QueenOfYugoslavia Interview

Flamingo - Today at 11:30 AM
Whenever you’re ready then.

Drago - Today at 11:30 AM
Now is good!

Flamingo - Today at 11:32 AM
Perfect. Before we begin then, can you state your full ckey?

Drago - Today at 11:32 AM
QueenOfYugoslavia

Flamingo - Today at 11:34 AM
Perfect. The interview will be conducted in two parts. The first half deals with some common and uncommon situations you might find yourself in. Think of it as roleplaying. The second part is some ooc questions.

Drago - Today at 11:34 AM
Alright!

Flamingo - Today at 11:34 AM
I’ll give you a list of your powers as a trial moderator.
1. Access to ingame logs. This includes ALL attack logs. ALL local and antagonist ooc, including deadchat and admin pm’s. You can also send your own admin pms (bwoink)
2. The ability to wind players (admin freeze them).
3. The ability to boot players of a lower rank (regular players basically).
4. The ability to temporarily ban and temporarily job ban players. Self explanatory.
5. The ability to apply NOTES to a players’ ckey. This is a system staff use to keep tabs on players behavior and administrative action taken. It’s good practice to note what you’ve talked to a player about. You don’t need to note EVERYTHING. If they didn’t do anything wrong, a note isn’t required.
6. The ability to warn players. This is like a note, but visible to the players and requires them to acknowledge the warning.
7. The ability to admin-ghost (like observing, but you can re-enter your body)
8. Lastly, the ability to use modchat, where you can speak with other moderators and admins about stuff.
Any questions about the powers and how they function, or in general, before we begin?

Drago - Today at 11:40 AM
Nope, if I do have a question may I ask during the interview?

Flamingo - Today at 11:41 AM
Of course. You can stop me at any time to ask.

Drago - Today at 11:41 AM
Alright, lets begin

Flamingo - Today at 11:41 AM
Perfect. first question then.
You’re on server and you notice a message over the radio:

”Donald J. Trump, Assistant, is inbound from NTCC Odin.”

Jumping over, you are met with a bald, 30 year old assistant. A quick check of their ckey indicates their account is 2 days old. What do you do?(edited)

Drago - Today at 11:49 AM
Well, this is obviously somebody that is very new to this game or server so to ensure a more calm conversation and to make future interactions more comfterble; as in the player isnt turned off from the server but to ensure they know this type of behavior isnt for this game. I would move to the perso and engage a conversation in looc. People for some reason often interpriet getting bwoinked as being in trouble or such and while this behavior is memey and unserious I would opt to at first talk to the person in looc and link them the rules and help them to understand how this type of game works, aswell as linking them the following documentations  https://wiki.baystation12.net/A_Crash_Course_In_Roleplaying   https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Misconceptions  https://aurorastation.org/rules.html and allow them to read them and await any quesrtions they ask
A Crash Course In Roleplaying
Index.php?title=Misconceptions
Apologys if my responses are abit too long, Just wanna make sure my point of how I would take the scenario comes off clearly

Flamingo - Today at 11:51 AM
it’s fine, long responses are encouraged. It gives me more to work with.
You attempt to engage with him in looc, but he wanders around, not really replying. He makes his way to the shuttle, boarding and beginning to dig through all of the emergency lockers, holding an oxygen tank in one hand and putting on a soft suit helmet. What will you do next?

Drago - Today at 11:57 AM
Well upon seeing him ignoring me and continuing to make his way to try interacting with the playerbase with a mingy character, I would at this point wind them to ensure they do not make it further. Assuming I wind them before they make it inside the shuttle would be optimal to this scenario, however winding them onto the shuttle works aswell. The player may not of seen my looc or doesnt know how to use looc so at this point I would bwoink them to ensure they see my messege in there chat. I would repeat my messege and give them addidtional information that they should look over the rules, followed by informing them why they cannot move; aswell as at this time seeing if they have serious rped before, be it on ss13 or any other game. A good thing about most serious rp's is that abit of concepts can be cross used, learning whats acceptable or not.

Flamingo - Today at 11:59 AM
You wind him after a few attempts at looc conversation. You bwoink him a few times, but ultimately, he disconnects without replying to your staffpm. What will you do?

