Kintsugi

The ERT is a controversial thing. It has a mixed reputation - some defend it as an absolute necessity to prevent rounds from devolving into total chaos as soon as security is defeated or outnumbered - others, like myself, feel it was a necessary evil that ultimately took the problem out of the hands of the station crew and placed it into the hands of faceless, heavily armored non-characters. Its sole redeeming factor was the fact that it could grant IC representation to lore factions that otherwise would not get it. But now the ERT is outmoded. The Horizon has more avenues of ending a threat that has overwhelmed security - it has the crew armory, more armed crew, and more guns lying around, available to be pressed into action in an emergency. As for the crew being wiped out, and IC representation for lore factions? Third-party ships exist to fill this niche. While there is doubtlessly risk of them showing up too early - the risk is the same for an ERT being called too early. And what's better is that third party ships can have consistent characters aboard them, instead of faceless goons that will never be seen again. In the face of the changing setting of the server, and the different mechanical situation ingame, I think ERTs should no longer exist at the beck and call of the ship. Don't outright remove them - but restrict them to being locked behind an admin's approval, like HAPT teams. If they're really, absolutely needed, an admin can send one. Otherwise, it's up to people actually in the game to solve an issue.

I think you might need more practice in intermediate roles before you go to head honcho command roles. Last night you were a captain during an admittedly-chaotic cult/vampire round that devolved into security having to act pretty much autonomously because you were largely absent, giving vague instructions, or outright conflicting instructions. All in all, I just don't think you're ready to play captain.

Chief Medical Officer exists Anyway, I support this. HoS is an awkward, unpleasant name

not well, they tell me I have seven hours to live

this spank guy sure is wild L-O-L

As I mentioned in discord last night, EE will never be a faction that can logically interact with the Horizon in anything but an unfriendly way, with the present lore in mind. It just doesn't work and every scenario presented to me so far has a logical rebuttal. Now adding a third party ship that is supposed to never interact with the Horizon is stupid; it doesn't generate interesting roleplay. Here's what I think: This is what I propose. That way EE would be able to exist and exist logically, while also allowing canonical interactions.

Going to have to second this course of action. I won't repeat my thoughts on headcanon but I will say that we should avoid the image of encouraging it as something for the playerbase to make use of (while we also shouldn't outright ban it, either). Get rid of the thread. In my opinion, the policy should be that headcanon is allowed, but inadvisable for anything but small-scale blank-filling within the context of the lore as a whole, and not permitted when lore goes beyond minor-planet scale, and especially not permitted when it contradicts the real lore in any way, shape, or form. I'm probably on the extreme end of "headcanon is bad", but I think generally speaking that this policy as I've outlined is for the best.

I know I said I wasn't interested in replying again but seeing as the cause célèbre has apparently changed to something unaddressed by my post, I feel obliged to address it. Your access was removed not because of the prompt, which I frankly did not care for - we had people working alongside us who had not accepted the prompt either, including one bridge crewman. As far as I'm concerned the prompt is only for organizational purposes and so staff know explicitly who is an antagonist and who isn't. Your access was removed because, 1. you refused to arm yourself and participate in the fight against the revs, and 2. because you then refused to stay in the bridge, a safe location, which you expressed by stating your desire to get back to work, if my memory serves correctly. Because of that you were a liability to the loyalists and I removed your access to the bridge by technically demoting you. Perhaps this was an error and I should have just explicitly removed the requisite access- but again, I was rushing because of the large group of people I had to manage. Let me point out that none of your equipment was taken from you - you still had your command headset, and all of your job gear. An antagonist ICly acted excessively because of your failure to commit 100% to his side, nothing more, nothing less. Another member of command refused the very same prompt (the interim CMO), but didn't lose their access because they agreed to stay in a place where the revs could not target them, the bridge. Again, you were free to choose any course of action in the aftermath. As for this claim: The entire gimmick of the revs was that they were attempting to take the bridge to hijack the Horizon. This was explicitly stated by the CC announcement made by the revs. Just because it was not happening at that very minute, that does not mean it was not going to be attempted. Like I said, I want to emphasize the scale of player involvement I was dealing with, the fact I was an antagonist, and the fact the only thing you lost was access to the bridge, which was an IC conflict centered around my antagonist character's distrust for your apparent hesitance to side with him. I apologize if you felt our interaction was unsatisfactory - personally I got very little enjoyment out of the round myself - but I don't think my character's behavior was unjustified or unreasonable, IC and OOC.

I am only posting to this thread because I have to, and unless an administrator needs me to provide more information I have no interest in responding further. I'm not going to have a conversation about this - this is my piece and there's nothing more to it. Here's what I have to say:

Updated. Sorry if it's not up to par, I wasn't in a great mood when I finished this.

