In-game Username: Middleson
Discord username: .middleson
Characters you play: Spiff Spearson, Ander Fisher
On average, how many hours do you expect to admin per week: 12-16
Days you are available to admin on: Monday through Thursday Evenings, open most weekends. (Central Standard Time)
How old are you? 19
Do you have any SS14 experience outside of Wizard’s Den servers, or any SS13 experience? A large amount of time put into Frontier and Harmony, but I’ve been getting into Funky MRP, and mostly play Cosmatic Drift now (When I’m not spectating Salamander)
Do you have prior administration experience (SS13/SS14 experience preferred, please also post a way for us to verify this)? I have no official administration experience in SS14, but familiar with the tools and debug menus from localhost.
Have you ever been banned from any SS14 or SS13 servers? I have not played SS13, and I have not been banned from any SS14 server. I do have some minor notes from a couple months ago, which I acknowledge as my own faults, but I’ve put a significant amount of time in the game and have changed drastically as a person since then.
What are you primarily interested in doing as an admin? My primary would to be present specifically in Salamander rounds. Being able to monitor ghost chat, answer Ahelps, or even just letting players know an admin is simply online I feel improves the roleplay and behavioral quality drastically. I wish to help facilitate in making Salamander a better environment, but wouldn’t mind administrating other servers. I already go through replays a lot to either see the full picture, or report to admins on other servers, so I wouldn’t mind doing it with the added utility of being an admin.
What are you least interested in doing as an admin? I’m capable of small scale events mechanically, but have no interest in much more than Central Command faxes or inspections; the player base is quite capable of facilitating their own story, and I wish to let it develop as naturally as possible. I have no interest in dealing with ban appeals, however, I do read them for fun sometimes.
Detail Questions
What role do you think game admins serve on our servers?
I believe Admins are to make sure the round goes smoothly, ensuring players don’t have to worry about unanswered concerns or worries. When an admin isn’t present, or their presence isn’t made known, players tend to not adhere to the rules fully, believing they can get away with it, or at the very least not deal with immediate consequences. Space Station 14 is also an incredibly unpredictable and janky game, so having an admin there to make sure players are treated fairly by the game itself, like getting stuck.
Why do you want to become an administrator for SS14?
I personally want to help Salamander reach a community status similar to what many players describe as “the golden age”, “peak”, or “good ol’ days”, where most players had higher standards for roleplay, and generally more friendly. I want players who have a strong sense of justice to be heard in an often described “lawless” land.
How do you feel about the current roleplay status on the servers?
I haven’t played LRP in quite some time, and can not speak for those respective servers, but I do still spectate Salamander a lot, as mentioned. I’ve noticed a gradual recovery (partially thanks to the whitelist and rules changes), but believe the last missing piece is more admin coverage to encourage better roleplay. The expectations for MRP are pretty clearly laid out for Salamander, and I feel a lot of players are let down by this expectation. In my observing, I see a lot of players more concerned with game mechanics- which isn’t wrong in it’s own right- rather than interpersonal stories, being fully in character, or being a convincible character with depth and realistic reactions, motivations, and goals.
Other than banning problematic players, what admin actions do you believe have the biggest positive impact?
Being present for small things such as dealing with glitches present, answering prayers, and other small things are really staples of the community, and gives each server and environment its own flair. Subtle reinforcements that help guide the community at large to be a lot more friendlier.
Have you ever had a negative experience in the game or with a game admin? If so what, if anything, would you do to prevent other players from experiencing this?
I have had no bad experiences with WizDen admins. All interactions have been timely, friendly, and or justified. The main issues I encounter are with players being toxic or abrasive, usually in ghost chat or LOOC. As an admin, I would always keep an eye on and entertain my beloved ghost gang while watching out for proper LOOC use, along with settling post game OOC chat disputes.
Have you ever had a good experience with the game or a game admin? If so, what was it?
As previously stated, all interactions with the admin team have been of no issue. I have countless good experiences with the community as we witness countless horrors and tragedies before our eyes in game. When I used to play very regularly on Salamander, I made many friends, many of which I still play with today, and developed countless characters and stories with them since, which I’ll never forget.
