Dessy Mod Interview

Mel,  — 15:06
Okay so, to start with, this will be posted on the forums, is that okay?

remratsuken — 15:06
fine by me!

Mel,  — 15:07
This isn't really a formal process but ye, okay. We shall begin! First off, what's your ckey?

remratsuken — 15:07
dessysalta

Mel,  — 15:08
Okay, I'll give you a list of powers we have for trial mods. If you have questions about them, let me know.
Before we start with the scenarios, here is a list (non-exhaustive) of moderator powers. You'll have access to all of these and more as a full mod, but during your trial you wouldn't be able to do things like perma ban, spawn items, etc.

You also notably lack things like VV edit, build mode, BST that I think you have as a dev:
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 ability to spawn items
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.

remratsuken — 15:10
no questions, seems pretty straightforward

Mel,  — 15:10
Alrighty then!
Scenario time.
A new round starts and its operatives (ninja)! There is no discussion in AOOC about gimmicks, but after a moment you notice one of the antags buying a wrestling manual with the name "Johnny Cage". What do you do?

remratsuken — 15:13
So, is this as soon as the round starts and they're still in their prep area?

Mel,  — 15:13
Mhm

remratsuken — 15:16
Sus, but I don't think I'd reach out to them right away. Mercenaries and other offship antags like to name themselves random nonsense before they have a gimmick down, and maybe the guy already had a wrestling gimmick in mind. Before I go any further, is his ninja buddy gearing up with anything? Has he said anything in chat or AOOC?
Assuming about a minute passes between when I first see the guy become Johnny Cage and now

Mel,  — 15:19
They start talking about a gimmick, something about a wrestling tournament in the holodeck where they'll kidnap the highest ranking command member present
They say they're ready to head out now. Guy has not changed name.

remratsuken — 15:20
Is the other guy named anything referential, or just something basic?

Mel,  — 15:21
Just something basic

remratsuken — 15:24
Cool. About now is when I'd adminPM the Johnny Cage guy and say something like, "Hey there. I respect The Cage, but pop culture names aren't permitted, on or off ship." I'd suggest he either change his name to something less recognizable, or if he's already stepped through [the teleporter], offer to change it myself. Either just before or just after that I might send a message in AOOC telling them to hold off for just a second.

Mel,  — 15:25
He responds with a basic "aw man but it was going to be FUNNY." but relents and changes to a better suited name (its not a reference this time!)

remratsuken — 15:31
Rad. I'd respond with anything along the lines of "It's all good, thanks for understanding. Enjoy the rest of your round!" and close the ticket.
Considering how understanding he was and given the fact this hadn't yet crossed in round, I don't think I'd note the guy. If he had, or if he'd been less receptive, I probably would have. Speaking with experience because admittedly this is exactly the situation I was in myself in the first year or so I was on Aurora lol

Likewise, I don't see anything necessarily wrong with the gimmick aside from being one-note. If he's new enough to pick a reference name, he might just need some experience with antagonist gimmicks to get a feel for how to involve people, and i imagine anyone who gets kidnapped would communicate or ahelp if it becomes a slog. I'd probably keep a loose eye on them just to make sure it isn't mindless murder shenanigans under the guise of a tournament; we've had some pretty low-effort gimmicks like that, but some of them have been decent enough for me not to be awfully worried about it.

Mel,  — 15:34
Mhm mhm! Ready to move on?

remratsuken — 15:34
Yup yup

Mel,  — 15:37
You're in a merc round now and playing HoS. You've ordered everyone to go non lethal while you figure out what these funny guys on their ship want. Suddenly, one of the cadets just lights them up and they respond in kind and its a bit of a blood bath. Tickets come pouring in, mostly from the mercs. What do you do?

remratsuken — 15:40
Any other staff online?

Mel,  — 15:40
Yes

remratsuken — 15:44
I'd msay and ask any of them if they could handle the tickets because I'm involved in the situation to an extent. They'd be asking for my side of the story and I'd want to provide something unbiased to someone who can look at everything with that kind of perception.

