Jupiter Storm

Alright, I'll concede that the time-trap was reeeeeeally stupid. Let me just cross that out, but leave it in so that people can at least see where you all are coming from. One thing I really, really need to respectfully stress and reinforce, however, is that I'm trying to go about this in a way that raises general awareness, so that we can apply a sort of 'hard reset' back to the old working relationship that used to exist. I honestly would love to avoid mass-IR's and calling in Heads to combat the problem - it wastes their time and ours, and you'll find that there's a lot of Heads who just aren't willing to deal with this kind of strife because they have bigger issues on their plate. This also only addresses individual cases, and as Dronz pointed out, it would escalate the hostilities, not reverse them. There's a real risk of starting a back-and-forth paperwork war. But! You are all making really awesome and valid points, and I hope others get involved in this discussion so we can see where everything falls. This is exactly what I was hoping for. ?

Sorry, these two popped up while I was responding to Dronz so I'll answer these as well. You're right, realistically it's a very very difficult goal to obtain because it's hard to implement, and requires sympathetic Heads who are on the ball and are willing to deal with it. Not to mention the player expectations which rely on standards set by experienced workers. If nothing else, Evan, I'm hoping at the very least this post will raise awareness and that both parties will realise the effect that they're having on each other - and maybe this will serve to target the issue on a broader scale than involve Heads or CCIA on individual cases. I hope that clears it up a little. Edit: The conflict can be really interesting and good for RP, but it has sort of(?) reached the point where the round dynamic it causes results in a less enjoyable round, since neither is able to properly go about playing in the style they were hoping to. Particularly an issue on extended rounds, where you have that time, unmolested by antags, to really immerse yourself in the role but you just aren't able to make the most of it. In this post's defence, the primary issue stems actually from the interactions of experienced players - miners who would very much like to receive their gear and make the most of it, and top-class scientists who need a lot of stuff in a timely fashion to pursue their goals for the shift, you know? It does need to be written down, even just in a book somewhere placed on the desk of each department. Admittedly the constraints I suggested on miners were very very nasty, but I was attempting to approach the matter from a non-biased point of view, since I play both departments and I want to address the issue from both points of view, since... Both are kind of at fault, in the others' eyes.

This. The overall 'goal' here, is kind of what I think would be the 'least uncomfortable' scenario, whereby there are clear-cut and universally-understood regulations outlining the obligations of miners and scientists to one another. Meaning that there is no way around it, so they can get on with it and make it standard practice, whereby both parties benefit and they develop a cohesive rapport. ... Hopefully, it's not perfect, but it's what I've got. ?

