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Susan

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  1. BYOND Key: SueTheCake Staff BYOND Key: Arrow768, Loorey, Dreampixl (I do not know who spawned what or how involved anyone was) Game ID: crs-ad6Y Reason for complaint: Admins abuse, overreaching, hijacking the round, and powergaming. Merry Christmas, Aurora. On this round, which later turned out to be Vampire, the off-station 'pirate' base spawned, was located by a xenoarchaeologist and reported to security. The Head of Security decided to go deal with the pirates that had menaced or otherwise been a problem for the expedition - I do not know - and took four officers, two EMTs, and themselves to go do so. They also had a combat mech. This is all well and good. However, at some point, presumably when they faxed Central (staff) for permission to do this, the staff on the server decided to take this as a carte blanche to 'soup up' the antagonists. A domino effect occurred to where they massacred the security team, boarded the Horizon (again, admin intervention, as the PR states their ship has no fuel and it is why they are hiding in a base, there), murdered more people, hijacked a round and effectively turned Vampire into Mercenary+, in the most unsatisfying and unpleasant way possible. The pirates were given non-essential gear they do not spawn with. Their armory contains, per the map file itself from the github: 1x Crimson Hardsuit Module 3x Cuirass 1x Heavy Platecarrier + Helmet 2x 7.62 ARs with 6 mags 4x 9mm pistol with 12 mags 1x 10mm SMG with 3 mags 1x Combat Shotgun with at least 12 shotgun slugs 1x Marksman Rifle with 3 mags 1x Auto .45 pistol with 3 mags 8x Black Syndicate Voidsuits However, by the time that the pirates had boarded the Horizon, we were made aware staff had further furnished them with an additional 4-5 sets of heavy armor (full armor, not just a helmet and vest like their spawn has), combat belts, more ARs, more equipment like eye protection, and two combat mechs that are nowhere near this map. It is a based of rag-tag pirates who have been left to starve for however long their vessel has broken down. Instead, the staff team decided to take it upon themselves to turn them into a full-forced Mercenary round type antagonistic force, because sec went to 'valid' them. This is what Arrow himself said. However, beyond me personally finding no value or substance in this excuse for intervention, it is also completely unnecessary. This is not the first time security has had to deal with this outpost. The last time sec went to deal with it, they got wiped because their equipment is 'sufficient'. Dreampixl stated their gear is 'weird', but given the context of the PR that these are pirates (ala Raider) and not Nuclear Operatives (ala Mercenary), they are even MORE well equipped than our Raider gamemode is. And still more weaponry was given to them. The fact of the matter is with a sniper rifle (7.62) to shoot people off screen, one long hallway to gun people down in, 2 assault rifles (also 7.62), they are more than capable of fighting security in the terrible voidsuits that have no armor. They'd have all wiped, anyway. This admin overreach was not necessary. But then there's this. If the point of this 'improvement' was to 'punish' security for 'validing', then chasing them down when they tried to dis-engage does not speak to that being the purpose. Beyond that, the raiders themselves were all suspiciously Vaurca, so they could ostensibly take the full benefit of the antag heavy plate armor and be spaceproof as well. I do not believe that the players involved chose Vaurca out of a freak accident, I am sorry to say. This gave them an even more significant combat advantage, beyond admins unnecessarily providing them with additional firepower. Especially when they begin to gloat in OOC after the round has ended when they were provided a golden ticket by staff to subjugate the entire round with zero consequence. When they boarded the Horizon, they proceeded to vent the ship as they went along, another tactic that plays into their species' strengths and further limits response (the security team had already been killed, and several others by a traitor at that point). The antagonists of that round were overshadowed and thrown out the window by the choice to enable these off-ship antags to board the Horizon with their gear, and though they did not bring the combat mechs, it doesn't matter, given the strength of the 7.62 