LoneTophat

Tish. Make server not dead.

BYOND Key: LoneTophat Total Ban Length: Permanent. I believe it occurred several months ago now. Banning staff member's Key: I can't honestly remember. Reason of Ban: I went chief engineer without having the knowledge IC'ly or OOC'ly in the early morning hours. This is sort of the straw that broke the camel's back, as several staff members had significant metagrudges against me at the time. Reason for Appeal: It's been between 4 and 6 months since the permanent job ban from all Heads of Staff, and frankly, I think that's long enough to sate whomever needed to feel I was properly "punished" for mistakes made. In the meantime, I've been enjoying other roleplay communities on SS13, and have created many memorable command characters. I believe I have enough experience now to properly do my job, follow your server rules, and behave appropriately. I enjoy playing Heads of Staff, I put a lot of work into my characters, and I do try and create a stable and enjoyable shift for everyone involved. If you feel like this is something you'd like more of, consider unbanning me from the Heads of Staff positions.

Due to the outrageous nature of this accusation, and the knowledge Hive and I have clashed in the past due to his openly hostile behavior, I took a break from responding to this. I never started a plasma fire. In fact, it was Hive who beat to death multiple characters with a fire extinguisher. When the admins asked me who murdered the crew members, I bloody well told them. I did NOT start a plasma fire, let me re-iterate. I think it's childish you're trying to blame yours and others mistakes on my behavior. I have largely left my griefing past behind, as my roleplay on the Aurora server attests. Now let's talk about the real reason why you're here, flaming my post with nonsense: I am very open to other folks on the teamspeak, including Skull who picked up your aggressive behavior, and I have been outspoken in my criticism towards your bullying nature. You can tell me it's just a fucking joke all you want, but the way you act reminds me of a school yard bully, endlessly jeering his peers. I would like to invite the other members of this community who joined the infamous server and had shenanigans to share their version of the piece. Clearly you're more than a little biased due to our past interactions. This has however led me to mute you permanently on the TS, as I will not subject myself to your utter bullshit anymore. Clearly the jeering on the teamspeak wasn't enough for you, and you had to fabricate this personal attack on me. Shall I be honest? I don't even know how to light plasma on fire without it being in the toxins lab. I've never made it a study, sorry. Thanks. I hope in the future we have positive interactions.

Top, the only reason I started developing any ill will towards you at all was due to the fact that you kept bringing up the complaint after I had specifically told you I wasn't bothered by it, and kept bringing it up in irrelevant situations as if to prove that my judgment regarding your other problematic actions was wrong. In every case I've dealt with you, I've been handling the issue at hand, and it's only after you've basically attacked me, questioning my abilities as an admin, that I started to feel alienated and hostile. One: I need you to take my words at face value. I take care to say what I mean, especially when I'm handling administrative stuff. Two: This is. Personal for me, but trust me when I say I do understand, to a degree, what it's like. About a third of my immediate family and a few of my very close friends are on the autism spectrum. It's not a big deal, and anyone who tries to make it a big deal or bully you about that here will be dealt with harshly. But while it does help explain some of your behavior and reactions to things, it doesn't excuse them. You need to interact with people as they are, not how you imagine or project they should be, and ASK if you're not sure you caught someone's meaning. Three: Admin PMs are not a debate forum. And asking "what would [ADMIN WHO ISN'T ONLINE] think" of staff decisions is immature, hostile, and irrelevant. Admins back each other up on decisions. It is not your place to try to undermine those decisions-- If you have issue with them, then yes, you take it to the forums. But if you get so upset that you feel the need to attack people you're talking with, then it's better to take a step back, say you're taking a breather, and resume the discussion at a later point. I'm here to solve problems; your behavior towards me since the night me and Meow fucked up has been passive-aggressive at best and upsettingly manipulative at worst. If the night you went CE, you had apologized and admitted your mistake, it would've been fine. However. You were already on thin ice after your previous behavior James Watson-- behavior which, mind you, garnered you multiple player complaints and forced Admins to bring in Centcomm intervention no fewer than four times, which is frankly ridiculous and a waste of our time. But after being contacted by admins for your decision to join as CE as a non-engineer, you essentially started slinging shit. You tried to, what looked like, blackmail and rules-lawyer your way out of the situation, and yes. We brought down the ban. Keep in mind that online moderators and admins can see every adminPM and everything said in LOOC, regardless of whose PMs they are or where the LOOC is said. Decisions are not made without accountability. Getting back on track. I don't have a strong opinion about this whitelist. Your roleplaying ability is not in question here. I do have the strong opinion that you need to clean up your act as a player. Thank you Lessick for responding. I'll take everything you've said into considerations concerning not only my character review (which as we've discussed is not the only issue) but also my OOC player behavior. I admit I was passive aggressive with you, and we did quarrel when you pointed out my mistakes as a player. I think moving forward I should try to treat all the mods and administrators equally concerning their admin PM's, and in general. Playing favorites only encourages divisiveness and disagreement. I'll attempt in the future to learn as much as I can from admins who I may not be super close buddies with, yet. :v Also, I included that bit about autism only as an explanation of some of my past behaviors, not an excuse. I would prefer if this thread did not pinpoint that as a major point of discussion, as I have been trying to go into environments and just be "normal" and not have to mention it to anyone. I did hear what you said though.

