triogenix

Slightly sad the name won't be Artemis, but I just wanted to say thank you to everyone whose worked on NBT for the past however many years that's lead us to be able to playtest it next year, finally moving off a station setting. I look forward to the playtest with barely contained eagerness. Thank you all so much and happy holidays!

I have to echo faye here with Farson as a character specifically, I don't think they'd be a good fit for CMO given that first, as of now they work for Zeng-hu, so they'd have to transfer to NT and become CMO immediately(if you had waited a month for NBT testing this wouldn't be an issue since all command would report to the SCC), which in my eyes isn't believable, maybe having transfer to NT for a few months then bumping them up could work. Secondly, Farson, as Faye stated, never really stays in their lane and I can see them doing chemistry with two chemists of shift or surgery when there's a dedicated surgeon who isn't busy, and essentially take both interaction and things to do from your subordinates, which is IMO, the worst thing possible for a command member to do. I might reconsider should you choose to create a new character or bump up another. -1

This is the main reason I want this suggestion to happen. If I have a human whose lived in Crevus for the past 8 years and they can't understand a word of Siik, they don't really feel like an actual person, just someone random spouting BS. Same for skrell in the alliance. While I'm not sure I like the idea of a "points" system, I also don't really have any viable alternative. +1

I think while in the midst of the scarcity, the sole superpower, in the sense it is a nation no others can really compete with and can exert it's will onto other smaller nations, is the Jargon Federation. While Sol is in the limbo of a military junta with what is as of now, a fleet undergoing overhaul to be useful for projecting power with no indication or idea of how much of the work is completed, it cannot really exert it's will or policy beyond it's controlled systems without outside assistance from those within the systems. The same is true of Biesel, currently focused on pacifying the CRZ and other the yoke of mega corporations. The CoC is, as of now, a fragmented state with an unclear governmental structure, but does manage to spread it's influence outside of it's borders(seen by the support some member-states give to the League of Anti-Corporate systems) However, due to their fragmented nature they cannot hope to stand up to the Jargon Federation, which controls an amount equal to around 2/3rds of the CoCs territory under tight rule with much more impressive technology. Elyra could be a contender, with their massive amount of phoron, however due to their isolation and(as of now) lack of exportation at a high level, they cannot really influence anyone else with their deposits. And a majority of other alien factions/dominia are still working on influencing their own home planets, and are (generally) very far behind the federation. Therefore, the Federation is the only nation in lore I can consider to be a superpower in the sense of the definition: "a very powerful and influential nation".

Posting this before I forget, apologies since I'm tired so it will probably be incoherent. I like these answers, they identify the flaws and mistakes you made, and where they're also being made in other places, which you will be able to help with as deputy(I think). Due to that, I think this application deserves my support with a big old +1, but given that I am not a lore writer and don't really see what you do/don't do behind the scenes like Alb and Des can as lore writers, and what you work on, so I can't really comment on it. Because of this, I'm stating now I may change my opinion at a later date if more staff who see you in the lore team environment voice their feedback on this thread. Wish you the best of luck on this application!

I am of much the same opinion as you, however, as you said over your career as Unathi Maintainer you did not give the species current topics to talk about, with the last article posted close to a year ago as Alb said in his reply, which I agree does not inspire much confidence things will change at face value. So, to pose a question, in your eyes, what is the reason Unathi have had no articles in the past year, and very few(I think it's been like 3, 2 of which were part of KOTW, but I'm not sure) under your leadership as maintainer? And assuming you view it as an issue, how do you plan on fixing whatever has caused this lack of articles from yourself if you end up becoming deputy loremaster?

