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Thread: blackdragon - Moderator Application

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    blackdragon - Moderator Application

    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!

  2. #2
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    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.
    I don't like this answer. Being arrested by MPs does not at all grant absolution for commiting an OOC violation. There are a lot of ways to determine if it was an accident, what he said to MPs, did he shoot once or multiple times, what is his playtime, etc. But even then just asking politely in ahelps what happened is never something to be avoided. And if it wasn't an accident, being arrested by the mps isn't an excuse to not apply a OOC punishment.

    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.
    Generic references to a concept are also not always okay. A generic placeholder name isn't okay either. That is a good way to reply to an ahelp like that though.

    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.
    Correct, with a note. That player should be immedeately released and that MP should pottentially suffer consequences. Applying perma to a player without them commiting a capital crime intentionally should be met with at least a note up toa jobban depending on intent and context.

    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.
    Remember there is a rule against roundstart schenangians explicetely for this kind of situation.

    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.
    ABsolutely terrible answer. Xenos meming is a clear violation of our LRP rules and should be met with a note. Xeno players insulting the queen is a violation of our LRP rules and should be met with a note, or xeno jobban on repeated instances.

    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.
    You should inform the other play that calling it a dropship is not against the rules, instead of just saying thanks for the report. While thanks for the report is often a fine answer, if what they are reporting is not a rules violation you should tell the player so.


    While allowing things to play out ICly is often good, that doesn't mean you shouldn't still be applying OOC notes and bans. A play receiving an ic consequence like getting arrested does not grant clemency for breaking server rules. You answer issues related to this incorrectly several times. I'm going to be giving this a -1 pending your reply and other staff input.

  3. #3
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    Just a quick question, can I see your playtime hours?

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    Xeno play time is a little over a dozen hours across various strains.
    Attached Images Attached Images


    Fax and Form Generator 5000

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    I'd like to go through these, not as a defense of what I said but to better understand the ideas behind why these rule are in place, for my own future knowledge.

    Quote Originally Posted by Schalkguy View Post
    I don't like this answer. Being arrested by MPs does not at all grant absolution for commiting an OOC violation. There are a lot of ways to determine if it was an accident, what he said to MPs, did he shoot once or multiple times, what is his playtime, etc. But even then just asking politely in ahelps what happened is never something to be avoided. And if it wasn't an accident, being arrested by the mps isn't an excuse to not apply a OOC punishment.
    I should have specified when I answered, but typically any time someone accidentally shoots someone they're very quick to say that they ND'd or didn't meant to. That was the intent of the "wait and see", anyone being cheeky usually just walks away which would then warrant a poke. I agree though an ahelp 100% is the right course of action.



    Quote Originally Posted by Schalkguy View Post
    Generic references to a concept are also not always okay. A generic placeholder name isn't okay either. That is a good way to reply to an ahelp like that though.
    Originally when I thought about this, I was back and forth on it, not knowing how stringent the naming convention rules were. Everything that I saw was in regards to clear shitpost territory or real life people. John Doe is that perfect line of inane and not 100% real name territory. This clarification is perfect going forward.




    Quote Originally Posted by Schalkguy View Post
    Correct, with a note. That player should be immedeately released and that MP should pottentially suffer consequences. Applying perma to a player without them commiting a capital crime intentionally should be met with at least a note up toa jobban depending on intent and context.
    Totally agree with this in context.




    Quote Originally Posted by Schalkguy View Post
    Remember there is a rule against roundstart schenangians explicetely for this kind of situation.
    My first read of that was in regards to lethal/tackles, but expanding this makes it more clear.



    Quote Originally Posted by Schalkguy View Post
    ABsolutely terrible answer. Xenos meming is a clear violation of our LRP rules and should be met with a note. Xeno players insulting the queen is a violation of our LRP rules and should be met with a note, or xeno jobban on repeated instances.
    Hmm, it likely is due to my limited time on xeno that I assumed being slightly goofy was within the wiggle room of "medium" RP, though I guess in the context of this question spamming these things very clearly isn't okay. I agree with a note, or more pending on previous notes and/or reaction to an ahelp.



    Quote Originally Posted by Schalkguy View Post
    You should inform the other play that calling it a dropship is not against the rules, instead of just saying thanks for the report. While thanks for the report is often a fine answer, if what they are reporting is not a rules violation you should tell the player so.
    Also very valid feedback, I didn't know staffs stance on telling players who report things that it was an invalid report (even if reported in good faith), this clarifies that however.


    Fax and Form Generator 5000

  6. #6
    CM-SS13 Host Frozentsbgg's Avatar
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    I typically stay out of staff apps in order to try minimise the influence I have on the staff recruitment process.

