Captain Gecko

Been playing with Opossum for a while now, and he has always been a great player and a good roleplayer. Saw him with his HoS and as expected I was not disapointed, so +1, obviously.

Hey there! Three questions so far: 1) What would be Izekissha's opinion of Unathi from non-Hegemonic backgrounds, if they have any? Pirates (of individual fleets if they differ on the fleet/allegiances), Foreigners (Mictlan, Biesel, etc.), Dominians... 2) How did Izekissha react/what is their opinion of the Hegemony's current practice of hiring cooperative pirate crews and fleets to assist in dealing with the pirate threat, notably with the arrival of Iska's Adventurers? 3) Is Izekissha a guy or a girl, sex-wise? I get that they're a fisherman as far as gender goes, I'm just curious about the physical side. It's not really an important question, I'm just curious!

Hello! I bring good news, your application is accepted! Or at least, will be so with some changes. The overall idea is great and we'll be working on it right away. Thanks for the app in any case!

Iska’s Adventurers pledge loyalty to Hegemon! Translated into Tau Ceti Basic: Today, Altarak Iska, Fang Captain of the Iska’s Adventurers, arrived on Moghes with his flagship, the Incarnadine Shield, to meet with the Hegemon himself. In public, before thousands of Sinta, Iska knelt before Hegemon Izweski. To him, the Hegemon answered: Iska accepted, and swore fealty to Hegemon Not’zar Izweski, after which, he was brought to the Hegemon’s palace where they were to discuss strategies and the role of his fleet now. The Iska’s Adventurers fleet as a whole serving the Hegemony is a historical first and a great occasion for the Hegemony. Pirates swearing fealty to the Hegemony is not new, but those usually come either individually, or as crews of single, independant ships. Iska’s Adventurers are an entire fleet, however. Though far smaller than any proper military fleet, it remains a force to be reckoned with, especially when it comes to dealing with small-scale threats like other, more hostile pirates. After talks with the Hegemon, it appears the Iska’s Adventurers’ main assignment will be patrolling the periphery of the Hegemony’s territories, mainly protecting colonies and trading lines, not unlike what they used to do before joining the Hegemony officially. This post will also mean they would occasionally work in tandem with the 4th Fleet of Lord-Admiral Xitac, and it appears that he and Altarak Iska already met. Iska allegedly managed to negotiate some advantages too, such as higher pay than other pirates would have, and easier access to some military-grade equipment; advantages justified by the Adventurers’ role being more important than one of typical privateers, as well as an entire fleet requiring more funds. Reactions are mixed on Moghes, but many colonies and their Lord have thanked the Hegemon for this decision, as some have already benefited from the Adventurers’ services and can attest to their reliability. Time will tell how good they will fare, now that they are properly part of the Hegemony.

Large amounts of koko found smuggled in southern Federation space, authorities issue warnings over possibly increased presence of Unathi pirates Translated to Tau Ceti Basic Multiple strange reports have been coming from minor colonies in the Southern regions of the Federation over the past weeks. Planetary Governors have had reports about local authorities finding increased amounts of Koko Reed-based products in circulation. In response, Federation authorities have dispatched inspectors across to all permanently settled worlds within the Median and Q’elpi Basin sectors to look for more traces of Koko on these planets as well. Koko Reed is an edible plant found only on Ha’zana, an Unathi colony unaffiliated with the Izweski Hegemony, inhabited mostly by pirates and other criminals. Though Koko-based products such as the “Koko Bars” of the O'kamazi Koko Guild often find themselves on markets across the Spur, it is not a new commodity in the Federation. The quantities found over the past weeks are highly unusual, however, and may indicate increased activity of pirates in this area. Though most locals report that they did not trade directly with Unathi, it is quite possible that this Koko made its way in the market through less direct means. It is also possible that they traded with Ti'Rakqi, as their presence remains notable around the Q’elpi Basin, despite ongoing operations to end the Marauder threat. Trade with Unathi pirate fleets both within and outside of Federal Space might be a way for the Ti'Rakqi to continue growing and operating, and thus, a threat to the Nralakk Federation.