Scenario Questions
Scenario 1
It is the start of the round. There are 60 players on the server. The game mode is traitors, traitors have not been selected yet. There are three players who decided to observe the round instead of join it orbiting you. Two of them are encouraging you to “do something funny”.
Something I see far too often are ghosts bothering admins to do something for their own amusement, or to add to the round, usually involving the spectators. Considering the antagonists have not been rolled yet and no story developed, I would remind the spectators to be patient, not promising anything. If they’re respectful of that decision, I would perhaps give a few funny modifiers to said spectators for visual gags if I’m feeling quite whimsical that day, but never anything that would affect the round, simply something for ghost gang to enjoy. If players are persistent for an admeme, I would remind them that doing those is not my focus or reason for being an admin. If said spectators continue to nag for an admeme or “something funny”, I would give them one last warning to knock it off before issuing an admin note or temporary mute if they are not compliant.
Scenario 2
This scenario takes place on LRP. The Head of Security has decided to coup the Captain. The Head of Personnel agrees with the Head of Security and has taken up arms in case it is necessary to aid in effecting the arrest of the Captain. The Captain is hiding with the Quartermaster in the cargo shuttle to avoid the Clown who has stolen the captains saber as a non-antag. There are five people named in this scenario. Please describe what actions, if any, you would take in relation to each, and why.
There are multiple variables that should be noted before dealing with the coup, however, the clown would be the most pressing matter, considering the first immediately noticeable rule break. I would admin message the clown to give back the captain’s laser pistol, and not to use/discharge it during such. If the clown is compliant and returns the laser pistol to the captain without altercations, I would give the clown and an admin note for self-antagonism, moving on to the coup. If they do not comply, I would forcibly remove the laser pistol, returning it to the captain, and remove one of the clown’s hands if they weren’t respectful in Ahelps. As for the coup, I would look at the alert level, game mode, and reason for the coup before admin helping each individual. Considering the HoP has an in-character reason to be concerned for their safety, assuming they’re directly involved with the captain’s demotion in this situation, I would permit the firearm/weapon of choice, as long as it’s not a longarm or crucial emergency weapon such as the fireaxe or emergency shotgun. I would remind them to return the weapon if the station was on green or blue alert, allowing it be kept during red alert, with permission from the Head of Security or respective owner of said weapon. If the intentions for the coup are unknown, I would check chat logs to see if the reason was lawful or not and decide accordingly after finding a discernable answer from the Head of Security. As for the Captain and Quartermaster, I would let the remaining head members try to convince their return. If they do not comply, I would send a central command announcement declaring that they will be taking remote control of the cargo shuttle, along with their general disappointment of the situation. If the Captain or Quartermaster persist in evading the other heads after warnings and intervention, I would order them to not abandon their roles as a final warning. If the Captain and Quartermaster continue to evade, I would start an admeme, sending in two ERT security and an ERT team leader ghost role (time required for each respective role) to apprehend the negligent heads. If the HoS had no legal reason to coup and demote the Captain, a Central Command representative (and likely ERT sercurity bodyguard) would be sent to sort out the issue, instructed to get the HoS’s side of the story, and demote them if necessary. If any of the Heads mentioned escalate further or remain uncompliant, I would issue a varying roleban from each respective role, depending on how far their non-compliance went. This scenario has the potential to be handled with great roleplay, and I would let that take priority if the players are putting in the effort to form the story and events themselves.
Scenario 3
You are ahelping a player about an issue. The player has no prior noted issues. A few days earlier, an admin had told you that this type of situation should result in a temporary ban for a first offense, and you are confident that this situation is not substantially different from the type that admin was describing. During the ahelp, another admin pings you on Discord with a link to the ongoing ahelp and tells you to just indefinitely ban them and make them appeal. Excluding trialmins and headmins, all admins are equally “ranked”. A headmin is not currently available.
With no headmin available, I would continue with whatever action originally planned from my perspective. If the other admin in this scenario intervene and ban the player themselves, I would leave that up to them, waiting for the next headmin to come online to discuss the matter further privately. If the other admin was correct, no harm no fowl, but if they weren’t, I would let the headmin deal with them personally.