Ornias

This is a massive oversimplification. The idea that the only way an antagonist can play is by going into a firefight bloodmatch with security for two hours is wrong. We've all seen good antagonists. We all know they can be done. Bad antagging is straightforward. Good antagging requires requires thinking about this new character you're creating, how to make things interesting for everyone, and how your character would act. I question what integrating these gamemodes will do for people. Mercenary is stronger than raider, and this isn't a mistake. Raider has a small advantage in the fact that it's slightly more inherantly unpredictable, but mercenary is better in terms of equipment. Integrating these two will damage that dichotomy, and just create Merc+. A vast majority of people will purchase what they think is strongest, not what is most interesting. They will not use this to make gimmicks, they will use this to win. Further, I don't see the non-antagonistic side. For a variety of reasons I'll explain in a moment, I don't like non-antagonisting antags as a concept, but even aside from that, what advantage would this give to creating more peaceful scenarios? Mercs pretty much ONLY have weapons and illegal tools available to them, raiders already have a tonne of non-antag stuff to use. We don't see peaceraiders that often, so why would we think that giving these few peaceraiders access to more powerful weaponry would do anything for them? Same with wizard and ninja, only even more issues arise there. Ninja and wizard do not mesh. They are both high-mobility, and both outside-antagonists, but that's where their similarities end. They have different weaknesses, different abilities. They both have recovery times, but ninjas is more large-scale and wizards is more small-scale. How would these two mesh? Especially in terms of theme, appearance, abilities. I do like the mixed gamemodes idea. Antagonists cooperating to create really interesting stories is where this game shines. People who only see "you're a wizard" or "you're a pirate" shouldn't be playing antag. Giving people premade gimmicks to follow won't suddenly make them better antagonists. It will make them formulaic ones. We hardly see the contracts used at all, and I expect that the new database would be much different. And even if it did, giving people templates to follow, even if people don't have to follow them, is boring. It creates stock scenarios, it means that people are playing as characters that they don't really understand working for goals they don't really get. And if they were non-antagonistic goals, well, that would get boring. Far, far more boring than our current gamemodes. Ultimately, I don't see how this is conductive to involving non-security, nor do I think that making antagonists less antagonistic is a desirable path to this goal. I want more non-antag events. I want non-antag event characters. I do not want them to be supernatural. I want them to be traders, I want them to be VIPs, I want them to be diplomats and comms workers and IT men and safety inspectors and everything inbetween. I want them to be canon. But non-antagonistic antagonist play is rarely interesting. And when it is, it's because the player playing the non-antagonistic individual is good at it, and could do just as well playing as an antagonist. And because they're alien in the universe - because they're unknowable aliens, because they're mysterious invaders, because they're high-tech infiltrators, the only want we can connect with them in the short two-hour space is through antagonistic play. This cannot be remedied with our antagonists - it is an integral part of them. -1

bumping this with the force of the Stars, . i think these are a great step towards integrating lore into our setting, and would like to see this kind of thing integrated in some shape or form

This will not singlehandedly integrate the lore, but will be yet another small step in the right direction. What about the provided examples doesn't appeal to you? I think the examples I used are very potent- they demonstrated information which all characters SHOULD know (with the exception, perhaps, of some alien whitelistees), that not everyone DOES know, and that knowing will help to build more interesting characters. The reason I would like for them to replace mechanical tips is that a lot of those mechanical tips take away from oppertunities to learn. 'Find out ICly' is a bit of a meme, but actually discovering mechanics and how to apply them for oneself or through a roleplay encounter is highly rewarding. I appreciate the same could be said for the lore, but that is why only things that every character would know are included, while leaving more obscure information to either be found through the wiki or found out ICly.