Introduction: Many from both sides of the coin will probably agree with me that there is a genuine issue here, as I have counted more shifts than not where the expectations heaped upon either department by the other spark arguments, toxic rivalries and a hate-hate working relationship. This results in a round dynamic that is enjoyed by nobody at all, and whether it is right or not, IC bleeds into OOC because the entire thing just becomes utterly fucking frustrating, honestly. The outcome of this is going to inevitably be mass-IR's, Character Complaints, people refusing to their jobs out of spite and getting fired. Let's nip this in the bud. For context, I main both a Robotics / R&D Character AND a Shaft Miner character, thus my views on this are in no way biased and I understand acutely how each department works, so please bear with me while I outline the context, and then my proposition - for what I believe should be an IC Policy - or, if it exists already, people should be made more aware of it. The Illusion - How Science views Miners: The rate of any reaction to produce an end product is always governed by the slowest step - for Research, this has been and always will be, the ability of miners to deliver in a timely fashion. Machines can be upgraded, Research can be performed, and Exosuit frames or Robot chassis can be fabricated, but once all this is done... You're still waiting for that first mineral delivery. Miners are lazy, incompetent, gung-ho idiots with a blasé attitude towards your needs, and nine out of ten times they'll let you down and fall down a hole, or tell you to 'fuck off'. These unqualified rock-monkeys will never understand the importance of ground-breaking research because their tiny brains can't handle it. The Illusion - How Miners view Science: Science are the evil empire. Period. An overbearing force who you have absolutely no choice but to serve, because that's literally what your role entails. If you're not performing, you're neglecting your duty, and liable to be fired. They're heaping unnecessary pressure upon you when you're trying to focus on not getting yourself killed, hauling your heavy box and ass around the asteroid trying to find mineral veins to complete your collection to send back, which elude you at every turn. Scientists are rude, selfish, and arrogant individuals who mess with powers even they don't understand, and will not give a pico-scopic shit if you die out in the cold vacuum of space, and who will grunt and shrug at you when you hand over your yield, without so much as a 'thank-you'. Want a Kinetic Accelerator or a Ripley? Forget about it, these douchebags are way too self-important to spare a moment to even think about what you might need, even if it makes you better at your job. You're a distraction to them, an unwelcome diversion from their work. Why do Miners play Miners? A Shaft Miner character enjoys exploring, using high-tech equipment that nobody else on station is able to use because it's frankly too destructive. A character like this is geared towards an adventurer mentality, performing an exceptionally dangerous and unforgiving role in order to deliver raw materials and - when quotas are met - dive into ancient ruins or derelict ships, battling with hostile fauna and returning with buried treasure. If you're looking to make Miners happy so they can make you happy, you need to understand why they're asking you for their best and baddest survival tools or digging machines. Why do Science play Science? Science is an incredibly diverse department with the possibility to engage in Research from a dizzying array of fields, and some absolutely amazing Directors like Angela Ulery or Geeve's R.D. will push the boundaries of Science's role, testing the actual game mechanics themselves after a fashion, and exploring ideas that you never even thought would work. Robotics could be churning out next-generation titans of war and industry, while R&D might be experimenting with the most eccentric circuit designs, experimental technologies and prototype star-destroying weapons that don't blow up in your hand. But to do all this, they rely on something - the Protolathe / Fabricators. What do those rely on? Materials. To do their job properly, Science need to be able to run to their machines, print anything that they need, immediately, right that second, not twenty minutes later, not an hour later, right now. The Miner's Obligation: Contrary to popular belief, and the usual 'accepted practice' for shaft miners, this department is in no way obligated to actually DELIVER materials to the Science department. Their commitment begins and ends with gathering raw materials from the mine, refining them into something useful, and filling out that NFC-0600 Yield Declaration and sticking it in the box of sheets. Delivering materials to Science, by hand, has always been, and always will be, a courtesy and nothing more. This is done because it gives Miners face-time with their would-be suppliers, to ask for what they need. The role of handling orders, sorting departmental resources and delivering them, actually belongs to Cargo - and if there are no Cargo Technicians on board, oh boy howdy, you'd better play nice. The Scientist / Roboticist's Obligation: This is actually common knowledge already, but in theory - if IC regulations are being vehemently adhered to (which by the way, I don't think they should, given the abysmally short rounds we play) - everything that you ask for, from Science, has an associated form, such as the NFC-0502 Robotics Construction. Now, unless one of these forms is correctly filled out, and stamped by the Research Director, nobody in Science is obligated whatsoever to provide you with any equipment at all, and this will never be neglect of duty - in fact, they're performing their duty chapter and verse. As a miner, you are relying on the courtesy of Science, and having a good rapport with them. The Round Mechanics / Timings: First things first, Aurora rounds typically last 2 hours, which gives people a very limited window in which to pursue their Research Projects or to enjoy their new Mining Gear. Let's look at Science first. If someone shit-hot is manning R&D, the levels will be maxed (as far as they can be without resources) AND all machines will be upgraded by 00:20. An average R&D-er with the correct knowledge can do this by 00:30. Similarly, in Mining, there are some absolutely lightning-fast and efficient miners who can get their first yield in by 00:15 - though this will be really small and generally they're doing it just to grab a drill or a baseline KA. On average, a sizeable yield should be gathered by 00:30 - 00:35; this is the target I always aim for as Gideon Mayfield and generally results in about 10 sheets of each exotic, 30-40 sheets of steel, 15-20 sheets of plasteel and 100-300 sheets of glass. All going to plan, this should mean Science, by 00:30, has everything they need to build you either a Ripley, or a Kinetic Accelerator to any spec you desire. (The exception being the Ripley's Diamond Drill, which eats diamond sheets like a neet on tendies). Having done both things as Jupiter, my Scientist / Mechatronic, I can tell you right now that a Ripley takes exactly 3 minutes to construct and equip, while a KA takes 30 seconds to build to any required spec. Double or triple those numbers depending on experience levels, but by and large, the 'distraction' of gearing a miner should take about 5 minutes out of your round time. That's it. As a Miner, you are now equipped with everything you need, so it's time to get back out there. Your yields are now going to double in size (if you're in a Ripley), or triple / quadruple (if you're using an AoE KA). So by 01:00 - 01:10 you are delivering Research with enough stuff to last them basically the remainder of the shift, and Research does not need to stop what they're doing to make you better stuff now. If you give them one more yield at 01:30, your quota is done, they have absolutely everything they need and the last 30 minutes of the round is wind-down time to do whatever you want, while they bring their experiments to a grand climax. There is no point in doing a fourth run, because you'll be back by 02:00 and the round will probably be over. Tell me this doesn't sound fair for both parties? Efficiency and Regulations - My IC Policy Proposition: In summary, my proposition for IC Policy is that this become a regulated practice to ensure respectful, friendly and mutually-beneficial interaction between two departments that are often at each other's throats constantly. There needs to be a clause, somewhere, suggesting that perhaps it is now the 'Duty' of Miners to ensure that their materials are allocated and distributed to Research and Robotics in equal measure, and that it is the 'Duty' of Science to provision miners with advanced equipment if material deliveries are on-time, in order to promote workplace safety and efficiency that benefits the NanoTrasen Corporation as a whole. Furthermore, it should also be the 'Duty' of Miners to allocate X amount of [Resource] to Engineering - particularly Glass and Steel - since in some rounds this department can run out of the stuff in microseconds. If we're going to expand this to a completely lore-friendly and corporate regulations-adhering practice, the procedure should go as follows: Mining Equipment - All requests for KAs and Ripleys are to be forward to Research using the appropriate forms from the Mining Requests console, faxed to either R&D or Robotics during the time that your first yield is processing. This paperwork needs to clearly outline the module that you want, what you want it equipped with, etc. If there is not a Research Director, then this cannot strictly be approved, however you have paper evidence to suggest that you have requested it - providing it's a sensible request - and thus an evidence trail if what you ask for is not given, so you can safely report this to the Head of Personnel or CCIA. Perhaps make it Policy that a request for equipment that serves a clear, mining purpose, must be automatically approved and the paperwork can be stamped at NTCC Odin when taken back in a folder in accordance with [Regulation BigNumber] pertaining to mining-related enquiries. If this is done properly, Research and Robotics will have your orders before you make your first delivery, and can prepare them ahead of time, meaning that when you deliver your first yield, you can immediately go back out with your upgraded equipment, which is in the best interests of both yourself, and Science. Science Deliveries - It should be, in the same vein, strict policy that all material deliveries to Research MUST be handled by Mining Personnel, and that Research MUST be provided with a photocopy of your Yield Declaration stating a full inventory of what you have provided. Therefore there will never be any confusion or any shadow of a doubt that the miners have been doing their jobs when the Director comes calling and says 'why haven't we got this or this yet?' Additionally, it should be regulated policy that resources in equal amounts are allocated to Robotics and Research, separately, by the Mining Department, so that the Science Department does not have to scramble around prompting one another for resources, to maximise their own efficiency. The allocations can be detailed in the NOTES section of the NFC-0600 Yield Declaration. Acceptable Timings - Policy should be that miners starting the shift at 00:00 are expected to deliver their first yield by 00:45 minutes at the ABSOLUTE LATEST, and that anybody who is not doing so, is in neglect of duty. Concessions will be provided for antag-related events in the interest of personnel safety, as well as for miners who are injured on the asteroid. Or, for OOC reasons such as "I need to SSD in the Dormitories" or "I need to go for a long bathroom break". Perhaps a stamp-code machine similar to modern industrial workplaces can be included in the Refinery so there is a clear record of when a Miner begins their shift. There is already a clearly-established regulation suggesting that miners who refuse to go out and dig for any reason (barring inexperience or injury) are liable to be suspended, reprimanded or fired. Science are within their rights to enforce this by involving heads or just RPing out the rivalry and generating conflict to drive an interesting alternative dynamic. Failure to Provide - The other side of this coin for the sake of fairness is that Science will be in neglect of duty if they do NOT read their Requests Console or a hand-delivered form, and refuse to make the equipment there and then. Again, it is in the best interests of both Science AND Mining, to drop everything they are doing, grant the equipment request, and send the miners away so they can come back with more stuff and never bother you for stuff again. Concluding Notes: I am very sorry for the exceptionally-long post, but I felt it was all necessary to provide context on why this needed, and help everyone to understand how this would benefit both departments at the same time, and promote more enjoyable rounds on both sides. For your consideration, please discuss or suggest improvements. Two closing points on language... > "mIneRs wHaT iS tHE Eta oN mY MinErAls???" - This is often mis-interpreted by miners, including myself sadly, as a hostile and impatient prompt. Usually, it's actually not. What the Scientist is asking is whether it's worth them getting involved in something else while they wait, whether they can AFK for a few, or go and get a drink. On the flip-side, language such as "MINERS HURRY UP WITH MATERIALS" or "WHERE IS THE YIELD?" is very rude, and does not in any way affect the speed of miners who are working to deliver what you need. Turning up personally to Cargo and micro-managing the department across the desk just makes you look like a complete asshole, for that is exactly what you are, and you deserve to be shot. ^_^ > "hEy MaTe GiVe mE a RiplEy wIth A bIG lAsEr hAha" - Miners can actually be notorious for making unreasonable or downright stupid requests. While this isn't commonplace, a Roboticist or a Researcher who is roleplaying correctly will NEVER approve the distribution of weaponry to non-Security personnel that does not serve a clear purpose for clearing rocks. A Plasma-Cutter is pretty much the middle ground here, and while it's incredibly inefficient for mining with, it's still technically a mining tool. But not one that people should be obligated to provide if they think you're untrustworthy. Again, very sorry for the long post.