Very glad to hear that third party ships are going to be allowed to be hostile. It is disappointing to me that the antag system will apply to them, thus rendering hostile ships non-canon, but not altogether unexpected. I think with that in mind, there should be a sort of category system, even if it's a non-mechanical category system and is solely an OOC thing. Hostile, which are explicitly going to act against the Horizon (these will be the antag ships), and unfriendly, neutral/wildcard, and friendly ships. The latter three all have varying opinions of the Horizon, but none are explicitly going to attack it, unlike the antagonistic hostile ships. An unfriendly ship might be one from the Solarian Navy - a wildcard ship could be a neutral smuggler - and a friendly ship could be a TCFL ship, for example. A hostile ship, on the other hand, could be an SRF, pirate, or League ship. The non-hostile ships are canon, and the hostile ones are non-canon.

There is a weighting system for third party ships, so certain ones can be made to be very rare.

Third party ships. They rock. In my opinion, they're the best part of the NBT. I'm working on a few right now: One thing I can't work on without clarification, however, is third party ships that belong to factions that are explicitly hostile to the SCC and Biesel - for example, the League, SRF, anti-Biesel insurrectionists, low-level pirates, and what have you. In my opinion, I think we should absolutely have them. Third party ships are set up in a way that they can't really stand toe to toe with the Horizon - they get limited equipment, only enough to keep them from being completely toothless. As such, they're not able to take on the Horizon alone, not without facing certain defeat, and as non-antagonists they are more strictly bound by the rules regarding escalation and IC conflict. The only thing I could see complicating the matter is the fact that if my memory serves correctly, third party ship encounters are canon (it would be good to get outright clarification on this as well, and I strongly feel third party ships should be canon). This means that if a hostile ship got into a conflict with the Horizon in some way, there would be canon repercussions (though under the normal round to round non-antagonist canon rules, not canon event rules.)

The fact of the matter is that megacorporations are boring. Narratively, they are always going to behave the same way: pursue profit. They have no ideology. They have no agenda beyond "act in a way that makes the pursuit of profit easier". One cannot be loyal to a corporation as they are loyal to a nation-state. There are no distinguishing traits that make megacorporate employees anything but megacorporate employees. At most, megacorporations have gimmicks and hats. Nobody OOCly (At least from the perspective of an entity that could exist in the real world) likes megacorporations because they are dangerously amoral *at best* and outright evil at worst. They are two-dimensional bad guys that we have given total control over our setting because a decade ago someone on another server thought it'd be cool if SS13 was a grimdark corporate dystopia. It is not a coincidence that the most interesting event arcs and lore developments on this server frequently only use the megacorporations as supporting characters in a story where the main cast are factions aligned predominantly with countries. It is not a coincidence that the most interesting megacorporation we have, Idris, feels the least like a megacorporation (in my opinion, Idris comes across as a blend between a banking dynasty and the mafia if it was a legitimized organization.) What I know OOCly about the lore team's position on megacorps is that at least one loremaster feels that they are the ultimate power within the setting and are completely unstoppable, with total hegemony over the spur and de facto dominance over the countries within it. I suppose with that in mind, anti-corporatism must only be capable of limited successes, unfortunately. Not particularly. Besides the fact that I think the less megacorporate lore there is, the better, EE gaining a foothold in Biesel never made much sense to me at all and I think it was something of a narrative misstep done within the context of KotW. If anything, I'd like to see the SCC displace EE after its short period of success. OOCly? I would like them to be completely marginalized and rendered into what they ideally should be, as the aforementioned best arcs illustrate - regional powerhouses at most (like holding de facto control over Biesel), and supporting characters within other countries. They could have influence, certainly, but they are not infallible and ultimately cannot act against the governments they operate within without running the risk of major losses or outright localized destruction. Not the be-all end-all superpower with total control over the setting.

I see. I'll begin working on a character backstory immediately instead of making it up in-game. Meanwhile, I would recommend considering accepting fanfiction stories as a fair alternative to backstories, so more wonderful stories such as this can come to be made on Aurora.