In a further extension of the grand dream of promoting and integrating our lore, convert the 'Tip of the Round' information into lore information instead of mechanical information. Putting in well-known (in-universe) lore information into the Tip of the Round will allow people to understand more about the fundamental facts of the galaxy that their characters would likely know, as well as immediately accentuating roleplay over mechanics. Example facts: Did you know? In the year 2450, Tau Ceti's unemployment rate was at 20%! Did you know? The Republic of Biesel only became an independent system in the year 2452, breaking free of the Sol Alliance! Did you know? Humanity only met the Vaurcae in 2456 (that's 4 years ago!). Did you know? Tau Ceti Basic, the language we all speak, is a spiritual successor to Esperanto established in 2404? Designed to be easily spoken by all alien species, it is the most common trade language in human space! Did you know? Phoron was only discovered in 2417, and it's properties continue to astound scientists to this day! The rapid integration of Phoron into everyday life has proved a point of contention for some, yet its convenience is unquestionable.

Emoted with visual lines of text. This also ensures that ads in other languages (E.G. Sol Common) can still be seen (though not understood), without needing to understand the language. Mild icon changes between ads (Hephaestus Industries logo for Hephaestus Industries ads, etc.) might be nice, but may be a bit more effort than they're worth.

One of the main problems we often see raised in relation to the lore is that it's too disconnected from our actual setting - Idris Incorporated will never be involved with the NSS Aurora, despite the fact that it is an important factor of history. This suggestion is to add holoadvertisements - tall hologram projectors that play advertisements every couple of minutes to everyone nearby. The advertisements will be based on both sound and sight, and be able to speak different languages depending on the scenario, as well as potentially being able to be integrated into on-station emergency alerts and whatnot. The holoads will present advertisements that take between one to two minutes, giving background information and flavor, such as advertisements for new cars, services, games, and shows. They will also play political adverts (though not TOO extreme), relay pro-corporate messages, and provides PSAs. Example Adverts: Hephaestus Industries '59 Achilles Ad Confiance Technologies IPC Ad Jao'Heishi Real Estate Ad Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals Cloning Ad Kumar Arms 'Taskmaster' Ad Ads will be formatted with ~8-15 second breaks between each 'line', making the adverts seem dynamic. After it finishes it's last line, it will wait 3 minutes before 'activating' again - the moment that someone enters within 3 times of it, it will begin its next randomly selected ad. A lot of ads would need to be written for this to ensure it didn't get stale, but it would add a lot of flavour to our station in terms of how it relates to the rest of the galaxy. Plus, throwing someone through it/firing bullets through it could make it fizzle and look really cool in a firefight.

I'd disagree. The questions of the importance of the individual nymph to the aggregate - of what makes Diamond With Flaw so protective of that part of him. To them, it's not a hand - it's a vital fragment of what makes them what they are. This idea of unity is one of the most compelling parts of playing a diona - what it means to be a group, and what they are willing to sacrifice in order to maintain that. The idea of permanent injury on a species that, as a rule of thumb, does not die, is an interesting field to explore. There are so many questions that can be raised about the nature of injury, of loss, of struggle, through the fact that Diamond With Flaw has experienced what it was never built to experience. The idea of integration with machinery is something that all species can explore, but it's particularly notable in this case - the idea of it, ironically, being the only part of themselves that they do not have full control over. The idea of the external melding with the internal for the first time in this species. To call an idea 'gimmicky' without something to back it up doesn't do you any favors. I'm going to +1 this, and hope that you do explore at least some of these themes within your character. I think you should think long and hard about how they procured this limb, however. Throw more backstory into how it was developed, how it operates. Let me know what you come up with (or don't, and let me find out ICly).

