As a moderator, here are the following perms you have:

Access to msay. It allows you to speak with other staff members.
Access to dsay. Self-explanatory, you see the deadchat and can even speak in it.
Access to in game logs about a lot of things. This include LOOC, dchat, admin actions(like kick, ban, note, warn) and some things to prevent grief. Imagine Urist McUrist open a phoron tank you'll have a message stating it. Same for a fuel tank or a valve of any kind.
Access the variables of the objects on the server. While you cannot edit them, you can view attack logs on a player, who touched what the last, etc.
The ability to adminghost, basically will consider you as if you ghosted from the lobby or died. You can aghost again to re-enter your body.
The ability to Wind people. It freeze them and keep them from interacting with the game.
The possibility to AdminPM someone, and check all the tickets that have been made on the server.
The ability to kick, note, warn, ban. More in-depth about this:
Kick = Just boot someone off the server. You can set a custom message. It's not really used often, but still useful to get someone's attention.
Note = It's basically our notepad about players. It's useful for the other staff that will interact with the player, to know their behaviour and if something already happened before.
Warning = Depending the severity of something, it can be directly a warning. This one is visible to the player, and they need to acknowledge it to play on the server again.
Ban = Same thing as kick expect on a larger scale, or even permanently. A ban is often an escalation of warnings.
Every action taken by a staff member is visible on the player's ckey. Only kicks are not shown.
You can ask me about these at any point. Are you ready to begin?
It is important to note that Trial-moderators cannot place permanent bans.

Lain — 06/14/2023 2:19 PM
We do have the power to place temporary bans, though?

Mini Moose — 06/14/2023 2:19 PM
yes

Lain — 06/14/2023 2:20 PM
Right. A few small questions here. What sort of things in addition to the ones you listed can I variable check?

Mini Moose — 06/14/2023 2:21 PM
You can basically see everything with VV.
Specifically, attack logs, fingerprints on items/people, fibers, etc
For example.
If someone was griefing a door with a tool and left it behind, you can VV the tool for fingerprints, it will tell you who all touched it and the last person to use it
same with the door itself
You can check contents of bags, etc
even if they are wearing it

Lain — 06/14/2023 2:22 PM
Mm-mm.

Mini Moose — 06/14/2023 2:22 PM
so "Did you steal this?" "No" Checks VV for bag contents
"Liar" - banned

Lain — 06/14/2023 2:22 PM
Mm-mm.

Mini Moose — 06/14/2023 2:22 PM
I use VV to confirm basically everything
attack logs come with timestamps as well
so if
"I didn't attack first, they did!" and the response is "nuh uh"
you can confirm it/verify it

Lain — 06/14/2023 2:23 PM
How precise are the timestamps? I know that attacks and echanges usually involve a lot of violence in a short period of time.

Mini Moose — 06/14/2023 2:23 PM
Extremely
like
00:00:00
iirc

Lain — 06/14/2023 2:23 PM
Wew, aight.
Are there any tools that mods have to directly prevent in-game griefing on a mechanical level?

Mini Moose — 06/14/2023 2:25 PM
Winding and kicking
You can wind someone and it puts them in the equivalent of pain-crit

Lain — 06/14/2023 2:25 PM
Mm. Can I defuse bombs and stuff?

Mini Moose — 06/14/2023 2:25 PM
where they're just, stunned .
Nnnnnnnnnnno
Admins can but I'm pretty sure mods cannot

Lain — 06/14/2023 2:25 PM
Alright.
No further questions about mod powers.

Mini Moose — 06/14/2023 2:26 PM
Great
In your own words
what is validhunting?
And, can you provide me an example?

Lain — 06/14/2023 2:33 PM
Sure. Put simply, Validhunting is a way in which players act towards other player characters ICly which is informed by OOC information and aimed at achieving some goal tied to the game mode, usually against an antagonist. For example, a security officer player could know that a certain player rolls autotraitor, or vamp, or ling, or cultist often and acts in a way where they are constantly trying to find an ICly justification (a valid reason if you will) to affirm their OOCly suspicions so that they can secure the valid, which in this case would be to get security to act against the antag player.

