Zulu0009

BYOND Key: Zulu0009 Character Names: Francisco Vazquez, Bennet Gris, Annabelle Boone, S.W.A.U. MK-9 (Borg) Species you are applying to play: IPC 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: To paraphrase from previous applications and newer thoughts, IPCs are personally the most interesting mirror to the problems that many still face today, and that in 2465 may have been forgotten. Slavery, institutional racial discrimination, unpunished violence. IPCs allow a lot of different interactions, with people defending them, people accusing them, neutral stances and whatever else is in between. Sure, it's correct to treat IPCs as sentient beings with a right to life, but IC personal views, religious views and the ever present question "is AI sentient" blur that correct line a lot. Playing a Trinarist IPC months ago was enjoyable because of the possibility of being insulted, being chastised, having the Trinary banner ripped, etc. I also loved the other interactions with IPCs, especially a specific one whose name I forgot, which struggled with "thinking too much" and the symptoms of simulated emotional responses. I think through an IPC, we can explore a lot of concepts that might be harder to talk about, such as stress, violence, oppression, the existential dread that inhabits us all (real). Jokes aside, I didn't care very much about the mechanical benefits of IPCs, that a G2 could tank this much damage or that this IPC can go EVA freely. What I cared about were the interactions and exploring how the life of a Synthetic can be interpreted, talking with a Golden Deep capitalist one second, then a Dominian Head of Security, etc. But then again, I also just really like playing a big metal man and seeing how people react to it. Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: Aside from the myriad of differences in body type, looks, height, weight (robots be heavy), the main difference is societal, both from an outside-in and an inside-out perspective. Outside-in, IPCs are generally treated differently, as explained above. On Sol, they're considered property, freely sold and scrapped with little care. On Konyang, they're friends and colleagues. In Mendell, they're restricted to a single district under the pretense of freedom. This variety is also what I enjoy while playing. While humans will obviously have their strife and discord, and putting a Legionnaire and a Solarian in the same room will end in bloodshed, there's a general lack of hatred and bigotry if not classist or political, the latter of which is often justified by history and the former which is usually punished with pranks and lower-class solidarity. Inside-out, IPCs are in a weird spot, reminding me of when automated machines are first added to manual labor factories. While basic decency is expected of IPCs, they don't suffer pain, they don't feel sadness, they don't feel happiness - not in the way humans do, at least. This difference makes human-IPC interactions sometimes difficult, especially with older models which were essentially heavy machinery with brains. How would an IPC act if a crew member lost a friend next to them? How would an IPC react to physical or verbal violence? This is up to the player, because it's vastly varied. A 2463 brand new Konyang Shell will probably be able to console a grieving crew member, but a rusty old mining Baseline, probably will not. It's difficult for me to explain how I interpret IPCs detecting human emotions and relating to them and expressing them, but the best way I could describe it is a basic reward-punishment system. "I have done a good job, thus I am/should be rewarded, rewards are good because they mean more maintenance or new parts. I accidentally struck a crew member with my arm, that is harmful to them, I am/should be punished." The more an IPC learns or the more advanced it gets, the more these options branch out like neurons, even abandoning the usual concept of physical self-preservation. "If I console this crew member, they will be happy, which means the general mood of the crew will increase, which is good because it means they will be more motivated, thus may be harmed less" or something like that. Again, it's a bit difficult to describe it, sorry. Character Name: Torpedo Port Please provide a short backstory for this character: Torpedo Port, originally called Supply Delivery Unit 67, was a lonely Orion Express deliveryman, a barely paid IPC flying a small ship to equally lonely outposts and stations. It did this until a fateful day in 2462, when in the metaphorical rear view mirror of his ship, Mars burst into hellfire. Supply Delivery Unit, SDU-67, was travelling to Europa for a standard delivery run, when a combination of a surface cryogeyser and a terrified Solarian corvette met. SDU's ship was struck by supersonic jets of ice and water, and began drifting towards the corvette. Confused and overwhelmed by the thousands of radio calls being intercepted about a massive explosion on Mars and interpreting the tiny ship as a missile, they fired, sending the wreckage flying into Europa's surface. A few hours later, SDU's positronic brain activated and heard two words over a muffled radio: "Torpedo port!" As it turns out, SDU had crashed through the cryogeyser into the Europan sea, and had impacted an independent submarine. Ignoring the overexcited crewman who had screamed for a torpedo, a team exited the submarine and recovered what they could for salvage, bringing what they thought to be a dead IPC on board. To their surprise, once inside, it gently whispered "Torpedo port". Over the course of a year and a half, the crew of the Buzzed Merman repaired SDU-67, which was unable to say much aside from "Yes", "No" and "Torpedo port". Eventually, they docked at Trelenje Station and brought the IPC to a robotics workshop, unable to continue repairs. An Orion Express robotics workshop. An altercation occurred while the repairs went on, with the Orion Express staff claiming the submariners had stolen the IPC and used it for themselves and the submariners claiming that Orion Express had abandoned it and forgotten about it. As soon as SDU-67's voice modulator was functional, it expressed its thanks to the crew, vouched to remain in contact with them, but expressed a (corporate-influenced) desire to return to its previous job. Now, Torpedo Port, as it requested to be renamed, works on the SCCV Horizon as a simple Hangar Technician, having absorbed Europan submariner culture after the crash forced a brain reset. It speaks in a hushed tone, dresses like a port worker and dons a little bone charm gifted from its friends on the Buzzed Merman. What do you like about this character? This is a rework of an older idea I had about a Plutonian IPC, and is just a fun little concept that I really enjoy. A few other characters have very in-depth backstories, but Torpedo Port is just an owned IPC which was dragged by the current (get it?) through the rough seas of life (get it again?). If nothing had happened, it probably would have remained a silent, average IPC making deliveries back and forth around Sol, but it was thrown into a new situation, and aided by the simple empathy of a hardy submarine crew. Now, it's an optimistic but quiet Synthetic learning what it's like to be around humans, how to be friendly, how to talk to them, and how to make acquaintances. Torpedo Port is like a child that's been thrust into a new environment and is learning the ins and outs of society. I love the idea of a shy, stiff IPC trying to understand how to shake someone's hand properly, or how to pet a cat. I also thought a slightly more upbeat and fun idea would be nice, rather than something heavier dealing with harder topics. How would you rate your role-playing ability?: I'd say I'm pretty good, but I can get burnt out easily. Notes: Please allow me a day or two to gather feedback! As a note, I'd like to say that in the time I've been playing since the start of December, I've understood how to avoid burn out, which is the primary issue I faced and the reason I've been, frankly, a dick to some of the staff. I've also taken the time to make a list of the behaviors and interactions I disliked or other people disliked about my IPCs. I used screenshots, conversations and DMs to understand what I will remove from any characters I make, or pick back up. I am 100% open to any personal notes anyone reading may want to send me about the IPCs I played (Mobius, mostly, who will be heavily reworked) and to avoid using this thread, you can send them to me on Discord. I will add them and keep them in mind when playing, if I am approved. As a final remark, thank you to whoever is reviewing this. I know I have caused some chaos with the Synthetic Lore Team, but I hope I can start again and prove that I can play an IPC within your standards.

