Portfiend: Created page with " {{Important | Title = Informal Page | Note = This page is less of a wiki page of objective information and more like a loose essay or announcement. This page was written by ~~~ on August 28, 2025. | Image = CheckboxChecked.png | Color = #3366cc }} Hi everyone! As you may or may not know, us admins here at The Den like to emphasize being able to Ahelp ("admin help") for just about anything, even little things. However, many people feel anxious or unsure of themselves w..."

2025-08-29T11:29:17Z

Created page with " {{Important | Title = Informal Page | Note = This page is less of a wiki page of objective information and more like a loose essay or announcement. This page was written by ~~~ on August 28, 2025. | Image = CheckboxChecked.png | Color = #3366cc }} Hi everyone! As you may or may not know, us admins here at The Den like to emphasize being able to Ahelp ("admin help") for just about anything, even little things. However, many people feel anxious or unsure of themselves w..."

New page

{{Important
| Title = Informal Page
| Note = This page is less of a wiki page of objective information and more like a loose essay or announcement. This page was written by [[User:Portfiend|Portfiend]] ([[User talk:Portfiend|talk]]) on August 28, 2025.
| Image = CheckboxChecked.png
| Color = #3366cc
}}

Hi everyone! As you may or may not know, us admins here at The Den like to emphasize being able to Ahelp ("admin help") for just about anything, even little things. However, many people feel anxious or unsure of themselves when presented with a direct phone line to the admin team. What does ahelping look like? How do I get a good grade in ahelp? How minor or major of a request or question can I make? Here is a little behind-the-scenes look from the admin end of how our ahelp culture goes.

== What if I am being intrusive? ==

During high-pop hours, we average 5+ ahelps per round, many rounds having closer to 10-20 ahelp conversations or inquiries. A lot of these ahelps come in right at the beginning of the round, around the first fifteen minutes, but we get more requests, questions, and reports steadily throughout the round.

Even at incredibly low-pop hours (3-5AM for the USA, ~10-30 pop), we can generally expect around 1-5 ahelp inquiries in those rounds.

At all hours of the day, there is generally at least one admin online, and we generally self-organize to ensure one admin is "on duty" to actively address ahelps. We can see ahelps and communicate with in-game admins from Discord, answer questions from there, or hop on quickly to address a request. Most ahelps can be addressed in less than a minute of active "admin" effort.

Think about the way you feel when you help someone. It can be pretty fulfilling to leverage our admin abilities and knowledge to improve someone's round. Seriously, don't be scared to ask! It feels good to help people, and it's our job. Some of us sign up to be admins ''specifically'' to help people.

Also, don't worry if you have "repeat requests". We've had people ask for the same thing in ahelps nearly every single round they play on, and it's literally not a hassle for us at all. If there's things us admins can do for you that the game doesn't already provide, we can do it for you.

== What do people ahelp for? ==

These are pretty common requests and inquiries we get through ahelps, to give you an idea what kind of requests we handle.

=== Respawning ===
This is by far our most common request - skipping the 15-minute respawn timer for ghosts to send you back to the lobby. You '''do not''' have to provide a reason, but people like to - here is a range of reasons we've received and happily accepted.

* "My height is broken" / "My loadout is broken" / "My profile is bugged"
* "I forgot a trait/loadout item/marking"
* "I picked the wrong job"
* "I picked the wrong character"
* "I want to play a different character"
* "I need to cryo but I'll be back"
* "I rolled a [roundstart] job I don't really want to do (e.g. command)"
* "I saw [someone else's character] is on the station and I want to talk to them as another character"

=== Rule clarifications / escalation advice ===

Let's say you wanna do something antagonistic, or perform some kind of in-character conflict, or play a kind of chaotic character. You have a scheme, but you're not sure if it's too much. Always, always feel free to ask! It is much better to ask if your actions are Fine before you unintentionally do something rule-breaking and over the line.

Depending on the nature of the conflict and your character's motives, for non-antags we may offer you (or you can ask for) a "rule 0". Rule 0 allows you to perform actions that would otherwise be rule-breaking, if it makes roleplay more interesting. This generally requires consent.

'''For example:''' let's say you are a command member, and you have an IC conflict with another command member. Your character's frustration boils over, and you request a rule 0 to kill the other command member. We'll assess the situation, probably quickly check in with the other party for their consent, and if they give the okay, we'll grant you a rule 0.

While we are a lot more lenient towards antags for violent / conflict-driving behavior (obviously), there is still a limit to the scale of damage you can perform. If you think your scheme sounds a bit loud, feel free to check with us! You '''will not''' get in trouble for checking in first.

In my first ever Ahelp on this server, I asked the admins if another player's behavior was okay, and it was answered with a quick discussion among admins. This is also fair game - you can always ask us, "is [other player]'s behavior okay?" and we will quickly review the situation and let you know the answer.

=== Questions about the game ===

Us admins have a lot of tools at our disposal to test or find certain things, and often a lot of knowledge in general. We're more than happy to answer game questions, especially if you want to keep your activities secret from other players. For example:

* How do I perform a certain mechanic?
* Where is this particular vending machine?
* What tool do I use for this purpose?
* How / What is the easiest way to do a certain thing?
* Why isn't this thing working?
* I think I found a bug? (We will help you work around it!)
* This used to work but it was changed recently, how does it work now?

Sometimes the questions you have about the game are also things we'd be curious about as well. Questions take little time at all and I find playing with mechanics in the admin testing arena pretty fun.