I've enjoyed my interactions with him substantially, few as they have been. Our shared silences in the robotics laboratory during crisis' have been a lot more engaging than many of the actual active interactions I've had, and I think that's what speaks volumes about your playstyle that represented itself so well in your character. There aren't many people who would be willing to just take a moment when there's something they could be doing, like talking to people or building something. I really, really appreciated it. The small-talk between us both opened up more information about our characters in a believable sense. You told me something about your characters smoking habits. I told you something about mines career. It was one of the most real and most down to earth connections I've had this month in this game, huddled in a small area, with nothing to talk about, while we don't really know what's going on. I don't know about the sterile mask with the cigarette drawn on it. I 'know' in the most basic sense. I don't know what it says about your character, aside from the fact that he likes to smoke. That's interesting. I don't know if it represents some motif, or significance about your character (if not to your character). I really hope it does, because it's one of the most visible aspects of your character. If I could speak quickly to one thing that I can't even be certain was you, it was your play as an antagonist. Despite the fact that you gave me ample opportunity to escape, proper buildup and escalation, and waited until my character was vulnerable before striking, you still asked me in LOOC if I was cool to die before you went in for the kill. I'm confident in your actions. You clearly play with a well-developed character, and you clearly think about the implications of your actions before you perform them. Don't let your fear of upsetting other people stop you from building the most interesting story you can. I could be wrong, for all I know, but the interactions we've had have been enjoyable. I've appreciated the down-to-earthness of it, without giving up an interesting character.

Reporting Personnel: Drew Ashby Job Title of Reporting Personnel: NanoTrasen Entertainment Musician/DJ. Game ID: bWV-a22D Personnel Involved: - Drew Ashby - D'Jar Sa'Kuate, Head of Security Time of Incident: 9:13 AM, 10/20/60 GST Real time: 8:02 PM NZDT Location of Incident: NSS Aurora Security Lobby Nature of Incident: []Workplace Hazard []Accident/Injury []Destruction of Property []Neglect of Duty []Harassment []Assault [x]Misconduct []Other _____ Overview of the Incident: The fact that I even have to write this report is a disgusting example of what a horrible customer service process looks like. I pay good money to go aboard the NSS Aurora, as dictated in my contract, under the general idea I'm going to be getting some basic amenities I could get at any VR Parlour in the Xinghua Prefecture. I was also told that if anything went wrong, or if I had any issues, I should talk to a head of staff. And when I go out of my way to use a holocall panel to contact your head of staff to fix your mistake, he has the audacity to insult me, tell me not to bother him again. He has the audacity to threaten to arrest me for bothering him. He doesn't tell me his fucking name. He doesn't tell me how to fix this fucking issue. And his fucking majesty Snow White decides to call me an idiot and tell me to get a refund. And I fucking want one for this absolutely ridiculous service I've received as a paying fucking visitor. Your ALA-fucking cat needs to be housetrained around people who pay his fucking salary, and I want a written apology for the way I've been treated from somebody. Did you report it to a Head of Department or IAA? If so, who?: No.

