Rechkalov

- Tina Kaekel

Stephen Perry - 5 Patricia Pike - 4 Daniela Baranova - 2

Brush for the smudges, pen for the lines - fix, actually. Thank you, sir!

Stephen Perry Patricia Pike

Daniela Baranova Medical - Trust me, I'm a doctor / Not That Kind of Doctor - Labcoat of Science and Medicine

Seduce the first Medbay-employed female to cross my path.

I'm just happy it works.

That's... most strange. I was convinced I made the sprites so that they would work just fine if you slapped them on a normal human "model". Then again, I never did this before. Sorry? Edit: Wait, do you or do you not have the sprites where they are cut limb by limb?

Why go straight for politicians? Rather, I was thinking instructors on the children's camp. Furthermore, these people spend /a lot/ of their personal time not exactly having fun themselves, but trying to hold together a place to have fun for us. In return, they get comments like these, putting increasing pressure on them - presently, it is at such a point that I get the feeling as if most of the staff did not dare to speak on any topics as there's a rather great bunch of people who watch their every move for whatever they could label as fascism. That is hardly the right way. Last but not least, I doubt anybody outside the staff has such a view of the greater picture on the server, our actions within the community and the actions' impacts. Just something to ponder.

Stop right there, Johny. This. What you are doing right now. What you have been doing past several months. You guys keep on throwing stones everywhere around you. The targets of this righteous fury vary, but the act -your conduct- in itself is the same; the same people always gang up on somebody and talk them to death in a "civil discussion" while escalating drama every given opportunity. Are you seriously comparing this to a corruption of government at the highest possible level? I suppose that makes you the voice of the people, huh? Yeah, no. Don't flatter yourself. This is a game. Quit blowing this out of proportion, quit pointing fingers, quit throwing stones. Also, government is a reflection of its people.

Now, I didn't read through all of this and something tells me I should not get involved, but these two points I just cannot get out of my head. 1) I'm pretty certain Doomberg's problem is not with how players represent the community outside of the server, but rather the attitude some players have towards other players slash community as a whole. 2) Way back, when this thing began, certain party here had issues with players who would fabricate drama and force it onto others. Releasing those logs, publicly confronting people in manner that was by all means hostile and demeaning and finally returning time after time to continue these discussions would seem to me to be precisely that; collectively creating drama so vast and so loud that it cannot be ignored. Whether one gets off to 32x32 pixels sprites of spessmen or his own rhetorics is minimal difference.

Jean Michelle Jarre - Oxygen. Perfect for those who "accidentally" fall of the station.

...I was thinking I should filter my posts for stuff unrelated to Aurora, but, but, I'm really happy with how this one turned out. https://www.behance.net/gallery/27481251/Custom-cover-Flowers-for-Algernon Also #mice

Yeah there has. But no one is going to change, you know? You will notice that apart from the bunch of you reassuring one another of how high quality your RP is in contrast to ERPers, nobody and nothing has changed, really. Almost as if your group itself was a proof that change requires in the first place a willingness to change... oh!

Rechkalov losing his shit and acting like the drama queen he was accused of being. Nothing to see here. Everybody go home.

Would you be so kind and quote the entire part from which you keep pointing out one line and using it as a direct attack on your person and an excuse to assault my being coming off an incident that happened in the december - that is, more than six fucking month ago? (see the date of my Golden Seed post, during which Dan was already off the game) While discussion is nice, and honesty is nice, so is civility. Not once from the SSL incident, which was intended to kill off Dan for good and be a definitive end to the ridiculous relationship-thing that happened there, have I strayed from focusing on my character's job and nothing else. Anyhow, you're taking this far beyond the level of improving the quality of roleplay. I am surprised at the hostility, since I've never had any issues with you personally - or interacted with you beyond mere greetings, and your accusations are based on things that are literally so 2014. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll take my own advice and fuck the hell away and do something pleasant instead. Perhaps I'll draw a couple of lesbians?

OH NO I DIDN'T-

Okay. This was initially not about Dan. My defense of Dan came later as well. This was about becoming a tru HRP server - how many attempts at that have we seen? - and I have responded to that in what I think is a reasonable manner and a friendly, if not good advice. Upon that, Invy turned 360°degrees from to . Make of that what you will. Finally - gaming is, in most cases, an escape from reality. We play because our lives suck. Our very presence in the game can be interpreted as avoiding some sort of real life crisis/vacuum/responsibility/whatever, you name it. Apply similar logic to what's happening here; if you are upset with the game, find an escape. Life won't change and game won't change and everytime you get pissed off, you lose. So yeah. I lost. A bummer. Cya.

