Moderator Application
Personal Information
Byond ID BlackDragon813
Discord Username? BlackDragon#1801
CM Character? Frank Armstrong
Are you 16 or older? Yes
Timezone Pacific
On average, how many hours are you available per week to moderate? 10-25
Qualifications
Do you have any previous experience in being staff (not just SS13)? I've been in many volunteer possitions running games of many kinds. Megagames, Discord servers for various 24/7 RPGs, and helping larger gaming communites organize events.
Do you play any servers aside from CM-SS13? I used to play on /vg/ a long time ago but now pretty much only play CM
Provide links to any previous Colonial Marines applications that you've made: None.
Are you currently a staff member elsewhere (not just SS13)? If so, where? I am part of a helper group in ShackTac (ARMA3 community) that assists the head of the group with onboarding new players as well as running things like teamspeak and so on.
Have you ever been banned for more than 24 hours on Colonial Marines? No.
Have you ever been banned for more than 24 hours on ANY server? If so, which server, when, and what for? No.
Are you familiar with the chat program Discord (its use is required)? Yes
Communication is a vital part of being a Moderator. Are you willing to actively do so with the team? Absolutely.
Common Staff Situations
A player randomly shoots someone at round start and MPs have detained him. Check logs and observe. The actions happened in game and are being handled in game by the pre-existing systems. It could have been an accident, or it could have even been a deliberate silent shooter so observation is the best way to figure out what happened. If the MPs are handling the situation it's best to let that play out rather than interfere in a player's gameplay.
A player ahelps that a predator has violated the honor code when killing him, what should you do? Inform the player to send a player report so the Pred Whitelist Council can look over it.
You see a player walking around the ship naked and clearly lost at roundstart. If I am in game, I would do my best to ask if they needed help, and guide them through the gear up process for new players. If I don't have a bigger job to do, I might even offer to pal around with them and show them the ropes of how to get into the primary gameloop (if only to die dramatically as a woyer drags me off into the darkness, leaving the new guy terrified and alone).
If I am not in game, I would likely direct a mentor or active SEA to where the player was, that way any interactions feel organic rather than bwoinking someone and making something that could be taught ICly, and turning it into an OOC thing.
First time experiences are very important for new players. Having something memorable and organic will bring them back to play more rounds rather than bounce off of the opaque difficulty that SS13 inherently brings.
A player is being very rude to you in adminhelps, calling you names and arguing everything you say. He is requesting to speak to an Admin+ staff member. Stick with the action and if they feel it is so bad that they need to appeal to a higher power they can fill out a staff report on the forums. Rude, name-calling and belligerence breaks the rules against understanding staff authority on admin actions.
A player ahelps that a marine is named 'John Doe', how do you deal with this? "I'll take a look, thanks for the report!"
This is probably 99.99% fine. Also, blowing off players from using ahelp likely wouldn't help things either. The name is not a specific person but it is a generic reference to a concept. It's not like the guy’s name is Shittz McFartspoop or anything.
If others feel it needs to be changed, a name change on the fly is pretty simple.
You see a Maintenance Tech running around in armor and carrying a rifle. The security level is green and there has been no threat to the ship in the round at this point. Observe and see what he's up to. I'm likely going into this scenario not knowing if this is a griefer, a person who just wanted to kit up, a marine that was just ordered to get armed and deploy, or someone who may have been given an antag objective from another admin.
As this is IC behavior, it should play out IC as well unless it gets particularly heinous.
A Marine ahelps that they were killed by a survivor. It is early round, the Marines have just landed, and the survivor claims that they were outright hostile to all Marines from the get-go and openly stated their intentions. How do you deal with this? Allow this to play out ICly assuming that the survivor isnt going on a murder hobo spree. This should naturally result in the detaining of the survivor (or death). Marines downed from shooting early very likely aren't going to be perma'd as xenos shouldn't be at the LZ at dropship start
As long as the survivor was given clearance to be an antag and isn’t LRPing it by just shooting anything that moved, it should be resolved ICly.
You receive an ahelp from a player stating that an MP has locked them up in permanent confinement for running into Requisitions and taking an attachment that was laying around. Assuming that what is said is true... (they could have tried 5x jailbreaks which can land them in perma)
Send a message to the MP about the correct procedure for Marine Law, get his side of it. Message the player and get his side of it as well. Trespassing and theft are minor crimes and not punishable by permanent confinement. Capital punishments are only for extreme circumstances and MPs are expected to know this. If possible, moderate through the usage of Provost faxes.
The round is stagnating. There are 30 marines and 4 aliens. The marines won't leave the ship, and the aliens won't attack. What would you do, to "encourage" the sides to engage each other? Assuming that no IC solution is happening any time soon. Poke an admin about an ERT to tip the scales. This should tip the balance in one way or another as ERTs are a roll of the dice on if they are hostile or not to the USCM. This is only if the round _needs_ to end soon, as IC resolutions are best.
You are playing as a medic, and another medic overdoses all your patients and prevent marines from being revived. It seems like it may be on purpose. How do you deal with this situation? Inform the medic to stop administering medication and start slamming peri and dylo into everyone I can. This is now an IC mass-cas situation and I need to handle it as such. If possible, contact another staff member to investigate while I try to prevent as many player deaths as possible.
The round ends, a Marine starts shooting a hostile CLF member and the CLF member ahelps about being killed after the round ended. Antag combat is acceptable post round end. If people are shooting each other and there isn't antag present (Xeno, hostile ert, pred etc) then you committed EORG which then gets a 3 hour ban.