Things to never forget: ATLAS is literally just the nationalist party of Sol. Most of them don't hate aliens. Most of them don't hate robots. Most of them don't love war criminals. Most of them just want to put Humans first, as a human government, and would likely expect other governments of other species to do the same. Your character moved to Tau Ceti. This means that they live with aliens, whether they like it or not, and knowingly signed up for one of (if not the) the most pro-xeno human corporations in our lore. They fund the IAC, which assists all species. They don't hate aliens. They're not against helping aliens. They're just against putting them FIRST. They come from Sol, which is pretty clearly an authoritarian state (though not a dystopic one). This will greatly influence their point of view. With that out the way, I want to make this quite clear: ATLAS aren't the bad guys. They might be the bad guys to your character, but they aren't the bad guys in the setting. Their opinions are not unfounded. It's not like they're big bad racists. Our lore has a lot of shades of grey, and they have some very strong points about some elements of alien cultures being very dangerous to humanity. To give only a few examples: Tajara are so politically divisive that they can't stop having civil wars. They're far, far more likely to engage in terrorism or political extremism than humans. Unlike Unathi, they don't need to sign a pledge of loyalty in Biesel to be granted most rights. Unathi are sexist towards their own species. They are capable of tearing apart a normal human with ease, and their sense of honor makes it difficult for them to co-exist with humanity given that they are completely at fealty with their clan rather than the nation they reside in. Vaurca are far and away the most egregious offender, with almost all of them within Sol occupying slums and draining resources. They are all capable of tearing apart humans with ease. Their technology is mysterious, their motives unknown, and they are seeking to move their central hive to Biesel. Any one of them could be a hidden, bloodlusting terrorist, they would let the most influential human on earth die to save one of their own, they can't form human connections in any real meaningful way, and they collectively easily hold enough power to overthrow humanity. Dionaea's first interaction with humanity was to tear apart a ship of researchers and devour them. They have no human emotion, operate bipedally for convenience alone, and are practically immortal, unkillable entities who build colonies of their own flesh. They have no recognizable human motives bar the absorption of knowledge and the advancement of their own species. ATLAS pushes for a stronger navy and capability to protect itself, which recent events (the attacks on Elyra, the risk of war with Tau Ceti, and the perceived invasion of the Lii'dra) have proved is incredibly necessary. Admiral Frost showed up out of nowhere and saved the lives of tens of thousands of people who were abducted. He's performing seemingly impossible tasks as the current governments seem to ignore the growing threats of the galaxy. He represents ATLAS supports combined desire for action, for a figurehead, for a hero. And, in closing, don't be upset when people jump on your character for being racist. People do that because they don't think about what the lore and setting means. Stand by your opinions realistically. Back down from fights. But don't change your characters views to 'fit in' with the clique. Act like a real person who cares about his family and friends in the face of an increasingly dangerous universe. Act like a real person who enjoys the company of Unathi, who believes they are very intelligent, but believes that it is in everyone's best interest if they are left to their own devices. Play a character who believes in ATLAS, not ATLAS who is portrayed in a character.

I'll be writing a more formulated response to this later, but I'd like to put in my two cents in the least vitriolic way possible. I think almost the entirity of the issues that most people encounter can be traced back to this, or some variation of it. Generally, acting in abnormal or volatile ways in-character will be punished by appropriate in-character reaction. If someone is an asshole, violent, or picks a fight with someone bigger than them, the optimal resolution is that the world responds appropriate. That does not mean that they should always fail, but there should always be significant consequences for acting in significant ways. The issue arises, however, from the fact that by combination of Willow Harper's friendships, her attitude, and the methods of her intervention, it is incredibly difficult to 'punish' (and I use this term loosely) aggressive or unrealistic behavior. Her status on the Aurora grants her practical immunity to several members of security, by way of them not arresting her, in addition to her relationship with a captain character. Note that this is not bad, necessarily. The use of connections on-station should be something that can be exploited for personal gain. But in the same way we give antagonists the freedom to cause chaos and the responsibility to do it well, with great power comes great responsibility. Further, incident reports are by no means a foolproof system. A lot of people have been disillusioned by them (rightly or wrongly). Further, due to Willow's consistent interaction with antagonists, it's very hard to put down an IR even if you desire one just due to how likely antagonist involvement is. Further, it's impossible to arrest someone for unrealistic things when there are more significant things going on. It's a Catch 22- you can't arrest someone for their behavior without being viewed as petty due to it's relatively small status in the scope of the round, but, simultaneously, by not arresting them, you allow it to be perpetuated. Many of my characters have been hit by her through, what I consider, realistic and believable actions, often even minor ones. I play some aggressive or bigoted characters. I strive very hard to make them believable in our setting. I play characters I consider downright evil, who have canonically blackmailed members of the Aurora. I have nothing against character aggression. I have an issue with a character who cannot be 'punished', yet acts in a way that grievously deserves it. This will come largely out of right field, because it's the first time I've really expressed these opinions, and I hope it isn't taken as a personal attack. That is not the intention. Again, it's not exactly Willow Harper's ""fault"", not entirely. But it's something that does need to be addressed. An incredibly vitriolic character, who everyone I speak to on station has seen in a canonical fight, who knows she's aggressive, yet is supposedly on tenuous grounds, is not a bad character. It's just not a dynamic character. And a lack of dynanicism, a lack of place within the setting, causes the experience to be more Willow-centric than station-centric, if that makes sense, because while Willow can impact the station, it's very difficult for the station to impact Willow. I'll edit this post later when I have more free time to better get across my point. For now, however, I hope you consider these points, and where the crews grievances lie.

