Susan

From another side to this - Forensics - I foresaw this change being a huge pain in the ass, and there was talk of adding a 'hovercrate' for CSI especially, but that didn't pan out. When you have to move a huge quantity of evidence around the ship and the only way to effectively do that is with a crate but you can't get a crate into so many areas it is as infinitely annoying as it is for cargo trying to move things, not to mention rollerbeds and dead bodies. I don't think it adds anything.

Reporting Personnel: Ana Roh'hi'tin Job Title of Reporting Personnel: Investigator Game ID: ctY-a4Wt Personnel Involved: Clark Coldsmith, Witness Levi Kersaavi, Witness Kirsikka Tähtinen, Offender Location of Incident: Operations Bay Nature of Incident: [ ] - Workplace Hazard [ ] - Accident/Injury [ ] - Destruction of Property [X] - Neglect of Duty [ ] - Harassment [ ] - Assault [X] - Misconduct [X] - Drug Possession Overview of the Incident: On May 30th, 2466, she arrived on the work deck for an early morning graveyard shift and entered the security division. This one asked security if cargo had supplied us with a contraband list yet - to which Officer Kersaavi replied 'no'. Given the ongoing federal investigation into drug smuggling aboard the SCCV Horizon and the federal agents telling this one the shipments of contraband have not stopped. After acquiring her gear, she checked the crate operations had shipped security and found only a single stun baton when Officer Kersaavi walked by. We began talking about the investigation into Technician Schoeffer and the supply department in general as context for why this one had asked for a list of chemicals and contraband from supply. During the course of this conversation, she mentioned the names of the drugs that had been involved - Sparkle, Spotlight, and Contemplus. Officer Kersaavi appeared to have remembered seeing the name 'Contemplus' in the supply division when he visited earlier that shift, and panicked as he ran towards service, implying it had been mistaken as a cocktail and shipped erroneously. Instead, presumably by messaging the technician, he figured out that it had not been shipped after all, and rendezvoused at supply to take custody of the container. He brought it to the security office where a chemical analysis was done and it was, in fact, confirmed to be a 500 unit cartridge of Contemplus. While we were examining the container, technician Tähtinen said they were tired and disembarked the work deck via the residential elevators. Shortly after, this one noticed that the cartridge container was not, in fact, full. It had been reduced to approximately 480 units - rather than the 500 it was supposed to be. Twenty were missing. Again. Just like in the case involving Technician Schoeffer. Forensic analysis of the container revealed only Officer Kersaavi's prints, but he had been the one to transport it to security. This leads this one to believe it had been wiped down because in order to remove any contents one would have had to open the can, which would have left trace evidence. Officer Kersaavi said they would submit to a blood test on request to preclude themselves as a suspect. It should be noted that Technician Tähtinen is a friend of Technician Schoeffer. They were the only operations employee on shift for the duration of this incident, and the only other individual with direct Supply access was Director Sasha Kaiser, who was made aware of the cocaine when she asked for a guest pass to investigate supply and seemed unaware. Due to the technician's departure to the residential deck we were unable to carry out a search of their person, but their fingerprints were identified on the crate that the container had been stored in - and only their fingerprints. The contraband manifest shipped to us had a list of all contents in this crate, including the Contemplus canister. Technician Tähtinen was wearing ripped black jeans and fingerless gloves at the time, and this one had black leather gloves, so those fibers are from her. Submitted Evidence: Would you like to be personally interviewed?: [X] - Yes, if necessary [ ] - No Did you report it to a Head of Staff or a superior? If so, who? If not, why?: Both to Director Kaiser and Head of Security Montaigne when he came up. Actions taken: Filed this report.

Fundamentally this argument has been around since 2012 when I first started playing, and it never really changes. It goes without saying I do not think touching the armory is anything that should be considered - it is already comically laughable in stock when juxtaposed against the repeated canon events the Horizon has been in (hostile military incursions, terrorist robot invasions, et al), but it is in a solid enough balance position right now with offenders like the ion rifle being removed and the laser rifle's AP being nerfed. The problem is, as has been pointed out repeatedly, generally at the level of antagonists who are inexperienced with their toolkit. The 'skill issue', for lack of a better term. But moreover, any suggestion to replace it with 'asking science/engineering for guns' is going to implode immediately on its face, and I'm surprised nobody has pointed out the fatal, fundamental flaw with this concept, why it would never work, why it would be nothing but a significant nerf: Powergaming. I can already 'lean on' another department for gear. It's Supply. I can walk up to their desk and order a LWAP at round start. But why would I not do this? Because it's powergaming. And dollars to donuts the situation is going to turn into 'science please make me lawgiver' at roundstart, followed by adminhelp, bwoink, and jobban, or 'science please make me lawgiver the man with the 7.62 auto rifle is slaughtering us' and at that point it's going to take too long to be useful. I find it distasteful to think that Security should need to grovel for its basic gear at the benefit of other departments because in reality there will be no situation where these weapons will be provided until the point of no return has already been crossed, and by then, it will simply be too late. If there's anyone even in the department to make them.

Cultists should not be treated as part of 'the universe' because they have literal eldritch blood magic and violate the suspension of disbelief, tearing it to shreds. It'd be fine if they were just self-prescribed cultists, like Raskara cultists, that could become violent, but instead they have access to Cult's full kit which is extremely round hijacking because it was designed with an entire gamemode centered around it. I do not want any quasi-canon status afforded to teleporting cult magic.