Oh, yes, sorry! So, I think there's a very very clear divide between being a member of Command, and being an A.I. Playing as an A.I. myself, when doing the role properly you should never, at any point, be ordering people in their departments what to do, thus leadership and organizational skills are not a must. However, in the absence of command personnel, people do often look to the A.I. for advice, and suggestions are always welcome - though sometimes these are instead ignored or met with outright hostility. Something that a lot of A.I. players forget is that, despite your powers and despite your ability to communicate across all departments, you're still a Stationbound and therefore, in essence, a slave. You rank lower than the crew and they're not obligated to listen to you. The only cushion you have is the station's regulations and operating procedures which you can remind people of. As a stand-alone whitelist role I believe it would allow people to play A.I. without being forced to meet somewhat more stringent requirements for Command such as leadership and responsibility. What this would do as well, given the 'advisory' role the A.I. sometimes plays, is serve as a 'stepping stone' towards Command Whitelist, providing yourself as a player with a good background in a role that interacts directly with Departmental Heads, and Central Command, demonstrating your ability to coordinate with all departments and to exercise restraint and understanding of protocol / regulations, before an audience of people who would be looking to gauge whether you deserve a Command Whitelist or not. Does that sound, like a reasonable argument? Though it's just opinion of course!!

I have spoken at length with Capesh about the decisions made by some newer A.I. and the effect they can have on a round. It is pretty profound, if the A.I. decides to be a shitter. Though, that said, I also remember the days when we had no A.I. at all because very few people enjoyed playing one as a character. I have a few points to make... > Firstly, we have to consider that in many cases, the time you REALLY hate the A.I. is when you have an experienced player at the wheel who really, really knows what they're doing and how to make someone's life an absolute misery. Or when you get a really smart-assed A.I. who needs to correct you on absolutely everything and argues the toss just because it can. This is the kind of thing a whitelist won't filter out, BUT the threat of whitelist removal is always looming, so that's good. > Secondly, having an inexperienced A.I. can have just as much effect as having an irritatingly good A.I. purely by virtue of the fact that there's only one slot, and if a new, developing player decides to take it and is overwhelmed by the interface, the crew lose a lot of basic functions and powers that they take for granted - the ability to track antags, accessing rooms they normally can't to snatch some gear that is required for their job, or relaying messages subtly between one another. This is heavily in favour of the whitelist. > Thirdly, I myself am actually a proponent of shutting down antag gimmicks, sometimes. As an A.I. you have little or no 'actual' power, and many seasoned A.I. veterans will back me up on this, so sometimes it's very pleasing to detain people and feel like you're doing something. This is VERY BAD, and it should not be done - UNLESS the individual is an immediate risk to equipment or crew around them, for example, bolting them in the cargo breakroom adjoining the office while they glare menacingly at the two Technicians they were about to gank. As part of the whitelist application there should be some sort of a 'situation test' like maybe an external link, testing your interpretation of your laws. Myself, I have a vested interest in NOT getting A.I. whitelisted because of the sort of A.I. I play. I know there are a lot of people who do not like M.I.St.R.E.S.S., who think she is a blight on the server or synth lore at large. With that said, this is a community game, not a player game, and I am pretty confident that making A.I. a whitelisted role, NOT a command whitelist though, will enrich the server - with perhaps concessions being given to well-known and trusted A.I. players like Capesh, Tailson and Shadow(? - I think he plays NT-OS?).

Update: I've included two names of some common animals that serve the same role as cattle animals in the application, to demonstrate further acquired knowledge of the local fauna. I couldn't find a fitting name for the collective that could reasonably replace 'cattle' per se!

While I may probably be considered somewhat biased because of the 'kind' of A.I. that I play, I do also play entirely restricted, more robotic Synths. Keep this in mind when I say, I think that what Drago has in mind for the lore is truly wonderful, because they understand the difference between what the lore 'should' be, in an ideal and realistic universe, and what would be enjoyable for players who are here to have fun, and tell a compelling story. He understands that there is a clear balance to be had, not just being entirely human with a meta frame, but instead being a machine that thinks and feels of its own accord, is still clearly a machine in many ways, but has that human touch or the odd quirk that makes it enjoyable to interact with. +1 from me. Because Drago wants to explore the balance between enjoyment and rigid lore, and also because Drago has demonstrated the ability to find that balance with their own synthetic characters. Fuuuuurthermore, because he actually cares a lot more ABOUT the lore and ABOUT the story, than the mechanics associated with IPCs. I think this is what Kyres has always tried to do, and done well, and I also find Drago to be a very approachable person who you can actually talk to as well. They'd make a good team?