holy fucking shit all this time i've just been charging in as changeling with no more protection than a wet fucking towel and have never been stunned once i'm the luckiest fucking man on earth yeah, give changelings some bonuses against pain at least. we cant all be as robust as i am

We already know what changelings are like if they don't get stunned or feel pain. Changelings can evolve epinephrine sacks. The answer is they get super fucking overpowered. If this was a constant thing with no drawbacks (smaller arsenal to use), it would be unfairly good. You'd need to resort to headgibbing them or similar, or else even if they survive on the lowest amount of health they can hide and recover fully in a minute. Changeling is incredibly good with the tools it has at it's disposal. It's like ninja - it just has a high skill cap, not because it's hard to use effectively, but because it's hard to use effectively without upsetting people. I'd like to keep it that way.

[mention]Senpai Jackboot[/mention] could you please confirm for the good of this app

Going to -1 for a few reasons. First above all else is that I do not believe it will add any benefit to the depth of your interactions with other players. This item does give some form of insight into your character, at least insofar as the knowledge that they would adopt an animal. This does take a small step towards showing who your character is before they've even spoken. This is a good quality of a custom item. That said, for what it shows about character, it also detracts. I have, in the time I have been around Ynnefer Killinski, never seen her show any form of anxiety. I have played characters which are frightening, accusatory, and spiteful, and I have not seen anything anxiety-ridden about her reactions. If I can't tell something about the characters personality without the custom item, I shouldn't be able to tell it with. Now you may be able to provide evidence of times where your character has been stressed, but that won't change the fact that I have never seen it while having given plenty of reason for you to display it. Second, while I would be more inclined to support it as a visitor, what will your dog do while you are doing research? Will you have it wait outside, or will you have it stay in the lab? What about when you're doing robotics? If you'd make it wait outside, that would actually be a serious plus to my consideration of this. But as it stands, I don't get that impression one bit. Your character would be endangering your dog, and your coworkers, as a head of staff. Finally, I believe it stands a lot more than most items to make your character seem 'special'. I don't mean that in a demeaning sense, but a dog is by far the most noticeable custom item we've had yet. It's going to get everyone's attention the first time they see it. It's going to concrete your character as 'the one with the dog'. I don't like that, because it will build a more meta following around your character. I don't like meta followings of characters. I don't like it when people talk in OOC about how 'Haha X was so badass this shift!' because it detracts from roleplay in the name of spectacle. I can imagine a lot of talk at the end of every round about Nikita. And that in itself is reason to give me pause. (Also, a number +1 responses in this thread mention 'cuteness', and the fact that it is the most popular current custom item app, and one of the more popular ones recently at all, kind of proves this point)

Ninjas don't have the ability to take long falls, an incredibly dangerous thing for an antagonist with such a high focus on mobility. Over half my Ninja rounds have ended with me, outside of combat, teleporting onto an open space by mistake and breaking my chest. There is no way to fix this because undoing your hardsuit's chestpiece undoes the automatic splint. Give them it for free, or an incredibly (1 TC/2 TC) cheap version in the uplink. Falling and dying as an antagonist adds nothing to the round, especially if you're a solo antagonist.

me, a janitor on the odin, who has accidentally taken the wrong shuttle: fucking buffoon!!!!! allow me to modify this Artificial Intellgience Unit!!!!!!!! it has slighted me, and there is a Crisis! !

