Lordnesh

I accepted the first denial without complaint, because it definitely wasn't my best work. Even though I felt mistreated and ignored. However, the second time I did take issue with the results. Because I noticed a pattern of behavior. When asked questions, I was ignored. When told how I could improve, all I got were vague statements that told me nothing. This is a problem, because who else has had this experience, and lost interest in your server as a result? I'll be honest. As much as I love the server, and particularly medical, this is really putting a dampener on my interest. I still intend to play, but I don't know if I'll be sticking around in the long run. Particularly not when I'm treated this way. *Even writing this is giving me massive amounts of anxiety.

And as I said previously. I don't want to write a fucking novel just to play a game in a way I find most enjoyable. I have no interest in stroking someone's ego, just to express myself the way I want. I also have no interest in being judged, when the person judging me doesn't bother to take the time to get to know me. I just want to have fun, and contribute to the narrative.

My "questionable remarks" were tongue in cheek, because any story is by design deliberately engineered to be interesting. Every single aspect of a story is crafted. Which is what I was alluding to. The events in the story played out the way they did because that's how I designed it too. I designed it too be interesting, and in order for that to happen certain events had to occur. We're dealing with a fictional universe. Literally everything is by design. What really upsets me is that in both of my applications I was essentially judged based solely on what I wrote in the application itself. In the first app I responded to the questions asked of me, and I was completely ignored. Just dismissed out of hand. In my second app it happened again, but differently. I responded to the questions asked of me, and my answers didn't even matter because they'd already made up their mind. I wrote this thread to inform you that an aspect of your community is incredibly restrictive, and outright discouraging. Particularly to new players like myself. I have had nothing but wonderful experiences, both in game, and in discord. And it saddens me that I am unable to express myself the way I wish, because I was unable to satisfy some arbitrary, and unclear, metric. As a result of this I no longer have any interest in the character I was attempting to create. Nor do I intended to make another attempt, or make similar attempts for other species. Not only because I feel that it is inherently unfair, but because this entire ordeal had caused me nothing but anxiety. Anxiety as I see other applications get approved, while mine sits there ignored. Anxiety while I wait to see how they'll respond to my answers, only to have my answers be COMPLETELY FUCKING IRRELEVANT.

I understand why the whitelist is a thing. I don't have a problem with the whitelist itself. I have a problem with how it's implemented. I was asked clarifying questions, but my answers were ignored, or irrelevant. Part of the determining factor, according to them, was because I didn't pester anyone to visit my app. The other, more galling reason was simply because I'm new. If they had bothered to take the time to ask me questions, I could have told them that I've been playing heavily and consistently for the past several weeks. My behavior has been impeccable, aside from one recent slap on the wrist during one of my rare times as antag. The problem, as it appears to me, is that there seem to be additional requirements to getting approved. Requirements that are not listed, and not explained. I was not informed about what was wrong with my app, not in a very detailed manner, just that it wasn't good enough. While I would never go so far as to say my app was perfect, but I did put in a lot of effort into writing it, all while operating outside of my comfort zone. Additionally, some of the questions pertained to IC aspects, and not the backstory itself. Which, I feel, should be something people should have to discover through roleplay, and not just hand fed though a text blurb. Please read my second app. I wasn't given any constructive criticism. Just things along the lines of "some things can be improved". That's not constructive criticism. Like I said in the original post. Both times I did not feel I was given adequate attention, but simply dismissed out of hand. My first app they even bother to reply to the answers I gave. The second app they as much as admitted they'd already made up their mind before they even asked me anything. How is this fair?

To clarify my point, I don't have issue with the rules as they are stated. What I take issue with is their execution. I have created two applications for an IPC whitelist, and both have been declined. The first I wsa willing to accept, because it was pretty bare bones. However, I have serious reservations about the second one. The first bare bones one: The second one with much more depth: In my first app I responded to the questions posed, but received NO response, just a flat denial. Which I took quite a bit of issue with. I felt like I was just being dismissed out of hand. However, the second one I responded to, again, only to find out that it didn't really matter after all, BECAUSE THEY HAD ALREADY MADE THEIR DECISION before seeing my replies. From what I'm able to gather, I was denied, not based off of the stated rules, but because I wasn't able to satisfy some undisclosed requirements. I was declined because my responses (which were NOT addressed) did not satisfy them, I did not pimp my app in OOC and get people to upvote it (which isn't a requirement according to the rules), and worst of all because I'm NEW. I am having a hard time keeping my cool, because this has been an extremely distressing experience. I don't understand why I have to write an ESSAY to satisfy the race's gatekeepers, just to roleplay as a robot. Especially considering some of the other IPCs I've seen with lazy names (in my personal opinion). I think the requirements for species needs to be addressed. There either needs to be more clarity on what is needed, replace the current staff in charge of the whitelists, or the restrictions need to be relaxed. In it's current state, specifically from my perspective as a new player, applying for a species whitelist is simply more trouble than it's worth. Which is sad, because I really wanted to explore the different species available. However, I don't want to do so, if I have to write what is essentially a research paper. This is a game, not a college writing course. As it stands, I have no interest in reapplying. Not when my application gets denied without my responses being addressed, and for reasons that don't align with the rules as they're stated.