I'd like to post a rebuttal - I'm very aware that the issues that arose with Tophat had to do not only with his characters, but with the way he handled criticism. Not only did he refuse to listen to staff entirely for a time, being very argumentative throughout the whole ordeal, but he kept trying to placate them over unrelated issues, trying to constantly refocus attention away from himself, and nearly resorting to blackmail (bringing up incidents staff were involved in that had nothing to do with him, whenever we'd try to talk to him about problems with his character). Not only that, but in general a very negative attitude, and I quote, "If my whitelist is revolted, I will go antag every round or SSD", as well as constant incidents involving his captain (several times a day) make me a bit wary of granting him his whitelist back. Especially when he does not seem to have addressed any of that, and barely even admits his faults as a character ICly in this application. Perhaps another mod/admin who was more involved in these events would like to shed more light on the situation. Anyway, I can guarantee you that this application will not be accepted until Tophat addresses directly /all/ of the incidents that led to his whitelist strip, and explains clearly what he hopes to do, should he be reinstated, to ensure these do not happen again. (And it should be more than saying "heads should do their jobs, but are flawed, and I will try to find a balance between IC duties and flaws.") I mentioned within the whitelist application my OOC issues. I did not go into detail, because the whitelist did not require me too. I knew we could have this dialogue without me just "saying things at you" as opposed to having a discussion. I will now try to address every incident you brought up to share my side of story: Criticism: I found it easy in the beginning to learn from moderators and admins on the server. As time progressed and the player complaints and (in my opinion) OOC grudges formed I became more and more frustrated with the way disciplinary actions were handled. This led to my sarcastic remarks that I think really spoiled everyone's image of me, honestly. And it WAS a mistake for me to be petty and spiteful, saying things like "Well I guess I'll just go antag every round or SSD" if my whitelist removed. This is not behavior that would be expected of a whitelisted member, and it will not occur in the future. I will be watching what I say very closely. Blackmail/Lessick-Nightmare Incident: I take this accusation very seriously, as I was told by how close Skull and Nightmare were to banning me, because of "stirring up OOC drama". Let me begin by giving context to the situation. It was 4 AM, I was sleep deprived, there were four people on. I went CE with my military character, and was told this was the last straw. I understand Ggnomaz went Captain, and I made a sarcastic remark that wasn't mean't seriously, but was taken so. I believe I said something like "Well I'll go CE in spite!". I think this was less an actually spiteful remark, and more a sarcastic dig that I do with folks I consider my friends. No one 'knew' how to set up the engine but myself, with the help of the wiki. I made another sarcastic joke that I didn't have the IC or the OOC skills, once I noticed I made a mistake by not creating an engineering character. That was a real mistake on my part, and even when there's only a small pop, I get it, heads are important and have to be legitimate. This is when Lessick job banned me from every head, and we got into an argument about it. I eventually told her that I wanted to speak with another admin because I believed (and still do) that she formed an OOC grudge against me when I witnessed the previous events of a staff complaint (that we won't talk about here). Nightmare took a very aggressive and demeaning approach with our conversation, and I did not appreciate it at that late hour. I felt like he was acting like high school bully, in some respects, honestly. After failing to communicate my side of the situation, I struck out in frustration by saying in OOC (as opposed to PM's) that I essentially questioned Nightmare's leadership and administrative ability because of another admin's confession to me that they may resign due to internal conflict. I won't name names here, as I learned a lesson that if this person wants to come forward, they will, and I should not speak for them. I want to make something very clear though: I did not attempt to use this knowledge to leverage my position. It was not a calculated move, it was a flailing blow in the dark because of my emotionally distraught situation. I was on the literal verge of tears during my discussion with Nightmare. It may be important to note that the miscommunications may occur more frequently with my characters (and myself, to be honest) due to my extremely mild form of autism. I did not want to tell this community about my social weaknesses, as it became a tagline for me in the last community I was in, and led to much cyberbullying and harassment over it. I want NSS Aurora to be my home away from home, ultimately. It's a wonderful community and I've made friends here. I hope I haven't alienated the administrative staff to the point of no return due to this events. Other Incidents: Willfull stupidity, and sometimes ignorance, on my part. These will not occur again, as I will be attempting to not cross the line from "funny" into "abrasive". Furthermore, I won't be throwing my important gear through the station when I get shit faced drunk and am running away from a demotion from CC. That was not a good roleplay experience for everyone, in hindsight. LOOC conversations were often sarcastic and whingey on my part with FFrances specifically, and this will not occur again either. I do hope you end up judging me on my future successes, and not my past mistakes. Skull said something very true to me a week ago or so, during my first player complaint. He said people won't recognize your good work or successes, they'll pinpoint your fuck ups and judge you on that. I think this community can find a happy medium between the two, use folks mistakes to help build their characters and OOC skills, and build them up for their good work and strong roleplay. I hope we can continue to talk about things in a meaningful manner, and I do apologize for the mistakes I have clearly made in the past. It is not easy for me to come out in "public" about them, obviously. I think I use my dry sense of humor to break the tension, and it doesn't always have the desired effect. :\ EDIT: Due to this being a Wall Of Text, I've bolded each "area" of interest for folks. Sorry for writing so much :s