Mini Moose — 06/14/2023 2:33 PM
What is the difference between validhunting and powergaming? Is there really a difference? Answer in your own words

Lain — 06/14/2023 2:40 PM
The two concepts are similar but not identical. Both involve acting in a way that a reasonable player would not either due to the HRP setting which puts a lot of weight on what is happening in-character and strictly not allowing OOCly information on player habits to effect game play. Powergaming is not aimed towards a specific person or player in the way that validhunting is, but rather a way that gives their character advantages that they would not justifiably have ICly. For instance, a scientist printing out forcegloves for "research purposes" and then just keeping them on his person the whole game as a "just in case" measure because the player knows its secret and there are antags around. A paramedic asking for armour from command or security or to wear their helmet at all times even on green because they OOCly know violence is going to occur because antags exist is another example.

Is it ever okay to execute an antagonist, or anyone in general? What would constitute such if so?

Lain — 06/14/2023 2:43 PM
Could you clarify what executing means? Like, do you mean just killing another player character or is it something more specific?

Mini Moose — 06/14/2023 2:44 PM
Executing them is essentially removing them from the round permanently by killing them. Typically pointblanking them until their head blows off, or slicing them up until they die

Lain — 06/14/2023 2:45 PM
Right.

Mini Moose — 06/14/2023 2:48 PM
Typically this happens in more intense rounds

Lain — 06/14/2023 2:51 PM
If there has been proper escalation and it is close to the round's end, like within maybe 20-30 minutes of the round ending, then yes, I think it is ok to do it, though there is a very fine line. I also think it is ok to do it if the other player has been RP'd with a little by the antag or if the antag needs to kill people for their antag type. Some antags need to kill people to function like Ling or Cultists if they cannot convert someone and need to stick them in a construct
PB'ing downed antags or as an antag, PB'ing a downed security officer is not ok to do unless there has been prior conflicts and the like. I think that sometimes antags will kill people without executing them and vice-versa and them's the breaks but the goal of the game both as an antag and as a normal crew member isn't to "win," it's to play an engaging and fun round. I think in the case where sec just blows an antag's head off as soon as they catch them or where antags PB downed officers, it'd be powergaming because it's no longer about RP at that point and it's instead about making the game easier for you from an OOCly perspective because you don't want to lose the round, rather than because you want to promote RP according to the round type's gameplay loop. That being said, I think antags should still have the option to do it if there has been sufficient escalation and it's towards the end of a round. It is never ok for sec to execute people though, unless it's maybe Ling or a hulked vamp where it has been made very clear to all parties involved that they cannot be contained like a normal human.

Mini Moose — 06/14/2023 2:52 PM
Okay.

How do you feel about characters that are inherently antagonistic, but not outright breaking the self antagonist rules?

Lain — 06/14/2023 2:55 PM
I think they're fine. There are some people in the world who have confrontational or combative dispositions and it is natural that they would still exist 400+ years from now. If someone wants to play someone who is, frankly, an asshole, then I think they should be allowed to so long as they don't break self-antag rules. This may lead to OOC whining and drama but I think that a player who plays a character that is intentionally a pain has opened themselves up to criticism and drama from playing a character like that.

Mini Moose — 06/15/2023 4:47 PM
A team of mercenaries board the ship and within ten minutes, kill three non-security crew then take over the holodeck. Ten minutes after the holodeck takeover, they announce that they are going to destroy the Horizon so that their criminal cartel can move their narcotics throughout the sector unimpeded.. Then the ship hits code Delta. Someone opens a ticket and complains that these mercs are just playing to win. Is there anything wrong with what they did? How would you approach this if there is something wrong?

Lain — 06/15/2023 4:48 PM
First, how did the non-security crew die? Did the mercs shoot them up and they died in medical or did they execute them on the spot?

Mini Moose — 06/15/2023 4:49 PM
They came in guns blazing, and shot several people. They didn’t outright execute anyone but medical in this specific round was rather slow with response/not really prepared to handle mass casualties.

Lain — 06/15/2023 4:51 PM
What did security do within the 10 minutes between the holodeck takeover and the announcement of the mercs intent to destroy the Horizon?

