/tg/Station 13

Admin for some two-three years here. I come with a wealth of experience on both the administrative and development sides of tgstation13.

I will do my best to answer and questions you may have.

Communication of policy has always been a major issue in /tg/station. People have been banned for vague and sometimes completely un-noted changes in policy, simply because no one was informed we were doing things that way. What will you do to help remedy the situation?

Metagaming bans have been quite common lately, whereas before they were a once-in-a-while thing. Why do you think this is? Better detection, or a spike in activity? What do you think can be done to curb metagaming?

Thoughts on the name policy? What constitutes an unacceptable name?

Do you believe /tg/station should encourage or even (in some major cases) enforce roleplaying?

Finally, do you believe Asimov should be kept as the default AI laws? Why or why not?

Thanks in advance.

Do you think using your departments tools to do your job ingame constitutes powergaming?

What do you think of the newest admins and trialmins in relation to their admining and behavior?

How do you feel about singulo.io?

Communication of policy has always been a major issue in /tg/station. People have been banned for vague and sometimes completely un-noted changes in policy, simply because no one was informed we were doing things that way. What will you do to help remedy the situation?

Any policy changes should be communicated as clearly and often as possible. If headmins get remote server access this time, the best way to do this is via the MOTD that shows up when you join the server. Barring that, I could code a persistent admin memo that headmins can put up that does the same thing. Forum announcements are also handy.

Still, depending on the policy that was changed, we should have a brief grace period where warnings are handed out instead of bans.

Metagaming bans have been quite common lately, whereas before they were a once-in-a-while thing. Why do you think this is? Better detection, or a spike in activity? What do you think can be done to curb metagaming?

Admin tools have improved considerably over the years, as well as the server's popularity. I don't think there's much else we can do other than what we've already been doing.

Thoughts on the name policy? What constitutes an unacceptable name?

I'm neutral on the naming policy. I'd prefer it if people tried to keep to the Firstname Lastname format and avoid immature names like Secks Butt. I'm fine with punny names and names that aren't necessarily real so long as they're not making a joke about it that insults our maturity.

But name policy is something I believe that should be decided by the community. I'll work with whatever direction we want to move with it.

Do you believe /tg/station should encourage or even (in some major cases) enforce roleplaying?

Not exactly what everyone pictures roleplaying to be, but I am a huge proponent of keeping IC and OOC as separate as possible. For example, I don't like people using OOC justifications to kill people IC.

I am comfortable with the current direction the community is headed towards in regards with roleplaying, so I don't think anything drastic needs to be done, but that is where my stance lies.

Finally, do you believe Asimov should be kept as the default AI laws? Why or why not?

I really do appreciate how Asimov works to counter powergaming and "validhunting" behavior. I would support keeping it for just that reason. I don't believe we're ever going to get a decent lawset that doesn't come with it's own policy section unless we literally make the policy section the lawset.

Asimov is something that's worked for us the last 3 years and I have no problems with keeping it around.

Do you think using your departments tools to do your job ingame constitutes powergaming?

I will have to ask you to be more specific, as this could mean a number of things.

What do you think of the newest admins and trialmins in relation to their admining and behavior?

For the most part, I really like our new trialmins. The volunteers we've been getting have been improving crop after crop, and I'm happy with their general sense of accountability.

How do you feel about singulo.io?

I love it, I love having a truly open forum in which people can say whatever they'd like. I read and post there regularly.

How do you feel about validhunting?

Vekter wrote:How do you feel about validhunting?

As long as they have a justifiable IC reason to do so I will allow it. I say this because a lot of people nowadays will only give OOC reasons to do this and I feel that is terrible.

Admin PM to Player: "Why did you kill him?"
Admin PM from Player : "Because he killed Ian and that makes him valid!"

Nope.

Of course, it should still be handled on a case-by-case basis, but that is generally the direction I have always leaned towards.

Do you think Heads of Staff positions are generally filled by players too green for the job?

Do you have any plan to increase the numbers of Security Officers?

Choose one out of each pair:

Murderbone is bad - Everything goes

Upload and Secure Tech and EVA (...) should be bolted at roundstart - Bolting powergaming is for faggots who hate fun

Minor to Medium severity crimes should always be dealt IC - Repeatedly breaking the law every round is reason enough to ban

Subverted silicons should not try to find loopholes in One Human type laws - Exploiting loopholes is always acceptable

Assistants should have maintenance access - Assistants should not have maintenance access

Security players should be allowed to kill people who insist on being problematic - BWOINK

Roboticists should be in control of their labs and what they want to do - Roboticists only exist to make cyborgs

Heads of Staff should be allowed to demote their underlings always - Heads of Staff cannot demote without a good reason

Forums should have a board for people to discuss bans and ban requests freely - No "stenography"

Rei - Asuka


Sorry if there is anything you feel you've already answered.

Do you think Heads of Staff positions are generally filled by players too green for the job?

No, but I do think those that are too green generally stand out more.

Do you have any plan to increase the numbers of Security Officers?

No, but I already introduced scaling the number of security officers to population last month. Extra officers spawn during high-pop rounds

Choose one out of each pair:

Answers in Bold.

