Skull132

They're not mechanical, though? Or, at least, not fully. It's odd. Also, we discussed them surviving off of another type of gas. Basically, air is a mix of N2 and O2. So the idea was to use Nitrogen. It would mean that, on station, they can live without needing an auxiliary air supply. But to go EVA, even if they don't need a suit, they need a slightly more niche airsupply. Also, they have the ability to maul things with they jaw-claws.

I wonder if Scopes has been aware of your work, LordLag. Anyways, the Vaucra have full body sprites, courtesy of Rechaklov. I know, because I archived them just now (personal copies, that is). There are two major things missing: Organ sprites Standard code, and ideas for it Basically, making a species that is a reskinned human is easy enough. But it'd be nice if these dudes could amount to something slightly greater. At least, internals wise. Be mechanically different enough to warrant attention. Otherwise, we're going to end up with another species like the Tajarans and Unathi: literally humans, but with claws and scale/fur. Which is lame.

I wonder if Scopes has been aware of your work, LordLag. Anyways, the Vaucra have full body sprites, courtesy of Rechaklov. I know, because I archived them just now (personal copies, that is). There are two major things missing: Organ sprites Standard code, and ideas for it Basically, making a species that is a reskinned human is easy enough. But it'd be nice if these dudes could amount to something slightly greater. At least, internals wise. Be mechanically different enough to warrant attention. Otherwise, we're going to end up with another species like the Tajarans and Unathi: literally humans, but with claws and scale/fur. Which is lame.

I'm in line to agree with Garn here. You raise SSLs as a concern, but even then, their sexuality is merely something they have chosen to define their character with. To that end, even SSLs carry an array of designators larger than just their sexuality (young, female, lesbian, working in the medical bay, usually as a nurse, wearing skimpy clothing, having a shy demeanour, usually blonde hair and blue eyes as well -- as you can see, this is a list much broader than just the subject matter you are concerned with). As for perception, out of the people I've talked to on this server, over the two years of its operation, I have never once seen someone assign another character to the SSL category based purely on the character's sexuality. I also think this video ranted a bit too long on the villain-sexuality connection, or the claim of there being one. I doubt there was anyone who thought, "Hrm. How to make this badguy seem more evil... Aha! Let's make him a homosexual!" And yet, that sort of train of thought is basically implied in the video. I just think that more freedoms, on all counts, are made for villain characters. (How many times have you seen a protagonist with a proper mental disorder, like psychosis, with the actual dark and gritty brought out, as it's done for the villains?) The question should, perhaps, be better focused on why we can't just extend the same liberties towards protagonists, albeit, I have a few good guesses towards that. Then again, a man born towards the start of the last century might just do and think as I outlined, but I don't know, can't say.

I'm in line to agree with Garn here. You raise SSLs as a concern, but even then, their sexuality is merely something they have chosen to define their character with. To that end, even SSLs carry an array of designators larger than just their sexuality (young, female, lesbian, working in the medical bay, usually as a nurse, wearing skimpy clothing, having a shy demeanour, usually blonde hair and blue eyes as well -- as you can see, this is a list much broader than just the subject matter you are concerned with). As for perception, out of the people I've talked to on this server, over the two years of its operation, I have never once seen someone assign another character to the SSL category based purely on the character's sexuality. I also think this video ranted a bit too long on the villain-sexuality connection, or the claim of there being one. I doubt there was anyone who thought, "Hrm. How to make this badguy seem more evil... Aha! Let's make him a homosexual!" And yet, that sort of train of thought is basically implied in the video. I just think that more freedoms, on all counts, are made for villain characters. (How many times have you seen a protagonist with a proper mental disorder, like psychosis, with the actual dark and gritty brought out, as it's done for the villains?) The question should, perhaps, be better focused on why we can't just extend the same liberties towards protagonists, albeit, I have a few good guesses towards that. Then again, a man born towards the start of the last century might just do and think as I outlined, but I don't know, can't say.

Issue. That would become slightly too constricting for security. 6 personnel in total, which is what you are alluding towards, would probably nix security a little too much, specially when you have 30+ active crew, don't you think? Plus, they'd all be spread out over separate areas of operation, making the whole department less functional. Mind you, this is if we're talking about the first mode proposed. With the second mode, it may be possible to toggle some slots available on conditions.

Issue. That would become slightly too constricting for security. 6 personnel in total, which is what you are alluding towards, would probably nix security a little too much, specially when you have 30+ active crew, don't you think? Plus, they'd all be spread out over separate areas of operation, making the whole department less functional. Mind you, this is if we're talking about the first mode proposed. With the second mode, it may be possible to toggle some slots available on conditions.

As it stands, cadets serve the purpose of being the field security slot that you can play while you wait for your 7 day whitelist req to tick full. I suppose a better analogy would be a probationary officer. But that's a technicality, which doesn't really matter.

