WickedCybs

Like Aurora, like our Clash of Clans group, Goolies. Another community you've ran into the ground. Let that one sink in.

My take is that they're a courteous, responsible player inside and outside the game and have made a good effort to try and get into Aurora. I've had some interactions with a lot of their various characters, it's all been nice enough. I'll be interested in seeing them on a trial.

I specifically mentioned it was the conclusion. Your joke was nowhere near that. From my screenshots, the last one, we can clearly see you pointedly complaining that anything in maintenance is seemingly "just" for antags after I told you what the issue with the trash piles in maint were. That didn't sell to me that you were taking things seriously. To be honest focusing on the credits bit makes that a little worse to me, that you maybe don't think the last screenshot had any problems? It definitely makes me doubt your intentions. While that isn't exactly relevant to the complaint anymore, I'm telling you this so this doesn't become an issue in case there's a next time. I'll post it again, for clarity though. You didn't say you realized the issue with what you did in the main body of the post, which is why I restated it again on this thread. I do already understand this is about the ban specifically and the escalation regarding that.

I directly and unambiguously warned Herpetophilia that his actions would get him at the least a warning and at the worst a job ban in the Aurora general when I was asked if even dismantling a few piles might land him in hot water. I did not directly pull him aside and say a note was being applied, but since I did say he could be banned for this, so a note was put on the record so that other staff would be aware this is not his first time and to escalate appropriately. For that matter he was definitely in adequate contact with me. He asked his questions and mocked the stance I took on the conclusion. I've posted four of the most pertinent bits of that conversation here. It shifts from me saying it's worthy of a note to outlining that I would not allow a part of security to get another mechanic removed from their own department when individual punishment is possible, as this isn't so widespread at the moment. That aside, let's also focus on exactly why these actions were a problem. The problem is that these have a mechanical use for people. It's an extra fun thing for the crew and a utility for antagonist. It does not really matter if the use is rare. The full extent of your interaction here is entering maintenance, taking everything apart in the name of a "contraband check" and letting it sit in the armory. Even encouraging others to do the same. That's just completely lame. It's also exactly the same sort of behavior that's been called out in the past. You yourself are aware of why security had its maint access limited. Officers would do "maintenance checks" and remove all the "contraband" to let it sit in the armoury for the entire round. The connection here is obvious enough I think. You're doing the same thing essentially. I would rather have the crew or antags be messing around with the sometimes dangerous results instead of security attempting to monopolize it due to the "risk" as that justification can be extended to a lot of other things accessible to the crew. The ban itself I was not involved in, as after that conversation I moved on to do other things and then went to sleep. So that's the extent of my take on the matter.

