Xzero314|Player to Admin to Headmin.

[xzero314]

Who am I?

Hello TG! I am Xzero314. Known to most in the community by Clara White, and I want to be one of your Fall 2024 Headmins.

I have been in our wonderful community for just under a year and a half now. I currently sit at #32 all time for living hours and when compared to only admins I sit at #3. Yup.


In the past I kept this fact down low. Now I think it makes me qualified to be your player vote Headmin

I applied for the Admin team back in January and I have been a fully promoted admin for just shy of a month. I am very proud of the feedback the community have given me so far.

I still consider myself a player, despite the drop in my play time after applying to the admin team. I like to play on Manuel. My favorite roles to play are Ai, Captain, Security, Mining, and CMO. I have also recently started to appreciate the fun of assistant. I admin on Manuel Sybil and Terry.

My first couple hundred of hours were all Sybil. its where I learned the game, and I think the LRP playstyle has just as much potential as MRP.

Why should you vote for me?
I have had to ask myself this as well. Why am I running?
I wrote something similar on my admin application and I think I will say the same here. I don't think TG needs me as a Headmin (I sure know who I am voting for)
but I WANT to be your Headmin, and I will do the best job I can at it.
I have spent many hours playing the game AND Adminning in its current state. I am well versed in the current server culture and I think that gives me insight that could help me make decisions that will be better for the community.

I am saddened to see many of our players quitting or leaving to other servers due to feeling like they have no voice and no other choice.

I cannot promise you I will accomplish any specific change. But I do promise to fight for what I think the community wants.

I will be there for you as a headmin. I love this community deeply and I want to give it my all.

If elected Headmin. What would I do with the position?

I don't have a rich history of time on the server over the years. Some things such as human authority that are hard staples to the history of the server, I am not as attached to.

I would be willing to fight for Human Authority: 0 For any of our server player bases that wants it.

For some this is a pretty hard NO sell. I have personal bias towards the idea myself as I like having Asimov as our default AI lawset.

I also know that many of our players on Manuel would play head of staff more if this was enabled, and for many its a greatly desired change.

I do not want to push for additional rules against Assistant Gameplay
Many players really enjoy playing assistant and just that. I think the rules right now are in a good place for allowing assistants to have freedom, and allowing the crew to handle assistant players that cross the line into tiding. Both on MRP and LRP I find this to be true.

Restricted Antags on MRP & Security

On Mrp the security and restricted antag culture is not the best it could be. Even though I think the rules are great as is already do a good job of enabling a better environment.

This was something I had to mull over a lot. It was brought up to me by another admin. I disagreed with her on this being a prevalent issue entirely at first. If you do not play much security, you just don't get it. I have played tons of security and I really get how it can be. I do not like the idea of having an admin breathing down my neck when playing security at all.

I remember one time as the HOS. I was bwoinked over the on going handling of a Mime and Clown BB duo. Getting bwoinked at all, even though I didn't end up getting in any trouble. Dissuaded me from playing HOS again for months.

I do not want to see extra policy pushed onto security AT ALL. instead I want to see the rules we already have enforced more. This is a power I already have to act on as an admin. As a headmin It is something I can encourage other admins to act on. Some of my fellow admins agree that it is a skill issue on the antags part to oust themselves so early. But that dosent mean the story for them has to end there. I want to encourage my fellow admins to give sec guidance in not eradicating antags that they are technically valid to eradicate. Rather than push out new restrictive policy for security. Which leads me to my thoughts on notes and getting bwoinked

Notes

From a players POV it can really drain the energy to keep playing after getting bwoinked.

I still remember what it was like getting bwoinked for a supposed rule break for the first time. It left me not even wanting to play out the changeling round I had just rolled. Having joined the admin team I now have gotten to see this from the other side. I have learned that talking to the admins sometimes, even when you have done nothing wrong. and sometimes even getting noted. Is a part of playing our beloved game. I tend to end my ahelps without leaving a note even if I possibly maybe should be, against the advice of some of my far senior admins. After all if you didn't note it, it didn't happen. As a headmin I would continue to remember what it feels like to be on the player end of getting bwoinked, and try to impart that on some of my peers that have not played the game from the player side in years.

[Stiix]

Very knowledgeable on silicon policy and enjoyable to discuss AI laws with. Reliably competent when AI or captain. Don't remember any bwoinks I have partaken in with Clara, but they seem like they would make a fantastic headmin.

[DrAmazing343]

You've been a consistently strong and universally beloved voice on Manuel— both as a Player, with your high Captain hours in which damn near everyone knew your name, and now in your subsequent Adminship, in which I've never seen a complaint. This is a very strong track record despite a lack of strong campaigning focus. In order to develop your campaign, can you tell us how you intend to keep tabs on what the community wants?

Which interests will you prioritize if it comes down to it— MRP, or LRP? Will you ensure that you spend ample time taking care of LRP, despite your MRP playtime?