Thank you for bringing this to my attention, I believe I missed something rather key there! `Each race has a common role which they play in society which their biological inclinations make them more suited for, as well as their own cultures which have formed from long histories of performing these roles in society. Tajara heavily stereotype each other based on race which is often a cause for conflict. As a result of these differences, there is a lot of racial tension between these various types of Tajara which was further exacerbated by differences in socioeconomic classes.` ... So... I amended the story a little bit, her family are failing land-owners running a shitty estate now. That should... Probably make it better. If I had more space, I could bring religion into it, but I think given what the majority of Tajara believe, I'll stick with the S'rand'marr faith. I could write more, but I don't want to overload the size of my whitelist app, since the recommendation was for 'about two paragraphs' in the first place, oof. As to the other thing you mentioned, I have tried to add in something in the 'What makes this race different to humans' section, to try and demonstrate my knowledge, but I am not sure how best to do that, so I've gone with what I thought was best. Hope it's passable.

I don't know if it's appropriate for a lowly gamer such as myself to comment, but I'd just like to emphasize that Capesh has been here for a very long time, and has demonstrated a great deal of knowledge, restraint and management potential. They've never really struck me as someone given over to letting their emotions get the better of them, and they're clearly a very responsible and collected person! Upvoted for sure, Capesh would be a great addition to the Moderator team. EDIT: To my awareness, Capesh is also broadly known by many, and well-respected(!)

BYOND Key: JupiterStorm Character Names: Gideon Mayfield (Cargo / Hustler / Traitor) | Sooty (Astromech Engine Tech) | M.I.St.R.E.S.S. (A.I) | Jupiter (IPC Mech / Drone Engineer) | Garrett O'Brien (Irish Catholic Cop) | H.E.R.A. / T.E.R.A. / S.A.R.A. (Eng / Med / Sec Cyborg) Species you are applying to play: Tajara What color do you plan on making your first alien character: Cinnamon, Njarir'Akhran Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: I've read, the lore, the history, and interacted a lot with Tajara players in preparation for this moment, my characters listening to their stories and asking about their lives. 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: For the longest time I've been looking to expand my character roster, having enjoyed Stationbounds and IPCs for quite a while, and I've really found my niche with the main people I prefer to focus on, developing them heavily... But with the recent influx of new players, a lot of roles are often over-subscribed, and when I go through the list of who I feel like playing, my roster suddenly feels super small. My characters always talk to Tajara, and seem to get on with them really well. Either due to similarities in personality and interests, or because the Tajara characters on-shift are just the most sociable and have the richest stories to tell - I mean, given how much they were able to tell me about monsters on Adhomai and about the politics of the People's Republic, I don't blame them; the lore is clearly interesting enough to hold their attention. The natural step for my next batch of characters (not only the Medical Resident I'm applying with, but also a bee-keeping Hydroponicist), is Tajara. It was never going to be anything else. I COULD make another human, but I want my next person to be special, and I do not see any other alternative than a character immersed in the lore I've begun to take a rising interest in. Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: I'm going to be REALLY boring, and say the same thing everyone else does, to start with! The obvious components include the interaction of your different anatomy with your environment; Tajaran body language isn't restricted to their posture or their facial expressions. They have ears and tails, the positions of which reflect their mood or their level of alertness. They also have claws - which must be taken into consideration whenever they're handling clothes or other people. HOWEVER. Culture-wise, they're also exceptionally different. In the far future, humans don't seem to have very much of an ethnic identity that separates one human from another; save perhaps the division between Solarians, Ceti and Offworlders. Even then, the political structure and general living-standards are not particularly dissimilar from one another - just what's important to them on the galactic stage. Tajarans on the other hand, have a very specific and unique pseudo-Russian / ancient Eurasian cultural origin that should and does define them as characters; The way they address others, the way they handle matters of the spirit, the way they view any sort of political situation, and the things that others take for granted such as education, pay, technology and hot food are treasures to them. Edit: The majority of 'Taj from Adhomai would be of the lower classes, and would be very much inclined towards hard labour and pseudo-servitude (insofar as an acceptance of their lot, working together under the power of the State) - from what I understand, this would make them inclined to be heavily respectful towards others in a commanding position, or even those that they might view as in the socio-economic class above them. Conversely, this can have the opposite effect, as class-related conflict on Adhomai can be commonplace, exacerbated by the pre-defined roles of Tajaran ethnic groups. Perhaps Tajara on-station of one ethnicity would harbour a significant mistrust, hatred, or fear (depending on their personality), against other Tajara of another ethnic group. I could go on and on, honestly, but I hope that five paragraphs covers it... Character Name: Oksana Al'Mhuzharri Please provide a short backstory for this character: Born on the 28th March 2435 - according to the Gregorian A.D. calendar - to a poor family of broken-down landowners, struggling to hold onto what little status and wealth they retained, from their estate some 250 miles east of Trizar. 'Oksana', meaning 'different' or 'outsider', was named for the striking, intelligent blue eyes she possessed by stark contrast to her parents' green. From a young age, the kit would explore the estate's cattle-ranch, attended always by an old, trusted Hrarar retainer who would impart her with knowledge about the various animals they kept (such as Nav'twir, N'hanzafu, or Sfahn'nfran), and how to look after them. The aftermath of the First Revolution marked trying times for the people of Adhomai, however, and as the girl grew older, it became increasingly unsafe for her to walk among the lower classes. From the age of ten, she would spend long hours indoors, despite yearning to go outside and learn; and this sadness wounded her parents greatly, who found her lack of cynicism and inherent innocence to be something that they had lost in recent decades. Thus, they pooled a fraction of their failing wealth, and hired a private tutor. What she could not see, Oksana would instead study, her grades flourishing in the fields of Science and Sociology. The Second Revolution hit the estate hard. Over the course of two years, the Liberation Army would expand their borders, encroaching further into Republican territory - and soon her family's holdings would lie near enough to these borders that the fighting began to take its toll. Food would be scarce, the people were desperate, famine was rife and tensions were high. Indeed, it was common knowledge by now that those who supported the local governments or represented power over the masses, were summarily lined up and executed by firing squad when the militias took over; many of the workers had already fled. While the family of Al'Mhuzahrri would be forced to stubbornly cling to their home, their daughter should not suffer with them. Imparted with what little funds remained to her family, Oksana would travel by land-train to Trizar - the last she saw of her parents being the Spring of '53. Form there, she applied herself through 7 gruelling years of Medical School, and was summarily thereafter drafted into the Interstellar Aid Corps in the year 2460. Aged 25, she sailed with a number of her class-mates across the vast gulf of space on a relief mission to Tau Ceti following a brief Lii'dra incursion. Never would she willingly turn her back on her own people during a period of strife, but many educational insitutes of Adhomai were funded and staffed in part, by foreign governmental (and corporate) bodies... And they had their own obligations to fulfil. Oksana would find life in the Aid Corps challenging, having led a fairly sheltered and book-ish lifestyle for much of her youth and Medical career. Physical hardship was not kind to her, nor were other Tajara from lesser ethnic majorities - a sentiment she could not understand, for Oksana saw no divisons between herself and other beings. Moreso, she had little in the form of income, and therefore little choice in where she could go. She wanted to return home, to see what had become of her family's estate, perhaps even take to teaching Tajara from all walks of life (although the prospect terrified her, given the reception she'd always been given). First, she needed a stable form of income, to accumulate wealth and elevate the prospects of those she loved - and who had loved her, unconditionally. By proximity to Tau Ceti at the time, she was lucky enough to successfully apply for a role with the NanoTrasen Corporation, enlisting as a Medical Resident onboard the NSS Aurora. Oksana knew she would have to work harder still within the competitive, and elite(?) corporate environment, but she vowed that one day she would return home and repay her poor, failing family for their selfless sacrifice, her ultimate dream to teach the next generation of Adhomai, and offer others in the lower classes the same opportunities she'd been given. What do you like about this character? So... All of my characters are really different from one another, in their personalities and backgrounds. Each brings a fresh experience and different way of writing, different responses to situations and a unique playstyle. But never have I ever attempted a naíve cinnamon bun who always has a positive outlook on things, and actively seeks to care for people. The closest I've come to this is either with Sooty who is an adorable 'astromech-style' IPC that can't talk, and tends to focus on engineering problems only due to the communication gap with other crew. Oksana should really challenge my approach to rounds, emphasising positive, personal interactions with crew, and learning the Medical field from the ground up as an inferior underling, rather than jumping into a role at the mid-tier level. I want to deal with professionals and learn from them, and spend time interacting with patients and developing her IC ability to handle crises (for she is very much innocent and a scaredy-cat to boot). I wanted to write more for my backstory, but it shouldn't be so long that nobody wants to read it... So instead, through my role-play, I intend to actively explore and engage in the many facets of Tajaran lore that attracted me to the species in the first place. How would you rate your role-playing ability? I like to think I'm a good writer, and that I'm able to emulate how characters should respond to situations fairly well. I try to keep myself as engaged with people as possible, promoting roleplay especially at the expense of self-inflation. I still have a lot to develop on, maybe, but I've had good feedback and I've made a lot of friends in recent months here that I never had before. Notes: Again, sorry for the long backstory. If anything is out of place, or it seems too snowflakey, please let me know, but I DID have words with Coalf about the most likely and most 'realistic' way that a Tajaran would willingly turn their backs on their homeworld during a civil war. Edit: I have also amended my backstory to be more in tune with something that DeadLantern rightly brought my attention to. Hopefully now, it fits. But please, please tell me if I need to improve or change anything. There's a LOT of lore to absorb, so I've probably got something wrong.