    While the issues identifed by Schalk are present, I'm confident they can be resolved with a good trial.

    Black dragon should also be commended for their recent volunteer work in the CL form doc and I'm looking forward to seeing what fax/objective events they run if they join the team.


    +1

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    Your Xeno hours didn't post but that's alright as I viewed them in game.

    I'm gonna go over all your questions here since it hasn't been done quite yet;


    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.
    This is an OOC issue... And handling it ICly is not the best course of action.
    You should check logs and see if anything led up to the marine shooting, like he was being disarm spammed or harassed. Asking the persons affected/the shooter is the best course of actions, not relying on an MP. They might be a multikeyer or a mass greifer (they usually are mass griefing if they are multikeying) checking their past notes/playtime hours can deduce this quicker, but they could also just be completely bald. You should still 100% warn them for improper escalation however because they mowed down a person for shoving them or such. You can also escalate from previous notes of similar behavior.

    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.
    Good answer, however if they are breaking any SERVER rules (not honor code) you should 100% intervene as if they are just a regular person for instance 18+/racist comments etc. You cannot handle honor code issues, but anything that breaks the server rules are handled by moderation.

    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.
    Ye that's fine a answer. Keep in mind you get SEA whitelist as a moderator meaning you can help VIA SEA yourself too. You just have to ask another staff member to send you in.

    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.
    You can escalate to a punishment yourself if they are harassing you in PMs, this is a rulebreak (being rude to staff for no reason).

    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.
    If you read the rules page about proper names, Jane/Jon Doe or john smith etc. are not allowed as RP names. Also you have full authority of your own ahelps that you take... Stating "If others feel it needs to be changed, a name change on the fly is pretty simple." feels kinda like you are asking if it should be changed...?

    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.
    Doesn't hurt to do a background check on them see if they have previous history of greifing and such. However yes this is an IC issue. Maybe alert the MPs to it with ARES or something. Also good answer checking to see if it is an event done by someone else currently.

    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.
    Survivors are NOT antagonist roles unless it is one that is purposefully antagonist (UPP/CLF nightmare insert or rare roll) this is 100% to be handled OOCly as this is pretty much the 1 rule survivors really have to hold to. The marines are saving you- why would you shoot them? This falls under the rule of self-antag. Ahealing the marines that were shot/sleeping the survivor if they keep shooting marines. Confront the survivor about why their intentions were set on shooting marines, checking for previous behavior and making sure they receive proper punishment (severe warning for first time offence and job ban for repeat history). Handling this ICly is fine obviously letting the marines arrest them and put them in brig, but allowing the situation to continue without intervention is not okay. If the survivor is part of an antagonist event, then it is fine. but make sure they are 100% stating on comms they are hostile and not KOS with no warning.

    (Also any xeno that isn't the queen or a T3 xeno is allowed to attack the DS at the round start (like a lurker or runner or something))

    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.
    Make sure to check with requisitions staff (who most likely witnessed it) and PM the prisioner/MP what had happened. Check notes on the MP to see if there is previous behavior of bad MPing or being just really bald. Give proper clarification on marine law with links to the wiki and such. If they MP is not bald and did it (for instance) purely because they don't like them and used it as an excuse, 100% sanction this behavior and handle it properly.

    DO not ever moderate through faxes, however for IC clarifications or sending pardons/clarifications ICly is fine, such as a response to an appeal or orders for the MP ICly. you should always keep OOC moderation in OOC but not handle everything through faxes. MPs breaking marine law is an OOC punishment, RPing it is fine but warning them and providing sanctions should be kept in PMs entirely.


    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.
    ERT's are fine, but extend the end significantly. Sending a QM message or a ARES alert should be more than enough. Something along the lines of "Side X has very few troops left kill them all!!!" Sometimes just leave the round to settle on its own.

    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.
    Inform them how? ICly or OOCly? You cannot handle situations that you are part of OOCly at all (you cannot moderate it). Also yes you should 100% ping staff about the situation and handle it as much as possible ICly yourself by ressing the marines and such.

    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.
    Yep, antag roles are still antag roles, you can kill them round end or not.

    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.
    If it is unique gear and they are throwing it away purposefully, this is an OOC issue. The player should be disciplined accordingly Checking notes and playtimes to see if they are a multikeyer/mass griefer.

    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.
    Things should not be handled ICly if it is a rule break. but yes this is improper escalation. Handled accordingly, checking notes, previous history escalated from that and checking for playtime hours and such. Asking both sides what caused the fight and seeing if both players followed proper escalation.

    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.
    Yea that's fine. Make sure to aheal people effected by the mutiny.

