LordFowl

I'm willing to limit hivenet should limitations be required. That said, I won't really base these requirements on hypotheticals - if hivenet is proven to be an issue in a demonstrated scenario then I will consider a means to balance it to scenarios of a similar nature. That said, as far as I know hivenet has caused no issues since its implementation. As to limitations, a range limitation is not one I will consider. There are more preferable alternatives. Finally, as others have said, hivenet provides absolutely no access to binary for a Vaurca. Post-finally, perhaps it would be constructive to know why you think this way - is it tied to a specific in game event, or what?

"Philosopher-aristocrats" is certainly no longer possible, especially considering the volatile situation the Vaurca are currently in where VR is not readily accessible for most Unbound. Vaurca of the Breeder caste have more leeway in this regards, and could pursue more extremely intellectual hobbies, but ultimately their objective is still to service the hive through direction of the Bound and Unbound. The idea that Vaurca could pursue this "philosophy-aristrocracy" on an an individual level while fighting for survival on their dying world of Sedantis, as part of a highly collectivist society, no longer made sense. It was an artifact of the old-lore, where the Vaurca empire was mighty and massive, and Vaurca could travel relatively freely between Tau Ceti and their empire. Such an idea didn't really fit with the lore, as nobody - least of all the playerbase - was willing to simulate situations that the presence of such a massive and powerful empire might introduce, particularly since their interests and humanity's interests collided.

Updated the Vaurca wiki's section on the Life Cycle, adding in details for each specific caste, Bound and Unbound alike. Added Augments to the Biology section of the vaurca wiki, detailing how augments work for Vaurca, and explaining why the Vaurca aboard the NSS Aurora and Exodus currently are indistinguishable, Bound and Unbound. Also explaining why a Vaurca couldn't be different colours because of augmentation to the carapace.

What can you tell me about these five lesser queens? How do they lead, how do they rule, what are their objectives? The current generation of Lesser Queens rule each of their selective refugee broods. The one on New Gibson rules both of the refugee biodomes. The two on Biesel are split, with the one in Mendell ruling solely the Vaurca refugees there, which form the majority of Vaurca refugees on Biesel. The other Biesel queen exerts its authority over the Vaurca of Cape City and Phoenixport. The two Lesser Queens on Titan Prime make their priority the management of the technology aboard Titan Prime, and any Vaurca that have not yet awoken, of which there are very few. Every Queen likely has their own personal motivations, which I have not really explored yet. However they also have the motivation to protect the Vaurca they control. They coordinate together via the hivenet on a very encrypted channel, and in the future they may decide they need a more centralized leader, due to extended periods of separation from the High Queen on Sedantis I, and there may be conflict as they try to identify who this central leader may be, as Vaurca protocol doesn't really allow for that sort of thing.

Equality among humans is paramount. It is obvious of course that humanity must be superior to xenoforms, however. This inequality cannot be expressed through violence, however, but by wise political segregation.

No one. Vote for Herstov, not a nazi.

The Zo'ra hive is controlled by a five Lesser Queens who rule with the authority of the Queen on Sedantis I, although they do not have the means to contact the hive on Sedatnis I. Each Lesser Queen currently exerts authority over their brood - Ta'Akaix'Scay'extiih'aur Zo'ra is the prime authority for New Gibson, for example. There are two Lesser Queens aboard the Titan Prime, two Lesser Queens on the surface of Biesel, and one Lesser Queen on New Gibson, forming a total of 5 Lesser Queens. Unbound do not play a role in managing their community unless they are of the Breeder caste. Breeder Unbound typically serve as underlings for the local Lesser Queen, fulfilling jobs such as overseeing the operation of Bound and Unbound worker groups, being ambassadors to human governments, and other bureaucratic work. The remaining Unbound have no accelerated authority except over the Bound. They typically serve the function of their caste - either to work or to fight. Unlike the Bound however they are capable of doing this with more versatility and intelligence, occupying roles that require less in terms of brute power and more in terms of advanced thinking. The K'lax hiveship is in much a similar state as the Zo'ra hiveship - it is decrepit after it's 2,000 year journey. The Hiveship arrived in the Skrell system of Glorashi, and is probably undergoing similar refugee troubles as the Zo'ra. The exact details have not been hammered out with Loow, the Skrell loredev. Most if not all K'lax present on the NSS Exodus are actually servant K'lax that were traveling with the Zo'ra hiveship.

It is a possibility, but while the Vaurca playerbase is so small I do not want to divide it further.