Drago - Today at 12:01 PM
Is there other staff online?

Flamingo - Today at 12:02 PM
There’s another moderator ingame at the time.

Drago - Today at 12:05 PM
If not, First of all, I would be opening there notes and placing the information about the scenario into it; followed by this, and this is just personal preference and im unsure if this is how staff do it on here but; I would screenshot the conversations we had and paste the image links and raw logs into a pastebin and place this in notes incase of a appeal. Followed by this I would wait a short bit to see if they return. If they have not returned, I would begin the process of applying a temp ban to the user; keeping the  notes in mind and there attitude. Its possible they have decided this game is just not for them and they are not here to be serious; that or they know better and are just here to stir shit up. Depending on there behavior and watching it I would discuss it with the other moderator online and from what I would see ingame make a determination based on this. For now however I will apply a temp ban to the user and await for a upper admin to come online and discuss the situation and ask in there opinion should the bna be raised from this or not.

Flamingo - Today at 12:06 PM
Sounds good. How long of a tempban would you apply for?

Drago - Today at 12:10 PM
Well for now, I would apply just a day ban. This would allow enough time to discuss it with upper staff. If for some reason there was a time for example where no upper staff are on for a few days (Assuming its such a weird circumstance) I would apply a slight longer ban, at most for this type of offense would be 3-4 days. I assume for minging like this and  there behavior; as it assumes they are just new would be punishment enough. By this time they hopefully have opened the links. I would also after applying the ban attempt to contact them on byond for good measure; seeing as it could be they lost connection and were intrested in actualy learning. Its a long shot to do so but its moreso just to give them a slight benefit of the doubt; aswell as finding out if they were serious about playing

Flamingo - Today at 12:11 PM
Alright sounds good. Anything else before we move to the next question?

Drago - Today at 12:12 PM
Well, unsure if this could be asked but, would the person respond at all to the byond msg?

Flamingo - Today at 12:13 PM
Don’t gotta go into too much detail there. The interview is mostly for stuff you might see on server.

Drago - Today at 12:13 PM
Oh okie

Flamingo - Today at 12:13 PM
Sometimes you might have someone reply, sometimes you might not.
Ready for the next question?

Drago - Today at 12:13 PM
Yes!

Flamingo - Today at 12:14 PM
You are sitting in the lobby working on a character when you notice a flood of attack logs in your chat window. An engineer is stabbing someone with a screwdriver, and said person, a cargo technician, is hitting the engineer with a fire extinguisher. A quick check indicates that neither of them are antagonists. What do you do?

Drago - Today at 12:22 PM
back sorry about tjhat

Flamingo - Today at 12:22 PM
No problem.

Drago - Today at 12:26 PM
Well, I would quickly enter the game and observe the situation; to however bwoink one of them to check the side and what happened would give the other a advantage in combat, I would wait for it to de-escalate, assuming however nobody is horribly injured and fighting stops, I would begin the process of bwoinking them both and asking what caused the issue. Fighting in itself isnt against the rules as a non antag but it needs to be withen proper reason  and not overly escalated. So at this point, assuming the fight is over and both are not dead, I would bwoink them both and ask for there sides

Flamingo - Today at 12:29 PM
It’s immediately apparent once you jump in that the two of them intend to fight to the death. The engineer is stabbing the cargo tech pretty bad, and his hard hat protects him from the worst of the fire extinguisher. Do you want to continue to observe for now?

Drago - Today at 12:32 PM
Well at this point we come to a struggle; are there any players around currently or are they alone?

Flamingo - Today at 12:33 PM
They’re alone in the main level cargo area.

Drago - Today at 12:35 PM
Well since they are alone and it would not impact the rp of others around, I would step in quickly and tell them in looc to pause this, if they do not heed this, I would wind the party that attempted to contuine it and then begin to question them in looc on there reasoning for fighting, aswell as opening there notes if possible

Flamingo - Today at 12:36 PM
The engineers says that the cargo tech was insulting him and calling him names, so he started attacking him. The cargo tech said he was just trying to get the engineer to fix a couple windows. Both of them have a couple notes for unrelated behavior a few weeks prior.