This is a very long, well thought out post. I'll clarify a few things then leave it at that. Again, I have no doubt it was unintentional. Burger does not make any attempt to hide what he intends to implement, and I give him credit for it. But the average player looks at a forum post, and assumes that the Github is for coders, and the feedback thread is for the laysmans terms. The issue arises in that the perspective of someone on the coding team, or who interacts with development often, is different from that of someone who has no such interaction. Things are not as clearly communicated between the two sides; despite a lot of the material being there, it is not always so easy to ascertain. Further, I still stand by the idea that contentious PRs should be a public matter. Of course, staff have the final say, but courtesy would dictate that that 'copy-paste post' does exist. It doesn't provide anything other than being polite and keeping people informed of what is going on, and that's all it needs to provide. i........... LOVE github,

holy moly, that's a lot of hostility. i wasn't being aggressive in my first post, i was being plain and to the point. the implication that i didn't read a single one of the pull requests is incorrect. to clarify: i'm not implying there was a single malicious act conducted here. i'm saying that, entirely as a result of either poor communication, bad luck, or misunderstanding, there have been times where PR's that were highly contentious were pushed through without properly informing the community. Now with that out the way, thanks to Skull and Scheveningen for their insight. I'm glad to say the Zo'ra soda issue is regarded as an outlier in this respect. Once again, however, post-update changes may well fix an issue, but the problem is that these changes weren't highlighted publically. But once again, I read every single one of those PR's and threads before I posted on it. The issue is that they weren't clear in highlighting certain things, be it the changes or the response to feedback. When a change goes through despite massive pushback, and we see significant issues arise on station (from a believability, gameplay, or roleplay standpoint) because of reasons predicted beforehand, then there's very little else to say but it will by nature give the impression of feedback being ignored. This is a very good point. In future, though, even a single post at the end of a discussion highlighting that it's being tested, and highlighting that feedback was listened to, would help avoid this frustration in future. i LOVE GitHub, ,,

https://forums.aurorastation.org/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=11338&hilit=dungeon&start=60 This PR has significant community pushback. In the recent development cycle, it was added. It was not tested sufficiently enough, resulting in many hostile mobs simply leaving their locations and falling down holes, attacking the station. Recently, a mining drone blew up a section of the station by shooting a fuel tank. There are no warning signs for several sections, such as the carp labyrinth. Spawn locations are still very close and easily accessible to the station. There was no point to this feedback thread. There was no point to the community responding to this. Nobody said 'we're pushing these changes through'. They were just slid through without anyone noticing after the initial thread died down. Dionaea taking damage from anti-radiation medicine was added without talking to anyone from the community. Heart damage for food was sprung without warning. Zo'ra Soda was added without clarifying that it provided literal speed boosts, something the community was at the very least harshly divided on. This (https://forums.aurorastation.org/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=11882&hilit=thirst) did not mention that it significantly increased reaction to hunger, and if that had not been spotted would likely have been slipped in without notice also. PR's have been approved against the communities wishes. Things that have a significant effect on play. If contentious PR's are to be pushed, or PR's with round/race-modifying mechanics are to be implemented, there needs to be, if not a community consensus, at least an explanation as to why. If staff decide a PR is necessary, then that is one thing, but to silently slide things by or to give the illusion of input is unquestionably bad for the community. Just a system where, if a contentious PR is pushed, a staff member explains that it has and why, and where anything that has the potential to be contentious is publically (and plainly) spoken about, without intent to obfuscate mechanics. I lvoe , GitHub.