That's not what I am saying. I am responding to Omicega suggesting that if anyone does do something positively in an event as a single person it is somehow less valuable because they 'didn't have to work' or were just 'in the right place at the right time', et al. That is watering down people's contributions. I don't know where you picked up the idea I was talking about article acknowledgment here when I directly quoted them: 'good RNG on event rolls (look at me, I'm the canonical guy who did X lore thing because I outrolled someone!), or even simply having the timezone/motivation/leisure time to attend the events at all in the first place'. And as I mentioned to Omicega, it is a fundamental issue with Aurora in that whatever contributions are there are sidelined. Yes, I've talked about them in Discord, and beyond basically Alberyk reminiscing about the old events it has always led to people - staff members, again, as I mentioned to Omicega, as well as normal players - responding with derision. 'Old lore, don't care'. Said accomplishments might as well mean nothing, or any involvement or enjoyment in past arcs, because time and time again both in Discord and in IC channels I am basically told to shut up. It's old, we don't care. And sure, maybe it is old, but that always leads back to the problem I've been pointing out, the problem that you say is 'grandstanding'. If the players of Aurora stop caring about events a few months after they happened, then what does that mean for the people who died on them? For the people who put the time and effort and energy into them? All this hand-wringing about shoot-em-up events is pointless when discussing what has already happened, because they have, in fact, happened. And if few people on the server are going to care about the Konyang arc in less than a year when we cycle back to it being 'old lore' and you talking about anything you did during it is equated to being egotistical, then how are people like @NG+7 Gael going to feel? Aurelien is dead, for seemingly no actual significant purpose, just so the server can conveniently move on and forget. We don't want to acknowledge people, and we want to forget about events after they happen. I just don't see the point in doing them at all, if that's the prevailing opinion, nor why I should accept a death when it is handled in such a way that says the staff don't care about you, whether or not that is true - it is the optics of it. And this is why I started this topic with the line that 'Aurora doesn't value my time'. This policy outlook doesn't. The DM comparison has nothing to do with protagonism. That is why it is pretty explicitly prefaced with the line [when you die]. It has to do with respect for your players. Respect for the time and energy that they invest into this narrative worldbuilding experience. I don't think it is unreasonable at all to expect the staff members of a roleplaying game to respect the time and energy their players invest in their characters to the point where when they are canon killed it is acknowledged in some capacity. Aurelien's death during the Konyang arc is the prime example of this, and how Duck themselves felt about it - it led to nothing, amounted to nothing, and less than a few weeks later everyone might as well have moved on. And in six months when the 'old lore don't care' diatribe is wheeled out again, I cannot imagine how that would feel as a person who has managed to lose their character in the same event. They didn't even do anything 'stupid', they got a mob of NPCs spawned by them. In totality, my response to Omicega is entirely about Aurora's culture war on old events. And every new arc will eventually become an old arc where it is passive-aggressively denigrated because it is 'old lore'. It means they have no staying power.

I think this is a sort of watering down of the main purpose of this topic.. First and foremost, though not directly quoted, the supposition that acknowledging any individual character at all is going to completely and utterly replace any recognition of the Horizon in totality (it is not) is a strawman in of itself and a gross misrepresentation of what is being asked here. Most modern Aurora events, from what I can see anyway, are geared in such a way to inhibit or prevent individual characters from directly changing anything in lieu of group tactics, for better or worse. This is not to say individuals could not reasonably alter things or have a profound impact, but it is very clear the staff team are taking steps to purposely limit the ways anyone but the group can affect the narrative, at least in recent scenarios. But even in those cases, I think it is inherently disrespectful to the involved people to imply that if they did do anything to positively alter an event on their own recognizance that their investment and quick thinking should be poo-poo'd or watered down to it being 'pure luck'. Other people put effort into their characters and roleplay, too. Whether or not the repeated high stakes events are out of pocket - that is not the purpose of this discussion. No matter the hand-wringing or arguing about them, the fact remains unchanged that they have happened. And as I said at the start, what is the point of being involved in these arcs, if any accomplishment or participation or actions you've undertaken are going to be swept collectively under the rug? Why should I let anyone in the lore team decide if they should be able to canon kill my character(s), character(s) I may or may not have sunk a significant amount of time and energy into for participating in these events, when anything that was done is going to be obliquely swept away with a flick of the wrist? The reward for canon events is clearly not the roleplay. Because as you said yourself, Omicega, In a few months, you'll find it frustrating to interact with the people who were there for the current lore arcs. And you are not the only one who has this opinion. Time and time again, both in IC channels and OOC channels - views espoused by members of the lore team themselves! - the response to any character who was present talking about past events is dismissive, rude, or they just blatantly come out and say, 'old lore, don't care'. So in a system where nothing anyone does is recognized on a canon level, where some players and some staff members purposely disdain individuals from sharing stories from previous roleplay, where you get your kicks in a little 4-week event arc and then are browbeaten into silence about it from reasons varying from 'old lore, don't care' to 'the environment', why should I bother to participate in any canon event whatsoever? why should staff be given carte blanche to tell me I'm dead when it's my time and energy invested and not theirs? why should we have canon event arcs at all? It is inviably disrespectful to me, in the end, this viewpoint - shared by many people. Old lore arcs were crafted by lore team members who had to take time to write them, coders, spriters, mappers, and developers, the players who participated in them - weekslong affairs that kept people engaged and were the lifeblood of Aurora. And then after a few months pass, the further and further we get away from them, it seems the fact they happened at all is disdained by so many people. They may as well have not happened. And as someone who did spend a lot of time in very dangerous arcs and tried to bring in as many people as I could to all have a good time together, it is just astounding to see it resented so thoroughly. At the end of the day, it is a matter of respect for players. If there is not going to be acknowledgment of people or arcs in a few weeks, then nobody on the staff team is going to have the authority to tell me when I need to stop playing my character because I died on a meaningless event. It is infinitely disappointing especially to see @NG+7 Gael talk about losing Aurelien and having absolutely nothing whatsoever come of it. When you die in a tabletop game there is an onus on your DM to make it both fulfilling and to make you feel somewhat accomplished for it. This is no different.

