AWPen Posted September 17, 2017 Posted September 17, 2017 Server Moderator Application Basic Information Byond Account: AWPenheimer Character Name(s): Assim-Zhan Ka'to'ro AI Name(s): N/A Preferred means of contact: Discord preferably, but you can inbox me on the forums. Age: 26 Timezone: GMT 0 (BST currently) When are you on Aurora?: I am available any time after 3pm, I'll talk further about my activity later on since it is spotty. Experience I've been staff on other servers before all the way from mod up to head admin so I'm fairly experienced in the role. However it's been a while so I may need to refresh myself on controls etc. I've also been staff on a lot of other games, more notably GMOD where I spend my time as Admin on a customised darkRP servers etc. I've also been founder member and head admin on numerous GMOD servers since I do play it a lot. I've done everything from manage clans on WOT to being a community manager for a game mode for Gmod. How long have you played SS13?: God, how long have I played? Must have been early 2014 at least when I started playing this game probably even earlier I can't remember how long exactly but I've been around a long time. How long have you played on Aurora: On my other account my earliest login was 2015 sometime I believe being told before by Skull, on this account I've been playing since 2016 I believe. How much do you know about SS13 (Baystation build) game mechanics?: I've played a long time so I know quite a lot but the newer things I may not have such good knowledge on but I am willing to learn so that I am able to better help players. Do you have any experience moderating for an SS13 server?: Yes I've moderated on servers before such as Apollo and numerous other upstarts that didn't quite make it all the way. Have you ever been banned, and if so, how long and why?: I've only been banned once on discord, which I fully accept was my fault. Personality I like to think of myself as quite a fun and playful person. While I do maintain seriousness in the situations that require it I believe people will always follow rules more if you do not act above them and condescend them. I try to be understanding, looking at other peoples point of views. I'm generally here to have a good time so I always want to keep myself up and keep positive energy. Why do you play SS13?: I play SS13 because it has depth like no other game I know. The amount you can do and be is just out standing and unparalleled by any other game out there in level of detail. A lot of love has gone into every version of code, specifically Auroras code with the dedicated development team. I'm also very truthful and will not hesitate to admit if I did something wrong. Why do you play on Aurora?: I've been around to say the least. Aurora is easily the best community I've come across hence my repeated attempts to get involved in it. I've played for so long now game play often isn't all that engaging for me so I'm trying to get involved and help build the community as much as possible and I think I could dedicate a lot of time to the staff here. What do moderators do?: Moderators are tasked with watching how everything on the server plays out and that no one is breaking the rules either by playing a character ingame or just watching the round as a ghost. Moderators are generally responsible for making sure everyone is following the rules and dealing with incidents and if needed handing it up the chain. What does it mean to be a moderator for our server?: For me it obviously means dedicating a lot of time towards the server which I am willing to do. I do not find it hard to clock hours I just need the motivation to do so which I think I can find with being a part of the staff team. You have to maintain a presence on the server so that the players are comfortable when contacting you in game or out for any information. I am more then willing to dedicate my time to help better the server however I can. Why do you want to be a moderator?: Aurora is such an amazing community that I do want to be apart of. I want to be apart of this team because it gives me good reason and motivation to deeply involve myself in the community. I want to have that chance to look over people in what they do and how they play. All of the players and staff come well together to form this very close and enjoyable community. There is a lot of respect between players themselves and also players to the staff and I think this would make for a very enjoyable environment to moderate in. What qualities do you possess that would make you a good moderator?: I try to maintain a friendly vibe when talking to people which I think would be my most powerful quality as a moderator. People would hopefully see me as a friend instead of being just another member of the staff team which would hopefully lead them to being easier to handle and make sure they follow the rules correctly. I'll always maintain a strong friendliness to people even if they get aggravated. How well do you handle stress, anger, or insults?: Insults and other stuff such as that does not generally get to me, I've never really cared what people say in insults. Anger and stress are obviously hard to combat sometimes but if I do reach anger I would not take it out on players or staff. I would simply walk away from the situation, if I am getting aggravated I will hand the report onto another staff member while I take the time to calm down. However I do rarely ever get angry. Anything Else You Want to Add: (Do not put words here) I understand a lot of you may question my activity. However I've played the game for so long every situation I have seen, every play I have seen. Aurora is the best community I've come across in my years and I really want to be apart of it and I want to dedicate myself to the community because it is one of a kind.
