MatterL

I haven't been around for a whole long time, but in this short time I've grown to see the various ways of playing people take to playing synthetics of every kind whether it be station-bound or IPC. I haven't gotten to sit through a lot of the changes in the past or at least wasn't paying enough attention to realize that they were happening but I have seen the effects that the lore has had on the community. In my opinion there appears to be a massive split between players who, for some reason, are entirely and utterly against synthetics having 'feelings' or even sentience for that matter and players who enjoy dealing with synthetics as if they were people. A few remain in between or simply don't care but the rift between the two sides seems to cause such horrible tension that the community feels downright toxic to talk to when conversation starts up about 'synthetic rights'. It's like people are forgetting this is a GAME. Truly that seems to be what needs to be focused on with Synthetics is that this is at the very base, a game. Whether people are here to live out fantasies they can't or won't in life, or simply as an escape or time passer, we're all here to play a game. The alien races are all at their core humans because they have humans playing them and no matter how hard humans try they cannot derive away from their human nature enough to portray a alien race that feels alien (those people who can do this should be writing books, as there are a few good examples out there). The same goes for synthetics though! A human cannot possibly be a computer because computers lack everything that makes a human what they are, and it's beyond difficult for a person to accurately portray that (with a few notable examples out there but they make up such a infinitesimally small percentage that holding everyone to that standard is unfair). So demanding that synthetics, who are played by humans, not be as human as some appear to be seems like an extremely hard thing to demand of them. I'm not saying there should be huge changes, or even any. There seems to be a decent line right now with some synthetics being more human than others and with good reasons behind each one. The fact that they can't feel pain like a person can or have to deal with issues that people does alone makes them stand out enough from normal biological matter that demanding that even their personality be so different makes them more alien than any species and without a whitelist behind them makes it unfair to hold them to standards that other species are not.

You know what's disgusting? This app. The fact that no one has gone and approved it already and the fact that no one has thrown high praise at ClearThoughts yet despite their wonderful characters. Characters that have interesting backstories, are written to be believable to each of their own race's lore while still being something new that stands out from the rest. Every character of theirs I've had the pleasure of interacting with has really helped set the bar for what I expect of other Aurora characters in multiple fields. I for one entirely and wholeheartedly support their whitelisting app. +1

Backstory is one thing, synthetic backstory is a whole different level though and Epsilon has destroyed my mind a bit with theirs! I need them to get IPC for the love of all that is robots and good. I full heartedly promote them and will do so shamelessly even, I believe that seeing them elevate to IPC would be something else entirely that would bring a huge amount of story to Aurora.

Thanks for all the comments! Glad you enjoyed it Jennalele, it's really interesting to see what happens when my roboticist is stuck encountering synthetics as he's very pro-rights. It was neat to talk to an malf-AI who wasn't just "Bzzzt, murder everything on the station". Really made him think like "Do I help stop it since I kind of know how or does that make me just a murderer..."

Theevildude is a great player! Definitely a great roleplayer and would make for an excellent anything honestly. I could see him playing an excellent IPC and would love the new character.