That happened a long, long time ago, and it was a single incident. Unless of course you want to go REALLY far back to detective Daniela Marx spacing herself and stuffing people into disposals and... all the other I'm-new-to-this shit I am not proud of. Claiming that Baranova and my gameplay consists solely of space lesbian shit is far fetched and yes, I did spring like a devil out of the box; I have admitted that already. But I wasn't trying to prove that I do good stuff, too, on top of that one really strange week or a fortnight - I was trying to point out that the very issue Invy is addressing is an issue that is the very centerpoint of gameplay as a shrink, and using all the experience in that role as a further proof for the one argument I had to make and keep making over and over - you can't change people. You would do well not to let yourself be upset about them. Because in the end, griefers, robusters and ERPers all have fun, and you don't - you lose, they we win. Sure, I can totally see how that attempt would be easily looked over, since my mindset kept switching between trying to make that point and trying to defend myself against the allegation that my logging into the game once in every two or three weeks makes me the main villain of whatever is upsetting Invy.

I got more defensive here than I would have liked, but the point remains; I enjoy people. You enjoy science-fiction lore, or so you claim. Some people enjoy running around and yelling, and some enjoy constructing bombs and teleporting them to the HoP's office. All of our kinds and many more will always be around, and unless you're proposing actual banning of everybody who doesn't live up to your standards - which, upon closer inspection, would leave a group of very few, since everybody here had a dumb phase at some point- you will just have to learn to simply enjoy your thing and don't take the others too much to heart. Like most of us here did. Because, at the end of the day, it is just a game and absolutely not worth getting distressed about.

Now you're just being mean. I am very much interested in the lore, and I have tried my pathetic best at expanding it. I've also been great Vaurca enthusiast and have high hopes for roleplaying a bug character - one I would enjoy way more than continually playing Baranova. Whom I had attempted to leave on numerous occasions and trade her for Andrew Stockstill, but other players seemed to consider her an enjoyable character and urged me to bring her back. Admittedly, my great passion is psychology and related fields, rather than IPC and robots and lazerguns, but although not necessarily a sci-fi theme, it would seem that (judging by people's comments) I've done fairly well in making that -otherwise overlooked- field fun for others, and I have actively tried to relate it to the science-fiction bits of the game and superimpose the two (analysing AIs and androids, attempting to get a bunch of androids and roboticists together and create artificial life form - and the bad stuff, too, as proven by my attempts to give satisfactory IC explanation for all the griefers and the like). While I can't claim to have hit many people with metallic bats, I like to think that I do my part in eliminating the issue you are bringing forth here; which consists by a large part of people considering themselves main characters and forcing their drama on others. You may not see me in the bar or the library chatting up engineers, but anyone who's ever been trouble and/or annoying at the station had spent considerable time in Dan's office where I would listen to their crap often for several hours (ponder this; several hours of the stuff that makes you angry just when you catch a glimpse of it over the comms), all the while trying to come up with an IC psychological approach that would help them become more enjoyable -and hence less frustrated- players, juggling IC and OOC matters both in one go. There are many people aboard the station who want to be paid attention to and are genuinely disheartened and feeling neglected -some of them very decent and well-known players; they know who they are- and that's where Dan comes in. It's not always a fun role. In fact, it rarely is. I don't really get to play much, overall. But I find my joy in seeing those people feel and perhaps even act better at later dates. You find your in bashing people with a bat. It's a matter of taste. And yes, since I don't really get to RP at all, mostly being just an active listener - I did do some incredibly stupid things when my character was occasionally put into the spotlight. But that was quite a while ago, mind you, and I remember only one occasion at which it was blown into such a proportion as to bother any other players. Hey, a challenge; define Dan's character. There isn't much to say, because for most of the time, she is listening - spending time with the people you judge in your thread and trying to find a way to them, since usually (see McGrath's example, for one) they are themselves personally distressed by the state of affairs and the compromise between their characters and the general Aurora feel would much benefit both sides. While you expect people to read your thread and feel bad and become your ideal of a player, I would like to think that I am actively trying to connect with each and every one of these people. In fact- come on. You tried to RP with Dan recently, the horror stories trade. You recall how awful often I had to run away - precisely to deal with the people who upset you so. And, the statement that got you so upset was pretty much my conclusion after doing this for several months; you can't change people, not all of them, not ever. Doesn't mean we should stop trying per se. But our personal pissing contest aside; there is a point I've been trying to get across for a while on different occasions and I'm going to try it again; this, what we do here, is a game. The point of every game is to have fun. If you are not having fun (and get so frustrated as to make threads, and get angry when those threads don't magically bring about the change you dream about) , then you would be wise to stop playing the game for a while and seek fun elsewhere. If a game which you come to to have fun leaves you upset, then you have a problem. Not the game.

