The7thLain

Mars Gone Dark! BREAKING ― sources within the Sol system tell the Bugle that just a few short moments ago, all inbound and outbound signals from the surface of Mars have ceased completely. The nature of this communications blackout is not currently known, and space flight around the planet has been seriously disrupted due to the loss of traffic control. Solarian navy vessels have been sighted in orbit around the planet, and ships attempting to land have been refused clearance by the Alliance military. The Alliance government has not returned a request for comment made by reporters. As of this moment, there is no concrete evidence of foul play or any suggestion of, perhaps, a natural disaster, leading many to speculate and theorize as to why the Red Planet has suddenly gone dark. Extranet forums and message boards are aflame with conspiracy theories, ranging from acts of war by undiscovered aliens to a transdimensional experiment gone wrong. Bugle reporters took to the streets to ask citizens their thoughts. "What's happenin' on Mars? You wanna know what's happenin'?" Markus Brewer, 52, a Martian native responded, "I'll tell ya what's happenin'! It's the damn BLUES! They's takin' advantage of the shortage and takin' out m'fellow Martians while they can, the cowards! They must- must have used a NUKE or summat!" Mr. Brewer seemed very stressed and frantic about the situation, underscoring the concerns of many Solarian nationals or Republic citizens who have families in Sol. Other citizens were much less frenzied by the news, with Janice Drady, 34, A Bieselite native telling us, "To be honest with you, I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a dude who pushed the wrong button at a communications tower and shorted the whole grid. Either that, or everyone on Mars is dead. What a shame." In the absence of an announcement from the Alliance government, it seems that conspiracy theories will be all that abound in the near future. The insider source who first broke news of strange phoron shipments told our reporters, however, that "They didn't listen. They didn't listen to the data, they didn't have the right, and now it's the Martians who have to pay the price. If you're still down there, you need to get out!" This story is breaking and will be updated as necessary.

Einstein Engines Unveils New Engine In a press conference held earlier today (GST) in Harmony City, Luna, Doctor Noella Lopez-Zhang, the current CEO of Einstein Engines, revealed that she and her company have created a new variant of warp engine referred to as a Suzuki-Zhang Hammer Drive. The Zhang-Suzuki is faster, cheaper, and more efficient than the typical warp drive in-use by the majority of human ships in the Orion Spur. “Words cannot begin to describe how proud I am of Doctor Suzuki, our chief research officer, and her research team. Without herself and her team, we would have never been able to create the Suzuki-Zhang Hammer Drive. I am glad I can count on Doctor Suzuki not only as an innovative researcher, but as a friend,” said Doctor Lopez-Zhang of the new engine. “The Suzuki-Zhang Hammer Drive is the latest, greatest creation from our research labs. While bluespace engines are still slightly faster, the Suzuki-Zhang is capable of reaching speeds close to NanoTrasen bluespace drives for a fraction of the fuel cost,” said a clearly proud Mio Suzuki at the press conference. “Plus, even the fastest engine is useless without fuel.” Production is expected to begin tomorrow, and orders are already lining up to purchase these improved warp engines in the face of the Spurwide phoron shortage. Einstein Engines, which has shown steadily increasing profits and stock shares since the crisis began, is currently poised to have its best quarter in history while its major rival - NanoTrasen - is projected to have its worst quarter ever. NanoTrasen legal director Mori Takachika has stated that the Suzuki-Zhang is “shockingly” close to a NanoTrasen drive currently in the testing phase, and has accused Einstein Engines of “classical industrial espionage.” The NanoTrasen CEO has promised “serious consequences” for Einstein Engines over the upcoming days. The Bugle will report on this story as it develops