Faris Posted September 17, 2017 Posted September 17, 2017 The issue with this application is that you've been relatively inactive, with the last log in being 3 weeks ago, that's not even considering your activity previous to that. I've also noticed you've come around to post when some staff vacancies are advertised to then disappear again. As it stands, there's a very minimal chance this could be accepted at this time. Interested on your thoughts to this.
AWPen Posted September 17, 2017 Author Posted September 17, 2017 This is the first time I've applied for moderation position on the server. Previously it's been lore positions that I've been interested in since I enjoy writing. I know I have been inactive but I can easily log 3-4 hours a day for a week I just don't have the motivation to play anymore which is why I want the opportunity to overlook people instead.
Faris Posted September 18, 2017 Posted September 18, 2017 I honestly have a preference of a moderator that plays as opposed to those than don't play. While we do appreciate the sentiment, I'm not really a fan of applications that promise activity on being accepted compared to those that are even marginally active so we can properly base our reviews on. There are also certain issues raised by the fact of certain notes presented on you when you do play.
AWPen Posted September 18, 2017 Author Posted September 18, 2017 I'm not going to lie, this is a long shot from me and I will just straight up admit that. I know I am not the most ideal candidate on play time and my in game history could be considered pretty spotty. I've been playing the game for long now it's a struggle to keep that interest and you end up doing fucked up shit in game. The community is fantastic and this is me trying to claw myself into it so I'm sticking around as much as possible. The one thing I do have is the passion and heart. I've been around so long and I want to relight that inside me.
HouseOfSynth Posted September 19, 2017 Posted September 19, 2017 Hello, hello! I'll be the one conducting your interview so I'll be contacting you over discord within the next few days when I have a gap in my schoolwork. Until then!
Scheveningen Posted September 20, 2017 Posted September 20, 2017 Your lack of activity and the sudden out-of-the-blue application strikes a particular weight of concern with me. It is not a particularly unique situation as this has happened before with some applicants, and the general gist of it is that they promise more activity if they get approved, yet it's 50/50 if they follow up on that promise. If they get passed over in favor of other applicants or just denied outright, the person doesn't show up at all. None of the above concerns would apply if we were talking about someone who logged on occasionally and played on a somewhat irregular basis but enough to show they still show some investment in playing on the server. As opposed to, little to no investment whatsoever backed by the inactivity. Moderators are not particularly expected to make the big decisions but sometimes when it comes down to it, often they set precedents for cases just as much as the administrators do. The question in particular is, "Is it smart of us to accept an applicant who has not shown recent investment in participating in the community?" To avoid posing rhetoricals for nobody's benefit, I'm going to input my own opinion as a response to that question and say 'no', and for others to take under advisement that activity on the server is one of the largest things we look for when we ask around the community if they would be interested to apply for server staff. To the point where it alone may be a dealmaker or a dealbreaker.
