The Stryker

Hi, thanks for applying! I have some questions for your application. To start, why is the IPC called Gambit? Can you talk about how an IPC might behave differently to a human? What defines its "personality"? Expanding a bit, what external factors might affect the way an IPC behaves and thinks? The station was made in 2400, how about the IPC? Recall that the earliest IPC chassis (Industrial G1) was developed in 2407. If Gambit was built as one of the first IPCs, how has 56 years of "life" affected it? You mention Gambit is a high quality IPC - did its high quality construction affect it in any significant way? Did Gambit undertake any other tasks? If not, is there a reason it wasn't assigned to other tasks? If so, similar question. Can you give a ballpark estimate of what Gambit was sold for? Was it sold around market price for an IPC of its chassis? Above? Below? How does Gambit currently behave? Is it capable of social interaction? Why did the designer design Gambit in this fashion?

Love the application, concise and covers the difference between an IPC and a human very effectively. I just have a few concerns with the backstory. Just to preface, could you talk about how you'll change the backstory to fit the lore issue on Konyang? Although they have relatively lose restrictions with IPCs, that's still not quite freedom in the Bieselite or Coalition sense. Just to delve a little deeper into the backstory, why was Franky authorized to take on its own cases? How did Frankly live before it was free? Did it use its personal money for anything else aside from purchasing freedom? Was Franky allowed to keep the money or did it have to be a little sneaky? Even factoring in the change to its age, more than a decade is a long time for a person to change. How was Franky affected by its relationship with its employers and humanity? Does Franky still keep in touch with them? Once again, 10 years is a long time for something to change, how did its travels, and consequently its exposure to many sorts of people (presumably both the best and the worst, as a private investigator,) affect its outlook on life? Golden Deep in particular has a very different outlook on synthetic life compared to the rest of the galaxy, even factoring in that they themselves are IPCs. In general, I liked the backstory, but there's some room to add character details in the "time skips" given that it's old for an IPC.

Could you expand more on how IPCs think? Is it any different from a human?

Can muteness be countered with things like text-to-speech devices and the like? I understand roboticist is more of a generalized/quasi-medical role now but we've had mute roboticists that are capable of handling their jobs to a reasonable degree of effectiveness.

BYOND key: The Stryker Discord name/id: Stryker#2886 Borg / AI names: Charles Pierce-Rousseau (AI) Have you read the Aurora wiki page about the AI?: Yes. Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?: My AI is the only character I've played recently and feel inclined to play. Additionally, I really enjoy the AI gameplay as well as the interaction it provides with other departments. It's interesting that an AI is involved in quite literally everything, and yet so detached from the crew. Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they?: I've been bwoinked in the past for valid-hunting in security as well as ERT calling. (To my memory) Do you understand your whitelist is not permanent, and may be stripped following continuous administrative action?: Of course.

Thanks for applying! This is an interesting application but I have some comments. I appreciate the focus on IPCs as being built for a purpose, but don't worry about experimenting with these frames! Just because a Xion is space-proof doesn't make the roleplay any less significant if you're in the station. Can you elaborate more with IPC communication? What makes it so different from organics who theoretically have to be professional at work? Is there more to IPC communication aside from looking good/professional? This is an interesting point although it's not necessarily an absolute. After all, positronics could band together to better their collective chances just as easily as a young positronic might betray another. Can you go more into how an IPC behaves aside from communication and relationships with organics and other synthetics? Unfortunately, it'd be best if you made a short backstory because it acts as proof that you can write an IPC character. It can be something as simple as for what purpose they were made. Just a few notes for that, Nanotrasen isn't in the business of manufacturing and selling IPCs. However although characters can be assembled on station, the question still remains as to where their positronic and chassis ultimately came from and why. To be clear, the "NT-" prefix is fine. The only department-restricted IPC prefixes are "IRU" and "ISU" as they denote specific security roles. As for the plan, I have more questions. For what reason does Clark want to free itself? How will it meet members of Golden Deep? Keep in mind that if you try to develop the character on the spot, it may meet people who can influence it before Golden Deep might be able to. Is there any particular reason Clark would come to this conclusion? Is there any reason Clark has the personality of a by the books people person? Is there also an additional reason to having a split personality? From this statement, it seems as though it has already come to a decision on its perception with people. Can you give any hypothetical scenarios? It seems as though you want to develop the character on station but a lot of aspects of NT-Clark are already decided. Do note that in character, IPCs are a group that are extremely discriminated against. Just as a warning, there is the increased likelihood that you will be treated poorly or outright ignored by certain crew members.

Thanks for applying! I have some concerns with this application. How so? Although IPCs can be similar to humans, there are a few differences, could you elaborate on the behavior of an IPC as opposed to a human, especially in their thought process? How about the position of IPCs in the universe? Do you mean a baseline (with the monitor head) or a Bishop frame IPC? Mechanically and lorewise, they're different. Could you expand on SVC's backstory? How did he decide to go into the service department? Was SVC built for it? Is he owned? Free? IPCs are mostly optimized for a task, owing to initial programming (although the capacity for learning exists). Is there any reason SVC wants to change profession? Was SVC programmed to act like this? Was it picked up from someone or a consistent experience? Aside from the lost hand, did the robbery affect SVC in anyway? Finally, if the character were a human, how would this affect him in any way?