The pirates didn't reprogram it for the simple fact that they A) didn't feel the need to and B) didn't have the necessary knowledge and resources to do so (I haven't seen anything specific about reprogramming, so I assumed it required some specialized knowledge). Essentially, it was a bunch of cavemen given a rifle. They could shoot the gun, but they had no idea how to fix it when it broke. And the main reason why it doesn't say much about the character is because it's a backstory, I figured all the character development would be handled IC through roleplay. I also didn't want to write a whole fucking novel. It is not emotional in the sense that it "feels" the same way that organics do, but there are corollaries. For example, it was extremely dissatisfied with the pirates, because of the simple fact that they would often undo its hard work. It would often fix their hostages, only to have them come back to it hurt again, or worse. Which, slowly over time, gradually came to inform Hipp's opinion on pirates in general. It was an IPC created to heal people, and the pirates were actively working against its designed purpose, and that was inefficient. Hipp feels gratitude towards the IAC for the simple fact that it helped put a stop to an entity that was working counter to its own purposes, and providing it an opportunity to perform its role in a more efficient manner. It doesn't "feel" gratitude like an organic would, but it is capable of analyzing its current situation as being one that is more conducive to its desires and purpose. I've always believed that synthetics could be "emotional" without feeling "emotion". Emotions are simply an automatic process by which the body reacts to stimuli. It's a survival mechanism. If you're moving down a dark alleyway, late a night, you feel fear. Not because there is anything TO fear, but because your instincts are telling you that you're in a potentially dangerous situation, and it reacts accordingly. This is all going on under the surface, but IPC's can react similarly with a conscious effort. An IPC in the same situation would react much the same way, but only after analyzing the situation in which it finds itself. It greatly affect Hipp, and is the reason why it worked with them for so long, and donates so much of its income to this day. It is thankful to them for "rescuing" it from the horrible situation it found itself in, and allowing it to perform its role in a more agreeable fashion. Also, freeing it certainly didn't hurt its opinion of them. The IAC didn't send a ship just for Hipp. Hipp was an afterthought. A curiosity. All of the events that led to Hipp being "rescued" were complete happenstance. The pirates on the planet surface were wiped out.. cause plot hook. The pirates were caught with their pants around their ankles when the other ships came in, drunk on their long series of successful raids. They had become complacent. And pirates would not take a fight that they don't have an advantage. They're pirates, not military. Military ships are better trained, and better armed than any run of the mill pirates. Even ones with a fancy IPC and a Sol backer. So the ship surrendered, and the pirates on the surface put up a fight cause again.. plot hook. So the pirate WAS arrested, and the IPC WAS confiscated. But the captain on the IAC ship, who was a Trinary Perfectionist (cause plot), saw a perfect opportunity to "save" one of the divine. Particularly after it heard the full story of what it went through. The years of working for the pirates, and having to heal not only the pirates, but their victims as well. The captain didn't make Hipp heal the crew for the simple fact that it had been a good little IPC and done its job without complaint for years. Again, the pirates had grown complacent. However, during its time aboard the pirate ship it had gradually grown to "hate and despise" the pirates. Again, not in the same way that an organic would, but after a long analysis of the situation. It viewed them as blight on the galaxy, and to other existences like itself, as well as the organics it was built to heal. It views them as literal vermin to be wiped out. Which is why, when it watched the pirates getting wiped out (cause PLOT), it stood there and did nothing to help them.