rounds, the spreading breaches, and Vaurca existing as a species. A genuine Vampire was wordlessly gunned down in medical because of the situation, with no ability to provide genuine RP, as their role had entirely been eclipsed by staff meddling. In short, even if one can argue that this heavy-handed response to security 'validing' them is justifiable, the gimmick extending to the Horizon was not, because it hijacked the rest of the round and subjected the rest of us to unbridled chaos. The Vaurca did not engage beyond being sarcastic and blood-thirsty on the radio, and there was nothing to be found in it but violence and bloodshed as underequipped crew who suffer from things like 'not being able to breathe in space' unlike Vaurca threw themselves at the brick wall of an overgeared antagonist team, beaten down at every turn. If I wanted to play Mercenary, I would have voted it. I believe this to be a vast misuse of administrative power. If, as Dreampixl says, their gear is 'weird', then why was this not mentioned on the PR when it was merged? The development team is fully aware of the PRs submitted to Aurora. Their equipment surpasses even one of our natural gamemodes (Raiders), so I do not buy this as a legitimate concern. 7.62 is a caliber that decimates even the heaviest of armors, even ballistic armor, and given security was equipped in paper-thin voidsuits, they would have been wiped as they had been the last time they went to go attack this base. And if the concern is security 'validing' them, then what is the staff's perspective on this away map? Why is it in the code? Why does it exist? What do you expect a xenoarchaeologist do when landing and confronted by pirates? We just ignore them, so they get no roleplay? They were added to be off-ship antagonists, so the only answer is either to run in and get taken hostage (forcing a security response) or ignore them (leaving them do nothing all-round)? It's a catch 22. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. The context of Loorey's comments - and I am very sorry, Loorey - suggests to me this was done so people could get their frags in. I do not believe this is conduct befitting a moderator in this scenario, especially considering it is administration self-enabling themselves to run roughshod over a round and gloat in the bloody aftermath. The optics are terrible, even if this was not staff's intention, or their desire, or even what they set out to do. It looks that way.
  2. I'm against this for the reasons Carver's already said, and I don't think I can vocalize them any better. The Spare ID spawns where it is because there is not always a captain, and it is inasmuch a tool for the crew as it is antags - extended rounds, et al. If it spawned in a safe only the Captain could access, then nobody would be able to do anything without an XO or Captain. Securing high-value items is not strange, nor is it metagaming. It is SOP. And yes, safes and secure briefcases are laughably easy to force open. A screwdriver and a multitool.
  3. An unarmored EMT with a knife took every single shot in my mini-disruptor to down, after he had already stabbed me, and like three of them missed. I don't know there is a good solution to this problem. I preferred the 45s over the disruptors, but the mini-disruptor is even worse. I hate it so much.
  4. Ren Hartfort is a well-written character and I fully believe that NM is more than capable of portraying the nuance inherent to Tajara. They have my full-throated support.
  5. I completely disagree with any suggestion events cannot be a 'semi-regular thing' because if they were intended to eclipse antagonists, the systems that make them up should be overhauled and made easier and more accessible. There should be a staff role specifically as a pseudo-DM so admins do not need to be involved beyond greenlighting the narrative with lore staff. And it doesn't even need to be explosive. Corporate parties, inspections, hell, the Kobayashi Maru style event was fun and interesting. If we are going to replace antagonists it would necessitate a code pass-over to enable the kind of framework for what is basically a 'DM-lite' system, rather than just commenting them out and relying on what we have now. That's my take on it, and I would be glad to map or run events if that ever came to pass. But the culture shift and code requirements are too daunting, and we're too afraid of losing a few players, so we are stuck with the same stale set-ups, and that is a travesty.