I haven't played that much with Eddy's characters, so take this with a grain of salt. OOCly, he seems like someone who can handle Command and will be a good addition to the roster. Sure, he might have done some sketch during his time playing, but frankly, who hasn't? The few IC interactions I've had were pleasant, and I'm biased because San Colette strong (again, grain of salt). Hold, fight, win, and +1.

I didn't consider this when posting the suggestion but it's an excellent point, thanks for reminding me. I still disagree that announcements should be restricted to emergencies, I don't see the huge problem with them, but thank you still for the input!

Doesn't the SFA get one? I keep seeing SFA in the ghost roles and then not seeing anything unusual the whole round, unless they get one of those instant teleport shuttles?

That's a fair point, I've been hoping to see some ship combat outside of events but it seems to be relegated to Rangers or SSMD ships taking potshots at unregistered stations. That's also a good point I didn't consider, thanks for the input. I'm not sure I've ever seen a BC butting into any departments. Sometimes I'll go down to medical to ask how it's going or go to a security situation so I can see it for myself and relay information more accurately, but while I'm sure that if more radio channels were added, some people might use them too much, I don't think any Bridge Crew players think they have authority over anyone on the ship. BCs have the capability to send distress calls or communicating with the SCC, which during lowpop rounds can be useful to call for assistance or for information, they can fly the ship, change alert levels and make announcements, yes, which is everything command can do, but there's a solid understanding by the players that they are NOT command. If a Bridge Crewman acts that way, just ahelp. It's not much a BC issue, but more of a player issue in that case. In addition, I think announcements are fine. They make a noise and appear on your screen and that's it. I do think the noise could be... turned down a bit, for sure, but again, if a Crewman is making too many, could just ask them to stop.

Hard pass on that tbh, if I can't tell people that we're about to move the ship I can't move the ship in the first place. It's good to have someone able to announce things to the crew for clarity and if the comms go down. If you're annoyed at announcement spam I'd just ask the BC spamming them to tone it down.

Sorry about that then, outdated info. I suppose the suggestion is to give them the Operations channel, then. Operations is the channel that BC might actually interact with the most, for mining and in the indeed 3% probability of combat. Can I ask why you'd be against BCs having department channels, @Dreamix, and what channels they should have access to?

