ajstorey456

How many times have you seen a player or, sometimes, a whole department of players, that simply don't do their job? A doctor that does anything else but even left click you to tell you what's wrong, a scientist that would rather pick their toenails than properly research something, a roboticist that doesn't make/fix borgs or IPCs, engineers that don't make the goddamned engine work, even sometimes heads of staff that act like glorified versions of their underlings rather than a boss that needs to be a boss. Neglect of duty is an IC charge that can land you in the brig or fine you, but that doesn't patch my dents or start the engine, or free up a slot for someone who will. So, we talk about the believability of a character, or the believability that NanoTrasen would hire a given individual, why would they hire someone who doesn't do shit? Why is this not an OOC character believability issue?

I had assumed there already was one, like 5 tapes per role

I'm not even sure if this is a meme or not but I'd take it.

Were you there? Because We had it set up and working, I monitored it for a bit, powernet happened and a few minutes later powenet failure happens. After resetting a few APCs on the main level, I realize what the powernet failure means for the Tesla, I go down there, all of containment is off because the APC down there was off and the emitters stopped firing, and the tesla was not in that area. I ahelp Prate, because he helped me set up the damned thing, and he says one of two things happened: it left, or it dissipated. Let me tell you, it did not dissipate.

Happened earlier this week, I believe, [mention]Pratepresidenten[/mention] as a witness. I, the poor borg at the time, set it up for the first time and was instantly cucked by powernet failure. And I don't understand why I have to say this three times, they don't restart. Every single time I see the event happen when I'm not a borg/engi/ai, I keep checking the time on the APCs, because it gives you a timer, and they reset themselves.

There's a difference between not liking events that impact the station and not liking events that aren't fun. Powernet failure isn't fun, in consequence or resolution, for anybody. It literally only exists to be a nuisance, and while you can argue that a nuisance is a good thing in a HRP server, it's not when the solution is A. Press reboot, or B. Cry about it because you're not allowed to press reboot. And, I literally already said this, the APCs don't automatically reboot. They're supposed to, according to the text on the screen, but they do not.

Its a problem because only a select few can do it, but everyone else is fucked unless those people are competent. And, as anyone playing ss13 should know, relying on engineering, borgs, and the Ai to be competent enough to fix an easy solution is like hoping for rain in the Sahara.

While all of these things are true, they're unavoidable and very common. And the cryo thing goes two ways, people joining late not being able to do anything about it. There's only so many crowbars and ways to get them and space in your backpack, and while you probably should have a crowbar at all times just in case, it's used for nothing else than opening doors (or protection) for people that work jobs like medical, civilian, some of research, and security (who start with crowbars for this exact reason, but that's besides the point). People shouldn't rely on medical to fix them when they're hurt is a bit of a dumb statement, no offense meant. It's a whole department literally devoted to fixing you when you're hurt, because people get hurt, especially when the power is out. It's not always because someone's dumb either, rather someone else is dumb and you have to get medical attention because of it. The assistant access thing was a joke, but anyone having access everywhere means baldie assistants are going to be the ones abusing that, or antags alike, in which you can't do much to stop them because muh power

Picture you and Urist McCultist, sitting side by side in a room you cannot escape with your current tools. The walls are not reinforced, though you do not have any tools or eswords or anything, just your book of runes. You know that a juggernaut may be able to break a wall down, so for the survival of Nar'Sie's loyal acolytes, you decide taking your own life to become something stronger is needed more at this time, so you create the construct shell and shard using your book. As of now, you could not have Urist click on you with that shard to prompt you to have your soul sharded, even if you wanted to. You would have to also summon a sword and have them beat you to near death, which takes some time and makes some noise and blood that shouldn't be necessary. A prompt that says something along the lines of "Give your soul up to Nar'Sie to become a construct? Y/N" Could make the process easier. It's a niche situation and probably wouldn't come up so often, but it's something that would make sense and be useful.