This mechanic is not bugged - gibbing smaller mobs was purposefully removed because it added nothing except constant irritation that was hard to track and punish. And no, Vaurca would not eat a mouse because Vaurca are not acclimated to eating anything other than sterilized K'ois. The wiki is very clear on this topic. Aggression in Vaurca society is very downplayed. Only warrior castes should be acting in an aggressive manner at all, and even only then to a certain limit. Vaurca prefer their conflicts to be quick and clean, with minimal wasted effort. Vaurca loyalty is not flaunted, because it is a given. Chanting ZO'RA ZO'RA ZO'RA would be as retarded as screaming "HUMANS BREATHE OXYGEN!". No duh they breathe oxygen, and no duh you love Zo'ra. (If you're Zo'ra. If you're K'lax replace all instanced of Zo'ra with K'lax.) My best guess is that chanting ZO'RA is not genuine roleplay, but rather a racial meme, much like unathi's "sixteen inches" or "wetskrell.nt". This one happens to be particularly egregious, and it being a meme does not excuse its presence IC. The Zo'ra hive's goals are more complex than mere conquest. Their relationship with the K'lax is very much colonialistic. Currently however, all hives have the goal of surviving the human hell imposed upon them. I'm not saying its a bad idea, I'm just saying it doesn't really fit into my imagined perspective for the Vaurca. Internal conflict should be based mostly around the K'lax-Zo'ra relationship, and the Vaurca-Human relationship. Some K'lax love Zo'ra, some do not. Some Vaurca love humans, some do not. The idea of disillusioned Vaurca may come into play later, when I've stabilized the Vaurca condition. As to changes and/or developments, a news article was written about the Gibson Hive Relay, justifying Vaurca hivenet in game: http://forums.aurorastation.org/viewtopic.php?f=95&t=2981&p=63846#p63846

Negotiations Concerning New Gibson Hive Relay Draw to a Close IndentReaders may recollect that this April 25th, something of a diplomatic crisis threatened to brew on New Gibson, the site of the largest Vaurca refugee camp; the Xerxes Biodome, with inhabitant count reaching above one million and rising. Unknown to officials of the Department of Vaurca Integration the Lesser Queen stationed at Xerxes had begun construction of a “Hivenet Relay”, which would allow FTL communications between individual Vaurca, their Queens, and their hive centers. Many, including those currently employed by the DVI, were concerned that this device may have been used to contact the Vaurca homeworld of Sedantis I, possibly attracting more Vaurca to human-space. IndentThe Department of Vaurca Integration demanded that the Relay be deconstructed, and its materials, technology, and designs be confiscated by the Biesel government. The Lesser Queen in the Xerxes biodome, Ta’Akaix’Scay’extiih’aur Zo’ra refused this ultimatum, and continued to refuse it for several weeks as negotiations progressed and tensions grew. Many within the DVI, including Secretary Miles Jameson, who had this to say: Indent “We can no longer sit back and let the Vaurca press us so. While at first we were tolerant of their behavior with the understanding that they ultimately would be co-operative to the designs of the Vaurca Integration Council, we are now willing to pursue more drastic measures. They need to remember they’re here solely on the good graces of the Republic of Biesel.” IndentLast week, NanoTrasen informed the Department of Vaurca Integration that it would be joining the negotiations. Today, 2458-06-24, negotiations have ended. IndentNanoTrasen informed the public that the Vaurca would be permitted to utilize the New Gibson Relay provided that the following criteria be met: The communications sent and relayed by the Hive Relay must not originate from or be destined for any system or location not officially sanctioned by NanoTrasen and the Department of Vaurca Integration, currently only including Tau Ceti and Glorashi. The number of Bound Vaurca provided by any Vaurca settlement for NanoTrasen use be doubled, or be one half of its total population, whichever count may be greater. The number of Unbound Vaurca provided by any Vaurca settlement for NanoTrasen use be doubled, or be one quarter of its total population, whichever count may be greater. A team of NanoTrasen engineers and a small security force are to be present at the New Gibson Relay at all times to oversee its operation and terminate its function should such be required. These NanoTrasen forces are to be unhindered by any Vaurca present within the Biodome, and all their needs are to be attended to by the Vaurca. All local Sc’auyit-level communique’s are to be made immediately accessible to any NanoTrasen AI core, and only NanoTrasen AI cores in service of NanoTrasen corporate interests. [Editors Note: The data provided by the NanoTrasen report indicates this communication level is used solely by Vaurca employed by NanoTrasen. Whether there are additional levels is unknown to the public, but likely.] The two million Vaurca remaining on Titan Prime, colloquially referred to previously as the Royal Retinue, are to be relocated onto either New Gibson biodome or to the Mendell, Cape City, or Phoenixport refugee camps by NanoTrasen shuttlecraft, where they will enter into the NanoTrasen recruitment lists along with all other Vaurca. A force of ten thousand Vaurca, including the two Lesser Queens stationed there already, are permitted to remain. A small NanoTrasen research team, along with a NanoTrasen security division, are to be permitted onto Titan Prime where they will be allowed to conduct research on certain sections – undisclosed by NanoTrasen - of the vessel, their needs provided by the Vaurca resident there and their activities unhindered except where it would break the agreement between the two parties. IndentThe Department of Vaurca Integration released an official statement saying that it, along with the federal government of Biesel, supported the outcomes of these negotiations. IndentSecretary Miles Jameson declined the opportunity to comment personally concerning these developments.

