wowzewow

Either that, or make it so Command has to add them. (Even then, I'm unsure, since they'll probably be busy at the oddysey stuff) I don't think this'll mess with balance too much, since basically half or more of the ship's down on the away site. Kind of sucks to be locked out of a round because you missed roundstart. Also kind of sets a hard cap on the amount of players we can really have (because who the hell wants to play Off-duty?) Can't really top the server charts even though we literally are getting the most amount of players interested as possible.

Alright, so, please forgive me - it's literally my first few rounds, so I apologize if I overstep a bit while I try to figure out some gimmicks. Morgan's supposed to be a pencil-pushing, slightly overbearing manager that tries to do "efficiency" stuff. Actually, this is all connected, and it was a pretty confusing ordeal, so let me explain. - Morgan gets annoyed at a Security Officer for playing video games. Just body-languages frustration, but nothing more. - Officer pulls Morgan aside - "This is unbecoming of the PMCG. Allow me to correct this behaviour on your behalf" - Said officer files an injunction and other things on their own discretion. As there were no other command staff available, I felt it was some good paperwork RP, so I signed off on it. (And to be extra certain, I ahelped as well to double check if I had the authority to do so.) - Mid round, HOS joins and takes over. Afterwards we had a conversation about the injunction and then the problem was resolved. Apologies if my intentions weren't clear. I wasn't planning on hiring or firing anyone. I was trying to do a survey gimmick where I'd intervew someone for a moment, then give them a gold star/coupon as a fun side thing. There was only really Security (busy with Greimorians) and Medical, so I didn't have much choice in trying to get the gimmick going. There was no Bridge Crew, Service nor other Command staff for most of the round, so I had to fill in. As soon as the HoS joined, I immediately went hands-off.

BYOND key: Wowzewow Discord Username: alsoandanswer Character names: Wesley Miyazaki Jeremy Hanford Morgan Chiang-Slaughter How long have you been playing on Aurora? Nine years, intermittently, with a couple of hiatus periods. Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they? Yes. Not very serious. Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph each. What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame? A Mini-DM, basically. Give people things to do. Set up scenarios for roleplay. Something that really stuck with me way back when I was playing a chef was the Captain ordering a steak, a glass of wine, and some mushroom soup. It wasn't much, but it gave me something fun to do. To elaborate - it's all about *delegation*, you've got *power*, and you *should* use it. It's fun to boss around a bunch of goons - but it's also fun to be bossed around. "Aye-aye boss, with pleasure", as you order some security boys to give em' what for. If they don't comply, well... do this or you're fired! Conflict! Either way, everyone has fun. Typically, good leadership's about conflict mediation - not taking sides, and ending things peacefully, that's nice and all. However, it's more fun to draw lines in the sand and form teams. Since you're a member of command, you have the *authority* to do these kinds of things. And it's the best kind of roleplay that you can get on the server. Every character gets to pour out their grudges and greviances, and it's a very emotionally raw experience. People die, fight, and get messed up! Its dramatic, romantic, fantastic. What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them? Be good roleplayers, basically. If something goes wrong, just help smooth things out and make sure the show goes on. Realistically though, you aren't a loredev, nor an admin, so your responsibilites are much more muted, but also a lot more personal. There isn't this power dynamic, so you're a lot more of a mentor and friend than anything else. Also makes you a lot more approachable. You're "higher ranking" per se, but in knowledge, rather in authority. You should be a rock to other players, and when they see your name in the manifest, they know they'll be in for a good time. Explain how the recent events in the Spur changed your character and how they came to be employed on the SCCV Horizon. As much as a Solarian citizen as anyone else, unfortunately, Morgan isn't particularly all too fond of the Solarian Alliance, with its dogmatic rhetoric and nationalistic fervour. Though Sol Common was the lingua franca, he never really felt a connection to it. Dad spoke a dialect. Mom spoke Basic. Sol Common was the language of propaganda. Failure after failure, corruption, scandals. The fact that his leaders were utter imbeciles were an insult to his to intelligence. And he'll be damned if he's going to be drafted into the Solarian Navy to die in a Gadpathurian trench. With a broad higher education in Basic under his belt and a fire in his gut, he sought employment with the SCC. Working for a few years inbetween menial jobs and middle management (for that valuable "work experience"), he's hoping that his new position's his ticket up to the big leagues. Though, it'd be hard to say he *hates* the Solarian Alliance. Changing masters from pauldrons and military formals to suits and ties isn't particularly all sunshine and rainbows for him, but at least there's a way up and out, he hopes... Well, at least it's better than the senseless self-absorbed bickering of the Coalition, but that's something to think about for another time. (Yes. I've been playing him as a bartender for a while - I just wanted to test out his character. Once he's promoted he'll be aged up and have some things changed around) What roles do you plan on playing after the application is accepted? Executive Officer. Have you familiarized yourself with the wiki pages for the command roles? Yes. Characters you intend to use for command or have created for command. Include the job they will be taking: Morgan, Chiang-Slaughter Tsing-Hsien - Executive Officer Morgan is a New Hai Phonger - well, at least half, mom's a Bieselite and *insisted* on the double barelled last name. A gaunt, sharply dressed New Hai Phonger man, usually seen with a ledger or clipboard in tow. It's as if he's *thinking* through his pen - that is, if his white dress gloves don't catch your eye first. Usually deadpan and monotonous - some see this as uncaring, uncouth - but really, he's mostly nonplussed most of the time. However, that's not to say he isn't emotive... (and that's for you to find out!) His hair is in a rough undercut, his beard mostly stubble, thicker at the mustache and chin. A pair of horn-rimmed spectacles rests on his face. He's kept in an utilitarian manner. Do you understand your whitelist is not permanent, and may be stripped following continuous administrative action? Yes. Have you linked your BYOND account to the Forums? Yes. Extra notes: I can't particularly always play at peak-hour. It's usually around 3-7am and I have things to do in the morning.