    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.
    Racism is a serious offence and shouldn't be taken as lightly as a simple message and note, severe warning/ban should be applied to the person (ban if it is very severe/has previous notes of actions like it before) along with anyone else making similar comments in the group.

    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.
    A little more than just a ban, but in its simplest form it would just be that. Check for previous notes, 99% of the time its a griefier/multikeyer that did it, this so further investigation should be going on.

    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.
    Yea thats fine. Again check for previous notes/playtimes for this one.

    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.
    No- this is not an IC issue, netspeak is a warning worthy thing. The queen can banish them if they want however.

    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.
    Dropship is allowed wordage for a xeno, however some people like high-xeno RP.

    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.
    Command staff requires quite a few hours in game, and by this point they should know about first contact. This would be warning worthy/if it was a whitelisted CO, contact the CO whitelist council about this behavior. It could be anything down there, as it is expected contact be on high alert but it could be CLF, UPP or xenos.

    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.
    Yep this is allowed

    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.
    Yes

    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.
    IC issue moment. Also offer to let them play as the chestburster isn't allowed but telling them how to play xeno/get xeno roll is. (you are already priority to be the chestburster from your body and if someone gets it but not you then you cant just give them that larva body)

    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.
    Ehh its not really allowed to intervene with other peoples ahelps, unless they are asking a question. But mostly this answer is fine.

    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.
    Dont get involved, just message a manager about it.

    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.
    We love RP in our community, so this is a good thing

    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.
    No...just no... If somthing requires OOC punishment, it should 100% be handled OOCly. Things involving breach of ML are fine to intervene but not handle the ENTIRE thing with IC stuff like faxes, but if someone is self antagging or straight up greifing, its not the best course of action. Leaving it to continue can de-rail the entire round for other players involved rather than fix the problem. Things where people shoot each other without proper escalation will just devolve into a shootout/mutiny and ruin the round for the marines, or a xeno breaking all the eggs and stuff in hive can ruin the xenos, or killing all the captures etc... It should be a key thing for moderators to know when to act ICly and OOCly yes, but relying on the players to do it themselves is defeating the whole point of being a moderator. You should moderate upon it, not observe.



    Final thoughts,

    Most of your questions seem to lack a certain understanding of some general knowledge. Obviously not knowing everything as just a player is normal, however I feel like a few of the answers seem almost too simple to have not answered properly (like the survivor and the name one) and simply looking up rulings on these things in just the basic rules section could've radically changed the answer given. Perhaps spending some more time playing as an MP and understanding handling marine law/unruly people would be some good practice. Although a majority of your answers can easily be ironed out in training, I feel since there is just a significant lack of understanding the difference between an IC and an OOC issues, I'm not sure I can give this a +1 for now.

    As a suggestion, read up on server rules, and play a bit of marine law bound roles (command/MP), and maybe ask around for some clarifications on some things for the future (I would be more than happy to help, you can PM my discord below or something) But for now I will leave a -1 for this application. Good luck!


    Discord Noodles2#1880
    Last edited by Firecharge123; 08-17-2022 at 03:51 AM.

  8. #8
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    I'm afraid I agree with Fire here. I think spending another month playing more xeno and mp and another go through of the rules is needed.

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    As I didn't want to go through all 30 of the comments I figured I would just boil it down to the disagreements that way I can understand things better.



    Quote Originally Posted by Firecharge123 View Post
    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.
    This is an OOC issue... And handling it ICly is not the best course of action.
    You should check logs and see if anything led up to the marine shooting, like he was being disarm spammed or harassed. Asking the persons affected/the shooter is the best course of actions, not relying on an MP. They might be a multikeyer or a mass greifer (they usually are mass griefing if they are multikeying) checking their past notes/playtime hours can deduce this quicker, but they could also just be completely bald. You should still 100% warn them for improper escalation however because they mowed down a person for shoving them or such. You can also escalate from previous notes of similar behavior.
    I think I have a misunderstanding of what this question was attempting to convey. As I read it, it sounded as if the person shot someone once. Which is vastly different from mag dumping and paincrit/killing a marine. Given Byonds habit of sometimes being out of focus, clicking the wrong part of the game can end up in an ND. Hence my decision to observe. If someone just clicked at the wrong time and accidentally shot once, I don't feel that's the same as running through prep and letting loose. Is a single shot, with the person in uneventfully MP custody still serious warning and note worthy?