Considering that Vaurca Lore will be rapidly developed, and may undergo severe changes and maybe even retcons, I think it's only proper that I should create a lore changelog for the Vaurca. Any changes to the Vaurca lore, including additions, subtractions, and modifications made after 2016-JUNE-24 will be posted here. I ask that no one else posts on this thread, although as long as its ostensibly related to a modification I've made you're free to do so, as this may also serve as a Q&A thread for all intents and purposes. All Vaurca lore accessible to players can be found here, including any changes made before 2016-JUNE-24: https://aurorastation.org/wiki/index.php?title=Vaurca Changes: 2016-JUN-24: Newspaper article on Gibson Hive Relay: http://forums.aurorastation.org/viewtopic.php?f=95&t=2981&p=63846#p63846 Vaurcesian translation for Vaurca added: Vaur'uyit'zir 2016-JUN-27: Updated wiki to include Life Cycles and Augments section: https://aurorastation.org/wiki/index.php?title=Vaurca#Life_Cycle Newspaper article demoting all Vaurca, preluding to a shortly upcoming "Peer-Review" system: http://forums.aurorastation.org/viewtopic.php?f=95&t=2981&p=64982#p64982 Edited the wiki to make clear these occupation restrictions: https://aurorastation.org/wiki/index.php?title=Vaurca#Playing_Unbound

Yes, merc and heist have a clear advantage over ERT in that they innately have voidsuits. ERT has a clear advantage of merc and heist in that they have a fuckton of powerful guns, innumerable medical supplies, advanced hardware for their suits, and mechs of both combat and utility, not to mention the support of most if not all of the station, including the parts that are able to give them a voidsuit if theirs is lost forever for some reason.

Yes, but what you're asking for is armour with a downside. That's what the combat vests are. If an ERT gets emp'd, then they can't go into space until they fix it. That's that. Alternatively, they could commandeer some station voidsuits.

ERT already have combat vests and the like. If your hardsuit gets EMP'd then you can rely on that.

Being slaved to the AI does not make the drone "just another synth role". If that were the logic, then they ARE already "just another synth role", because cyborgs are completely playable without an AI. What makes drone a unique synth role is their laws, not where they get their orders from.

One might argue that an HRP server should employ rules specifically designed to drive people away, to maintain an elite community. HRP is a very niche service.

I don't know why there'd be a master drone, considering that maintenence drones are really meant to be very simplistic machines. It'd make more sense to simply make them fall under the command of the station AI, if they need to have a commander. This again isn't really necessary, however, because if a drone is being shit you just explosively decommission it for being defective. Also, AI is not a whitelisted role.

It is our belief that an additional three tiles distance will not infringe upon the "imperative symbiosis" of the two departments.

These threads never progress anywhere because they fail to outline concrete steps to remediate the problem. A call to action is useless if it is built upon vague "should-bes" with no conception of how to get there, no matter how valid the premise.