Thea is an excellent character, ShesTrying has a wonderful roleplaying and writing ability. Very responsible, likes to get involved with rounds and not just hide away. Would make an ideal Head of Personnel if she can handle the stress. +1 for what it's worth.

I'm not very good at writing supporting text and I don't think I'm well known enough that my word carries much weight, but Reeves is a solid character with good roleplay, and a firm understanding of the strategies I think that Security SHOULD employ. Reasonable force / tactics / communication. Doesn't just bark at people and AFK until the fighting breaks out. All in all, +1 would make a great HoS.

All characters that Chaos plays are very well thought-out, well-roleplayed and entertaining to interact with. Not necessarily due to humour or silliness, but because they're serious and behave as though one might expect a person in their position to behave. They're all different to one another, and capable of holding conversations well - in fact, I've rarely seen Chaos involved in any kind of antag situation which is a good sign, considering the roles of their characters. Furthermore, Chaos' synthetic unit B-4, is exactly what you'd think an Android should be. Methodical, generally lacking in emotion, and obedient. He doesn't smartass crew, he doesn't deviate from how an Android should be. I will give this a +1 because it's been a long time coming. Chaos can play bots.

Seconded, it seems like a bad thing to allow - considering the potential for griefing and also because Cyborgs are only meant to have AI access privileges, rather than Command privileges. AFAIK the AI can't detonate its own borgs either, unless Malf?

Thank you very much for this, Whiterabit! I am unfamiliar with the paperwork code and this helps greatly, and the new version you wrote looks a lot better and more tidy. I hope it gets implemented too. I don't imagine it'll be used all that often but at least it provides a clear-cut procedure for IPC checkups in the same format as a Medical one.

Hello there! I realise this probably isn't a very pressing issue however I have had several IPCs in the past ask for checkups similar to how Medical conducts them and modifies the crew's medical records accordingly. I have devised a (temporary, and definitely open to modification) form that could be completed as a procedural part of an IPC maintenance cycle... I think it would add another nice facet to Robotics RP if the form was available, particularly for Extended rounds. It's missing some key components, for example the line that separates the header from the text... And a difference in size - I wasn't sure how to do those. The code for it is below however (slightly modified from the above): Thank you for your consideration - if this is the wrong forum, I apologise, I couldn't locate an in-use Form Suggestions subforum. Cheers!

