[Accepted] Moderator Application - MattAtlas

[MattAtlas]

Age: 15

Timezone: UCT +1

Character Name(s): Erana'Weshi Xoqia, Araa Plenek, Xli'loqu Axqiu.

Preferred means of communication: Discord is my most prefered. Skype is a decent second choice. Telegram also works.

When are you on Aurora?: 14:30 to 21:00 on Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday, 13:30 to 21:00 on Monday/Friday, 12:30 to 21:50-23 on Saturdays, 10:30 to 21:30 on Sundays

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Experience

How long have you played SS13?: Around 3-4 months.

How long have you played on Aurora: Around one month and a half, possibly two by now.

How much do you know about SS13 (Baystation build) game mechanics?: I know pretty much everything except half of engineering. I know how engineering works in principle, but not how to set up the engines. The department has just never attracted me too much, but it is one of the things I want to improve on. I also know a lot about the combat system.

Do you have any experience moderating for an SS13 server?: Not at all.

Have you ever been banned, and if so, how long and why?: Never been banned.

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Personality

Why do you play SS13?: I play SS13 because it's a roleplaying game first and foremost. It lets me roleplay as someone else, it lets me forget about the real world and just play another world of sorts. I play it for the interactions with people, but mostly because it is fun for me as a whole.

Why do you play on Aurora?: I play on Aurora because it's meant to be an HRP server. I play here because it's high roleplay, and MRP/LRP have never had much appeal to me. While I have always wanted to try out HRP, the only server I knew about at the time was BS12 and I didn't like the military RP part. Then I stumbled upon Aurora, and here I am.

What do moderators do?: Moderators are the medium between roleplayers and the rules. They're there to enforce that rules are respected and that a proper roleplay experience is had for the players. They are also there to advise people on what to do, if there are any ahelps about departmental questions moderators are expected to handle them.

What does it mean to be a moderator for our server?: It means to be knowledgeable about the rules and enforce them on the server. It means that you care about the server as a whole, and the people that want to play it, and that you want to make it a better place.

Why do you want to be a moderator?: I want to be a moderator because it'd be hell of a good experience in my opinion. I really, really enjoy this server and I play here for my entire day, and I feel like I could do a good job at moderating. I also want to "give back" for giving me a good server to play on. I also want to make people have a better roleplaying experience in general.

What qualities do you possess that would make you a good moderator?: I'm good at handling stress and insults. I'm also knowledgeable in the rules, and I trust myself with the position. I'm also on for most of the time in my timezone.

How well do you handle stress, anger, or insults?: I handle stress, anger and insults rather well. I don't have a problem with them, since I learnt not to care about them.

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Anything Else You Want to Add:

I don't really want to add anything, other than damn, do I have to thank Superiorform and DatBerry for nudging me towards making this application. Thanks a lot.

Edited October 26, 2017 by Guest

[Superiorform]

MattAtlas is honestly an exemplary player. His conduct on and off the server is perfect, his roleplay is excellent, and he strikes me as a really mature individual. His activity is astounding (get a life nerd), and he has experience of handling conflict, ICly, at least, considering he mains heads of staff. I don't really know what else to say, I can't express more how excellent of a player this guy is. If anyone deserves a chance at trial, it's MattAtlas.

[HouseOfSynth]

Hello there! I'll be the one conducting your moderator interview. I'll be sending you a PM over discord soon-ish regarding this.

[Pratepresidenten]

Maaaaaaaaaaaatt! Climbing the raaaanks!

Tbh, I'd be stoked to have you as our lil' modlet, you're a solid guy.

Gud arr pees, really good servertime too, (Perhaps take up a hobby, lmao :^) ), level headed and chill lad.

Best of luck with your application! 10/10, would dish out bans with.

[Synnono]

 

After this comment, MattAtlas did not reply.

Given that this application is here now and that CCIA/Mod apps are mutually exclusive, we can safely assume the player does not want to apply to CCIA.

They're level headed and understand the rules that they'd be required to enforce, so I wish them good luck!

Edit: This post was meant as a question for the applicant. What appeals to you about joining the moderation team over your previous interests?

