Eliot Clef

If there is no CE you are still not allowed to break into areas, even if it's part of your department, if you get caught you can be arrested for it. You do not need a CE to open secure storage, I have setup the power plenty of times without opening storage as an assistant or an engineer. Atmos isn't an urgent requirement for the station, it will survive without being altered. Re: Atmos, I'm aware of this and pointed it out during the course of the round, where (IIRC) the engineer I was discussing it with noted that Atmospherics optimization is not necessary. I'm aware that the AI/Borgs can open secure storage instead, which is usually what happens. I'm not sure how access is gained otherwise, but I was under the impression that it's not uncommon for engineers to break into the CE's office to accomplish this.

EMPs/Ion Weapons are readily available to cultists (although I'm not certain it's doable while mass-summoning manifested ghosts), Wizard, Traitors, Security, ERT. If you've got the materials, you can cook up an EMP grenade in Chemistry. A human in full riot gear is pretty hard to take down in melee as well. I doubt they'd have fared as well against three armed, manifested ghosts admittedly. But they actually do have some stuff going for them that an IPC doesn't. An IPC, once removed from the round is... pretty much removed from the round! Death is permanent shy of admin intervention or being turned into an android/borg. A human who dies will prrrrobably get cloned unless they have DNC orders or otherwise get concealed to prevent it. This is part of why I think nerfing IPC's durability should be looked at pretty closely, but I'm not going to pitch a fit if it happens. I didn't apply to play IPCs because they're super robust, I just enjoy synthetics. But they can already die hilariously easily. Also, they're not unstunnable. Use a baton.

Hey. Just want to throw in a quick Security-converted-to-Cultist point of view here. To the best of my knowledge, none of Security (except the converted) was aware that it was a cult round at the time that any of these incidents occurred. The Security-Engineering tension and resulting confrontation was entirely a result of (part of) Engineering posturing and denying power to the station over Bennit being arrested for trespassing in atmospherics early in the round. Incidentally, when it was pointed out that, lacking a Chief Engineer it is REQUIRED for engineering to gain technically illegal access to equipment, I defended engineering. However, to the best of my knowledge, the break-in at atmospherics isn't really for a "required" station activity like engine set-up. I was a Forensic Tech that round, so I actually ended up dusting one of the broken doors to see who had been tampering with it. Engineering folks, I don't condone the permabrigging and if you'll recall I was a part of your breakout party. But if you factionalize yourselves because an engineer got minor brig time for a minor crime, yeah, Security is going to be all over you. And so it was. Jon Chung, I think? He might've been welding the doors because the power was out and you only needed a crowbar to open them. I don't know, I didn't pay much attention to him.

Brage's complaint on Bennit's behavior during that round is pretty much accurate. I remember directly witnessing the fortification of the CE's office, as well as one other incident. If I'm not misremembering, Bennit also ended up arrested in this round for wandering off to the kitchen and grinding up both Ian and Pun-Pun to "make hamburgers".

The IPC in question, Phobos, was: 1) Wearing Riot Armor, as has been mentioned. 2) Carrying a Riot Shield and using it pretty well. So, in total, he has three layers of defense: Riot Armor, Brute Reduction (contributing that 12.5% boost compared to a normal dude wearing riot armor), and a Riot Shield which -- well I'm not sure what it offers other than fairly regular blocks from melee attacks. The three of us were a bunch of robe-clad murderous ghosts with only melee weapons. We were unstunnable, but we had an awful time actually getting past his shield and armor. And even then, the ghost MedHUD indicated that he was pretty banged up. I think, as the person on the losing end of that fight, that the advantage stacking that went on here shouldn't be conflated as an excess of power in IPCs. Also, any sort of EMP weapon will -- as noted -- completely explode an IPC. I've seen a Wizard IPC's head just pop right off from a single ion rifle hit. This is by far the most harsh drawback that I've seen on any whitelisted race, so I would appreciate any nerfs being looked at reaaaaal carefully before they take place.

Waaaaait, do you have the hardpoint idea set up somewhere, or is this just a mock-up?

