Captain Gecko

Accepted!

You guys are TOO GOOD! Stop being so good you're making this hard on us!!! (I'm joking of course, right?) Anyways, have some general and not-so general questions, hopefully your answers will help us figure who will be the ONE AND ONLY to rise up and join the team. And if you're not chosen, well at least know that you've made this very hard on us because this is as close as it gets so far between you two applying. anyways. 1) What is the best strength a (deputy) lore writer can have? 2) What the worst flaw a (deputy) lore writer can have? 3) You've probably figured this out since you play at least one alien species- the Unathi-, but Aurora has an arguably very cool take on aliens, where they are not just people with different skins. Unathi are not just people with scales, nor do they just differ in culture from Humans, but they have their own biology, their own mindset- often influenced by their nature- their own natural habits, etc. They are aliens. What would you do, put in your writing, or anything else to make sure that the playerbase keeps this in mind? Or perhaps you actually think we should make the Unathi more relatable and not more alien, in which case, do justify yourself!

You guys are TOO GOOD! Stop being so good you're making this hard on us!!! (I'm joking of course, right?) Anyways, have some general and not-so general questions, hopefully your answers will help us figure who will be the ONE AND ONLY to rise up and join the team. And if you're not chosen, well at least know that you've made this very hard on us because this is as close as it gets so far between you two applying. anyways. 1) What is the best strength a (deputy) lore writer can have? 2) What the worst flaw a (deputy) lore writer can have? 3) You've probably figured this out since you play at least one alien species- the Unathi-, but Aurora has an arguably very cool take on aliens, where they are not just people with different skins. Unathi are not just people with scales, nor do they just differ in culture from Humans, but they have their own biology, their own mindset- often influenced by their nature- their own natural habits, etc. They are aliens. What would you do, put in your writing, or anything else to make sure that the playerbase keeps this in mind? Or perhaps you actually think we should make the Unathi more relatable and not more alien, in which case, do justify yourself!

BYOND Key: Captain Gecko Discord Username: CAPTGecko Character Name: Sezrak Han'san Item Name: red Han'san scaleshield Item Function(s): This is a custom Scaleshield, it works much like the others. In other words, it works like a poncho, wearable as a coat or an accessory for the clothes in the "suit slot" Item Description: "A thick, warm piece of reinforced canvas and fabric made by Dominian Unathi to keep themselves warm in Moroz's frigid climate. This one bears a pattern commonly seen in Hunter’s District, also known as Widowtown, although not with the typical colors. It bears pieces reinforced canvas here and there, more to protect against the elements than actual bumps, and embroided on a white stripe is the standard of the Han'san clan." Why is your character bringing this item to work?: Sezrak, ever so materialist, has quite the emotional attachement to many items, and this piece of attire is no different. More importantly, this custom Scaleshield was one that was offered to him by friends dear to him, one he has been wearing for years, and thus, grew greatly attached to. Though he does not wear constantly (it's not so cold in the Horizon thankfully), he often brings it while on "sorties" and other expeditions, worn on top of his voidsuit. How did your character obtain this item?: As stated earlier it was offered by friends, more precisely, as a birthday gift. What value does this item have to your character, and what story does it tell?: As said earlier, not only was this item a gift from friends, Sezrak is quick to get attached to objects, especially those with history- and it is one with HIS history. Beyond that, it also describes him quite well, I think, as an outlier in the Han'san, a scientist in a clan of Warrior (though he justifies himself in Han'san ways, it doesn't change the fact that he is a scientist in the end), bearing the pattern of Widowtown, the mainly Han'san community and the one he lives in, but with his own colors (red being his color he always love wearing, and the white line being a link to research) and finally the extra Han'san standard signifies his sheer attachement to his clan, still. Sprites: Have at you! Sezrak Scaleshield.dmi Additional Comments: This custom item is meant as a REPLACEMENT for another. With the last update on Dominian Unathi removing them from nobility, they cannot wear capes anymore, thus Sezrak's cape is out of place, and replacing it with this scaleshield is effectively a retcon. Thus, along with implementing this custom item (or even if it gets refused), make sure to remove Sezrak's current custom cape (the "red han'san cape" seen below)

That actually sounds good. Whether we make it two or five minutes I'd appreciate some more time to ready up, also gives the time for more people to join up.