Oh my. Well. With that attitude, I almost regret deleting the post regarding McGrath - but, there is a thin line between open/constructive criticism and being plain mean, and I was way too involved to trust myself to be the first. Regarding the incident with the bat- I have things to say on the matter, though admittedly more in self-defense and quite possibly lacking in any value to the actual issue presented here. Hence the spoiler. Now, to your specific points; I beg different. Actually, looking back, most of my interaction with other players involves reflecting on each other's characters, and I think the exchange usually benefits both sides and manages to go without anyone's pride getting hurt. It might be worth pointing out, though, that these interactions do happen between four eyes, meaning A) nobody at their best will can take the criticism for public shaming, or feel a shame in response as they possibly would should exactly the same words be uttered publicly B) the criticising side themselves don't put their reputation at a line while speaking their mind (not unlike the time I deleted my post out of fear of coming across as too harsh or downright mean) C) it can be assumed that both participants in such a discussion hold each other in some respect at least, so there are much better odds of them taking the criticism to heart instead of just dismissing it as "haters gonna hate" Tl;dr - I'd say the issue is not with feedback, as rather with feedback threads Now, I haven't been around much and maybe I am missing out on a lot of it - but my impression is that our ways have very much improved from the days when the whole station would divide into pairs and each would sit in their little corner, not talking to anybody. In fact, apart from the whole McGrath/Kirenza business, I don't recall any couple that would force their romance on anybody, or present an obstacle to others' game. As for people forcing Chairp (a term which I might not be comprehending properly) - I get the feeling the opposite was the issue about the time I was last truly active around here, that is, everybody was complaining of people forcing shootouts on others, leaving nobody no room to just sit and have an actual RP. I am going to trace a bit back to the defensive part of my post, but there are characters aboard that get absolutely nothing out of hostile situations. In fact, I would say that goes for most of the crew, excluding some of the louder security officers, perhaps really aggressive medical personnel, and the antags themselves. I've come to terms with this and consider the current balance between steadier and all-out rounds fair, and simply choose not to participate in the latter because there is literally nothing for me to do. If I were to insist on actively participating in the round, I would either have to resign myself to playing audience/cannon fodder to the clashing factions' drama, or force myself into the happening at the cost of sacrificing a great deal of consistency and integrity. Perhaps that is just my problem, but I'm throwing it out there because I'm fairly confident that there are a lot of people hereabout for whom the code blue means end of any and all fun. Subtext being, I don't see how that is different from forced chairp - in both cases, there is a smaller or larger group of people who will never be given any true chance at actively participating, and are expected to be reactionary characters emphasizing the importance of whatever the current action hero has going on. Now I don't mean to detract (is that the word?) your point here but People have been discussing this as far as I can remember, and I am not even going to waste breath repeating the points made in the past. Yes, people sit and expect roleplay to happen, moreover, people have a very specific idea of what kind of RP they want and turn down all else. To word it differently, people are being people. If your best solution to an issue is "Everybody else must go deep into themselves and change their behaviour", then your solution is absolutely useless. If you are truly so bothered by it, you are free to go and be an example to them, or to resign on your idea of what Aurora's players should be like and just enjoy whatever there is to enjoy, or simply to walk away. Please, don't take this the wrong way, but regardless of how true are your points and how brilliant your argumentation, you can't change people. Just have a look at our history. Uh. Reading on through your post, I feel this is all there is to say, really. Your observation and analysis of The things preventing us from having nice things is possibly the most thorough and best worded I have ever seen around here, and your ideal state of affairs around Aurora is hard not to fall in love with. But your solution remains a change of heart in the players. Not going to happen. Nope.