Mini Moose — 06/15/2023 4:52 PM
They armed themselves and made contact outside of the Yolo deck
Holo

Lain — 06/15/2023 4:52 PM
Yolo deck. . .
Okay. I'd say there are a couple things wrong with this situation.
Firstly, as a merc team just randomly shooting non-security crew with no escalation is just a flat no-no. There's no RP that goes into that and it just means that people who weren't even involved with the antags and were in the wrong place at the wrong time get taken out of the game randomly which isn't really fair to those players and just ruins their round. Mercs can kill civilians with proper escalation I think, especially if they don't execute them unless part of a hostage gimmick. This is the first problem here.
Ten minutes is too fast of an escalation to go from just getting there to triggering a code delta. I think gimmicks which involve the mercs wanting to destroy the horizon should be scrutinised heavily before being allowed, though, we have things in the game that let them achieve destruction of the horizon if they want to like the nuke, so it shouldn't be barred. There has not been enough escalation at all and there's been no opportunities for RP aside from sec arming up and the mercs making the announcement.
The gimmick of moving drugs through a sector and the Horizon being an obstacle to that is maybe questionable too because in the canon the Horizon isn't a law enforcement vessel, I think the mercs would need to do some more explaining for the gimmick to be believable, though that is a minor issue compared to the first two.

Mini Moose — 06/15/2023 4:57 PM
Okay. How would you go about handling it?

Lain — 06/15/2023 5:03 PM
First, I would Aghost to the mercs and look at the situation while asking the ticketer to fill me in on what they've seen the mercs do that makes them think that the mercs are just playing to win. Even if I've seen all this happen, it is important to take the words of the ticketer into account, since it's what would start my investigation.
Second, I'd probably look at AOOC to see if this gimmick was discussed at all and if so, to what extent it's planned to go and if they actually intend to blow the horizon up or if they're just doing it to provoke a strong security response. I think while both of these are a bit bad just because of how quickly the situation escalated, actually blowing up the ship is worse because it would end everyone's round prematurely because antags only usually arrive ~35-45 mins into the round putting the time of this lil incident at about an hour into the round. If I get information from AOOC then that's cool, if not, it makes the next step harder but I would have taken it anyway.
I'd PM one of the mercs and ask them why they decided to kill the civvies and escalate the situation so fast. If they can't give me a square answer I would go through each individual merc, and probably ask them why they didn't clear this gimmick with mods or admins before proceeding, since particularly destructive gimmicks like blowing up the Horizon would usually require admin or mod approval.
Regardless of what they say I'd probably issue a warning to all mercs about escalating too fast during their antag play and make notes on them for other administration staff to see and contact admins for their opinions on discussing an antag ban for the mercs responsible for dropping the crew earlier on at least.

Mini Moose — 06/15/2023 5:06 PM
Awesome

Lain — 06/15/2023 5:06 PM
What do they tell me in PM's to them?

Mini Moose — 06/15/2023 5:07 PM
Nothing worth noting, you hit it all on the head

Lain — 06/15/2023 5:07 PM
Coolio.
Generally, I know we have ban powers and the like, but how much discretion do I have as a mod? Like, should I consult admins before issuing a ban or am I free to just, ban if I think it's the appropriate course of action and can back it up?

Mini Moose — 06/15/2023 5:09 PM
A crew member joins with the name “Boe Jiden”. They are quadriplegic and in a wheel chair with bright pink hair and yellow eyes.

Mini Moose — 06/15/2023 5:09 PM
You can ask for guidance but we want to see independence, mostly

Lain — 06/15/2023 5:09 PM
Understood.
About Boe Jiden.
I'd want to see how old the account was and when they first joined the Aurora, context is kind of important here but I'd proceed to the next step anyway.
I'd politely PM them and inform them that the Aurora is an HRP server and we have specific rules governing character creation which not only has rules against joke ma,es/names of famous or notable popular or political figures and against things like being a quadroplegic in in a wheelchair. I'd also point them to the job accessibility requirements page for reference on the minimum for what their role requires and tell them to make a new character or change the existing one. The hair and eyes are fine though, they don't break rules.