Iroueans celebrate victory over pirate incursion, Iska’s Adventurers praised for their help Translated into Tau Ceti Basic: Today is a day of festivities for the people of the Hegemonic colony of Iroue. Yesterday, the Aldrad system saw a major incursion of hostile pirates. Though they do not appear to have been part of a known major fleet, they were well coordinated and managed to invade the system and besiege the planet, demanding resources and goods mined and produced on the colony. Though a squadron from Lord-Admiral Xitac’s Fourth Fleet was nearby, there were not enough ships to ensure a victory over the pirate invaders. However, Lord Izuzi, governor of Iroue, had paid a friendly pirate fleet for protection weeks earlier, and it only took six hours for them to arrive. Iska’s Adventurers, as they call themselves, joined up with the Hegemonic squadron present, and immediately launched a counter attack on the invaders. After a two-hour long battle, the pirate aggressors were forced to retreat, following grievous losses. This was not the first pirate incursion the Iroueans faced since the colony was founded, and they faced many hardships. And yet, yesterday’s attack was the largest pirate incursion they ever faced. Despite this, the joint force of Adventurers and Hegemonic sailors secured a crushing victory against the aggressors. To honor their protectors, and the few that fell in the defense of this colony, the people of Iroue organized a great celebration, and the Hegemon himself congratulated and thanked those that defended the colony all the way from Moghes. This celebration has been the occasion for some to meet Altarak Iska, Fang Captain of the Iska’s Adventurers. The Adventurers are a Unathi fleet that have only formed relatively recently, mostly composed with ex-Hegemonic colonists who claimed that the Hegmeony didn’t, or couldn’t defend their colonies enough to their tastes, and took to doing it themselves even if it meant forsaking their honor and their obligations. Their goals, however, had them very often work alongside the Hegemony and most importantly, its colonies, and yesterday’s battle wasn’t their first time working with and for the Hegemony. With recent talks in Hegemony leadership contemplating the possibility of giving Unathi Pirates a more active role in the defense of our territory and its interest, many are wondering if the Adventurers will end up being the very first fleet, and not just independent ships, to work for the Hegemony.

Unathi pirates arrive in Republic space and offer their services Sailors were shocked today, on the Southern border of the Republic, when they encountered a small fleet of armed Unathi ships, all bearing the colors of pirates and fleets generally seen operating in the Badlands. Just as shocking, though just as relieving, these pirates did not engage in any hostile acts, and instead, proclaimed their desire to help and fight for the Republic of Biesel. Ships from the Republican Fleet escorted these to the nearest port, where these pirates would meet with Biesel Representatives and discuss the situation. It appears that most of these pirates were independent crews, along with some ex-members of noteworthy fleets, and decided to leave the Badlands for Tau Ceti to offer their services. Local Hegemonic envoys were present as well and indicated that they most likely thought they could offer their loyalty to the Republic of Biesel just like most pirates could in the Hegemony, where their crimes would be forgiven for swearing fealty back to the Hegemon and fighting for him. Whether these Unathis’ offer is accepted or not is a matter that the Tau Ceti armed forces will take care of. Some think that they may be accepted along with their ships within the Republic to work as privateers, but others think they may be incorporated directly into the Foreign Legion. In any case, it appears that the Armed Forces are mostly favorable to accepting these Unathis’ services in some way; to the Hegemonic diplomates’ dismay. Hegemonic envoys present have contested the decision, claiming that these pirates should instead head for Moghes, either to pay for their crimes, or to swear fealty to Not’zar Izweski instead, have their crimes forgiven, and fight for “their people” as it was said. The pirates, however, refused and claimed to have chosen the Republic, and in the Republic, they would stay.

I really like this, since it also fixes the antag part of the discussion there has been on the discord. Some seem to think that removing/changing Visitor would give antags less cover for infiltrating the ship or just doing peaceful gimmicks, but that would be assuming that people even knew about the Visitor ghost role, and would think said Visitors are legit as well. Giving something to allow the Visitor to prove their legitimacy would ensure that we avoid confusion, and most importantly, allowing antags to get access to the same thing would actually allow them to not rely on people's knowledge of the Visitor ghost role's very existence, or on command members not being serious enough to investigate an anomaly in their records/manifest, to engage in infiltration/peaceful gimmicks.