The Maldarth Affair The Coalition of Colonies Ministry of External Affairs has announced today to the greater Orion-Spur community that they have solid, hard proof that Solarian Allegations of Phoron hoarding by their outer ring planets is totally and completely false. This information comes as a large shock to known space at large as the scarcity of the vital element grows more and more dire by the day. The information provided by the Coalition, sourced from an apparent whistleblower who defected from the Solarian Alliance, has given insight into not only just communications that prove Solarian statements of Phoron hoarding taking place in the Outer Ring as false, but has also provided photographs and documents that detail and prove numerous sentient rights violations from the Solarian military and police. In the words of the Solarian Armed Forces Public Relations Office, they had positioned troops there at the beginning of the scarcity to, “Secure and protect the previously low supply of Phoron in the Outer Ring from bad actors wishing to hoard it for their selfish gains and intents.” The information revealed that the Solarian Armed Forces and police have been raiding municipal and provincial phoron reserves across the outer ring and repossessing or in the words of the Coalition source, “fucking stealing,” the resource for shipments back to the core worlds of the Solarian Alliance. The information released by this whistleblower also stated that any attempts to publicise or release information to the public about these operations were shut down and met with threats of imprisonment or in the gravest instances, cyborgification. This is in addition to the various measures officially disclosed by the Solarian Government such as curfews, rationing of other resources to citizens, and random searches of the population for “smugglers,” that are actually, according to the whistleblower, thinly veiled attempts to detain political prisoners or individuals who posed a threat to the secrecy of the Solarian operations by straying from the official Solarian position. This whistleblower, Warrant Officer August Maldarth of the Solarian Naval Signal Corps, relayed this information to the Coalition of Colonies earlier this week after defecting to them via a covert shuttle dispatch after spending weeks gathering his evidence, reportedly alone. When questioned as to why he defected, his response was curt and to the point. “It’s not right!” He elaborated on this point further when given a press conference by the Coalition of Colonies Ministry of External Affairs, that he, himself requested. This was his primary statement to the press: “Yeah, I know that, I might up an’ die soon. Sol wants me in a bodybag, and I accept that possibility as very real. What I know though, is that the tyrannical Solarian government is stealin’ from its own people and keepin’ them down with threats of a fate worse’an death. After spending weeks sendin’ messages back and forth and just listening to what was happening, I couldn’t live with m’self. I had to get the word out, and if that meant becomin’ a traitor an puttin’ m’self at risk, I would do it. I don’t have nothing anymore, which means I have nothing to lose too. I ain’t about to let some fat-ass admiral fuckin’ steal from the good people of the Outer Ring because some moron Cytherian bureaucrat wants to drink a Toxins Special! It’s not right, damnit! They’ve been keepin’ my Mars down for fuckin’ ever, and no more people are gonna have that happen to them if I can help it! My name’s Gus fuckin’ Maldarth, and I ain’t about to be silenced outta fear!” When later asked about his remarks, Warrant Officer Maldarth said that he knew it was a dangerous move to go so public with this information, but also when asked for his thoughts, the Martian responded with, “I couldn’t give a shit about what Frost thinks of me. Fuck Frost.” The Coalition has condemned the Solarian Alliance as a result of these actions and cover-up of them, and Mister Maldarth’s sentiments have sparked protests, civil unrest, strikes, and riots across Solarian space, with many calling for legal action to be taken against those responsible for the operation and the repossessed phoron to be returned to the affected planets. The Solarian Government has denied all allegations and has announced that their operations in the outer ring have reached completion and are pulling back all but the essential units that were stationed in the region before the recent occupation. Those critical of SolGov have stated that this is nothing more than an attempt to save face, while various sentient rights groups across the Orion Spur have raised concerns of these new Solarian movements being used to reposition troops in order to crack down against the demonstrations occurring across Solarian space. The Republic of Elyra and Empire of Dominia have both recalled their ambassadors and all non-essential embassy staff from Solarian space in protest of these actions, with both countries’ foreign ministries releasing condemnations of Solarian conduct as well. The People’s Republic of Adhomai has released a formal denunciation of the Solarian Alliance, going as far as to call them “paranoid imperialist crooks,” and “the enemies of sentient life everywhere.” The Republic of Biesel has responded with condemnation as well, and has partially mobilised their reserves in response to inward Solarian troop movements. The Izweski Hegemony and Jargon Federation have not commented on the issue. Warrant Officer Maldarth is reportedly residing in an undisclosed location within neutral Tau Ceti space for his safety at this time. The Coalition has stated that they will use every reasonable resource available to them in order to preserve Maldarth’s continued health and safety from foreign agents and transport him to Coalition space.