Drago - Today at 12:38 PM
Well.....this behavior does not fall under any sort of type of reason that would make attacking him. Its not even logical or rational to be called a name and stab you're co-workers head in with a screwdriver. At this point; really  it would be going back into attack logs. Which person attacked first? It would allow me to paint a picture of how to go forth with this
Errr, did my msg go through?

Flamingo - Today at 2:00 PM
Sorry i was distracted by something. Still around?
I apologize.
Something kinda came up.  Reee
Well, I will reply now and we can pick this up at a time when it’s good. I didn’t expect us to go so long truthfully.
After looking through the attack logs, it looks like the engineer tried to disarm the cargo tech a couple times, before the cargo tech hits him with a fire extinguisher, so the engineer starts stabbing with the screwdriver.
Just reply whenever you can, I’ll be around for many hours.
Sorry again :grin:

Drago - Today at 2:09 PM
back

Flamingo - Today at 2:09 PM
Apologies, I did not mean to disappear. Should be back for the duration. Still got a bit to finish?

Drago - Today at 2:09 PM
Yeah! I was just worried if you were ok or not.

Flamingo - Today at 2:10 PM
Definitely! It was my bad. Shouldn’t happen again.

Drago - Today at 2:13 PM
Anyways, after checking the attack logs, I dont see any reason why a enginer needs to try disarming a cargo tech. However at the same time, the cargo tech escalated this by attacking him fully on. Both players here are in the wrong to a extent. Had there been a clear set of rp and discussion between them, for example being angry at each other and yelling and going to shoving and then to more; it could be seen as rped out and such but this isnt the case really. I would log this situation down with screenshots like I stated in the first question and go over the rules with both players, aswell as apply a warnning to both about conflict and escalation. Further explaining this rule located here
Conflict is acceptable, even if you are not an antag, but it needs to be believable, and meet roleplay standards. The average Joe will not simply decide to blow up their workplace one day. Keep in mind, the more drastic the action, the more motivated your character has to be to commit to it, and the consequences it brings. Unless you’re an antagonist, this motivation has to be developed through roleplay on the server: backstory cannot legitimize drastic things, such as trying to assault security staff because of a bad childhood, for example. It is also very much encouraged that you roleplay out the consequences to such conflict where possible.
Only escalate conflict in a realistic manner - some characters might overreact, but you would not realistically go berserk or attempt to kill someone if they stole your prized pen, for instance. Again, your character must be motivated enough to commit to more drastic action, as they undertake it.
Killing in self-defense in NOT preferred. If possible, always try to flee, or disable your opponent. If your character does commit a murder in a canon setting, please roleplay out the effects it would have on your character as well.
Then explaining this rule. After doing so, I would leave and let rp contuine from here, watching however as if they did understand, they would know not to escalate this further and end it here and await medical.

Flamingo - Today at 2:15 PM
Th engineer says that the cargo tech was being a jerk about everything and calling his character names, so he pushed him. He only started stabbing when the cargo tech hit him in the head with the fire extinguisher.

Drago - Today at 2:18 PM
This is still however not a acceptable way to escalate to this level. He could attack in self defense but he was aimming to kill this person. For example when I worked at a store, my boss would call me quite awful names or poke fun at me for being mute ,sure its not nice and feels degrading but you dont snap and take a fire extniguisher and bash his noggin in. It would still apply to explain the rules and keep a warning and note for them not to do this next time and allow roleplay to resume; aswell as i said if they do understand the rules from this and understand what self defense means and what it classifys as; he shouldnt fight anymore as the guy is on the ground and unable to go further

Flamingo - Today at 2:19 PM
Alright sounds good. Anything else you would like to do for this one, or ready for the next?

Drago - Today at 2:19 PM
Ready for the next one

Flamingo - Today at 2:23 PM
You’re in the lobby when you get an ahelp. It’s a round of mercenary and there are plenty of combat logs. “wtf can you take care of this qm please??” Jumping over, you find the quartermaster locked in combat with the entire merc team, and he’s winning. He’s armed himself with the best weapons he can get, and he’s in cargo fighting. Two of the mercs are already down, and the last two are injured badly but fighting.
I need to make a phonecall real quick. Shouldn’t be more than 5 minutes!
Just kidding, no phonecall needed!

