armrha

Played detective for Pewter. Didn't end up having much to do but I like the way he does things. Threats are still taken seriously, but he just brings a more interesting energy to the security department. Before it felt like every single security officer was some ex-military super badass sniper with a haunted past. I don't know if it's his example or what, but there's a lot more variety in the department. But they still follow his orders and bring shit to his attention. In this round, some space bounty hunter guy, John Harper, ended up in the bar. He was wearing badass bounty hunter armor and had a spear. He just was drinking and waiting for the shuttle call, but Security kept getting reports about him. One officer was sent down and came back saying that he 'seems cool'. Pewter ordered me and another officer to check it out, we did, the bartender said there was no issue and the other officer reported that he 'Seemed cool' and walked off. I shrugged and went back to my office after reporting that I guess it wasn't an issue. Pewter asked about it and a bit and was like 'You know carrying a weapon like that is illegal, he should be fined and it should be confiscated.' The AI backed Pewter up, out of nowhere (late join AI) and said that it was absolutely in violation of regulations. Pewter immediately flipped that around, going, 'Wha-Who's that? Is that the computer? Computer. Do not lecture my men on security procedures. They are highly trained and know hundreds of times more than you about how to do their jobs.' The computer acknowledged the instruction, but I just thought that was hilarious given it was fairly clear we do not know 'hundreds of times' more than the AI. There was internal security discussion about what to do about the bounty hunter. A fine was suggested, but it was countered, the group agreeing he was probably too cool to pay a fine and probably has hundreds of unpaid space parking tickets. I lost track of how many times security used the word 'cool', basically it was security officers swooning and being like 'God, he's so cool.' in the radio channel. Pewter finally got fed up and said he was going down there himself to deal with it. He arrived with HoP Prince, and whispered to her, I didn't hear it at the time but he told me he said, 'Oh shit, he is really cool...' Prince admired his armor and they chatted for a bit, and ultimately agreed Harper could wait out the time for the shuttle as long as he didn't cause any trouble; Pewter left an officer (one who was stuck in a wheelchair...) to watch him. After asking me for my camera to take a selfie with the bounty hunter and all of security crowded around him. Anyway, haven't laughed that hard in a while and was an interesting and fun round.

I respect you and your work, and appreciate the stuff you do for the game. I'm not just trying to be adversarial here. I've contributed almost nothing to this game beyond a handful of fun rounds (to me) and I acknowledge that and my perspective is probably not the standard here. That said, I feel like your measurement of what is interesting or not is a very subjective one. That is not a bad thing; we all have subjective opinions on what makes the game fun or not, and a great way to suss that out if player polls. We had one about the AI in general, whether or not to remove the role entirely. It failed. As far as I know, this nerf did not have a poll or anything. At least I did not hear about it if so. I've personally never felt like my round has been ruined by the AI trying to stymie me. Even as a regular crewmember, the epic fight of chief engineer vs malf AI makes up many of my most treasured memories of the game, so this takes a big chunk off that. I think it is unfortunate. It feels like the public didn't produce the outcome you wanted, so you tried to figure out a new way to fix the game to be the game you like. Maybe that's not what happened, even if it is that's not that bad, we all want the game to be better, just some parts of that are subjective and the only way we have to decide that is through majority, as flawed as it is. I know a lot of rounds on Aurora play without an AI, but I feel like the AI is so central to the gameplay of SS13 that to nerf it so completely basically makes a different game, like Lifeweb or other variants. So many traitor items are designed to deal with the AI: Binary keys, law modules, the item that makes you invisible to AI cameras. Every door, airlock and APC has AI wires; now door AI wires are a little pointless in doors, what, are you going to do, stop them from blinking bolt lights at you? Let's consider why AI exists. SS13 is a pastische of a variety of sci fi tropes. The AI is HAL-9000, though ideally a benign and helpful one in the non-adversarial game modes. A huge amount of futuristic sci fi has an AI component. In game terms, the AI gets the benefit of a mile high perspective on what is going on, but with much of the detail stripped out. A rogue AI can, on most servers, challenge the crew in ways that are far different from most antagonists. Not really practical here with the atmos nerfs and general attitude toward any simulation-based problem on Aurora, but plasma flooding is the classic one, or any other level of atmospheric mess. That's balanced with the fact that the AI have to consider ethical conundrums of various sorts with every action or risk being punished if they can't justify their actions after the fact. A basic responsibility of being a stationbound is a willingness to constantly consider the philosophy of your unusual position. This is in line with the science fiction roots by far. There's countless examples of malfunctioning or rogue computers venting compartments into space, filling rooms with dangerous gases, or even just bolting doors ('Open the pod bay doors, HAL. HAL, open the pod bay doors!'). I mentioned it before, but it seems exceptionally cruel that you give a player the absolute directive that they just have to prevent human harm, then keep them from doing anything to keep a human from harm as the monster closes in on their poor charge. Anyway, that's just the root for the existence of the features that are basically on every SS13 server. And so many years of development built around that idea. It just seems massively shortsighted to rush this change through with next to no input from the playerbase. Let's get a poll. If most people agree it makes the game better, I'll begrudgingly admit that that's what the playerbase finds the most entertaining, If they don't, would you at least consider that perhaps it's too far? Sorry for so many words, but man, this really feels regressive to me.

