yeahchris

Oh I know! Don't mean to boast, but I've proven a fairly capable engineer on your custom map. It puts our modified exodus map of yore to shame. I believe I was the person who originally inserted production-line-esque conveyor belt thingy into the Roboticist station when we started really customizing the map, much to everyone's confusion and dismay at the time. Everyone rightly pointed out that it serves no functional purpose whatsoever and complained about the increased time taken to get manufactured parts. But it's cool, goddamn it. It tickles me for some reason that that particular feature seems to have persisted in various ways. Though I believe it was more pronounced on your last map. Also, someone should make the supermatter heat exchanger pipes visible again. The radiator is borderline impossible to fix if damaged because you can't see where the pipes are nor which direction they are facing.

Too long. Don't remember. And likewise!

Oh, I know. Been playing for a bit. The changes, both in terms of the code and the lore, are wild. Love some, so-so on others. Overall, remarkably pleased that it seems to be doing so well. Whether that resiliency speaks to the server's foundation, Skull's efforts afterwards, or its current staff, I have no idea. My money's on Skull though. Also remarkably pleased that forum toxicity is no longer my problem to address. I weep for the unpaid babysitter who that now falls upon.

Hey Chucklefucks. I'm not dead. I thoroughly expect that about 98% of you people probably don't know who the fuck I am. You would probably have to meander over to the old forums to find much of a trace of me -- Discord wasn't even released until 2015. History lesson time! During the bronze age of 2013 two old fucks named Skull and yeahchris ended up (by pure random chance) inheriting control an SS13 server. This fledgling server had popped into existence due to the failure and dissolution of another heavy RP server named 'Apollo Station' with which they had both been involved, but had not been staff. Apollo had crumbled in the same way that so many things of this nature do: infighting, weird schisms, ineffective and egotistical leadership, and uncertain direction. Aurora was a server boasting an average of maybe 5-20 players a night, mostly engaging in chair-RP or ERP. It was using a map copy+pasted from another server. The situation really wasn't great. Skull and yeahchris were both junior staff -- a dev and an admin respectively. Everyone who had attempted to lead Aurora washed out for one reason or another; mostly that they had no clear goal in mind. Eventually we were the only ones left. Miraculously, Skull and yeahchris found that they both had very similar thoughts on what was needed to make the server successful. They both believed that: disruption and dynamism is necessary to ensure quality RP, that without it storytelling will stagnate and become completely uninteresting to everyone except for the 6-8 individuals currently logged in and emoting about fondling spessman tiddies. That conflict must exist in storytelling in order for the story to be fully formed. The conflict can be physical, it can be emotional, it can be political. But it has to exist. Otherwise, there is no challenge to overcome. There are no stakes. We started putting policies in place to make the server more palatable to the masses while still keeping it Heavy-RP. During our time at the helm the server went from being an average of 5-20 players a night to 100-150 players a night during summertime. We had to add an entry checkpoint to keep the greytiders out. We veered, dangerously at times, towards medium-RP -- but we always self-corrected. We had to hide the server on the BYOND hub for special weekend events. The banhammer was swung wide and it was swung frequently. Skull assumed the mantle of Head Developer, handling the technical aspects of both enhancing the code, the map, and the physical (and later virtual -- I hope) appliance that was hosting. He also took part in guiding the minutiae of the lore. I assumed the role of Head Administrator, where I was responsible for trying to build, guide, and maintain server culture, organize events, build narratives that fit within the lore. I was also the creator and final arbiter of the server rules. The server rules you see today are a modified version of what I wrote back in 2011-2012 the dark ages. I know they're too long, I'm sorry. If you ask nicely I'll tell you which Neverwinter Nights server I stole Rule 1 from. I left abruptly in 2014 citing some vague personal reasons, all the while maintaining my desire to stay involved with the server. But I never came back. The reality was this: My father was getting old and was no longer able to effectively provide for his own welfare. I moved 3000 miles so that I could be near to him, understanding that I would eventually be his sole caregiver, and that, eventually, he would die while under my care. During the last 10 years I built a career for myself out of nothing so that I could provide for him. I ended up taking care of my dad part-time, providing financial assistance, running errands, etc. For the last several years he was living with me full-time under my care. This month he passed away. While it brings me great joy to see hundreds of people still enjoying some stupid thing I had a small part in helping to build more than a decade ago, mostly I'm glad for every hour that I spent with my father in the last 10 years. At the risk of committing great blasphemy -- I would like to urge you to late join. Hell, skip a round if you have to. Go hold your loved-one's hand. Tell them you love them. You wont always be able to. Also, I've been playing amongst you. *Actual* Z-levels? What the fuck is this sorcery?

Reminds me of the time I participated in an absolutely packed funeral for the deceased Pun Pun. Well done, guys. Yes, yes. A thousand times yes. As admins we can do our best to promote stuff happening, but there are few of us and many characters, and nothing that we do will ever be very interesting with them as passive participants rather than enthusiastic contributors. The best in game events are events that arise emergently from RP that is proactive, and from players that understand that they are ultimately responsible for creating their own fun and creating fun for others. By which I mean not just two people locked in a room somewhere.

He needs to give orders. I rarely get the feeling that he is actually commanding when he is CMO.

YOU WANNA GO? LET'S GO, SCRUB. BRING IT.

I hate that my name is currently blue, like some kind of plebeian.