whole section is pointless to me.

[Shadow]

Before I'll give you a proper feedback.

You applied for Spriter, lore-Dev and now Moderator.

Do you think you'll be able to handle all of that?

[Jboy2000000]

I know from first hand experience that Killer is a pleasant person to talk to, and that has to be a quality mods have, so people can talk to them. Killer has my vote, if it matters.

[Killerhurtz]

Yes, I don't bite off more than I can chew. Lore I can most certainly handle in most places where I can't do anything else (like during my transit to work, or at slow points of work) or on the days I'm not actively playing, sprites I work extremely fast (I mean, in the short time that I've done unofficial spriting for Aurora, I completed all but one custom item (and that was because I needed to download Baystation source to get a sprite that we got rid of), and allowed the completion of two of Skull's projects (the IPC organs and the augmented table)) and can easily be worked into these odd hours where I have an hour and a half to spare (which I wouldn't join a game because I don't like quitting mid-round), and Server Moderator is irrelevant unless I'm actively needed, or on the server. Unless something completely unforeseen happens, I am confident I can fill all of these roles, and they would take priority over actually playing if needed (because to be honest, I quite enjoy spriting/writing lore, about as much as I enjoy playing).

Though I think it's a valid question to ask: "Does Aurora want to give so many roles/so much power to a single user?"

And I'd completely understand if that was the grounds for denial of one, or several, applications depending on where I would be most needed.

Also, thanks JBoy :3

[Witt]

Quick side note: you will not be allowed to have both server mod and server dev positions. that doesn't mean you cant sprite and be mod.

Also, I support you going to trial-modship

[Garnascus]

Two questions. Do you believe server rules must be followed to the letter at all times? if not why?

Second, how willing are you to disagree with other staff? even admins/the headmin?

[Killerhurtz]

@Witt: I know, there's no shared titles. I'm not going to touch the code - so unless loredev and mod are mutually exclusive, there should be no issues.

@Garnascus:

 

 

But yeah. In my point of view, there's only one absolute rule: keep things PG-13, both IC and OOC. Discretion and judgement in everything else - because we're not running a courtroom, we're trying to keep a server as fun as possible to as many people as possible. HOWEVER it does not mean to allow people to walk away scot-free either - as rules are usually put in action for a good reason, and so must be enforced to some degrees - but in a lot of cases, a little verbal warning via PM is most likely enough. The only people who deserve the full arsenal are threefold; recidivists, high-level griefers (abusive bombers, people who release singulo, people who mess with atmos) and people who OOC break the rule 'don't be a dick' (because being a dick IC can sometimes lead to interesting situations)

And I am entirely willing to disagree, and even privately oppose other staff, even those technically 'above' moderators; because they way I see it, while they DO have higher powers, it's not entirely a hierarchy - more of a council that can discuss and debate actions if necessary. But again, it's a council - while it means I have about as significant a voice as everyone else, it also means that everyone else has as significant a voice as I - which means that if a majority of the moderation group disagrees with me, for executive purposes I am incorrect. Communication breeds respect, respect breeds cooperation, cooperation breeds effectiveness.

Do both examples make sense?

Edited November 14, 2015 by Guest

[Frances]

As far as I know mods can be coders/devs, they just won't have dev flags because that would technically make them admins in all but name.

[Killerhurtz]

Makes sense, Frances - since mods would have administration tools, and devs would have the debug tools. That's pretty much the two halves of what makes an admin. But I won't need the devtools - and if I do, it'll be because I'll have been working with Skull/Sierra/someone who actually does have debug tools anyway.

[Garnascus]

Makes sense, I think you gave pretty good answers. Plus 1

[Shadow]

Interview with the applicant:

 

Moderator PM to-Killerhurtz: RIght then, let's start. So, situation one. You are a trial mod. Somebody joins with name Obama, bald assistant, 30 years. What would you do?

Player PM from-Killerhurtz/(Killerhurtz)(?): Warning that characters that are based on existing (real or not) characters or personalities are forbidden. Tell them to head to Cryo (or to ghost and then I delete the body), and watch who they join as again.

Player PM from-Killerhurtz/(Killerhurtz)(?): ...Would also be a good idea to remind them to read the rules.

Moderator PM to-Killerhurtz: Alright, second situation. Nuke round. You see a QM equiped with weapons rushing to the nuke ops and killing 3 of them. A nuke op ahelps about the QM. What would you do?

Player PM from-Killerhurtz/(Killerhurtz)(?): Contact QM, determine origin of weapons and motivation. If possible in a doable timescale, make them connect the dots as to why that made no sense. If not, warn them that this is a bad move and that a QM shouldn't have such skills, and let an actual mod/admin know if possible to ensure proper steps are taken.