Great stuff! Sort of relieved also to see some of these responses about Science. I still think it would be an utter shame to completely erase the department (and scatter some of its jobs across other departments), and not just update it- perhaps tackling the gameplay issue at the same time... Though depending on how things go, this is a conversation fit for its own thread, I imagine. Also love to see these responses about persistent money. There's really a lot of potential if we can give players things to put their character's money in, something to keep people coming and work toward as well, depending on how it's implemented. On a final note, I find these questions AND answers of stagnant lore super interesting as well. I don't know if this makes me biased as a lore deputy or not, but I'm not too sure about it myself. I do not THINK the LORE of Aurora is stagnant, whether it is OOCly (through updates to the lore and additions) or ICly (with lore events, articles and so on). Aurora being a universe that advances at the same pace as ours, it makes sense that there isn't an important planet being shaken by this or that event every day. What I think however is that some people conflate stagnant lore and stagnant PLOT. No matter how much is added or happens in the lore, while some of it might have effects on specific characters, it generally does not have any effect on the Horizon, on the story of the crew at large. Say for instance that tomorrow Fisanduh nukes the Empire of Dominia and Moroz becomes a democracy, this would have MAJOR effects on the lore, and on Dominian characters- but how does this affect the Horizon and its mission? The point is, no matter the events, no matter the place or lore, the Horizon has been following the very same mission, every shift, since its maiden flight: explore space, find Phoron, occasionally survey inhabitable planets, with even arcs occasionally breaking that up for a month or two. I think a lot of people really think of that part when they speak of things being stagnant, and that will definitely be something to address- and perhaps, easier to address too if we go with the "independant" crew idea. That I absolutely understand. I have created Sezrak back in 2020 (Time flies!), and have been playing mostly him since then, Ankala appearaing only a couple of years ago, and still earning plenty of attachement from me as well. Not being able to play too much, I focus on playing a single character, or two if the gameplay (mainly) gets a little too stale at times, and end up getting super attached to them as their backstories and arcs grow... But I think that it is not a reason to not give them eventual closure. As others said, 3 years is still plenty of time, especially on the scale of Aurora, so there's still a lot to do, a lot to explore, and eventually, start considering what kind of closure this character would have (assuming they don't get shredded during an event or anything). In other words, better to have your character go on an ending you roleplay out and make up with your fellow roleplayers rather than playing them forever until you grow bored or unable to play and they just fade out... Plus, since we only have few characters, this sort of reset might just be the right excuse to create new ones and explore new things! I would've been quiete upset if this came without a warning, but I actually think that this with a set (estimated) time is actually kind of a blessing. Worst-case scenario, there is also still the option of a soft-retcon, I believe, where you can just bring your previous character back through the timeskip, so long as you rework your character's history a bit to make them fit in the new, post-timeskip setting.

Works well, roleplays good. +1

SEZRAK FLOW

Share your Aurora Characters but make it actually cool.

Funny cat. Nothing bad to say about the actual commanding, and a nice roleplayer! Here is the +1

Had a couple of shift with the CE so far, good both on a gameplay AND roleplay level, nothing much else to add. Is good, +1

Getting a tranq gun is pretty cool! But also, now, we have this huuuge empty space, and I think it could use some filling. Maybe add a long range holopad here, some storage there, a charger there, I don't know.