  6. Antagonists are an antiquated, half-baked concept that is fundamental to LRP and MRP servers and are a holdover from the fact SS13 shares its roots from the same singular source repo; Goonstation, /tg/station, Baystation, and Aurorastation have all taken that code and morphed it into their own things, but remain shackled by ancient ideas - and that is what an 'antagonist' is. The reason why they are unpopular, and why there are consistent problems with the depth and breadth of roleplay, is that antagonists by design and implementation are one-trick ponies with no significant thought behind them. I have played this game for eleven years, and I can count on one hand the amount of times an 'antagonist' made an engaging round. There are scarce few encounters I can positively remember. Now, when you pin that against the backdrop of repetitious gimmicks, murderboning, powergaming, poorly thought out plans and consistent antagonist mains who progressively decline in quality with every passing round, it is clear (to me, personally) and it is my opinion that antagonists are a net negative to this game and they only persist on Aurora because we as a server are too afraid to redefine ourselves. Remove antagonists. It is far past time for the system to be destroyed. Every memorable, character-defining and earth-shattering moment I've had on Aurora Station has not been as a result of, or had any connection with, Revolver Man #5674, or Changeling Adrenaline Sac Rodeo #496874, or any of the innumerable and forgettable cookie-cutter antagonists I've had to slog through to get roleplay throughout the years. They have come from events like Bad Moon, or Bayonet Hand, or the Cold Dawn arc: storylines with tangible consequences that irrevocably change characters and lead to growth, new relationships, the destruction of old relationships, et al. Hell, not even events. The arc where two Dominians got deported to be executed was so much more interesting and fun than any antagonist round I've had in the last three months simply because it was canon and real and it ginned up the crew where they started arguing with each other and grappled with their actions that led to this outcome. Antagonists are a hollow attempt to emulate this kind of heavy roleplay - they do not succeed, and frequently miss the mark more-so than they hit it. They are a relic, an artifact of ancient SS13 from Exodav's era that are long past the point they should have been euthanized. Aurora is too afraid to take unilateral action against antagonists and do the better thing to remove them in favor of more canon events - minor to major, story-driven, off-ship overmap roles, etc; we are scared of 'losing players' and changing up the gameplay loop that has been the same since, what, 2008, with just a fresh coat of paint and some abilities added and removed, here or there. I think it is high time we tried a new system. Curated experiences and plot lines people can involve themselves in - which don't always need to be people getting blown up and dying!!! - are beautiful things that antagonists simply cannot hope to emulate. They are shallow attempts to generate intrigue and roleplay, which may have worked in 2008, but I've seen Changeling so many times now it does nothing but annoy me when I want to do roleplay that isn't 'oh man he's alive again'.
  7. Remove or reduce sucking blood bags for points, too. That's how these egregious blood amounts occur - or cap it at a much lower level.
  8. A few more things: Looking in the icon files, glass airlocks and window sprites have 0 transparency set, which is why they look plastic-y and dead. All windows, every single one, should have a grille placed on them. This is how it was before, and it adds visual interest. They do not need to be shocked, and I genuinely cannot tell if windows aren't transparent or not because there is a single mass of color underneath them which gives them the dead feel. Not even borosilicate windows have grilles. Security glass airlocks are not displaying their red stripes properly, nor are research glass airlocks. The CMO, consular, bridge meeting room, etc - the blue airlocks for them should be standard command ones, but they are the wrong shade of blue compared to the glass command airlocks and are, again, not displaying their stripes on the non-glass ones.
  9. I like this overall, but I have a few critique points: -Reinforced Walls use the same sprite as normal walls. They should be different in some capacity, like they were before. -I do not like the airlock sprites. The glass airlock windows are not transparent like the 2x1 airlock, and they have no depth. They are big blobs of color with no detail. Compare these to our previous airlocks. The one on the right, the old one, had far more visual interest and suggested depth comparatively. Yellow highlights gave visual interest, and the overall design was more interesting. The new one is a red square. Overall, though, I find this to be an improvement. Kudos to the development team, spriters, and mappers for putting in so much time and effort. Thank you all.
  10. I really believe this is a problem spawned by the medical system that is unique to brainmed, because on the old binary system when death came at a flat value, these sorts of circumstances were much far fewer in between. I don't really know how to feel about these rules. On the one hand, I felt like this is what was expected beforehand, but on the other, if it has gotten to the point where sec and the antag are exchanging lethal gunfire, nobody - and I mean nobody is shooting their ballistic carbine or laser rifle with the intent to arrest anyone. That is not what they are - they are not non-lethal or less-than-lethal weapons, they are designed to kill people, and it is only because brainmed and armor can let you survive 20 rounds of 5.56 to the chest that anyone is in a position to be arrested. And I think it is counter-productive to try and enforce an idea that lethal weapons are just another tool to arrest someone. There are circumstances where I use them that I am not trying to arrest anyone. If I am catching 7.62 fire from a merc, I am not using my laser gun with the end desire to arrest them for trying to kill me. No, I am trying to kill them before they kill me, and if they survive 15 laser blasts I just find it kind of whacky that I'm supposed to drop everything to arrest the heavily armed merc despite the fact they were just trying to take off my head. TTK seems to be the issue, here, with the ability to survive getting magdumped.
  11. Why would Darya hold a very negative view of the PRA, but not the NKA? The DPRA was formed of military officials who split after the assassination of President Hadii - officials who fought for the First Revolution, an and an end to nobility. The NKA was also at war with the DPRA during the Second Revolution. Why would they regard a reintroduction of nobility with neutrality?