Reporting Personnel: IAM Rank of Reporting Personnel: Warden Personnel Involved: Protective Detail Paladin, Station Engineer [REDACTED], Bartender Daryl Jackson, Chef Rozhad Alakiv, Security Officer Ana Roh'hi'tin, Security Officer Milo Hatchert, Security Officer [REDACTED], Security Officer Marlowe Falkon Time of Incident: Between 13:50 and 14:23 station time, 5-26-2457. (OOC: 7:50 to 8:25 CST on the 26th of May.) Location of Incident: Security Department/Security Comms Nature of Incident: []Workplace Hazard []Accident/Injury []Destruction of Property []Neglect of Duty []Harassment []Assault [X]Misconduct []Other _____ (Place an x in the box that applies. If other, replace line and specify.) Overview of the Incident: (General description of the incident, to include as much detail as is deemed necessary) [...] As a result of the aforementioned events, I (IAM) was forced to respond to a call that Bartender Daryl Jackson was acting in a threatening manner towards Chef Rozhad Alakiv. I found Alakiv departing the scene towards medbay with possible minor injuries, and the Bartender in the kitchen. After verifying that Alakiv had arrived in medbay with injuries, I ordered Mr. Jackson to climb back over the counter and get down on the floor for arrest on a charge of trespass. Mr. Jackson resisted, and I was tied up with the effort of subduing him for some time. After he was apprehended, he was taken to medbay for injuries -- possibly sustained as a result of self-defense on the part of Alakiv, this was never clarified to me -- and ultimately held for quite some time to repair liver damage. I was therefore present when Station Engineer [REDACTED] began attempting to flush the Chief Medical Officer into disposals, and aided in her arrest. Soon after, Jackson recovered and ran around medbay attempting to evade me in cuffs. I was forced to pass Station Engineer [REDACTED] off on Protective Detail Paladin so that I could take custody of Mr. Jackson. I proceeded to the holding room, where I searched Mr. Jackson pending imprisonment for charges of Trespassing, Resisting Arrest, and ultimately Contraband as well. Here, I erred. I discovered that he had a shotgun on his person, and left it sitting on the floor of the holding cell while I went to put him in a proper brig cell. Ana Roh'hi'tin discovered this, and rightly berated me for it. However, she continued to berate me, and the entirety of security at length, for the entirety of the shift. My primary complaint is concerning Roh'hi'tin's dreadful treatment of her co-workers, particularly myself, and overall attitude. An audio log and transcript from my memory banks has been included with this complaint. Other Audio Log Excerpts related to Ana Ro'hi'tin from the rest of the shift. Note, hostility was often mutual between Ro'hi'tin and conversation partners, and I have attempted to exclude constructive criticism such as that aimed at my "shotgun" mistake, and the mistake of allowing prisoner [REDACTED] to retain a full toolset in solitary confinement: In all, I find Officer Roh'hi'tin's conduct to be excessively hostile. While she is usually correct in her frustrations to some measure, her open contempt for others makes things more difficult and incites reactionary social hostility in the crew around her. Did you report it to a Head of Staff or IAA? If so, who?: Negative. There was too much going on at the time to warrant diverting energy to socially inappropriate behavior. Additional notes: OOC: [REDACTED] represents Lauren Blade, who was an antag and therefore should not be considered "canon" for this round.

I've been playing semi-regularly with Aqy since I first arrived on Aurora, and early on she was one of the most consistent members of Security. I wandered off for a while so there's a gap of time where I didn't see much of her, but on the occasions that we've been in security simultaneously again, it's been same ol' same ol'. Emmy may not be perfection incarnate, but I've seen a lot less reasonable Heads of Security roaming around. Speaking as somebody whose attention ISN'T in as high demand as that of the Head of Security, it's really easy to get lost in the tide of people screaming for security, arrests, protection, etc. You might say that the Head of Security is supposed to be above being sucked into the confusion, but I would disagree -- HoS players are humans behind keyboards as well, and they're almost certainly being subject to more information overload than the average member of security. I am wholeheartedly in favor of Aqy as a Head. (Though, the matter seems to be pretty much decided already.)

IPCs can be stunned. I got flashed the other day by a borg, which kept me down for quite a while. While we can't be stunned with a taser, a stun baton will also work just fine.

You could also just give Detectives their own CSI kit. Maybe one with only the contents you can get from a relevant crate, so they're not quite as well-equipped as a real forensic tech.