The art of converting someone to the cult involves putting the person on a rune and activating it, opening their mind to the forces of the Dark Geometer Nar'Sie and bending their will to the Cult. Why can a mortal resist this and not die instantly? Typically, if you are on a rune and the rune is activated, a cultist did something right up until that point, and as such, they should have a fresh and steaming cultist coming off the oven rack. Rather, you get someone who presses "no" and types "say ";HELP BAR MAINT URIST MCCULTIST IS TRYING TO BRAINWASH/KILL ME CORDS ARE 1,800,FUCKCULT." Either that, or they press "no" and you were smart/robust enough to get their headset off before slapping their ass down on a rune, so instead they start trying to fight you, in which killsharding is pretty much your only option. So why can Joe Blow resist the powers of a literal blood god and go on to punch the acolyte in the head enough times to be a hero or be conscious to scream for help? It seems a bit unbelievable and powergamey to me. Rather than a prompt to become a cultist, I would instead suggest a "ritual," where you have to keep the person on the rune for X seconds, like 5-8 seconds or so, and after that, they are cultist without any denial. In that time, they can resist, be saved, or scream all they like, though they probably won't be because my hand will be over their mouth.

I don't have any clear cut examples, but seeing White Rabbit as AI always makes me brace for what is to come. The AI plays like an assistant with a Captain's ID, exerting power and worrying about getting their way much more than the actual good of the station. The way they act, venting areas and such, violates their "Protect" law as they favor killing the antag which is still a crewmember rather than having the Security department deal with it how they see fit. The player often breaks what I would call realistic roleplay by SCREAMING IN ALL CAPS TO KILL THAT MONSTER!!!, telling security what to do as a station bound AI, forgoing direct commands, and overall using their position of power as a position of power and not a unit made specifically to make the crewmember's lives easier. Rather than make anyone's life easier, through venting, bolting doors, and asserting their opinion over others', they make the game a whole lot more frustrating for anyone involved.

In short, powernet failure is no fun. To elaborate, powernet failure halts all activity on station that relies on power (which is nearly everything,) makes a gigantic task for the synthetics on station and engineering, of which both probably don't know what to do about it, reverts the work that was put into the engine for the next 20-30 minutes, releases the Tesla if it's set up, gets people killed because medical can't do a whole lot without power, gets people brigged for a lot longer than they need because security can't operate the brig properly and so you have to trust the meatheads to count to 5 minutes for you, gives random assistants that have crowbars access to everywhere, and overall, gives pretty much everyone a shitty next 30 minutes or til the end of the round because of the lack of communication and functionality of their department. "But the arpee value!" I hear you cry, "Power suddenly going out is interesting, and sets up for all kinds of unique events!" Like bumbling around in the dark, getting stuck in your area because you weren't fortunate enough to have a crowbar in your bag, getting confused because nobody can talk with you, getting killed because of communication cut offs that creates more confusion than need be? Elevators not working so people can't go cryo and instead SSD in a nook of their department, people getting on station being stuck in cryo or arrivals on surface? It's about as fun as not having an engineering department, which by experience as you all know, isn't.

OR! Put more mobs on the asteroid. That's fun for miners, xenoarch, AND xenobiology.

+1, the blender is much needed for more than just the radium in the glowshrooms as well. Asking for a chem master to separate the gold from my apples would be pushing it, I guess, but a lot of plants have several reagents in them that need separating. As for the seeds, yes please. It makes your job so much more fun.

No, I don't mean film, I don't know how that would work. But! I mean literal tape. Just put a little bit of tape over the camera and boom! Disabled. It's an easy fix, just click the camera, but it's also an easier way to keep the AI from looking without causing a literal alarm. Similar idea, be able to put coats over them, as someone said in OOC when I mentioned this.

Double antags are rarer, and these minor antags are a cool idea honestly. It's reason to stir up the place a little without causing chaos. I could totally see it as viable. Maybe even Vandal, who tags stuff with graffiti, Drunk, who is reliant on alcohol and gets in fistfights at the bar and such, Addict, who tries their hardest to get ahold of a given drug, etc etc? It sounds cool, I like it. It's better than the antags either being invisible, having complete control over the station, or being in the brig for charges of murder, grand theft, etc

I only glanced at this, but some things to fix are the formatting right off the bat. It also looks like you could elaborate on some of the points here more.

RTNP is a very active community member who can be seen in OOC, Discord, and the Forums very often. They're always friendly and helpful and are a nice sight to see online. IC, Kylie Young is one of the better Captains around, who actually gives a shit to interact with any non command staff and takes the stick out of their ass so that they're enjoyable and approachable. RTNP is a good overall player and has good characters, and I'd like to see how they fare as a moderator. +1 from me.

The only time I've ever interacted with DasFox that I know of was very sour, as in a situation ICly went south and ended in him dying and he attacked me OOC for it. This was a few weeks ago now, I believe, but he owned up to the situation and I've heard good things about him all around from the rest of the community. His OOC behavior is something to take in consideration, but otherwise, I don't think I've seen him enough to be confident in giving an opinion one way or the other.