I don't think I understand this philosophy of anything that hampers the antag in any way 'negatively affects the round'. In your opinion, is a good round of SS13 just any one that the antag breezes through its objectives, doesn't have to make any special plans, and succeeds without any hassle? It seems like you view a door being bolted shut as something boring to have happen, while like a security officer shooting at you is interesting? I don't get why, both are challenges designed to be overcame within the game. AI tracking can be stymied with disguises and antag gear, and how long does a bolted door really slow down a skilled player? If they already figured out the wires, and have tools handy, which they should, it's a few seconds. Screwdriver, cut AI wire, pulse bolts, screwdriver. Just reading about these changes makes me feel bad for AI players. I love playing AI on other servers, but I don't think I've ever played it here, as it already was pretty nerfed. Bolting people in is a proactive and fun thing to do as an AI - and as mentioned a good player incorporating AI into their plans, judging attentiveness and making contingencies is all part of being a traitor. But I guess maybe that doesn't apply here? I don't know, it seems like most changes seem to revolve around 'make things easier and easier for antags, and place more restrictions or remove things from everyone else, because SS13 is a game where antags should have fun'. It also seems really callous to reduce the AI to a pAI with a fancy room to sit in and watch its humans die helplessly with the promise of 'we'll add more, better features later, kthxbye!' Like, why make AI players suffer in the interim if you are planning on adding some stuff? Add the stuff then remove the stuff it's replacing. You wouldn't stun batons and stun pistols from security and be like 'Being stunned has negative utility and hampers an antags round, so therefore we're removing stunbatons and security will have to just deal with it until somebody dreams up a new feature, have fun fist fighting guys with energy swords in the hallways!' Except the AI doesn't even get to fist fight in the halls. Just gets to watch everyone die and actively cannot participate in that in any way, despite its primary mission being centered around protecting and serving human lives in most cases.

Heck yeah, played sec with you quite a few times and you do take it seriously even if your banter is more on the comedic side. Consistent in RP, entertaining, and you've played on an off for a long time. I think you'd be a great HoS. +1

Sterben just had a fun round where a traitor tried to coerce him into doing the traitor's dirty work and he managed to turn the tables on the traitor, bringing all the sordid details to light with security. Instead of setting off a murderous rogue of rambo security guys, they made a plan and used N2O to knock out the traitor and their captive on the bridge, as there was a threat of a bomb and they hoped to eliminate any chance they could set it off. It was like the Moscow theater hostage crisis but no hostages died, and the only hostage was a robot anyway so there was no threat of that. I thought his depiction was interesting, immersive and fun. +1

Just played a round where Taps was an excellent CMO. Held captive by a traitor, I thought he still played an interesting character and the resolution to the round was interesting, with the takedown being entirely non-lethal through N2O. +1, definitely adds something to the server.

Thank you. Sounds good to me. I can still use telescience, just don't do anything criminal or that could even possibly hurt anyone?

Well, I thought the difference was previously I used telescience to attack somebody (a station antag, but without sufficient justification IC'ly to do something like that). The captain's ID is not a player and I didn't see anything that said you couldn't steal things or break the in-character laws IC'ly - non-antags routinely end up in the brig for all sorts of reasons. My thought was, I just spent like ten hours making tools to solve telescience with, I wanted to get some good use out of it - If I can't use it offensively, might as well figure out some other way to have fun with it. But I understand now actions like breaking into the vault, stealing the Captain's laser or the captain's ID fall under 'high treason', and they are restricted OOC'ly as employees just won't break those rules unless they are antagonists.

BYOND Key: Armrha Total Ban Length: Permanent job ban from the Science department. Banning staff member's Key: I don't know. Reason of Ban: Immediately after being unbanned for abusing telescience, I abused telescience in a different way. I didn't see in the rules where committing non-violent crimes, like access elevation, was against the rules so on a late night extended round with like 2 people I teleported the Captain's ID into telescience, upgraded my access and teleported it back so I could go exploring. I've learned that even though this hurt no one and I stole nothing else and took no aggressive action, effectively anything that is effectively 'high treason' by action is something that even a misbehaving employee would not do in character, so this fits under the rules about 'IC action', even if the server has nobody on it. Reason for Appeal: I gave myself an almost three month time out before this request, I'll be sure to avoid making the same mistakes again.