  12. Reporting Personnel: Ana Roh'hi'tin Job Title of Reporting Personnel: Investigator Game ID: coW-df8z Personnel Involved: IRU-Aurora, Investigator (Offender) Rosenwyn Edenvane, Captain (Offender) Ana Roh'hi'tin, Investigator (Victim) Ronald Monday, Security Officer (Witness) Yasir Kra'jun, Security Officer (Witness) Time of Incident: Approx 21:00 Ship Time (ST), Estimated Real Time: 4:30 PM Central Standard Time Location of Incident: Forensics Autopsy Lab Nature of Incident: [ ] - Workplace Hazard [ ] - Accident/Injury [ ] - Destruction of Property [X] - Neglect of Duty [X] - Harassment [ ] - Assault [X] - Misconduct [ ] - Other _____ (Place an x in the box that applies. If other, replace line and specify.) Overview of the Incident: When this one arrived on the ship level from residential to begin her shift, she was made aware of a death on the asteroid. A miner had passed away in the pursuit of his duties. In observance of standard procedure, and her job duties, she retrieved the corpse - relinquished by medical to Officer Sakariulu Toongaviak and transported to the forensics wing - to perform an autopsy and mark the accident in the database. However, when the Captain was made aware that security had taken custody of the body, she began to interrogate us over security comms as to why we would bother to look into a death that was not from 'foul play'. Investigator synthetic IRU-Aurora also made comments that the procedure was 'unnecessary'. The Captain went even further as to say that doing our job was 'disrespectful' to the man, given he spent his last moments 'wailing over comms', or something to that effect. This one was not present when the described incident took place. Nonetheless, the Captain insisted an autopsy not be done to 'spare him' being 'cut open', and suggested that doing so would invite liability onto the company. Station procedure is very clear on the objective and purpose of the Investigative Division of the SCC: we exist to ensure corporate liability is at a minimum, to investigate and categorize workplace accidents and deaths, and in the rare cases they happen - look into actual criminal behavior amongst the crew. Under Station Procedure Section 5 (Security), Subsection 11 (Autopsies), the following information is recorded: All autopsies should be conducted by investigations within the autopsy room. If no investigators are present, the cadaver should be stored until one arrives. More steps outlining autopsies can be found here. [SEE: GUIDE TO CADAVERS] Once the autopsy is completed, if the deceased was an employee aboard the SCCV Horizon, the cadaver should be remanded to medical so that they may carry out any potential post-mortem wishes. In the referenced filed, Guide to Cadavers, Section 2 (Manner of Death), and Guide to Cadavers, Section 2 (Manner of Death), Subsection 2 (Accidental), the following information is recorded: In short, this means that, contrary to the Captain's insistence, autopsies are not solely carried out in instances of 'foul play' only; the autopsy, and the following paperwork, are necessary and important activities the Investigation Division undertakes to assist the Legal Division in determining payout of life insurance and other circumstances. In this case, the miner most likely died as a result of his own negligence by attempting to combat hostile xenofauna without proper preparation, which would limit what, if any, payout his family members would receive. This is important work to mitigate or alleviate corporate liability in the deaths of employees in the workplace, irrespective of whether the Captain finds it to be 'moral' to 'cut apart' a man who unfortunately lost his life. Whatever the circumstances of his death were, it does not change the fact the accident must be properly investigated and the company absolved of any sort of liability if that is the case. In this, it was. No autopsy was carried out, making more work for investigators later down the road because the Captain allowed their emotions to get the better of them. Additionally, the other investigator on staff clearly does not understand our mandate if they believe a workplace accident 'does not need' to be investigated. It is not as though the ship is constantly being attacked or otherwise embattled by petty criminals - this is our job, and it is an important facet of it. The work the SCCV Horizon does in the far reaches of space is innately dangerous, and the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate relies on both the Legal Division and Investigations Division to ensure its assets are being secured and no unnecessary money is being spent on bereavement or workplace deaths. This one stresses no surgical procedure was done in compliance with the Captain's orders, despite her disagreement. Only an external examination. The body was then remanded to medical. Due to other extant security issues, the investigation was not fully completed. Nobody among the crew were made aware of the autopsy, which means only the Captain was evidently uncomfortable with a routine procedure. 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?: No. They are the Captain. Actions taken: Filed this report. Additional Notes: This one would simply like the Captain and Investigator to be made to understand corporate procedure to ensure this sort of incident does not happen again. Hundreds of thousands of credits are saved by our work every year - in this case, by investigating and potentially finding the miner's negligence to be the cause of his death, it could prevent unnecessary dispensation of funds to his bereaved family members, saving corporate money.
