Carver

As someone who'd honestly prefer rounds to go on for longer than they do at a minimum, my opinion on this is probably quite apparent. To explain, I prefer longer rounds where people instead can cryo when they're tapped out and those who stay can carry on their interactions/stories for extended periods. Often I've had some great interactions unfortunately cut short by the round length as it already is - and in 10+ years of playing around on servers ranging from 30-45~ minute length to 4+ hour length, I personally consider the ideal duration to be placed at about 3 hours. Anything shorter just leads to disappointment, and Aurora rarely votes to continue as it is despite how often the crew insist upon never cryoing when they're tired/bored.

I really, really preferred the tree over the dance floor. Little bits of nature like that are nice and break up the room in a good way. The dance floor is just tacky and makes the whole joint look like some scuzzy nightclub. Really went from a 10 to a 7 for me with that change alone.

Went from a 3 to a 10 to me, adore it now for the most part! Still hoping for some kind of 'private reservations' cards in the kitchen with windoors for the dining tables, but that'd be trivial to add in some other PR. Absolutely rock solid implementation now. Contrary to Dreamix I like the plants in the middle of the hallway for visual beauty, little things like that would make living on the ship a bit more bearable - tho while asymmetry doesn't bother me, the 5-wide shutters do - perhaps have them 3-wide and flanked by some full windows? The bar backroom doesn't really need space either given it should only rarely be used, so better to leave it how you have it. Hydro is perfectly functional. But, I will agree the kitchen could be marginally more symmetrical to the private lounge. Perhaps shove in some chef uniform lockers in the extra space that would require?

Honestly, it wouldn't be a concern if we could get boltable windoors. The clumsy solution would be windoors with special access requiring cards from behind the bar.

Depending on the aesthetic that can't really hurt - though it falls under the same privacy issue as the curtained dining tables have, where it's a few steps from the bar so every nosy bastard will walk in to look since unlike actual restaurants you won't get kicked out for bothering guests.

Even so, I still deeply miss sections like the L couch that were good for private meetings between crew - the little curtained 'smoking area' with the two comfy chairs that served a similar purpose. These all added to a very comfortable, gloomy atmosphere for the 'other half' of the bar that was pleasant to have overall. Now if I want privacy I may as well just leave and go to the cafe or the lounge behind the holodeck - and before the curtained dining tables are mentioned, they're never private. Everyone will check them in the current bar since they're so trivially accessible compared to the prior mentioned areas (which requires walking into an entire other room) and there's no real way to keep nosy crew out.

I really can't say enough how much I dislike this. It removes my absolute favourite sections of the bar - the dark, cozy lounge and the relatively quiet stage area - while making the whole thing guaranteed to be breached if there are any carp. Furthermore if one area is breached, the whole damn thing is breached - gone is the security of having the stage breached and the bar and kitchen being fine, having the bar breached and the kitchen being fine, etc. Passing by the bar to check for people is also far less passive and easy than it once was, given you can no longer shoot it a brief glance walking through the halls. I like the visual use of stairs and railings, but there was very good reason for actual walls and doors being used extensively there to separate rooms.

R-Walls are really more of a time-barrier than anything if someone has tools. It's not quite a deterrent to have extra so much as taking twice as long and thus having double the window to be caught - I personally prefer my window for escape being more literal, but that's because I enjoy breaking people out via the exterior and chucking them into air bubbles. High speed, high risk, immediate alert, but very fun!

For context, I generally assume as a traitor if I'm going into perma I won't have a PDA - and very few traitors invest in the uplink implant (since medical loves to body scan literally fucking everyone who comes to visit). I try to look at it from the context of mercs/raiders who can much, much more quickly smash a window - shove a guy into a voidsuit or air bubble and yoink them out compared to slowly disassembling a wall and gaining a higher risk of popped lungs for their guy on the last steps. I'm also a big proponent of taking the space immunity ability as a ling. Presently, as a note, you can smash the reinforces windows and make tools from the metal rods that can get you out without needing TC - the walls require a welder which is the only thing you can't really ghetto-craft into. Overall, hope this may be the straw that encourages someone to sprite diagonal windows! They'd be a very nice option for several parts of the ship.

I believe they're put there because they fall outside the bounds of the traditional command and faction structure (given BCs have the SCC faction, Liaisons have a fat variety of factions and Consulars are wholly independent), and putting BCs under Service (Given the XO is the gun-lord, not the OM - tho I'd wished it was OM!) would simply sound odd.