BYOND Key: TheBurninSherman Character Names: Main ones as of now are: Song Sun - Chief Medical Officer Karolina Bezdnova - Scientist (Zavod) IRU-Dauphine - Forensic Technician (Idris) Umbra SSU #4.262-C - Bartender Subaru Matsushita - Atmospheric Technician Species you are applying to play: Skrell What color do you plan on making your first alien character: A deep, burgundy red. Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Yes. Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph format. One paragraph minimum per question. Why do you wish to play this specific race: The Skrell in my opinion have one of the most unique perspectives in the game when it comes to playing a character. They are the only alien species that has even anywhere close to the influence and power that Humanity does, yet they are not the main race of the game like humanity is. I want to take on this new perspective by exploring a race that is one with itself in a sense, yet has members of it like those living outside of the federation, that are lost or cut off. I also think the exploration of the psionic mechanics of the Skrell would be very fun to use in RP just for the various things it can do and the opportunities it provides. Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: Mechanically, the Skrell are quite similar to humans with one notable exception, that being psionics. What’s more with this psionic inclusion, is the Srom and Nlom, and just the in-game iterations of them one finds when they use the sleep verb or telepathically communicate, but the in-character perspective of it and how it, among other things, ties the Skrell together with one another. Humans are independent in a way, and it shows in our lore with the various factions and nations of humanity that dot the map, but Skrell are much more communal and societal as opposed to individualistic. This shows in everything from the Quya family structure, to the near monolithic nature of the Jargon Federation, to even Skrellian names themselves in how they are oftentimes combinations of the names of others. I think incorporating this mindset alongside the other alien cultural quirks of playing a Skrell is what truly sets them apart. Character Name: Vamtyu’Pom Quul Phumanus Vamtyu’Pom Quul Phumanus, or often Vamtyu or even Vam or Pom, for short, was born outside of federation space on the Jovian moon of Europa. This place is not a usual spot for them to be born in, however, as with many things, there is a reason for this. Roughly thirty years prior to Vam’s birth, a Quya of scientifically-minded Skrell living in one of the larger underwater cities of Qerrbalak was given an offer of a lifetime from Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals: Move out of Qerrbalak in an all expenses-paid relocation to the moon, Europa, and be given much higher paying jobs than they were working at the time due to both their scientific acumen but also their nonchalance with which they lived underwater. This Quya, after some deliberation between themselves, collectively decided to accept this offer and move to a Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals facility known as Phumanus Station on the icy moon. Once there the Quya had a bit of difficulty integrating into a more human society and being distanced from the Nlom and Srom fields they were used to, eventually decided to start making a home for themselves in this place as opposed to simply working there. This, of course, meant having children. Vamtyu was the second of four children that the Quya has yet had, and their time in life has been odd in comparison to the typical Skrellian experience. Born as a listener, and remaining more or less one for the entirety of their sixty-two year-long life, Vam’s thoughts are not directly influenced by the push and pull of the wake, but instead they listen in to it and simply observe. This fact however, is somewhat isolating and even problematic to a Skrell in Vam’s situation. They are a listener distant from both the Nlom and Srom aside from the fields felt from their own Quya and the small handful of others living on Phumanus Station, making them a listener with nothing to typically listen to. As a result of often not hearing much, Vam is a very deliberate and meticulous Skrell, a Skrell that often growing up and working on Phumanus had a lot of time to really think about the things that they did hear, pick them apart, and approach them with various angles. The more obvious result, however, of growing up in a human society is the remarkability that Vam has in perceiving and understanding human cultural norms, concepts, and customs. Things like gender, to human perceptions of humour, to an understanding of the human family structure are not and never were alien to this Skrell as they felt as if they were a part of it. This goes as far as utilising gendered pronouns when around humans, typically feminine ones, and adopting the surname Phumanus, as while growing up, they saw the station as their family. They even show their difference from a federation Skrell in appearance. A federation Skrell living in a similar underwater environment would have a dark, navy blue colour to their skin, where Vam is instead a dark red colour sourced from an iron-rich diet of tenderised shellfish meat. This familiarity with human society came at a cost however, a sort of out-of-touchness with the more typical skrellian norms that manifests itself in many ways. Much like many Skrell residing on Europa, Vamtyu was somewhat prized for their ability to act like a psionic radar for the various underwater vessels roaming around the Europan seas. This combined with Vam’s natural curiosity and methodical nature, made them a valuable asset for Zeng-Hu’s research expeditions into the deep. Being influenced by their Quya, the company that they lived under, and the place where they grew up, Vamtyu applied themselves by becoming a xenobiologist specialising in the creatures that filled Europa’s dark depths. While they enjoyed this life of study and exploration, not to mention the community they found around them, Vam found themselves wanting more. Their curious nature was always looking to learn more things, and while Europa, to them, would always be their home, there was more to learn in the galaxy than could be learned on Europa. After conferring with their Quya about this desire, Vam submitted an application for transfer to another facility. It didn’t matter where, but so long as they could learn new things, discover and carry out research on new creatures, they wanted it. Zeng-Hu said no, initially, however after receiving pressure from some of the senior directors of Phumanus station, directors that Vam had become quite friendly with in their fourty-some years they'd worked on the station, the company relented and sent Vam off to work as a contractor upon the NanoTrasen owned station, the NSS Aurora. Vam is in the greater galactic society for the first time in their life, and despite being technically an adult, they have an almost childlike morbid curiosity with much around them and an urge to feed that methodical and analytical mind that made them who they are. Also, they have been exposed to a greater Nlom and Srom for the first time, and this is an entirely new opportunity for exploration in itself. Who knows what may await this hematite-hued alien in their new life among the stars? What do you like about this character? I like the dynamic of having a human-familiar skrell to the detriment of knowing their own customs. I think it could make for quite interesting RP with other Skrell on station, for better or worse. I don’t often see non-federation Skrell in game, so I think this could be an interesting niche to also explore in roleplay that this character could provide. As for personality and who they are as a whole, I am excited to play a sort of calm, wistful, and contemplative, yet somewhat extroverted person that has this boundless desire to learn new things and give themselves context within the wider galaxy. I think they will be very fun to play as a Zeng-Hu contracted Xenobiologist working with creatures that they have only read about in papers and seen in documentaries before now. How would you rate your role-playing ability? If I had to give it a number I would say eight out of ten.