BYOND key: LoneTophat Character names: James Watson, Solomon Pierce How long have you been playing on Aurora?: About a month now. Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?: I enjoy the role of Captain, and I have built a character specifically for that role. He is also a possible HoS. Why did you come to Aurora?: I heard of it from my friend Herbert, who first introduced me to SS13 through Apollo, before it was shut down. Have you read the BS12 wiki on the head roles you plan on playing?: I have. Please provide well articulated and argumented answers to the following questions in a paragraph each. Give a definition of what you think roleplay is, and should be about: Roleplay is the act of putting yourself into an imagined character's shoes. It is the best kind of interactive storytelling, and I have loved doing it since a very young age. I often roleplay as my prose characters, so I can imagine how they'd react realistically to the given situation. In the context of SS13, there are two main ways to play the game. There's the heavy roleplay this server promotes, and the action packed and often explosive gameplay other servers offer. Ultimately, I think the reason why I made NSS Aurora my home, and forged friendships with several of it's members, is because of my love of prose and interactive storytelling. The stories we create on this server rival many supposedly great works, surprising as that may sound. We work together, from all different walks of life, to enjoy and escape into the SS13 universe, one of our very own creation. At it's heart, roleplay is creative cooperation. The rules are in place to promote this, but participants must agree to take on the role of their created characters, and behave accordingly. What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame?: Heads of Staff run the station, put simply. Without them, often anarchy ensues, and no work gets done, obviously. Heads of Staff make or break a round, frankly. But beyond what we all already know, heads of staff are people. They must live their imperfect lives, work in harsh conditions, and often their mask of professionalism must break to show the flawed human underneath. Their actions, however, are observed and critiqued by many, so they must strive to do their job competently, even under pressure. This has been the hardest part for me, as many of you already know. The balance between incompetence and human flaws, and the need for professionalism and (honestly) functionality. If a Head isn't doing his job, the entire station suffers, not just his department. I've realized this now, with my ample experience as James Watson. I will personally strive to balance Solomon's flaws with his IC duties. However, mistakes will be made. We're all human. What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them?: Whitelisted individuals are trusted with a privileged that I have personally learned can be easily taken away. The line between IC and OOC is often blurred, and sometimes it becomes difficult for some people to distinguish the two. I expect whitelisted players, moderators, and admins to be decent to each other at all times, even when things get emotionally charged. We all use SS13 as entertainment, but some of us also use roleplay as an escape, honestly. Keeping in mind that we all come from different walks of life, I will personally move forward with an inclusive and flexible mindset. I want to work with each and every one of you, even the ones who I may have been at odds with in the past. I am still new to this community, and I badly want to learn from the veteran members so I can rise to their standards. Please pick one of your characters for this section, and provide well articulated responses to the following questions. Character name: Solomon Pierce Character age: 42 Please provide a short biography of this character (approx 2 paragraphs): Solomon Pierce is a grizzled veteran of many conflicts, as his previous military service to the Sol Union Navy attests. He began simply as a Marine, but quickly rose to the task of command when put in desperate straits. He was recognized for his competency under fire, being sent to train at the infamous West March Academy on Mars. This is where he rose to the top, proving his ability to lead men and women into hell's gates, while also bringing the majority of them back in one piece. Upon graduation from the Academy, he became a commissioned officer in the Sol Union Navy, being given the position of XO aboard SUS Judgement, a Sentinel-class Destroyer. Years later, he suffered severe injuries due to an explosion aboard SUS Judgement, leading to his chronic shortness of breath. This ended his prestigious and honorable service to the Sol Union Navy. It would not be his final firefight, however. NanoTrasen had taken notice of his competency in command, and his military background impressed. They saw fit to write an open letter to him, offering employment as a Head of Security aboard the civilian research station NSS Aurora. He accepted, not willing to give up his action packed lifestyle. He had no intentions of settling down yet! Five years of competent service later, he signed the contract to command the station as Captain... What do you like about this character?: I poured myself into his backstory, frankly. I will continue to add layers of content as I see fit. If you take a look at his extensive character records, (Thanks Incog for the format!), you'll see he's got a lot more detail than I included above. He's got a chronic issue (shortness of breath) which I have iRL due to my cardiac illness. I will attempt to simulate this lack of endurance IC'ly. Furthermore, I really want to get the balance right this time, on human flaws and competency. His violent past and quarrelsome attitude may remind some of you of myself. I think Captain Pierce can get that balance right though, and I intend on seeing his character through to the end. What do you dislike about this character?: I'll be revising his childhood, detailed here: http://aurorastation.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=116&p=743#p743 GlamourChariot said it was to generic, being a young orphan who rose to prominence. I'm tempted to agree. Do you think this character is fit to be a Head of Staff? (Please note that Head characters must be over 30, unless given special clearance): Yep! Why?: He has the IC skills to get the job done, and organize the crew with military style efficiency. Please provide well articulated and argumented answers to the following questions. How would you rate your own roleplaying?: A cut above the average, but nothing in comparison to some of the veterans I've met on this server, honestly. I am endeavoring to increase the quality of my interactions, however, and move away from dialogue driven roleplay, towards a mix between dialogue and emoting. It'll be a work in progress, like most things. Extra notes: I would like to thank all the friends I've made on this server. Their support for James Watson was heartwarming, despite his (and my) mistakes. It's a shame he had to be put on a bus to rehab, for a double dose of AA and sexual harassment counseling. HR had a field day with him!