My primary feedback is that communal really, really needs a window to space. Otherwise the ability to escape it or break someone out without a full toolbox is drastically nerfed. On the other hand, I heavily prefer our current armoury's design as the 'extra door to enter' before the armoury proper makes it an extremely defensible hold-out spot (esp. combined with the barricades) that isn't trivial for even a full mob to break into when Security is holding it down. As an aside: Originally with the first draft of the PR I had a ton of issues with a majority of the changes, hated the HoS Office being moved primarily - though the newer iterations address that. I can see very strong improvements in design compared to the initial draft, even if I disagree with some of them.

Heavily support this. Any amount of surgery has always left them feeling overqualified in the amount of things they can do - I'd even go so far as to support installing new limbs only in absence of a surgeon proper. Let their primary duties remain being exosuits, hardsuits and building/fixing wholly synthetic beings.

It'd feel wrong if such a thing wasn't written by a figure like Skull who's been through a majority of that history.

I have not directly observed his play or been in his department during this trial; but as someone who'd played extraneous roles (Off-Duty, Consular, etc.) in rounds where he's been on as HoS, I can say he's had a generally positive impact on the greater rounds and I haven't seen it ever devolve into a mess (in a manner that could be seen as the fault of the HoS). I can't say this about all Command players/characters, but for those I can, I appreciate them being around. +1 for being one of those positive sorts.

Normally I would be against both of these due to preferring to prioritize server growth, but last event seemed to be a fucking mess so I can't really care to contest it. If I had to support anything though, going off the hub during events would be my choice since it's cleaner.

In regard to the latest event, the issues seemed at the core to be that the crew weren't well kept in check and it eventually devolved into chaos - doing nonsense such as theft, misuse of explosives and so on that should be preventable by local (and non-hostile) forces. My own alternate suggestion would be to have more event characters/volunteers who would be tasked with overseeing medical duties, organizing the crew characters and providing protection for the 'safe zone'-type main areas (including the arrest of misbehaving crew characters).

I will note, in one discussion on Discord with GeneralCamo when I'd posted evidence of his assumption on some matter or another being incorrect- he seemed quite understanding and cordial. I don't know him well enough to truly give a +1 or -1 committed level of feedback given the significance of a staff position, but I had to step in to mention that recent positive interaction.

That 'leg' was no more than a toe, given that cargo needs next to zero oversight to function and OM is even more destitute than the HoP in what it has to work with - thus, by that argument, should OM be the one made second-in-command? It clearly needs it more given it was not given oversight of the weapons as some had expected it would have. As it were, I have no interest in dealing with an every-round mini-Captain unless they're brought under the same strict requirements as the Captain proper. So they should take the Captain's primary duty?

I'll re-iterate my concerns in different wording: A default successor to the Captain would be a massive mistake, and go against Aurora's unique command structure and all said structure works toward. You are handing extra power to a role that does not deserve it, on account of a role title that by all metric appears to be a mistake to have changed because it apparently has led to incorrect expectations. Does the HoP (as I'll call that in this discussion, because in effect it is the same role) have less to do without Cargo under it? Truthfully, no. It has effective oversight of the Bridge and more decidedly important, Gunnery. Cargo is for the most part a self-sufficient corner of the vessel that has so little need for oversight barring travel bans and relaying shipping orders that I would argue the role that truly has no purpose is OM, you could merge OM and HoP again and it wouldn't change the work-load of the HoP whatsoever. Moreover, let's discuss why de facto second-in-line is a consistent mistake that Aurora has done well to move away from: You are giving inherent power to a role that has exceedingly lowered expectations and responsibility compared to the role it is the successor to. This empowerment is consistently a detriment unless you go to great effort to raise the requirements for said lower role; this is why HoP and Warden alike lost their traditional SS13 'second-in-line' positions. If such grace was given to the HoP, then one can surmise that the SCC trusts this individual to a degree above the rest of Command - for why else would they be placed in a position where they assume Captaincy for lack of a Captain? So, therefore, why would the SCC place this trust upon an individual that is not: Of a species that is in the 'trusted circle' of the SCC's upper echelons, that is, humanity and the skrell. Mindshielded. Put through stringent background checks that, on an OOC level, would place them with the Captain and HoS as being mechanically barred from the Revolutionary role. Ultimately, as others have said, it would be a preferable outcome to change the role's title to dispel these delusions of grandeur given by the unfortunate associations the role has with similarly titled roles on Baystation and CM-SS13. I suggested Chief Bridge Officer over in that separate thread, and I will reiterate that suggestion here.