Hi! That's a really reasonable thing to ask and I can totally see why. The name is just a designation, to be honest - I just really like it. Otherwise, I'd respond as I would on any other character... As the character would. I'll edit my post to add this to the notes, but... This particular IPC will not be able to register insults or respond to them at all, being programmed specifically for the job it's meant to be doing. The only time it would respond violently to a situation is in order to prevent damage to itself, or - more importantly - an organic being. I was led to understand from the lore that essentially the most 'basic' IPCs were designed to perform dangerous roles and would only act in a self-preserving manner if they were actually in danger... So I can't see this character responding to aggression unless it is actually attacked, if that makes sense? With a very imperfect understanding of human interaction and only rudimentary social programming, it wouldn't be able to register other people as threats from insults or subtle jabs alone. Me personally, I'll just enjoy roleplaying as the android itself, I won't mind how people behave towards it, because it's all IC. This isn't a self-insert, I can promise you that! I hope that alleviates your worries.

BYOND Key: Jupiter_Storm Character Names: Gideon Mayfield (Cargo Technician) | T.E.R.A (Cyborg) Species you are applying to play: IPC (Industrial Variant) Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: In depth and with great interest! Why do you wish to play this specific race: - I am very much into the dystopian cyberpunk style. Blade Runner, The Matrix and Chappie to name a few. I have always loved the concept of machine intelligences and human interaction with them. It provides the baseline for many interesting philosophical quandaries and forces us to question what we really consider to be a ‘soul’. I love my roleplay realistic, gritty, and rusty by default – thusly I am interested in playing as an expendable, durable industrial machine that is still developing its personality even while it is programmed to perform tasks that would be exceedingly hazardous for organic beings. - Of course the other and most obvious answer is… I like robots! I’d love to roleplay as a robot, without having to play as a cyborg to do so – it feels like as an IPC you always permanently have the option to play (while cyborg slots are limited), and thus you can develop your character more often, and engage with more in-depth roleplay rather than feeling forced to move from one task to another, constantly, as a station-bound. Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: IPCs, while being specifically designed to be similar in many respects to humanoids, are still very far removed from the base emotions and behaviours that for us, as people, define ‘humanity’ in a general context. For one, their behaviours and decision-making processes are governed by logic and procedure-based programming, thus they are almost never prone to making unpredictable choices and would rarely perform any action purely out of spite, tantrums or a jovial nature. For two, IPCs are very different in their manners of speech. They are programmed and designed to serve others in a particular role. They will typically be respectful of others, speaking in eloquent manners and addressing people politely, and by their titles in many cases. Due to the AI’s analytical and precise nature as well, there is always the desire for communication to be clearly understood, and so they would avoid using colloquial or vague terms, instead constructing phrases with words using their clearly-defined meanings to avoid any misinterpretation, to which many humans may roll their eyes or call them ‘boring’. Finally, the ideologies of an IPC should be very different. While they are able to exhibit emotions, the Posibrain once again thinks in very linear patterns – cause and effect. They possess a strong sense of self-preservation, but the hazards that affect many people are not quite so profound for IPCs, and in many cases their role specifically TO perform tasks that are too dangerous for people, and so whether to fear / worry, or not, is a more logical process for this race; calculated probability of damage or failure. In addition, they possess no culture of their own, and will tend to adapt to the environment they are placed in – I think that this would lead to some very interesting roleplay, comparing the beliefs / work ethic of those the IPC works with (which would inherently rub off onto the unit), with the laws and codes they are programmed with. Character Name: (Mk.VII) ‘Jupiter’ 0193 (EISAR Line) - Yes, I am partly trying to insert my own username into my character. I do this shamelessly, because it’s an online identity that is me, that I am quite attached to. But I did consider a logical reasoning behind it (see below). The brackets won’t feature in the character’s name, so it will just be called ‘Jupiter-0193’. Please provide a short backstory for this character, approximately 2 paragraphs: As this is my first IPC character, I am purposefully leaving the backstory very limited in its depth; I’d prefer to develop the character through roleplay in-game rather than giving them an extensive history or trying anything crazy. But here goes. 0193 is just another run-of-the-mill unit produced by the one of Xion Manufacturing Group’s subsidiary production lines of humanoid Exploration / Industrial / Search and Rescue modules – each variant of which is named (after Solar planets + ancient celestials) based upon the particular environmental operations they are configured for. The mobile ‘Mars’ variant being suited for Combat Rescue & Security roles, the gentle-mannered ‘Venus’ module for Paramedic / Trauma units, ‘Saturn’ for more liberally-minded Research and Discovery units, ‘Neptune’ for water-based environments… And lastly, the heaviest ‘Jupiter’ modules that are suited for particularly hazardous, load-intensive operations in Mining and Engineering. Unit ‘Jupiter’ 0193, a Mk-VII chassis of the EISAR line, would therefore be developed for construction work and excavation duties, with additional programming for hazard identification, problem-solving and prioritization of the well-being of organic personnel, enabling it to serve as a durable retrieval unit where other crew are wounded or killed within its area of responsibility. All EISAR modules are coded and lawed according to the policies and work ethics of the buyer, with additional memory space given over to interpersonal communication with crewmembers to allow them to function as an effective team-member. This programming is, however, rather rudimentary, and such units are cold and logical by nature, likely to be mistaken as ‘arrogant’ or ‘square’ individuals by their organic counterparts when, in reality, their decision-making processes are based solely on logic, probabilities and company procedures. Fresh off the factory press and assigned to the NSS Aurora as a Mining / Engineering unit, ‘Jupiter’ 0193 has only the number and model as a name to go by, with no identity beyond what it was designed to do. With this in mind, it must integrate effectively with the crew and potentially develop strong working relationships (perhaps even friendships) with other colleagues, enhancing its sense of identity and perception of the universe over time… Possibly even one day, learning what it means to be more ‘human’, and perhaps gaining a desire for the freedom and self-awareness that other IPCs enjoy, if the development goes that way. What do you like about this character? I personally, really enjoy the idea of this character, because it provides an entirely new experience and the chance to start from scratch with my roleplay – like opening a new book, if you will. They will have a clear set of rules to follow that govern their behaviour, and it will be interesting to see how other crew react to that, or how they can work with it. Even so, they will be open to new ideas and able to integrate into a culture that is not their own, allowing for the possibility of emotional development based on what it experiences, without any bias stemming from its own history – which I have purposefully left bare. As stated before as well, I love robots. I’d love to roleplay as one. I found it really peaceful to RP as a station-bound, before, able to continue working with fewer emotional constraints and the requirement to constantly react to every weird situation that happens on-station (of which, let’s be honest, there are many which would technically break a normal, sane person). Instead I would be able to focus more on the work… And I really really enjoy getting the work done on SS13, and doing it to a high standard. A machine intelligence gives the perfect opportunity to do that, with room to grow as a personality over time once I get a proper feel for the IPC. How would you rate your role-playing ability? I would hesitantly say, 7/10 while being neither self-deprecating nor blowing my own trumpet. I have been roleplaying for a long time and provided written story-work for a number of universes, and I always consider the realism of situations – gritty aspects, sensations, pain, difficulty and emotions while taking into account the bigger picture, i.e. what is going on around a character rather than what I specifically wanted to achieve in the roleplay at a given time. The downside to my character choices (the reason I have gone for a 7/10) are that they are all very ‘baseline’ and I suppose, not very interesting to others, maybe. I do not like to work with overly innovative ideas because they often come across as cheesy or far-fetched. I prefer to start with a realistic, down-to-earth skeleton and develop there through what they experience in the RP, thus the world they are in formulates the person they are in a manner appropriate to the setting, rather than risking them already being a way that would not make sense in that setting. Notes: - With regards to micro-aggressions and insults... This IPC will not be able to understand negative phrases or respond to them in a negative way, being programmed with only a rudimentary understanding of social interaction in order to act as a member of a work-team. It would not be able to register people as threats requiring anything less than the IPCs' trademark polite, subservient responses - unless they actually attempted to cause the chassis harm. The only time it would respond aggressively to a violent situation is in order to prevent damage to itself, or - more importantly - an organic being, given this model's design leaning towards performing dangerous roles in lieu of living people whose lives inherently matter more... At least from a manufacturer's perspective. Thank you for your consideration!