As it stands, cadets serve the purpose of being the field security slot that you can play while you wait for your 7 day whitelist req to tick full. I suppose a better analogy would be a probationary officer. But that's a technicality, which doesn't really matter.

Big scary title, I know. But the idea is simple enough. We have 5 Security Officer slots, and 2 Security Cadet slots. For all intents and purposes, 8 out of every 10 cadets function pretty much like normal officers. So, this is a total of 7 Security Officer slots, plus 4 supporting slots, that can be potentially filled. And, depending on circumstances, this can get a little overbearing, no? Yeah, we're a roleplay server. But we're a roleplay server which has always kept antagonists in high regards (or higher regards than some other places). If we have a stupidly stacked security team with some 30 players and 1 - 3 traitors, then we're not exactly providing the best potential for a good outcome. An even fight will prove a more enjoyable experience, no? There are roughly two approaches for this: Fixed Slots - The idea is simple, we keep the fixed number of officer slots. But, we make the two cadets count as officers, if they are used. So, you could have three possible security officer make-ups: 5 officers, 4 officers 1 cadet, 3 officers 2 cadets. However the slots are picked on the go is how it'll stay. Dynamic Slots - A bit of a more complex idea. But, in basic terms, the amount of officers and cadets changes, dependent on how many people are active. I don't have ballparks as to where the counts would go, and how they'd change, but that can be figured out if the idea is vetted as good. Remove Cadets - Easy as that. Accomplishes the objective with a similar outcome to the first idea. A similar idea (at least, the fixed slots one), could perhaps be implemented with MDs and EMTs as well. There have been a few cases where I've seen everyone in medical stumble over one another due to oversaturation, but that application is for discussion at another time. We'll start with security. So, thoughts, ideas?

Big scary title, I know. But the idea is simple enough. We have 5 Security Officer slots, and 2 Security Cadet slots. For all intents and purposes, 8 out of every 10 cadets function pretty much like normal officers. So, this is a total of 7 Security Officer slots, plus 4 supporting slots, that can be potentially filled. And, depending on circumstances, this can get a little overbearing, no? Yeah, we're a roleplay server. But we're a roleplay server which has always kept antagonists in high regards (or higher regards than some other places). If we have a stupidly stacked security team with some 30 players and 1 - 3 traitors, then we're not exactly providing the best potential for a good outcome. An even fight will prove a more enjoyable experience, no? There are roughly two approaches for this: Fixed Slots - The idea is simple, we keep the fixed number of officer slots. But, we make the two cadets count as officers, if they are used. So, you could have three possible security officer make-ups: 5 officers, 4 officers 1 cadet, 3 officers 2 cadets. However the slots are picked on the go is how it'll stay. Dynamic Slots - A bit of a more complex idea. But, in basic terms, the amount of officers and cadets changes, dependent on how many people are active. I don't have ballparks as to where the counts would go, and how they'd change, but that can be figured out if the idea is vetted as good. Remove Cadets - Easy as that. Accomplishes the objective with a similar outcome to the first idea. A similar idea (at least, the fixed slots one), could perhaps be implemented with MDs and EMTs as well. There have been a few cases where I've seen everyone in medical stumble over one another due to oversaturation, but that application is for discussion at another time. We'll start with security. So, thoughts, ideas?

If my old information is still applicable, then stereotypes exist on our server. Just that, they're not the ones you appear to be familiar with? As I've observed, almost every RP server has its own set of stereotypes, and these may not carry over from one server to another. I can help you with one piece of clarification, though. The submissive Tajaran, and overly aggressive, bloody-zealot Unathi stereotypes were two things that I personally wanted to do away with a long, long, long time ago. And, apparently so did the community, as I didn't really push/care for lore ideas back then, so they got to have almost free reign on how they played species. Why? Well, because, it seemed lazy to me. Flat. Two-dimensional. Think about it: every Tajaran you see has an inferiority complex, must be submissive, afraid of the whip, and not retaliate for fear of being beaten as if he/she was back in their slavery days. Seems kind of rigid, no? Although, these have been partly replaced by other ones. Like the Tajarans being perceived as angsty teenagers, basically. I'm unsure if this is good or bad. *shrugs* I also hold that the entire design of Tajarans and Unathi is flawed, in that even from a mechanical point of view, they are not alien enough to be considered alien. If that makes sense. Dionaea and Skrell are better on that count, as are IPCs (to a surprising degree). But that's another matter for another time.