Avoid chucklefucking. Conflict is acceptable, even if you are not an antag, but it needs to be believable, and meet roleplay standards. Generally, avoid playing hero. Not avoiding powergaming. 1. Using telescience to attack an antagonist just because I thought they'd probably stay still is absolutely chucklefuckery. I shouldn't ever try to use it as a weapon unless it's some part of the overarching story. 2. The conflict was completely unbelievable and met no roleplay standard. I could have engaged them, told them to stop, had any in character reason to attempt to stop them before doing such a reckless and violent thing. 3. I totally went rambo on one antagonist, hoping to save the day. My character had no IC reason to do so, so was playing the hero. I could have petitioned security, even contributed to their effort if I wanted without doing what I did. 4. Using telescience in such a manner is totally powergaming. Not many people can do much about being teleported against their will into a disadvantageous situation. It wouldn't make good RP to have all antagonists having to constantly move left and right during roleplay to avoid telescience griefing. It's experimental equipment and should be treated as a dangerous and unknown thing, not a "I win" button.

BYOND Key: ArmrhaTotal Ban Length: Banned from Science department jobs until I learn my lessonBanning staff member's Key: I don't knowReason of Ban: For validhunting with telescienceReason for Appeal: You ever figure out how something works and you are just really itching to do something with it? I got carried away. We were playing a heist round where one of the heisters was just standing around in one spot for long periods of time. Nobody seemed to be doing anything about it - It almost seemed like the antagonists were using the meta of how everyone is supposed to act like a shield to just let them get away with whatever. I probably was just missing the action wherever it was, but I made the very bad decision to just telescience grief a heister. This was very dumb and had no RP justification. I am sorry and will do my best to uphold the standards of good RP in the future. I should have at least tried to establish some kind of reasoning or contact before just bluespace murdering somebody. I miss science. Thank you.

Alright, fine by me. It's tough for me to find time to play every day, but I'll try to get more rounds in when I can. Thanks for the feedback.

BYOND key: armrha Character names: Arthur Osteen How long have you been playing on Aurora?: About 6 or 9 hours or so Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?: I don't like not having positions I can play if they are just sitting empty Why did you come to Aurora?: Recommended by some other players Have you read the Aurora wiki on the head roles and qualifications you plan on playing?: Yes Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they? No administrative action. One time, I saw an Xenomorph-style Alien and mentioned it on the radio, and somebody on the radio was like 'An unathi? What kind of alien?' and I said, "No, like an Alien like the one from the 1979 movie Alien by Ridley Scott" and an admin was like "That movie doesn't exist", that's the only admin encounter I can recall. Give a definition of what you think roleplay is, and should be about: Roleplay is interactive storytelling. The goal of roleplaying is to construct a compelling narrative everyone enjoys. Stories should have conflict and things at stake. SS13 is an amazing narrative engine unlike most roleplaying games because there's actual "work" to be done in the game; each department has some sort of task to complete in some way and they need to fulfill their goals in some rudimentary ways to make the rounds work. This makes the entire thing a lot more interesting than in "traditional" roleplaying. When you are just roleplaying at a table as a chemist, you're sitting there pretending to do chemistry. In SS13, you have to mix things and satisfy to simulation to "do chemistry". An engineer isn't "pretending" to power the station; they have to satisfy the simulation to make that happen. Rounds in SS13 are relatively short, but the stories are compelling and earnest. I find a lot of people hear stories from this game and find them fantastic compared to a lot of other games, yet it's weird that most people don't have the patience to actually play it. The interface and the patience sometimes required is a little much for a lot of people. What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame?: I think heads of staff help organize their departments to help streamline gameplay. Everyone who plays this game knows how completely useless departments are when they are three or four people just goofing off and one person on their job. A single security officer trying to corral or categorize threats always ends up in disaster. Ideally, a head doesn't boss people around too much; it's not just an option to select to gain some peons to listen to your commands. A good head helps facilitate good storytelling and interesting character development, while helping new players learn the way the systems work and sets a good example for future play. They don't steamroll players from having fun and properly doing their job. They try to protect their department and direct people to counter threats. What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them?: I think basically they just have to set a good example in that front. Don't be completely incompetent, don't goof off too much or cause problems or interrupt good storytelling. The best heads make you happy when you see their name, you know your team is going to be directed and it's going to be a fun team effort to accomplish the goals of your department. Could you give us the gist of what is currently happening in Tau ceti and how it affected your character and their career? Obviously the independence of Tau Ceti is a pretty good thing for my character; He's a company man through and through. He got burned pretty badly in an engineering-related incident and resulted in his insanely crappy bionics which are constantly on the fritz. Still, he tries his best to do a good job and keep everyone working and satisfied with their jobs. What roles do you plan on playing after the application is accepted? Chief Engineer is the only role I plan on playing. Characters you intend to use for command or have created for command. Include the job they will be taking.: Arthur Osteen (Chief Engineer) How would you rate your own roleplaying?: Fair to good. Do you understand your whitelist is not permanent, and may be stripped following continuous administrative action? Sure, that's a no-brainer. Have you familiarize yourself with the wiki pages for the command roles? Yeah, yeah. I read that stuff. Extra notes: I've played this game since about 2013 on a variety of servers. I've played on goon, tg, oracle, hippie, d20, d2k5. I don't have a lot of time to play but I think I'd be a good candidate for the whitelist. At the very least, I'm not going to cause trouble.