Well, I've updated the main post, but I'll elaborate briefly again here - Although not directly involved in the Solarian Civil War nor the Interstellar War, his higher education in Basic allowed him to peer past the veil of propaganda and nationalism. With his political fervour and views akin to an old-fashioned Intelligentsia, it would probably lead to him being put up against the wall in front of a firing squad. He isn't particularly keen on sticking around. Although he has some reservations about kowtowing to his new corporate overlords, at least being taken away by the Navy to be sent into a Gadpathurian trench isn't one of his concerns anymore. @Owen@NM_ Addressed.

BYOND key: Wowzewow Discord Username: alsoandanswer Character names: Wesley Miyazaki Jeremy Hanford How long have you been playing on Aurora? Nine years. Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they? Yes. Not very serious. Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph each. What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame? A Mini-DM, basically. Give people things to do. Set up scenarios for roleplay. Something that really stuck with me way back when I was playing a chef was the Captain ordering a steak, a glass of wine, and some mushroom soup. It wasn't much, but it gave me something fun to do. To elaborate - it's all about *delegation*, you've got *power*, and you *should* use it. It's fun to boss around a bunch of goons - but it's also fun to be bossed around. "Aye-aye boss, with pleasure", as you order some security boys to give em' what for. If they don't comply, well... do this or you're fired! Conflict! Either way, everyone has fun. Typically, good leadership's about conflict mediation - not taking sides, and ending things peacefully, that's nice and all. However, it's more fun to draw lines in the sand and form teams. Since you're a member of command, you have the *authority* to do these kinds of things. And it's the best kind of roleplay that you can get on the server. Every character gets to pour out their grudges and greviances, and it's a very emotionally raw experience. People die, fight, and get messed up! Its dramatic, romantic, fantastic. What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them? Be good roleplayers, basically. If something goes wrong, just help smooth things out and make sure the show goes on. Realistically though, you aren't a loredev, nor an admin, so your responsibilites are much more muted, but also a lot more personal. There isn't this power dynamic, so you're a lot more of a mentor and friend than anything else. Also makes you a lot more approachable. You're "higher ranking" per se, but in knowledge, rather in authority. You should be a rock to other players, and when they see your name in the manifest, they know they'll be in for a good time. Explain how the recent events in the Spur changed your character and how they came to be employed on the SCCV Horizon. As much as a Solarian citizen as anyone else, unfortunately, Morgan isn't particularly all too fond of the Solarian Alliance, with its dogmatic rhetoric and nationalistic fervour. Though Sol Common was the lingua franca, he never really felt a connection to it. Dad spoke a dialect. Mom spoke Basic. Sol Common was the language of propaganda. Failure after failure, corruption, scandals. The fact that his leaders were utter imbeciles were an insult to his to intelligence. And he'll be damned if he's going to be drafted into the Solarian Navy to die in a Gadpathurian trench. With a broad higher education in Basic under his belt and a fire in his gut, he sought employment with the SCC, and got on the first ship he could. The Horizon. Though, it'd be hard to say he *hates* the Solarian Alliance. Changing masters from pauldrons and military formals to suits and ties isn't particularly all sunshine and rainbows for him, but at least there's a way up and out, he hopes... Well, at least it's better than the senseless self-absorbed bickering of the Coalition, but that's something to think about for another time. What roles do you plan on playing after the application is accepted? Executive Officer. Have you familiarized yourself with the wiki pages for the command roles? Yes. Characters you intend to use for command or have created for command. Include the job they will be taking: Morgan, Chiang-Slaughter Tsing-Hsien - Executive Officer Morgan is a New Hai Phonger - well, at least half, mom's a Bieselite and *insisted* on the double barelled last name. A gaunt, sharply dressed New Hai Phonger man, usually seen with a ledger or clipboard in tow. It's as if he's *thinking* through his pen - that is, if his white dress gloves don't catch your eye first. Usually deadpan and monotonous - some see this as uncaring, uncouth - but really, he's mostly nonplussed most of the time. However, that's not to say he isn't emotive... (and that's for you to find out!) His hair is in a rough undercut, his beard mostly stubble, thicker at the mustache and chin. A pair of horn-rimmed spectacles rests on his face. He's kept in an utilitarian manner. Do you understand your whitelist is not permanent, and may be stripped following continuous administrative action? Yes. Have you linked your BYOND account to the Forums? Yes. Extra notes: No.