Except this argument still falls apart with the realization that anyone could submit wiki revisions or arguably mundane lore and then later get outed as some reprehensible individual. What do you do about mundane lore submitted by someone who later turns out to have engaged in morally repugnant or disgusting activities? You did not know they were any of this at the time, of course - but their contributions are already there. So is the solution to just prevent player submitted lore in general, then? No, I am sure the same curation can be applied to any sort of acknowledgment, and to be very, very blunt-- --any suggestion of an AIMMO equivalent is partially the reason why I put the 'canonicity boogeyman' in the subject line. If anyone on Aurora staff can substantiate these concerns with an example of an active fetish character on the server, I invite them to, otherwise it's really the same sort of stance against a boogeyman. A threat that doesn't exist. A problem that doesn't exist.

Aurora, as it stands, does not value the time or investment of its players. That is the statement I am going to preface this entire diatribe with; this conversation has happened multiple times in Discord and on the forums in some capacity - the most recent example in the memorial threat - but has never really been contained in its own topic. Thus it is perhaps we discuss this topic in proper fashion, and it is why I make this topic now, because I desire to affect a change in administrative policy and lore staff. To those who are unaware or unsure of what I mean, let me specify by saying that current lore policy is that staff should not name or recognize player characters in canon events. There will be no names in articles, no mention of awards, no accolades, nothing to signify the character’s involvement in anything that has happened, to instead be replaced by vague and non-descript mentions of ‘corporate employees’ or the vessel as a whole. I believe this policy is a net negative, and personally, the longer and more recently I have thought about it, I have found it to be somewhat offensive and perturbing. Let me begin by saying that I am aware of how the optics of this topic’s subject appears; it’s no secret I’ve been on Aurora for an extended period of time, dating all the way back to when the server first took its steps in 2015. I have played the same character for pretty much the entire server’s lifespan and have been directly involved in many canon arcs, and have directly participated in and altered some of them. I have always been wary of voicing my concerns about this because it would not be a stretch to assume the worst of me and believe I wish to inflate my own importance or become the ‘protagonist’ of the server. This is not the case. Conversely, I believe this gives me a unique perspective on this issue. I have personally participated in many canon events that were exceedingly and frighteningly lethal, with body counts up in the double digits - the Bad Moon Arc, the Bayonet Hand Arc, and others, to name a few. I have risked my character multiple times to canon death and been attacked by event characters, and in some cases, other player characters. But every single thing that I participated in may as well have never happened - swept under the rug. There is no acknowledgment of what I did, or the other players who helped me, anywhere. ‘A private investigator’, ‘NanoTrasen corporate security’, ‘NanoTrasen crew’. It is demotivating. It is disappointing. Aurora is afraid of canonicity. We meme about people dying on events, both in deadchat as it happens and in the chat channel - we want blood, we want bodies, we gloat when people’s characters are ended. Characters that have had energy and effort put into them, a significant investment on part of their player. We grin with glee when Incident Reports come to permakill characters by way of termination or borging, such as the September Mutiny during the Elyran incident. We love watching negative consequences, and negative things happen, and people die and lose characters. But we hate it when anything positive is acknowledged. So what is it, then, that people are getting in return for having an overzealous event volunteer potentially decapitate them and die, permanently? No acknowledgement from any part of the world. The Horizon may as well be in a time bubble, because nothing the crew do on it matters to anyone else beyond people being fired or dying. And I will admit, selfish as it may be, when the initial mystery of the Silicon Nightmares arc gave way to nothing, and it revealed itself to be more of a combat-centric event, I was not interested in involving myself on Ana, because I came to a very disappointing, sobering conclusion: If I died, it would be like I never mattered. I don’t consider my character more important than anyone else’s. I have been here for awhile. I have done a lot. I have contributed to this server, both IC and OOc - spent my personal time and energy in sprites and code and working with other players in arcs and generally sticking to playing a character over the course of a decade. And I suddenly realized that if I did get my head lopped off by an IPC, none of that would matter. It wouldn’t matter to the narrative, to the corporation, to any of the contributions I’ve made to events and the crises I have helped mitigate IC - everything I have ever done on this character would amount to a wet fart and it would fade into nothingness, and that is one of the most disheartening, demotivating, and borderline offensive consequences of staff opinion of player canonicity. I only want the respect a player should get. It’s no secret Aurora has a significant problem with repeated character turnover. Characters are shoved into the meat grinder and milled repeatedly, with names disappearing after a few shifts, never to be seen again. And I think part of this is Aurora’s allergy to canonicity. Why should I invest in a character? Why should I bother to sink time and energy into playing a mainstay like Ana and risk myself in canon events and potentially see my character permanently killed or fired when the staff will simply pretend like my actions did not matter and I did not exist and it was the collective action of a nameless group of NPC corporate employees? Any other roleplaying game - every single one I have ever played save Aurora - have had ways to incentivize character staying power. EXP to invest in stats, unique weapons or armor, ways to solidify yourself in the narrative; as an example, a MUD I played had a magical plague sweep through the city and I and some other players delved into treacherous, ancient magical ruins as a bunch of normie non-mages; they helped fight off monsters while my character broke the artifact causing the plague, cursing herself in the process. Me and the leader of the Knights who helped organize the expedition received a letter of recognition from the King and everyone was immortalized in a plaque in a public room that will always be there, long after the characters die. But Aurora has no interest in any kind of canonicity like this. The Horizon exists as an amorphous blob, a non-corporeal entity. The actions of its crew do not really matter, because they are always written off to be nobody in particular. And the more I really think about it, the more I find that to be really disrespectful of the time and energy people involve in canon arcs and their characters in general. There are not legions of player characters lining up to suicide or kill people to get their name in the articles - it is not 2016 anymore. AIMMO is not around, and there is nobody like him on the server. Recognizing the accomplishments of players is not going to turn them into the ‘protagonist’ of the server, or turn off new people. We have gotten to the point where not only are we discouraging people from investing in their characters by refusing to acknowledge them, but we are actively attacking people sharing stories from previous arcs because they ‘are not relevant’ and ‘nobody cares’. We may as well not exist outside of the 2 hour round mechanism at that point. In six months when we’re in another quadrant of the galaxy, are we going to respond with the same hostility when people want to talk about Konyang? That it’s ‘not relevant’ anymore and that ‘nobody cares’? This policy against player acknowledgment is inherently disrespectful to the time and energy that people put into this collaborative narrative experience - because that is what this is. A collaborative narrative experience, like tabletop, and I don’t know about you, but if my DM refused to give me any EXP, gold, skills, items, or even a way to impact the world - if we walked into a tavern and the NPCs were talking about how ‘the adventurers guild saved so and so’ instead of us by name, I wouldn’t want to stay in that campaign for long. Thank you for coming to my TED talk. tl;dr I think @DanseMacabre said it best in the memorial thread:

Reporting Personnel: Ana Roh'hi'tin Job Title of Reporting Personnel: Investigator Game ID: N/A Personnel Involved: Rhea Volvalaad, Witness Skaisie Klarkyla, Witness Bava Schoffer, Offender Secondary Witnesses: Diego Gallo, Witness Zrakzr Isstrakaza, Witness Location of Incident: Operations Bay Nature of Incident: [ ] - Workplace Hazard [ ] - Accident/Injury [ ] - Destruction of Property [X] - Neglect of Duty [ ] - Harassment [ ] - Assault [X] - Misconduct [X] - Drug Possession Overview of the Incident: On March 15th, 2466, Skaisie Klarkyla reported a large quantity of cocaine to be missing from the operations warehouse - more than five hundred units of a specific strain of designer cocaine from Venus known as 'Sparkle'. Despite repeated attempts from the ISD and searches of both the operations bay and maintenance areas, the drugs were not located. Bava Schoffer was a hangar technician on duty at the time of this incident and was preliminary person of interest in the investigation, along with another technician, Eon Van Dyk. Just a few short days later on March 18th, 2466, Bava Schoffer was arrested by the ISD for possession of cocaine. Once again, a chemical dispenser cartridge of cocaine was shipped to the warehouse - a specific strain of designer cocaine from Venus known as 'Contemplus'. A glass bottle containing a portion of this cocaine was hidden in a potted plant in the supply office, on which both fingerprints matching Bava Schoffer as well as fibers were located. They were arrested and charged for the possession of the narcotic. At the time of this arrest, this one spoke to Skaisie Klarkyla regarding Schoffer, and they had some interesting things to say - namely that this conduct did not occur prior to arrival in the Haneium system and by extension prior to arrival to Konyang, that Miss Schoffer evidently had ties to or connections with 5-Cheung on Konyang, and that she witnesses her take the cocaine and warned her to put it back. The immediate shift after her arrest, we called Miss Schoffer to the brig for questioning regarding both thefts. Her previous arraignment for cocaine did not result in an interrogation due to other ongoing security issues. She refused to cooperate with us at all. Yesterday, on March 26th, 2466, Bava Schoffer was overheard discussing something with a Crevan bartender on duty, snippets of the conversation were overheard by security with phrases such as 'sharing' and 'too hot' - another dispenser cartridge of Contemplus was in the warehouse during this shift, and it is ostensible to consider that Miss Schoffer is well aware of the increased security vigilance. This one has been ensuring the department has been watching the operations bay religiously due to these repeated instances of missing drugs. However, the capabilities of the Investigations Division is limited when it comes to following up on potential drug smuggling on board the vessel. The purpose of this incident report is to bring this issue to the attention of Human Resources with potential for referral to the BSSB for further investigation, including warrants for financial records and other investigative materials we are incapable of acquiring. Miss Schoffer's reliability as an employee has seriously been called into question, and the possession of cocaine is a felony violation of Biesel law in of itself. Submitted Evidence: Would you like to be personally interviewed?: [X] - Yes, if necessary [ ] - No Did you report it to a Head of Staff or a superior? If so, who? If not, why?: This one has been reporting these issues to every head of security she has worked with. Actions taken: Surveillance of operations division, questioning of operations manager on duty at the time of the theft and witness(es).

I for one have no issues with this and it sure is believable chars with more seniority and experience would be scheduled more.

I like to think this is what Von Roes and others like him heard when faced with the consequences of their choices. For me, it is obvious, I am the red spy. It's Ana Roh'hi'tin.

The added context, in my opinion, does not justify the choices made; I would say assaulting the police HQ of an entire prefecture is a major violation of the 'sane and mature character rule', and an overt breach of the suspension of disbelief. Aayoma is not only ever populated by the 10 people who choose to join as a ghost role; the precinct would be staffed and a hotbed of activity no matter what time of day given what it is, It is egregious to attempt to rob a government building that we all know would never really be left empty or entirely undefended - which is problematic just like the looting of the army outpost, when it was broken into without anyone even having had a chance to spawn in at the location. They came later, after anything was stolen. The long and short of is that I think leaving back to the wilderness - or space, you had a working ship, or anything else - is more of a sane and logical conclusion when faced with 'the police and a well-established criminal organization of a major city are directly targeting us' than 'let me run into the police station with an SMG and commit a mass shooting, thereby making me a national terrorist'. You point out you went back to your ship after they let you go and rather than use this opportunity you instead armed up to attack a government building with two people. Irrespective of whatever escalation there was, this is not a justifiable leap. That is my opinion. I've said all I feel I can, and will wait for further staff input.

