Ask The Admins

Introduction

Welcome to Issue 6 of The Player, where we interview a select panel of Pokémon Showdown! Admins and Leaders for your viewing pleasure. The purpose and processes are simple: administrative candidates were culled by The Player staff, and the community submitted many questions regarding a plethora of topics from sim life to personal life. Of course, not all of these questions were used in the interviews. Our panelists for this issue are Haunter, Hollywood, Jasmine, and Joim, so without further ado, let's get down to the questions!

Question #1

Clefairy: What do you do outside of PS and Smogon?

Haunter: Work, friends, soccer, and motorbiking, in that order.

Hollywood: Lots of drugs.

Jasmine: Apart from partaking in my massive video game library, I also quite enjoy getting into a bit of singing and acting. I also write stories when the passion strikes me and read if something really good is waiting for me. I also run Dungeons and Dragons (actually Pathfinder) campaigns for a few different gaming groups and have a large collection of board games that I play with family. I can only hope to make my nieces as nerdy as their father and I.

Joim: Is there life outside of this? Jokes aside, I'm a full-time programmer. In the small spare time I have, I hang out with friends and my significant other. I also read and write sometimes, but haven't been doing so much lately.

Question #2

Ununhexium: What is your favorite part of being an Admin? Most frustrating part?

Haunter: I like every part of being an Admin. I like interacting with lots of people on PS and Smogon and helping them out whenever possible. I also like being one of the most influential users on here. The most frustrating part are spammers who keep ban evading, forcing me to range ban them.

Hollywood: The best part of being part of the upper staff on Showdown is being able to have a voice in important policy discussions. I know that people listen to my thoughts on these issues, and that's a really good feeling when you care so much about the site. The most frustrating part is being on top of the userlist. Whiny users come to you first, and regular users act differently around you. If there's one thing I hate the most on the site, it's people who suck up, and there's plenty of them on PS.

Jasmine: The best part of all is when you do something simple for someone and that person thanks you for it. It doesn't sound like much, but it's definitely the best when you feel appreciated. The worst would be when I'm not in any public rooms and suddenly get a PM from someone asking a coding-related question. I have no idea what you're talking about or why you hunted me down—please don't hurt me.

Joim: My favorite part of being an Admin is being able to do some fun stuff in Lobby for the players to enjoy, such as marquees with blinking GIFs of a dancing Ludicolo. I also like being able to work on making both Smogon and PS as good as possible for both the users and the staff; it makes me feel good when I see people loving and enjoying the stuff we do.

The most frustrating part is being unable to ladder, challenge, participate in tourneys, or even simply chat without being interrupted every other minute. Like people will challenge you out of the blue, just spam your PMs, or be annoying for the sake of being annoying.

Question #3

Nani Man: How did you first hear about PS and Smogon? Favorite thing to do? Who is the most tanned female?

Haunter: I got linked to Smogon from some Italian forum whose name I don't even remember anymore. I got involved in PS when it became our official sim and loved it immediately. Favorite thing to do right now is wasting time on PS. Most tanned female? Goddess Briyella, undoubtedly.

Hollywood: I got addicted to the Battle Subway in BW, and I eventually looked up strategies for it online. The first place I found was the old OI thread for Gen 5 Battle Subway, and from there, I checked out the site and found out about the Smogon PO server. Unfortunately, I downloaded PO during the period of time when the Smogon server went down a ton, so I never actually went on it, because I couldn't get in. I ended up on the PO main server, where I learned competitive Pokémon, and maybe six months later, PS was opened to the public. I stayed on PO for a few months after that, but eventually, most of the friends that were keeping me there left and I got Randbats Voice on PS from playing drunk Randbats all the time. As such, I made the switch, and the rest is history.

Jasmine: I found Smogon when I was trying to build a team for an Emerald playthrough, but I didn't get involved in it back then. PS was something friends introduced me to, but after beating them soundly every battle, they eventually abandoned me there, even though I acquired registration keys for them.

I like arguing, especially if the person I'm arguing with is someone I respect deeply. I have a serious drive to win every argument I'm in, so it's exhilarating when I argue with someone I know has the ability to beat me. This is pretty much limited to policy because otherwise we start getting a little insulting.