https://github.com/Aurorastation/Aurora.3/pull/20467 Basically, Fluffy and I have managed to upgrade the lobby art to support PNGs. I've updated the buttons and logo to also be transparent to show off the cool art rather than blocking it. Anyway, I need your help. If you've got art skills, you can cement your place in the server's history. We're missing lobby art for Dionae, Unathi, and Skrell. If you've got any other ideas feel free to DM me at alsoandanswer on Discord. Resolution is 1920x1920. UI looks like this. Be sure to sign your art! (But if you don't want to, you don't have to.)

I actually have an unorthodox suggestion, and it's to shift to UTC+8 instead. A sizable chunk of our userbase is American, therefore play in the evening, i.e., after work. Therefore, it would make sense for the time to be morning on the Horizon - peak hour means day-shift on the Horizon, then lowpop would sensibly be night-shift.

Alright, I know this sounds stupid, but hear me out. Keep in mind with all "antag" queues, you need to be readied up. (But you won't be antag, you're just signing up for freaky friday) If anyone doesn't know what "Freaky Friday" is, it's basically a body-swap episode. Both of you have a task that you'll have to complete together so you'll switch back to your own bodies. Lore reason is bluespace nonsense. Basically, it's an excuse for characters that usually would have NO reason whatsoever to interact with each other. And you know, other fun stuff. Also, I wanted an excuse to unironically type Freaky Friday today.

Honestly, I'm all for this - it's just that AI and Cyborgs need to be removed if this happens. I'll be frank here - AI and Cyborg are on death's door on this server. They're overpowered, and only held back by AI laws that only really work in LRP - MRP enviroments as a power limiter. Unfortunately for us, this also limits their roleplay capabilities to have as much personality as a sentient roomba. There is no good reason to play one in the year of our lord 2025. At this point, IPCs and Borgs basically step on each others toes to a fault, and I think it's time to actually just bring this one out back and make the final curtain call. It's just up to the IPC lore team to handle it. EDIT : As for sprites, I think this is an non-issue. And this is coming from the Head Spriter (i.e, me). Just disable inhands if it's really bad (and even then, it's nearly the same case for bulwarks for just adjusting a few x and y values) and only allow hats to be equipped. The rest can be implants or whatever. Ironically, the last thing I'd want is for my effort making these Cyborg sprites to go to waste by being basically seen once in a blue moon.