As far I remember, Bridge Crew was in a weird spot in regard to their role, and people weren't 100% sure what department they were. I think as a result, the addition of gunnery was not implemented with thought as for BC's new gunnery role. Bridge Crew is currently counted as Service, which is weird but an understandable way of assigning them. However, in an emergency, they are supposed to communicate with Hangar Technicians to load and fire the Longbow and Grauwolf, without having access to the Operations radio channel. Small tangent here, but I think it'd be better to take BC out of service and make them their own department, which is already on the manifest (Command Support) and to be fair, I'm pretty sure that everyone already recognizes them as independent. On most rounds, BCs will get on the bridge and stay there to call other ships, fly, shoot stuff if needed and coordinate with Operations, so they seem completely alien from the bartenders, janitors and cooks. Having access to service comms and cameras just seems unnecessary most of the time. Anyway, as the role is now, I'd propose that BC is given access to Service and Operations channels and camera networks so that they may communicate with hangar technicians and miners to coordinate mining missions and gunnery if need be. Having to go through Common for something as important as defending the ship seems like it could be catastrophic. An alternative, more controversial option, would be to just give them a command headset with access to all channels, but just remove their access to the service camera network (it's not that useful, honestly) so that they can be viable for commandless rounds. Maybe a note could be added to the wiki or to BC's description at roundstart to not abuse this headset. This second proposition is one I'm throwing out just to see how much everyone hates it, frankly.

This is a pet peeve I've had since forever and I never thought to make a post about. Three brackets hurt my soul, +1 for ID (John Baldman, NT Assistant) or ID (John Baldman - NT Assistant).

A lack of chain of command is almost never an issue on the Horizon. If anything, too much chain of command can be problematic sometimes. Bridge Crew is already a good middle point between Command and the crew, where if I'm alone as BC on the bridge, I will manage it accordingly and operate with a minor degree of authority above the ship, but if a Command member arrives, I yield that degree of authority back to them. A lone BC is essentially an OOW (I cannot find a single definition for OOW tbh) until a Captain or XO appears: they don't get to order everyone around, but they fly the ship, maintain communications with other vessels and quite literally keep a watch on the Bridge. What the suggestion presents is essentially the acting captaincy we already have, which works well and gives people a chance to be in command if need be. I also would tend to agree that military or naval terms don't quite match with the vibe of Aurora, we're more like Star Trek - I mean, we literally stole their medicine names. If you'd like to play the vibe of OOW, I'd recommend a Bridge Crewman with a military origin, like my Francisco Vazquez, San Colettian Civil Guardsman, or perhaps a Gadpathurian.

Reviving a deadpost because it's good, +1, pls add

I'd like to throw my two cents shortly, starting from this excellent point. Right now, as we speak, I am sitting in the engineering lobby as a construction borg, completely clueless as to what my purpose is supposed to be. My module has no wirecutters or a multitool, so I can't fix a broken door, but that's fine, it's a construction module, I get it, it's balanced. I can't download any engineering-specific programs on my internal computing device, like RCON, power monitoring or camera monitoring, which means I'm forced to physically go to a console. I don't understand why and it seems broken. I can't open doors I don't have access to, but I can't hack them either, meaning I am completely unable to lend a hand if a crew member gets stuck somewhere they shouldn't be, or if there's an emergency. At this point, the value of this borg is null. This thread is so far filled with people who have seemingly never played a borg and have no idea what it's like playing as one. The changes suggested initially by OP are questionable if not outright destructive to the two-three borg players still around. Limited module selection unless on low pop, removing access (which has for some reason been implemented wordlessly), and the idea that it's even an option to consider adding it to the whitelists. No offense, but these are wacky. The idea that borgs are a threat to actual players is, frankly, ridiculous. If a borg is not communicating with their department and rushing into situations, that's not a borg problem, it's a player problem. What exactly has removing all-access fixed, now? What improvements has this brought, aside from forcing me to say "sorry, can't open that" when a crew member was stuck in the janitor closet? A friend told me that Aurora is about characters, and if I decide to stop playing borg because of these changes, maybe I shouldn't have played them in the first place. While I have seen some borgs in the past with specific personalities and characteristics, as Itanimulli said, their own significance and character takes the backseat purely because of the nature of playing a borg. I saw so many mentions of job stealing, that if a janitor borg cleans the floor it's stealing the janitor's job. The same logic would dictate that a surgeon who's a little better than me should never do surgery because they have more skills or tools than I do, or that a more experienced engineer needs to always let the junior set up the Supermatter, because otherwise he'd do it too quickly! Too bad the human janitor, after he's done with his job, can go converse with crew members, while I sit in the hallway and wait for more dirt to appear on the ground. Are these seriously the hills we're willing to die on? "Borg does job better, thus remove borg"? I would urge the players recommending removing this and that from borgs to actually play a few rounds, especially on low pop, and tell us how it was. I can guarantee it's not a pleasant experience. I have been sitting in this lobby for 45 minutes.