  13. There's no security cameras. Why? With the arbitrary alert restriction, it shouldn't be a problem. I don't see a reason why the holodeck should be able to be turned into a fortress-lite situation with shutters and tinted windows. If your major complaint is that they see no use because no one has a reason to or goes there, hiding behind tinted windows and locked doors won't incentivize people to come roleplay, either. The 2x2 hallways broken up by a wall block with buttons are weird and chokepoint-y. You could have a 4x4 hallway simply by having the main route be between the two holodecks, with them both pushed up against the walls, making it a lot smoother.
  14. Reporting Personnel: Ana. J. Roh'hi'tin Job Title of Reporting Personnel: Investigator Game ID: Cold Dawn Event Finale Personnel Involved: Suvek Tokash, Head of Security Secondary Witnesses: Vaida Jaziri, Off-Duty Crewman Artemis Grey, Captain Command Time of Incident: Early on the Horizon's landing on the planet. Real Time: 1:00PM~ CST Location of Incident: Adhomai Nature of Incident: [ ] - Workplace Hazard [X] - Accident/Injury [X] - Destruction of Property [ ] - Neglect of Duty [ ] - Harassment [ ] - Assault [X] - Misconduct [ ] - Other Overview of the Incident: This one returned to the Horizon's away shuttle from the depths of Adhomai to recuperate after extended time underground. While aboard, she witnessed a meeting between a local father-daughter pair who ran the village's nearby inn and Captain Artemis Grey, with the individual known as Vaida Jaziri also assisting help mitigate a situation; they wore SCC gear, but were labeled off-duty, so she assumes they are a member of command. In any capacity, the innkeeper was irate that members of the crew (purportedly on the orders of Commander Tokash) entered his inn and deconstructed all his furniture, including tables and chairs, to take the resources of wood and steel. A payment of 15,000 credits was made to the man by the Captain, but the Din'akk natives - famously xenophobic and hostile to even other Tajara who are not local - did not seem appeased by this. Later, the crew's behavior and treatment of the village culminated in the arrival of the Adhomai Liberation Army, flanked by an angry mob of farmers wielding pitchforks, torches, and bolt-action rifles, leading to the injury, capture, and death of crew. This one was not a witness to the incident in the inn, and was only privvy to command's attempts to mollify the irate locals, which did not succeed. To whit, the statement used by the Captain was 'Tokash's team'. As such, it is possible the Head of Security himself gave no order, or is not the only offender. But given the chaos of the Adhomai exfiltration and the deaths, she is making this report for posterity so that the CCIA division may take what, if any, steps they deem appropriate; she makes no supposition or judgment on the behavior herein, as she did not witness it first-hand. She does recall Tokash asking for the gun closets to be dismantled on the shuttle when we first were preparing, but the engineering crew were unable to do so, and he was forced to search for materials elsewhere. It seems the Inn was that place. Submitted Evidence: N/A 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?: Command was handling the circumstances of this incident on their own, but the nature of it coupled with the consequences of the destruction of local's homes, in her opinion, necessitates elevated interaction by corporate investigators. Additional Notes: None.
  15. I think the changes are good, but I will echo criticism I had given you in DMs, before: 1 r-wall is too thin for the prison wing, it's piss easy to break through. The brig on the Aurora had one r-wall because the only way to break someone out was in publicly visible and well-traveled locations. Here, they can do it from maintenance, and one r-wall is nothing to anyone who knows what they're doing. Please remove the duplicate machinery from the CSI lab. Investigators do not need 2 microscopes, 2 dna scanners, etc; they should work together, not separate, and not be able to catch the antag twice as fast. Forensic busywork taking time, even if it's only a handful of seconds, was intended to give antags breathing room - because seconds add up when needing to look thru multiple evidence pieces gathered/swabbed/dusted/etc, and having to reference computers. There is: 1 extra autopsy scanner (remove) 1 extra microscope/dna machine (remove) 1 extra paperbin (do not need)
