Desven

If you've played Paradise, you probably know that there, people that are no longer in game remain in their place but with a zzz speech bubble. Being a huge, LRP server, this prevents the floors being full of people just appearing dead. However, I think our setting would benefit from this a lot. Being disconnected is not something you plan, instead just something that occurs. In HRP, falling on your face, just suddenly asleep, is awkward and always has to be brushed up in the weirdest ways possible. Sure, falling asleep on your feet isn't fancy or realistic either, but the zzz speech bubble serves as an AFK tag that isn't immersion breaking. You no longer have to run and pick up your narcoleptic friend to buckle them into a chair or something, you can just ignore that person while they rejoin the game.

Technology advancements are not simply who has the best guns. At one point, you could say Vaurcae excelled at that, but we have distanced ourselves from it. The problem with giving Vaurcae too many gamer weapons is, mainly, that they would have no reason to be as oppressed as they currently are. It also has created a dissonance in lore that some may think remains. I'll try to explain, briefly, how Vaurca technology is actually meant to be now. At one point, Vaurcae did build incredible weapons that could probably outshine many of the current faction's armies. However, these were incompatible with how they philosophically understood war. Many of those weapons were banned because they do not wish to have a war in such a big scale again. You can read about the Great Hive War here. Vaurca technology stagnated in a time Virtual Reality flourished. There's various factors to it: not only you can say Virtual Reality is the pinnacle of Vaurca tech, but they also had a "dark age" after the Great Hive War, which prevented many more technological advancements. Before that, they made great leaps. You can read about the Hives Renaissance here, which explains the reforms made shortly before their Exodus. It might not be as amazing as shooting lasers or something (though, canonically, there are types of Warriors that do have integrated lasers), but Vaurcae remain highly organized and have achieved a lot in less than a decade. I think Tret is a great example of just how advanced Vaurcae are: they reshaped a whole planet to become the biggest factory in the galaxy. One of the problems when you wish to add advanced technology in game is mechanics. It's also something the Skrell lore team has had to deal with before, especially when it came to the Tups. You have to be fairly balanced, and you also must recognize the limitations of Byond and what we can do with our current code. There have been many proposals to add some pretty advanced Vaurca augments that are just straight broken. In my opinion, technology should give more flavor than actually create an upperhand. It's also why the All-Factories of Vaurcae had to be nerfed; they were too much and too magical and remove the idea of conflict within the scenario. That being said, I do wholeheartedly believe that Vaurcae are at the same level as Skrell, technologically speaking. However, the Skrell have made significant progress in other areas that are economically viable, and have a long history as an established species in the Spur. Vaurcae are outsiders, and their technology, even if as advanced, is not as understood or not as practical. Nonetheless, think about again as to how much they've accomplished in a short time span. The leaders of the Vaurca Hives (Queens and Breeders) are playing a strategy game and have accumulated many assets for themselves. The Worker Vaurca you see on the ship may be underpriviliged, but it's serving a role in making sure the species as a whole continues to integrate, colonize, and gain freedoms.

I've said it before, limit borg's access to one department. Give them head access if you want to be generous, but they shouldn't have unfettered access. I've said previously that borgs should also be restricted to one job, but frankly I'd like to see less engineering/medical borgs, so I'm now okay with them changing modules if required. I still fully believe the best solution would be to remove the job, maybe just keeping menial mining cyborgs which justify borgification lore. I'm adamant that borgs (and AI, to that extent), don't really have place in HRP servers. And no, I don't think Viax are their equal. I've seen plenty of interesting Viax before. But if removing borgs promotes more people to play Vaurcae, I wouldn't complain.

I'm not adding this on minor mapping suggestions because I think it's a bigger problem on how the Horizon is currently laid out. In my opinion, the lack of wall radios (and chargers to a lesser extent) is a huge problem that needs to be addressed, and may require some reorganizing of the limited wall space.

Accepted.

Hi. Sorry for the late reply. I just have one request: could you please explain how do you think Vaurcae would play different from humans? Not mechanically, but how do you imagine roleplaying as a Vaurca would be unique.

I've made several suggestions in the past to heavily modify cyborgs, but ultimately I believe the role cannot be fixed. They're a remnant of a different kind of server (or game, for that matter) and I don't think whitelisting them would improve much. There needs not to be a reason, I would prefer if in lore they were just voided due to Luca's raised concerns. And frankly, station characters should realistically not feel attached to any cyborgs. Previously it has just created cliquey behavior that lead to IRs and administrative actions, as stationbounds have unlimited access (which I find the most unfair of their mechanics).