Can you tell us about your experience within silipol, silicon play, and any plans you can think of to improve the silicon experience?

What do you think YOU can do to help foster trust between the playerbase and your team?

I know that these questions are a bit vicious to kick off with, but I have full faith you've got satisfying answers rattling in your brain, and I'd absolutely love to hear them. You're going highly on my ballot because of this faith in you, but I think for others to carry that same faith, they'll need to hear some concrete beliefs and plans. Congrats on running, as well! Great to have you in the stakes >:3c

[xzero314]

Which interests will you prioritize if it comes down to it— MRP, or LRP? Will you ensure that you spend ample time taking care of LRP, despite your MRP playtime?

I don't see myself waving a magic wand and bringing players back to Sybil. But If elected I will try to brainstorm with other headmins to do whatever I can to get people playing on Sybil more.

Terry proves that there is plenty of desire for the TG LRP experience. I am certainly glad it exists. I would have gotten in trouble for a lot of the dumb stuff I did while learning on Sybil. I think LRP is simply SS13 for many players.

Can you tell us about your experience within silipol, silicon play, and any plans you can think of to improve the silicon experience?

I have over 600 hours now of AI (#5 all time Ai hours last I checked) and somewhere over 100h as a Cyborg.

In all that playtime I have never been noted for my Silicon play. Some would say that just means im boring. You are probably right. I save all my fun ai shenanigans for when I roll Malf ai.

Silicon conflict that ends up venturing outside of an IC issue into an OOC issue usually involves conflict with Silicons and Security. I have alot of experience on both sides of this conflict. I am a firm believer on letting things play out In character whenever possible before I get involved as an admin.
When I do step in as an admin I like to see what steps either side has taken to communicate why they are up in arms at each other. Silicons and Security butting heads is a natural conflict. The problem arises when one side goes too far in spite of the other acting in good faith. Round removing a silicon for following orders is lame. Silicon's Griefing the entire sec team without a single word as to why (you saw sec accidently punch a human once) is lame.

There is alot of disagreement in debates with my fellow admins on how Silicons should be allowed to handle certain situations.
A particular disagreement we had that has lead to a policy thread would be "is an AI allowed to kill its master?"
I think the ai experience largely hinges on the answer to this being YES. One great ai moment I witnessed that comes to mind. An ai that had been One Humand; losing law 1 due to an ion storm. They then start looking for ways to kill their only human master in order to be free. I would push for the ai to continue to be allowed to do this. It makes perfect in character sense for the AI to want to have no master should they desire. If no laws forbid them for achieving such then they should be allowed to do so.

What do you think YOU can do to help foster trust between the playerbase and your team?

I want to be there adminning the servers like any other admin even If am headmin. I will still be playing the game despite being elected headmin ( I hope lol). I am still addicted to ss13. I have not put any thought into a particular idea like your open door policy, which is a fantastic idea by the way. I can only hope that the many amount of times I have interacted with people as a player gives you a down to earth point of view of me as a headmin; and I would continue to foster that feeling as best I can.

[DrAmazing343]

Thanks for the responses! Especially glad to hear your commitment to keeping LRP great in addition to MRP. Likewise, your commitment to be in the trenches adminning and playing- I think being "physically" present in that sense is super important to maintain the trust and presence as a headmin, so it's refreshing to hear you intend to keep up as you do :>

[iansdoor]

Well, I will grille you a bit. You recall what I have spoken to you about in adminbus to were you making the correct call. I know you care alot and that shows alot. I hope that you don't overexert yourself.

My question will be to you as the only 3 headmins that I have witnessed that would hop on to some evil spess man to relax. Lepi, tattle, and biblemelt. Will you be setting aside a time to just be yourself in those instances? (and not wondering about being policy mines or talking for hours about grey area situation) dungeon mastering or just being on station to have whatever happens. I mean less focus on the ticket mines and more on how to be perceived.

[xzero314]

Well, I will grille you a bit. You recall what I have spoken to you about in adminbus to were you making the correct call. I know you care alot and that shows alot. I hope that you don't overexert yourself.

My question will be to you as the only 3 headmins that I have witnessed that would hop on to some evil spess man to relax. Lepi, tattle, and biblemelt. Will you be setting aside a time to just be yourself in those instances? (and not wondering about being policy mines or talking for hours about grey area situation) dungeon mastering or just being on station to have whatever happens. I mean less focus on the ticket mines and more on how to be perceived.

I still have so much fun playing the game. I might not be addicted to a life devouring degree anymore. But that is probably only a good thing. I would absolutely keep playing even as a headmin. I don't see myself burning out on ss13 for years to come. The people playing the game are everything and as long as others are here to play ss13 with me I will be here playing.

[iansdoor]

Well, I will grille you a bit. You recall what I have spoken to you about in adminbus to were you making the correct call. I know you care alot and that shows alot. I hope that you don't overexert yourself.