Following a slightly chaotic (but not in the way you think) technomancer round and a quick talk on discord, I have learned about the Visitor ghost role. From what I understand, the Visitor effectively works like a passenger or an off-duty crew, except it doesn't appear on manifest or doesn't have records. Now, the discussion on discord has turned to something about wether or not antags should be bugged just for not appearing on manifests which could be an interesting topic, but not the one meant for this thread. I want to talk exclusively of the Visitor ghost role here. Basically it sucks. It's exactly like a passenger, except it's prone to have paperwork issues because it's not on manifest. Now there's two easy ways to fix that: REMOVE IT. Yep, that's it, remove it. I'm usually the kind of guy that always welcomes more content, but this is just useless. It brings nothing, no new roleplay opportunities, and only more confusion. I'll be honest, it's not the best option... Which brings us to... CHANGE IT/UPGRADE IT. I get the impression that the visitor is meant to be something other than the passenger, perhaps a unique, maybe important individual; but if it's really the case then we just cannot tell. So, let's enhance the role, with something very simple: give the visitor the ability to prove their legitimacy once they arrive. Let them write up an official Centcomm announcement about their visit, let them get official paperwork to show to annoying command members (me), and so on. Without that, and without warnings, no presence on the manifest and on records, an important visitor can easily pass for a stowaway. Maybe even rename the ghost role to convey what it's meant to be, call it VIP or something like this!

Hegemon’s statement puts an end to heated debates around pirates in Zandiziite Games Translated into Tau Ceti Basic: Last week saw a debate take Moghes by storm, and mostly the Izweski Heartland. The question of allowing pirates to take part Zandiziite Games is not new, but as more swear fealty to the Hegemony, and more are allowed to step and even live on Moghes, it has become a more and more important topic to the people of the Hegemony. Many proved quite hostile to this idea, and not without reasons. Those that proved more accepting of pirate Zandiziites also brought arguements to the table: This debate lasted up to this morning, when the Hegemon himself released a statement: Pirate Zandiziites will be accepted in the future games, though not without conditions. The number of pirates would be limited, proportionally to the number of other contenders. They are also to represent each fleet as a whole with a single fighter as well as a single Zandiziite allowed to represent all other independent crews. Time will tell if pirate Zandiziites will prove to be a loved addition to the games, but something is sure, they are to be expected in the next ones.

Dionae migrants intercepted, concerns rise about the Tarwa Conglomerate’s forces Translated into Tau Ceti Basic: Early today, a patrol ship from the Izweski Navy’s Fourth Fleet encountered a surprising sight: a Voyager-type Diona vessel, seemingly built around what looked like the remains of Human-made ship. The ship counted five Cyclop forms, a single Cerberus, and two dozen Nymphs. Once intercepted by the Hegemonic sailors, they proved cooperative and explained that they originate from Rueltab I, a Solarian penal colony that previously mainly meant for Dionae, Having claimed to have been stunted from experiencing what the Spur had to offer, despite their remorse for the Rueltab Incident, they were able to flee from their entrapment and seek better opportunities elsewhere. While one might feel sympathetic to the Dionae’s circumstances, they had intended to bolster the ranks of the Tarwa Conglomerate. The Fourth Fleet quickly squandered any hope for such, detaining them to appear before a Lord Magistrate where ultimately their fate shall be decided. This is not an isolated incident. There have already been numerous reports over the last months of Gestalts spotted traveling towards the Badlands, with the same goal as today’s group. This led to questions rising about the actual means the Tarwa Conglomerate holds, as their numbers. Though the Conglomerate has remained distant from the Izweski Nation and its interest, the fact that it remains so far from the Hegemony’s borders, and how little is actually known about them led to many expressing concern about the threat they might represent, if not to the Hegemony itself, then to traders and allies operating near the large area they operate in. Though it is a Unathi fleet, it is known that the members of the Conglomerate use Dionae to some extent, in what ways exactly is unknown. Some can make theories, as Tarskin Tarwa, alleged founder of the fleet, used to work as a botanist within the Skalamar University Of Medicine on various projects, some considered unethical, such as his “Sinta-to-Dionae compatibility” experiments; it can be assumed that he continues his researches to this day within his fleet. Master of Rivers Azui Hutay’zai addressed this wave of Dionae migrants later today, coincidentally enough, in a public statement. During his statement, Master of Rivers Hutay’zai also asked sailing Hegemonic citizens abroad to guide these Diona migrants to Moghes if ever encountered.