Murderbone is bad - Everything goes

Upload and Secure Tech and EVA (...) should be bolted at roundstart - Bolting powergaming is for faggots who hate fun

Minor to Medium severity crimes should always be dealt IC - Repeatedly breaking the law every round is reason enough to ban

Subverted silicons should not try to find loopholes in One Human type laws - Exploiting loopholes is always acceptable

Assistants should have maintenance access - Assistants should not have maintenance access

Security players should be allowed to kill people who insist on being problematic - BWOINK
Security shouldn't be given free reign to kill people they're annoyed with, but they should be given a little bit of leeway with dealing with the real assholes.

Roboticists should be in control of their labs and what they want to do - Roboticists only exist to make cyborgs

Heads of Staff should be allowed to demote their underlings always - Heads of Staff cannot demote without a good reason

Forums should have a board for people to discuss bans and ban requests freely - No "stenography"
As long as it's on-topic and vitriol is left outside I welcome open, but civil, discussion of bans.

Rei - Asuka
I never watched that. But Long Hair > Short Hair so Asuka wins.

1: What is your opinion of how Security is operating at this time, for better or worse.

2: Do you think there is anywhere Security needs to change policy wise, or is the current policy adequate.

3: Finally, in a ideal world how would you want to see Security operate in relation to the crew and antagonists.

Unique Question: While what I'm going to say is on partial hearsay, from what I've been told you went on "break" from coding/mapping due to one of my own PR's being merged. Considering that, do you think your capable of being a headmin for a extended period of time (six months or more) without burning out to fast?

1: What is your opinion of how Security is operating at this time, for better or worse.

2: Do you think there is anywhere Security needs to change policy wise, or is the current policy adequate.

I think security's situation has considerably improved once the community's sentiment changed to oppose attacking security for no reason. Security has a lot of policies to keep them in line, but it's nice that we have some policies to protect them as well.

3: Finally, in a ideal world how would you want to see Security operate in relation to the crew and antagonists.

I believe security exists only to enforce space law. They should not be expected to overlook space law violations to exclusively pursue antagonists. It would be in line with my desire to further separate OOC and IC.

Unique Question: While what I'm going to say is on partial hearsay, from what I've been told you went on "break" from coding/mapping due to one of my own PR's being merged. Considering that, do you think your capable of being a headmin for a extended period of time (six months or more) without burning out to fast?

I should clarify this here and now, what happened between coderbus and I had very little to do with you or the map change. I'm sorry if you felt like it was your fault and I regret hearing about some hate you might have received from others. It had nothing to do with burning out and more of an issue I had with coder leadership.

I don't believe I'm anywhere near getting burned out. I've been around for a good two-three years and I've never had an issue with burnout. I also recognize that an appointment to headmin is a responsibility and obligation that cannot be abandoned.

Don't forget -- I'm here forever.

How do you feel about the graytide? Is it an issue for security, or for the admins?


How do you feel about players who commit minor/medium crimes on a regular basis despite not having antag?

Murazor wrote:How do you feel about the graytide? Is it an issue for security, or for the admins?

I define greytiding as attacking/mobbing security without a reason for doing so. It used to be really bad that security was often spending majority of their time dealing with people griefing them that the rest of the station suffered from a lack of security presence. Security can't protect the station from nuke ops if an assistant stole all their IDs and raided the armory for shits and giggles.

Security has a lot of restrictions on what they can do due to the power they theoretically weld. But they need protection as well to stop the Shitcurity > Greytide >Shitcurity cycle. We've gone a long way in this regard and I believe it is one of the most positive changes in player attitudes we've ever had.

Murazor wrote: How do you feel about players who commit minor/medium crimes on a regular basis despite not having antag?

Depends on the context. For example, if all a player does is wordlessly attack people or vandalize the station they are not contributing anything positive to the game, nor are they promoting an environment that encourages RP. These sorts of players have no place on TG, imo.

If it's done in a way that adds to the game, like being creative or actually roleplaying it out, I'm fine with it.

This isn't the place to hold your grudge and make an admin complaint. Fuck off.

In question to ikky
What is your opinion on community meetings on ts3 or other methods? Useful? Waste of time?

Do you promise to put "Rine ends here" after every ban appeal you resolve?

What is your opinion on community meetings on ts3 or other methods? Useful? Waste of time?

They're extremely useful to allow the community an open forum to discuss issues as close to "in person" as we can get. Forum and IRC text communication is relatively impersonal and some people may be put off by them.

What we have to do is find the frequency that works for tg and make it a semi-regularly occurring event. If members of the community have an issue they would like to discuss in such an environment, they will show up to them.

Do you promise to put "Rine ends here" after every ban appeal you resolve?

I-If that is what you want, A-Anton.

If I make you a headmin through my blackmarket sources will you please ban saintish permanently?

If he keeps it up he'll land one regardless.

Why do you want to be a headadmin?

To be honest, I don't. I'm not doing it for me. I recognize that it's an important job to fill with someone the players had confidence in. I'm running because people have asked me to, and I am fully prepared to take on the duties and responsibilities that come with it.

