Counter Strike Confederation

Why do you want to become an Admin?

Playing in CSC has been the most fun I've ever had in all my time play CS, and I want to contribute to the awesome community.

What prior experience do you have that you believe will help you as an Admin?

I don't have much experience as an admin, however, I did spend 5 years in the Marines making sure my little ones brushed their teeth and didn't choke on their crayons.

What things do you hope to implement, reinforce, or remove as an Admin?

Reinforce the idea that CSC is a competitive league but also a place where teams and players are expected to maintain a certain level of decency and respect toward one-another.

(edited)

What is one thing you've seen past admins do that you don't agree with and would like to correct? What is one thing you've seen past admins do that you agree with and would like to improve?

Hey Tuwtles, You wrote in a very concise platform while running, but you did state that you have 5 years of history in the Marines. What types of skills from the Marines do you think will carry over to a volunteer group like CSC where people can choose their involvement level?

Can you elaborate more specifics on how you wanna promote the "level of decency"?

Hey tuwtles, just a question for all of the candidates with some preface. While I firmly believe that IRL should take precedent over anything CSC, signing up for certain positions, such as admin, does come with some reasonable expectation that the person is available and free to put out fires, attend meetings, and perform many of the "labor" tasks during the offseason. That being said, what are your expectations of the level of time commitment that it takes to be an admin, and how confident are you in your free time to meet those commitments?

In the past members of the community including myself have asked for more transparency from the upper staff of CSC. Be it numbers, moderation or future admin plans. The argument is that additional information will improve trust in the system and help players to be more aware (such as numbers for players during the draft when they are already locked). Do you agree with the sentiment that all of this information should be public, or do you think only some or none of this information should be shared with the public?

Hello, I am asking this question to all candidates as I have noticed this being a consistent issue. I have been a participant in this and its sister league RSC for 10 seasons in total, and one of the things I have witnessed repeatedly is the burnout that admins experience. This has often led to, in my view, decisions made for expediency or to avoid a fight over enforcement of rules as written, instead hand waving away infractions and keeping them a secret/not allowing them to be discussed in server. I am not someone who thinks the rule book is perfect or that discretion shouldn't be used, but consistency is incredibly important to maintaining trust and legitimacy. This leads into my two questions: 1) If elected, how do you intend to mediate and hopefully avoid the potential for burnout? 2) Will you vote to enforce the rulebook as written or if you see an issue with a rule, will you be willing to actively work to have it corrected? (I know admins dont make the rules, but often find themselves involved in the adjudication process.)

@FA | Tuwtles

Second question for the candidates: One of the responsibilities of the admin team is determining the schedules for the year and the season. With the massive expansion, many tiers saw conferences for the first time in the longest time, which was met with mixed reviews from the people I've talked to. What are your thoughts on the use of conferences and overall effectiveness of how the conferences functioned in S12?

Adding on to Fuffy’s discussion. An alternate solution to public numbers that has been proposed is: Numbers soft locking earlier before draft, publishing those numbers to all, and allowing a short period for manual adjustments/numbers reports before the draft. This solves the issues of people being able to easily abuse numbers to fit a team, and allows time to solve misplaced players. How would you feel about a less drastic change as outlined above?

PFA | Crispy

What is one thing you've seen past admins do that you don't agree with and would like to correct? What is one thing you've seen past admins do that you agree with and would like to improve?

To be completely honest, since S11 was my first season playing in CSC, I can't say I saw anything from the admins that wasn't above board. I appreciate the fact that the admins know when to step in when things go beyond simple banter. We're all (for the most part) adults and can handle a little bit of teasing, but it is in the spirit of the league to ensure that toxicity has no place here.

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TFR | 42Firehawk

Hey Tuwtles, You wrote in a very concise platform while running, but you did state that you have 5 years of history in the Marines. What types of skills from the Marines do you think will carry over to a volunteer group like CSC where people can choose their involvement level?

Not to sound clichéd, but I have worked with, and gotten to know people from vastly diverse backgrounds. It was certainly a benefit to my interpersonal skills, as well as my ability to be a mediator and get along with almost anyone.

FA | exift 🏆

Can you elaborate more specifics on how you wanna promote the "level of decency"?

Of course. I think that everyone participating in CSC needs to be afforded the respect they deserve, regardless of the setting. Whether that be respect as competitors to each other, or respecting someone's opinion while having a discussion in one of the various channels. I am of the opinion that everyone should be treated with courtesy, decency and respect, until that trust is broken.

COW | Saunce

Hey tuwtles, just a question for all of the candidates with some preface. While I firmly believe that IRL should take precedent over anything CSC, signing up for certain positions, such as admin, does come with some reasonable expectation that the person is available and free to put out fires, attend meetings, and perform many of the "labor" tasks during the offseason. That being said, what are your expectations of the level of time commitment that it takes to be an admin, and how confident are you in your free time to meet those commitments?

