In-game Username: RussianTheSaber
Discord username: RussianTheSaber
Characters you play: Imgur: The magic of the Internet
On average, how many hours do you expect to admin per week: 10-20
Days you are available to admin on: Every day, I work a rotating schedule so my more active days will vary.
How old are you? 26
Do you have any SS14 experience outside of Wizard’s Den servers, or any SS13 experience? Other than some dabbling in Cosmatic Drift and RMC-14, none to note.
Do you have prior administration experience (SS13/SS14 experience preferred, please also post a way for us to verify this)? Yes, I have a long resume of administration experience, lots in various roleplaying games. Many years in GmodRP, ARMA RP, GTA5 RP, Rust, and others. I also have extensive experience moderating Discord, Teamspeak, Telegram, forums, and others.
Have you ever been banned from any SS14 or SS13 servers? No.
What are you primarily interested in doing as an admin? Rapid response to prayers, ahelps, and in game issues, primarily on MRP where the admin presence feels a bit lacking, would be my primary goal. The players are there to make the games fun, I feel that I am happiest supporting the RP that the amazing players of wizden create, and ensuring everyone feels the gameplay is fair, and their concerns are heard.
What are you least interested in doing as an admin? I think I would be most careful doing admeme rounds, as they can often feel forced and unfun for the average player (absolutely no offence to the admins intended here, I have participated in some amazing admemes). I would certainly still do them sparingly, but likely not a primary focus for me.
Detail Questions
What role do you think game admins serve on our servers?
I think admins serve to support the incredible roleplay the players create. Admins ensure rules are upheld in the pursuit of great RP, and can do things to encourage good RP within a round. I think admins can use their influence to help new players as well, who can struggle with the depth of the game when first starting, as it can certainly be daunting. But at the end of the day, an admin’s job is just to make sure everyone is enjoying themselves to the fullest extent. SS14 is an exceptionally deep game that can foster endless possibilities, and admins can help curate and support that in a lot of extremely positive ways.
Why do you want to become an administrator for SS14?
A large part of it is a lack of admin presence on MRP. When I started playing almost a year ago, it felt that all ahelps got a swift and concise response, regardless of action taken. Since I took a break from the game for a few months, responses have felt lacking, and I personally have not had a single one of my ahelps responded to. Things like prayers are also deserving of swift response, because those are powerful avenues to support deep RP within a round, and create scenarios that may help push a round from an average experience, to one that is truly exceptional. Being an admin would allow me to help the creativity truly flourish, and make sure the players who I enjoy playing with so much, get to keep enjoying a unique and fantastical experience that we all strive for in game.
How do you feel about the current roleplay status on the servers?
I feel that a higher roleplay environment is likely desired within wizden, though I am aware that a HRP server will likely never exist under the wizden umbrella. A push toward higher roleplay standards on MRP would probably be nice, though. Between when I stopped playing and when I returned I certainly noticed a marked drop in the overall quality of RP on MRP, and I think striving to really incentivize good RP would be a great push for MRP to really reach its potential.
Overall, I think the RP is fine, but I see some people doing some truly incredible things through their RP, and I do feel those pushes to bring such enjoyable RP to the server should be duly rewarded.
Other than banning problematic players, what admin actions do you believe have the biggest positive impact?
I probably sound like a broken record, but rewarding good RP has a huge impact. Whether it is providing items to support an idea, or influencing the round itself by offering "support from CC’ or something of the like, a small push to really make a small idea pop can have a huge impact on the player who put in the time and effort to create the RP opportunity for everyone. The saying in improv, “yes, and” truly is the most important part of good RP, and I think when admins do small things to encourage the “yes, and” mentality, the entire server benefits.
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?
Honestly, I’m a person who doesn’t let negative experiences stick with me, so I can’t think of any off hand, though I’ve undoubtedly had bad experiences before. Really from a conceptual level, just moments where I offer someone an opportunity to RP, and it is slapped away in favour of simply shooting or bombing me, silently completing an objective with zero concern for anything but greentext, tend to be my most frustrated moments.
Unfortunately there isn’t a lot to be done about this, but by fostering a healthy roleplay environment and standard, these moments will occur less. Rewarding the positive RP also makes players more incentivised to engage with the opportunities when presented. Overall it’s a long term thing to address, moreso than something a single action or change could do much about.
Have you ever had a good experience with the game or a game admin? If so, what was it?
One of my admin notes, applied to my file shortly after my whitelisting on MRP, was actually a good interaction for me. While it was largely a misunderstanding, the admin was very receptive to me being a newer player who simply made a bit of a bad decision. They started off a bit aggressive, but when they saw I was receptive of their criticism, and understood the mistake I made, they stepped back from their initial threat of a 7 day ban, and instead offered me a warning. It made me feel heard and understood, and overall was a good experience.
I have positive experienced with players on a daily basis. My character Scarecrow, despite spending most of my time standing in one place (usually in the bar), constantly has incredible interactions with players. I appreciate it every single time, and it truly drives my love for this game, the servers I play on, and the people I play with.
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”.
Really this can go either way. I don’t think there’s necessarily anything wrong with doing something small in game that comes across as funny, as the start of a round can be a bit stale for observers. I would certainly avoid doing anything too major, unless I was planning an admeme of some sort, but something small like haunting a clown or mime can be a great moment for the observers and player alike, while offering a RP opportunity for the player themselves.
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.
I dislike this question as it relies on a lot of context. The coup is the first part to address, and requires the most context. A coup is not against the rules inherently, but entirely depends on the captain’s previous actions in the round. If the captain has been derelict of their duties, or simply been an incompetent member of command, the coup can proceed and no action needs to be taken. If rules are being broken, a simple bwoink to discourage the coup is likely enough to keep the round on track without disrupting RP. I do like a coup from a RP standpoint, as long as it offers RP for all parties involved, perhaps even encouraging a trial in court.
Literally 10 seconds after finishing this, I thought of another option for handling the coup, which would be to join the station as a centcomm official, and contribute to the handling of the situation either directly, or indirectly via radio/fax. This offers a roleplay opportunity while allowing me to still guide the players away from any rulebreaks. Honestly disappointed that this wasn’t what instantly came to mind, but hey we’re all human I guess.
The clown stealing the captain’s saber does seem like a standard clown action, though potentially falls under the self-antagging rule. I think in the scenario described, the captain and QM are playing into the scenario and allowing positive RP to develop for both the clown, and the members of command and security. In this situation it’s a bit of a tossup whether to bwoink the clown for self antag, but I feel like given the description of the situation, I would simply observe and make sure the clown doesn’t take things too far, personally.
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.
I assume that rule breaks come with predefined punishments, subject to admin discretion. As the admin handling the ahelp, personally I feel that the punishment applicable for the situation falls under your discretion, according to the situation as you’ve seen it unfold, and the rules and punishments in place. Given that the rulebreak isn’t specified here, I can’t say for sure what punishment might be applicable, though I do feel that the advice from the first admin referenced here is likely more sound. Temporary bans for first offences are often most reasonable, except in the most extreme cases. It’s also potentially likely that the second admin may have a more knee jerk reaction, and often heat-of-the-moment decisions can be heavy handed needlessly. Obviously all of this depends on the situation, severity of offence, and response from the player involved. Personally I think the temporary ban seems more reasonable, and I would probably go over the situation with a head admin later, as I assume the ban can be upgraded to permanent if needed after the fact.