I do things. Sometimes.

James Watson porked Alysa Mills before he died in a fiery explosion, never to return. Just sayin'.

'Died'. As in they didn't die, but were counted as casualties due to their failing to evac the station in time. :B

We did a code red drill that went well. We recovered 80% of the crew members in two minutes :v Only like 4 people 'died'! Yay!

Thank you Pump, but it's been decided by Lessick & Nightmare.

Solomon was only twelve years old when his homeworld, the small colony planet of Aludra II, was abandoned by the Sol Union. The colony was built primarily to extract mineral resources from the extensive surface level deposits, and his family had lived their for as long as they could remember. No reason beyond the usual was given for their abandonment, "unsustainable", "difficult to defend", etc. It didn't really matter the reason the government gave, as the colonists knew the darkness was fast approaching without the Sol Union's patrols to keep it at bay. In a year's short time, the main settlements had collapsed in disarray, civil unrest creating an unmanageable situation for the local governors, all while reports of surface banditry increased. But then they came. Opportunistic space pirates, anti-Sol rebels, or malignant interstellar corporations, the colonists did not know. Their high powered weaponry and orbital bombardment capabilities quickly eliminated any organized resistance efforts, and Aludra II was conquered when young Solomon was but fifteen. His parents died in the ensuing firestorm, leaving him alone, with nothing but his minor possessions. Fate would not damn Solomon Pierce, however, as it had Luck smile upon him in his moment of need. A small survey vessel received the distress signals sent years previous by the aggrieved governors of the planet, and sent down a small exploratory party to an abandoned mining town where the signal was located. What they found was horrific, of course, burnt bodies huddled in their meager shelters, dying families trying for some small comfort before the end. But they also found a rag-tag bunch of survivors, children who had been hiding in the mineshaft before the impending firestorm. This is when the Sol Union rediscovered Solomon Pierce, not knowing of what service he would provide in his later years. The survivors were evacuated offworld, to a minor research station orbiting a gas giant. It was here where Solomon would become a man, growing into a hard and severe youth with a penchant for violence. Mister Pierce may have had an entirely different ending, if not for the fateful day the Sol Union Navy came recruiting. He was bored of bar fights and lonely nights in the drunk tank, he sought more than a meaningless existence on a research station without need of him. And so he enlisted, and became a Navy man. Solomon served as a Sol Union Marine for his first two tours of duty, frequently getting into small firefights with planetary rebels or interstellar pirates. He distinguished himself as a courageous man with an iron will, but continued to show a penchant for violence outside of combat. Despite Pierce's quarrelsome nature, he rose through the ranks during his service as a marine aboard multiple patrol vessels, until he found himself in command of a small squad of his own. This is where he shined, commanding small away teams of men he knew intimately, while also getting his own hands dirty in the action. It was also where he experienced the bullet wound to high right thigh, luckily he recovered after being