I couldn't blame someone for being concerned and ahelping if they see something that might be an issue, even if they don't have the full picture. However, It's clear from the overall situation itself you were more focused on backseating security and making fun of players who would never see what you were saying in dead chat. Please don't try and imply to me this is about anything constructive when statements like "security is horny for valids" gets thrown around in dchat, or when you cannot even mask the overall rude and aggressive tone in this complaint itself. The posts by a few of the officer players involved in the round itself already cover most of what my general response would have been when it comes to your recollection of the round and the situation you ahelped, so I will focus on the rest. It's not really playing "rambo" when you have adequate support behind you, there's been enough buildup (you yourself say in the chat logs it's been nearly two hours of the round at that point) and things are fairly even. So no. This isn't a situation where the officer randomly ran at them wordlessly. There was dialogue. They tried to get away. Security reacted accordingly, as they are empowered to do. To reiterate. There was quite a bit of time before shots were even fired where people were just talking. It seems like security let things go on for a while. The mercenaries attempted to improve their position by leaving with their recently acquired hostage. Security is under no obligation to let that happen and sensing an opportunity, moved to prevent it. That's part of the roleplay. I think there's a fundamental misunderstanding here, where security doing anything about an antag at all is seen as spoiling the fun. Do you think the only outcome of taking a hostage should be that the crew always gives in? You say "when sec can just run in with a flashbang in hand" as if that's even a foolproof strategy. I'm hardly expecting antags to be "super robust" by saying they should account for certain means of stopping them. The mercenary base has a lot of flash protection available and they spawn with sunglasses that totally negate the stun of a flashbang. The mechanics to circumvent it are there and playing security or even just watching a round could teach you that. So if not having flash protection was the only reason they were defeated, that's on them, and now they know for next time. If I followed your line of thought I might as well rule out things like antags depressurizing rooms to slow down or kill security because who could be robust enough to expect venting on the ship somewhere in space? It's not like there's emergency lockers with softsuits, oxygen bubbles, oxy tanks or masks available almost everywhere so you can attempt to mitigate it. That aside you can only really practice Aurora antags on Aurora itself, as compared to the only other active baycode server we're pretty different in how we implement things. You're more than welcome to tell me about your easy greentexts on TG sometime if that's somehow relevant but I have a feeling it's not quite the same or transferable. Your misunderstanding of flashbangs as they apply to people or their use by special forces and police departments in real life is not relevant to the game either way. We have the means provided on spawn to mercenaries that circumvent any effects of a flashbang altogether. You shouldn't need to rationalize anything further as allowing that effectively opens up everyone to shove in their own interpretations on who can do what and it becomes completely confusing for any new player if we have these unwritten rules. So if you have a sincere problem with this, advocate for mercs getting some roundstart bonus to their combat abilities so everyone is on the same page and work about your issues with flashbangs constructively. Maybe try gunning for flashbangs doing burn damage to the wielder if they explode in-hand too. I don't think the officer just held the flashbang and let it go off though. Now, was there another way to resolve the situation? Again, sec tried most of what you proposed they should do. If this was the only possible outcome it was an acceptable one either way. The game isn't about winning or losing. It's the perennial topic. But of course, it goes both ways. The dynamic between the crew and antags will always be a centerpiece to the server. However, you can do more than ahelp about it. Contribute. Tell people about your ideas. Post about it. Do you think this is always going to be inherently a player issue, or that mechanics and other solutions can be provided? I've had issues with antag survivability compared to security, who has the entire medical bay at their disposal. So I went ahead and gave antagonists a buyable fully loaded medical belt and mercenaries free medical supplies on their ship. Afterward I noticed some players being able to use these additional tools to great effect when they faced off against security. Give your fellow community members a chance rather than assuming the absolute worst. I sincerely doubt this considering antag players and security generally have significant overlap, especially when it comes to offstation antags. It's not really a matter of being robusted. Just... engaging with the mechanics? You get sunglasses for a reason. There's masks everywhere that have multiple purposes but can also filter out tear gas without being on internals for the wily antag. Heavy merc armour shrugs off the entire sec armoury except for the two las rifles. If you're given all the tools to succeed and complain when you don't use them, what can even be said? But it wasn't even you in this situation to begin with. You were the dchat spectator making fun of security being "teased" and "ready to valid" after a long round which had to end at some point. No, not maybe. You went above and beyond "a tiny bit salty". You should be glad nobody in-round could see that absolutely shameful behavior you put on display. Do not ever think it's appropriate to use dchat as you did. Do not even think this post paints you as some reasonable person only concerned by the actions of sec. You've made it clear by your title and the post contents you're quite indignant and hostile about people you've never even met or talked to. I don't think someone who actually cares about the community or our roleplay standards would end things with this. You won't set a precedent or get the attention you're looking for.

Arbs plays what I would call a pretty responsible HoS. He's friendly, he could be on good terms with you but he's your boss first and foremost. I can always expect he's on top of things, or at least trying to be during a chaotic situation and he tries to keep his department grounded as well by requesting updates and assigning people to tasks. I'd say his actions are pretty stabilizing for security and I've never really seen him go overboard on antags. He's fair and even handed from what I've seen.

What are their thoughts regarding the PRA and NKA, respectively?

It would be a good addition and I believe other servers like Bay show that it can be done well enough. Some essential facts would have to be accepted though, that you can try shielding them from negative overmap affects as hard as you can and things will still go wrong and they might not know how to pilot. The initial introduction period will probably be rough unless anyone trying it out has flown a shuttle already. I also don't think they should be "magic" shuttles. They should ideally be like anything else on the overmap, having stuff like atmos and power. Or at least, the former. Docking near another ship you're chasing is also extremely powerful at the moment and how it works must be changed or it'll be really annoying to deal with. There's seemingly no escape if you're locked onto other than the other ship deciding to leave. The tethered ship has to be able to break free. Maybe give them a few minutes until they're able to escape so the boarding party still has time to assault. For the security voidsuits. Maybe it could be protective but still worse vs standard plate. If it's freely accessible, it'll probably be used as extra armour but it would be nice to have a space suit that's good for more than just melee on the crew-side. Other than a sec voidsuit buff, it could be nice to give security one heavier voidsuit or a hardsuit that's able to take more of a beating.