I love this game and I love the community. I want to give you guys what you want, should you want it.

Ikarrus wrote:To be honest, I don't. I'm not doing it for me. I recognize that it's an important job to fill with someone the players had confidence in. I'm running because people have asked me to, and I am fully prepared to take on the duties and responsibilities that come with it.

I love this game and I love the community. I want to give you guys what you want, should you want it.

Do you think that you are the best candidate?

That's really hard for me to decide, as my point of view is going to be heavily biased.

All I can say is that all my answers here are what I believe in and what I will try to promote. It's up to the community whether or not it's what they want.

What's your take on security/shitcurity, incompetence may not be a ban worthy offense but do you believe security should be exempt from this.
Instead of listening to what the "guilty party" has to say, bed cuffing no timer while a small bit later then add the timer, multiple crew members during the round IC complains about a single individual officer. Examples like this.

Actually going by what srifenbyxp said, do you think incompetence on the job should be bannable/jobbannable? if so to what line/extent?

What's your take on security/shitcurity, incompetence may not be a ban worthy offense but do you believe security should be exempt from this.
Instead of listening to what the "guilty party" has to say, bed cuffing no timer while a small bit later then add the timer, multiple crew members during the round IC complains about a single individual officer. Examples like this.

would you wait for a Admin Help or be proactive and warn the lil bastard, speaking of which how much attention do you even pay towards security?

Actually going by what srifenbyxp said, do you think incompetence on the job should be bannable/jobbannable? if so to what line/extent?

First off, intention is everything. I try to determine the intention of the players who have done something they shouldn't have.

Secondly, we shouldn't be banning for incompetence because we don't want to alienate new players to the game or role. Our best tool to deal with it is education. The officer's intent may not have been malicious, and getting them to improve instead of banning them will give us more competent officers to play with in the end.

I use Subtle Messages (You hear a tiny voice in your head...) a lot in game to help players with nudges. But if that doesn't work or if whatever happened was grievous enough, more direct methods should be used.

When I admin on the server, I usually jump around between antagonists, heads, problem areas (Brig, Bridge, Engineering) and problem players. I don't wait around for complaints to do my job.

My own question wrote:If you were not running this election, who would you vote for and why?

I'd vote for Hornygranny. I feel he has the capability and strength to lead the administration well. We also share a lot of opinions on policy. My only concern is that I fear he will promote an administration that is closed to the players. But when it comes down to it, if he's elected, I'll happily follow.

Ikarrus wrote:
Secondly, we shouldn't be banning for incompetence because we don't want to alienate new players to the game or role. Our best tool to deal with it is education. The officer's intent may not have been malicious, and getting them to improve instead of banning them will give us more competent officers to play with in the end.

Alright now if said person is not new to the server and you've seen him many times before go pants on head retarded then what?

Without further context I can't really say. It would depend what they did, what the circumstances were, and how often they did it.

I'm not afraid to jobban anyone who clearly can't handle the role, but that should be reserved as a last resort.

If someone was being a shit and going out their way to antagonise a department; be that tabling off security, making a slip trap outside medbay, fucking with the powernet; and someone from that department jammed a screwdriver in their eye sockets and tossed them into space - what would you do?

Venison or Lobster?

If someone was being a shit and going out their way to antagonise a department; be that tabling off security, making a slip trap outside medbay, fucking with the powernet; and someone from that department jammed a screwdriver in their eye sockets and tossed them into space - what would you do?

IC Issue. Intentionally provocative behavior won't be protected.

Venison or Lobster?

I've never had Venison before, but I'm not particularly fond of Lobster. I'd love to give Venison a try some time.

What's your opinion on the segregation of admins, coders, players?

Would you bring back the players voice, aka the peanut gallery. Would this be the old unrestricted format, or would you have a caveat that people who only jump in to defend their friends, or spout memeisms, or just generally post unconstructive antagonistic for the sake of being antagonistic - would have their fnr privs revoked?

What's your honest opinion of how tg station has changed from 2011 to today

How old are you in real life?

What's your opinion on the segregation of admins, coders, players?

Player-coder relationship is typical and I've already spoken about how I want player-admin relationship to be more open.

Having been on both sides of the coder-admin relationship, I'd like to see more mutual cooperation between them. Both sides seem all too willing to shut out the other. While I understand the desire to keep away from admins ordering coders around and vice-versa, I'd really like there to be more trust and cooperation between the two.

Would you bring back the players voice, aka the peanut gallery. Would this be the old unrestricted format, or would you have a caveat that people who only jump in to defend their friends, or spout memeisms, or just generally post unconstructive antagonistic for the sake of being antagonistic - would have their fnr privs revoked?

I wouldn't mind seeing it back with heavy posting restrictions, but I think singulo works a lot better for what we actually want. As long as we have singulo around I think a heavily moderated peanut gallery forum would be pointless.

What's your honest opinion of how tg station has changed from 2011 to today

I've been around since 2011 and I believe we've made significant progress in both the game design and player attitudes. It's easy to nostalgia about "the good old days" but I can't forget about all the awful powergaming, administrative abuses, and general hostility that was rampant those days.

How old are you in real life?

25