I like the detail put into the backstory but I have to raise a few points, My first question is where Valeria got the impulse to protest? Was it innate in the programming? This seems like a fairly free action to take for an owned IPC. Can you expand on this? How did Valeria form these friendships? How did it affect them (and their perception of the world), especially since much later on you go back to the idea of Valeria discovering friendship? More over, how did Valeria move from simply focusing on work to deciding friendships were something to cultivate? As a side note, I enjoyed the usage of self-preservation here. What made Valeria feel or think to feel a particular fondness for Mayke, or more accurately, how did they think to convert friendship to fondness? Not quite as important, but what other effects did Mayke and the rest have on Valeria? Do they still keep in contact? Does this still affect the IPC? In all, with the references to emotion and the fairly human reactions, it seems that Valeria already knows about emotions. What changes if this character is a human?

While I'm fine with the current headsets, the new adjustments make them better, especially with the non-colored antenna and microphones.

I think coloring the antenna of the headset (medical, science, robotics, especially) kind of takes away from the layering look that you can see on the command headsets. Perhaps try a darker shade if you want to stick with the colored antenna?

Given the amount of characters involved, we wanted to make sure this was a decision everyone was onboard with as opposed to "suddenly my character backstory is kind of unrealistic." For the whole you hit all the points we wanted to tackle here: No change and things stay the same, the older they get, the more "normalized" they get and indeed we're going to have to rewrite things such as Solarian IPC rights as you said. 30 years, after all, is enough time for a whole other generation of Solarians to have lived with machines their whole lives.

If we're going to go polymer and cheap, a black or that sort of poorly-molded plastic would suit better perhaps. I prefer the rustic look on the wood but that's personal preference. If we're going to keep the blue, like you said, something more saturated and contrasting to the armor itself. I have my own "if it ain't broke don't fix it" concerns regarding the change in calibers but that seems fine. The increased magazine sizes are nice and further increases the idea that shit has hit the fan when you see these weapons. A random thought, the Z8 is used in a civilian application (even if it is in the context of a corporation's security forces), so perhaps the addition of extended magazines instead of doing away with the 10 round magazines should be considered? Also the first M16 had 20-round magazines.

Personally, I disagree with removing the clerical module simply because even if you shift the tools to another module, that changes the expectation of the cyborg and it's suddenly bwoinkable/reportable for a whole slew of other activities. I don't think we should be cutting things down for the sake of "utility" as this is a roleplaying game first and foremost. Additionally, we don't always hit the borg cap. Regardless, if people want clerical to go, this seems to be the best way to go about it. What about the capacity of a pen for every borg to give that limited clerical capacity to every department?

Whitelisting seems like a duct-tape solution (how can people try AI and get good at it if it's behind a lock?), even with a trial where they can get run out over the span of that one week, but it seems to be better than no whitelist (although whitelists don't catch all the shittery). I will say that we do get good and great AIs even without a whitelist (RIP Mistress...) This is a bit of a community issue where there's a sort of focus on "winning", especially since the AI can quite literally snap its fingers and trap traitors in a room with bolts. Perhaps nerfing the AI, getting rid of follow verbs, instant tracking, door electrifying and the like can help? Granted, nerfing into the ground doesn't feel like a solution and indeed takes away a lot of what AI is. If the issue is with shit behavior then (sorry mods and admins!) ahelps should be sufficient as opposed to ranting in dsay. Perhaps a better question is what does removing AI add and take away. On a side note, an AI can bolt antags in a room, but it can also be ordered to bolt antags in a room, and an AI player can also find a reason to not bolt antags in a room if it helps keep the round progressing. An AI can take away from RP and can also add to RP in more ways than deciding whether or not security wins. I'm not for AI removal but I am slightly biased in that regard. Removing AI seems like something that has to be discussed more. As an aside, before saying something should be discarded, vis-a-vis, AI, it would help to actually try it out.

Interesting character concept. I like that you focused on how an IPC thinks as opposed to organics, versus how an IPC is treated as opposed to organics. That being said, I do have a few quick questions. How do IPCs differ from humans and other aliens in society? (vis a vis, how they're treated or where they fit into it.) This next one seems like it can be answered ICly, so feel free not to answer this if you'd rather keep certain details of the character hidden. How did Facsimile come across a desire for freedom? How did it realize that freedom was something to be desired, especially since according to this, it already seems to comprehend that freedom can be dangerous?

Thanks for applying! This is an entertaining app but I still have a few questions. You've captured the essence of an IPC's life - they are indeed marginalized and discriminated by the galaxy at large. Setting aside the way people treat it, what makes an IPC different as compared to a human? Not to say that an IPC should be emotionless, but doesn't that mean the character is already experiencing emotions? I understand that NanoTrasen collaborated with Zeng-Hu, but who was the lead? In our lore, NanoTrasen isn't known to produce IPCs. Up to you if you'd rather not answer this last question since it asks for backstory that could be gained IC, but how was MYRIAD treated between shifts? Did it stay in cryo like regular crewmembers, have a quarters or apartment? If so, how did this affect MYRIAD, especially with less oversight as compared to a typical synth?