A visitable merchant station would be cool and I think that's a fine thing to aim for. It's something I would consider implementing or assisting on for sure.

Globally airlocks could use an increase to how fast they cycle yeah. It's a pretty memorable bit to any expedition people do due to how long it takes. Forcing them is the ideal right now but that's obviously not standard and you have to do it manually, so having it stay like that forever isn't a workable solution. Good to hear it's being worked on though.

I believe the only fix is waiting for the overmap to get more content and re-introducing it at a later time if wanted. Even if you removed the spy aspect to the ship, the Horizon still has no reason to interact with them and EE shouldn't really be trying to talk to them either. You will not get the "canon" interactions you want out of it So the roleplay would have to have happen at overmap sites, between the away teams from each side. Is my thought. Alternatively the ship could spawn on antag game modes only and once a proper framework for hostile third parties is added, empower them to do some stuff.

This is fine, though I may try to figure out a way if I felt strongly about something and discuss it with the group if it wasn't a firm no. I'm usually quick to think of changes as well I'd say. The former isn't a problem but the latter is something I don't find much value in. Like I touched on in my post to Cael, I view it as holding things back somewhat and it always seems to be a stumbling block for a new player until they settle for only engaging in those topics with other Tajara. It's a very present, relatable issue. I'd want to change it in some way. As long as I'm available to guide things along, can contribute and have a passion for it. It's hard to give a solid number other than saying a while hopefully. A lot of things can happen and I'm in a pretty active part of my life. Yes and that's something I've already done for teams like human lore. Graphics aren't my strong point though. They're interesting and I usually try representing something from either even on less devout characters. It's a core component to the species and most every Tajara is religious or at least superstitious. Things would not really be the same without it. Not one hundred percent sure on what direction I'd take them but having the Parivara continuing to influence and interact with the three nations and maybe expanding on Ma'ta'ke with some more stated regional variations could be interesting.

I've seen Granodd portray interesting characters and make a real effort to interact with people, strangers or familiar. They have a pretty wide range. and I'd be interested in seeing what comes of that in a command position. Little else to say other than that I think it's worth giving them a chance at a trial.