This would be really good if we weren't a roleplay server. The fact that he should 'get good' doesn't instantly make the round any better for the playerbase. It just means that there's some vague excuse to continue kicking the shit out of antagonists with impunity without worrying about driving a story. And the next time, when they 'get good', the crew won't have any security to act as the defenders, turning the station into chaos. By making it an OOC A vs. B situation, you remove so much variety that the two sides could achieve working cooperatively to build a story with high stakes and tension. Yeah lmao. So let's remove tools which instigate this kind of thing so characters don't have to be dumbed down. That said, if you think that not immediately rushing an antagonist with a stun baton the moment that you see this freakish abomination grow an arm blade is 'doing everything in their power' to let him win, then you're looking at things too much like a game, and not enough like a cooperative story. Freak out, like a believable human being. Run, like a believable human being. Take a breath. Regroup with your team, organize, ensure crew safety. Call science. Negotiate. Emote reaching for your baton so that the antagonist can defend themselves and escape, thus continuing to develop the narrative. Nobody should be playing to win, unless winning would be for the good of the round. If the antag wins, everyone gets the antags story. If the station wins, nobody gets the antags story. Station-based stories occur all the time, because they're station based. We always have the tools to create them. The only exceptions are changeling, vampire and wizard (and very rarely cult), and even then it's extremely rare that people make it out as anything more than 'MAGIC' or 'CUT THEM UP AND STRAIGHTJACKET THEM WHEN THEY REVIVE'. I do think that. Because they're the antagonist, the external force. They rock the boat. They get to choose how they rock it, and the players get to find enjoyment in playing in the story they develop. Their response is a cooperative reaction, building a world around them dynamically for everyone's enjoyment. It's cooperative, but the antagonist takes the reins, exactly how it should be. shockingly, respecting things you disagree with is one of the main tenants of being in a community, workplace, or kindergarten you're only calling it a 'I ded pls nerf' suggestion because it's a nerf in response to being ded. fuck, yeah, dude, he's asking for something that he's experienced negatively to be modified. big fucking whoop. you want him to only make suggestions on things that don't affect him? but jesus christ this has gotten off topic. i've given it some thought, and i've seen not only counter plays to it, but sufficient counterplays to ensure that we don't shoehorn players into playing into a meta. unlike the flash, where there are only a few direct methods to counter it, there are many ways to stop the baton, and each antagonist has several. that said, i would like to ensure that it stays regulated, for exactly the same reasons previously discussed in this thread.

"hee hee hee, if i act like this is a 'i died pls nerf' suggestion, it will be I who has the biggest Internet Penis!!!!!!!" if an antag gets taken down by security before they've had time to create a narrative, then yeah, fucking duh it's not an ideal situation. if there are tools that facilitate instant takedowns of people who don't play to the 'meta' at the first sign of trouble, then we're cutting down on the number of narrative options we have. this isn't always bad, but OP thinks this case is. so let's grow up and actually discuss what his issue is instead of making it out that he's unrobust because he dared to ask for a nerf. also, the proposition that only security or the antagonist can have fun is stupid. we all know antagonists exist to make a round interesting for everyone, themselves included. it doesnt matter if security gets a little feel good because they instastunned a changeling who just got their first succ, because the whole narrative for the round has just been shut down. if there hasn't been an arc, nobody should be striving OOCly to take the antagonist down unless it would be unbelievable for them to not be removed. if we remove the insta-stun from a baton, antagonists have a stronger chance to fight back, and continue developing a story. save powerful takedowns for antagonists, or lethal armory gear, for when the stakes have been raised, and the story's had time to develop. that said, i don't have a strong opinion on this specific case, so i won't comment on it directly.

Qualifications: At least 30 years of age, 10 years experience in department-related field and a relevant Bachelors or Masters degree. Erin MacGregor does not meet the requirements to become a Head of Personnel. Further, I must admit, I feel uncomfortable saying confidently you would make an excellent head of staff. I will cite the one situation I have logs for: You, in view of others, showed absolutely no regard for your characters life, fighting over cheese with an armed, hardsuited intruder. You showed no fear at seeing an intruder aboard. You entered a firefight with him over cheese. You have also said the following to me: Shooting a robot over menial stuff is a huge red flag for a character who's looking to be put into a position of power, even if they are undergoing anger management. This was a long time ago, but it's representative of most interactions I've had with you. These are the two documented interactions I've had with your character. However, countless times, I have seen your characters aggression filter past what I find believable for an employee, let alone a head of staff. Swearing at people over minute things, showing a general lack of fear and believability in your interactions. I've also seen you claim to be related to Conor McGregor ICly, albeit in a tongue-in-cheek way. I believe your character is staunchly pro-xeno. A bit of context on this would be cool, a bit of understanding of why your character thinks this way. How long ago did she move to Tau Ceti? Sol is incredibly pro-human by Tau Ceti standards. Does this have something to do with it? How did the Sol Invasion affect her? Etc. Why does she come from Ireland if she has a Scottish accent? Further, from the OOC perspective: (Not my pictures) You called another player a cunt. Then, you acted on your OOC frustration by forcing them out of your bar ICly. This is a minor thing on the latter, but it shows an inability (or unwillingness) to separate OOC frustration from IC action. Again, everything here is old, but I don't keep track of everything that happens. All I know is that I see this behaviour consistently (although I have not seen your character recently, due to us being in different time zones). I'm going to need to give a -1. Sort out your characters requirements, say whether or not you stand by your previous actions, and I might be able to say otherwise. But for now, I cannot agree to you being in a position to lead departments, and make those kind of OOC-driven decisions on a grander scale.