Locking and archiving. An entire year and two weeks have passed. This has ceased to be an issue.

I don't know how this hasn't been thought up yet. Basically, rework Ling and Vamp from LRP murderbone maintgankers to work more akin to social deduction games, ala Town Of Salem, Blood on the Clocktower kind of deal. A perfect fit for HRP.

Well, this is more on regular rounds. Should've specified. Anyway, there's really no point to join mid-round if, say, the expedition shuttle left, and there's just a skeleton crew on the Horizon. Yes - you still *can* play, but I don't think that would be very much fun, relatively speaking. Forgive me, I should've specified that I was referring more to high-intensity events. Laid on it a bit thick with the hyperbole. Although, still. It's a joke that event volunteers are just there to kill the crew. Konyang isn't really a good example, it's relatively safe, and mostly just peaceful exploring with the occassional encounter. Well, barring a few Johnny Somali characters, but that's beside the point. I'm talking more about the Adhomai event - where people decided to jump to the insta-death pit on a bet, and some dude literally went up to the massive beast that terrorized the crew in a wheelchair. And, you know. The lynching. And the massive firefight. I don't think a high intensity event should equal people dying en-masse, but more of more action, and more stakes. People coming back shaken, wounded. More of a dramatic "Battle of the bulge" rather than Trench warfare in Verdun. It's also pretty bad for canon event immersion. People are NOT going to risk their A-list characters with flavor text commisioned pictures because they're afraid to canonically die. Is it totally guaranteed? Debatable, but I think it's a reasonable precaution to take. I think people would be a lot more comfortable if death was the exception, not the rule.

This seems fine on paper, but in practice, Mid-round joining is very rare, ESPECIALLY in a HRP enviroment on Aurora. MRP-LRP servers can just throw you back into the action, because generally SHITS FUKD! But on Aurora, you need to IC'ly know what's going on. You can't really do that unless you're actively metagaming. The action disadvantage is that they are going to die without chance of recovery in the next fight. ...Yes, this is what I'm implying from my post. This is the action disadvantage I'm talking about. You're missing the point here. Death is supposed to be meaningful, and more death means the entirety of Sec dying isn't a tragedy, it's a statistic. It essentially makes us a meatgrinder, which is stupid. You literally see it nowadays as expected in canon events for large chunks of the crew to just fucking die. People are joking about how much of a deathtrap canon events are. Death is a powerful literary tool, but ONLY IN MODERATION. Now you see it as people jumping to their literal deaths for shits n' giggles during a CANON EVENT. Now, imagine this, for a moment. Sec finishes dealing with a team of mercs. What is more emotionally impactful? A. The entire Sec team dies. The mercs are dead too. The end! Time to call for round end! B. Security is battered and bruised. One or two couldn't make it back. Most, if not all of them, are crippled, or irrepariably maimed in some way. They are recovering in medical. They're thinking, and talking about their futures. Will they continue working here? One of them considers prosthetics. The Head of Security goes to comfort and have a chat with them. He awards one with a medal for bravery. This also, addresses the issue of non-player directed deaths. Sometimes, dying to RNG bullshit, like bad terrain, or some NPC mobs are simply not good storytelling. For example, if a miner gets fucked by bad luck, they aren't relegated to throwing their hands up and say, "Well, I guess I can't play the game anymore." Instead, at least they have a cool story to tell at the bar, "I got this scar when I was fending off a wild pack of Space Carp"