For me it's the DPRA and it's not a close thing, though I do appreciate the dynamics the PRA and the NKA provide. I watched it go through a very interesting transformation as I joined Aurora around the time Nated "retired". It was looking cleaner (though still xenophobic) if still marred by its revolutionary history thanks to the ALA, but we did not know much about most of the cultures it was trying to protect outside of what was tied to each caste by and large. Then things ramped up. Nated returned as the supreme commander. We got to know the military juntas that were at odds with the civilian government. Cultures were expanded on. It became very easy to have a stake and things were not homogeneous either as opinions between two DPRA characters could differ significantly to a point neither the PRA or NKA can replicate. The updates to the DPRA were probably one of the best things that happened to Tajara. I also find the struggle between the new and old very compelling. Tajara finally knew a short period of time without any monarchs and advances finally reached the average person, but most of Adhomai still wanted an authoritarian strongman. This continued to be true after the second revolution, with people rallying behind Nated even after he stepped down and even attempting to coup the young democracy that just came into existence. Now it balances on a knifes edge, as the Republic needs its military forces but still has to be wary. It also has what I think are the more interesting cast of "characters" between the three factions. I'm always a fan of the struggle for something better rather than accepting a bleak future, so my favorites are predictably Hro'rammhad and Harrlala but the junta leaders in general are a pretty interesting opposition, and they're not even fans of each other in a very overt way which is pretty different from the subtle politicking of the PRA's higherups or the courtly contests of supremacy within the NKA. Hard to say. This is a big question so I'll give a big answer. Maybe this could be considered part of the current ongoing arc overall, but I think before a total open conflict the narrative could enter a period seeing far more smaller scale skirmishes that aren't just limited to using military force and a period of big internal upheaval. There's ideological battles happening in all the factions and just like how the nations on the planet will never give up the objective of total domination, their political factions aren't giving up on the battle for ideological preeminence over each other. So naturally, I start with the effects of this on the dominant faction and the one the other two are frequently reacting to. There is unease in the PRA. Perhaps the president is ill and has retired from the public eye. Citizens begin to become curious as his radio messages end or become clear repeats and notice the Ministers taking on more of his duties. The DPRA and NKA don't know enough to be 100% sure if he's totally out of the picture but something is evidently going very wrong, which they may try to capitalize on. Military forces within the PRA are moving around and the PSIS's own paramilitary seem to be attempting to counter that... but there's no shooting. A covert war for influence is ongoing and the Ministers are playing fast and loose with their own alliances all while attempting to placate the increasingly aware masses in a united front to veil the weakness from their enemies, but at times the PRA is simply too paralyzed internally and the President still hasn't appeared in public despite it being weeks now. A junta leader in the DPRA doesn't want to wait and watch anymore. Ahem attempts a strike but finds solid resistance from a paranoid garrison, they haven't been relieved in a while and there's now a slugfest going on. Nobody is ready for a total war, so the civilian government desperately tries to get their forces under control and the PRA's Ministers have it in their best interest to work out a solution with them despite the warhawks on both sides. The NKA's royal navy is observing as the PRA's arctic outpost has had a failure of its government to resupply it. Its patrols are shrinking, nobody is really going out anymore. The NKA's researchers are merely using this opportunity to get ahead, but an up and coming naval officer sees an attempt to secure prestige and nip a thorn in the side of the Kingdom. A blockade is formed and a siege begins. The Queen is informed and after a session in the parliament, decides to wait and see if it will have any consequences from the struggling PRA. Thus the conflict continues but there is no war at the moment. The Naval Minister may attempt to sort it out alone, or it might force him to come together with Zhuldyz. This is going to be a blow to their prestige after all, and nobody else cares. Or maybe they realize it weakens those two not to help. Taking a break from outright describing events I envision now, essentially the idea is the PRA is suffering significant internal issues. Battle lines are being drawn from within and the other two factions have a chance to make some moves without the full force of the PRA breaking their necks. Depending on how the DPRA and NKA play it, they might end up in stronger positions for the future war. Meanwhile, the PRA may potentially strengthen itself and become a bigger threat than before depending on how it comes out of the chaos, so this must be kept going as long as possible but nothing so overt that it'll galvanize the nation. It all serves to set the stage for the future and opens a new chapter for the PRA. I could see this being represented in increasingly unreliable articles from the PRA, rumors circulated by the news sources of the other two factions and perhaps even a new news source from within the PRA that isn't from the government itself. Events might have the Horizon being entrusted with some SCC efforts to keep things afloat, by assisting a beleaguered Hro'zamal which the other two factions may attempt to sabotage/influence. And for the question if Hadii died or not? Find out ICly.

The Free Tajaran Council is something I find very interesting and I would like for them to be a permanent choice for players. At the moment, their citizenship will likely be taken away at the end of their arc as they'll be aligning with either the PRA, the DPRA or the ALA. I think that won't really realize the potential of them as an offworld community not directly linked to any of the three powers. The arc is stated to be long, but as a player I'm also unsure of making a character for it if I'm on the clock of how long I can explore acting as a person. That said, I also acknowledge I'm not really privy to the end-goals of this faction and the aims of the arc overall, so I say this as someone without all the information available to make an educated statement here past my experiences on making a character from the faction work. If I instead went back into the past, It's probably not a secret I've tended to question the parts of the lore relating to LGBTQ+ issues. I understand Tajara are a backwards, conservative species but in my time here, it would be hard for me to say this particular aspect of Tajara amounted to much in the roleplay I saw and participated in. We're past the very overt stuff now thankfully, like the camps, but that should have never happened in the first place is my thought. I figure that's expected as it's a team, after all. So I wouldn't have any issues with that. I feel like anyone would answer that's a good thing of course and something to strive for as isolation isn't interesting. I'd answer the same, and see very good opportunities for Tajara to highlight some more, like the Himean connection of the FTC. Where it makes sense, it's a good thing.