In terms of genuine feedback, I'd more or less need to just provide an amalgamation of this, with all the ups and downs it provides. Playing a character that represents an archetype is incredibly dangerous, because it poses the risk of being obnoxious and detached from a serious roleplay effort. When someone's character can be boiled down to 'cool', 'flirtatious', 'rebellious', 'Martian', 'religious fanatic', or anything like that, it means that any attempts at withdrawing genuine reactions to the stations events will always be met with a kind of 'stock response', often completely inappropriate for a realistic individual. Preston does not do this, but I'd argue that he comes dangerously close. If you did not do such a good job of roleplaying fear, I'd say that Preston was would be almost a caricature, especially from his name and appearance. But from what I've seen of it, you present the veneer of coolness as just that - a veneer. An aspect of the character, rather than him being a character of the aspect. This is a very admirable trait, and I'm impressed when I see it. If there is one point I'm concerned about, it's your OOC relation to your character. Bear in mind I say 'concerned' rather than 'opposed to', because having a deep connection to your character in of itself is not wrong. But your icon is your character. From my understanding, he is the primary, perhaps only, character that you play. I believe you were the wizard 'Grand Pompadour' a couple of days ago. When cyborgified, your cyborg name was 'Presley'. People generally do that when they want to present an idealised version of themselves into the gameworld, and this in itself poses several difficulties, primarily that we hate losing in real life. So if we hate losing, and our character represents us, then we will take every step not to lose as our character, to always come out on top. Yet, again, this does not seem to be the case with Preston. Despite setting off so many red flags, you have managed to keep your characters actions under control (at least from what I've seen). Therefore, I'd summarise with: Preston Prestoff is by no means an excellent character, at least in so far as the immediately obvious. Their very outwards presentation feels cartoonish, with their name and appearance giving the impression of a joke character by creation. But you, as a player, do an excellent job of representing them to the best of your ability, and strengthening them with a strong 'backbone' to the character which allows people to forgive his eccentric exterior. He is presented with weaknesses, flaws, strengths, and an actual personality that you purposely allow to shine through. Continue to keep a firm grip on your character, on your role within the story, and I think that Preston is a very well done character which subverts expectations of a strong character.

The kinds of people who would forgo interacting with the chef when not compelled are the kinds of people who will grab and go with food as soon as possible when compelled. I already have significant issues with providing unrealistic properties to items. It gamifies things extensively, and we have proven time and time again that the community can't separate game mechanics from realistic play (';just drink some tea lol' ';you got irradiated? drink some vodka haha' ';ugh this wizard is so annoying teleporting all around the place lol' ';disarm him!' ';dislocate his limbs!'). for this reason alone, i will not support any change that proposes to create scenarios which will be counterinducive to realistic and believable play. You don't want to address points in the thread because you don't have the time or willingness to respond? That's completely fine. But that means that your changes won't go through, because the community will not support them one bit. You're being generous by donating your free time to code new features, but that doesn't mean that your gifts should be unanimously accepted. You need to keep people in the loop and involved, because, when it comes down to it, you're not coding an optional mod. You're coding for the actual game that everyone needs to be involved with.