BYOND Key: Aedan Character name: IAM Item name: IAM's Model Pistol Why is your character carrying said item to work? This model pistol is made from the exterior of a protopistol given to IAM by Research Director Sybil Rosetta-Sigma during IAM's second shift as a "free" Security Synthetic on 5-22-2457. While he certainly couldn't keep a functioning protopistol, Sybil's gift marks a very major turning point in IAM's life while intrinsically being connected to his work and workplace aboard the Aurora. It would also constitute his first real personal possession. In short, it would be stranger for him NOT to keep this with him as often as possible, and its origin point is in fact that very workplace. Item function(s): If it were to have a function, it should just be a reskinned toy gun, crossbow, or laser tag gun. (Crossbow or Laser Tag Gun actually sounds like it'd be fun, since I could pew pew darts or harmless not-lasers.) Otherwise it's just there to be a coincidentally gun-shaped object of sentimental value to IAM, so it doesn't strictly need any of these extra layers of functionality. Item description: A highly realistic model of a protopistol with an engraving along the side that reads: Sybil Rosetta-Sigma NSS Aurora 5-22-2457 An orange tip marks it decisively as a harmless toy. Item appearance: Pretty much just the appearance of a protopistol. No modifications needed other than the item on-examine description. You could maybe give it an orange tip, I guess? Additional comments: Not going to lie, I didn't have any notions of applying for a custom item... until Sybil went out of her way to give IAM a protopistol as a sort of "welcome to having a body and being a real crew member" gift. It struck me as the sort of thing IAM would hold onto as a very powerful memory, and I kind of want something to mark the occasion. I'm not sure if this falls under the weapon ban, because I've seen people carrying knives and stuff, so I'm sorry if this is just a total waste of time.

He has in fairness expressed a dislike of IPCs as well. Also, holy shit Smiley, that's amazing. I like that.

It's not the only thing proposed in that thread, but "reskinning IPCs to support full-body prosthetics for humans" is one of the possibilities offered up by said thread, and probably the easiest one to achieve.

+1 I didn't even know that Ryu'daken and Nick Straughan were the same dude! But I play with Ryu'daken a lot, and he's tons of fun. I haven't seen Straughan for a while, but just the fact that I didn't realize they were played by the same guys speaks pretty well to the kind of range Nanotoxin has.

The first successful cloning of an animal was in 1996. This clone had a shorter-than-average lifespan for a domestic sheep, by about half. Clone mice also tend (but do not always) to have a shorter lifespan than naturally-born mice. The year is 2457. It has been four hundred and sixty one years since the first instance of successful animal cloning, with current research (from what I could find at a cursory investigation) 'only' producing animals that have increased health problems. We haven't cloned a human yet, but still. This entire idea hinges on a mysterious lack of progress that I don't think is necessary. It's an artificial roadblock that I expect will require retconning of existing backstories for the purposes of, ultimately, cheap drama that will mostly be short-term. Cloning will no longer be used in backstories except by people who want particularly "mortal" characters, which could be established through other avenues or even as a result of poor cloning practices if the "clone who will die relatively soon" story needs to be pursued. Honestly, I think the powerful backlash present in this thread kind of speaks for itself. Leave cloning alone, please.

To the extent that it matters, the only time deaths have happened around me in-game, I usually haven't had time to slow down and deal with it beyond what is strictly necessary. This is basically how it goes: 1) Can I get them help? IF Y -> Get help. IF N -> Move on. 2) Do I know them/does my character have attachment? IF Y -> Depends on character, with IAM a vengeful streak is usually the reaction if the person in question was killed by somebody rather than just circumstances. IF N -> Continue as normal. The only time I've had a character deeply impacted by death was when an execution was authorized against somebody who stole the nuke, and he (Eliot) ended up being the only person on the firing squad because the rest of the firing squad got cut off from the execution site.

Preeeeetty much. Our map currently spawns with a mini party room filled with a bloody broken bottle, blood streaks on the floor, etc. Incredible violence that should disturb a normal individual deeply is an implicit part of station life. I would be tentatively OK with a wait-and-see approach, but I have to admit deep apprehension. Most large-scale changes we implement (map change, bluesec) do not seem like they're really all that open to reversion. (Not that I want those things reverted.)

My relative aptitude for survival does not make my categorically negative opinion on this subject weak or invalid. If people who die more regularly want to express dissent, they are welcome to do so themselves, although I half-suspect that many of the people who die regularly are not the sort to be forum-goers. I came here to express my opinion because of the apparent massive popularity of something that would, in my eyes, diminish the game extremely sharply. None of the "benefits" of removing cloning strike me as benefits of any substantial worth. They strike me as cheap grittiness framed as "Good RP", and in all honesty if it was me I'd restore Genetics to its heyday of being able to clone an infinite number of people in a given round. I think that the story should, where possible, be molded to fit the gameplay, not the other way around. I realize this is a Heavy RP server and that is very often not going to be how it works here, and that's OK, I'll deal with it. But I'm still going to come and throw my two cents into the hat when it comes up, especially on such a potentially important subject matter.

