[Monara] : RP Admin Application

[Monara]

BYOND ckey: Monara
Character name: Mordrid Ryenne
Discord username (+user id): Monara#8886
How long have you played on Citadel?: 5 years
How long have you played SS13?: 6 years
What is your timezone/general hours of activity?: USA East, very available but at a varying schedule.
Previous SS13 related admin experience: Event Manager Here. Request cross server staffing information via DMs.
Previous non-SS13 related admin experience: Arma, Gmod, ect. Some are more recent than others.
Current administrators who have agreed to support your application: Captain, Keekenox
Reason for application: Looking to primarily improve upon the current (and barely existent) consensus on how to handle Antagonists, which don't need to be hostile to be an opposing force. I feel this is best done through rule enforcement, behavior and situational suggestions/corrections, and overall 'behavioral standards' that I feel simply don't exist right now for a variety of reasons. From the existence of rules to simply a lack of consistent enforcement.

The server itself feels like it has no clear stance on how things are handled, and it's been said countless times that the result of your ticket depends on what admin you get. I believe it to be true, and I'm hoping to finally set a clear pattern of enforcement that stays true to the written rules with my own enforcement. I plan to make rewrite proposals where needed, and help work with the staff team to make the server's current stance on player behavior clear, and to follow that same viewpoint through every change and reevaluation it may have. Too frequently do 'rule updates' get announced with no written changes, leaving new and returning players clueless of the change even if they read the rules. Documentation and enforcement aren't synced together, and it can really show sometimes.

To be clear, I'm not saying that a "100% by the book" approach needs to be fully adopted, or that I'd be suggesting it. Nothing along the lines of prewritten punishment increments. Every incident has it's own story, but I want the response to each incident to be mutually agreed on by staff, and have some level of documentation within the rules, even if broad, it should rarely be 'vague' and up to interpretation. If staff opinion changes, the rules page should shift to reflect it y'know?

1. How would you engage with two players having an out of character altercation?
In a public place with minimal severity, kindly asking both parties to stop is plenty. Otherwise, having them resolve their altercation on their own privately is probably best.
If the situation involved personal insults and wasn't just arguing over balance or similar, I'd separate the two and then identify the issue (and its severity) from both angles before taking any action against either, or both parties. Whether or not it's been a problem between players for a while, and whether or not it'll continue to be an issue being the two main factors.

2. What should an admin do if they're involved in a situation that needs admin intervention?
Request another admin to handle the situation, unless the situation requires immediate attention. (Ongoing griefing and similar.)

3. How should an admin determine in what way to punish someone who breaks the rules?
A combination of stated rules, best judgement, and remorse/understanding in the subject.

4. Under what conditions should an admin de-admin themselves while playing?
Playing during conflict-oriented events they're directly involved in, drunk/inhibited, or similar involuntary information gain/lack of self control situations.

5. What is expected of an admin on Citadel?
Professionalism, respect towards players and staff, knowledge of current server happenings, and a clear understanding of the server's rules as well as the server's purpose/direction.

[Trojan_Coyote]

Monara is a good bean, their opinions are usually informed and aren't off the wall when stuff is happening. +1 from me

[Cataclysmanic]

On one hand you're a great EM. On another hand you can have a bit of a condescending attitude sometimes. I have seen you saying "cope" or similar statements whenever people have made valid complaints about events or other valid issues. I don't think such an attitude is becoming of an administrator. Common or uncommon, it rubs me the wrong way. In my opinion you do just fine as an EM.

-1

[Sakuya]

Monara is a very level headed individual who I think would make a great addition to the admin team.

+1

[Jaybirdnerd]

Hello, Monara.

You have several positive upvotes on this application, and that's wonderful. However, I'd like to personally air my own list of issues that seem somewhat relevant to the thread at hand since it is dependent towards the case or scenario that you will be handling should this application push forward.

To open, the good: You write very coherent events and seem capable of the role you have at present if not at a barebones functional level. You fundamentally create traction towards events and interest in ongoing happenstances, there has been known player uptick in specific cases due to your events being played out leading to more player interaction and general interest in events held or planned by the event management team going forward.

To close, the bad: The way you handle yourself in public with players is probably objectionably the worst when it comes to how any staff should react in the situations you find yourself in. There are many a tale I can sit here and recount both public matter and private that denote a complete lack of situational awareness in how you act towards others as well as events I've personally seen/been put at the forefront myself. I have actively had to tell players to open tickets on you due to this general lack of stated awareness. For what it's worth we have all had moments similar due to personal stressors or outside factors. However I've yet to see a staff member that has a reasoning outside of general bias to outwardly attack other players for lack of better terms without going too far into identifying said situation and pointing the finger/naming names. As well as this, you have a habit of acting fairly snide towards other persons. Cataclysmic has put things into clear tone as per your attitude towards others, however he misses key points where stated that this is not just admin-to-admin that you do this to as much as it is other players as well

As far as this application is concerned, I genuinely disagree with it at the moment until the above can be disproven or further bettered in a way that makes it seem like you are capable of the job you are requesting. Beyond that, it seems as though you are a poor fit for candidate of said position and on top of that putting you in that position of responsibility would be irresponsible on our parts towards the players and to each and all of us. To further clarify and not mince words: I already think you're only barebones fit enough for the position you already have because you run events, and I do not think giving you a rank with expectations on how to treat other players is reasonable at all ESPECIALLY with the track record you have thus far from what I have personally seen. If you can improve your attitude with others and how you treat players/others, then I will backpedal my stance on all of this.