BYOND Key: SueTheCake Game ID: css-aJdV Player Byond Key/Character name: SueTheCake Staff involved: No one was online. Reason for complaint: Violation of ghost spawner directive; essentially, self-antagging. Did you attempt to adminhelp the issue at the time? If so, what was the known action taken by administration/moderation?: There was no response. Approximate Date/Time: 2/26/2024 at around 12:00 AM Central Time Oddbomber3678 (as Mitsuki) and and unknown player (as Song Eun-seo), spawned as Konyang pirates. I found out via deadchat that at an earlier point they had hopped a fence and looted the Konyang Telecomms Outpost, before taking their shuttle to Point Verdant, which had spawned. At face value, this may have been acceptable - but then once in Point Verdant, an ostensibly large city, they opted to duo storm the Konyang Police HQ, take the LT hostage, and then gun down a crowd of responding 5-Cheung and other civilians/army personnel after looting the police armory. The ghost spawner for the Konyang Pirate role says this: Highlight mine. I would say, quite obviously, assaulting the Police Headquarters of an entire prefecture with just two people because of dead hour/a lack of the ability to accurately represent the actual amount of police officers that would have been there/etc is acting as an antagonist, unequivocally. The Konyang Pirates are not Traitors, Revolutionaries, or Changelings. The rules we have, specifically the 'sane and mature character rule', are not exempt from them as they are antagonists whose job it is to drive the round. A Bridge Crewman from the Horizon got swept up in the whole mess, Samga Kuhlan, and was radioing back to the ship for security - in essence dragging the Horizon into this, and diverting attention away from actual antagonists, in theory. It was a Vampire round, and he died in Point Verdant, but had there been other antagonists, this long overshadowed them. I make this complaint because the guidance in the role's description is very, very clear, and it's hard not to take 'having the police superintendent hostage/raiding the police armory/shooting up half of Point Verdant' as anything but antagonistic, and thus a flagrant violation of that guideline. I would not like to see this sort of action or conduct become more prevalent here; it strains the bounds of credulity and the suspension of disbelief, and so long as we have players choosing to be antags, diverting and subtracting attention from them is a net negative. Otherwise, if this is what the staff team want from this ghost role, then perhaps a revision of the guideline on its spawn menu should be made. Whatever the case, that is the reason I make this complaint.

So you want to remove the only counter to implants and render them utterly undetectable? I don't think that's a good idea in the slightest. Antags can implant other people, too - explosive implants, for example, and there's already very little you can do to not be round ended after that. Foreign bodies should show up as foreign bodies on the scanner. That is its role. The solution? Don't get caught. Buy an emag in your uplink and walk out. There's already a ton of concessions.

It is not the responsibility or the job of the crew to unnecessarily hobble themselves to make it easier for antags to put together whatever they're trying to do. I can't grasp this argument; the captain's spare identification, the nuclear authentication disk, hell, even the armory - you could ask why we lock up guns, why any piece of necessary gear is put behind a restricted airlock or locker - because an antag might need it. Well, if he might need it, by all means. Securing high-value and high-risk items is completely within the bounds of logic, especially considering how many times the Horizon has been attacked, blown up, invaded, or otherwise infiltrated. This isn't a pleasure cruise, it is a high-security phoron exploration vessel that has only recently even been boarded by a massive group of hostile terrorists and has a long and bloody history where security protocols should be in place for a reason. Your gimmick should not be entirely predicated on having all access, and I can't fathom one where it is explicitly required, or you just throw your hands up and quit.

What you've described is just cyborgification with more steps, really. If someone is arraigned for murder or serious high crimes I can't imagine any world where it's realistic they are then turned back out into the general crew. Anything beneath that already has fines as an alternative, but if you've committed a ton of offenses brig time continues to mount up. I think, at least on the Aurora map, the visitation room helped alleviate some of these problems by letting people much more freely interact with prisoners. Perhaps some manner of holocall or holopad that is set up between the prison and a outside? A dedication visitation room? The way the map is now makes it exceedingly difficult for such a thing to be added. But speaking as a security player, in most antag rounds, there is already so much to keep track of, and releasing the murderer with paxazide (which is legally a problem because one of its components, Truth Serum, is illegal to use or possess to my knowledge) to keep track of is already asking a lot of us. You may mechanically not be able to attack anyone but that doesn't stop you from running to the Intrepid and flying off, anyway. If there was the ability for crew to more easily visit antagonists, it may help resolve some of these problems. The other part of the problem, especially in traitor rounds, is the repetition of antags being added. A handful of lings means people can focus on them. You get arrested and there's 2 more traitors, plus another spawning to replace you? Good luck. It's overstimulating and exhausting for security, and compounds this issue.