So, I'm making an assumption that due to the fact you were the only CCIAA I saw on the staff list at the time of the fax that you wrote it, apologies if not. During round cfh-dz1r, the one that just ended as I post this, a fax was sent to the station about their issues with changelings, which contained the following. "I have passed the information of this biohazard across to the scientists at Upsilon, and they might be interested in recovering live specimens or their remains for study. Please keep them in ideal condition - if dead, ensure they remain at a quarantined cold storage." My issue/feedback about the fax is that at the time of sending, there was a near full science department, who could have also gotten interaction from the changeling(even though there wasn't a xenobio I believe the point stands). Instead, command was ordered to essentially not let the local science department touch the changeling, even if it was a just a corpse, and leave it for a bunch of non-characters who won't have any impact on the round. I think a better fax to send would have been "I have passed the information of this biohazard up the chain to my superiors, and they are interested in the recovery of live specimens for study. Please attempt to capture one alive and deliver to your science department. If the department is unable to complete an effective study, contain and hold it under quarantine, dead or alive, until a specialized research team can arrive." As this would give a chance of interaction to the science department.

I think to make it more distinct is difficult, due to how as of now no other company really has the proprietary augments like Zeng-hu has, but the best way I see is to have other non-zeng megacorps like Zavod or NT not really do this much, instead only doing it for when an employee gets injured, and maybe having whether of not they have to pay based on their insurance plan. For EPMCs and Eridani, I would make it more specific to companies based out of Zeng-Hu owned areas, or citizens who might work in these areas even if not for Zeng directly. To me instead of having be very similar for everyone, it shows the effects megacorps have on local populations where they hold all the pwoer, adding a little more depth to Eridani and the EPMCs, if that makes sense.

My only non-positive feedback revolves around "Many corporations offer exciting sign-on bonuses or rewards for good performance in form of exclusive, proprietary modifications. These offers, while seemingly benevolent, hide inherent risk that leads many to refuse them altogether. Many employees do not own the augmentations, and poor performance or quitting can lead to forcible repossession. This practice is especially common in the Eridani federation, particularly with the Private Military Companies." This seems to be extremely similar to what Zeng-Hu does with it's employees, with the main difference I see is that there is not a forced culture around the PMCs and Eridani to do this, unlike Zeng-Hu. While it is an interesting idea and one that I find very good, I think that since we already have something very similar in our setting for one company, it takes a lot of the uniqueness away from said company when it's changed to be a near universal thing, or added on to other companies/parts of companies.(However, I do think it kinda fits better with the corporate dominated Eridani then Zeng-Hu, but nevertheless) Beyond that this seems to be very well written and has interesting and well thought out ideas that I'd like to see added, my favorite being the things about FBPs others have mentioned in their posts.

I think people are getting very hung up on laser rifles vs ballistic rifles and what not, when it shouldn't really matter to the discussion. The main issue for me is not about balance between security and antagonists or balance of combat in general, but the fact that burn damage is much more debilitating then any other common damage types. This is because when burn damage is taken, pain, blood loss, and the burn damage itself is immediately applied, rather then having it happen overtime as with bleeding or losing air. This means that burn damage itself, not laser rifles or w/e thing people want to complain about, is unbalanced when compared to the other damage types at a baseline. They start to become more balanced with high-level combat gear as @WickedCybs pointed out in their post, which is good, because any high damage, regardless of type, bullets swords or lasers, should be deadly, but the issue with burn damage specifically is that; Even at lower damage numbers, it is much more debilitating then oxygenation, brute or even toxin damage. As for how to fix it, I'm not a developer, and it is hard for me to input specifics, but the general idea I think is that burn damage should not also do 2 other damage types instantaneously, even at low damage numbers, as well as organ damage if it's applied to areas with organs(though I'm unsure if that's a laser specific thing). Removing blood boil would be a good step towards this, or even making it somehow damage over time as is seen in normal bleeding, with the rate at which it boils off scaling with the total damage taken to the part like with brute damage, and being able to stop it with bandages.