Acting in the aforementioned manner with other players, starting arguments with them, acting very condescending and high-horsey with people is something that blows back on not just you but the whole of the admin team should you get this position. Given you are staff already, you should already be acting the part, however you refuse and continue your actions. It is mannerisms as such that keep the community pointing the bias finger towards our direction should we take just action in rulings in future installments of cases ongoing between player to player interactions.

To condense: I think, personally, that you are a poor fit because of your attitude towards others, as it is not becoming of staff in general to act this way towards anyone. This application has my full solid -1, and to give it anything higher would be to do a disservice to the whole and entirety of Citadel and it's community by appointing someone unable to handle the staff position they already have to work a higher role with far far more expectations and requirements than you seem capable of giving.

[Auraknight]

Another teeters on the edge of the EM-ADMIN pipeline.

Personally, I like Monara. They seem to have the entertainment of the playerbase at heart, and I find no fault in the questionaire- or the motives as presented.

That said, I have no strong opinions on this one. I don't know about any of the complaints that are brought up, but I've also been somewhat distanced from the server over the last few months, and only just getting back in as work and illness allows. I overall agree with Jay's sentiment, however, and if you have an abrasive attitude as described, there have been enough troubles with such that I would agree in the sentiment. Given that I don't feel confident in my own personal views to give a + or -, but wish to weigh in my opinion on the ups and downs others have mentioned.

A net netural from me, but when it comes to adminship, neutrals should perhaps be considered a little unfavourably.

[Keekenox]

Cataclysmaniac has a point, Monara can be a bit of a funny lil guy, but not significantly moreso than some of our other staff and their self aware enough that they will probably be able to keep it in check.

+one

[Silicons]

monara is a silly goofer

they're the person spearheading event & liveliness efforts right now

there's been some valid complaints about things like railroading and public conduct. we've already talked about it internally, it's not a big hangup. i'd like to see less of it when they're full admin but i'm sure this is known and well understood.

+1, and it's been a few days; i'll be waiting for final checks with captain before proceeding.

[PlumeOfSmoke]

Monara is a great EM, a good person, and generally okay. However, they've carried out some troubling behavior that makes me believe they're unfit to be an admin. I believe that a number of the things they want to be able to do as stated in this application can be done as an EM. They do not need to become an admin, and frankly, I don't think they should be one.

-1

[VailTheWolf]

I want to preface this with the fact I'm not staff, and I won't be staff anytime in the future. All I wish to do here is lay down on the table a sense of transparency for some of the staff that have genuine concerns of the applicant's behavior. I don't have a serious amount of experience being staff for a server of any degree, and not a lot of people do. At one point in time I did have that drive, but I realized at the time I was not in a mentally mature state to be given those opportunities. It is really hard to reveal my thoughts on the matter without being bias, but I am making the attempt. I agree with Monara's responses of their application. The motivation to improve antagonist interactions is an astonishing goal and I'm on board with working towards growing the community for it. Their responses to the questionnaire is textbook. This Community has some broad strokes with Monara for and against them. They have been pushing out content at a constant pace, this is true, but I believe the frequency and similarity of events has dulled the edge. There is a feeling of constant urgency playing these events, and it takes its toll on the players. At one point in time, early in the RP Server's lifetime when VORE was still the upstream (and modular Citadel existed), I attempted to create an event team exploring the same subjects. Trained Mercenary teams, devious Pirates, and even a plotline for a Space Cartel that was actively attempting to encroach and take over NT owned planets. (At the time this was the De Facto Virgo 4.) Long story short, it fell flat on its face. Player reception to the lore of the mercenaries was negative, and there was a critical mistake that I made that I think flopped the entire project: I inserted myself into the action. I didn't take a step back to manage the event from a distance. I wanted full control over the steps of the event. I didn't plan any kind of contingencies. I see Monara taking the same measures and performing the same mistakes I did. There is a small outcry for self-insertion, and I'm inclined to agree with that opinion.

In my upmost opinion, I do not think Monara is ready for this position. I have experienced more than one ahelp involving a admin matter that they choose to, as an Event Manager, interject in. This behavior is apparent, and recent. In a Discord ticket directly involving a problem I was having with them, they again chose to interject and derail the conversation. That ticket happened ~12 days before this application was first posted. I have provided the entire ticket log here, which includes our actual Discord DMs, that they willingly pushed into the ongoing ticket. They chose to continue arguing with other staff members, even after saying they would stop posting into the ticket. They are long winded with their arguments, even when the situation does not call for it. They have openly admitted in DMs and in Discord channels that they have biases, and they are proud to act accordingly to those biases. This is actively unbecoming of staff, even more so for an applicant who in the past already acts like they belong in the administration team. I wish that Monara could be staff in the future, but I do not think enough time between incidents has passed for me to agree that they have improved from their past. I'm sorry.

I want to close this post with a quote from Kat/Captain herself, involving another applicant with a brazen and abrasive clash against other members of the community.

I thought I commented on this a month ago, but it seems like I didn't. I find it distasteful that you basically applied just to fish for responses, and that's been partially responsible for my lack of interest in engaging with this thread.

This app's a -1 for me, largely for the reasons already listed in this thread. In the past I made the mistake of supporting staff applicants with excessively abrasive attitudes because of the results they produced, or because I believed they provided some value to the server that made dealing with their personality worthwhile. In almost all of those instances I was left disappointed. I'm not interested in making the same mistake again, especially when the issues are so readily apparent. With this response, I'll also be moving this application to the Denied section.