Hi. Thanks for applying for Vaurca. While creative, your application has some glaring issues. I'll state them below: A Vaurca Worker, Warrior, or Bulwark cannot simply pick up and leave. No Vaurca, not even Queens, "choose" what to become in life: they're born into that role and their very being is shaped to fulfill it. Pilot Vaurcae are an odd subject: while technically allowed for TCFL, I don't really know if Unbound ever piloted a ship after Exodus. Maybe there are new pilots now in order to fulfill their new army duties, but it's not meant to be common as Vaurcae are pretty restricted when it comes flying a ship of their own. They're completely unfavored when it comes to these jobs. A K'lax Vaurca cannot join the TCFL. It's a Hive thing, and Zo'ra is the one with the most presence (and military agreements) with the Republic of Biesel. In any case, Zhov would have a background experience as a Kataphract. Their story would be a lot different, however. Ultimately, I don't know if we have an official stance when it comes to applying with special characters. I know it's generally frowned upon to apply for a whitelist with a planned consular officer or liaison. One-time characters like special roles don't really need a deep background, just to be lore compliant. But I can't really accept an application meant to be for a special character; it doesn't accurately showcase your abilities to weave a Vaurca character and it's just an odd job for me to comment on how it would really develop, as opposed to something more mundane I could see on ship. If the role was the only problem, I would request you to rewrite a background. However, due to what I mentioned above, I will deny this application. Feel free to reapply in three days. If you have any more questions, you can approach me or my deputies on discord. I don't mean to discourage you, I do hope to see you applying again soon.

Hi. After much deliberation, me and my deputies decided to deny this application for the time being. We think you're close there, but not enough to properly roleplay as a Vaurca character at the moment. You may feel free to reapply in one week. In the meantime, you can approach me or @Connorjg1 on discord. Our tags are desven#3538 and Talion#1645, respectively. We will be more than happy to help you with any questions you have about the species and help you improve your understanding of the race. Additionally, feel free to poke at the lore discord and ask any questions you may have to any other players.

Application accepted.

Very sorry about the delay. Life got in the way. Two main things: Would you please expand a bit on how you think Vaurcae feel different to play than humans? Not exactly in the mechanics, but instead on how you'd get on a bug's skin. We usually prefer when you make your application on an Unbound character, even if you don't intend to play it. The reason being that for Vaurcae, backstories are flimsy already, as many just come right off Virtual Reality and join the crew. The question also requires you to write two paragraphs. If you can come with anything else, that'd be appreciated. Think maybe, if making an Unbound character, talking a bit about the character's hobbies, likes, or anything that fleshes out its personality.

Sorry for the delay. Approved.

Hello. I have a few questions. When did Ziilich begin to work for Zeng-Hu? How did it take the change? Most human megacorps wouldn't want Vaurcae to just lounge around on Virtual Reality all day, so Ziilich was likely forced to remain on the real world for longer. How does Ziilich feel about ZH now dealing with other Hives? This is an event that occurred last year, after the Bulwark introduction. What does Ziilich think about its human and alien peers?

Mendell City Metro Line Evacuated After Foiled K’ois Terrorist Attack Active k’ois spores were deployed across five stations of Mendell City Metro Line 1, which serves to connect Zhengfu District with Xinghua Prefecture. So far, more than a dozen suspects have been arrested. All were identified as Zo’rane Vaurcae, affiliated with the Ky’klux gang. Although the k’ois were identified within minutes, twenty people have been confirmed to be infected with mycosis, with a possibility of up to five hundred more unconfirmed cases from passengers who passed through the station. Line 1 will remain closed through the day as authorities continue to disinfect it. The Court of Queens in Caprice issued an emergency statement, calling the act “deplorable” and “Lii’draic.” “What transpired today in Mendell City is deplorable and does not represent the values of the Zo’ra Hive, much less any of the Vaurca Hives. The nature of this attack is Lii’draic, and we will fully cooperate with authorities for the arrest of all responsible parties.” Users of Line 1 are encouraged to visit their health centers for a k’ois test. Additionally, some housing buildings in the Xinghua Prefecture have been quarantined to prevent any future mycosis cases. If left untreated, the contagion of k’ois mycosis can be lethal. For the full list of symptoms and other information, please visit health.biesel.gov/kois.

As it's been a while without official response, I would probably contact an admin to see if a head developer can give you a trial. I think there are no pressing sprites at the moment, but you have enough good suggestions on things you'd like to work on so I think it would be welcomed.

Those look really good, though I do miss the heart on the deluxe bar.

I'm making you the same question I made Boggle. How do you feel about Vaurcae-Dionae relations? Is there anything you'd like to expand or change?

How do you feel about Vaurcae-Dionae interactions? Is there anything you'd like to change?

You should probably change the name of this app to reflect what you're applying for. The AI team has probably not opened it because there's nothing in the title to suggest this is an AI app.

I'm going to accept this application. However, there's a single detail I'd like you to review: Hephaestus only employees K'lax. This is by no means your fault, there's a small table on who employees who that we haven't uploaded to the wiki yet (but we should). I'll leave it here so you can review which companies employ Zo'ra.