Phoron-Related Xenofauna and You! This is a public service message paid for by the NanoTrasen Employee Resources Division Phoron-Related or Phoron-Interested Xenofauna are a relatively unknown classification of xenofauna species specialised in the metabolization of phoron for energy or other life-essential processes. Typically, these species are found residing in deep space away from inhabited and technologically developed or advanced regions. These species are known to both seek-out and consume or otherwise make use of phoron deposits in various ways so as to propagate their species and survival. While often considered pests by all races in the Orion Spur, these creatures are exceptionally varied and can range from organisms microscopic in size to massive, multiple metres long behemoths. More are being discovered as phoron deposits themselves draw more attention from corporations and countries that have a vested interest in securing them, and naturally, these creatures tend to turn up or travel to these areas to feed. Recently, as a result of regional shortages and an overall, spur-wide scarcity of phoron, many of these creatures have begun to migrate from their usual homes in the deep, near-inaccessible reaches of space to more populated areas in search of the rare element such as the Romanovich Cloud. This new shift in migration patterns has drawn concern from those wishing to protect their already limited supplies of phoron from perceived pests, but it has also drawn great interest from the xenobiological community spur-wide. Many of the creatures in these migrations have not ever been studied in great detail with some species being new discoveries altogether. As a valuable employee or contractor of the NanoTrasen corporation, always be on the lookout for xenofauna attempting to take phoron stocks! Due to this lack of information however, there is not much known on the capabilities of many of these organisms and how they should be approached. As with any type of potentially dangerous animal however, caution should be exercised around any phoron-related xenofauna! The Black Trident Worm One of the most common types of phoron-related xenofauna that has been seen to date is the goliath trident worm. The Trident Worms, so called due to the three-pronged shape of their upper and lower jaws, are a species of extraterrestrial worm-like creatures that consume and metabolise phoron in order to create energy for themselves. They can be as small as one-to-two metres long in their early juvenile states to on average, longer than twenty metres once fully matured and grown. They are incredibly strong and have been known to break through plasteel reinforced hulls with their jaws, estimated to be similar on the Mohs hardness scale to diamond, in search of phoron. How these creatures locate phoron is currently a mystery to even the most leading xenozoologists and xenobiologists but it is incredibly accurate and long-ranged, allowing a single Goliath Trident Worm to locate a single vein of phoron many astronomical units away. Once they are in proximity to the phoron they seek, the worms then utilise their jaws as tunneling instruments to burrow into asteroids, or more recently, station walls or ship hulls, to reach and then consume phoron crystals. The methods by which these animals cross space at such speed are unknown, but are speculated to be a utilisation of the gravity-slingshot effect from the gravitational fields of large asteroids, moons, and even planets. These worms often travel in small groups or families, usually headed by a matriarch and composed of many younger, smaller, juveniles, and a few larger, fully grown adults. The largest recorded Black Trident Worm, colloquially named “The King of Crosk,” was been estimated to be twenty-eight to thirty metres long and was spotted by the Coalition of Colonies Xenogeological Survey vessel Lundqvist in the Crosk Plains, the region of space where it is speculated that the worms were originally native to prior to their recent migrations to more populated areas of space. How can you as a crewmember protect against phoron-related xenofauna? The answer is simple! Protect your N.E.S.T! Notify your station’s or ship’s security detail of the presence of phoron-related xenofauna. Exit the area where the xenofauna has been sighted. Secure your nearest set of EVA equipment in the event of a hull breach caused by the animals. Team-up with your department to and crew to shelter in place or eradicate the xenofauna infestation if instructed to do so. "Together, we can all stay safe from Phoron-Related Xenofauna!"

Abo is a fine person and while my time with them even on the admin team was basically nonexistent, their character and experience speaks for itself. I am looking forwards to potentially seeing them on the moderator team. haha nice guy +1

I am deeply affected by the loss of officer Beepsky. Doctor Sun will be offering grief counseling so you can metasad ICly.

I think that the bleedout meta is fine and the oxygenation system we have atm is workable, however, the lethality of lasers should be addressed. A single shot from a laser rifle to the chest should not take away like 15% of your blood oxy and pop your lungs, and in my experience as a medplayer, it very well can. Brainmed is built around oxydep and the mechanics surrounding it, so I do not think that a bleedout meta will ever go away entirely. I am neutral on my thoughts for the "meta" as a whole, but I agree with the sentiments in this thread about some weapons, namely lasers, needing to be tweaked some in terms of the amount of blood they remove and potential organ damage they can deal, even through armor.