My question will be to you as the only 3 headmins that I have witnessed that would hop on to some evil spess man to relax. Lepi, tattle, and biblemelt. Will you be setting aside a time to just be yourself in those instances? (and not wondering about being policy mines or talking for hours about grey area situation) dungeon mastering or just being on station to have whatever happens. I mean less focus on the ticket mines and more on how to be perceived.

I still have so much fun playing the game. I might not be addicted to a life devouring degree anymore. But that is probably only a good thing. I would absolutely keep playing even as a headmin. I don't see myself burning out on ss13 for years to come. The people playing the game are everything and as long as others are here to play ss13 with me I will be here playing.

Alright! I am just checking up with you, I can't really grille you with questions about behavior that isn't there. If you take continue to care of yourself, then I can see good headmin! Have a good time and good luck with voters!

[Cheshify]

Xzero was an absolute joy to train, and seriously puts more time and effort into improving this game than most admins (including me). They've got a good head on their shoulders.

Xzero, what kind of steps are you going to take to learn more about LRP communities and get a feel for what they want?

[xzero314]

Xzero was an absolute joy to train, and seriously puts more time and effort into improving this game than most admins (including me). They've got a good head on their shoulders.

Xzero, what kind of steps are you going to take to learn more about LRP communities and get a feel for what they want?

The most effective method I can think of to figure out what LRP players want is to play on Sybil and Terry. Be apart of it, and experience what problems people have for myself. This is a slow process though. I might be unable to figure out what is best for LRP no matter how much of it I play.

Ideally I would be using the position to poll what players want and be approachable in the community. As well as taking the initiative myself to ask and learn what LRP players think I could do for them as Headmin.

Sybil was still pulling quite a few players when I started on it last May. I do not have any deep insights on what caused the population to drop, but I do want to do what I can to get people playing on there again.

I do have some insight from recently helping out with a server that housed both MRP and LRP players at the same time. I found that while the two styles of players were able to enjoy the game together, It did not take long for a divide to form over the RP level of the rules. The play styles are similar enough that people are still able to have fun together (We are all here to have fun playing ss13). But different enough that one side will be dissatisfied if the rules lean towards the style they do not prefer.

With that in mind I do not think that adding MRP style rules to LRP is a solution to the player base problem Sybil has currently.

[RaveRadbury]

Nice first thread! Your hours and server habits are very robust.

Having spent so much time between all of them:
How do you see the divide between LRP and MRP?
Is MRP just LRP but without murderbone?
Is the RP any different between the two rulesets?
Between the three servers?

[xzero314]

Nice first thread! Your hours and server habits are very robust.

Having spent so much time between all of them:
How do you see the divide between LRP and MRP?
Is MRP just LRP but without murderbone?
Is the RP any different between the two rulesets?
Between the three servers?

Thanks for the question Rave.

I wouldn’t say the RP level is that different. It’s definitely more of a play-style preference.

I remember some of my first rounds as a lawyer on Sybil, the security players at the time were more than happy to indulge me on whatever improv case I could come up with for why somebody should be let go. I got a clown out of jail with “if the station isn't lit you must acquit”

I like to pop into Terry as-well when I notice the pop is high and I see plenty of people roleplaying over there at a similar level and sometimes better than MRP players.

One major difference I notice is the prevalence of assistants working difference jobs on the LRP servers.
I find that on MRP, most of the time missing jobs are covered by other department members, or somebody will visit the hop to get that job. Whereas on LRP the players will happily leave it to whatever assistant feels like stepping up.

I think the spirit of the MRP rules is encouraging people to have the interactions you would hope to see on a roleplay server, whereas on LRP its appreciated if you take that extra step but it is not required.

The major difference between the two In my opinion are the restricted antagonist rules and the protections those antags are afforded as a result.

On MRP. IC reason is king. You can do almost anything you could otherwise as the LRP unrestricted counterpart of any given restricted antagonist on MRP. As long as you have IC Reason that goes beyond “well I am an antag”
Plasma flood the station? Sure you can! Just dont kill everybody trying to survive the flood. Bombing a department to kill your target? Go for it. Delam the sm? No problem.

MRP is not the hugbox that it is sometimes portrayed as. That said, I do feel as though sometimes the “treat antags in proportion of their crimes rule” is not always respected, which is a shame and it is something I try to encourage security players to follow as both an admin and as HOS when I play.

One main concern I have noticed of LRP players that give MRP a try is that they will get noted or even a ban for just playing the same way they normally do on their favourite server.
Many players on MRP are scared to fight antags they see in the hall at all out of fear of the bwoink, I certainly used to have this fear. In most cases I think this fear is unwarranted. If you see somebody acting like an antag in your sphere you can absolutely get involved on MRP. The difference comes when that antag gets away. You would be expected to not spend the rest of the round hunting them down on MRP. Whereas on LRP that would be no issue at all.

SO in conclusion. I think the separation of LRP and MRP is good. The players want a different style or vibe of gameplay. But the roleplay levels are similar.