Drago - Today at 2:27 PM
Well, when the firefight has gotten to a point that a bwoink gives neither side a advantage; I would bwoink the QM and ask where he obtained ther weapon and why is he engaging a team of highly skilled mercenarys as a  Quertermaster
Also would open his notes

Flamingo - Today at 2:29 PM
Eventually the firefight dies down. He says that he was just defending cargo from the mercenaries, since it’s where he works. In his notes he has a few notes from a couple weeks back about powergaming, as well as a warning from the previous week.
He says he ordered the weapons from cargo and used a pKA to break in.

Drago - Today at 2:30 PM
Well, has he had a history of using cargo to his advantage of gaining things for himself like this?
as in, does his notes mention it

Flamingo - Today at 2:31 PM
His notes indicate he has a habit of arming himself up if there’s conflict, though he doesn’t necessarily go around seeking it.

Drago - Today at 2:33 PM
Using cargo as a means to arm himself?

Flamingo - Today at 2:33 PM
One of the entries is for cargo. Another is for making makeshift weapons as an engineer.

Drago - Today at 2:34 PM
Well, I would respond to him and explain to him the basics of a well rounded character. Somebody whos working quartermaster around 85-95% of the time would not have the skills or bravery to fight off combat hardened mercenaries who are out-numbering them. Since his notes indicated he has a history of using cargo to give himself weapons in time of combat, I would questyion him on why he felt realisticly he could fend off a group of mercenarys alone and use cargo as a means to arm himself.

Flamingo - Today at 2:35 PM
He says that he armed himself because his character was scared, and he only fought because they came to cargo, otherwise he wouldn’t. He comments that the mercenaries died because they weren’t robust. He fought unarmored and outnumbered and still won.

Drago - Today at 2:41 PM
I would begin at this point to make screenshot and raw notes like in the past cases; aswell as applying a warning for this type of behavior and explaining why realisticly he shouldnt be acting this way and it makes the game unbelivable if we could all be super soldiers and out-gun groups of enemys. Aswell as further explaining that even if they arent as robust; this is a enviroment based on rp and telling a serious believable story and that this type of action doesnt reflect what the goal of the server is. I would then give him reference material to brush him up on the rules for this  https://wiki.baystation12.net/index.php?title=A_Crash_Course_In_Roleplaying  and https://aurorastation.org/rules.html aswell as referencing rules on this page, being  Characters must be believable, and well-rounded. No insane or psychotic characters. No Mary Sues. (Over the top characters, characters who know too much, have no weaknesses, etcetera.) aswell as Restrict yourself to your character's knowledge. You, as a player, might have the knowledge of how to hack airlocks, but your average doctor likely doesn't. Reference the glossary for definitions of powergaming and metagaming. This rule is further explained in the character creation section, as well.
Additionally, keep your character's goals in mind. For example, as security, during a traitor round, your goal is not to catch traitors, but ensure the safety of the station and provide assistance as needed.
Avoid pain. A sane, well-rounded character would not engage in actions that are overly painful, or put themselves in harm's way without consideration (e.g. going EVA without a suit, stabbing themselves repeatedly, or continue to run at someone after being shot multiple times.) Suicide is generally a NO, unless you have believable reason for it and do it in a realistic way (ODin on chemicals as a chemist is realistic, but cutting off your head isn't), you can contact the admins to clear situations like that.
Index.php?title=A Crash Course In Roleplaying
Followed by this, I would inform them that if this bhacvior is noted again and they arm themselfs as cargo during antag attacks; they will receive a job ban

Flamingo - Today at 2:45 PM
They start to yell at you over pm’s, saying they are being a realistic character by defending their job place, and that irl they know how to shoot a gun, which isn’t that difficult, calling you an idiot for not understanding.