Reporting Personnel: Gideon Mayfield Rank of Reporting Personnel: Atmospheric Technician Game ID: bQZ-auY6 Personnel Involved: (Name, Rank: Offender/Witness/Other (Ckey)) - Sean Brianne, Head of Security: Offender (Ckey not known) - Lily Kadel, Station Engineer: Witness (Ckey not known) - Gideon Mayfield, Atmospheric Technician: Reporting Personnel (Jupiter_Storm) Time of Incident: Real time: Approx. 04:00 - 05:00 GMT 17/10/2017 Location of Incident: N.S.S. Aurora, Engineering Department, Atmospherics / Engineering Sublevel Nature of Incident: [x]Workplace Hazard []Accident/Injury [?]Destruction of Property [x]Neglect of Duty []Harassment []Assault [x]Misconduct []Other Overview of the Incident: During to an outbreak of spiders across the station - including a 'Hive', I am told, in the Engineering Sub-Level - the Head of Security despite the best efforts of he and his team was unable to contain the spiders by conventional means. What I have taken issue with is the measures he elected to use next, rather than calling for the Emergency Response team. The Head of Security came to Engineering, deciding to terminate the Hive using a flamethrower and fuel tanks to set fire to it. This, immediately, rings alarm bells for me; one of our primary duties as crew is to preserve the integrity of the station, i.e. NanoTrasen property. Fire in an enclosed space has precisely the opposite effect - whereas, however dangerous the threat may have been, spiders do not inherently damage equipment save for windows and crewmembers (who, in the latter's case, can be kept safe in a controlled environment). What I also take issue with, is the fact that I had already sealed off Atmospherics including the covering of vents and scrubbers to prevent the movement of spiders into this workplace. He failed to pay attention to details such as this, including the fact that Atmospherics did not contain spiders in the first place, proceeding to set fire to the environment there, regardless. As a result of the fire, the air was massively over-pressurized and the high temperatures spread to other areas of Engineering by rising through the catwalks and stairs located in Atmospherics Storage, on the Main Level of Engineering. This took a long time to resolve, as I am sure NanoTrasen are aware, given the difficulties of managing extremes of temperature on board a space station. It also made Engineering - a key department of the station responsible for maintaining power generation and air supply - an exceptionally dangerous environment to work in, and restricted our movements around the department significantly while the overheated atmosphere was contained. In summary, I have ticked the above boxes because I feel that the Head of Security's actions were not only ill-considered for a person in his position, they also represent a lack of attention to detail and consideration for the consequences of one's actions. A trait that is extremely important in a member of command personnel. Did you report it to a Head of Department or IAA? If so, who?: Issue taken up with the Head of Security himself, at the time. Sean Brianne. No other Command personnel available at time of incident. Actions taken: Informed the Head of Security, Sean Brianne, that I intended to file an Incident Report, as seen here. Spoke with the Head of Security, Sean Brianne, via PDA Messenger as he was busy at the time, in order to resolve the issue and remove the need for this report. Received no reply, and thus was unable to discern whether the matter had been resolved or not. It should be noted that this action was taken toward the end of the shift, during an evacuation of crewmembers - we had other duties throughout the course of the shift to attend to, and thus a lack of response is understandable.

Oh right, well this is a very new thing, because two months ago, during my last application before I withdrew it, it was not an issue and was openly accepted - and was, in fact, referenced on the Aurora wiki entry for IPCs. Anyway, we may as well take this down I guess... If that's no longer a thing.