Server Moderator Application Basic Information Byond Account: ajstorey456 Character Name(s): Darion Muck (Scientist, deceased), Cherish (Security Officer, former borg), Garry Lent (Warden), Kepper Dytes (Engineer/Working on it), Edia Yao (Security Cadet/retired? To be recycled) AI Name(s): I've used a few in the past, but nowadays I just use Cherie Preferred means of contact: Discord is easiest, though if I'm needed, I can provide more personal means such as cell phone. Age: 16 (17 in about two weeks) Timezone: EST, UTC -5 When are you on Aurora?: I'm on all times of the day, mostly afternoon-night on weekdays and literally all day and night weekends. Experience How long have you played SS13?: Three months, give or take a week. How long have you played on Aurora: Three months, give or take a week. How much do you know about SS13 (Baystation build) game mechanics?: I know quite a bit, pertaining to each department, but I believe there's still a lot to learn. Do you have any experience moderating for an SS13 server?: No I have not. Have you ever been banned, and if so, how long and why?: Yes, twice. First was permban, which I like not to count, but it's there so I'll say anyhow. I was playing my first or second time and the friend who introduced me told me that injecting phoron in light tubes made them kaboom when they turned on. I, being the bored chemist, giggled and said OK. That did not go over well. Second time was a job ban from Borg, in which I learned to what extent the ganking rule goes towards. I feel like the punishment was harsh, but after a while of arguing I bit the bullet. I had tased someone to horizontal as a security borg because I was told to by the Warden, and he subsequently got slugged to death. In the later events of the round, things lined up to seem like I was continuing to help the now clearly evil Warden, but that was cleared up later. Personality Why do you play SS13?: I play SS13 because it fits a lot of what I like about any game. As an RPG, I'm able to engage with myself, the game and others, thrusting my characters into a world of others for fun. I like the unique mechanics and playstyle as well as getting to interact as my character with other players' characters. I like SS13 for what I love in D&D, with the added benefits of being able to point and click my way to adventure. Why do you play on Aurora?: Aurora is all I know. I was introduced to the game through Aurora and haven't played seriously on another server since. I tried one other server once, during my perm ban, and quickly learned why I should get myself unbanned here and figure out how to play like a real space man. What do moderators do?: Moderators, ideally, don't have to do much. They step in when people fuck up or are being malicious in a way that can't be handled unless by them. They deal with griefers, sort out confusing and frustrating situations, and make sure that people are adhering to the rules in place so that everyone may have fun on the server. They also act as teachers of sorts, helping people get along if they don’t know what to do, which is pretty common in the steep learning curve that is SS13. What does it mean to be a moderator for our server?: Moderating for Aurora means keeping roleplay moving, removing or correcting bad players and elements that seek to make the game unfun for everyone else. Why do you want to be a moderator?: In general, when I play a community game, I end up feeling like I could help more than I am. I like to be able to keep things in order so everyone can enjoy the given server as much as I do. Aurora is no different, and I hear that a position is needed that fits my bill, someone who's competent and on during the dead hours when modmins are needed the most. What qualities do you possess that would make you a good moderator?: I've been moderator for several other communities before. I know how the art of controlling chaos on an internet video game works at the basics. I also like to think I'm stern where others are afraid to give out the harsher rulings and punishments deserved in more fragile situations. I like to think I'm unbiased, treating everyone the same and sticking to rules as close as I can follow. Lastly, I have a weird knack for picking out baddies. In other servers I've moderated on, I can tell who smells of grief the moment they log on and I see their usernames. I can't really prove this or elaborate in any way, but it's there. How well do you handle stress, anger, or insults?: Admittedly, this is one of my weaker suits. As a player, I have a noteable record of responding to insults with insults. When I feel attacked, I have attacked. I can tell you from experience of being in charge, though, this does not seep into my moderating. I'm more level headed when I know I have control of the situation, and being a moderator is just that. In a situation where one is screaming "badmins are bad, fuck this guy in particular," it's hard for me to take offense just because of how easy it is to realize how pointless the situation is. Anything Else You Want to Add: This is more of a formality than anything. With my note and admin record, I fully understand that my chances are slim at best. I love SS13 and I love Aurora, and I want nothing more than to make sure the community is thriving and everything is running smoothly as far as I can help it. That being said, I know this is more than likely to be denied. I spoke with Catnip and Garn about my chances and understood that they aren't very high. I'd like you all to know up in the staffing team that I am interested though, and with this position as a dead hour moderator open, if even just the slimmest chance to help, I'd really like to. Thank you for considering.