I believe that the way things are now in terms of history is woefully inadequate because it gives so little context to what is happening now. There is no real "why" for a lot of human lore right now, other than "megacorporations corrupt" and "phoron exists." Why is SolGov falling apart? When did it start falling apart? How do we make this feel impactful in the game other than people just like joking about it? I'm not wanting to over-write two-hundred years of human history, but when you have other species with multiple entire articles on a timespan smaller than fifty years, and humanity has maybe a few paragraphs on the entire history of the Solar Alliance summed up in a timeline article. There is no context right now aside from megacorporations buying things and NT supporting Tau Ceti independence. As for playerbase gripes, or lack thereof, will anyone be opposed to SolGov getting more lore? Sure its on borrowed time, but it's still here and is going to be here well into the NBT until it collapses sometime in the King of the World Arc. Why not make the literal main player and subject of the upcoming chapter more fleshed out as an entity, give people context for their players and for the events they take place in by posing the SolGov as more than just "totalitarian juggernaut that most of humanity belongs to." What is SolGov? Not as a place with all these wonderful opportunities for cultures and characters, but as a country and government entity, how do you explain why SolGov is? I understand that the updates have been very productive and have made the country more accessible, or at least popular, but I feel there is a false equivalency of people playing something more and it actually being played well we have a lot of people who try to play Security or a lot of people who attempt to play antags, or people who try to play x-y-z, but that doesn't particularly mean that they do them justice or are good at portraying the character relative to the lore. Ask yourself this, with some notable few exceptions, has the average Dominian character being played on the server changed at all from where it was a year ago? Is there anything notable that you can point to and say across the player culture that has actually changed from the old Dominian lore to the new Dominian lore? They are still self-righteous nationalist religious zealots, they still very much feel the same to RP with, in my experience, and they just seem boring, again with a few exceptions. The new lore is nice, I enjoy it, however, having an "asshole faction," just doesn't make sense to me at all. Why just have a group of people that are confrontational and troublesome enough just because we "need" it, when its not doing the job. Being taller than 6'0, starting fights, verbal or physical, with people at the slightest offense and cussing out IPC's at every given chance while shoving "goddess" into every sentence is not interesting RP, its repetitive, boring, and lifeless. A noble, honour-bound faction shouldn't be assholes just because its convenient, they should feel realistic and believable relative to the other cultures that we have and have fleshed out as good examples of what human lore can do, Eridani, some of the Frontier Worlds like Himeo and Crosk or more Solar-influenced worlds like New Hai Phong or even Biesel itself. Building a culture is important, and I feel that its needed in Elyra as well, but cultures spring up as reactions to events and changes in ways of life along with environmental factors. We have the environments, but we don't have again, the why for many places in Elyra. We don't even know how Elyra got its independence other than they rallied around a general and broke away. Did they fight a war? Was the secession peaceful? How did SolGov react? The entire culture of the Coalition of Colonies exists as opposed to that of SolGov and exists as a result of a war that we have basically zero information on, but the same war influenced Elyra's own independence as a nation, and by that sense, the cultures within. I agree that Elyra needs to be fleshed out, as right now Elyra lacks a foundation aside from arbitrary allusions to modern-day middle-eastern nations combined with utopian influences. I want to help build that foundation via a historical narrative that influences the culture of Elyra, something that I will work with my team in creating. I would be a team lead, but much of being the team lead in my opinion is not just working with my own ideas, but coordinating and developing those of my team members and helping them integrate with the greater objective at hand, in this case, being updating Elyra. Yes, I agree, the Earth map itself and my comments around it are a bit of a meme and very minor in comparison to everything else. The Earth map however, is less just the map, and more an example of allegory to a lot of the still outdated lore that still resides on various wiki-pages that has not been brought up to speed with current events, and well, as we go into the NBT, we need to be as updated as we can and brought to grips with the gravity of the Solar Alliance's collapse. This is such a huge occasion, that we need to give it all of our attention when it occurs, so there is very much a need to update existing lore to be ready for when that happens, so we do not need to go back writing events that happened years or even decades ago to explain how the new events will impact the galaxy at large. Player feedback is important, and is a given in my view. The reason I didn't mention it is because I thought that such a thing would be implied. In the same spirit of , "because the practical answer if you want the job is 'yes', saying 'no' is the immediate wrong answer," as you stated in your conclusion, if you want to work in a community, then not listening to the community is the immediate wrong answer. Community feedback is what drives the entire game. We are a community, and I love the Aurora as that community, so I will undoubtedly listen to it and hear what it has to say. However, lore decisions are made not just as a result of not just the creator asking the community for feedback, but also the collective decision-making process of the loreteam and sometimes the Loremaster(s). Hearing what the playerbase thinks, is essential, and while it may definitely go against what the sentiments of the lore team are at times, its still important to take into account. I will not let myself and my decisions be put at the mercy of popular opinion, but at the same time I will acknowledge what is being said and let it be an influence in my own decisions and thoughts that I give my team. As for goals, yes, I have many short term goals, the primary ones revolving around the NBT and King of the World Arc, as I have mentioned numerous times in this thread already. Because King of the World and the NBT will change not just Human Lore, but lore as a whole with a focus on human, its exceptionally hard to really plan for the long term, as I am not privy to how the SolGov is planned to collapse, or what will happen in its wake, because, that lore, or at least the outline of it, is already conceived and probably even written down somewhere. Because I am not yet on the team, I do not know what any of these details or even concepts are, and because KotW its literally going to turn the largest entity in human space on its head, I cannot really say that I have long-term plans outside of vague inklings, because all are relative to what happens in the upcoming short-term, a short term that is of an undefined length, it could be anywhere from weeks to months, and a short-term that I, once again, do not know about except for what anyone else not on the lore team knows already. I am in the dark about the huge changes coming to the galaxy and humanity that will effect the decisions I make once in the team. I can see that having no long-term goals may give the impression that I am not being transparent with you or the community as a whole, but I want to let everyone know that right now my intentions with the lore are these in short: 1. Update the lore and get it up to speed with KotW/NBT, this could mean anything from adding history to more locations or Humanity at large, to further expanding on neglected or content starved areas and the cultures within them, or writing in more effects about how current events impact the various planets and populations across humanity. We need more context and gravity given to these modern times. We have mini-events on the phoron shortage almost every other day at this point, so why don't we have more lore on the galactic ramifications of it outside of two news articles. 2/3. Work with the rest of the lore teams and loremasters to make the King of the World chapter as best as it possibly can be, be that through preparation or actively contributing to the projected events. 2/3. Address the problems I have already listed that I find with Dominia and Elyra, Elyra probably taking precedence over Dominia depending on the sentiments and initiative in the loreteam. 4. Incorporate new things/locations/populations into human lore after the NBT and King of the World, all somewhat dependent on what happens in King of the World. When this will happen depends on how soon the NBT and its subsequent galactic lore gets here, something that I will freely admit I don't know right now. 5. If we have more time to do more things that aren't listed here in between the things that are, I will attempt to pursue those as well. These are my priorities as a lore developer but they are not the only ideas or visions that that matter within the human loreteam or community at large. I appreciate hearing what you have to say on my application and I have taken your critiques into account with how I will proceed as a human lore developer/maintainer if I do indeed get the position. Thank you for taking time out of your day to give your thoughts to me, as its a new perspective that I wasn't entirely aware of before ^-^