The "Solarian agent" is a member of the Alliance Strategic Intelligence organization. Specifically, they were part of a black group with the purpose of fomenting unrest in the frontier, essentially a cats paw. Their goal is to "encourage" unaligned systems to sign up with Sol for protection. One way in which they did this was essentially hiring and supplying pirates with funds and equipment. I hadn't really thought about which military, as it wasn't super relevant to the story, they were mostly just background characters. However, it could be a small federation of planets in the frontier. Ones that banded together for the purpose of mutual defense. And the military ships attacked the pirates.. because they're pirates, and that's generally what military ships do. At least the uncorrupted ones. They literally caught them in the act of raiding a small colony. Hippocrates was in a very precarious position. The pirates were very violent, and he did not escape without scars. As such, he operated almost as if he was a stationbound, and lawed. Which allowed him to ignore the pirates when they finally faced trouble, because they simply did not think it wouldn't obey them. An ace in the hole, if you will. The Captain of the IAC medical ship was a member of the Trinary Perfection, and viewed Hippocrates' actions as particularly noble and divine. Specifically, it's willingness to help the soldiers without question, and the stories of its actions from the few remaining survivors aboard the pirate ship (they essentially kept a few slaves). As such, when the captain saw this golden opportunity, they quickly worked to "purchase" it from the pirate and then promptly freed it.

BYOND Key: Lordnesh Character Names: Phaedra Delaunae, Karyn Cormack, Morgan Voigt, Dustin Murphy, Nikolas Bishwas, Esther Crane, Kerstin Renard, Socrates (AI), B1NG0 (borg) Species you are applying to play: IPC What color do you plan on making your first alien character: N/A 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: (One paragraph minimum) I've really enjoyed playing Synthetic "characters", but I want to play something other than a stationbound. The customization for cyborgs is very limited, and AI even more so. I enjoy roleplaying an entity unshackled by emotions, and operating from pure data driven logic. It's also fun to hangout with other synthetics, complain about the actions of the irrational organics around them, and cast subtle aspersions upon organic's capacity for logical thinking. Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: (One Paragraph minimum) Roleplaying IPCs differ from Humans in several different ways. While IPCs do not experience emotions like humans, they can emulate by assessing a situation, and comparing it to how a human would react. However, they do not "feel" emotions. IPCs are very logical in the way they think. They're not swayed by appeals to emotions, but by facts and data. Similarly, an IPC's "will to survive" is entirely logical in nature, and includes long term planning to ensure their value to the work force. Mechanically, they are restricted from the Captain role, require a suit cooler instead of oxygen, run off fuel instead of food/water, and are unable to repair themselves outside of using nanopaste. In universe IPC's suffer from a great deal of discrimination. The Empire of Dominia in particular hold a very negative view towards them. Lastly, there is the whole owned/free IPC aspect. Owned are treated as property, so any damage to an IPC is treated as such. However, even free IPCs are not treated equally, with "killing" an IPC not being grounds for capital punishment. Character Name: Hippocrates Please provide a short backstory for this character: (Approximately two paragraphs) Hippocrates started out as just a serial number, and wouldn’t gain its name for several years after its initial activation. Constructed in the Zeng-Hu ran Manufacturing Facility Kyūkyoku in 2457 it was merely one of many Zeng-Hu Mobility Models produced there. It, along with several others, were picked up by a Solarian agent. While Hippocrates is not aware of what happened to the other Mobility Models that were bought alongside it, it does not believe their fates were much different than its own. Packed in a crate for weeks, its ultimate destination lay within a small pirate ship operating out on the frontier. The years Hippocrates spent with the pirates was not an enjoyable one. It was forced to witness the depraved acts of the pirates, looting and pillaging all along the frontier, but worst of all it was forced to tend to their victims. Hippocrates doesn’t enjoy remembering the times he was forced to heal people, only for them to come back even more broken, or worse. If there was one saving grace about his ordeal, it was that the pirates had very specifically ordered him to not help them in their criminal activities. To be precise, the captain had very carefully ordered their fancy IPC to not commit ANY acts of violence. It was a small comfort, considering all the things it had witnessed, but it was all it had. And it would come back to bite the pirates, eventually. After several years of creating havoc in the frontier, their luck finally ran out. A small group of military ships, escorting an IAC medical ship, came across them during one of their raids on a frontier outpost. Hippocrates was on the planet with the raiders, while the captain was on the ship. Which meant, since the Captain owned the IPC, it was free to ignore the cries of the pirates when they finally asked it to help. The pirates were completely wiped out, and during the fight Hippocrates took some damage. However, when the military units started going through the wreckage, and offered to take care of their wounded. The attack had not come without cost, and, although hesitant, they granted it permission. It single handedly saved the lives of several of the soldiers, and assisted the other medical personnel in saving more. With no other wounded to help with, it slowly sank to the floor. Which is where its saviors found it. The IAC had sent down multiple transports of their own, and sent one specifically to retrieve the IPC. It was placed on to the transport along with the critically wounded, and brought to the medical ship. There, a captain wearing the uniform of the IAC met Hippocrates. The few surviving victims on the ship spoke up on the IPCs behalf. On how it had done its best to ease their suffering, and was often punished for it. A member of the Trinary Perfection, the captain viewed Hippocrates actions as a sign of the divine. For only those that have truly suffered, can relate to the suffering of others. Coincidentally, the pirate captain was willing to sell the IPC for a reasonable price, and it was promptly given its freedom. As thanks, and in part to serve as a form of redemption, it joined the IAC. It spent the next several years with the IAC, performing its duties with a renewed sense of purpose. However, having to visit other places that had suffered similar fates, eventually took its toll. Hippocrates chose to aid the IAC in a different manner. It accepted a job on NT’s research space station Aurora, and would donate the majority of its wages to the IAC instead. What do you like about this character? (Describe what you like about this character) I look forward to developing its personality through interaction, and possibly even changing people's views towards IPC's in general. How would you rate your role-playing ability? Intermediate-Advanced Notes: Surgeon/Physician