BYOND key: MatterL Character names: Matthew Reynold, Hudson Nash, Zane Martins How long have you been playing on Aurora?: Two weeks Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?: So that I might work as a Research Director and ICly move through the rankings of the station to provide not only myself but others with new roleplay, and a continuation of story that is slowly building.[/b] Why did you come to Aurora?: A friend recommended me to the server and once I joined I couldn't stop. Have you read the BS12 wiki on the head roles you plan on playing?: Yes, as well as the ones I don't intend to use. Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph each. Give a definition of what you think roleplay is, and should be about: Roleplay is and should be about the story. The story that you and others weave together in a nearly incomprehensible tale that brings them all good memories to look back on and enjoy. It's for developing characters and concepts that you and others can enjoy, and creating an experience. Making friends, getting ideas, creating, developing, and exploration of yourself are all what roleplay is truly about. What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame?: The OOC purpose of a Head of Staff should always be there to make sure their part of the station is promoting rp correctly. A sort of ic instigator to make sure that Xenobiology isn't just sitting in their lab the entire time, and that the guys out mining aren't just running a process and not dealing with anyone else. They are the ones who can look at a situation and try to figure out a way to keep things involved. Dragging people into encounters with a higher up, or reaching out to the rest of the station when their underlings are remaining too couped up in their own dealings. What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them?: Whitelisted players are expected to serve as people to look up to for an example of roleplay and how the players should act both icly and oocly. Their race and or role means they've been certified in some manner by admins and/or players and thus creating a bad example will lead to the propagation of degrading roleplay in general. Meanwhile if they act correctly and lead by example they can teach those around them how to better write and behave to make the atmosphere of the station as a whole a much better place. Please pick one of your characters for this section, and provide well articulated responses to the following questions. Character name: Matthew Reynold Character age: 31 Please provide a short biography of this character (approx 2 paragraphs): Matthew Reynold, also known as Matt most commonly by his peers and friends started his career as early as possible. Backed by his family he attended a college the moment he was out of public schooling and dual-majored in both Xenobiology and Advanced Robotics. His mother's side of the family being mainly into medicine, and providing most of the funding, decided that he had to at least have one major in something to do with biology as to carry on the family tradition. In four years he had completed both courses and had earned bachelors in both. From there he began work with NanoTrasen, an assistant to a Xenobiologist for four years as he worked on bringing his bachelors in Advanced Robotics to a PhD, though the slow grind and constant transits between work and college wore him down mentally. However with no openings in the current field he, begrudgingly, continued working as a Xenobiologist. 2455, and he manages to get a position on the recently constructed NSS Exodus researching a new form of life commonly referred to as slimes. However after a traumatic incident that resulted in his prolonged suffering and near death he quickly asked for a transfer to the Robotics division and was granted it swiftly. From 2456 to present day he worked both in Robotics and with Research while furthering his knowledge of the Research Division as a whole. Multiple times working as an apprentice or assistant to the Research Director in attempts to get a grasp on the ropes and even taking several classes in management. Having left his family with the Sol Alliance to stay with NanoTrasen and it's station in Tau Ceti, specifically on the planet of Biesel where he owns a small condominium, he was no longer able to afford furthering his college degrees and thus spends his days hoping to further himself on the NSS Exodus through show of self initiative and learned knowledge of the station's inner-research workings. What do you like about this character?: Matthew is both my first and favorite character so far. His personality that developed from interaction with several key characters and events, as well as his mind-set really make an easy character to play and enjoy. Not only do I enjoy him though but I feel as if others enjoy working with him as well. What do you dislike about this character?: He can be a bit laid back unfortunately, not so much in not getting work done but more as if numb to the danger presented by the station. This causes some tensions when others begin to feel the stress and he attempts to either shrug it off or joke about it. What do you think makes this character fit to be a head of staff?: Matt is a great talker, as well as a good worker. He's hard set on trying to work his way to Director and has made every effort to further his career towards that. He's had talks with the Captain about being a temporary Director, and has worked directly with several Directors (in game) to further his understanding of how to perform correctly as a leader. Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions. How would you rate your own roleplaying?: I would rate my own roleplay at either a seven or eight out of ten. I have been roleplaying for many years now, however in a setting like ss13 I tend to shorten things a little too much to keep up with the mechanical side of the game as well. Extra notes: I know this is possibly a bit early to be asking for whitelisting but I really do believe in my ability to play these roles in game. If I need more experience though I'll gladly stave off for some time. Edits#1 Synnono made a ton of great recommendations and had good questions. My backstory is mostly comprised of me trying to wrap my head around the wiki's lore section (which I think I'm understanding more and more now) and thus had some errors in it as well as the backstory missing some info. Thanks for the review!