This one looks a little weird given the characters appears to be looking forward but you can't see their eyes, maybe it's just me though. Besides that, I'm fine with these sprites, especially after looking at them fully geared up

So, I haven't much spoken or worked with Marlon in the past, only really speaking with him a few times since started playing on Aurora again, but from what he's done since they rejoined the community I think he could be a good fit for a lore deputy. Their work to compile all the old lore articles from when previously played on the server is easily the star thing for myself, as many people will miss out on lore because the old lore articles are hard find and get into, but also contain incredibly setting-changing lore that is sometimes ignored by the wider player base. My biggest concern, is probably how they would work in a team, as I wasn't there for a majority of the things that people are describing, and though it was more then a year ago now, it makes me think about if they'd work well in the small lore team. However, that consideration is probably better done by the people who will be working with him then myself. As for his personality, I don't like it personally, but to me, it's basically a non-issue and not any worse then my opinion of some of the other peoples personalities on the lore team who still put out very good work and work well with their team.

+1, very good app

Not even just with laser rifles, it's super annoying when you touch a shocked door and suddenly 15% of the blood in your body is gone, and you all the other nasty effects Butter mentioned in the original post. As for ways to nerf it but not completely make it useless as a damage type, I'd make bloodboil much less effective, but probably up the damage if possible for weapons that use burn.

COMMAND ACK, +1, RETURNING TO IDLE

Lucaken pretty much summed up why I think this is a good change, people need to play more then a single character, I've found that you can get 3-4 really solid characters. However, I also feel this may open up people job-hopping a lot more, because if you played your officer last round, why not play them as warden the next if you want to keep playing(this is an example)? I know barely a thing about coding and development, so I can't really comment on any possible solutions to this, and it's already an issue.

While the rest of the idea for the Outer Ring Civil Protection is solid, with a lot of opportunities for less corporate oriented human characters, having their private security just be basic police seems to be to be very shallow, and somewhat boring. I would add something to make their enforcement methods a little more fleshed out then just being typical police officers. Perhaps being especially apt at breaking up riots or secessionist movements, which could also give another reason for why the SCC picked them up so quickly. The Independent Ranger Group I also like a lot, and how it reflects a lot of the coalition, being more rag-tag then the others. However, I do wonder, in your eyes what types of characters do you envision coming from the group? Are they just the up jumped militiamen, thugs, and wannabe soldiers as you mention in the description or do you see more professional members coming out as well?