BYOND Key: Jupiter_Storm Character Names: Jorven Brent (Atmospheric Technician) | T.E.R.A - 193 (Cyborg) Species you are applying to play: IPC (M.M.I Variant - Wetware Processor) Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: In depth and with great interest! Why do you wish to play this specific race: - I am very much into my cyberpunk style, and a huge lover of the whole general concept of extending one's life and overcoming the weaknesses of flesh through the total merging of man with machine. Honestly? If I could be a cyborg, I totally would. But that's what fantasy is all about right? Enjoying the things you can't do! - I've spent quite a bit of time developing Jorven as a character who has a very heavy dislike of his organic components, having deliberately chosen augmentation in the past to enhance his endurance for labour-intensive tasks, or to protect against the ravages of what is essentially a very unhealthy lifestyle. For me, it's time for him to make the jump, because that's really where his roleplay has always been leading. Essentially a life goal. To be a machine. Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: For starters, I don't want the character to become a PTSD cyborg. He wanted this. It's an upgrade, for him. An ascension from mortality to something a little more permanent... at least as far as age and disease are concerned. A human who'd deliberately chosen to surrender their organic tissue and completely integrate with a machine chassis would, in all likelihood, have a fairly negative outlook on biologicals. Not necessarily nasty? More like pity, and impatience for the fallacies that plague beings composed of organic matter. ( Although, obviously, he himself would be flawed in this way, due to still having a human brain... Just significantly less so than before. ) I can see an MMI-Type IPC being very short, overly-logical, and inquisitive of others' ideas, but also more likely to follow regulations to the letter, and to behave in a far more sensible, composed manner. Which, for those who have roleplayed with Jorven before, is perhaps something that my RP sorely needs - and I feel that being an IPC would give me a fantastic platform on which to make such a sudden and drastic change in his behaviour. I think as well, that I would enjoy having him linked to the Artificial Intelligence (although not a mandatory thing for IPCs), which, whilst frowned upon by humans as being a form of slavery... Would actually be considered a higher form of enlightenment for one who places their faith in machines. It would mean a greater amount of interaction with the robotic roleplayers on-station, as well as certain 'forced' events that can alter your roleplay in an interesting (or even hilarious) way due to law changes and AI updates. Character Name: Jupiter / B.R.E.N.T (have not yet decided on this fully, but would welcome recommendations) Alternatively, even keeping the old human name of Jorven could make sense. Please provide a short backstory for this character, approximately 2 paragraphs: Born to a family of average means on Sol IV in early 2430, Jorven had always been surrounded by technology and innovation. Growing up from a young age in a Martian Hive, biology and indeed nature itself - to him - would've always been something that was sustained and nurtured by machines, and not the other way around. Brent was a relatively intelligent boy, scoring very highly in high-school exams but flunking out on college with very low grades due to severe boredom and borderline depression born of a sense of stagnancy and longing - the vast shipyards of Sol IV lighting up the night sky frequently filled him with a fascination for exploration, as well as a dissatisfaction with his lot in life. At the age of 19, he graduated as an Atmospherics Technician in the Sol Navy, and spent five years an Enlisted Sailor, picking up heavy bionic augmentations due to injuries sustained during minor fleet actions, along with a degree studied part-time in Planetary Geology (I have the full list of modules in my Employment Records). He left the service as a Petty Officer Third-Class, taking with him the various qualifications he had acquired, along with a substantial amount of savings. Returning to Mars for a brief period, the next two years were spent refining his degree into a Master's, living mostly off his own savings and - like any middle-aged man with no job - his parents. A significant past-time was indulging in various philosophies and movements - chiefly a modern form of the Wiccan faith and the Synthetic Intelligence Movement. Having not only been raised, in a sense, and sustained indefinitely by machines, the latter was a very natural ideology for him to adopt. In 2458, Brent was accepted for a position with the well-respected NanoTrasen corporation, and continues to work for them to date - though often finds himself in conflict with many of their regulations and the attitudes of his co-workers, being far more used to an efficient military environment where improvements and shortcuts were fairly commonplace, with regulations often being overlooked and over-signed by level after level of supervising personnel. The very nature of working in the close confines of Aurora Station, a veritable nexus of technology, forward-thinking and deadly hazards, brought to the fore fresh desires for the enlightenment of machine intelligence, as well as frustrations with the limits of his own 'weak' meat-sack - particularly when it came to bursts of radiation, frequent biological hazards and the strain (both mental and physical) of operating under the station's somewhat 'powder keg' conditions. A partially fragmented perception of reality combined with a generally fatalistic and cynical view of the universe, drew Jorven Brent into a more isolated state, until he could only find solace in the voluntary surgical transition to a Man-Machine Interface, whereby he hoped to awaken to a superior level of understanding and true clarity of purpose. What do you like about this character? I like him because he is, in many ways, like myself. I do not enjoy roleplaying things that I cannot relate to in any way, therefore in any game I will only play the one character - or, occasionally, other insignificant 'filler' characters such as T.E.R.A or, in the past, redshirt grunts with little need to invest in emotionally or story-wise. I like to stick to what I know, and I know a -lot- about engineering, science and shameless cyber-fetishism. This experience would, I feel, really add to the quality of my roleplay in this area with the ability to apply IRL knowledge. The idea of achieving what he would regard as the vaunted state of true metamorphosis is extremely exciting for me, as I would not only be able to iron out the personality flaws that other roleplayers seem to strongly dislike, but would also get to enjoy the kind of industrial-punk science fiction that I am into and develop a more meaningful story and direction to give me a better sense of belonging in the setting. Deus ex mechanicus, praise be to the god of all machines! How would you rate your role-playing ability? Honestly no idea. I would've said it was good? But lately I'm clueless about that. Let others rate it. Notes: - One thing that I suspect others might say about the voluntary transition into a machine chassis is that it's an unrealistic objective for any person, given that you're basically giving up your humanity and the pleasures of being human. My reply to this, would be that this sort of thing is, in my opinion - as someone who IRL would gladly do such a thing were it possible - very similar to the reasons why someone might get a sex change, or drastically alter themselves through body art. - I have read the lore for IPCs in great depth, and whilst I understand that the only IPC sprite available in game is the Positronic Brain variant, I also recall that there is canonically a Cyborg-type variant of IPC whereby the main processor is an organic sapient brain instead of a synthetic one - 'wetware' processors, I believe was the term used on the wiki. It really doesn't bother me that if I get gibbed, the Positronic Brain would show. Suspension of disbelief! It could be a brain in an opaque box! I guess it could ruin others' immersion, maybe, but... Really? Thank you for your consideration!