=== Free shit ===

Yes, we do hand out toys and tools sometimes! We try not to give out outright advantages, but we love giving people the stuff to carry out their roleplay more effectively. This includes stuff that can '''only''' be done by admins.

Some things I've seen asked for and granted:
* Missing loadout items that got replaced by other loadout items
* Free clothing
* Free cosmetic/low-impact/gimmick items, such as toys, instruments, candles
* Missing job equipment or otherwise irreplaceable items that have been destroyed
* Changing the color of something (paint)
* "Can you delete this unbreakable object?"
* "Can you place a kitchen sink right here?"
* Making temporary things permanent (e.g. lit candles)
* Giving entities new names or descriptions
* Cooking ingredients that are kinda obnoxious to obtain (honey, fish)
* "Can I exchange [these items] for [another item]?" - especially if the items you're offering seems like it could be "crafted" into the other, or if the items have similar value/purposes
* Resolving game bugs with admin magic
* Microreactor cells for IPC players that needs to roleplay away from an APC for an extended period of time
* "A bug is preventing me from doing X to obtain Y, can I just get a Y?"
* Adding components or changing properties of your character - height/width changes are common
* Asking for an interesting ghostrole when all the current ones are sorta boring

Keep in mind, there are also '''in-character''' avenues to ask for things from admins. Praying will send a message to online admins (altars, the Oracle, etc), as will the red phone or the banana phone. You can also send a fax to CentCom.

We happily encourage you to use these avenues as a more roleplay-immersive means of facilitating gimmicks. You may not get exactly what you asked for, but it may make for a better story! Prayers may be answered with stipulations, while CC faxes may result in you receiving a hand-written, officially-signed response. Keep in mind, however, that these avenues are a lot less consistent for having your wishes granted.

=== Reports and things that seem not-quite-right ===

You witness something in-game that seems a little off - it breaks your roleplay immersion, or it seems blatantly in violation of some SOP policy (even if you don't know which one), or you can't tell if a conflict is genuine antagonism/rule 0 or just someone being a shitter. Maybe you know they are an antagonist, but they go a step too far.

This is where a lot of our important work happens. Some rule breaks are blindingly obvious, others may be hard to tell without further context. '''Don't be afraid to double check with us!''' We will assess the situation and let you know what we think.

And of course, if you do see something blatantly unpleasant, or something that negatively impacts or ruins your round, ahelp us right away. Getting caught in the crossfire of someone's scheme, receiving uncomfortable behavior, etc., we try to handle all of these situations with as much tact, respect for privacy, and minimal collateral as possible.

Ahelps are our '''main method''' of handling rule breaks and behavior that negatively impacts the round of another person. People have told us about situations that are "so obvious and consistent" that nobody could miss it, but we do not receive even a '''single''' report on that behavior. Not to mention, there are reasons why someone could act in a way that ''could'' make someone uncomfortable, but does not. We do not know if you are uncomfortable or upset unless you tell us.

Keep in mind that in certain hours of the day, admins may be exposed to the combined messages of 50+ players - this is a lot! We would rather receive 10 Ahelps on the same bad situation than zero. This also helps us gather context - if we can get the perspectives of all ten people involved in the situation, we can make better-investigated decisions.

=== Miscellaneous ahelps I've seen ===

Here are some other ahelp conversations I've seen players have, because the above categories are definitely not comprehensive.

* Alleviating unfairness or tedium; for example, having your corpse moved into a more accessible location when it is difficult to retrieve or easily overlooked
* Getting a role unlocked early when you have <15 minutes of playtime requirement left
* Being teleported or directed to the station when you lose your ability to navigate it; sometimes this leads to coords announcements
* I have asked admins to tell me outright if certain entities have certain components, even before I was an admin, and they responded without question
* Asking to have a certain component added/removed from their character, such as an accent
* Players asking us for new objectives as an antagonist when they finish their current objectives too fast
* Players informing us that they do not feel up for antagging that round - we like to offer the opportunity to other players in this case
* People inform us when they send CC faxes sometimes
* Asking to be cryod by an admin when the player is incapable of doing so themselves

== Etiquette ==

Hopefully all of this helps relieve some of your worries about ahelping. But with all of that said, how do you make an ahelp Right? We are quite flexible, but these are a few things that make our lives easier.

'''Don't admincheck.''' This is actually a server rule - starting an ahelp with "Any admins online?" and waiting for a response will get you bwoinked. We'd rather have you open the conversation with the question directly: "Can someone come here and delete this door?"

Be patient, kind, and communicative. We may ask you questions for context.

When your ahelp '''involves a scene with sensitive themes''', please '''do not''' tell us details about your scene. '''All''' admins can see '''all''' ahelps, which means we may not necessarily be able to consent to hearing heavy/sexual topics, especially if your ahelp needs direct address by an admin. If we need to know more, we'd ask for context. For example:

<pre>
PLAYER: Hey, can I get a pair of handcuffs?
ADMIN: What do you need them for?
PLAYER: I need them for a scene later
ADMIN: Sure thing, here you go!
</pre>

Beyond all this, all we ask is you be respectful of our admins' time and boundaries. We may not be able to respond to every situation immediately, and sometimes requests get lost or never receive a response. We don't mind being nudged, however.

You may be surprised by what you'll be allowed to have, simply by asking an admin for it. The worst we can say is "no", and you won't get in trouble for asking questions.

[[Category:Essays]]

AHelping on The Den - Revision history