BYOND Key: DanseMacabre Character Names: Coenraad Nieuwoudt, Florian Dal Farra, Iliasz Jajszczyk, Maximilien D'Amboise Species you are applying to play: Tajara What color do you plan on making your first alien character: (Color of your character; Dionaea & IPCs exempt): Cream. Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Yes. Why do you wish to play this specific race: My admiration for the Tajara species is well-documented. It is without a doubt, in my opinion, that Aurorastation's Tajara have the highest quality lore of any alien species to ever exist in regards to SS13. There really isn't any aspect of it that I can criticize (except, of course, the fact they are cats.) - from the lore to the arcs to the characters, Taj have been a blast to interact with ingame, and I've finally come to the decision that I'd like to give them a go, in spite of my distaste for the fact that they are, in fact, anthropomorphic cats. The lore more than makes up for that grandfathered aesthetic issue, and I absolutely look forward to finally being able to meaningfully interact with it and the characters that come from it ingame as an insider as opposed to an outsider. Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: In many respects, I feel the Tajara are the species most similar to Humanity. Aside from somewhat surface-level or even outright superficial distinctions centered around biology and culture, I feel the key difference between roleplaying a Tajara and roleplaying a Human is that of history - Tajara society is characterized by conflict and political extremes, and it is without a doubt that Tajara lore deals with far more adult and controversial themes than any other race on the server. To illustrate this point, I have written an autocanon-compatible short story that'll better articulate what I mean in specific: Unfortunately, the Tajara team has informed me that they do not accept short stories in lieu of character backstories or as an answer to this question. Let me just say that Tajara lore's greatest differences from Human lore and from roleplaying as a Human comes down to the vitally important societal and cultural mores of the species and how distinct and unique they are. I can say without a doubt that the Taj feel, fundamentally, the most fully-fledged and realized as an alien society. Character Name: Rrhazumar Prruzhulkanich Please provide a short backstory for this character: I understand this backstory may be somewhat ambitious, but nonetheless the idea and concept has intrigued me for some time. Some things might need adjustment - the "peasant njarir" thing in particular I was told may be a point of contention, because the lore I based it off of might not be entirely accurate. The Petty Lord status may also be inapt, and a prince might be better. What do you like about this character?: It's always hard to put into words what draws me to a character and to a concept. What I'll say is that I think the backstory I've written here illustrates a well-rounded individual, with unique flaws, strengths, and traits. He's invested into his worldview and his society and has a stake in the world as a whole. This, I feel, is a dynamic and well-realized character, and I think I'll enjoy getting that character into play as such. How would you rate your role-playing ability?: Frankly? I'm not going to give this question a straight answer. I've always felt that it's a stupid one. It either encourages you to fake humility and say something modest, or to outright boast, or gloss over the question altogether. You want to play a fun game? Go through accepted and denied applications and look for ones that say they're 8/10 - I didn't say that for no reason. It seems that this number more than any is listed as a gauge of one's own roleplay quality, and I think this is part of the aforementioned phenomenon. Here's what I will say: When I roleplay, I try my hardest, and put as much effort as I can muster into roleplaying to the best of my abilities. For those who wish to see my masterpiece, below is the short story.

In general, I appreciate the fact that a lore development utilizing the warlords and the wildlands has occurred. I do not think this was a bad arc; I enjoyed it, in fact, more than I anticipated. However, I do think the arc was also characterized by a number of narrative mistakes and missteps. In particular, I think the biggest error was how the Beauchamp situation as handled- like Cybs, I feel as if the method at which the Skrell retaliated was the main spoiler of the arc. In my mind, a direct confrontation consisting solely of an overhelming Skrell attack on the 10th was the wrong way to go about it - I feel that ideally, the Skrell should have provided support for the SSMD and the SPG to fight the SFA. The Qheles could have even been utilized as a narrative piece if there's still a desire to showcase Federation muscle, as a keystone for the SSMD and the SPG's assault. This path would have given greater screentime to the other warlords in the southern wildlands (who will narratively become far less relevant now that their prime enemy has been defeated), while still maintaining a spotlight on the Federation and showcasing the Sol-Jargon relationship. While the SSMD and the SPG did become far more involved towards the end of the arc, as they took control of Beauchamp's space and executed him, I feel like this is almost an afterthought when it should really be their fifteen minutes of fame. I also feel as if the destruction of the SFA was likely the greatest mistake of the arc. I feel quite strongly that the Solarian warlords are the most narratively flexible entities in our lore, rich with opportunities for development, and to see a playerbase favorite with a ton of potential wiped out in toto so suddenly is quite a disappointment, in my mind. I can only hope that as the status of the SFA is developed further that something of it remains, even if it is just a roving band of ships that continue to terrorize the wildlands while receiving support from Biesel. I also hope that the warlords that remain do not share this fate - to see the League or the SRF destroyed as suddenly as the SFA would be quite the disappointment in my mind, indeed. In summary: I think Jargon's response was detrimental to the narrative (The untouchable superpower that cannot be stopped uses overwhelming force to crush its enemies) I think the SSMD and the SPG were underutilized And I think the SFA should have been given more time to shine, and not outright destroyed so suddenly. Like I said, I appreciated this arc - the wildlands and the warlords finally getting their time in the sun was good. But I think there's a lot to learn, too, and to keep in mind for the future.