Admirals meet with the Lord's Claws and the Hegemon himself to discuss piracy matters Translated into Tau Ceti Basic: Yesterday marked an exceptional day, as all three admirals of the Izweski Navy were gathered to discuss important matters. Lord-Admiral Yizarus of the First Fleet, Lord-Admiral Gour'za of the Second and Lord-Admiral Za’Akaix’Xitac K’lax of the Third and Fourth were all summoned to the Hegemon’s Palace to meet with Notzar Izweski in person, as well as Mizaruz Izweski, the Lord’s Claws. With the large majority of the first three fleets kept in extended defense duties around Moghes, many pirates were quick to use this as an opportunity to extend their operations. Reports of smuggled goods found have increased, as well as attacks on civilian ships, Unathite or otherwise. More importantly, multiple raids on Hegemonic colonies have been recorded. Despite the Fourth Fleet’s best efforts, they simply cannot keep up with the rising tide of pirate aggression. The point of this meeting was to find a quick solution to this growing issue. From revising the Hegemonic space battle doctrine to new spacecraft design, everything was brought up, but most of these solutions proved either too slow to implement or way too expensive. It would be the Admiral of the Fourth Fleet, however, that brought the most interesting solution. There are already many Unathi pirates that have sworn fealty to the Hegemony in exchange for their crimes to be forgiven, but they generally are used in very minor roles. Having worked with them in the past, though, Admiral Xitac proposed that these friendly pirates be used in more active roles, to fight minor threats such as lone pirate crews directly to allow Hegemonic ships to focus on larger threats, and to better integrate them into military strategy when facing greater threats. This suggestion wasn’t accepted without reserves. Many of these pirates follow their own codes and tend to not act with the same honor as proper soldiers. The Hegemon expects these pirates to be monitored more closely to avoid embarrassments, but overall, all members of the meeting see the small issues this option raises as worth it if it means better protecting the people of the Hegemonic colonies and securing space around it.

I think this could be interesting, honestly, but at the same the RD/scientists should probably still have access to the Operation RnD, since the servers are, for now, still in science. This would leave us with needing to replace it with something else for scientists to do. Chemistry is useful, and wiring can be very fun (if you want to try, and most people don't alas), but it can only get you so far.

Thinking about it, I believe removing antagonists COULD be an interesting thing. However we'd have to replace them with something. The reason why quite a few people leave the moment extended passes the vote is that it just may get boring. Some players aren't THAT into doing their needed job the first 10 minutes of the round, and then sitting in the bar for the following 2 hours. We'd need something to do. So here's the idea: We replace antags by random events. Yes we already have random events, but these are rarely a danger, and do not involve everyone. The goal of these new random events, which we're gonna call Action Events, as a placeholder name, have THREE main goals: - Replace antags when it comes to intensity. This itensity could be adjusted to player count and/or to a vote before the round starts, asking players to vote for the round intensity between 0 to 5, or 0 to 10. The higher the intensity, the more often Action Events happen, and the more brutal they are. - Have the potential to involve all departments, with their intensity being adjusted to fit their playstyles (IE: security would get something more intense and action-focused, less-so for Engineering.) Which is something that most antags do not. A ling, for instance, will get sec involved, probably medical, and maybe science if it's caught alive; but everyone else could wait it out in the bar, and unless the ling actively went for them, nothing would happen. Because of that, it would be wise to also implement a system that checks which departments are crewed before throwing an event that the crew may be unable to respond to (IE: avoid throwing an engineering-focused events when there are no engineers playing.) - Add something to the roleplay/to roleplay about. These would be canon, or at least, work within the framework of extended (IE: you can still keep player deaths and some other things non-canon and so on), and thus provide some roleplaying stakes and opportunities, which are minimal with current antags and how they work. I can already give you a list of events I just came up with right now, but we can -and should- make the list bigger, more varied, to avoid people getting bored of doing the same events over and over. To me, what would be perfect is at least 10 different types of Action Events for each department (including cross-department ones; and ones that naturally include other departments, for instance intense action-oriented ones will obviously have medical do some work afterward) but having even more doesn't hurt. We keep current random events too also, such as blobs, rogue drones, space hazards and so on. Here they are:

Honestly I'm okay so far with our antagonists, generally. If I had to mention a point of contention, as far as I go with a science main, is how you very quickly end up out of ideas of what to do with captured vamps and lings you put in your cells, but nothing that can't be fixed with good gimmicks and ingenious roleplay. I don't know what we'd have to change or remove if we'd somehow need to do that. Perhaps one of the main issue, if we really want to look for one, is that Aurora has been elvolving since it was first created, into the mostly RP experience it is today. Most of the antags we have were not made for HRP, but just balanced around the server's rules and player needs. That's not a big issue, but what could be even better would be antags with roleplay in mind from the get go, revolving around RP, and so on. I think the recent addition of psionics is a good instance of it, though still just a tool in a classic Antag's armory, some of these powers are just things purely revolving around mental influence. Of course that's a bit shaky, purely relying on other players' willingness to actually be fair and play along (most people do thankfully!) But worst case scenario we can learn as we go. Offship antags might be interesting too.

I agree with the goofy side of hooks and peg legs. I've updated the OP to incorporate what some of you guys said.

Smooth is good for fast games. It's good for CM, for TG, it's good for SS14 even... but it really doesn't feel right with Aurora. First I really, REALLY feel like we're actually slower, and not that it's just an impression. My Unathi cannot actually sprint as far as they used to, perhaps something to do with the stamina going down faster, I don't know how it works, but something has changed gameplay-wise. As far as the smoothness goes... Yeah as people said before, it's actually frustrating to play like this. I find this unbearable on my end, I feel super sluggish playing a lizard, and I can't imagine how G2s and Dionae must feel. Even if there are no actual changes in speed it just doesn't feel good.

Currently, all prothetic limbs are robotics. That makes them all, I assume rather expensive, even the unbranded ones. I think it should make sense to have non-robotic options as far as prothetic limbs go, it could most likely fit characters that would somehow not want robotic limbs, would not have the funds to choose robotic limbs over cheaper options, and do not have the will nor the ability to get Dionae nymphs as an option. Thus I propose non-robotic limb options! These would be cheaper options, generally with drawbacks, though some would be craftable in rounds (helps when you need something quick and the Robotician isn't there.) Here's what I have in mind so far: - Non-robotic/mechanical prothetics: - For legs, feet, arms and/or hands. - Your standard non-robotic prothetic. It's purely mechanical, which means that it should not be knocked out by EMPs. Perhaps they could be made less effective than normal prosthetics to balance them however, perhaps just making them more fragile? - Running/Blade prothetics: - For legs AND feet. - Similar to the previous ones, just a different look. - Peg leg: - For feet. - An actual peg leg. It should slow down your walk speed. Also, it should be craftable! With just wood planks, steel sheets, and other materials... Plastic? Minable materials (phoron peg leg anyone???) and so on. Because it's a bit goofy, and unrealistic to barge at work with this, these would not be part of the prothetic selection in the character setup menu, the only way to get them would be through crafting. - Hook hand: - For hands. - An hook for your hands, yarrr! Renders your hand basically useless. You can no longer grab, carry, hold things in your hand, and so on. You do get to dish out some bonus slashing damages on attacks, though, much like a Unathi/Tajara's claws. Just like the peg legs, the only way to get them would be through crafting, you cannot spawn directly with these to avoid having John MacHook, Assistant (NT) spawn in every games to do a little bit of trolling.

The Pool Holodeck scene happens to have two missing blocks.

Alright! Well, we would like to see you expand some more on your character's backstory. How did he end up on the Horizon? Why? What kind of job would he even do and why also?

Hello! Sorry for taking a little while to respond. I've got a few questions. 1) How old is Keth’ran? Or in what year was he born? You make it sound like he experienced the Contact War so I don't imagine him to be too young. 2) Is he leaning more on the Traditional side of things? Or is he more loyal to the Hegemony? 3) What faith is he following?

The Research director's office has that weird, useless spot. Either fill it with the table by extending said table, or remove it. Also cannot properly access the locker, or the drawer, most likely due to ledges being wonky... But that's less of a mapping issue I imagine?

OH HELL YEAH, METAL CRUSHERS! I can't wait to see that in the game, that's going to be siiiick! Make sure to include some kind of paper with instructions on how to actually build an exo, though, you don't want to end up with an antag that actually doesn't know what to do with all these parts!