Player PM from-Killerhurtz/(Killerhurtz)(?): Inform him of the rules regarding action against antags and what conditions a round can end in. If they understand and agree, and say that it won't happen again, it ends there - but I keep an eye on him during the rest of the round (and the following round if I'm present). If they go on on a tirade, check in with an actual mod/admin and possibly administer a formal warning.

Moderator PM to-Killerhurtz: After you talked to the QM you want to warn. You check his notes and see that his 4 other notes about powergaming. What would you do?

Player PM from-Killerhurtz/(Killerhurtz)(?): Double-check with a mod/admin, and possibly ban him for a few days, while letting him know that he can appeal the ban on the forums if he feels it's unfair.

Moderator PM to-Killerhurtz: Alright, last situation. A player ahelps that he was permabrigged for no reason. What would you do?

Player PM from-Killerhurtz/(Killerhurtz)(?): Ask him to explain his point of view, and ask him who was involved. Check in with the relevant security officers, and if relevant the detective and Head of Security. If he was indeed permabrigged for no reason, talk and possibly warn the infringing parties. If there was a valid reason as explained by security, I tell him the specific reasons why he was permabrigged. However I have to admit that if he WAS erroneously permabrigged, I'd have to contact an actual mod/admin to see how to make things fair again without forcing the players to meta-act to release him.

Moderator PM to-Killerhurtz: Alright, a final question. If you were a staff member. Would you change something? Would you make something different?

Player PM from-Killerhurtz/(Killerhurtz)(?): Depends on how much I succeed. Because eventually, if I could, I'd change the "extended vs antags" dichotomy, and phase it more into a "no-special-role round versus a special-roles round". Because the way I see it, Extended (at least in deadhour) is not popular because it involves creating situations (and sometimes it's even impossible because you're missing half the support departments you'd need) while 'antags' rounds tend to end rather painfully quite often because they're specifically called antagonists - which means that they should inherently be against the crew, instead of being a scenario support role that can work for or against. So encouraging fun events in extended while encouraging moderation in both antag action and security action (possibly by providing a relevant scenario, or specific goals, to the support role). But I guess that's pretty idyllic isn't it...

[Baka]

I have a question.

How DO YOU handle your stress and anger? I know the question was "how WELL you handle it", but there will be times where people do nothing but exasperate you. It will disheartened you. Are you someone who would, say, press the nuke button if you're angry?

[Aqy]

Recently, you were a ninja who was (unjustly) killed. And during this time you reacted in an extremely rash way in LOOC and ahelps. I'm curious as to how you would have handled your behavior if you were a mod, and if you thought that your reaction was becoming of a moderator or something that you'd want to see in staff behavior.

[Killerhurtz]

@Baka

Stress doesn't push my buttons, per se - just makes me slightly less than efficient by sometimes forgetting the lesser details (like forgetting to come back to someone, or needing to ask certain questions twice). Stress isn't going to be bad for me (and I'm used to it at this point; I've become the point of contact with the client for a completely new feature they're building on the ground up). I know to suck it up, mostly.

@Baka @Aqy

Again, for anger, I'll be honest. I consider myself to have a pretty high threshold for anger - and before that threshold, I'm as amiable, reasonable and polite as ever. I'm going to triple my efforts were I a mod - and even then, as far as SS13 goes, I might get annoyed/exasperated at people being dicks, but actual anger would never come if I'm not directly involved (like this ninja thing).

But if I was directly involved in something that would anger me to a point similar to that incident? I wouldn't want to see that from a mod that's directly involved in the resolution of the issue (outside I don't mind - as long as said moderator doesn't amplify the unfairness by taking action while that angry), so I would without a doubt exclude myself from any administrative actions taken for that issue. And if I am the only form of moderation available. I would note it down and use different tools to get outside moderation involved (if, by the time I come back to my senses, I feel that it should still be tackled) such as a player complaint.

So the long of the short: I'm hard to anger, but when I'm angry I don't handle it very well - but I wouldn't be pressing the nuke button because I'd hand over the passcodes to someone that's impartial to the case.

[Shadow]

Bah, I forgot to write the reply.

Anyway!

I never had bad experience with you and your characters.

You have my support.

[Skull132]

Applicant placed on trial for the next 3 weeks. Please provide feedback as they manage issues that involve you!

[w3bster]

In a certain round that is still happening at the time this post is made, the following happened.

Somewhere in the round, i had made the classic joke of someone's pussy due to cat discussions. To which Killerhurtz AdminPM'd me :

"i heard that"

Nothing more, nothing less. Not any further replies. Not anything.

Then later in the round, like, about an hour later, i made a random comment about theft of underwear. To which this happened.

 

Trial Moderator PM from-Killerhurtz: Second warning
PM to-Killerhurtz: what?
Trial Moderator PM from-Killerhurtz: Deadchat and LOOC count as OOC.
PM to-Killerhurtz: ...and?
Trial Moderator PM from-Killerhurtz: And you're being inappropriate?
PM to-Killerhurtz: How am i doing so? Only saying mild stuff. And that'd be first warning. First time, you only said "i heard that". Nothing else. Not a word of warning.