True Taxonomy Announced for Vaurcae tabtabDespite - and perhaps in spite of - the announcement made by the SolGov Central Science Committee earlier today, the Biesellian Academy of Science has released its own taxonomy for the Vaurcae species. The Biesellian Academy of Science does not possess the pedigree that the SolGov Central Science Committee holds, but they are host to some of the galaxy’s top researchers and scientists due to close proximity to NanoTrasen's finest research facilities. One scientist, Dr. Rodgers, who styles themselves the head of the “Vaurcae Committee” had this to say on their decision to declare their own taxonomy: tabtab“While we of course believe in a unified scientific effort, we believe the SolGov’s unilateral decision to taxonomy the Vaurcae species without consulting with us is an egregious snub. Not only were the Vaurcae discovered in the territory of the Biesel Republic, there is not a single Vaurcae currently residing in Sol Space. They’re all right here in Biesel, or unregistered on their colony ships. As such, it really is only our right to spearhead any research concerning the Vaurcae.” tabtabAs to the specific taxonomy the Biesellian Academy of Science has elected to adopt, Dr. Rodgers had this to say: tabtab“While we appreciate the sentiment that the SolGov Central Science Committee has bestowed upon Dr. Essel, we really find that sort of self-service to be unprofessional. Scientists should be praising the universe, not individuals. As such, we really find no reason to deviate from the norm. Vaurcae, while certainly an interesting species that will titillate scientific research for years to come, aren’t any more important than any other intelligent life.” tabtabFollowing this path of logic, the Biesellian Academy of Science has declared the formal name of the Vaurcae species to be Vaurcae sapiens.

A friendly reminder that this is a suggestions thread, not a player complaint thread. Heads of Staff that are blatantly abusing paperwork to infringe on other's people entertainment for no reason other than they have a stick up their ass are violating one of the core rules of being a Head of Staff; the idea that Head's of Staff are obliged to create a more enjoyable round for all the crew by virtue of their elevated authority. Furthermore, our paperwork already has plenty of clauses that allow leniency, and I'm 99% verbal consent is already a thing.

If an antag doesn't want to participate in the shenanigans of other antags, then you could ostensibly code in a "disable aooc' in the preferences, just as you would "disable ooc".

I think this is a good idea, to be honest. Antags already exist as a contrived force, there's no reason not to embrace this and give them as many tools as possible to create a more cogent narrative. AOOC can easily be monitored by moderators and admins, because it's not going to see much traffic if only the antags can use it, so moderation isn't really an issue.

Taxonomy Declared for Alien Species 6.12.2458 tabtabAfter over a year of debate and consideration, the SolGov Central Science Committee, subdivision Xenobiological Study has finally settled upon taxonomical name for the recently discovered Vaurcae species. Our readers may recollect that the Vaurcae, a roughly insectoid species, were discovered recently at the edge of Tau Ceti space, and first contact was reportedly made by a NanoTrasen employee named Dr. Essel. They remain mostly endemic to Biesel Republic holdings, however the SolGov Central Science Committee asserts its authority over the matter as a result of their “advanced scientific pedigree supported by centuries of dedicated research and discovery”. As a result, after some consultation with a third-party organization, they have determined upon what Dr. Richmond, the head of Xenobiological Studies, believes to be a most fitting name. Doctor Richmond had this to say on the matter: tabtab“We believe that the taxonomical name of the Vaurcae should not necessarily reflect the pattern of other discovered intelligence – they are a thoroughly foreign species, and their research is an exciting field. Their taxonomy should reflect this novel nature. Simultaneously, we wished to pay homage to those who have pioneered this field of study.” tabtabThe Vaurcae will henceforth properly be referred to by the taxonomical name Vaurcae esseli. tabtabNeither NanoTrasen nor Dr. Essel could be reached for comment regarding these developments.

Any plans to remove the gateway based on it being a 'bay quirk' were never brought to my attention, and thus are not official. There was some discussion of removing the gateway because it served no purpose and we didn't have space for it, but after some admin research the gateway can again be used for events, and additional function may be added for it later. Space was found for it, and there it rests. The snow in the bar is indeed a scenic view. It was originally going to be just a clearing in the caverns, but that conflicted with the maintenance tunnel. The previous bartender probably liked bananas? Not through their own artifice. Natural or otherwise means may present themselves. Treacherous drops to other z-levels are planned, but they are not really safe to traverse. (Unless you're a dionaea of course, those OP buggers.) Elevators will have the capacity to at the very least shut down. Traitors or otherwise malicious forces may find elevators to be a useful asset if they can concoct a way to remotely interface with the control console. No. Should control of an elevator be lost it would be vital for control to be regained. We do not intend for there to be a way to permanently and irrevocably lose control of an elevator, however that does not necessarily mean that regaining control will be easy. Ultimately, heads of staff might find it easier to simply revoke maintenance access (which is a functionality they already have but rarely use), should they find it imperative to allow crew to traverse z-levels unhindered. Pumpking has a strange sense of humour, and I sometimes see fit to entertain it. I suppose our first Head of Security will have to be a brave sort of fellow to answer this question for you.