evac'd by his dedicated comrades-in-arms, professing they'd never leave him behind even after he ordered it so. It was not to last, however. Solomon's commanding officer chose to submit him for a battery of tests to see if he was eligible for commissioned officer training at East March Academy, the finest military establishment in the Sol Union. Few soldiers proved themselves worthy enough to go from grunt to commander, creating a highly competitive atmosphere for the battery of tests. Solomon survived, somehow, battered and bloodied, but no less victorious from the final bouts. He began his training immediately, shipping off to Mars. He was by no means a perfect officer, often quarreling with those he had a moral or personal disagreement with. These conflicts didn't stop his peers from viewing him as a highly competent man when put under pressure, not one to break under fire by any means. Four grueling years later, he graduated with high enough marks to warrant a commission. He was given the position of XO aboard SUS Judgement, a Sentinel-class destroyer. It was one of his proudest moments... --To Be Continued--

Thanks for your input, Incognito. I'm in the process of recreating my Captain character now, and will post for review/suggestions soon. EDIT: My whitelist has been removed. I will continue to refine my Captain/HoS character. Thank you for all those involved in my defense. I will not lie, I do feel unfairly treated. But to better preserve the peace, I will not be making a staff complaint, as I have been threatened to be "thrown out on my ass" by Nightmare if I "rile up OOC drama." I have made my point clear about the cliquey nature of these complaints. It literally does boil down to a popularity contest, one I am not interested in winning, either. I will re-apply for my whitelist in the coming days.

If Nightmare's suggestion to rewrite a new character that is functional with a few flaws doesn't apply a band-aid to everyone's boo boo's than so be it. I will proceed in writing a well thought out character for the role of Captain in the appropriate location of this forum, whether this complaint results in a job ban or not. If so many had so much to say about Watson's deficiencies, I'd have preferred them said to my face so I could improve them on my own. When it gets to this point, it's best to dump a character like this, because no amount of modification will make people happy, OOC'ly or IC'ly. I want to talk a little about my time here as Watson. I was told repeatedly by multiple folks in the TS that they enjoy my quirks and flaws that I designed into my character. I think I took this too far, and ran away with it. I clearly crossed the line one to many times, and that message has been transmitted. Nightmare gave me a lot of good food for thought concerning character design, and he said specifically to listen to folks who AREN'T my friends. I would like to invite everyone to help me review my characters in the future, especially those in positions of power. I think I can still learn a lot, and I think this community is willing to be patient enough to teach me.

I make a point of not complaining about other character's mistakes, because I'd prefer it be dealt with by an admin as opposed to this arbitrary faux-democratic complaint system. There are characters that have fucked up far worse than mine, but I'm not about to ruin someone else's fun because they made a few mistakes. This system really does just promote forum and community drama, though. It's really a bad idea :\