 

Then somewhere in the surroundings of 2-4 minutes pass. With nothing being replied. Then this happens.

 

PM to-Killerhurtz: ...still there?
Trial Moderator PM from-Killerhurtz: Yes. And I don't contact people for no reason, but I'll let it slide. You're still warned, keep it down.
PM to-Killerhurtz: don't contact for no reason? i wished to discuss the "first warning". which was not a warning at all.
Trial Moderator PM from-Killerhurtz: My point was, the fact I contacted you should have been a warning but I'll let it slip
PM to-Killerhurtz: Alright. I didn't get that at first.

 

The exchange finished there.

As far as feedback goes, this issue could of been handled much better. The heart of resolving any kind of issue is good communication and respect from each side.

In this situation, the Trial Moderator did not properly communicate the first time, only throwing a wild PM which could of simply been taken as a random communication. There was no clear warning or clear words.

Then, in the supposed second warning, when i attempted to get context as i was lost, none was provided and i had to push. It was met with a certain level of rudeness and finally, some kind of resolution to the issue.

I believe this should be worked on. Lack of communication, general harsh statements and the such may devolve future issue management into a quite negative exchange which none would want.

This situation probably could of been handled much better.

Do note, i have nothing against this person. only attempting to provide feedback in order to prevent further problems.

[Frances]

Yeah, you're not alone. It's sorta weird to even see those logs as I've interacted with Killerhurtz a bit in the lore chat and they seem like a very positive/cheerful person, yet they come out as really bossy in what you posted.

I've also talked to Thundy and she says that she was encouraged to take the same authoritative attitude when talking to people in PMs, and it's something I've noticed trials doing (won't give any names as I don't recall who it was but at least a third trialmod did something similar this week, in OOC I think.)

I don't think it's necessarily the fault of the trials as much as the current mods/admins teaching them to do business like that, but it's something that bugs me about the way Aurora staff behaves. There's absolutely no need to be bossy or be like "you've been warned" or "I'll let you off this time" rather than politely request the user be careful about whatever they did - especially with something that seems as mild as mentioning underwear theft in deadchat or LOOC.

[Killerhurtz]

Yeah I have to apologize for that one, I dropped the ball. While I stand by my decision to let you know it was not appropriate, I should have been a LOT more clear and concise about the whole ordeal. I was just exhausted from the day and doing several things at once.

Needless to say, I've already taken steps to make sure all future events will be handled properly. It was not mod encouragement, per se - apparently I have my own flavor of assertion that is okay - it was just me fucking up and being distracted.

Though while my memory is a little fuzzy - I'm almost certain that after the last log, I did say something to the extent of "Yeah the 'first' first warning was not clear so this is the new first warning, I'll be more clear from now on but still keep it down". Could be wrong, though - wouldn't be the first time I remember doing things I didn't actually do

[Dea Tacita]

she was encouraged to take the same authoritative attitude when talking to people in PMs

 

Thundy was told this (apparently) due to her "Dancing around the issue" with someone who we had definite evidence of breaking the rules, in addition to just really letting the person talk circles around her. Also, note that "Be assertive" (which we told her specifically in-regards to when you have definite evidence of a rule-break) does not translate into "Be an impersonal dick to everyone, always."

[Skull132]

WELL, this is what happens when the staff discuss things. They actually read the threads posted up for review, and reply to them ;-; What has this world come to.

Yadda-yadda-yadda: same deal as what Dea said, simply phrased by tired Skull.

I've also talked to Thundy and she says that she was encouraged to take the same authoritative attitude when talking to people in PMs, and it's something I've noticed trials doing (won't give any names as I don't recall who it was but at least a third trialmod did something similar this week, in OOC I think.)

 

Do consider that Thundy was effectively denied for lacking assertiveness in general, the last time around. Being completely floppy and thus unable to make a coherent decision doesn't make for a good moderator either, as then it'd be warning and note city with nothing final getting done. So, context, hooyah? Hooyah. If anyone can find an actual piece of indoc that's been circulated around saying, "Be assertive and be a dick towards all players when handling them," then I would very much like to see it.

 

Actual things start here!

As a matter of further note, these logs actually came up for discussion when we were gathering out thoughts about the Trial Mods a few minutes ago (hence how I ended up here). This is not something we'd like to see, so we are curious for further feedback on if something like this is repeated.

In recruitment drives, we should probably return and more heavily enforce the point of contact system, so that we can have more instant feedback between the Trial Mod and staff team whenever issues like this are posted. This would primarily help them study. Though, it would also require more manpower.

[Skull132]

As the rest of Killerhurtz's trial went on fine, we've concluded that what was posted and discussed was a singular incident. It also looks like they learned from it, which is what being a trial mod is all about.

Killerhurtz has been accepted as a full Moderator, effective 12DEC2015.