Phoebe - I really don't know what to say. So much has been said already. She leaves me continually perplexed; I absolutely fail to make sense of that character, but in a way that feels right. As in, some characters don't make sense and that's just it, and their inconsistency is like nails on a chalkboard - not Essel. Essel is just a snowflake gone full circle; through the phase of abusing the power that comes with "Well we don't permit this behavior, but you see, this is Phoebe - she is special" back to the point of a character that doesn't usurp the spotlight from anybody and even can make amusing remarks at its own...snowflake-iness. We're supposed to be mean, I guess, but this really is snowflake character done right in my opinion. Add: Specifically, her uniqueness does not come from Phoebe having overly-complicated dramatic backstory (as is the custom), as rather from other players instinctively recognizing her as a strong character. All I can say is 'hats off' - and maybe a quiet wish that some players would give up attempts at inspiring such confused love-hate relationship in us with their characters. Add 2: It's a relief she doesn't spend her rounds in a locker with half the medical bay begging her to come out anymore. Winston Carton Ah, the poor thing. Winston started out as a quite straightforward character with what I suspect was OOC temptation to beat things. And frankly, his early Stein period felt awfully forced - as in, Stein was trying so damn hard to appear as fearsome operative who always has the upper hand, even in situations that clearly went everywhere but in his favor. At that time, the attempts at sounding deep and meaningful while escaping in a shuttle full of syndicate corpses fell really short. However, since then, Carton had come a long way; he actually did become a symbol of sorts. What more, his Winston/Stein duality -which I would look down upon in any other situation, did look down upon at one time- benefited him greatly. Somehow, the thing that I would consider the very definition of trying too hard played out really well, and he became a thoroughly developed -and relatable to- character whose story I am now genuinely interested to follow, and don't take that lightly. I suppose he became less stiff, less of a parody of a villain, and rather an actual, reactionary character - reactionary, that's it. Winston now appears to be in touch and working off the happening on the station, rather than pre-written off-screen drama to serve as an excuse of sorts for his behavior duality very existence. Then again - while I do indeed enjoy playing with him, I do have certain doubts whether the other players can perceive him in such a manner, too, seeing as much of my actual interaction with the character takes place within the four walls of the psychiatrist's office. Vira De Santos I used to genuinely dislike the gunslinger captain... or rather, fear. Of course, my perspective is notably limited to that of a third-rate medical character, but seeing Vira (and Issek, or both, for that matter) aboard always left me with a foul taste. These characters - much like Lockie in her screaming period - had a way of forcing the story and other players, who would not go to such extremes, to revolve around them. Captain for the sake of being a captain. And then there was that part about Vira hunting down her mafia-boss dad all the while protecting her little sister, turning her backstory the same over-the-top shade as her manners; I feel there's a lot to tell from the backstory about Delta's perception of Vira within the game. It didn't matter how many times you went over the drama - from every angle, Vira was in the center; the one being hunted, the one being blackmailed, the one going on an epic illegal gunning spree, the one escaping the authorities... and look, isn't that marvelous, she's completely blameless. It just so happened that her dad is a bad guy, and her sister cannot look after herself, and she's powerful and important enough for the bad guys who go after her bad guy dad to seek to use her as a leverage. I mean, god damn. But Vira had matured a lot since then. Her story became human, and - hey, coming off the 'captain for the sake of being captain' accusation, I think the process can best be demonstrated with Vira seeking roles of lesser authority, becoming a part of whatever story is happening, rather than wishing to be its centerpiece. I've noticed similar change of heart in her on-the-side issues as well; Vira is now dealing with human problems, like the rest of us mere mortals, and that makes her feel real - and truly enjoyable. Kids, the moral of today's story is 'less is more'. Enkas I once met an amazing, well-read philosopher chaplain, a true master of the art of rhetorics. I loved that chaplain very much, though I only saw him once, and for a very brief time. As it turned out, Belorin was not that chaplain. As for Enkas' other characters, I've only had the pleasure of interacting with Cylia, and I feel others have already summed that up pretty well; there's not a whole lot to say. There's really nothing bad to say about Cyl. And the best to say about her is how very little she stands out - I'd go as far as to say that she stands out precisely by how little she stands out. I imagine that is a mark of a great character, when they leave you with a memory of truly enjoyable and pleasant game experience without a single bit of purpousedly constructed backstory to spice them up and make them differ from all the other characters aboard. Makes me wish I was capable of creating such a character, myself. - Now, you all knew I was going to ask for opinions of Baranova despite the fact she barely appears aboard anymore

Allow me to answer you with a question - are you saying other players shouldn't be allowed to hurt your characters because you like them and don't want them to get hurt? To use your own Call of Duty parallel; imagine! A server where you can't shoot at players who don't want to die! I don't see how that's different from let's say the career pick. Some positions are high in demand and hard to get into. I'd really like to play chaplain, but other players always get chosen before me. Too bad. Nothing to be done about it, though. Dying is part of the game. Penalties are part of the game. Not getting your dream job, dream race - yes, even your much desired approval and recognition, these are all part of the game. If you don't like it, don't play. It's as simple as that. I may be forcing this in a certain way right now, and if so, I apologize - but what I'm hearing is "I want to play whom I want to play and I want the story to unfold as I have planned it and for my character to end up like I wanted them to end up" and so on. Or, in different terms - the word failure keeps coming up. To me it sounds as if you defined failure as "things going differently than I imagined/planned". How would you define failure? And what would success be, in your terms?

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