A Marine is running around disarming, punching and stealing gear at round start. You receive an ahelp from one of the victims. Firstly see if there's any unique equipment that was lost. Someone dumping an SG kit down the rec elevator is much different from someone taking someone's buckshot ammo box. Assuming this is NOT the usual roundstart shenanigans.... Direct the player to where he can find replacements while looking into the behavior of the person who is being disruptive. While it's not overly antagonistic, it is super disruptive to players they shouldn't be. If it's an ongoing thing, inform the MPs in a subtle way, an IC solution should be found while the actions are still minor. If it continues to grow and eventually becomes a major grief, ask the player directly to stop antagonizing his teammates.
You receive an ahelp from a Marine saying that he was killed by another Marine. When you ask the murderer why, he said it was because the other Marine had punched him. Bad escalation, send an OOC note. A fist fight does not suddenly escalate into a gun fight. Clearly breaks the rules in terms of our expectations of escalation and if possible it should be handled ICly.
You find out that there is an improper mutiny occuring. The mutineers are rallying together and preparing to storm the CIC. How would you attempt to resolve this situation? mOOC to inform those gathered that the mutiny isn’t an admin sanctioned one, preferably with the reason (Non-valid reason, lack of people(4+1), etc). If people start shooting regardless, sleep them.
There are minor racist comments going on IC. 9 of the 10 people are laughing and RPing but one player gets offended and Adminhelps about it. Regardless of the number of people enjoying the conversation, racism is against the rules. Message the player to correct his speech and leave a note.
A marine opens fire at round start in briefing killing multiple marines and instantly logs off. Grief + log out = ban
Shooting marines at round start breaks our griefing rules and logging out immediately prevents admin interaction with the person who just broke several of the rules.
You see a player playing a Xeno larva/chestburster run towards the frontlines straight from the Xeno hive the second they burst and die. Message the player and ask them about what they just did. Based on their response, anything from a small note about their actions if they were trying things out, or if they clearly did it on purpose then consider actioning them as that would be griefing. End with an OOC note regardless.
You see a Xeno memeing, saying AYYLMAO, REEEEEE etc in hivemind chat, as well as insulting the Queen. Allow the Queen to handle it as best she can. If it becomes a serious problem, inform the queen that she can banish.
A Xeno player calls the shuttle a "dropship". A different Xeno player ahelps that it's low role play to call it a "dropship". "Thank you for your report, I'll look into it."
dropship isn't terrible RP. While many xenos enjoy referring to it as the metal bird, or brown bird, dropship isn't anything that is so far out that it removes you from the IC moment.
A Command staff player at briefing near round-start mentions there are aliens on the planet. You receive an ahelp from a marine regarding this. "Thank you for your report, I'll look into it."
A minor RP standard breach. A quick message to the player to remember that they don't know about the xenos on the planet would be in order, but likely doesn't need any more than that.
You find a Marine killing another Marine on the EVAC Pod to take the last spot and claims it was RP as he was saving himself. There are two other marines in the pod along with him. This falls under the legitimate reasons to shoot a fellow marine. One of the very few exceptions. It's grim, but quite legal.
A player insults you after you warn them for a minor issue and begins ranting in LOOC or dchat about staff and mentions you specifically, referring to you as an 'idiot' and a 'retard'. If the antagonism continues after the conversation for a minor issue, a firmer warning/mute due to player behavior is in order along with a note about it for future moderators. If they have further issues they can staff report it on the forums.
A player ahelps saying he was hugged by a Xeno when he was ssd, and wants the larva be removed from him via admin powers. How do you handle the ahelp? Unfortunately, things that happen in game even while you're not in game, will stand. Denying the xeno who capped you because you went SSD doesn't mean you get a Get Out of Jail Free Card.
Empathize that it sucks, but offer to let them play as the chestburster when they burst and allow them to continue playing the game in some capacity.
You see a fellow staff member give wrong information in an Adminhelp or incorrectly enforce a rule. Give them the correct information in msay that way they can correct on their own, rather than stepping in myself. It's better to let them handle self-correction rather than potentially undermine them in front of players.
An "Oh, actually I need to correct what I said, actually its..." is a much better interaction for the player than "What that dude said is stupid, ignore that, actually it's..."
If it becomes an issue beyond that or no correction is made, contact a staff manager.
Two staff are arguing in msay if an ahelp is breaking a rule. Because the staff who took the ahelp thinks the player broke a rule, they ban the player based on their interpretation of the rules, with others thinking the person was fine. What would you do? I don't think my added involvement would contribute anything constructive in msay. I think if it's something that clearly there is a disconnect between staff that perhaps a discussion with a manager might be best.
Why would you like to become a moderator? I'd really like to help the RP experience out as best I can. For example: CL is feast or famine based on if you have someone to answer faxes or not. As someone who is working on forms and faxes for the community document I feel that offering fax responses more frequently will lead to better RP and a better round experience.
In your opinion, what is the most important quality for a moderator? Moderators should be able to critically think about how to allow incidents to occur ICly. The game experience we want to present is one that can handle itself in most capacities. It is better to allow events to flow naturally so long as players are not majorly disrupting the flow of the game. An IC solution is always better than an OOC solution.
Anything else you want to add? I look forward to helping CM be the best SS13 experience it can be!