Getmore Corporation CEO Responds to Threats of General Strike After the allegations of a general strike made by Queen Xakt regarding the Luthien facilities, Mataji Khatri responded in a short statement. The response, provided by Miss Nala Somari, was claimed to be “not official in any way, just a clarification.” She then proceeded to read from a piece of paper. “Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, we say things we don't really mean to,” quoted Somari, “and those comments should be taken with a grain of salt.” Two days ago, when asked by the press, Queen Xakt said that she would follow with a general strike if the ‘Orb’ is donated, per Dorn’s request. “If Dorn keeps demanding our most precious resources, we have no option but to protest. I'm willing to stop the production in all Luthien facilities if hostilities continue.” However, economist Joe Wollock claimed this scenario to be “highly unlikely.” “The Zo’ra Hive knows its worth,” said Wollock in a holo interview, “but they also know that their special status greatly depends on the services they provide. If Xakt keeps pushing for a strike, antithetical to the Vaurca values the Hive has promoted since their arrival, they give us no option but to look at other suitors that can fulfill the job.” Queen Athvur declined to comment after she was asked about Xakt’s threats. While the Mendell City Bugle could reach no other Queens, New Sedantis returned a fax with the following response: “Comments from Queen Xakt do not reflect the current position of the Hive.”

Police Doubled In Flagsdale As a preventive measure, the Mendell City Police has increased its presence in Flagsdale, the largest Vaurca center in Biesel. The decision was made after High Queen Vaur announced that the Zo’ra Hive would provide no more eggs for the ‘Queenless,’ a broad group of Vaurcae that do not belong to any of the major broods. Queenless Vaurcae are said to be the main perpetrators of Flagsdale riots, according to statistics from the Mendell City Police Department in 2462. Last year, a Queenless band known as the Ak’riix disrupted the Flagsdale Hivenet relay, a major loss in the district’s infrastructure. Outside of District 9, Queenless Vaurcae have the highest crime rates. Vaur’s announcement was made after the Dorn administration declared that the Zo’ra Hive would receive less phoron, due to the mineral’s scarcity. Although all attempts to disturb the peace in Flagsdale have been suppressed, Mendell Police City still expects a significant demonstration. When asked to provide a statement, Ta’Akaix’Ger’myck’aal, a representative of the Zo’ra Hive, said, “In times of crisis, our charity work has to be reduced. The aid we provided to the unaffiliated hive-cells is not viable for the time being.”

I know it's annoying, but what exactly can you do? You're unconscious, it's not like we can add an idle minigame while you wake up.

Hello, thank you for applying for a Vaurca whitelist. I really like your enthusiasm and believe you have put great effort to this application. However, there are some things that stand out to me that I believe we should address first. As of 2462 (around two years ago, give or take), Nanotrasen requested all of its employees to relocate from Phoenixport. This was a ruling overlooked by the Vaurca team of the time, but that has since been corrected on the wiki. The new location of Athvur's brood is Belle Cote, a fashion and arts city in Biesel. There probably are some Zo'ra Vaurcae still on Phoenixport, but it's very unlikely. Mainly due to the fact that Zo'ra has a strong relationship with Nanotrasen and Biesel, so it wouldn't be good optics for them to remain on the rivaling city which belongs to Einstein Engines. Moreover, the decision for making an Athvur engineer is a bit odd. It's not far-fetched or even disallowed, but there are far better suitable broods in the Zo'ra Hive for engineering work. I understand the appeal of Athvur, especially for a newer player that wants to dip their toes to Vaurca lore for the first time but may be intimidated due to their alien nature. Nonetheless, whitelist applications are meant to stick more to the norm rather than try to bend it, just so we can see that you truly understand the lore behind what you wish to play. The same thing goes for their voice modulator—the wiki states Athvur's brood likely has some of the best. I myself play some Vaurca characters with thick accents, but from other broods which would be more suitable. At the moment, I couldn't tell you where in the wiki you can find this, but the supermatter is meant to be a scarce engine, rarely available. Now, I think that some universities could probably test with SM shards, as the full crystal is meant to be used in prestigious ships and engines. You do mention a shard, but I'm not too sure on how these experiments would be held. Likely just a nitpick by me, but I don't know much about university lore to say if Hongsun would use that kind of engine. All that said, most Vaurcae don't really live inside Virtual Reality again until their demise. Maybe it would work better if Kezo was assigned to do engineering work closer to the Hive, probably constructing one of their newer cities and building infrastructure, before being sent afar. That solution would also help with Kezo's delusion of being now surrounded by humans, doing human work in a human ship. I'm giving you a chance to change some of the application in order for it to be more lore-accurate. I would also recommend you check other Hives, like K'lax. While it might be scary at first because you may think you need to know Unathi lore, only the basics of other species is required. Despite that, there are some K'lax broods that fit perfectly for the type of character you want to play.

Just something I was wondering: some of our sprites that feel the most outdated are some machines, furniture, and foods. Would you feel comfortable spriting the first two? I know you've mentioned the latter, but just thinking since it's probably what's required at the moment.