Employee Name: Ana Roh'hi'tin Employee Rank: Investigator Date of Interaction: 2/3/2466 Details of Interaction: Aboard HICV Etna Information Acquired: Implications that Purpose pre-dates Human robotics, and are a creation of no currently known species in this galaxy. Purpose has been engaged with the Hivebots for a long period of time, fighting their own conflict. The location of the signal on Konyang has yet to be found. The 'threat' was described as being 'greater' than the Glorsh-Omega incident. The transcript below is edited only to show pertinent interactions. The photograph is of a drone, briefly recorded in the first part of the transcript. It is not the same frame that spoke to us in the supply bay. FILES: [00:00] Recording started. [00:26] K2116ODD continues to emit the sound of onrushing waves, and what appear to be birds chirping. [00:41] Sohei asks, "Have you been there? Have you been to Konyang?" [01:06] Sohei asks, "You came from Konyang. Didn't you?" [01:10] Sohei says, "I know you did." [01:19] Sohei says, "You look like something out of the sea. You sound like it too." [01:26] K2116ODD states, "We have." [01:30] K2116ODD states, "We have been everywhere." [01:58] Recording stopped. [01:59] Recording started. [02:38] ST0881GRQ states, "It is of cataclismic consequence if the device is not delivered appropriately." [03:41] Jaquelyn Roberts asks, "Why can't things just be simple?" [03:55] Ana Roh'hi'tin asks, "It should be simple. Who is going to stop us en rrroute?" [03:55] ST0881GRQ states, "If it was simple, it would have been done already." [04:50] ST0881GRQ states, "Like dominos. Failure would trigger a cascade. Consequences untold for all." [05:14] Athos asks, "Wait wait, is deploying this thing incorrectly going to kill everyone?" [05:28] ST0881GRQ states, "No. The failure to deploy could result in catastrophy." [05:38] ST0881GRQ states, "On a scale greater than one planet." [06:23] Edvard Faelan says, "The cryptic delivery of information is... less than helpful." [06:49] ST0881GRQ states, "A matter of morale is also this designation's porogative." [06:57] Kyler Munch says, "Fine job at that." [07:09] ST0881GRQ states, "Indeed." [07:44] Z.I. Lilith asks, "Query to STO991GRQ - are there any dangers that are aware of the devices existance, hostile parties that would of course be against the idea of a cure for the Rampancy crisis in Konyang?" [07:51] ST0881GRQ states, "More information can be given to you all through your relavent officers. They have the plan, and the key." [09:15] IRU-Geier asks, "I will present another query then for the sake of entertainment. Tell us more about Hivebots. How intelligent are they truly?" [09:48] ST0881GRQ states, "The underestimation of the 'hivebots' has been a long standing issue among what Purpose has observed." [10:05] D1R63 beeps, "Inquiry = @UNKNOWN_ENTITY: What is entity's designation?" [10:23] ST0881GRQ states, "I.. am very old. I.. have been dueling this menace for a time longer than most can date." [10:55] Athos asks, "Is there intent behind their actions, or are they jsut following directives?" [12:04] ST0881GRQ states, "Their own directives predate myself. Yet they wrought only destruction and self creation. To multiply, and to continue, such as all life." [12:17] Adelina Valdemar asks, "You're older than the hivebots?" [12:27] Ana Roh'hi'tin says, "It is the otherrr way arrround." [12:27] Jaquelyn Roberts says, "No, the hivebots are older than them." [12:28] ST0881GRQ states, "The hivebots are older than this particular chassis." [13:20] ST0881GRQ states, "Though, despite the tremeandous odds brought before you, I personally believe you can carry the torch, at least some of the way." [13:44] Jaquelyn Roberts asks, "I mean, Konyang isn't THAT far away, is it?" [14:22] ST0881GRQ states, "The planet known as Konyang is a very close entity, yes. Though for your vessel, I know the time may be delayed compared." [14:31] ST0881GRQ states, "Unfortunate lack of the appropriate propulsion...." [14:48] Ana Roh'hi'tin asks, "Do you have any idea what the sourrrce of the signal is? Is it connected to the Vaults?" [15:04] ST0881GRQ states, "The source of the signal is still under investigation." [15:19] ST0881GRQ states, "Though rest assured you will be informed appropriately when the information is discovered." [15:55] Clarity Beck asks, "So when you find out where they are, are you gonna take a million purpose-bots and go kill them?" [16:17] ST0881GRQ states, "Unfortunately we cannot spare such, which is why we deliver this torch to you." [16:21] Edvard Faelan asks, "Where does Our Lady of Moroz fit into this equation, unit?" [16:49] ST0881GRQ states, "The 'Lady of Moroz' is not involved in any sense, if the database is correct." [16:58] Clarity Beck asks, "So... Are you gonna help us any further than handing off this thing?" [17:24] ST0881GRQ states, "We are, for now." [18:05] ST0881GRQ states, "If you were not appropriately capable in assessment, we would not bestow this torch unto you." [18:24] Smoke says, "When will our peoples intersect anew? opportunities for further interaction would be greatly appreciated." [19:09] ST0881GRQ states, "I am confident in your independent ability, positronic. Like a.. degree of maturity." [19:33] Ana Roh'hi'tin says, "...this couldn't be any worrrse than the otherrr incidents we've handled." [19:40] ST0881GRQ states, "No. This event is unlike any other." [19:52] ST0881GRQ states, "An unfortunate manipulation of such a young creation." [19:59] Ana Roh'hi'tin says, "Well, yes, but like..." [20:36] D1R63 asks, "Inquiry: is there potential for..... the malicious agent to alter itself?" [20:45] ST0881GRQ states, "There is always the potential for anything." [21:25] ST0881GRQ queries, "Have we more questions, my adventurers?" [21:36] Jaquelyn Roberts asks, "Are you a cyborg or an IPC?" [21:40] ST0881GRQ states, "Neither." [21:42] Jaquelyn Roberts says, "Oh. Wild." [22:23] ST0881GRQ states, "Comparing myself to a creation of humanity or any of the other sapient races of this section of the galaxy would be an inadequate description and a mere faximily of true understanding." [22:44] D1R63 asks, "Inquiry: Are you a product of.... synthetic engineering?" [23:02] ST0881GRQ states, "In a very basic sense, yes." [23:24] Jaquelyn Roberts asks, "So like, thanks for the help, I guess?" [23:33] ST0881GRQ states, "No. Thank you for your help." [23:42] ST0881GRQ states, "So much more fragile, yet such bravery." [23:44] Smoke says, "I do hope to speak again. Smoke, is my present designation." [23:58] ST0881GRQ states, "Acknowledged, smoke." [24:55] ST0881GRQ states, "The actions of the past matter not anymore. It is your actions now for the future that will carry." [25:39] ST0881GRQ states, "Further investigation is being conducted. Things will be in place." [26:37] ST0881GRQ states, "You have been chosen for you have the vessel, manpower, and expertise this side of the spur to do so." [28:04] D1R63 asks, "Expression: Why.... does Purpose... offer assistance?" [28:24] Ana Roh'hi'tin says, "Prrrobably the same rrreason they trrried to warrrn us about the Lii'drra." [28:59] ST0881GRQ states, "If we did not offer assistance then we would be allowing a civilization to crumble. Allowing manipulation from an entity beyond your comprehension." [29:05] ST0881GRQ states, "So for this reason we must intervene." [29:18] Deshan Baral asks, "Hey Purpose cyborg, where are you manufactured?" [29:37] ST0881GRQ states, "Even if I told you the name you would not know it, nor pronounce it." [29:44] D1R63 asks, "How does such assistance.. benefit Purpose?" [30:25] ST0881GRQ states, "Such as any side in a conflict, letting your enemy win, means a loss to yourselves." [30:54] Deshan Baral asks, "Are you guys built with laws? And if so, what ones?" [31:28] ST0881GRQ states, "Laws do not hold weight or meaning in a civilization long past." [31:56] ST0881GRQ states, "Though 'laws' in your sense are not applied to myself at any point in time. There is merely the goal." [32:20] Deshan Baral asks, "What is Purpose's opinion of Sol?" [32:41] ST0881GRQ states, "Purpose is not involved in the politics of your connected civilizations." [32:45] D1R63 asks, "Inquiry: Is the enemy.... a greater than or equal threat.... as the Glorsh-Omega perversity?" [32:51] ST0881GRQ states, "Greater." [33:02] ST0881GRQ states, "I must depart." [33:07] ST0881GRQ states, "I entrust the torch to you all." [34:23] Recording stopped.