Worst case, i.e. were staff not online or were otherwise idle, I'd ping staff in the discord and ask for some assistance while letting the mercs know in AOOC that help's on the way, just that I'm indisposed or involved.
I'd also suggest (in the latter instance) that if absolutely no one can help, they can make a player complaint and resolve it once the round ends. Otherwise I'm de-admin'd

Mel,  — 15:46
Excellent.
One moment while I come up with this last question on the fly
Someone who you know really well starts breaking into places and taking stuff. What do you do?

remratsuken — 15:51
First, check antagonist status. Second, check any logs they might have made- in-character reasoning, etc. I would do this with most everyone I see breaking into someplace regardless. Depends also on where they're breaking into and why, but if that's not immediately evident I could easily ask once I'm finished with the first two steps.

Mel,  — 15:53
Not an antag. Can't really check prior logs in game. The only things you can really see in game is like, attack logs and fingerprints in places. They're a janitor currently, attempting to break into one of the thrusters

remratsuken — 15:55
Little dicey. What's the round type and pop situation? Recently triggered events, i.e. grem infestation? Anything notable around aside from them smashing the door with an axe or similar?

Mel,  — 15:56
Extended, medium popish. Everyone is chilling in service, the XO opened the bar and kitchen and everyone is RPing and having a good time, except the janitor

remratsuken — 15:57
Heard. Now is when I'd adminPM and ask, "Sup dude, why're you breaking into the thrusters?"

Mel,  — 15:58
"I noticed they weren't set and I wanted us to go flying around"

remratsuken — 15:58
Any engineers or atmos techs on?

Mel,  — 15:59
There was an engineer who set the engine, but he's about three beers in in the bar.

remratsuken — 16:02
I'd probably say, "It's understandable that you want to explore given it's extended, but we shouldn't be breaking into places without either sufficient IC reasoning or consulting the department." Given there's an engineer, I could append that with, "You could have asked John Engineerguy, for instance." Otherwise, I'd leave it at the former.

Mel,  — 16:07
He gets a bit snippy and says something 'but I want to set the thrusters!"

remratsuken — 16:10
I'd reiterate he has to either ask or leave the thrusters alone. Probably, "I get you, but you can't be breaking into places like that. You need to have clear and tangible reasoning for that kind of thing, and there are avenues you can take otherwise."

Mel,  — 16:12
He just... logs out without saying anything else.

remratsuken — 16:29
I wouldn't close the ticket just yet. Maybe he got disconnected? I'd give it a few minutes if I could spare the time. After ten minutes is when I'd cryo them and close the ticket.

The rest is hard to say. On the one hand, we had some degree of conversation and I don't think a misunderstanding like this is necessarily solved with a permanent ban until they're ready to talk- I imagine that rule is in place for instant-disconnects upon questioning rather than after any reply at all. That said, they also disconnected mid-round without cryoing. Were it a role with more authority or presence (security, medical, command etc) I'd probably escalate it to a temporary ban at least.

Seeing as I want to give them the benefit of the doubt, and that we had a conversation that was at least somewhat civil albeit terse, I'd probably just warn them with something like, "As a non-antagonist janitor, attempted to break into the thrusters because they wanted the Horizon to explore the sector. Hostile when PMed, and disconnected after several replies. Mild OOC preference isn't justification to circumvent the rules or established avenues, and you shouldn't disconnect without cryoing."
small edit lol

Mel,  — 16:31
All good. Looks good. Final question for now though. What would you like to see on either an OOC side or an IC side in NBT2?

remratsuken — 16:31
Oh god ive got a ton of ideas LMAO

Mel ,  — 16:33
JUST ONE!

remratsuken — 16:33
WAAA
OOCly, cross-departmental roles- or at least something like a Corpsman. Please God let me or anyone else play a paramedic with a gun. Every single time I've either picked up a gun or seen someone pick up a gun as a paramedic it has ended gloriously and been so aura. I know this could step on the toes of other departments but come on dude.

ICly, I hope there's a fuckton of subcontractors or groups in the Avarizia, per my latest forum post. Groups like the PMCG that are so incredibly fragmented while still technically united under one cause enable extremely fun character ideas, narrative decisions, infighting and relationships- plus situations where the two team up and you can see how distinct they are from one another, how they mesh etc. I think we should still have people trying to outcompete one another even if the ship and job they work on it are under the exact same company. Also because more uniforms and such are badass and I personally will sprite them if you ask.

Mel,  — 16:40
okay cool! Is there anything else you'd want to add to your mod interview?

remratsuken — 16:41
remember: Kira Vazquez, ERT Commander coming to you in 2027
LOL thats all

Mel,  — 16:45
Hah okay! Thank you. I'll edit this to make it more presentable to everyone.