While I think it may sometimes be difficult to continuously involve other races and their lore teams in work, simply for the fact that human lore does have a lot to deal with because of its much larger purview than some other races, I very much want to work with the other races. The two that are on my mind most are IPC and Unathi. Positronics for the reason that Human and IPC lore are by their nature, incredibly intertwined and integrated with one another, since humans made the current iteration of IPCs and it is under Human societies almost exclusively that most IPCs live, and Unathi because of their involvement with Dominia and potential source of cooperation and insight in further improving Dominian lore. I would love to work with other lore teams as well, if prudent, as cooperation and integration is the best way to pursue development in galactic lore at large, be it with the two teams I have expressed interest in above or any other should the situation, events, or lore projects call for it.

In my opinion, navigating a work-life balance is relative to the individual, but also, in this case, can be mitigated some in terms of work. We exist in a lore team for a reason, to be able to use teamwork and collective decision making and work as a strength and asset for all parties involved. I have a faith not just in myself, but in the current human lore team as the times I have spoken with them they seem more than committed and understanding of real-life circumstances. Because of this, I believe that through the use of teamwork and communication as well as being very aware of my own limitations and mitigating factors, I can indeed strike a good work-life balance. If it is something I cannot handle, I will have no qualms in resigning from the position for the good of myself, the lore team, and the lore of the game as a whole. I do not want to be a lame duck of a loredev who just occupies a slot and makes no contributions either directly from my own creation or in the form of input to the ideas of people that I work with. When I made the application here, I made it not just as an application for the fun and exciting parts about lore like improving things, making new things, and innovating systems, but also for the less desirable parts of the position. This is a responsibility as much as it is a position of creative expansion and freedom. Because of this, being a :ore Dev is not just a thing that I see as a thing for myself, but also as me being as a part of a greater community and universe, both of which I have a love and appreciation for despite their shortcomings. I know that love can go only so far, which is why I feel like there is also a very strong sense of duty, dedication, and temperance to the community at large that comes with a position that can garner such influence over the game and its universe. There will be conflict over lore, either between different lore teams or within the human lore team itself. However, I feel that investing myself in what the Lore Dev has as a responsibility for the betterment of the community and its lore, while combining it with the already large love and respect I feel for the Aurora and what it means to me, I can help mitigate the stress and burnout I will experience. I have no doubt there will be times that I perhaps doubt myself or are stressed out of my mind, or have writer's block or am at odds with others in the community, but I also have no doubt that I will be able to manage this through a dedication to the lore and community that I really do have a special place in my heart for. I have a wonderful few friends I have made here that I can communicate with and bounce ideas off of either in a professional, server-affairs context or in a more casual, friendly way. With these wonderful people, people who have supported me since I have started playing over a year ago, and through my own external support systems, I think I can have an outlet for the troubles I will face. If I cannot take the heat from the position and if my respect for the position I hold, love for the community I play in, and support systems cannot help me overcome stress and burnout enough, I will accept this as a reality and take a break or resign if I need to in order to uphold my job to the community and obligation to myself for personal health and wellness.

The Scarab Fleet and to a degree, Techno-Conglomerate fleet both already use this sort of mentality and practice, especially the Scarabs as they style themselves as off-worlder space nomads complete with spiritualism and superstition. How would any planned additions to the universe remain diverse from these already existing factions and not step on their toes?

Currently, I would want to expand on the already existing elements of the more liberal or at least different sects from the extant Jak'akh and Kael'kah Morozian interpretations. I would consult with the human lore team as well for other solutions, as ultimately, this is about changing a stereotypical culture that shouldn't really be around in the first place, because nuance is very much a thing in Dominia as it exits now. Giving more options, however, to that nuance can encourage people to explore new possibilities in their RP and drop the wrong-spirited ways of playing to Dominian lore without people needing to bwoink players because "Hey ur not sticking to lore." Instead of telling the playerbase what they want and putting them on blast for admittedly poor rp, that isn't a way to get through to them and wouldn't do anything aside from antagonise people who are just trying to RP, we should instead show them why it might be fun to explore what we have or are working on as a new avenue for Dominian characters. Dominia has been changed a lot recently, so gradual implementation will be needed to see the full effect of the changes themselves before we add anything else.