As far as time commitment on a daily basis is concerned, I couldn't say what the expectations would be. I can say that I am more than confident in my ability to manage my free time in order to meet any requirement there might be, and accomplish any task that might be required of me in a timely manner.

FA | Tuwtles

As far as time commitment on a daily basis is concerned, I couldn't say what the expectations would be. I can say that I am more than confident in my ability to manage my free time in order to meet any requirement there might be, and accomplish any task that might be required of me in a timely manner.

I suppose 5 years in the Marines will get you some pretty strong time management skills

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AVI | Fuffy 🏆

In the past members of the community including myself have asked for more transparency from the upper staff of CSC. Be it numbers, moderation or future admin plans. The argument is that additional information will improve trust in the system and help players to be more aware (such as numbers for players during the draft when they are already locked). Do you agree with the sentiment that all of this information should be public, or do you think only some or none of this information should be shared with the public?

Absolutely and unequivocally, yes. Transparency between the staff/admins and the community should be maintained to the furthest extent possible. In some very rare instances this may not be possible, but this transparency keeps everyone honest. It gives the community members confidence that the admins and staff are performing their duties fairly and giving judgment uniformly. It also allows the admin/staff to receive input that can help to better the systems already in place.

Why do you want to be an admin vs some other role

AVI | tinyelephant 🏆

Hello, I am asking this question to all candidates as I have noticed this being a consistent issue. I have been a participant in this and its sister league RSC for 10 seasons in total, and one of the things I have witnessed repeatedly is the burnout that admins experience. This has often led to, in my view, decisions made for expediency or to avoid a fight over enforcement of rules as written, instead hand waving away infractions and keeping them a secret/not allowing them to be discussed in server. I am not someone who thinks the rule book is perfect or that discretion shouldn't be used, but consistency is incredibly important to maintaining trust and legitimacy. This leads into my two questions: 1) If elected, how do you intend to mediate and hopefully avoid the potential for burnout? 2) Will you vote to enforce the rulebook as written or if you see an issue with a rule, will you be willing to actively work to have it corrected? (I know admins dont make the rules, but often find themselves involved in the adjudication process.)

First of all, in order for any governing system to work effectively, there must be no partiality. This bias erodes the trust in the system, and creates friction. In many cases it is difficult to pass down judgment, but it is incumbent upon the individual(s) passing that judgment to have the moral courage to do so. With regards to admins becoming burned out, I think there are a couple of solutions to this: First, and probably the quickest solution, would be to recruit more admins. The second, more difficult but certainly more beneficial option, would be to foster a community that simply makes the lives of the staff and admins easier. Encouraging a community of players who have respect for the rules and for each other, and encourage like-minded individuals to take part, will ultimately reduce the necessity for admins to intervene. With regard to the second question, I think that there should be no rule that is open to interpretation. If there exist rules that are ambiguous, they should be fixed so that there is no misunderstanding from any party as to what the rule is. In my eyes, if there is a request to revise a rule that may be unclear or to amend rules that may be flawed, they should be taken seriously.

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COW | Saunce

Second question for the candidates: One of the responsibilities of the admin team is determining the schedules for the year and the season. With the massive expansion, many tiers saw conferences for the first time in the longest time, which was met with mixed reviews from the people I've talked to. What are your thoughts on the use of conferences and overall effectiveness of how the conferences functioned in S12?

Again, I can only speak to my experience because this was my first season, but I think the conferences can add to the CSC experience. As the league expands, I see it as a necessity to have conferences. Further, being able to play the same team more than once fosters the opportunity for rivalries to develop and generally improve the competitive experience between players. For example when we played COW on MD1 and beat them, I'm sure they were eager to win the next time they played against us, and I'm sure it was also an added incentive to win to show dominance as the top team in premier.

Hello Mr. Tuwtles, I'm glad that you feel strongly about reducing friction between the admin and moderation teams and the rest of the community. For a more specific question, do you believe the current way the moderation team is constructed creates or could create unnecessary friction with the community and breed a lack of trust? As I believe it currently stands, the head mod picks people they think would make a good moderator with the approval of the other mods (who were also previously picked by the same head mod). If the current head mod were to step down, their replacement would be elected by the body of existing mods (who technically submit approval to admins but admins have previously self-admitted that they usually prefer to defer to the judgement of the moderation team). If this is incorrect, happy to have someone correct me. (edited)

djtl

Adding on to Fuffy’s discussion. An alternate solution to public numbers that has been proposed is: Numbers soft locking earlier before draft, publishing those numbers to all, and allowing a short period for manual adjustments/numbers reports before the draft. This solves the issues of people being able to easily abuse numbers to fit a team, and allows time to solve misplaced players. How would you feel about a less drastic change as outlined above?

In all honesty, I don't envy the job of the numbers committee. CSC is unique in the way that it has the MMR cap for teams, as we all know. Any process that could serve to improve the accuracy with which players true skill levels are calculated would be seen as beneficial by me.