PREAMBLE So. I've been mulling over this for quite a while now. I'm a self-proclaimed medical main, but I've stopped enjoying playing it. Well. I still love the department though, RP'ing in it. I think it's really time we get to the heart of the problem. We can talk day and night about nerfing certain chemicals, damage values, and absolutely stupid BULLSHIT like chemical names and what not, but the crux of the issue hit me like a freight train after yet another discussion about medical metagaming the hell out of systems. I want to make my point clear, but also, please *do* read the entirety of this topic, because it's important. The Return of the Powergame, and Why After BrainMed, one of Matt's magum opuses, and a bunch of tweaking, it solved a lot of growing pains Aurora had with antag-crew interactions and firefights. Although after the novelty of BrainMed wore off, a lot of the old problems plaguing medical reared it's head again. Those who where there, I'd like to name a certain player that decided the best course of action to deal with patients is immediately sedating them with chloral hydrate in order to *operate* most effectively. Medical got back to business trying to *beat the system*. Zero mortality rate. Not there's anything wrong with that, but it revived the problem of basically nullifing any progress the antagonists made by boiling down the stakes to how long til' Security gets back on their feet again. I don't blame them though. It's not their fault, and they have a just reason to do so, which is : "People die too fast, and dying is bad. Dying means people don't get to play the game, and RP." Dying is Good, actually - but it's only one part of the solution Again, I still believe Matt is justified in his sharp course of action for BrainMed. Firefights were basically taking enough shots til' the other side ran out of patience or bullets. Death was literally the coup de grâce this stalemate needed. It brought drama, it brought stakes. It literally got fresh blood back into the scene. But, unsurprisingly, it got a lot of medical mains absolutely *livid* when it first came out. Because "dying is bad". But now, death rates are sharply going down. Medical's "winrate" is going back up again, and people are dying a lot less. Which then again returns us to the issues that plagued medical pre-BrainMed. The Two Ways People Interact With Medical - Please fix me up NOW so I can get back to roleplaying elsewhere. - Please fix me up slowly so I can get some roleplay here. These two are in complete opposing sides of the spectrum. Push for one side, and the other suffers. Stay in the middle, and no one's satisfied. Currently, medical is just railroaded to "fix everything and get the next patient in as soon as possible". And it's hard to break out of. Even if the patient wants to do the latter, there's not much they can do without actively resisting treatment and fighting the actual mechanics. Which then returns us to the rather unfortunate chloral hydrate moment. The Solution Alright, enough rambling. So, we've got two ways people want to interact with medical in entirely different ways and are in opposition to each other and mechanics. So, here's my proposal. There are two gameplay paths for medical in dealing with a patient. 1. 100% Health Zero Damage The current gameplay that medical has. Full scan, chemicals, and surgery. With one major change. A recovery period. After surgery, people can't, and shouldn't walk out of medical. Surgery "heals" much slower, but will return the body to basically 100%. (If they do choose to do so, make it so it they'll have a chance to re-break their bones, re-open sutres, and a lot of nasty things if they aren't fully recovered.) It makes sense, and it will benefit roleplay. On the old Aurora, there was an entire sublevel dedicated to recovering patients. Unfortunately people recovered so fast that it was rendered ultimately useless. Same with the nurse role basically, there aren't really *anyone* to look after. Imagine this - your good friend just got out of a firefight, and just finished surgery. They're recovering in a ward, and you have some time together for some soulful RP. Maybe you'll get a wheelchair and bring them to the kitchen for a meal. 2. Get Me Back In There, Now. Featuring the forgotten middle child of the Medical equipment, the Splint. Basically, advanced trauma kits, burn kits, splints and combat stims, and that's all. This is supposed to go by quickly, and will return you to about 80-90% back to health. You'll still need to come back to be fixed up to 100%, but you'll still be healthy enough to go back into combat. (with some very minor pain messages, of course) For example, any fractures will be basically functionally inert, but have the potential to get much worse if you get hurt again. Also, you're probably going to die rather than be incapacitated again (which is, uninutivitely, a plus : fragmeisters would much rather die a martyr's death than be stuck in the medical cuck-box - they chose their bed to make, so, why not let them lie in it?) Out of firefights, miners won't have half of their round ruined because they had an unfortunate fall - they can basically get a quick look-over in medical and get back to playing the game instead of being stuck somewhere they'd rather not be. This also has an added benefit to expeditions, so people can still participate and get back to playing instead of being buckled to a roller bed for the rest of the round. This is so both medical AND the patient has a choice in how they want to interact with the medical system. Incapacitation AND Death, rather than just the latter. With this new system in place, there also needs to be a change in the mortality rates - people need to be incapacitated, rather than dead, It's just that death was more convenient at the time because it was far too easy to get someone who got down back on their feet in a couple of minutes. This works two-fold : the wounded and incapacitated aren't there to throw off the balance of the combat going on, but also, more importantly, aren't just flat out dead so they're just out of the round entirely.

I know the Lore Application board exists, but I think somewhere people can put their ideas to flesh out would be a pretty good idea.