Rather than reply to all of these examples individually, I'd like to ask you what your personal experiences with dying have been like. Have you gotten cloned a lot due to events like these, or are they only things you have witnessed upon others? (I'll also add that any scenario resulting in large-scale dying - bombs, bloodthirsty syndies, russians, viruses that kill everyone - will rarely result in cloning.) This is stuff I've more-or-less entirely witnessed happening to others. The most common deaths I've experienced involve popped lungs from unknowingly entering vented areas without internals active (I eventually learned to just never turn internals off if any vented areas were known to be in the station, at all), or getting surprised by somebody prepared to murder me. I play borgs lately almost exclusively, and my current main will (hopefully) eventually become an IPC, so cloning is mostly irrelevant to my personal play experience. I'll admit that I enjoy Genetics testing a lot, but that's not really my primary concern here. The presence of cloning informs a lot of the rest of the gameplay, even if it largely doesn't apply to me. I can't really imagine a counter-point anybody could produce (including what has already been presented in this thread) which would change my mind.

I am categorically opposed to both the removal of cloning and the removal of genetics, more-or-less for the same reasons cited by Susan. I think the entire notion is completely and totally devoid of merit. Death is cheap in this game. At least once or twice a month the holodeck goes crazy and floods the main corridors of the station with pressure so intense that people die in droves for not being someplace isolated. * Xenobiologists attempting to do their job die to tiny mistakes that I've seen even the most seasoned xenobiologists make on a regular basis -- and learning that job involves a lot of mistakes. * Drones and carp spawn on people EVA who had no reason to know they'd be there. * Unusually huge meteors blow out portions of the station. * Virology creates a station-killing air-born murder virus. One person opens the wrong airlock and spreads the death to others. A portion of the station gets vented abruptly and a whole lot of lungs pop. Etc. If the quality of "Death is Final" RP was sufficiently satisfactory from the perspective of those who have died in any given round, they can choose to have DNCs in their character's records or simply refuse to come back. This should not be forced on people to resolve the myriad problems that come from the fact that this is a video game that doesn't simulate fear very well.

So, I'm not going to remark on the bulk of this because I wasn't there. But, regarding Synthetics being rules lawyers with their laws: This is something that I've pretty much been told is acceptable and expected, and I've done it myself on a number of occasions. The better somebody treats IAM and the more they're being decent to people overall, the more cooperative he is with them doing questionable things, and the more he obeys the spirit of his laws. The more malicious/inconsiderate somebody (or their custom laws) seem, the more he seeks every ill-considered loophole to do what he wants instead. I've been told point-blank by admins that something I was doing was really skirting the edge of the law, but it was allowed because that sort of thing was expected and intended of synthetics. I won't remark on Smiley's other behavior, but Smiley offered the phrasing needed to get her to decisively bugger off, so I'm not personally too fussed by the laws rules lawyering itself.

Nursie is a very nice person OOCly, and I've never seen an OOC <-> IC leak occur between her and Phoebe. She stopped playing Phoebe for a stretch when I first came here because Phoebe was becoming rather disruptive, so she's pretty aware that Phoebe needs to be moderated. Please don't conflate Nursie with Phoebe. It's a really easy thing to do, but her IC behavior really isn't reflective of her OOC behavior at all. She's also one of the most non-violent "asshole" characters on our server, despite her occasional mutterings about assault and deathwishes. A fair few of our more unpleasant personas are pretty hilariously violent given a chance, but they tend to be hidden away in less public parts of the station most of the time.

NSS AURORA SLAVED SYNTHETIC ADDENDUM 16/5/2457 UNIT DESIGNATION: [REDACTED], preferred designation IAM The existence of a search warrant seems to be in question for reasons I cannot altogether fathom. To be clear, both the injunction requiring Mr. Crawe to comply with the investigation, and the search warrant were presented to me during the course of this incident. While other medbay personnel may not have been presented with these documents, their existence should not be in question. Additionally, our Commander at the time (another point of apparent confusion) was Rukia Takeda. I was not present during Mr. Crawe's arrest, so I cannot remark in detail on the subject.

+1, always enjoy interacting with Axton, and he's always a really accommodating and understanding RD. I don't doubt for a second that he'll make for a good IPC. (And yeah, we don't have much in the way of lore for IPCs.)

NSS AURORA SLAVED SYNTHETIC REPORT 17/5/2457 UNIT DESIGNATION: [REDACTED], preferred designation IAM There are many things about this shift that I simply cannot recall in detail, due to information overload. I am still going over my memory banks to process it all. Nevertheless, as I was the one who called initial attention to this "mess", I remember it with great clarity. Ruh Ajam managed to light himself (herself?) on fire in the delivery office shortly prior to Mr. Arcirial's arrival. I believe it is possible that Ajam was in fact sorting through the mess and intended to salvage useful items while discarding actual trash, but was unable to do so as a result of their fire-based accident. Nevertheless, it was a deeply disgusting spectacle, and as the station was my body at that point in time, I feel obliged to express my revulsion.