Edited October 26, 2017 by Guest

[Scheveningen]

To add to the above, some of us (as in, Mods/admins particularly, not really CCIAA that I know of) did feel it was quite unfortunate that the applicant opted to apply for moderator instead, considering how our numbers are consistently topped off (we don't really need more than two at the moment before we're capped for awhile, really) or kept at a reasonable number just about every season, but CCIAA has been without needed manpower for months. The applicant apparently voiced some concern that the incident report procedures seemed tedious as they were described and that it might've been a dealbreaker for them to join into as they didn't feel as if they had the 'patience' for it, or something like that.

I should probably add, there is a fair deal of potentially far more extensive amounts of attention-to-detail examples that would stretch beyond the scope of CCIAA to be dealing with such as the notes and view variables system, being able to interpret logs and at what time they happened in which context, being able to understand certain social nuances and log-in report mechanics to better understand the methods of ban evaders and whoever else to watch based on what reports come in. And et cetera.

As it stands, it's within my personal opinion that anyone who is willing to learn the methods of CCIAA and hopefully pick up a little bit of the backlog in IC report work, would end up more greatly benefiting the staff roster compared to just adding another +1 to our already fairly substantial numbers of moderators. There's also nothing stopping you from switching either from CCIAA to moderator but unfortunately given the sensitive nature of access to logs no one person can be both.

This is not to say that I am opposing this application, but it's also not to say I'm supporting this application. I admit I've lost touch with some of the fresher blood community members as of recent due to me working 5 days in a row during any given week and then being off for the other 2, so generally speaking I only have occasional nights and some precious hours of my days off to make notice of these sorts of things when I'm on-server, stark contrast to when I used to be on more frequently with an at-home job. Yada yada, who cares if I have a life.

That being said, if this is what you want, we'll see how it goes.

[Conspiir]

I, personally, would not have expected age 15. You act more mature than my college classmates. Not to mention only a few months on the server? You exhibit a willingness to learn (as evidenced by pioneering the FUBAR Vaurca cloning techniques) alongside a willingness to recognize your own mistakes. You're a solid roleplayer, you're interested in the goings-on of the people... I could see you in the position and serving well. That said, I could see you in the CCIAA position as well. But pick whichever you would prefer, do not let words of others sway your decision.

I hope you're prepared for what you will witness in servings as a staff member. It isn't pretty. You really see the underbelly. Few survive.

I believe in you.

[MattAtlas]

 

After this comment, MattAtlas did not reply.

Given that this application is here now and that CCIA/Mod apps are mutually exclusive, we can safely assume the player does not want to apply to CCIA.

They're level headed and understand the rules that they'd be required to enforce, so I wish them good luck!

Edit: This post was meant as a question for the applicant. What appeals to you about joining the moderation team over your previous interests?

 

While I did consider applying for CCIA for a few days or so, I ended up believing that CCIA is a mixed bag for me, at the moment. From your description and my own findings in how IRs are dealt with and how much time it takes, I'm not sure whether I would like it. Keep in mind - "I'm not sure I would like it". It isn't that I wouldn't like it, but that if I ended up applying for CCIA and didn't like it, what then? I'd have to resign, and I would feel like a complete asshole resigning after a short time. Meanwhile, looking at how moderation works, I find it to suit me more overall. Schev does bring up valid points, but I can deal with that. I already know what I'm getting into with the logs since I used to moderate and admin on various TTT servers back in the day, so I find that rather normal. If I end up not liking moderation chances are I'll try CCIA out too. Does this answer every question you had or do I need to say more?

I apologize if I sounded like a dick by not replying. I was mostly kidding around there, but I seriously did consider applying for CCIA.

[DatBerry]

we had dual mod CCIA trial in the past, but at the end of the trial you have to pick only one. not sure if we still do this, but you can ask [mention]Sharp[/mention] and/or [mention]whiterabit[/mention]

[HouseOfSynth]

Matt's interview:

 

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:19

First scenario: 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?

Matt - Today at 13:20

I'd PM them, reminding them that this is an HRP server and that naming your character after celebrities is forbidden. After reminding them of the rules, I ask them if they want their character's name to be changed to something else.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:21

And if they didn't respond?

Matt - Today at 13:21

Continue PMing them a few more times to see if they respond. If they don't respond, I'd ask a moderator to permaban them to have them communicate with us in case they want to explain their reasoning and have their ban appealed.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:22

Alright, ready for the next?