HouseOfSynth Posted September 20, 2017 Posted September 20, 2017 The interview with AWP: House_Of_Synth - Today at 17:43 Basically, the way I do it is I run you through a few scenarios that may or may not be common things we get through ahelps, then after that I ask some server/rule questions. If you have any questions regarding what powers (trial) mods have then please feel free to ask. Give as much depth and detail as you can on how you would go about these scenarios, same premise goes for the rule/server related questions. Doesn't hurt to do your best as it'll all help with the decision process. Sound good? Inchs - Today at 17:47 Yeah sounds good to me House_Of_Synth - Today at 17:47 Coolio, first scenario then: A new player joins with the character name "Vladimir Putin", a bald 30 year old assistant. You do a quick age check and find out that their account is 0 days old. What do you do? Inchs - Today at 17:48 Alright, first off I boink him, be friendly because he's obviously new to the game. I ask if he knows about the rules of character naming and iask if he needs any help with the game guides etc Going to assume he answers? House_Of_Synth - Today at 17:49 We'll go with that for now, yeah. He admits he's yet to read the rules but has played on other servers before. How would you respond? Inchs - Today at 17:50 Okay, well I tell him that most servers including ours have sets of rules and I advise him to go read them else he will end up in trouble again. I specifically mention his name is breaking the rules and that he can choose a new one and I can change it for him while he reads the rules. House_Of_Synth - Today at 17:51 Alright, good. And what if he didn't respond to your first PM and just carried on walking around? Inchs - Today at 17:53 I'd try two mores times to contact him. I like to work on a 3 system for minor stuff such as this. If he just refuses to answer I will just straight up change his name to something suitable. At this time I wouldn't know if he had actually read the rules but I can't outrioght say he hasn't. I would watch him very closely after changing his name to see if he breaks anymore rules. House_Of_Synth - Today at 17:54 Aye aye, just as a side-note, mods can't actually change names. We just pester the admins to do so. Ready for the next one? Inchs - Today at 17:55 Ah, yeah I'd just pester asay to do so then, yeah I'm ready. House_Of_Synth - Today at 17:55 Sweet, here it is: You recieve an adminhelp from a player. The adminhelp is not very clear, and just states that they were permabrigged for no reason. How would you respond? Inchs - Today at 17:56 First step is I try to get a clear message from this guy. I ask him what happened, leading up to the event and what led him to being the brig. I ask who perma brigged him and make a note of their names. I'll also quickly check if he is an antag if he does come back with a clear message I'll start questioning the people who brigged him, reasoning etc and what the guy actually did If he doesn't, I will try and look manually for someone involved, HoS is a good place to start since it's their department. When I find the person I'll question them about the incident House_Of_Synth - Today at 17:59 The player states they were just walking to their department when an officer came along and stun batonned them before cuffing them and taking them to security, they were told by the officer that they were being Held until Transfer before being put in a cell. Inchs - Today at 18:00 Ok, I'll get the officers name and begin questioning him. Asking him why he was arrested, why is he being held until transfer Questioning the sec officer that is, not the brigged guy House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:02 The officer in question simply states they were following the head of security's orders, who is now cryo'd and logged out. Inchs - Today at 18:02 Is there a warden online or not? If there is, I'll see if the warden has any information, I'll reask the sec officer what crime the guy commited House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:04 The officer states that the brigged player committed murder, the warden tells you that the player was to be brigged for tresspassing over the bar counter. Inchs - Today at 18:06 Ok, at this stage I'm leaning towards believing the warden, seeing as he has control over the department at the moment he knows the going ons of the station. I tell the security officer to correctly adjust the guys sentance and put him in and advise him if he wants to put him down for murder to get evidence from the detective. I inform the warden whats hapepning to make sure the guys sentance is correctly adjusted and I tell the player that he was actually in for tresspassing according to the warden (Who should know the most about the case if security procedure is being followed) and tell him his sentance will be readjusted accordingly. House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:09 The player confirms that they tresspassed the bar, the officer realises their mistake and upon scrolling up confirm that they accidentally misread the order, since one regarding murder was stated at the same time by the Head of Security. As an extra part here, would you give out any notes/warnings. Notes especially since we're encouraged to add notes after most if not all our cases. For covering our backsides incase complaints/ban requests/ban appeals