  16. I offer Alberyk my full-throated support. I am confident in his ability to handle the workload.
  17. The point sailed so far over your head it's not even funny. For all the complaining antags do about the laser rifle, it is no different than how Tajara are laid out flat by ballistic weapons. I merely choose my engagements and position myself to minimize their danger to me. Antags in general seem to lack the presence of mind to perform this basic task. Even a 9mm on an unarmored human hitting the chest can damage your heart and kill you. It is why ballistics are so much more dangerous, and why you die more quickly and more often to them - again, people only remember lasers because the way they kill you is more long and drawn out as opposed to, say, 2 arterials, broken lungs, and a failing heart. In the end, I find topics like this spurned not from mechanical disadvantage, but because antags seem to want everything for nothing. If a poorly equipped antag team is caught out and blasted to death through windows by security, then they should die. They failed to strategize and prepare for this. They put themselves in a bad position. Oft I have to wonder if these kinds of questions result from engagements where a solo antag decided to try and take on two officers with rifles, got bodied because they played poorly, and acted out the funny Principal Skinner meme: Did I die because I was caught out and bit off more than I could chew? No, it's the laser rifle that's wrong.
  18. Yeah, that's the thing. It isn't. Cybs basically parroted everything I was going to say, but to reiterate: It is the sole weapon security has that is at least partially effective, and thus you remember dying to it. Every time I get tickled by a 9mm and my body explodes in a shower of gore from my glass bones and paper skin, I remember how dangerous ballistic weapons are but they aren't so dangerous as to deserve a nerf. The wide variety of weapons antags have access to make it less likely to be singled out, whereas security only has rifles, carbines, or pistols, and two of those options are only effective in certain situations. Everyone cried about how lethal .45s were for unarmored antags when security had them standard issue. Moved to the armory and used less often, the complaining subsided. It is only due to the fact they are always prevalent that people recall being killed by them.
  19. Conveniently, it is forgotten the laser rifle has already been nerfed. Twice. Both AP values and ammo capacity, as well as fire rate.
  20. I am in the same boat as Faye; while I believe Sleepy is perfectly capable as a roleplayer, and have seen them in action, Kobi Goldman is without a doubt one of my least favorite characters to ever have to suffer through a round with, and I do not use this language lightly. Seeing this character as Captain is an immediate indication as to whether or not I want to join a round. For example, in the previous round to this post, ID ceX-ajxF, Goldman exhibited behavior typical of the character - causing needless drama by having people arrested for not following orders that were nonsensical at best and illegal at worst, followed by his vehement reluctance to call any form of ERT. As a whitelist holder, SleepyWolf is expected to give antagonists leeway, sure; however, they are also expected to prevent gimmicks from becoming entirely one-sided, and in this round, despite the majority of security being infected with a "disease" and crew slaughtering each other and dying in the halls, he refused to call an ERT all the way until the end where he was overwhelmed in the bridge - and then proceeded to engage in violent, fantastical behavior as an "infected" (see: vampire). Thus, an extended period of time in an already long-drawn out round was spent having ridiculous torture-porn-esque antag roleplay on a station with barely any victims left, as the majority had already fled. Instead of a clean round end, like a shuttle, or an evacuation, things were unnecessarily prolonged, and Goldman provided security with little to no guidance while they struggled under a tsunami of shenanigans. While a single incident, this is a reoccurring theme with SleepyWolf's Goldman character. I absolutely dread being security in a Goldman round. A previous incident involving an Unathi engineering apprentice turned a simple insult into a 2 hour affair of his character skirting the line and prompting the lizard to assault him, dragging the entirety of security into some strange ego-contest. This made me uncomfortable entirely on an OOC level, as the lizard's conduct resulted in an IR that they were essentially baited into by Goldman. There have been rounds where he's nonsensically flouted quarantine to have changelings displayed in the chapel, kept a round going for hours after the station was basically ravaged by a blob past the point of safe habitability, and several where he has utterly refused to call any sort of ERT to the detriment of the round and the people playing it. To say dealing with Goldman is a frustration is a massive understatement. Given these experiences, I cannot support this application. While the initial reason for it's removal was strange and absurd, Kobi Goldman's conduct is inherently deserving of a whitelist strip in of itself, I would argue. They continuously make rounds un-fun for me and others, and I cannot understand why.