Drago - Today at 2:52 PM
I would respond to this quite nicely with this, anger only causes more issues and causes more complaints. I would reply that yes, its easy to shoot a gun; at a standing lifeless target. However its not easy for a basicly UPS worker to take on military trained combat veteren mercenarys and not care what so ever about taking a human life or being able to shoot them while in a high stress enviroment

Flamingo - Today at 2:53 PM
eventually they seem to calm down and accept it. Anything else you want to add to this one?

Drago - Today at 2:53 PM
As they calm down I would thank them for having a positive attitude; aswell as noting in there notes they came to a calm resolution after addressing them calmly; so if a future admin sees this and is in a sdituation with them, they know how to defuse it
But thats it

Flamingo - Today at 2:54 PM
Perfect. I will do one more of these ic ones and then we can do the ooc portion.

Drago - Today at 2:54 PM
Okie

Flamingo - Today at 2:56 PM
You have been moderating for a few weeks now, and you’ve noticed a staff member who consistently goes out of their way to obtain the best weapons, even going so far as to spawn themselves weapons when alone. They also sometimes edit their var’s to be stronger than average. What would you do with this information?

Drago - Today at 2:59 PM
Screenshot what I do see and examples of it and send it to Aboshehab and Garn in a discord conversation or forum PM. I see directly confronting the issue as a way to cause further issues and if its reported anon would result in less community drama or grudging in staff which makes for a less productive team.

Flamingo - Today at 3:01 PM
perfect. Let’s move onto the ooc portion then. Some of these will be expansions of the questions you answered in the application, while others will be different.

Drago - Today at 3:01 PM
Alright

Flamingo - Today at 3:01 PM
First, what do you think the role of a moderator is on Aurora?

Drago - Today at 3:02 PM
To ensure the server moves forward and is a engaging place for serious rp to be able to take place. Helpign the community members our with discussions or clarifications of the rules aswell as mediating confrontations or complaints between two partys; not for the joy of punishing but to make sure both sides can; or try my best to make sure both leave happy

Flamingo - Today at 3:04 PM
Cool. Second question. This one is a bit more personal, but I encourage you to be honest. You’ve had many run-ins with staff in the past. Not necessarily for hostile behavior, but for other various reasons, including a permanent ban that you appealed in the past. How do you think this will affect your ability to moderate, as well as your image both among the staff team, as well as in the greater community?

Drago - Today at 3:06 PM
Is this section included in the interview? Im fine with going into it but some of it is moreso really personal

Flamingo - Today at 3:07 PM
I can cut out this section specifically if you would like, as we generally post it on the forums, but we also won’t post them on the forums if you are not comfortable.
It would only be shared internally with staff if that’s the case.

Drago - Today at 3:13 PM
But anyways, Yes, I have had a few issues including the ban. The ban was around a time where I was going through some personal things in life. In December, around a month before the ban I found out that I had a tumor in my right breast and if left untreated could develop into breast cancer. Around this time my biological mother passed away and it was generaly a not realyl good time for me. I talked to Abo about the ban and he talked to me about it and told me while he does care and feels bad that messing around isnt ok; which I understand that its not ok and I was wrong. I have taken time however to grow myself, learning how to handle stress and loss quite well and since then haven't had really any issues with staff; aswell as inviting others to the server and explaining rules to them and what is tolerated and what is not. I understand that the staff team might be weary of me joining into them as a moderator but, I have seen great growth in myself as a person; as have other friends in the community watched me grow and become somebody to look to to explain rules or how mechanics work. I see the staff team as one of the nicest groups I have had the oppritunity to interact with and see them when I do have to talk to them as more of a family or such to talk to, rather then administrator. Somebody I know I can trust and know can set me on the right path. I am certain that despite my past issues, I can moderate effectively

Flamingo - Today at 3:15 PM
I’m sorry to hear about your real-life issues. I hope everything is alright. But moving past that, I have another question: sometimes you need to make unsavory or difficult decisions as staff. For example, banning someone who you consider a friend, or explaining rule violations to them. How do you think you would handle such a task? Again, I encourage you to be honest about it. It’s never easy.