I'll pretend you didn't ask the third question.

Joim: I first heard about Smogon from a gaming friend who was into Pokémon back in Generation IV. I didn't join Smogon until I found out about PS, though, when a friend of mine was looking for a web platform to organize a Pokémon tournament. My favorite thing to do is... well, eating pizza :D.

Jasmine is obviously the most tanned female.

Question #4

Druddigon: Do you ever get bored of Pokémon from time to time?

Haunter: Sometimes, yeah. Fortunately, though, I never really got totally bored.

Hollywood: All the time. If it wasn't for the community, I'd have quit ages ago.

Jasmine: Yeah, sometimes. I've played it on and off for 15 years though, so that's bound to happen from time to time.

Joim: Not really; been liking it since RBY. I do get tired of the online community sometimes, though.

Question #5

Scotteh: What keeps you interested in PS?

Haunter: The community and the many friends I have made on both Smogon and PS.

Hollywood: Again, the community. Smogon and PS are pretty unique in that they really allow you to connect with other members of the community, and it's really easy to make friends because you share common interests.

Jasmine: Your mother, mainly. A close second is just knowing that people are enjoying it and not really knowing who would take my place if I left. I have my moments where I have to leave for a bit, but as staff might be able to tell you, when I'm on a "leave of absence," I'm online every day anyway. It's not so much that I like being part of the community as that I like seeing the community exist and grow. It's nice.

Joim: The ability to play a Pokémon battle whenever and the nice people around.

Question #6

Baewulf: If you could get away with doing anything on Smogon/PS (banning a user forever, implementing something crazy/nigh impossible, passing some absurd policy, banning a Pokémon to Ubers, or whatever), what would you do and why?

Haunter: Implement "Haunter's Harem" as an official room. n_n

Hollywood: My answer is too mean to disclose. :)

Jasmine: I would get away with your heart.

I'm not really sure there's anything I'd want to do that I can't already do. I come to PS because I like it, so there's not really anything I'd want to "get away with" that I don't already do anyway. Maybe I'd just make apt-get's room public.

Joim: I'd have Smogon have its metagames work with a pet mod that eliminates luck out of the game totally and bases Pokémon on skill. Wouldn't be Pokémon anymore I guess, but hey, it'd be fun.

Question #7

unfixable: What made you pick the area you usually specialize in? Hollywood - OMs/NU, Haunter - OU, Jasmine - Showdown as a whole, Joim - Coding/PS as a whole.

Haunter: I joined Smogon and online Pokémon 'cause I was interested in competitive play. Eventually, I also started to appreciate the social side of online communities. I specialized in OU because it's our flagship tier.

Hollywood: When I got started on PO, I played a lot of NU because I liked a lot of the Pokémon in the metagame, so when I made the switch to PS and Smogon, I stuck with it because at that time, the metagames weren't that different (I think the only real differences were that PO had Klinklang in NU and weird stuff like Miltank and Gardevoir in LU). I've stuck with it because it's the metagame I know the best, and I like the people who play it. I got into OMs because they're a nice change of pace over the standard stuff. I think the thing that really got me into OMs was Tier Shift, though. The BW Tier Shift metagame was fantastic. Nothing was really overpowered, and even though weather was more prominent, at least Politoed had the same base stats and Drizzle + Swift Swim was banned.

Jasmine: Because I like Showdown as a whole. It sounds a little lame, but honestly, I do what I do because I know it's what I'm good at, and it will help make PS more interesting for people. When I see our usercount reach a new high, I'm excited because those are more people who get to enjoy a program I wish I had when I was 10.

Joim: I love coding, I love seeing things work right for everyone, and I'd really just like a simulator to be as good as possible for the people who play on it (myself included). PS is also the place where I really started, so it makes sense that it's the place where I work the most.

Question #8

Darnell: Do you have any future plans that may intervene with Smogon/PS or do you think you'll be on Showdown/PS for a good amount of time?

Haunter: I hope I'll always find the time to be on Smogon/PS. I feel at home here. As for future plans, nothing in particular right now.