  21. There are a few significant, fatal flaws with the backstory you've presented. First and foremost, I've not been able to find anything on the wiki that supports persecution of the M'sai in the People's Republic. In your google document sheet, you state that part of the reason for Komolov being anti-Republic is due to ostracization due to his heritage as a M'sai: However, there is no source on the wiki to back this up. The wiki states that the species of Tajara to face persecution in the Republic is the Zhan-Khazan; and Equally, consider that there are high-ranking public officials in the People's Republic who are M'sai. The head spymaster and the individual in charge of the Republic's version of the KGB, the PSIS is one such M'sai: Headmaster Harrrdanim Tyr'adrr. The Chief of the Navy, Samirro Qarrarhaz, is also a M'sai - and they are responsible for the pinnacle of Republic technology, the oversight of the Kosmostrelki and the Orbital Fleet. Even the face of the state news network, Andrey Borisov, is a M'sai. It is very hard to state racial persecution when the man beamed into your living room on your TV every night broadcasting state propaganda looks just like you. For reference, there are no notable Zhan-Khazan in any public-facing part of PRA society. Consequently, it is unlikely that Komolov would have suffered any serious persecution or racial mistrust, especially in the North, where pockets of pro-nobility sympathizers remained. Thus, with the main motivating factor of his disillusionment with the Republican government invalidated, I am perhaps having a hard time understanding why he would still take an anti-PRA stance. You admit yourself in the summarized backstory that his sister's medical care was only enabled due to the technological advancements seen under the People's Republic. She would not have survived the pre-war nobility's treatment of commoners. And post-secession, when the New Kingdom breaks away, you also state that Komolov's sister is then unable to be treated properly anymore. Surely that would instead spur anti-NKA sentiments? This brings me to the next part of the backstory that I find problematic. Komolov's father, who would have been 19 when he was born, would be an unlikely candidate in any law enforcement agency in the Kaltir region. By the time Komolov was born, the war had been over for at least six years. The People's Republic, as a fledgling nation, understood that there was still pro-noble sentiment, especially in the North. Law enforcement officers, who are tasked with upholding the pro-Party, anti-Nobility laws would scarcely be made up of nobility sympathizers like Komolov's father. A disloyal police force (who is armed) is a threat to a new government. It would have been expected, I would argue, for the arbiters of government law be proud or at least publicly Hadiist. You do not touch upon this delicate balance at all in your application. Komolov's family could still have been secretly pro-noble, but doing so openly would result in political re-education. With the PRA responsible for his sister's continued existence despite her debilitating condition and no substance for racial hatred that I can find, I, again, find difficulty in understanding exactly why Komolov is anti-Republic. Given how dangerous anti-Republican sentiment was in the North, and the Republic's historical inspiration, there would have been plenty of youth groups that Komolov would likely have been expected to partake in on penalty of consequences to the family. And at these political youth groups, children would be told to turn in their parents if they showed any anti-Party sentiment. This application to me does not seem to appreciate the significance of the Soviet/Fascist political machines and their impact on the family unit. At no point is it made clear that Komolov's family suffers any retribution for their apparently open pro-noble stance and public disdain for the Republic. And it goes without saying that if Komolov's father was a noble supporter and was found out, it would be exceedingly difficult for his son, then, to become a law enforcement officer. I find the idea of an 8 year old child studying law and athletics to work as a police officer a strange concept on its face - what child at that age really knows what they want to do as an adult? Komolov, without any significant or official education despite going to a 'center' as you describe it, is admitted as an officer on that merit alone as opposed to any sort of on the job training or cadet school. Additionally, consider that the police force he was part of would suffer internal strife or be part of the attempt to deal with the Northern revolution; it was hardly a clean break. Not everyone in the North was a royalist supporter. It is highly unlikely, then, that a significant portion of law enforcement at the time would assist the New Kingdom - and most conscriptions avoid what are considered 'protected occupations', such as medical staff or police officers. Everything after this early portion is mediocre. I can find things to nitpick, but the foundation itself is flawed; and really, when I read the line: it gave me significant pause. You had the inkling of an interesting backstory here, but instead what I see is an idyllic, unrealistic, and perhaps a little too Mary Sue history for a character who faces absolutely no repercussions for his or his family's conduct. While the populace of the North may have been