Sprites 100% complete, with item icons and an open state. pilotjacketfinito.dmi

As funny as 30 as a requirement for bridge crew is, I don't think it's strictly necessary. 25 I think would still be reasonable. Do I think it's a major issue at the same time? No.

BYOND Key: DanseMacabre Discord Username: DanseMacabre#6742 Character Name: Iliasz Jajszczyk Item Name: (if you are applying for multiple items, it should be made into a list with the description, name and appearance together): naval pilot's jacket Item Function(s): It's a jacket worn over a uniform, with two slots of storage space. Can also be zipped and unzipped. Item Description: A sturdy nomex-lined jacket, flame-resistant and sleek. A garment of choice for anyone who might be in the cockpit of something with a risk of catching fire. There's a name patch sewn onto the breast of this one, reading "JAJSZCZYK". This one seems more rugged than most flight jackets would be, and also appears to have some waterproofing. A Solarian flag in miniature rests on the right sleeve, the colors faded and worn. Why is your character bringing this item to work?: Iliasz previously wore a similar jacket to work aboard the NSS Aurora. With his pending transfer to the SCCV Horizon, he has opted for a more durable one that's better suited for field use, and the risks that come with being aboard an exploration vessel. That aside, he's been wearing these jackets for the bulk of his adult life, and to him they're very comfortable. How did your character obtain this item?: Prior to his employment as an EPMC, Iliasz was enlisted in the Solarian navy, working as an exosuit operator. Flame-retardant jackets such as this are standard-issue for mech pilots all over the spur on account of the risks that come with operating an exosuit, and this has been in his wardrobe ever since he first enlisted. What value does this item have to your character, and what story does it tell?: This jacket holds immense sentimental value to Iliasz, one of the few remaining momentos of the life he lived before ending up in Biesel- he was exceptionally fond of his trade and cherishes the memories he made while wearing it. It reminds him of where he comes from, and is in many ways a symbol of better times. It also has substantial practical value, being a rugged, well-insulated jacket that'd serve him well in his day-to-day work as a security officer. And who knows - maybe he'll pilot a mech or two aboard the Horizon, if he's lucky. Sprites: pilotjacket.dmi I still need to make the unzipped sprite, but that shouldn't be too hard. Additional Comments: Sprite heavily edited from a Baystation 12 sprite.

I am reviving this thread. Technomancer also sucks. It's time to move on. Remove Technomancer from the secret rotation and replace it with meteor, now that we're switching to the NBT. This setup will work better and will actually be fun.

I think nobody can deny that Faye's probably one of the community's most passionate when it comes to IPCs and IPC lore. In fact, I imagine if you polled the server to ask everyone who they thought the biggest synth fan around was, Faye would probably be one of the first people to come to mind for most. Their writing is solid and generally I think they have all that it takes to be a good synthlore deputy - the only thing I have approaching a concern is that they may need to be mindful of keeping a cool head in whatever heated lore discussions come up. Consider this post my +1. Here are some questions of my own: 1. In the past and perhaps present, IPC lore has been fairly ambiguous about things such as the true nature of IPC emotion, personhood, etc - it's up to interpretation on a person-to-person basis. How do you feel about this narrative choice? 2. How do you feel about lore discussing the role of IPCs in the militaries of the spur? Would you like to work on this particular subject? 3. If you were forced to remove one thing of substance from IPC lore, what would it be, and why? Everything is on the table here. 4. What are your thoughts about biosynthetic shells, as previously outlined in one synthlore proposal document?

Some thoughts: Due to the importance of holding the bridge on the NBT (for multiple reasons: it actually controls the ship now, and it is also the only way to open the crew armory) I think it would be fair to add a locker to the BC prep room that can be opened only by real command, which contains armor and helmets for the BCs. Just an extra little something to help them hold the bridge - because if push comes to shove and the mercs are breaking down the door, they need to fight! An alternative would be to add a second way to open the crew armory somewhere on the ship. Speaking of the crew armory: There aren't enough helmets and armor to go around. If that's intentional, I don't mind - I do think that there should be some clothing item within that the regulations require anyone in the crew militia wear. An armband, or something - what I personally always thought would be cool was hardhats and hazard vests with a specific color scheme instead of armor. I also think the armor within should be the generic grey armor and helmets instead of the navy blue corporate armor and helmets - just a small thought. The addition of diagonal walls here is good, but I also think that this wall should also be made into diagonal ones. Kind of a nitpick, but I think the pods still look too blocky.

Minor suggestion, but corner sprites could stand to be used here and on the other side instead of full walls.

Very big fan of the code red lights. I would also consider re-adding the code blue lights, but making the tint much more subtle. Also happy we have the light randomization, I think getting rid of 100% white lights is absolutely a step in the right direction.