Hollywood: Who knows‽

Jasmine: I'll be with PS as long as I can, but I've been instructed that if my dream job comes up, I'm not allowed to turn it down so I can spend more time on PS.

Joim: One never knows what life has prepared for you. I don't foresee anything relevant, but then again, I didn't either when I had to leave for a while in the past. You never know. I plan to stay for a while again, though.

Question #9

wh0sy0urpapa: What does a typical day as an Admin entail?

Haunter: I'm an atypical Admin. I actively moderate both Smogon and PS. My typical day includes watching over multiple chats on PS and listening to people's requests/complaints, helping them out when possible. On Smogon, I lead the OU section and actively moderate it, so it's usually watching threads and approving projects. I also try to help other sections, such as RMT, and of course, I contribute defining general site policies with the Senior Staff team.

Hollywood: Pretty much the same as any other staff member. I just kind of hang out and help people out when they need me. Other than that, I'm active in policy discussions, but that generally doesn't require too much.

Jasmine: Check my PMs on Smogon to see if Haunter did the stuff I couldn't be arsed touching at 3 in the morning. Do the stuff Haunter and Zarel couldn't be arsed touching at 3 in their morning. Respond to the 10 PMs I got while hiding in the staff rooms to finish other things. Check to make sure everything is running smoothly. Pretend this was all because of me.

Joim: Review all e-mails and my inbox, check Pokémon stuff, maybe do a couple of battles, work on something on PS/Smogon, read what's to do, plan on how to do it, and do it. Also replying to a lot of PMs.

Question #10

Shgeldz: Has being Admin ever payed off for you IRL? Ever been "recognized"?

Hollywood: I guess so, but I don't think it's in the way you're asking. Being active on Showdown in general has taught me to be a much, much more patient person. You have to deal with some pretty daft people on PS (most people who are dumb enough to get punished prove to be dumb in general), and being patient with those people is pretty much required if you want to retain your personal sanity; the more you deal with people like this, the better you get at dealing with them outside the Internet as well.

Haunter: Echoing what Mr. Hollywood said.

Jasmine: Ha ha, no. Nobody I've ever met plays Pokémon. This might be because I hang around people twice my age.

Apart from that, Hollywood hit the nail on the head.

Joim: Kinda. The knowledge I've acquired over the time on Node.js and JavaScript have helped me with my real work.

Question #11

Langur: Is it tiring having to do a handful of various things, such as registering servers and constantly editing tiers/OMs?

Haunter: Registering servers is definitely annoying, as is resetting passwords for people who have forgotten them. However, I do like helping people out.

Hollywood: I don't have to do those particular things, but yes, it can still get tiring, especially if I'm in multiple rooms at once.

Jasmine: Registering servers can be a real pain. We have so many servers that will get registered and then just disappear a week later, as well as people showing up who already own two servers thinking they need another.

Joim: It is, and that's why I rarely ever register servers. Editing tiers and OMs isn't that tiring, but usually, another programmer does it first.

Miscellaneous

Plasmanta: Haunter/Jasmine, why do you guys not ladder on Showdown?

Haunter: I do actually ladder, just never on my main account. I feel pressured when people join my games, and having a ~ in front of my name doesn't help in that regard. I'm a shy person, I guess.

Jasmine: I don't really have the time to learn properly. Sure, I understand Pokémon to a fairly deep level, but I've never really learned proper teambuilding or what individual Pokémon are likely to do. I love Pokémon, but I don't need to be competitive to do that.

Kasumi: Hollywood, what are the possibilities of you switching your name back to Treecko?

Hollywood: Not gonna happen.

Kasumi: Joim, what made you decide to come back to PS after such a long time?

Joim: Changes IRL, mainly, and the desire to once again play Pokémon and work on Node.js heavily.

Conclusion

That's a wrap! Our aging panelists' throats are dry, and their bones are aching, so it's time to escort them back to their dark dens, where they will rest until the call to duty surfaces once more. Many thanks to these administrative leaders for sharing their thoughts and giving us a little taste of what's behind the scenes. Stay tuned for the next edition of Ask the Admins, where we'll ask another panel of Pokémon Showdown! upper staff members about the more pressing issues, such as how to change one's name color. See you then!

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