I believe the key to making a good character does not rest in their personality or their appearance or even job, but the authenticity with which they play their character as a person. I appreciate depth and uniqueness in characters, ones that are distinctive from others around them, either through subtle differences and habits, or through capitalising on unqiue and diverse settings. Through taking a setting that is already well made and interesting, one that you can really believe could be a real place even with its various flaws, you can build a character with these rich influences and make them authentic to not just who they are and what they are like, but where they are from and the influences that they have from there. I think that there are places that do lack this element of "spice," as you explained, but not really because of bad writing, as the loreteam has cleaned up a lot of things lately, but instead because of a lack of content. Places that come to mind are Mictlan, the Techno Conglomerate Fleet, and to a lesser extent, Elyra. Mictlan has really one characteristic culturally, which is a reliance on resourcefulness and recycling. This is very broad, and I'd like to see the lore of this planet improved on to add onto this. There are other things, traditions like tattoos and masks as well, but we do not have any real representation of them in the game as it exists currently. The Techno Conglomerate fleet in the frontier has approximately six paragraphs of lore written on it. Six. How does this fleet of offworlders differ from the Scarab fleets aside from religion and business practices? What makes them really distinctive as a place to be from? How can you make a character who has an identity tied to that place when there is so little on it? Its similar to New Gibson. I see New Gibson as a Tau Ceti version of Himeo with Vaurca and without the syndicalism and hatred of Hephaestus. They're cold, an industrial hub. That's really it in terms of Human Lore content. By making a setting unique and real, without falling into the trap of "X culture, but in space," or "y planet, but its owned by this megacorp," or "another tourism planet with z as its gimmick," it gives spice to a setting and better enables a player to make an authentic, compelling, and good character from a place that is wonderful in the variety it holds from other places.

Standard Application Ckey/BYOND Username: TheBurninSherman Position Being Applied For: Human Lore Developer Have you read the Lore Team Rules and Regulations wiki page? I have, yes. Past Experiences/Knowledge: I’ve been playing on the Aurora for a little over a year now, and in my time there Human has been my most played race, with IPC coming in second and Tajaran and Vaurca at a distant third and fourth respectively. For the entirety of my play, the most important word to me above all others when describing my roleplay has been authenticity. However, in order to really portray characters less as characters, and more as real, believable people, it has required that I bring myself to be intimately familiar with the feel of the lore in the game, along with the finer details of where my characters are from. As a result, I have become knowledgeable on various corners of the human and synthetic lore, either through my direct research of them or through asking the respective lore staff for clarification and information on things that seem hazy to me. I hope that in a developer position, I will only learn more, either through the things I create myself or through inquiry and collaboration with the Human Lore team or other lore teams as they exist now. Examples of Past Work: I’ve never written lore for a greater community, however, I have built various worlds in pre-existing systems like D&D, Pathfinder, and Lancer for tabletop/online roleplay over the past four years. In terms of writing and writing ability, I have been an avid writer for most of my life since my early teens and have very much prided myself on my ability to write both informative and compelling works. I hope that I will only improve in that regard, and that a Lore Dev position would be a way for me to make things interesting and engaging for people within the community in regards to the Human lore, while also improving my own writing abilities from the feedback I would receive, either from the lore team or the community as a whole. Additional Comments: I want to thank all of my friends, supporters, and people who I consider to be mentors in the community for encouraging me to go through with this application. Without your help and confidence in me, I don’t know if I would have gone forwards and applied for this position. Position Specific Questions 1. Three or more themes, events, locations, people, or anything which constitute your favorite parts about human lore, and why they are your favorites. 2. Three of the same which constitute your least favorite or rather, most hated parts of human lore, and why you don't like them. 3. What your main objectives as human lore developer would be.

Perhaps it may be my real-world preconceptions influencing this, but when I hear med tech I hear someone being told to pull a switch or watch an X-Ray come up on a screen. Besides, we already have four, formerly five with the now defunct Engine Technician, other roles on station with the word "technician" in the title. Cargo Technician, Drill Technician, Atmospheric Technician, and Forensic Technician. It may sound Sci-Fi(ish, kinda), but it also sounds really samey to the stuff we have already and it lacks variety, in my opinion. I think that we can be more creative than just slapping "technician" onto the end of everything.

As for a naming suggestion, if we are wanting to stray away from a "doctor" role specifically, "Medical Specialist" or "Healthcare Specialist" would be better than "technician" in my opinion, I in fact, quite like the sound of "Healthcare Specialist." A technician is often associated with someone who works with equipment or machines. A health caregiver, no matter the context of a doctorate or not should give the impression that they work with people and individuals, not machines, and give the impression of such a thing in the job title.

Thank you, @Skull132, I seemed to have missed that in my catch-up read on the thread.

From looking at the code of the PR on the issue, it looks as of the combined doctor equivalent has OR access removed entirely. Is this necessary and intended or is it a mistake?

I agree that Nurse has very little mechanical relevance and can take a slot from a doctor which is why I mentioned really learning what a nurse should do. I was comparing an Atmos Tech to a Surgeon, not a Nurse, but I do agree with your point that Nurse needs to be looked at if not completely merged with one of if not both of the other Physician roles.