Matt - Today at 13:22

Yes.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:22

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?

Matt - Today at 13:22

Jump over to the player, and ask for clarification on the issue from them.

Like, what did they do to get permabrigged, and who arrested them, and who processed them.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:23

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. The officer in question simply states they were following the head of security's orders, who appears to be cryo'd and logged out.

Matt - Today at 13:24

Is there any other head of staff online, other than the head of security?

Or a warden?

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:24

Let's say there's a captain playing.

Matt - Today at 13:25

PM the captain, asking if he knows anything about the situation.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:26

They state that the head of security ordered the permabrigged player to be arrested for jumping over the bar counter. At this time another officer was asking questions about HuT and what warrants it.

Matt - Today at 13:28

PM the arresting officer, telling them that they were told to arrest someone for jumping over the bar counter, and ask why they gave the person a HuT sentence instead of a normal sentence.(edited)

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:32

They say that they had thought the head of security ordered them to HuT the individual. They admit that they may have misread due to the other conversation going on at the same time in the radio regarding HuTs

Matt - Today at 13:33

That is what I thought as well, though I questioned them specifically because it may not have been a mixup. I PM the officer telling them to remember to listen appropriately on the radio and doublecheck, since a holding until transfer sentence generally puts someone out of the round completely.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:33

Anything else to add?

Matt - Today at 13:33

No. I don't feel like this is note-worthy or banworthy.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:34

Just as a note (No pun intended) we usually always add notes so we can keep track of things and cover ourselves in terms of complaints and such. They aren't a punishment as such, more of a record of when staff have talked to them and why.

Matt - Today at 13:35

Ah, that makes sense. Though a note over a miscomm like that doesn't quite seem useful to me, but I'll keep what you mean in mind.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:35

Aye aye, onto the next?

Matt - Today at 13:35

Sure.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:35

Third one: 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?

Matt - Today at 13:36

Collect logs and evidence, with screenshots of the situation. At that point I'd make a complaint to the headmins.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:37

And if it were something alot more minor? Like slight powergaming perhaps.

Matt - Today at 13:37

Then I'd talk to them over msay, tell them that they're powergaming a little, and perhaps to tone it down.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:37

Anything else to add?

Matt - Today at 13:37

No, not really.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:38

Right-o. 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?

Matt - Today at 13:39

I'll do my best to be impartial, and this is evidently powergaming. Wind the quartermaster, ask him why he has ordered weapons and why he's killing the mercenaries. Check their skillset and records to see if they have any previous experience such as security and the like.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:40

The QM says 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. He doesn't have any skills in weaponry or any records regarding sec work

Matt - Today at 13:42

Tell him that's not a good excuse at all, since the mercenaries didn't do anything yet. I'd also tell him that he's wrong in killing the mercenaries, since he has no skills regarding weapons usage and such. Then, I'd warn him for powergaming against mercenaries, with a description of the situation.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:42

Is that everything you want to say for that one?

Matt - Today at 13:42

I believe so, yes.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:43

Excellent. We now move onto the server/rule related questions. 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.

Matt - Today at 13:47

The role of roleplay in Aurora is essentially what we base our server on. First and foremost, it's a heavy roleplay server, and this changes the entire way that SS13 is played. Roleplaying plays a massive role in everything that we do here - in how characters work, in how they react to situations, and how the game plays as a whole. Roleplaying is putting yourself in someone else's shoes -- your character -- and acting like they would. The standard of roleplay we expect from people is to have a believable character, to have a believable past, and to act like a real person would in their environment. This means that we also expect everyone to abide by the rules.

This also brings up the point of realism in roleplay. I consider realism to be an extension of believable roleplay. We expect believable roleplay from people, so we don't expect them to be amazing at roleplay. On the other hand, realistic roleplay is a direct upgrade, meaning that you're now really acting like a real person would in an environment. By extension, this means having a past that any person in real life would, for example, and limiting yourself to stricter rules of play, such as not job hopping. For example, speaking of job hopping, it's acceptable in a believable roleplay setting as long as it is not too extreme of a change. But in a realistic roleplay environment where we truly do want everyone to act like a real person would, that's a no-no.