crop up, and for other reasons. Inchs - Today at 18:11 I would add a note to the guy in the brig since he first off lied to me about the situation, warning other staff that he may do it again. I would debate noting the security officer, since he did misread it but I would do so anyway, saying he misread the chat during an incident which led to someone being incorrectly perma brigged House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:12 Alright, that everything you want to add regarding that situation? Or are we good for the next? Inchs - Today at 18:12 I think we are good, I'd make sure the notes had dates etc but also that they detailed what happened House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:13 Notes include dates by default, as well as the name of the staffmember who wrote it. Only two more scenario questions to go so here's the next: You and an admin are frequently online at the same time on deadhour. Nobody else is usually online on this time. You start to notice they have a habit of spawning weapons for themselves at round start, antagonist and not, as well as frequently reviving themselves and even winding people during combat to gain an advantage. What would you do? Inchs - Today at 18:15 Ok well, first off I call him out in asay, ask him what he is doing and telling him it is not okay to be giving yourself an unfair advantage over the players. I tell him to stop because it is incorrect conduct. If he refuses I will contact the head admin detailing the situation and including dates/times for logs etc. If he does stop however I'd leave it at that, he took the warning and acted upon it. However if any players did get annoyed by this I'd take it further even if he did stop. id also contact the players invovled and get their opininos if they are super annoyed about it i'd have to say something to headmin. House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:16 Alright. And what if it was alot more minor, for example they're carrying things around that they wouldn't really need just in case a situation arises? Inchs - Today at 18:17 I'd still mention it to them in asay, tell them that they probably shouldn't be doing that. Yet again if they continue and its a repeat offence even after warning them about it I'd have to go to the headmin. However if they stop upon being warned I would leave it at that, since they learned the lesson House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:18 Aye aye, last scenario question, then we'll move onto the more server/rule based ones. Here it is: It's a round of mercenary. You suddenly recieve an ahelp from one of the mercs. Upon jumping over to them you notice that the Quartermaster (A regular on the server that you consider a friend) has armed themselves as best they can through ordered crates and materials. 2 of the mercs are dead, one is in crit bleeding out and the other (the one that sent the Ahelp) is still in combat, but is pretty close to going down. What do you do? Inchs - Today at 18:20 Hm, tough one here. I don't really like to interupt roleplay much so I'd let it act out first. The QM obviously isn't fearing for his own life and roleplaying correctly so after the last merc goes down, I'd wind and question him on the situation, asking what he is doing, why he has ordered guns and why he decided as a supply sector job to self supply weapons and fight heavily armed mercenarys I believe the rule is avoid pain? instead of fearing life now House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:22 Yeah, pretty much. The QM responds saying he armed up when he heard about them just incase they came to cargo, which he said he needed to defend due to it's ability to order crates. The round has only been going on for about half an hour into the round and the mercs hadn't really done anything other than board the station through a maintenance and get spotted by the AI when crossing through a corridor. Inchs - Today at 18:24 Alright yeah, I'm thinking the QM is in the wrong here. For one he has no reason to fortify or arm up since the mercs are not considered to be dangerous here (yet atleast). I check his history to see if he has commited an offence like this before House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:24 He only has one note from a year ago regarding minor powergaming Inchs - Today at 18:25 Since he has no history I don't think it warrants a ban personally. I would give him a warning on the situation telling him not to do it again. The situation would be different if the mercs were murdering peopl en masse. I would revive the mercs at this point and tell them to continue what they were doing but avoid cargo for a little while atleast since the situation just happened. House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:26 Ait, ready for the server/rule questions? Inchs - Today at 18:26 yeah lets go House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:27 Here's the first: What's the role of roleplay on Aurora? What is it? How should we enforce it? What standard of roleplay should all players be at? These are some examples of points you could cover, if you think of anymore then the more the better. Inchs - Today at 18:30 Well Aurora is of course a heavy RP server. So roleplaying on Aurora is the most important thing and should be at the forefront of everyones minds. So RP does play a heavy role here. In my opinion roleplay should