I suck at giving feedback so I'm just going to blab my thoughts, what I think went right and what I think can be worked on.(also obligatory I don't have all the information)(also whenever I say yourself I'm referring to Alb) Things that went right: I think the biggest thing that went right was the amount of player freedom within the events, but still having it so that there will be a somewhat set ending, for example in the third event, the FIB was going to show up to kill the bayonet hand if the crew couldn't manage no matter what, and the bayonet hand was going to die. I think it was the perfect amount of railroading, allowing players to influence outcomes but not in such a way they could wildly change something. Second best was probably the mini events run on extended, I really like having mini events so it's not like everything only goes wrong and things happen when there is 50 people on station. It also allows those who might not be able to make events still get something canon. Third was probably the canon deaths, while there were some issues I believe with who died (most of them were people just at the casino and extremely few, if any, were active participates in investigating or disrupting the bayonet hand previous) however, I still like the fact that people had consequences, seen or otherwise for actions. It also allows much more character growth for those who were friends with the dead, or who even saw them. Fourth and most minor, I liked how in the finale event, everyone was a visitor, so there was no competing over job slots, and no-one who had been following it thus far was unable to participate in the finale because someone else was in the slot their character occupies. What can be improved upon: This was the hardest feedback for me to write, as I don't know if it's just my perspective skewing my views, or if it is the players own decision and willingness to take risks that allowed it, or if I'm just plain wrong, but for me, it felt very difficult to get into the conspiracy aspect of the event. It felt to me to be very metaclique-y and like people did not want those not a part of the "group" whether that be in security or those friendly with yourself to get involved. What it resulted in was that 6-8 people got a deep level of involvement while everyone else essentially just skimmed the surface and got all the information OOC'ly, or had it all in the last event due to having ties with the aforementioned 6-8 people. While I do not truly believe there was any preference given or metacliques at all, it was and is my gut reaction thinking about it from an outside perspective. I can't say if anyone else felt the same, but I think it can improved upon, so that it might be possible for more people, with more diverse jobs and more diverse departments, to get involved with the RP surrounding the conspiracy. I think the best way to go about this is to essentially give people a run down in the lore discord, probably in the Tajara channel specifically given it was a Tajara event, about how they might get involved in the conspiracy, who to reach out to if they wish to be involved deeply, and the risks their characters would assume by doing so. This would also allow a greater section of characters to influence the events, rather then a 1-2 similar jobs. The draw back to this obviously is that there is not only more work for yourself and your staff to do, but it will by definition spoil some bits and pieces of what might occur within the event. It would also possibly make character actions more railroaded as they are aware of the risks and may make decisions based off the foresight of those risks. However I personally think it is worth it, in order to give a deeper experience to those who may be more nervous then others about participating heavily in events outside of volunteered. I also acknowledge that myself saying it is worth it means nothing, as I will unlikely be getting the extra workload for a job that is done for free. The other area of improvement I think is part of the finale. I think the firefights that occurred, between what yourself as the Bayonet hand and the crew, could have been handled better. I think it was a lot less the creepy horrifying "I don't know if I'll die next, I can't see, there's no radio" and more the "holy shit there are bullets flying past my head" scary, which I did not personally like. While I do enjoy canon death, and was rooting for you in D-chat, looking back on it I think the better way would have had it be extremely sudden, unseen, and seemingly random, rather then what felt to me like a firefight throughout the casino. While I understand that was not the point of the conspiracy theory, and that the bayonet hand was not super natural and just a terrorist, I think it still would have been worth it, instead of seeing him just bounce around and get into fights with security and lone wanderers. Perhaps including the radio from the first event, or completely blacking out everything and having people just disappear into the dark only to be found dead. However, I acknowledge this would be extremely difficult to pull off, near impossible one might say, and I believe the way it was handled is fine, just not the best it could perhaps be. This also may have been influenced by myself observing and volunteering, rather then being crew. It seems many people here had the opposite, and felt more hunted then anything else as crew. Nevertheless, I thought to include this paragraph I apologize if it seems I just wished to accuse people or wrong-doing or make passive aggressive statements, I just wished to get my own personal feelings down, and preferably have them changed due to other feedback given by players and event organizers. I still did enjoy the arc a lot, despite the improvement part being significantly longer then what went right, but I think that's just because I wanted to try my best not to sound insulting or mean-spirited, which would have shut off a lot of conversation around it, negating the entire point of me making this post. Thank you Alberyk in particular and the lore team in general for the effort you put in to the event and everything parallel to it, and I hope to see something like this happen next year as well.

This isn't a -1, but I do have some non-positive feedback for you. I've noticed a lot with Atiyah, possibly just due to the rounds I play, that she can be difficult to find, sometimes in emergencies. I remember several rounds where you were RPing with someone(not a bad thing), and weren't there to do your job such as open the armory, or process a prisoner. While it does suck having to break RP with someone to deal with something, it's a critical part of being a head of staff, and yes while HoP gives the most freedom, there are still times where you may be the only command member, needing to respond to stupid gimmicks or a dumb fight instead of having enjoyable RP. Due to the fact I haven't interacted with your other characters, it may just be Atiyah's personality or the rounds I've played with her that have these issues, so, again, this isn't a -1, just something for you to keep in mind if you get to the trial phase. And good luck

So is this still being debated within this thread, or is this confirmed.

I like this, after Carver expanded a bit more here I'm fully behind it. I get lore reasons for species to be stronger then another, but the massive difference in time to break vs. time to slip is way to big, and shouldn't be a thing for a basic member of a species.

Minus one no pun in app +1 Roaper's HoS Ferier is enjoyable to play with as security, and is pretty competent at giving orders and keeping everyone organized.

I have but one question, how will learner roles work with this? Would they just be from the companies that occupy that department? For example, Zavod or EPMC Cadets?