Ckey/BYOND Username: WickedCybs Position Being Applied For: (Wiki Maintainer, Lore Developer, Deputy Lore developer): Taj deputy Have you read the Lore Team Rules and Regulations wiki page?: Yes. Past Experiences/Knowledge: I wouldn't really say I have any past experience other than the bare essentials of being able to play a character when it comes to writing. I'm good at it too I'd like to think but as a creative writer in general I'm pretty bad. When it comes to being a developer, I know how to make PR's but these are generally built off of other things and I wouldn't say much of what I have done is truly original. It's just easy stuff anyone could do if they got past the initial hurdles. My efforts at spriting are nothing to write home about, as it still heavily relies on building off other stuff, so a lot of my work on that front have just been tweaks or building off of another sprite. A few of the zippo lighters, the half gas masks, the new tajara hairstyles and the Idris lunchbox are some good examples of that. For knowledge, I think I have a good grasp on Aurora's lore in general. The first thing I did before even joining the server was reading every news article available because I like to get to know a setting and every little bit of it. Examples of Past Work: The one thing I did for the lore was with Matt. We made a lore application about adding some notable social media to humanity. When it comes to contributions to the server, I have a lot of stuff put in that can be seen on github. I still plan on doing more but my computer I used to contribute a lot with broke in November. For the purposes of the application, I also wrote an expansion for the Tajara ethnicities page that focused on the mixed caste, here. This link below also has all my closed PR's. https://github.com/Aurorastation/Aurora.3/pulls?page=1&q=is%3Apr+author%3AWickedCybs+is%3Aclosed. Additional Comments: The other two applicants are better, more qualified picks for sure. I could only really promise that I'd try to do my best because being a deputy would include a lot of firsts for me and I'm not one hundred percent certain how I'll take it. As I won't be the big boss or anything, I've concluded it's worth a try still because what better role is there to learn how to do this stuff in. I'm not very worried about splitting my time between moderation and being a deputy. A moderator sets their own time overall and there's a ton of down time either way even if you're trying to dedicate yourself to it. So I don't really see lack of time being an issue. I have been spending less time on Aurora overall though these days, as I have been working a lot more lately and doing other things.

I was a little unsure for this application until I read the short story that was in the spoiler. I have no real doubts anymore, Danse clearly understands the lore to its fullest extent and provided an excellent elaboration on why Nated had to attempt his coup no matter the odds. Hopefully you apply for deputy once this is accepted.

I don't think the speed and wiki info were your biggest issues here for the arc. If anything, the speed made it far more interesting. It was just the content that made it end weaker than it began. I was genuinely interested up until the "A Federation Resolute" article started concerning me on whether this would still be the wildlands arc it appeared to be or another setpiece for the skrell. Then the "THE QUKALA’S VICTORY: BEAUCHAMP ON THE RUN!" deflated what was left of my interest entirely and as the climax there was naturally nothing more to really talk about, the aftermath only focused on the execution. If the idea was that they would "play their hand in a way unique from their previous attempts to influence the Spur" then I'm not seeing it either. Almost every skrell arc has ended up being bombastic and violent. Massive shows of force are seemingly all they ever do. The Tups were the posterchild of this and now the super ship that is the Qheles is joining them. So I don't see how this was any different. What "intimidating precedent" is there to set when Jargon can already annihilate and brainwash foreigners with no consequence? There was also good chance for the entities in the southern wildlands to finally do something... and they just didn't. It ended up another arc where the skrell just threw their weight around in another factions "area" and left. I think it should have been as much a human arc as it was a skrell one. The SMD and SPG are very cool, it could have been a perfect chance to display Jargon's written but never really shown method of dealing with things indirectly. Prop them and support them all the way, or if they must fight, join them and deal with the threat together. The other factions could have at the very least been involved. It sounds like human lore's rough draft would have provided that. The Southern Fleet Administration was obviously on a timer as the weakest and most unstable entity in the wildlands I agree, but I think it was also a mistake to eliminate them so quickly too. They were the only explicit anti-sol entity in the entire wildlands. They hadn't actually done anything yet too. It makes me concerned about the rest of the wildlands factions going forward. Are they all going to disappear in the course of one arc? The conflict in the south is seemingly concluded and will maybe bookend with reintegration unless the SMD picks a fight with the SCC and Biesel. Feels like a lot of potential lost there, especially with the NBT being nearby. I'm also beginning to really dislike seeing any mentions of trying to finally get a faction a "win" or that a faction keeps getting "L's". I was seeing this a lot when you were talking about the arc. Maybe you're joking but If that's an actual factor into decisions It's concerning to me. That's a thought process that leads to disappointing things. On the positive side, like I mentioned at the start. The speed of article releases were good. It should be maintained for an arc that has shock value like this as it would just be kind of ridiculous not hearing a very prompt response to an entire fleet of civilians getting massacred. If anything, tension may have just gone even lower if the times between articles were stretched out. The main time where I think a delay might have been a benefit would have been when the super ship was unveiled, as a case would be made that time is needed to organize and move. Basically, have it be context dependent if you really view it as a problem, but I really do not believe the pacing was the reason behind interest waning. The content itself was the reason for me personally.