never be heavily enforced, players should be able to do what they what with eachother aslong as it is within the rules of the server and isn't ruining anyone elses fun. So aslong as players obey rules they shouldn't be judged to much on what they are doing as long as they trying to create good RP. Role playing is being able to make your own story in different set envioronments. Since Aurora is a heavy rp server I would hold the standard quite high but at the same time I would not judge players newer to heavy rp. They may not be at the same level as others but they want to learn how to fit into the heavy rp style. Everyone was new once afterall and it would be my job to help those players. House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:31 Anything else to add, or are you ready for the next one? Inchs - Today at 18:31 I'm ready for the next one House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:32 Right-o, similar one here: What's the role of action on Aurora. What's gank, where's the balance between RP and murder? What is the role and purpose of antags and how much should they be able to do? Inchs - Today at 18:36 Okay, action on Aurora obviously plays a big part, its the main drive behind a lot of RP obviously. Anything that isn't revolving around the antag of the round I would consider passive rp. Ganking is when an antag just kills someone with little or no RP. The antag has a duty to create some fun and rp for their target. Murder and RP are pretty well defined for me atleast. Murdering someone for no reason, with no roleplaying before hand and no reason other then 'I'm a bad guy so I kill' is just not okay. RP'ing isn't hard to do for an assisnation target and can include all sorts like taking them out on a date or becoming friends and betraying them for money etc etc. RP is creating a story for the murder. Murder is doing it straight up with no RP ie ganking. The role of antags is to create interesting action orintated rp. This doesn't always involve murder but sometimes does. Antags are able to do quite a bit aslong as they are creating a story and avoiding collateral damage of those who do not want to be involved in said action rp, such as maybe an assistant who just wants to gain some engineering knowledge etc. Antags should be able to do quite a bit to create that story as long as they aim to do so. House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:37 Anything else? Or we good to go for the next? Inchs - Today at 18:38 We good House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:38 What are the current issues with the server/community? If any. Inchs - Today at 18:39 Well the one I've been personally following is the mashup of varuca loredevs. All of the lore being really mashed up etc making it hard for people to play them and play with the species but thats currently undergoing a fix by the new dev. Personally, I don't see any other issues since I'm just a lore lover. Oh and genetics but thats fairly old problem now powers wise Not sure whats heppning with it but, I guess its kind of old news that its gone now and the entire arguement of they are too easy etc House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:40 is that everything you want to add for that one? Inchs - Today at 18:40 yeah House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:41 Alright, similar one this time: What are the current issues with the staff? If any. If you want to address what you said regarding the vaurca lore devs in this one you can, but since you already covered it you can probably avoid putting it twice. Inchs - Today at 18:42 Yeah I'll avoid putting it twice. Problems with the staff? I personally don't have any. People of course have complaitns all the time but its more personal. But as for major problems there is none. House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:43 Right-o: Last one! How do you think people percieve you as a player at the present time? Inchs - Today at 18:45 Well obviously the big one thats been raised is my activity. Hands up I'll admit I haven't been active. My reasoning being I've been playing SS13 for so much now it's a lot of the same (Not saying it's not fun for me, it is.) and situations in game generally just dont light me up anymore. So I do persue a spot on the staff team because I have passion for the game and the community just in another fashion to what players normaly perceive. My passion isn't to play but to watch RP unfold and truely see what the community can do House_Of_Synth - Today at 18:45 Anything else? Inchs - Today at 18:45 I'm good
Catnip Posted September 20, 2017 Posted September 20, 2017 Afraid we're going to have to deny this due to inactivity. I understand where you come from, but activity is generally a big part of the criteria. As seen here https://forums.aurorastation.org/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=4198 - "What we mean by this is activity on the server, and having some sort of understanding of what's going on. A moderator who doesn't play, and simply ghosts or lobby-sits isn't necessarily someone who's in touch with how things feel IC. And a moderator who doesn't touch the server/forums is even more out of touch." You're free to re-apply at any point should we open back up, but activity is something that should be further addressed beforehand. Application denied.
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