The mech does not help. I made this thread just after a Skrazi whiped out a 6-man expedition safe for the machinist. The Mech survived and beat the Plains Tyrant indeed, but it did not prevent it from killing the five other crew before-end. It's simply way too fast, you have next to no time to react, and the only way to survive would have to somehow have the mech be at the front at all times. You're essentially going to play like this at all times. The freeze gun, assuming it works on simple mobs (I don't know why it wouldn't) could be a good-enough solution to escape it. I'm not exactly sure if you can actually freeze before it reaches you, but assuming you can, the issue is that you just can't make a freeze rifle like that. You need silver, which the miners should provide... If they even find some, that is. This is really just a space-eel situation again. It's good to have danger- in fact it's essential to make things believable, especially when we're talking about Moghes' Wastelands... But this is just ridiculous. It wasn't so bad when the only way to meet a Plains Tyrant was to toy around with a gold core, where you basically seek the risk, and you're not exactly essential to the ship as a Xenobio... But this is different. I fear a lot of players will just stay away from Moghes, fearing to get instakilled by stumbling upon a Plains Tyrant. I don't agree. It's so monstrously tanky you DO NOT have enough ammo/energy on yourself to actually kill it like that. Worst case scenario, while you slow it down, give it even more health/armor Another option I just thought about might be to give players an early warning. Because it often sees you before you see it in the dark, you just can't NOT agro it if you somehow stumble upon it, one way to prevent the unfair "Woops! You're suddenly dead!" and still give players the ability to fuck around (and inevitably find out) would be to give them a chance to avoid it even before getting it in their viewport. Perhaps some warning fluff messages when you get within a certain range of the mob might help. IE: "You hear a bone-chilling roar in the distance" when you get within X tiles of the Skrazi, and then, once you get even closer, "YOU HEAR LOUD STOMPING NEARBY, SOMETHING TERRIFYINGLY LARGE IS NEARBY"

As someone who's been playing nothing but Xenoarch/Anomalist for over two years straight, I'm definitely on this side too... But I still think we need the nerf, though. Taking the example of the net gun, assuming you're a miner or a Xenoarch suddenly coming face-to-face with a Plains Tyrant, you have to: Drop the items you are currently holding Pull out your fancy net-gun (most of the time you don't have access to a hardsuit, let alone an exosuit, so let's assume we have an awesome handheld net gun), assuming it can fit in your belt and you actually put it there (so you don't have to open up your bag and get it from there) Aim and shoot (don't miss!) The Skrazi will already be in your face before you can raise that gun with how fast it is, currently, and that's not taking into account low-visibility. I still think having more tools would be awesome! And whether we nerf the Skrazi or not, and no matter how it's done, I hope we still get more things to play around with. Netguns can be super useful and interesting for plenty of things too, not just fauna.

Putting it here right now so that we can get the most out of it, while we're still by Moghes. We should probably nerf the Plains Tyrant. YES, I know it's effectively an absolute apex predator, YES I know this is basically a space T-Rex, and YES I know that the wastes are meant to be hostile... BUT... I think the Plains Tyrant is PROHIBITIVELY violent right now, to the point where you can't actually escape it if it agros you. It hits VERY hard (you are out of a fight with a single hit unless you're a Unathi - though you won't last long even then), it's very tanky, and it's very fast. It's a shame because there is plenty to do with Moghes, and it's animals among other things. I imagined expeditions revolving around capturing and safely bringing endangered Moghes Fauna to the Horizon to ship them back to the Hegemony, things like that, but the Plains Tyrant is so terribly dangerous that you just can't approach it. And hell, putting aside expeditions, that's a monstrous hazard with next to no chance of escaping it that can just end any unlucky miner or xenoarch too. Thus I propose nerfing it by SLOWING IT DOWN. The Skrazi SHOULD hit insanely hard, and it SHOULD be super tanky. But it shouldn't so fast that even a sprinting Unathi can't escape it, this is straight up unfair, especially with how it will very often spot you before you spot it in the night. By slowing it down, we'll be able to keep it as threatening as it's meant to be, but still leave players with a chance to escape it. Give it the basic Human walking speed, a threat so massive shouldn't be so hard to avoid, especially in low-vis situations.