Drago - Today at 3:18 PM
As cold as this does sound
I do not have a issue with taking actions against friends. I have had to do it quite a lot administrating elsewear and on other games. Sure it may harm friendships and it may make for ooc disliking of you by the friend but; a friend is somebody who stands by you and likes you for you. They are not a actual friend if they get upset at you for banning them from a video game or having to get onto them for violating a rule. As a moderator you are given a job and are expected to be fair and balanced; even to those you may REALLY like or really dislike

Flamingo - Today at 3:19 PM
In most cases, you can pass off certain issues to other staff if you are involved, or hold a bias (such as being friends with one of the involved). Not always the case, but it can come in handy.
Sometimes you must do the difficult thing though.

Drago - Today at 3:20 PM
Oh, certainly. In most cases putting it to another admin is the best case
but if its just you
yeah, you gotta make a hard deciswion

Flamingo - Today at 3:20 PM
How do you feel about the current state of the server? Do you hold any concerns over the way things are run right now? If you could change one thing about it, anything, what would it be?

Drago - Today at 3:22 PM
Myself, I dont have many concerns with it. From hearing what others have said though is; people join Aurora and might be new to ss13 or are used to servers like Paradise or CM and they are totaly in the dark of what is expected on this server. So really only thing I would change is a system for newer members to integrate better into a serious rp enviroment like we have here
oh and also
make shell ipc's not melt by wearing a hazard vest or labcoat

Flamingo - Today at 3:23 PM
Haha, that part is outside of my control unfortunately. I would ask a developer or make a suggestion :grin:
The shell ipc part

Drago - Today at 3:24 PM
its literaly HELL

Flamingo - Today at 3:25 PM
okay, just a couple more. you’ve cited experience in the past moderating in garrysmod. As someone who spent many many years rping seriously through that platform, can you give me a rundown of your responsibilities and what roles you played? Not ic roles, more like server roles.(edited)

Drago - Today at 3:26 PM
Ah. I assume you know what hl2rp is correct?

Flamingo - Today at 3:26 PM
yes

Drago - Today at 3:30 PM
I was a developer for Clockwork and nutscript; aswell as doing contract developing for dark rp servers for around 3 years. I self taught myself glua along with some help from one of the devs at Cloud16 that worked on clockwork. Working on that for servers and being paid a little bit of money for work; such as coding in a bank robbery system for a server thats no longer around called Firestone. Aswell as on other servers I was a production manager and loremaster; essentialy writing lore and events up for the server weekly (Unsure if you guys allow mods to help with that but storytelling and events are one of my biggest strengths) Ontop of that being a general super administrator, I admined for quite a few different servers; aswell as offered technical support for them. I also do some dispute settling on Something Awful Gmod Group for a friend of mine named Foran; whos a higher up staff member there which i included in my vouchers
https://i.imgur.com/vCTIzLa.jpg

I dont play as much serious gmod rp too much anymore however as the community has gone downhill really and I dont find the setting enjoyable anymore

Flamingo - Today at 3:33 PM
Perfect. Final question then. Are you comfortable with your interview being posted on the forums? I will of course trim out the earlier personal question. I can share that with only the staff team.(edited)

Drago - Today at 3:33 PM
Well, you know what
no need to cut it out I guess

Flamingo - Today at 3:33 PM
Are you sure?

Drago - Today at 3:34 PM
Yeah. Its personal yeah but its apart of my jounrey towards where i am now

Flamingo - Today at 3:34 PM
Perfect. This concludes the interview then. Sorry it took so long.

ADDITIONAL QUESTION:

Flamingo - Today at 3:39 PM
Moderating can be super super draining. How do you think you deal with the stress of it? I have moderated a bit in gmod before, and ss13 is far more involved in my experience.

Drago - Today at 3:40 PM
Well, this is going abit into myself but
Im mute; as in I cant't speek. English also isnt my first language so at times I don't pick up on certain social cues and its left me behind in social aspects. I got into rp as a way to learn english more and to learn more on interaction and such. Its stressful yeah but I have learned to take that stress and turn it into productive workloads. A majority of coding and such was done as a way for me to relive stress. I could sit and just code and fix and test things and fix it if it didnt work and feel the stress drain away
That and drawing and writing is big stress relivers