The Aurora NT physician uniform looks amazing and very professional compared to the NBT physician uniform, which is a recolored Aurora NT first responder from what I can see. Some pictures, this is of the Horizon NT physician and Aurora NT first responder. Then this is the NT Physician on the Aurora. Going Phys forces a coat on, though I will see if I can get a better picture of just the uniform later. I really like this and would rather it stayed.

The PMCG's colour scheme has been making it pretty hard to pair up accessories and some suit-slot items for me. The baby blue doesn't have a lot of good complementary colours and it also looks washed out. Idris and Zavod pop a lot more. I don't really have much in the way of suggestion for a change though as this is not my strong point. That said, I think the current EPMC uniforms hit the right mark with their colour scheme and the professional merc feel.

At the moment they both feel like relics of old lore that don't really matter much. The Luna Convention is superfluous and with no signatory except Jargon following it without some stipulation. The IAC is conceptually fine but it's pretty out of sight and doesn't really get much mention in places I'd imagine it'd be heavily involved in, like the Wildlands. Another aspect that's more of a player sided thing I suppose, is that it doesn't feel very "professional" either to me. Volunteering on a whim and treating it as a diversion probably wouldn't really happen right? I think they'd want dedicated professionals that believe in the mission.

I'm not sure what you mean by "You didn't actually ban me for anything other than what you thought might happen". I did see you passively aggressively bringing up a prior argument. I promptly cut it short with the ban. Then it regressed into outright provocation on Alb's thread and now on this one. An issue here, evidenced by the fact you even initially complainted Alb now rather than when it actually happened, not to mention you would have actually tried to go through with it if the strike wasn't already expired, is that you don't understand it's a result of your behavior. Even if you were "right" it would not have changed that you argued in bad faith. As it turns out, being a very rude person is a problem. That's been the core of seemingly every incident you've been involved in. So how could you ever even post something like... You called Alb a liar, got irate over being striked and then relapsed into swearing at people. Even though you said nothing that was "accurate and true", were you hypothetically correct you would still be in this complaint due to being a dick. So my message is pretty clear. Be more considerate of others. If this ban is maintained you'll be free to appeal it when you apologize to Alb and enact actual change in how you handle what upsets you.

The only coincidence was that I ended up seeing you beginning to harass Alb again. It was a definite factor behind the now permaban since your last warning is related to the same behavior you're displaying now. Swearing at people and calling them slurs will never be acceptable. I gave you a chance even after you did that to me as well, but it was with the expectation you'd do more than just not directly call someone something offensive. It was with the expectation you would treat people better.

The Discord logs from December were pretty charged up, and I think that aggression also shows through on the now closed complaint post on Alb even if they've moderated their language to an extent. These are three snippets from the argument over the strike in particular. It was long, so these are only particularly charged ones chosen at random. Then, NodNodNod posted again today and it was a continuation of the strike conversation. I know it was read already, but I will post it here for the benefit of review. It's pretty self evident what they wanted to do here, I think. Passively aggressively snipe at Alberyk. There's no other reason for them to randomly quote that out of the blue, and then make a complaint about the strike now rather than back when it happened. If NodNodNod actually treated Alb with some respect I'd be more willing to believe this was something more innocent. They did end that one complaint with a pointed closing statement too.