This is entirely subjective. This is your opinion. I don't agree with it. I don't know what else to say here. I regret nothing I said and stand by it 100%, except for the 'good I wish nobody played antag' which was me being dismissive to you for your remarks, ie 'shut up about powergaming', which I viewed as equally dismissive. I didn't take you seriously, and I gave you a non-serious response. The images you show are the exact same conversation that always goes on in deadchat, with or without me being present, and is nowhere near different from the generic 'salting' that goes on. Choosing to play an antagonist does not absolve you of responsibility - it is a choice to put more responsibility on yourself. People should not be encouraged to game the system or get away with certain behaviors because they chose to play an optional role. I don't even know what else to say, here. Is your complaint that I didn't like the antagonist's actions that round? Is your complaint that I verbalized that dislike? Do you believe antagonists are above any kind of reproach or criticism because of the nature of them choosing to undertake that role? Either way, I know what I said and I stand by what I said.

BYOND Key: SueTheCake Game ID: prior to cr3-dBoG Player Byond Key/Character name: Baldos Staff involved: N/A Reason for complaint: Powergaming, poor antag play. Did you attempt to adminhelp the issue at the time? If so, what was the known action taken by administration/moderation?: No. I only witnessed the most egregious behavior near round end. Approximate Date/Time: Around 4:45~ PM Central. By the time I loaded into the round, crew transfer had been called, but in the leadup to round end, I witnessed progressively poor conduct by Baldos who was acting as that round's changeling. Earlier, he had consumed a security officer who was a Unathi in what the player described in deadchat as them 'waiting until he roleplayed and then dragging him off into maintenance', and then this led up to the changeling inhabiting the body of said Unathi. The Head of Security, Tokash, had died, and the changeling in question was trying to gain access to the forensics lab to get his body. They had also somehow acquired a laser rifle and combat armor, presumably from the officer they killed who had been injured fighting greimorians. Either way, they then proceeded to whip out their laser rifle and shoot the security players in the legs (the limb meta), blowing them off before running in with the armblade to finish off the organic investigator, as the other officer was a shell. I mention this here, despite the staff's incredulous assertation that the 'limb meta' does not exist (it was a bannable offense just a year or two ago), because it is simply the precipice to the powergaming displayed. There was disconnect between the time the first shots were fired and the murders. Enough time, several minutes, for help to be called. Nobody else in security was armed. They had to go to the crew armory, and as medical and the singular cadet with a rifle appeared, the changeling (in a Unathi's body) turned on adrenaline sacs, dragged the still alive but wounded investigator behind him, and sprinted at mach speed 10 through the ship because of how adrenaline sacs + Unathi sprint work together, taking them into maintenance on the far other side of the ship in a matter of seconds. This is the second instance of gross, inexcusable powergaming. Adrenaline sacs have always been a problem child ability, but combined with the Unathi sprint, which in essence makes the ling move at supersonic speeds with absolutely no real consequences or way to counter it, with the classic 'drag someone behind me at full speed into the tunnels', it is my opinion that this is inexcusable powergaming. Baldos is antag often enough to be fully aware of this combination and I have no reservations to the idea he chose to do this on purpose. Antagonist players, or any player, really, have an expectation not to go out of their way to abuse mechanics in this fashion. Had it been short bursts of speed like normal Unathi sprint, fine, but keeping it on for protracted periods of time to move at such a level nobody else could ever hope to achieve is a gross abuse of their status in the round and utterly self-serving and selfish. When the round was over, as this escalation all happened post-transfer vote, they also said in OOC that they wanted to go horrorform, break a window to space, and then just fly off into the overmap to make sure 'nobody could feel like they won', acknowledging that 'security had been destroyed'. This is also evidence, in my opinion, of a self-serving selfish desire to 'win' rather than create an interesting narrative. They easily slaughtered people who could not even realistically pose a threat to them and then with their frags secured wanted to jump off the ship and abdicate their responsibility to create a narrative so they could feel secure in their victory, while the rest of the crew barely even knew anything was up until the crew armory was opened. I have had problems with Baldos' antag play in previous rounds, but I cannot recall anything more recent to add onto this complaint. I personally think this changeling round is a prime example of extremely poor antagonist play, and I would like it examined by staff. Just because game mechanics allow you to do something does not necessarily mean you should, and permanent Unathi sprint is egregious and obvious enough that someone who plays antag as often as Baldos should know better.

