/tg/Station 13

You can tell the complaint template needs an update because there is a fucking spelling mistake in it.

When and where this incident occurred: Manuel - Round 250261
Byond account: NecromancerAnne
Admin: Trexter555 (or maybe Dunham, but Dunham did disappear midway through so I wouldn't think so)

Detailed Summary

Let me start by acknowledging some things;

A) There is indeed a post saying that admin events are something you cannot make complaints about. However, I will posit that this was a post from back in 2015, before there was specific admin conduct rules surrounding avoiding high intensity events on specifically for the Roleplay servers. Much like the template, I think this is an extremely outdated position at this point and doesn't serve a useful purpose. I will ask that this isn't viewed as a complaint for the event itself, but conduct specifically around what events should be run. This has very much less to do with the event itself and more with intention.

B) I'm not sure how Trexter feels about their admin feedback thread, but I have, from experience and talking to people recently, come to understand that some admins view them as ways to trick players into throwing their actual complaints into the void to be ignored. So I won't be using that method on the off-chance it is not acknowledged. Nobody forces you to use those threads, but I would rather not take the chance and I think this is pertinent for the health of the server's standards.

With that out of the way, my complaint is thus.

After what seemed like several rounds of high action in a row, particularly the prior round to this one being an active malfunctioning AI round that ended with a successful delta and seemingly a lot of fighting, someone roundstart hit the 'Make Everyone a Heretic' button in the very next round. There was seemingly no meaningful guidance. There was no real input beyond a Centcomm message to presumably give context.

Everyone started killing each other like it was a battle royale, because everyone is an antagonist and everyone is now doing heretic things. There is no direct guidance as to what was meant to happen.

Then there was a cult presence I guess.

And then the shuttle was called.

I don't believe there was any like, indicators that this was going to happen as far as I could tell from a player perspective warning people that the round was going to become a battle royale. It just happened.

I do not believe this should be what takes place on Manuel without at least some framing and serious like, commitment to doing something more than merely turning everyone into antagonists. This is baiscally what admins were asked to focus on when running events on Manuel. At least a bit more considered and with an attempt to push roleplay first. Given our server populations have smooshed and there are now intense worries about a reduction of standards for what is acceptable on Manuel, I would really, REALLY urge Trexter to just kind of hold off on those sorts of events so it doesn't degrade things further and try to work on something that isn't mechanics orientated for the entire server. Please and thank you.

That's it, that's my complaint. Okay thanks.

there was a public vote for a bus round(everyone is x type) which won, and events like this are supposed to be rare (i havent seen one of these in awhile) so probably wont be happening again for awhile

Just to be clear, was that in the pre-game lobby?

yep, think it was 90 seconds to roundstart when i did the vote

Alright. That does appear above board in that regard, though I'd argue then that this may still not be a particularly ideal time to be running events like that.

We're in a transitory period, and we've a lot of players used to a much higher mechanical playstyle that events like this push the experience towards coming over to Manuel. It feels like it is a good time to take the advice of the early days of the server and maybe avoid bus rounds for a bit. At least until the migratory period settles.

We discussed this when it was first made and never formally voted, but there was enough discussion that I can conclude it anyway.

All 3 of us agreed unanimously we wouldn't uphold the complaint because the admin held a vote first, but I had additional words on the side.

Timberpoes commentary: I ask all admins to be mindful now more than ever of the kinds of events run on the RP servers. I have no issues at all with running a TDM event like highlander or all-antags when there's some sort of server downtime required and the admin is filling the gap in what would have otherwise been an aborted shift. But even with a vote, the RP server is genuinely not the place for these kinds of events especially not when there are murmurs that RP quality is at an all-time low.