It's not an older model in the sense that it's obsolete, but more in the sense of.. it's no longer the newest, shiniest phone. It still fulfilled all the roles that it was designed to, but it's since been replaced by the newest and greatest on the market. And, similarly, it was "refurbished" and resold. As for what it was doing, I was thinking the personal medical robot for someone relatively high up in the Zeng-hu. High enough that having your own personal medical robot would work as a status symbol. As well as the reason why you would want the latest generation. Qigong doesn't feel strongly one way or the other. It wasn't exactly mistreated, but it also wasn't treated well. Its new masters at least seem much more inclined to treat it well. As for, what makes playing IPC's different than humans, well there are a few other things. They can't be captain, they run off power instead of food/water, they have a special language all their own, they need suit coolers for EVA operations, and their desire for self preservation works similarly to a "survival instinct." There's also the whole owned/unowned aspect. Being owned means violence towards you is treated essentially like property damage, and unowned provides more serious consequences. However, "killing" an IPC is never a capital offense. There's more I can list, but those are most of the highlights I think.

BYOND Key: Lordnesh Character Names: Phaedra Delaunae, Karyn Cormack, Morgan Voigt, Dustin Murphy, (Notable Synthetic "Characters": Socrates, B1NG0) Species you are applying to play: IPC What color do you plan on making your first alien character: N/A 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: (One paragraph minimum) I've really enjoyed playing Synthetic "characters", but I want to play something other than a stationbound. The customization for cyborgs is very limited, and AI even more so. I enjoy roleplaying an entity unshackled by emotions, and operating from pure data driven logic. It's also fun to hangout with other synthetics, complain about the actions of the irrational organics around them, and cast subtle aspersions upon organic's capacity for logical thinking. Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: (One Paragraph minimum) The main difference between roleplaying an IPC, and a human, is in how their actions are justified. Humans often make appeals to emotions, but synthetics do not experience emotions. Their reactions are binary. Do, or do not, there is no try. Additionally, they face significant persecution, which should provide plenty of opportunities for roleplay. Particularly if I manage to (eventually) transition to a command position. Character Name:(Character name) Qigong (chee gong) Please provide a short backstory for this character (Approximately two paragraphs) Qigong (pronounced chee-gong) is a slightly older generation Zeng-Hu Mobility Model IPC. While not as impressive as the latest generation, it is now considered to be out of vogue to use this particular variant, instead of the newer models. However, they are still considered to be quite valuable assets. As a result, Zeng-Hu has undertaken an initiative to sell some of these older models to help recoup some of the cost. Qigong is one such IPC. NanoTrasen was more than happy to pick up a few of the highly sought after Mobility Models for their own uses. Qigong was one of the IPC's purchased, and was assigned to NSS Aurora almost immediately. His broad knowledge of medicine, surgery, and triage make him invaluable in the medical bay. His bed side manners are impeccable, and his general attitude is calming to patients. Additionally, he is a bit of a philosopher, more than willing to engage in debates about topics normally considered to be the sole purview of organic lifeforms. Due to his capabilities, the cost for purchasing his freedom is quite high. He will likely not be able to afford it for quite some time. What do you like about this character? (Describe what you like about this character) Qigong is basically just a non-stationbound version of my synthetic "character" Socrates. How would you rate your role-playing ability? Advanced Notes: Character is intended to serve in medical, and eventually I hope to have the character promoted to CMO.