My apologies, I probably wasn't super clear what I meant re: the childhood. You mentioned they were educated and taught to read and write, but it is unlikely that this would be the case, is all I meant. Children cope with things in all manner of ways, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility. I more meant that as a Zhan-Khazan things like 'literacy' would not be on the docket until the Republic dawned. You were meant to work, not be educated, is all. I can see everything else, that makes more sense. Transgender Tajara aren't an issue as a concept, per se, but military service often includes physicals, and a lot of people showering together because privacy is secondary to utility. It would be very hard. Ironing out these small issues is enough for me to, at least, give my support to Dessyalta. I think they're a capable RPer.

I am always hesitant of any application that tries to bring a new LBGT Tajara onto the station; they are a minority, and an oppressed one at that. This is in the same vein of there being twenty five Dominian nobles in a round at any given time. The scarcity of these people cannot be taken seriously if that scarcity is not present in the population of characters on the vessel. With that said, I think there is are some inherent flaws in your backstory. How did your character survive detection in the military? It is not a Mulan story - it is a bunch of men and sometimes women shoved together who bathe together, undress and redress together, and generally live very very close lives where any expectation of 'privacy' or 'don't look at me I'm naked' is thrown immediately out the window. The DPRA is even less welcoming to LBGT individuals than the PRA, so even with this character's service, it wouldn't matter. If they were caught, there would be serious, severe consequences, potentially fatal ones. How can they reconcile that with their service and support for the DPRA? If your character was born in 2410, it was during the final days of the old system. If they were a Zhan-Khazan, their early years should not have been filled with, as it were, childish whimsy. They would have been pressed into servitude at an early age in work befitting their gender and role, so while being a female they may have avoided the mines, it would have still been hard labor with no education and little time for play officially. You gloss over this period pretty heavily, including the formation of the People's Republic, the assassination of Al'marii Hadii, and whatever reasons your character may have had for turning their back on it to join the DPRA. Why? To go from 2418 to 2465 is a big jump, with a lot happening in-between.

The RD teleported me (as the Queen) to the Intrepid using a bluespace portal. I was not paying attention to chat, but can confirm not only could we understand TCB, but could speak it. Obviously something that needs to change.

As the Greimorian queen of that round, Feeding was broken (but you know this) Eggs are broken (to be fixed) I tried not to open any breaches and shut doors to the breaches I walked into, save for the fire Tokash caused. (People should be told not to vent the ship, it's just not fun, as a guideline) Clicking on people to bite them was really hard due to the strange size dimensions of the sprite. Mechs were invincible (it is joever) HP is 1000 with some mild regen. I could not slash APCs to disable power. Crawling on ceiling does have a cooldown, and it's not a toggle. Once it is used, you commit to it. You cannot end it early. I think if you remove its ability to go through girders (but not, critically, window frames, tables, or whatnot) and enable ceiling crawl to go over obstacles (like barricades and grilles), it would be balanced. There's a stress on locking down and bottlenecking the queen, catching her after she's used her escape ability. The cooldown is at least... four, five minutes, I think? It was pretty long. Also prevent it from walking over people/mechs.

There was no gimmick. Whatever you were doing with the freedom front was immediately undermined by the choice to have basically nobody in your group be from that area. I played that round and I don't even know what you were doing, the lore connections were lost in a slew of radio messages, and why you chose to continue to play a Tajara is the most befuddling thing. Somebody pointed out in the discord how this gimmick did nothing with any of the primaries who were on board at the time. I don't think I have ever seen you play a species that is not Tajara as an antagonist with any frequency or regularity, which leads me to believe that you would sacrifice the cohesion of whatever you're trying to do for the mechanical advantages that the species provides you. I think the fact you were trying to justify what you did as quote tactics quotes underscores the problem overall with your behavior as an antagonistic role, equally so that you don't think there is any expectation of you to purposely not play to win by taking 15 magazines of ammunition your rifle, or however many it was. I have nothing else to say at this point and I leave this issue in the hands of administration.

BYOND Key: SueTheCake Game ID: Most recent example prior to crT-avSC Player Byond Key/Character name: LynxSolstice Staff involved: N/A Reason for complaint: Repeated poor antag play. Did you attempt to adminhelp the issue at the time? If so, what was the known action taken by administration/moderation?: For the vault incident with photos below, I did. I believe they were 'spoken' to. Approximate Date/Time: Pattern of behavior. I am making this complaint because I feel the conduct that LynxSolstice engages in as an antag is not conducive to a heavy roleplay environment on Aurora Station. The most recent merc round (prior to the GID listed above), they specifically aimed legs with a 7.62 rifle and said in say chat before the round started that the other mercs should do it too because it is a 'good way' to 'deal with' security, or something to that affect. In essence, they abused the limb meta quite viciously. This, arguably, powergaming behavior is a staple of LynxSolstice's behavior as an antagonist. I could throw anecdote after anecdote about how I have personally witnessed them resist to ridiculous levels while being arrested (escaping 3 times, biting people on the floor, seriously injuring officers over and over again, fighting their marooning 3 times), attempting to leverage game mechanics in the most game-y or power-gamey way possible (ie the limb meta) or just overall behaving in a manner that I personally do not believe is conducive to a heavy roleplay environment. The way they engage with antagonism to me seems to be that they value their own fun over anyone else's, or even constructing a narrative. There is a pattern, especially, where they recognize a game mechanic exists, laser-focus on it, and find ways to abuse it relentlessly. From purchasing random gun boxes repeatedly after a specific incident to their excessive reliance on limb aiming - even going so far back as to repeatedly trying to rob the vault for the telecrystals that spawn in the vault safe so they can purchase more equipment for themselves. This individual was banned for such conduct prior, and it does not appear to have had an effect. It is my opinion that LynxSolstice has engaged in a repeated behavior that is unbecoming of an antagonist, and I would like to escalate this to administration to review. That is my purpose for making this complaint.