Scheveningen

strong endorsement. really think matt brings a lot to the table here

my two cents 1. I think playtime usually represents being relatively in-touch with the server and its culture, in addition to knowing how the departments here function and also how the command structure interacts with others. If you don't have this, it's a bit sus for someone to be given a command whitelist without having some level of guarantee how the social environment actually works in relation to the Aurora-specific side of things, rather than explicit experience with SS13 servers in general. 2. I don't see a problem with the interviews. It allows the whitelist team member and the potential whitelistee to hash out any details or otherwise exchange perspective and see if there are any incompatibilities for the role being applied for. 3. I believe the feedback requirement is more practically for garnering negative feedback or observations with some level of concern via the community that plays/observes at a wider range than the whitelist team is properly able to observe from. It's basically a fail-safe system that works most of the time when people check the forums. Positive feedback is another element of this from my observations and generally helps reinforce the candidate via a more well established member of the community whose word can be trusted. Having more people support it helps the candidate even more, but most people don't even use these forums anymore. What's there to read nowadays anyway? Discord has turned our brains into short attention span mush, as well, so some people aren't that motivated to even check the forums here unless directly prodded, which is what I think these candidates should be doing. Tell A Friend is all I can suggest to these people who were denied before if they want better chances at getting the whitelist -- ideally their friend should actually play, so... 4. I don't think this is necessary. This isn't something that requires direct mechanical restrictions for, and as someone who oversaw and hosted another server that implemented job timelocks: they freaking sucked. They do not really work on servers that have zero greytide presence, which Aurora is quite known for.

Opposed. Equivalent priority lawsets lead to much more complicated situations for synthetic players to have to handle and logic-box their way out of the issue or otherwise resolve the conflict that is originally causing the situation to arise in the first place. This leads to much deeper and more interesting character choices on the synthetic side than if they were ordered in terms of priority. Taking away the intentional difficulty of handling certain social situations from a stationbound synthetic perspective while offering nothing meaningful in return isn't a good policy change.

Saul Goodman here, representing my honorable client Garnascus. My client wishes to plead the fifth.

Literally BayStation 12

Forget votes, just name it Crusher.

This room is entirely irrelevant. The way mercs works is that the mercs have their OWN CODE to their OWN NUKE. They don't have to fuck with the SD whatsoever, because that code to the SD can only be acquired through adminbus, and therefore only the captain can ICly acquire it. The only inch of effort required is that the mercenaries have to acquire the disk and then it's over by that point. The real issue is the mercenary shuttle even spawning in with a nuclear device. We're long past the era of ss13 of mass nuclear homicide.

I love the delivery of this. So succinct and to the point. Agreed, unless quality control matters so much more to some folks than actually having players on the server. Nobody wants to have to wait through the bureaucratic week-to-weeks long process it takes to get whitelisted here because of the intensive vetting process. All of this talk about "being out of touch with the community/lore/game", it is a blatant disguising of words for what is actually wanted: to keep an insular base of players of the exact same people, who may not even be here for the next year. Communities always change and do not hinge on a single group of players to keep it going. It shouldn't, either. Aurora has lasted far too long to be making this mistake.