FA | Tuwtles

Again, I can only speak to my experience because this was my first season, but I think the conferences can add to the CSC experience. As the league expands, I see it as a necessity to have conferences. Further, being able to play the same team more than once fosters the opportunity for rivalries to develop and generally improve the competitive experience between players. For example when we played COW on MD1 and beat them, I'm sure they were eager to win the next time they played against us, and I'm sure it was also an added incentive to win to show dominance as the top team in premier.

Ya know I forgot that you were on the team that ruined our perfect season, but I guess we deserve that for cutting you. Clearly your first season treated you well or you wouldn't want to be admin. I really appreciate the time you took to answer everything. I can be a discord goblin sometimes so I got to see many tuwtles is typing as you were thinking over your answers. Best of luck to you in the election

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ATL | RedondO 🏆

Why do you want to be an admin vs some other role

I feel that admins have a unique position in CSC, but also a very important one. At the most basic level, they are the first ones to ensure that the rules are adhered to, but more importantly (in my opinion) they can give a voice to the complaints/requests of the community and serve as the catalysts for positive change. It's not that I don't want a different role, but I think that admins can have a dramatic positive impact on the community as a whole.

NAN | Kirel

Hello Mr. Tuwtles, I'm glad that you feel strongly about reducing friction between the admin and moderation teams and the rest of the community. For a more specific question, do you believe the current way the moderation team is constructed creates or could create unnecessary friction with the community and breed a lack of trust? As I believe it currently stands, the head mod picks people they think would make a good moderator with the approval of the other mods (who were also previously picked by the same head mod). If the current head mod were to step down, their replacement would be elected by the body of existing mods (who technically submit approval to admins but admins have previously self-admitted that they usually prefer to defer to the judgement of the moderation team). If this is incorrect, happy to have someone correct me. (edited)

That's a pretty complex question that I don't know if I can fully answer. It would be beneficial to at least make the general community aware of what goes into the process of selecting new leadership. I think adding a level of transparency aids to allay any concerns that the community may have with who is ultimately guiding the direction of the league.

FA | Tuwtles

That's a pretty complex question that I don't know if I can fully answer. It would be beneficial to at least make the general community aware of what goes into the process of selecting new leadership. I think adding a level of transparency aids to allay any concerns that the community may have with who is ultimately guiding the direction of the league.

To clarify, I'm not asking you for a solution, I'm simply asking if the process, as outlined above, creates or could create unnecessary friction and distrust in the impartiality of the moderation staff.

FA | Tuwtles

Absolutely and unequivocally, yes. Transparency between the staff/admins and the community should be maintained to the furthest extent possible. In some very rare instances this may not be possible, but this transparency keeps everyone honest. It gives the community members confidence that the admins and staff are performing their duties fairly and giving judgment uniformly. It also allows the admin/staff to receive input that can help to better the systems already in place.

To piggy back off Fuffy's question and your answer, What is one area you think the admins/league as a whole should be more transparent with? What is another that you think should remain privileged?

NAN | Kirel

To clarify, I'm not asking you for a solution, I'm simply asking if the process, as outlined above, creates or could create unnecessary friction and distrust in the impartiality of the moderation staff.

If that is, in fact, the process for how moderators are selected, I can see how that could be worrying for some, as you have one person who's making the decisions.

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AVI | Lee

To piggy back off Fuffy's question and your answer, What is one area you think the admins/league as a whole should be more transparent with? What is another that you think should remain privileged?

The big one that came up this season was the method of assigning MMR to players and the "magic" formulas they use to assign them. There was certainly no shortage of players who took one issue or another with it. Especially with the MMR system being such an integral part of how the league operates, I think that it needs to be made clear, if for no other reason than those who want to plug and play the numbers themselves. As for privileged areas, there's not much I can think of. Certainly all moderation decisions should be made public so that there can be no question of bias. Any situation or event that might require information being withheld would be circumstantial.

Hey Tuwtles! Most assume admins have the ability to implement or make sudden changes that would change how things have been running within CSC (ie. transparency, more elections, public availablity etc) and perhaps don't know or realize that it requires a lot of talking and agreement between various parties to make any major change. That being said, assuming you were to win the admin election, how would you react or try to bring a conversation about something you wanted to change yet have no or little support from other committee heads or admins?

ATO | Beans

Hey Tuwtles! Most assume admins have the ability to implement or make sudden changes that would change how things have been running within CSC (ie. transparency, more elections, public availablity etc) and perhaps don't know or realize that it requires a lot of talking and agreement between various parties to make any major change. That being said, assuming you were to win the admin election, how would you react or try to bring a conversation about something you wanted to change yet have no or little support from other committee heads or admins?

I think that it would have to start with community support. In my opinion, the allure of CSC is that there is a larger focus on the community aspect, versus purely competition. With that being the case, I believe it is the responsibility of the admins/staff/moderators to, at the very least, hear out requests that garner support from the community in order to ultimately improve said community. Failing that, through good communication and collaboration, attempts should be made to find a suitable compromise that will satisfy all parties.