Assuming they are receptive, I'd give them a respawn after they cryo'd and let them proceed about their round. If they blew me off and tried to pick a fight with me or just didn't respond after me trying to reach out to them a few more times, I'd issue a permaban with ability to appeal after like, a week or two.
Mini Moose — 06/15/2023 5:14 PM
Awesome
Just a second while I think up another scenario

Lain — 06/15/2023 5:14 PM
Npnp

Mini Moose — 06/15/2023 5:21 PM
Okay so

Lain — 06/15/2023 5:22 PM
Mhm?

Mini Moose — 06/15/2023 5:23 PM
A player who has been around for a while opens up a ticket
"Hey, the antagonists have not been doing anything basically all round. It's an hour and fifteen in, and we're still on code green. The antags have been just lollygagging and talking in the bar. Can you do something about it please?"
The round is Auto-traitor, four of the five traitors are working together in the bar, they're just hanging out - and chatting with everyone.

Lain — 06/15/2023 5:24 PM
Right, yeah. Have the traitors done anything in the round to reveal to the crew that they actually are traitors or are they just playing as if they are normal crew?

Mini Moose — 06/15/2023 5:26 PM
Just playing as if they were normal

Lain — 06/15/2023 5:29 PM
Right, yeah, I'd look at AOOC and see if there was any gimmick discussion or anything ahead of time. After that, I'd probably reach out to the 4 guys in the bar through AOOC or through just PM'ing them and ask what their gimmick ideas are. If they don't know, or don't have any then I'd probably suggest a few to them (steal captain's ID, raid the vault, use some exploitables on a crewmember, saboutage the station, the usual sustpects) and tell them to start doing stuff because it's been over an hour and antags have been mostly inactive. If they do have a gimmick I'd probably tell them the same thing, but without the suggestions; get going. Nobody likes it when suddenly the bridge blows up at 1:55. RP is fine, and you can RP as a traitor, but you also need to make the call to do antag stuff, otherwise you shouldn't have the role turned on.
If they do stuff, cool, problem solved. If they don't I'd probably issue a warning to them to escalate more as antags.

Mini Moose — 06/15/2023 5:34 PM
Awesome
Last one
You notice that your friend, someone you have known for a long time is power gaming. They’re putting lethal ammo into their .45 for no reason. How do you handle this?

Lain — 06/15/2023 5:35 PM
open a PM with them and ask them why they are using lethal ammo
Probably make a note too, and await their response.

Mini Moose — 06/15/2023 5:36 PM
“I’m not using lethal ammo? Lol.” Is the ticket response

Lain — 06/15/2023 5:38 PM
I'd variable check them to see if the gun was indeed loaded with lethals and that I didn't make a mistake. If it was, they lied to me both as a mod and as a friend and I would probably issue a ban with ability to appeal after a week or two as a result if it was their first infraction like this. If they didn't and it wasn't actually loaded with lethals, I'd say mb and close the ticket.

Mini Moose — 06/15/2023 5:44 PM
There is lethal rounds loaded
They are openly lying to you

Lain — 06/15/2023 5:44 PM
Do they have any prior infractions or bans or is this the first time?

Mini Moose — 06/15/2023 5:44 PM
No.
This is the first time regarding this

Lain — 06/15/2023 5:45 PM
Perma with ability to appeal after two weeks.
If they had something like this happen before I'd say perma with no appeal but since it's their first time I don't want to completely ruin their chances at playing the game, regardless if they are my friend or not. I believe that people can learn from experiences like this.

Lain — 06/15/2023 5:46 PM
Er scratch the two weeks, I'd say they could appeal after a month.

Mini Moose — 06/15/2023 5:52 PM
Oki doki
I have nothing else!

Lain — 06/15/2023 5:52 PM
Great ^-^
I'm glad we could do this.
I wanted to ask a question off the record. Throughout this interview I've edited some of my messages after realising there were some ways I could have answered better, mostly just, adding on smaller details, I hope that's allowed ^^;

Mini Moose — 06/15/2023 5:59 PM
Its cool with me!

Lain — 06/15/2023 5:59 PM
Dope.