I think this is a completely terrible idea. I'm personally on extended leave from playing Aurora until the NBT arrives, and even then I would not expect to massively dedicate my time playing on Aurora because my motivation for joining a round largely depends on the players connected to the server. If I see names I recognize, I'd be inclined to join, if I don't, I will most likely not, because there is definitely that impression people won't take you seriously if they don't recognize your character, etc etc. But likewise, stripping whitelists for something inoffensive as choosing not to play the game is itself, well, offensive. It actually gives me and likely other potential returning players more reason to not return if we're otherwise unable to play the same characters in their respective roles again, because job-hopping is not tolerated here, and playing visitor can be horrifically boring in a roster of job-focused characters. This decision would be extremely isolating and would work against the idea of getting any returning former regulars back. I would simply not return to play here if this decision was made. And while anyone is entitled to think, "Well, good" to however many exceptional cases that involve specific players, this decision would still end up coming off as intensely elitist and catering only to the in-group of current regulars' desires for quality control at the direct cost of risking that returning players will not be playing a majority of their characters on server, if at all. I'd argue it's the command whitelist's team to account for returning players playing command and doing a terrible job of it to then moderate those players if they screw up, and escalate especially so on account of the typical, "Hey, did you read the rules, or did you literally just return to ruin rounds and chucklefuck?" -- in which case that's very open and shut, and it's fair, because it's case-by-case basis, and no one is to blame but that player. The idea in the title isn't fair and isn't open-and-shut. There are many awesome people who, while rusty if they returned, would still be amazing leaders, if not better after spending time outside this game to learn new life lessons. This idea really doesn't save you a lot more trouble than you think it would. Terrible command players, once they lose their whitelist, are unlikely to get it back barring an incredibly unique circumstance. But it's your job as volunteers to moderate and deal with that when it arises on a case-by-case basis, right? And in any case, even if a particular person who was whitelisted applies, and their app quality is fine and their behavior is fine, they would still be screwed if the whitelist team suddenly decides, "Actually, we're not going to re-whitelist you." And their whitelist removal isn't even for something punishable, you just arbitrarily decided they would be de-whitelisted for inactivity (not against the server rules nor is it a thing not mentioned in the rules that could be considered against the spirit of the rules, so therefore it's ridiculous) and that you would not re-whitelist them because you don't feel like they should be. The decision is already arbitrary, so it doesn't matter if you just said "I would not strip them for any arbitrary reason", because this is an already arbitrary decision. QED, this is bad. That being said, the staff can do what they want with their server - fairness and honor are social constructs - but it strikes me as odd that the command whitelist team even considers this idea while saying that bringing back the old regulars with the promise of a different experience is important. The potential action that would isolate a lot of people from playing doesn't match up with the words promoting inclusivity. Tell me to cope if I'm getting the wrong idea here but the hypocrisy just sticks out like a sore thumb. If you value quality control more than the quantity of returning players than just say that and do the quality control thing, forget democracy.

Wishing you lot a happy holiday and I hope your luck with Aurora continues/improves onto the next year.

All four damage types in-game are individually deadly in their own right. Not to mention extremely balanced at their current state, not imbalanced. The unforgiving and brutal nature of the medical system is ironically fun and fair in itself.

Pass on this. The problem far moreso lies within the prevalence of changeling armblades giving them a free, instantaneous cuffbreak for free, whereas Unathi antagonists are not nearly as prevalent nor inherently problematic in their mechanical design or intended behavior. At least Unathi give you a 5 second notice.

Political

I know I said I wouldn't reply on a friend's moderator application, but given some thought, I don't even know why I follow that rule when I'm just a regular White Name, so I am going to selectively decide it doesn't matter in this case. Full disclosure, I am personally endorsing your application, for reasons already mentioned above (your general behavioral ethic and methodology, at any rate, you're generally a nice person, you've improved much since you started playing here, you're an outstanding example as a roleplayer, etc). That being said, I ought to warn you - not because I think you'll run into any problems, but it is something I think ought to be said for, and heard by, anyone who is considering a staff position. You'll run into some challenges as a staff member, and most of them will require you to be discrete and understand the importance of need-to-know information in order to limit the damage other members can deal to each other, if they are given the opportunity. You may end up having to ban someone someday for their conduct, and they may be a server regular who decides to take personal issue with your methods and may even try to create problems for you. You would be required to not use similar tactics against them, should something like that happen. You have to uphold decency, you have to resist pettiness, and most of all you have to show at the end of the day that you care, even if you are dealing with a particularly difficult amount of hate. Being staff in general is often a thankless job with more criticism than praise. I said all the above up there because I was not able to overcome the majority of difficult and complex problems with grace at the tail end of my staff tenure a long time ago, and it pains me to see when other people fall into similar trap situations. If you do get onto the staff team, remember that you are not alone, you can always ask for help. Even a year or so down the line if you happen to become an admin, you can always tag someone in for you to handle a difficult situation, you don't have to always headbutt into every issue. The staff back in my day were awesome, and the staff in this day are even more awesome. Burnout is real and it can affect your judgement, though, so recognize when you have to take a break to get the heat off your mind. Anyway, good luck. I'm hoping you have a really good chance at this. When things go right, it can feel really fulfilling to be able to be at the service of others and to more positively impact each other's experience, to the point that all the potential negatives are outweighed by those positives.

Your efforts and accomplishments are appreciated, Skull. Don't undersell yourself. I know I've both been on your good and bad sides, but hopefully you'll be able to part from the server community with an even greater journey ahead of you. Wish you luck and all the best.