The argument of removing RnD aside (although I'm for keeping it), it seems ridiculous that a research station would have so many break rooms when they have a full scale bar that's almost as big as research. Assuming we remove RnD, researchers still need space to make their prototypes and removing the already cramped (ICly, at least) RnD Lab is not the way to go about it. If we must have a break room, maybe utilize maintenance space because research has a ton of it. Tl:dr we're a research station, we should have some labs instead of erp break rooms

Everything seems a bit too drained and desaturated with the new textures, it's also hard to tell where one tile starts and stops. Plus I have to echo everyone else's complaint that the white is too subdued/blurry. I'd personally prefer a slightly greyer floor tile like what we had in the old textures. The new scrubber also blends too much into the floor, I think. It seems more like a random hole tacked on instead of a device built into it. The dark tiles carry at least a bit more outline than the grey tiles, but everything tends to feel muted and the same after a while. I preferred the old holopad but it's a case of personal preference, I think. It works better on the darker tiles than it does on brighter tiles but tends to blend in too much like the scrubber. Some side-by-sides for reference.

Thanks for applying! The application seems good, so only a few questions from me. Is Mable a shell? According to our lore, the first shells were made in 2455 which, even so, looked uncanny and artificial. Furthermore, if not a shell, why contract Einstein Engines to help (not to say that anything has to change, simply clarification)? There's this. And this. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but how does this resentment carry through despite the removal of Mable's emotional response and simulation? I love the character concept, but I'm wondering, how did all this scrapping and "downgrading" for lack of a better term affect Mable? You mention that it lost a lot of components that were present in the "original" Mable, so to speak.

Thanks for applying! Before the input from everyone else starts coming in, I have a few questions to ask regarding your app. Synthetics are expensive. Is there any reason Hephaestus placed a G2 in security instead of hiring a human to do the job? Furthermore, what of Marnik's programming before joining the crew? Did it learn anything else from these experiences other than combat? How did it come to this conclusion? What drove Marnik to taking the personal blame as opposed to say, shrugging it off and casting blame on the pirates? These are all very big events, from being bought as property, to working a maximum security prison, to witnessing riots, more death, and suffering damage. How did these experiences affect the character? How was Marnik bought? Why was it sold to begin with? Why start keeping scars? Why not keep the shrapnel scar from the freighter instead? It is a storied past, with a lot going on, from changing jobs, to holding comrades in its arms, etc. What's so important about being a synthetic to this backstory that Marnik can't be a human instead?

Thanks for applying! I've looked over your app and everything seems good, as for your own conduct, I think all the +1s have said what needs to be said. I have a few questions, however. It seems a little strange to me that Brick's own maker would see it as too expensive to repair while Idris would quickly purchase and re-activate the machine. Aside from wanting to cut losses, is there any reason that Hephaestus would not simply repair the bot and put it back into service? Additionally, the roboticist seems to be a big part of Brick's backstory, but what about the official who purchased it? What other influences did Brick have? Does Brick still keep in touch with them? (If this is something that you'd rather show ICly, no need to answer in detail.) As a side note, Love the insight here.

I'll throw in my two cents here. Play who you want to play within reason, but frankly we can justify the presence of a lot of things on the Aurora. Arguably a singer would be in higher demand than a bartender or somesuch owing to how few we seem to have. That's not to say that the roboticist angle is impossible, but you have to justify it because singer to roboticist does seem like quite the jump if Nanotrasen could find something much cheaper or efficient to fill the gap. It seems a little strange that a robot would turn to singing to earn its freedom, but I won't stomp on personal preference. I'm personally intrigued by this story, but it seems that it being repurposed is a very big deal. Can you expound on it being unpopular? As a side note, we do have slang for IPCs that come from certain backgrounds. I do like the fact that you recognize IPCs tend to adopt the culture of their surroundings. Flesh out the application a bit more and I think you'll have something here!

Can you expand a little bit on the difference of an IPC (or a synthetic in general) versus a human? You seem to focus heavily on the discrimination, the batteries, and their predictable and self-preserving nature. To an extent, a human has analogues to all of these qualities. While we're on the topic of discrimination, mind talking about how an IPC's low position in society would affect them as an individual? I'm interested in this... Especially with how it relates to this, Can you tell me about how Sirius's early experiences affected their character if at all?

Stay safe. You said a lot of things that needed saying and we'll miss you.

Just going to throw my two cents here as Cheshire, last I saw Wxkri from an IC standpoint was when he fell down the hole and drifted away. I don't remember if anyone else in medical got them but I found maint blood towards the end of a round where I moved Easter around as well. Either way, I don't think we got a body or any explanation on the blood IC. There was also the freelancer bit that tossed science around that area, but I'm not sure if that's canon.