Just play security and sit in customs, it's the same experience.

Victor choked down his morning fistful of pills with a glass of water before turning to his personal assistant. He chuckled, "You really don't need to be watching me when I'm doing my bathroom duties, Cherish." He was met with that familiar, shrill beep as the pink screen in his face flickered with annoyingly bright excitement. "Last time I left you alone in here, you flushed 'em! Can't have you going without your meds on a workday, Vic." Lacking decency, Victor dragged himself across the bathroom to his shower. "Look," he said, "Took 'em all. Not between my gums, under my tongue-, look!" Just a few months ago, Victor would be humiliated to be sticking his tongue out to an IPC like he was a first grader hiding gum from his teacher, but it had become a morning ritual, akin to brushing his teeth and showering - both of which he probably would have been forgetting or neglecting to do without the aid of Cherish. The bot hummed quietly until it pinged in satisfaction. "Very well! I'll be in your office for when you're all done with your organic duties!" He was waved out of the room as the shower came on, locking the door behind him while he made his way to his own morning duties. The office was down the hall, second door on the left. First, he'd straighten out the papers, make sure they're organized by date and completion, and put the desk in order. Then he'd open the blinds, letting that brilliant sunshine into the comparatively dull working quarters. The third moon was out, which gave the sky a dark blue, almost purple hue that Cherish just loved. Maybe one day, he'd get Victor to get him repainted from the boring silvered steel finish he has now. And, last but not least, he'd get Victor's executive Jacket out of the closet, dusted and ironed, just in time for his shower to be finished. Like clockwork, Vic was just making his way in, buttoning up the last on his shirt and holding his arms out to be dressed by the overly cheerful assistant that waited for him every morning. And- oh! Cherish had forgotten to straighten out the CEO's nameplate, reading in big, bold letters; "Victor Eleanor. CEO" In reality, Cherish would never forget. He just likes to remind Vic of his position, in case he forgets how important he really is. Plopping down in his fancy corporate chair, Vic wheeled around a bit, taking in the view, before slowing to a stop to look over his desk work with a groan. "Business as usual, Vic! You know how it is on Thursdays." Cherish chimed away happily, moving papers and giving his boss the run down on what's happening in his company today. Scheduled meeting this, shortage in Giant Spider Silk that, .45% increase in market value, all the big duties he had to do in a day and so on. It was a pretty boring day, comparatively speaking, and it began to wind down to an end when Vic was just signing off on the last few papers he had to for the night. Cherish was sorting things, dusting the display cabinets and awards covering the wall, and preparing for his morning duties. It was while he was taking Victor's jacket that Cherish decided the time was right. With impossible sleight of hand, he had manage to sneak the cake on his boss's desk before he could realize it. "Happy first!" Cherish chimed, practically bouncing while Victor looked over the little party cake that was put before him. It was nothing special, just chocolate with fancy frosting swirls and a number one candle stuck in the top and burning away. Victor chuckled as he realized it had been the first year anniversary since he'd been assigned his personal assistant. "How did you even manage...?" Cherish stopped him and cut out a little slice for him, rocking on his heels. "Well, it's fantastic, regardless of how you got it past all of the Security in this office. Thank you." They spent a little more time in the office that night, chatting away about the days past under the second moon's light shining in through the window. They had the day off tomorrow to go for a safari walk on the neighboring planet anyhow, so there was no rush. Cherish'd make sure he took his night pills and cleaned himself up a bit before he clocked out for the night. Under the stillness of the late evening, while Vic slept and the suite was dark, Cherish kept himself busy, organizing cabinets and cleaning up around the place. He'd get a charge in as well before posting himself up in the hallway, ready for the next day, like any other. He chimed softly to himself, screen dimming the hallway with a haze of pink until it'd be replaced by the morning blue. As the moon and the sun rolled over, his screen brightened just a smidge in anticipation for the first day of year two. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I figured I'd write a little something to solidify Vic as someone in Cherish's backstory, as I get little opportunity to IC. I thought I'd also use this as an excuse to jump on the feedback train, seemingly what everyone else does in this subforum. What do you think of Cherish IC, and me as a player OOC?