If I may suggest something more constructive from my last response, that well, came off as combative, I would suggest this. 1. Fix the names to be more medically inclined and less geared towards research. They don't have to be true to life, but you've already heard no "biology" comments from numerous others, and myself earlier, so I won't go on anymore about that. I'm sure as a community, people could decide on better names if this is indeed going to go through. Some names I have seen floating around are ones like: - Medical Intern - Field Doctor (Combination of Physician/TP/Nurse) - Field Surgeon - Psychiatrist - Biomedical Chemist or just Chemist as is. - Rescue Technician as a combination of EMT/Paramedic does sound kinda nice to me, so that one might not need a change from the OP. 2. Combine the roles of Physician and Trauma Physician together, leave Nurse as its own role or bind it into the mix of those two after deciding or knowing what nurses do. Leave Surgeon as it is, maybe with a rename, as I do feel like a specialist role for surgery is better for RP and provides variety in the same way an Atmos Tech provides variety to the normal Station Engineer, while also cutting down on the byzantine surgery chart that I posted earlier that you mentioned was part of the problem. I still do not agree with that, but its not gonna get anyone anywhere if we just argue and don't try to compromise. 3. Combining Psychologist and Psychiatrist into one role is not detrimental in my opinion, I have been a Psychiatrist main for a little more than a year now and I do not see how it could be harmful really aside from the flavour of a character that maybe could be adjusted as needed. Felt the need to comment on this role specifically as it is the one I am the most experienced with out of all my roles on the station. Sorry if I seemed aggressive or combative, I have nothing personal against you, however, I wanted to convey my opinion. Upon looking at my previous posts, I realised I didn't really have anything constructive to say and was just criticizing without giving an alternative, which was my bad. Medical is clunky and has been since I started playing it, brainmed or otherwise, but I have stayed with it and am apprehensive to changes because most changes we have seen are not objectively good or bad, and with any change comes a trade-off. I still do not agree with many of the reasons behind the change, however, I also don't want to just argue and be a "REEEEEEEEEE MED CHANGES" medmain, as the stereotype goes for most medical mains. I hope the points I mentioned above can be helpful to some degree or at least provoke some thought.

I am confused as to why this is an issue now as there is this thread detailing what exactly the various roles should be doing. We even have a handy chart for surgeries now, for who can do what. I feel as if the issues you are trying to address have been well, addressed in the previously mentioned thread. As for detaching the role from that of a doctor, I disagree with that on the very base level and notion of it. You're not only turning medical into something else completely from what it is now, you are also invalidating the characters and workplace identities of literally every single existing char in medbay aside from chemists and paramedics/EMTs. I disagree with the logic and rationale and think it is not the right decision to make going forwards.

In my opinion, even if it is just a role name change, this would be jarring to most characters in medical at this time. Most of the dedicated and regular players in medical are styled as Physicians. Medical doctors, or otherwise practice and clinically focused characters. While this name change is just that, a name change, it shifts people and characters that are focused on being caregivers into medical researchers. I know its not a science merger or anything like that, but, which sounds more medical care oriented? Physician, Surgeon, Trauma Physician, or Biological Researcher? Psychologist/Psychiatrist or Mental Health Researcher? As a CMO, or physician, I am not here to do "biological research," I am here to treat and heal patients to the best of my abilities. Practicing medical doctors don't just suddenly go into research, usually. You are changing the feel of medical from one that is practice and care focused hospital setting into one that is instead more akin to a laboratory environment, even if there are no mechanical changes. It is the image of the MedBay that is being changed here as opposed to anything else, and I also feel that what you are trying to change, the issues of """"realism""""" are not an issue in medical to the point where it impacts gameplay in my view, and even if it is, this is not only limited to medical. Role-playing matters, but this is a game. There are going to be gamey mechanics be they in medical or elsewhere, and switching job titles and by proxy, changing the workplace identities of literally every character in medical that isn't a chemist is not productive or conducive to actually changing things and will instead just make people who play med more uncomfortable. Telling people what they want or need by using arguments they may not be receptive to, especially when they main the department, is not a good strategy, in my opinion. The pro's of your argument are not pro's to everyone, and I can see medplayers taking issue with some even being pro's. I don't believe this is a worthwhile change as the impact to the medbay's image would be detrimental to the characters there while not addressing the underlying mechanics of the issues this is attempting to sidestep. The names are also just. . . Not good. I think maybe people would be more receptive if the names had a more medical slant to them as opposed to the very science-y "Biology" given that we already have a role called "Xenobiologist." And yes, I know they are different, but its the image and impression they leave. My experience in medical is that I have been a filthy MedMain for a year now, predominantly in the Psychiatrist/Psychologist, and recently CMO roles, with other experience as a Chemist, Physician, and Surgeon. Started as an intern, also.

Small correction. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor specialized in psychiatry. Some do have degrees in psychology, but a doctorate needed for psychiatry would be a Medical Doctorate (M.D.) instead of a doctorate in psychology, which is is a philosophy doctorate (Ph.D.) or on rare occasions, its own doctorate of study (Psy.D.). Having a degree in psychology in my opinion should not be a requirement in order to be a psychiatrist, but a medical doctorate specialized into psychiatry should. Also, where are the qualifications/rules for chemist/pharmacist? Has the role been changed somehow and I wasn't paying attention?