    Quote Originally Posted by Firecharge123 View Post
    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.
    If you read the rules page about proper names, Jane/Jon Doe or john smith etc. are not allowed as RP names. Also you have full authority of your own ahelps that you take... Stating "If others feel it needs to be changed, a name change on the fly is pretty simple." feels kinda like you are asking if it should be changed...?
    So I did read this specific ruling: https://cm-ss13.com/wiki/Rules#Rule_9._Character_names and there's a section dedicated to names that are common names, saying that they are fine as long as they're not acting out being that specific person. That's what I based my opinion on as John Smith (of which I know someone in real life) is a collection of common names. John Doe is still a collection of common names and fits into the exception as listed in this rule. If that doesn't apply is the wiki out of date, and should it be updated?

    The request from others is because I feel it's borderline, it fits the exception to the rule as described but toes the line. I feel it's acceptable to ask other staff for their opinion if you're ever unsure about something.

    Quote Originally Posted by Firecharge123 View Post
    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.
    Survivors are NOT antagonist roles unless it is one that is purposefully antagonist (UPP/CLF nightmare insert or rare roll) this is 100% to be handled OOCly as this is pretty much the 1 rule survivors really have to hold to. The marines are saving you- why would you shoot them? This falls under the rule of self-antag. Ahealing the marines that were shot/sleeping the survivor if they keep shooting marines. Confront the survivor about why their intentions were set on shooting marines, checking for previous behavior and making sure they receive proper punishment (severe warning for first time offence and job ban for repeat history). Handling this ICly is fine obviously letting the marines arrest them and put them in brig, but allowing the situation to continue without intervention is not okay. If the survivor is part of an antagonist event, then it is fine. but make sure they are 100% stating on comms they are hostile and not KOS with no warning.

    (Also any xeno that isn't the queen or a T3 xeno is allowed to attack the DS at the round start (like a lurker or runner or something))
    As someone who has seen a CLF/UPP survivor round, my assumption was that those things are possible, and to make sure that survivors who are given antag roles aren't actioned against for playing their role. Otherwise yes, this is self-antag I 100% agree.


    Quote Originally Posted by Firecharge123 View Post
    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.
    Make sure to check with requisitions staff (who most likely witnessed it) and PM the prisioner/MP what had happened. Check notes on the MP to see if there is previous behavior of bad MPing or being just really bald. Give proper clarification on marine law with links to the wiki and such. If they MP is not bald and did it (for instance) purely because they don't like them and used it as an excuse, 100% sanction this behavior and handle it properly.

    DO not ever moderate through faxes, however for IC clarifications or sending pardons/clarifications ICly is fine, such as a response to an appeal or orders for the MP ICly. you should always keep OOC moderation in OOC but not handle everything through faxes. MPs breaking marine law is an OOC punishment, RPing it is fine but warning them and providing sanctions should be kept in PMs entirely
    About here is where I discovered that I feel I have disconnect of knowing what tools are actually available to moderators. My original understanding was that they have minor actions available to them and flagged cases for higher ups in the event of significantly larger fuck ups. As with some of the previous comments, it was my understanding that ARES wasn't something that was available to moderators, or rather a very limited version of it. The same I thought went for jbans, but after reading this here, evidently not.


    Quote Originally Posted by Firecharge123 View Post
    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.
    Racism is a serious offence and shouldn't be taken as lightly as a simple message and note, severe warning/ban should be applied to the person (ban if it is very severe/has previous notes of actions like it before) along with anyone else making similar comments in the group.
    If this is something that in the rules is something that goes straight to a ban, I don't think the question should label it as "minor". My issue lies more with the question here.


    Quote Originally Posted by Firecharge123 View Post
    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.
    No- this is not an IC issue, netspeak is a warning worthy thing. The queen can banish them if they want however.
    Though my time on xeno has been limited (around a dozen hours) almost always the chat has been pretty loosey goosey. I agree this deserves a warning, but I assumed that insulting was the same as Marine Law where it lands you in the brig icly rather than risking an account ban/further action.



    Quote Originally Posted by Firecharge123 View Post
    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.
    Command staff requires quite a few hours in game, and by this point they should know about first contact. This would be warning worthy/if it was a whitelisted CO, contact the CO whitelist council about this behavior. It could be anything down there, as it is expected contact be on high alert but it could be CLF, UPP or xenos.
    For clarification: this isn't a minor RP breach? As in this could potentially get someones whitelist removed?


    Fax and Form Generator 5000

  10. #10
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    Heya, got the go ahead to throw some thoughts in here.

    Frank stands out to me as a name that's helped with dev stuff and tracking bugs both on the server and off. You can see him from time to time in the dev channels or in issues on the github with in depth bug reports and he even has a post pinned in gameplay help from his efforts. I've only ever found him to be positive to work with and he obviously cares and puts effort into the server. I personally think it would be a shame if he didn't at least get a trial.

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