sympathetic to the nobility, you'll note the wiki unequivocally states that the North was 'occupied' by Republican forces. This includes Party officials and Commissars. There was a route you could have taken to accomplish what you wanted, but you elected not to do it. Instead of shaping your character concept to the lore, it seems to me you had an idea in your head and opted, instead, to try and ramrod the lore to shape around your character, which is expressly not what you want to do. It shows only a surface understanding of Tajara politics and history, as a vehicle for an unrealistic Tajara. You could have made it so Komolov's father was a secret royalist working in law enforcement to try and undermine Hadiist censorship and persecution of pro-noble forces. He could have been found out and sent to a camp, disgraced - this would have been justification for your family's rejection by their local community. Komolov could have hated the Republic for harassing his family, taking his father away, and denying him his dream of wanting to work in law enforcement. The sins of the father are the sins of the son, etc. Then, when the New Kingdom secedes, political prisoners like his father are released, leading in to the next part of the story. You could have represented the hardship these fascist government policies had on his family. Instead, despite being an overt enemy of the State, Komolov's father works for the State, with no repercussion for views that would have been fatal to the wrong Commissar. Police states and surveillance are the bread and butter of totalitarian regimes. While you may have written a large backstory, in some cases, less is more. Bigger is not always better. I find this concept flawed on the outset and perhaps borne of communal ignorance of the totalitarian aspects of the People's Republic and an abnormal desire of the Aurora player base to romanticize the New Kingdom to be something that it is not. Your character has managed to avoid most of the suffering, oppression, and political intrigue that the average Tajara is subject to. He has, inexplicably, had a noble with bottomless coffers fund him, pay for his debts, et al - another symptom of the romanticization of the New Kingdom by the player base. The House of Commoners did not even exist at the Kingdom's conception. The nobility has never been completely magnanimous to their peasants. You even say as much in your application. Being a poor commoner himself, he apparently was not conflicted or even interested in his government's desire to ensure that he and his fellow poor people were not represented in parliament. Instead, he cries over a King - a King who nearly let civil unrest sweep across the nation then let a commoner sit in Parliament. At no point is Komolov ever conflicted in his views. He never questions them. He never grows. He's painted as a selfless, community-oriented man despite you saying said community hates him for being a M'sai. He's suffered nothing; his father is always miraculously safe from a brutal and bloody war, he's a 'dreamboat', he has a noble friend who pays for everything. And yet he just continues to accrue debt, despite already being in debt, with presumably poor credit if he spent years only being able to afford food. Despite this, he is able to attend one of the most prestigious law academies in the New Kingdom without even a secondary education, evidently. As I said before, I feel this application is flawed from concept and does not accurately represent the conflicted, often difficult lives of the average Tajara. It romanticizes the New Kingdom too heavily without acknowledging the consequences one would have for being a royalist sympathizer in post-revolution Kaltir, nor does it reflect, in my opinion, a desire to allow a character concept to grow in the confines of the lore. Rather, it seems to me you've tried to force the lore to adapt to accommodate your character, and that is a growing problem amongst Tajaran whitelist holders already. -1
  22. Suraya is a cool cat (heh) and the idea of loaded dice is delightfully simplistic.
  23. Omicega is an excellent roleplayer and is more than capable of portraying a Tajara character correctly. They have my full-throated approval.
  24. I was asked to post due to witnessing some of Frost's behavior in a recent event. During last week's Skrell arc, Frost most certainly excessively shadowed Kathira El-Hashem. As part of the round, Tup Commandos boarded the station and began to attempt to take custody of some refugees who had crash landed there. Wielding dangerous particle weaponry and advanced combat suits, they could go invisible, teleport, and even shot at and hit investigator Rose. Now, I would like to point out that during this round, Kathira El-Hashem was a visitor. I viewed the cyborg unit's camera several times after the aforementioned maintenance chase where Rose got shot, and in doing so I witnessed Frost basically following Kathira around the tunnels in other parts of the station. Given she was a visitor, she does not have innate maintenance access. This meant that Frost had to be providing her access, despite the fact dangerous agents of the Jargon Federation were lurking in there. This directly put a visitor in harm's way - a visitor they should not be permitting access to these restricted areas of the station to begin with. It was practically by her side almost the entire round.
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