I absolutely despise the idea of the XO being second-in-command, and cannot see it happening unless the Captain's species limitations are extended to it. The current council system is functional and prevents any one member of Command (barring the Captain of course) lording over the rest. The XO does not need to be stepping out of bounds and trying to lead everyone else unless they are majority voted into the position of Acting Captain as one would vote any other member of command into the position.

How about Chief Bridge Officer? No, this isn't a joking suggestion either, I like the thought of more Chief (department) Officer titles for uniformity. As for XO being second-in-command, I'd despise that quite a bit. Aurora's gone to good lengths to avoid any department, Command or lower, having explicit 'second-in-command' roles - and to elevate any one Command role as a 'second' would damage the power balance of Command (especially pertinent for the current 'council system' of voting whenever a Captain is unavailable or abstaining from making an executive decision).

I'd be doing a disservice by not giving him a +1, even if I lament losing one of the most capable and reliable Wardens I've ever had. Truly, I almost hope he fails his trial so that we don't lose another good Warden. Outside of the game, Camo is also a rather involved player in the community, I don't always agree with him but he seems consistently well-meaning and dedicated to Aurora.

BYOND Key: GMR25 Character Names: Constance Marca, Frederick Dayton, Larus Tomasson, Reed Calom Species you are applying to play: Tajara What color do you plan on making your first alien character: (120, 50, 14 - similar to Ruddy, but I wanted to make a grey gradient pop a bit more as I plan for the character to be older) Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Yes Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph format. One paragraph minimum per question. Why do you wish to play this specific race: With an arc centered around Adhomai coming up (or here, depends on when I posted this app!) I had figured now would be the best time to try something new and interesting to better take advantage, immerse myself and potentially participate in said arc. This interest was further fueled by the variety of interesting off-station roles requiring the whitelist that have cropped up. Overall, I hope to experience something different than what I'm accustomed to. Past the arc itself, I find that Tajara offer a variety of character archetypes that come more naturally to them than most other races due to their situation and history. On a more personal note, I find that their clothing and culture is aesthetically great compared to the more contemporary visuals used in other factions and cultures - I had a great time playing around on a local copy of the codebase and seeing how various character designs might look. Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: Let's get this first out of the way: Typing habits. The use of third person is something that won't be easy for me to accustom myself to without wrecking my greater typing habits as a whole. I presume autohiss can handle the rolled R's, but I will need to spend time getting accustomed to using He/She/Name in place of I. Onto the more cultural aspects, Tajara generally hold very rigid and structured system of beliefs shaped by tradition and particularly their nation's ideology; starting with their caste system: A defunct historical structure that has shaped the Tajaran view of the different races and their individual value and position - with the Royalists seeking to preserve it in a less cruel form, whilst the opposing Hadiist and Al'mariist factions seek to break away from it's lasting effect via differing methods; ultimately to less-than-ideal results. As such, depending on your character's race and origin, their opinion of the races may differ but said differences truly depend on their upbringing - with only the Royalist New Kingdom holding a positive view of the previously dominant Njarir'Akhran. Furthermore, Tajara are a deeply superstitious and faithful people; as despite the secular nature of two of three major powers only the Hadiists have begun to truly shift away from S'rand'marr Worship and the Ma'ta'ke Pantheon. Common between the two faiths, the stellar entities of the twin suns S'randarr and Messa and moon Raskara are treated with reverence and great suspicion respectively. Aforementioned superstitions remain dominant, with a myriad of mythological figures and legends kept 'alive' by oral stories; more traditionally-minded Tajara may even bear protective charms and talismans to bring safety and good fortune in their lives. Finally, before I bring up mechanics, there's the overarching note that ties it all together, the three nations of Adhomai: The Haddii's dominant, authoritarian PRA born of the First Revolution; Nated's militaristic, decentralized DPRA that has yet to fully piece itself together from the initial coup; and the New Kingdom led by the Azunja dynasty, the last nation representing the lost traditions of the pre-contact Tajara. To put it bluntly, they all hate each other - their politics render each of them fundamentally incapable of working together, and this extends down to their individual citizens who have great trouble getting along even light-years away from Adhomai without being forced by the less-than-gentle hand (read: laws and corporate structure) of Biesel and the SCC. Last paragraph of this short novel; mechanics and associated biology. Let's shotgun this; Tajara despise the heat due to being accustomed to the generally cold climate of Adhomai, and so in most attire the conditions of the Horizon aren't ideal for them - despite this, they must put it up with it. They have naturally sensitive (and emotive) ears, giving them a disdain for loud and unexpected