If my old information is still applicable, then stereotypes exist on our server. Just that, they're not the ones you appear to be familiar with? As I've observed, almost every RP server has its own set of stereotypes, and these may not carry over from one server to another. I can help you with one piece of clarification, though. The submissive Tajaran, and overly aggressive, bloody-zealot Unathi stereotypes were two things that I personally wanted to do away with a long, long, long time ago. And, apparently so did the community, as I didn't really push/care for lore ideas back then, so they got to have almost free reign on how they played species. Why? Well, because, it seemed lazy to me. Flat. Two-dimensional. Think about it: every Tajaran you see has an inferiority complex, must be submissive, afraid of the whip, and not retaliate for fear of being beaten as if he/she was back in their slavery days. Seems kind of rigid, no? Although, these have been partly replaced by other ones. Like the Tajarans being perceived as angsty teenagers, basically. I'm unsure if this is good or bad. *shrugs* I also hold that the entire design of Tajarans and Unathi is flawed, in that even from a mechanical point of view, they are not alien enough to be considered alien. If that makes sense. Dionaea and Skrell are better on that count, as are IPCs (to a surprising degree). But that's another matter for another time.

SOMETHING BROKE IN THE DATES AREA. I have no fucking idea what. I'll look into it shortly, once I get Scopes on the horn. I am/was also working on a slightly more fluid experience. But trouble with understanding JS halted it.

ALSO, I forgot some shit. Apparently writing important things this late at night is a terrible idea. Thank you to all of the staff and community members who made this journey worth it. All of you were great, in one way or another. Keep on trucking, and do keep on trying to work on that communication bit. It'll help, a lot.

But I'll be elsewhere. I'll basically be taking a month off, and squaring things away in real life. After that, I'll see what the docs think and, hopefully, await for some 8-9 months I go. If not, then, well. We'll see. Buut, I won't be around anymore, regardless of that. I suppose I'll run a quick summary of all the things forever. Well, not really, but. Amazing successes were had, a server was raised up from a steady population of 40, and no development process, to a place with a rough population of 150-250 folks, and a semi-functional development process (at least, back in the winter). Obviously, mistakes were also made, sometimes on par with the successes. But that's how it goes. And, I imagine fun was had in the mean time, otherwise this place wouldn't really exist anymore. Beyond that, I still have a promise to keep. I'll be tending to the Skrell organ code after my job contract ends, at which point I'll have a count of weeks to tend to it. And that should be enough, at this point. Also, it'd be a lie to say that I won't be back. I will be, at some point. But for now, later! If anyone needs me, feel free to PM me (I'll get annoyed through my email), or skype me, if you know it.

Weeell. Let's see. I am giving up my position tomorrow. So that I'd have a month and a bit to square away anything real life related before I'm taken into service, if I'm taken into service. That would leave Scopes as the only coder. My recommendation to him, once he finds the manpower to allocate, is to start from square one, and basically scrub every application. Managing these is much like riding a bike: once you fall off it, you have to stop the bike, before you can get back onto it.

Okay. the ban should be lifted. If it isn't, please PM me and I'll tend to it ASAP.

Damn it! You should have made a question of the marital status! I just now noticed, kinda sad, otherwise I would have suggested it earlier :< EDIT: aand there is every single one of my characters, now. Wee.

"He can appeal." Well, late but things. Anyways, I wrote that into your notes, and didn't add much outright negative, beyond the offence denoted. So, I think we're good to lift the ban.

Meow. Please do all of them. You'll probably add an entire fifth to the crew population.

Let me. Add the details. Banned key: Valoryx Banning admin: TishinaStalker Date of ban: 10APR2015 Reason of ban: "Tried to commit suicide after being permabrigged. While being talked to, they showed no effort or want to read the rules. Please appeal this after you have read the rules."

I will also say. Communities like this do not die within weeks. They do not die within months. They go through phases, iterations, changes. People come, people go. The only communities where you can flat out say that, "Eeeyup. This is ded," are communities that rely very heavily on a very centralized power structure (like ArmA MILSIM groups). There, you yoink out specific components, and they collapse like dominoes. And even then there's a chance that they'll head onwards towards a brighter dawn.

At the time, this was a necessity. FFrances' rather abrupt departure from the position of Head Administrator, coupled with the community burning through its most senior Admins at a steady pace (or, you know, them doing stupid shit for months, getting caught and then dismissed -- always fun, that one), left me with a rather fresh team and myself at the helm. Considering the situations we were placed into, it seemed like the best option at the time, and perhaps even was. Now we just have to see where the new leadership take this. Because, my term ends in two weeks. Also, I do love how the TL;DR: of your post, to me, at least, reads: stop trying to entertain everyone, and just make sure people know what they're going to get, and let everyone else fuck off. I do love it, and it was how we used to operate (at least, whenever YeahChris was around). Also. Let me speak of an issue here. The forums serve that purpose, but people also expect it to be a mode of communication. If we discard them as a place for people to do whatever, then anyone expecting proper communication through them is going to be sorely disappointed. An example is pretty much the present situation, because that is how things are/were.

As a note. If the tasers were to be upgraded, then this would validate any antagonist in preemptively and, often wordlessly killing an approaching sec officer. Just so we're clear.