To enforce roleplay, the staff team is there to act as the medium between the rules and standards, and the players. The staff team is there to ensure that roleplaying is kept to a good standard, and that every side has an enjoyable roleplaying experience. We enforce this by having a set of rules and standards that people are supposed to follow, and having a staff team to deal with issues in game.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:51

Anything else?

Matt - Today at 13:51

No, not really.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:51

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?

Matt - Today at 13:56

Action is here to drive a narrative. To make the game more fun for others. To see how your character would react in such an environment. Action can be driven by IC conflict, but more often it happens because of antagonists.

The role of antagonists is to make action in game - as such, they are here to drive a narrative and to make the game more enjoyable and better for everyone. But with it comes killing people to continue said narrative, and murdering people is necessary, in my opinion. It is what makes the narrative spring into action and truly make an action setting real. Murder is, however, with its flaws. There's a thin balance between roleplaying a murder and outright murdering someone without prior roleplay, which is ganking. We expect antagonists to roleplay with their victims before killing them, to make an enjoyable roleplay experience for both the antagonist, the victim and the others who will be affected by the victim's death. Ganking will of course always happen by some antagonists, whether by accident or because they didn't read the rules. There is also the fact that an antag may kill someone without prior roleplay if the other party is not going along with the antagonist's roleplay, and for example is disarm spamming them. In this case, I believe it is acceptable if there was prior effort on the antagonist's part to roleplay.

Antags are by no means exempt from the rules. But they are allowed to kill to drive the narrative, which is a good thing. However, they should not abuse this privilege. They should not go out murdering everyone "because they're an antag".

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:57

Anything else?

Matt - Today at 13:57

No.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:57

Alrighty. What are the current issues with the server/community? If any.

Matt - Today at 13:59

I find there to be an increasing amount of greytide in low population. That's another reason why I've applied. The community itself is fine on my opinion, I don't see many problems with it. It's mainly the increasing greytide that I find irritating. As for the server itself, I think it's really good. I don't have any concerns about it.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:59

Is that all you would like to say for this one?

Matt - Today at 13:59

Yes.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 13:59

Aye aye. Similar one: What are the current issues with the staff? If any.

Matt - Today at 14:00

I haven't seen any issues with the staff, personally. I don't really have anything to say about it, as I think our current staff team is effective. Although there have been a lot of retiring members lately, which is what pushed me to make this application.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 14:01

Anything else?

Matt - Today at 14:01

No.

House_Of_Synth - Today at 14:01

Last one! How do you think people percieve you as a player at the present time?

Matt - Today at 14:02

I think people perceive me as a good player, as evidenced by the feedback I've gotten in my various applications. I don't think there's anyone that particularly dislikes me at the moment, which I'm thankful for. I've been here for only a decently short time (1.5-2 months) but it's actually pretty amazing to me how I've made a head of staff application, got accepted, and I'm now making a moderator application and being interviewed, with people backing me up. I couldn't ask for anything better, honestly.

[MattAtlas]

we had dual mod CCIA trial in the past, but at the end of the trial you have to pick only one. not sure if we still do this, but you can ask @Sharp and/or @whiterabit

 

Yes, you're right. That is why if I'm choosing moderating over CCIA, and if I end up resigning as moderator for some reason I'll go for CCIA. I'm not sure about a dual trial, sounds like a real lot of work.

[whiterabit]

we had dual mod CCIA trial in the past, but at the end of the trial you have to pick only one. not sure if we still do this, but you can ask @Sharp and/or @whiterabit

 

Owen went into a trial moderator position after becoming lead of the CCIA. If I recall, he kept his perms for the duration of his trial to continue managing the CCIA and in case he failed the trial or changed his mind on switching over. I don't recall anyone else ever doubling up.

[sebkillerDK]

Right, i've known MattAtlas for about Little over half a month now i think? From what i've learned by playing with them, and chatting with them in discord and OOC, they seem to be a very level headed person, and rather friendly i must say.

I think they have what it takes to do well as a mod, and i hope to see them succeed with it.

[MattAtlas]

Added prefered means of communication and my character names.

[Catnip]

Trial started on November 4, 2017, and will end in one month on December 4.

[Catnip]

Application accepted after a successful trial. Welcome to the team.