noises in particular. Their languages incorporate a varying amount of body language, so deformities or loss of natural structural elements (such as the ears or tail) harm their ability to fluently communicate and express themselves. They are treated with suspicion and distrust by most entities outside of Adhomai proper, limiting their opportunity for advancement within alien polities and corporations - with only the more politically affluent Hharar and Njarir capable of assuming most positions within the Horizon's command structure. Their bodily structure renders them incapable of wearing most hand and footwear designed for other species, in addition to alien I/EVA equipment. Character Name: Valeriin Dyrukh'raszyn Please provide a short backstory for this character Valeriin was born in the human year of 2414, a Njarir’Akhran of a minor house in the Kingdom of Kaltir and survivor of the First Revolution, during much of which he was sheltered due to his young age and status as his father's heir. When Kaltir surrendered, Valeriin's parents and much of his extended family were murdered - and at the age of 18 he was hidden away by loyal servants of the household among a peasant family who bred Zhsramii, where he had spent most of the next eighteen years working to hide himself from violent revolutionaries and earn his keep. Yet, by 2449 he had learned of the return of the Azunja dynasty - and by 2450 pledged himself to the rightful King as his father had been pledged to the King who ruled before. Serving as an Officer leading a cavalry Alam'ard among Azunja's uprising, he put his expertise in handling Zhsramii to good use, though not without great risk. Just a few years into the Second Revolution, he'd found himself married with his wife expecting, yet the Republican Offensive forced him further away from home to continue to defend the New Kingdom. By his late 40s, his eyesight began to worsen and alongside the danger of his position in the Imperial Adhomian Army, his age caught up with him and he was shot off his mount during a flanking charge - fracturing a leg and leaving him crippled for life. Only but a few years later was the Armistice of Shastar signed, and Valeriin found himself returning to a more mundane life of leading his household - teaching his children to be proper Njarir and followers of Ma'ta'ke as his father taught him, yet also attempting to instill in them a quiet humility and appreciation for the simple beauty of nature as he had learned from the Zhsramii ranchers he spent his young adulthood with. It was in this quiet life that his own appreciation of the simpler things began to grow; he continued to ride his Zhsram, being rarely seen in public dismounted due to his injury and need to maintain a strong image for his household, and in his spare time he tended a personal garden with his children - growing small quantities of traditional plants such as Binajr-nab'at and Prraza'al Messa, though steadily devoting a section to several alien herbs and plants that he finds himself ever more curious about such as Raspberries and Mint. Now, well past his prime at 51, Valeriin finds himself to be growing weary of the greater strife on Adhomai that has dominated most of his life and plans to pass on leadership of his house to his oldest son - soon to reach maturity. He has little patience for politics, furthered by a potent hatred of the PRA for murdering his family and an immense distrust toward the DPRA for their unrepentantly violent tendencies. Despite views that would have him labeled an Absolute Royalist, owing to his undying loyalty toward the late Vahzirthaamro Azunja as an infallible King who saved his people in spite of impossible odds, Valeriin seeks to see the stars beyond Adhomai even if this would require he place himself among foreigners or worse. He understands that the Horizon's arrival is perhaps his only opportunity to do so without placing his family under great financial stress, and so he's brought only a traveler's purse worth of money and several important belongings - leaving all else. What do you like about this character? I like that this character is going to require a lot more nuance than what I'm typically used to. He's at an advanced age, limping and with poor eyesight - yet holds himself high in order to maintain a dignified image. He's intended to be markedly well-spoken - perhaps to a degree seen as quite antiquated by other Tajara - in his native tongues of Siik'maas and Ya'ssa, yet he will struggle with properly wording more modern concepts that he's unfamiliar with, such as calling all lasers 'firearms'. I most look forward to his interaction with foreign cultures, as even despite his familiarity with the pre-Revolution noble standards of living he'll see human and skrellian standards as quite extravagant by comparison, and he'll be lost on many alien terms and concepts spoken in Basic. How would you rate your role-playing ability? 7/10 on a motivated day, 8+/10 if I feel strongly inspired. I try to play only when I'm motivated. Notes: I am going to struggle with learning to use third person regularly. I also fear the amount of tabs I have to keep open in order to memorize all the important details involved in properly portraying a relatively 'advanced' character. Though, if I enjoy him enough and feel that I've grown sufficiently familiar with all the key notes, I am strongly considering elevating him to be a New Kingdom Consular instead of merely a Passenger. I had considered making him a Gardener, but he would never feel comfortable letting the greater spur's impression of Njarir be one lowering himself in such a way, nor does he wish to work for any foreign corporation.

Perhaps an ideal solution may be having the roll guaranteed then, so that the guaranteed spawn works as intended? This would solve any issues with being unable to find resources.