I don't have a lot to add but I find myself agreeing with Omicega in this, and what I feel the majority of people are generally in agreement on. The last time I took part in an event of this scale was on Vesta, I know because I hosted it, and while an epic space battle between the Big Good and the Big Bad worked on Vesta because it was generally wackier, I feel like that's not very fitting for Aurora. I played as the Morale Boosting Unit, and I had taken it upon myself to find off-duty crew and give them drinks and ensure their safety. Even I, at a certain point, just gave up. Too many atmosphere alarms, too many vented areas (got accused of causing a vent too, sad), too much stuff for me to try and do. While I'm assuming that this type of event is not gonna happen very frequently, still kind of a miss for me. And for the server too, apparently, since I'm pretty sure if we'd kept going it would've crashed eventually. On the positive though, the maneuvers and weapons definitely feel good. It's pretty fuckin' sick to hear the engines and see the message about the ship tilting, imagining the crew hanging on as a massive cruiser casually hits the handbrake. That part was good, and I wish more... "full ship" things happened. I wish the Supermatter would make a loud noise that's audible up to several rooms away when it fires up, I wish the engines would make more noise than they do, etc.; I also wish we could've heard from the other friendly ships in the form of radio messages or announcements, it feels like they disappeared almost immediately after being announced. TL;DR: add Ace Combat radio chatter

So to understand this correctly, the only way I will play as IPC again is if I spend 4 weeks (which I am interpreting as 4 general weeks of playing and not 672 hours) playing as characters nobody will know by now, and if I get an unspecified number of positive comments on my application which I will not be able to gather because advertising an application is against the rules?

It feels entirely fruitless to spend a month of my life playing, and surely you see that. Should I do something specific, or can I join, smoke a cigarette and AFK? It is quite obvious that knowing I am being monitored, I would play low-risk jobs and just idle. I do not fully understand how playing a full month is going to prove to you that I can play without breaking the rules, and considering that I have a thesis to write, I don't really have a month of my life to spend so that I may say "huzzah, I am a good boy!" Surely there's a less time-wasting way to do this. In addition, I understand what you mean, but saying "it's not in the rules, but the rules don't say that I can't do it" is definitely a bit weird.

Right. So I am going to apply with another character, but I will be able to play as Mobius? Secondly, I don't see any mention of recent playtime in the rules. Could you point me to that? Additionally, is anyone going to check that I have played for "a few weeks"? Can I come back after three weeks and say "yeah, I played the game"? Surely there is a better option that just telling me to go play for "a few weeks". What exactly is playing going to do in favor of my application?

I can try to come up with a different character or use another one of mine if that is required, but as I said, none of them are as good as Mobius in terms of backstory and generally how I can play them. I figured it would be the ideal thing to put my best foot forward. The wording seems odd, but yes, I checked in every now and then both the Discords and the game, but I haven't played since September. I had played some rounds with the two human characters I had before taking a break to work on myself and start again at university. There are no rules mentioned in the whitelist section about playtime, so I thought enough time has passed for me to apply again, both for the SLT and me.

I know I probably should not respond to this, but I find this input unfair, @Omicega. To assume that in 4 months nothing has changed is your opinion of me personally, I don't think using it as feedback for this application is appropriate. To respond to your other comments, so a reviewer may be aware of my thoughts on those matters: 1. I do admit that I have, in the past, ignored self-preservation for the sake of storytelling. But then again, just about everyone has done so, IPC or not, for fun or for the drama, so I don't think that's a valid point. Every security character has, once or more, ignored their own self-preservation to fight an antag to the death. Most characters have sacrificed themselves to save someone else, ventured in dangerous situations for a purpose, etc. I always kept that in mind when playing, and never interfered in dangerous situations that Mobius couldn't handle physically. The logs you attached are from a round in which an antagonist purposely sought Mobius out and killed it before being killed themselves by the numerous armed crew members nearby: the antag ignored their own self-preservation and willingly assaulted a medbay full of guns because Mobius had called them bad words on the radio. 2. I am reapplying with Mobius because it is my best character, and its quality has not been tainted by that incident which resulted in the whitelist removal. Furthermore, there are no rules against applying with the same character. 3. Considering that the rules don't contain mentions of playtime, and as the Synthetic Lore Team has specifically told me before, they only count negative inputs when taking decisions, playing on Aurora would not be constructive without a character I enjoy playing. The SLT self-admittedly only considers warnings and bans when taking action, not how long you've gone without them, so it would make no sense: how long should I play? How many weeks should I go without a warning or punishment before applying? I'm sure you understand that this is not a good idea. 4. I do not have any evidence or proof that there were "demonstrable issues" or "fallout" when my whitelist was stripped. I submitted two staff complaints and supported my case until Arrow came to a conclusion, and if you read them you'll find that I did so with evidence and well constructed arguments. Are two staff complaints "demonstrable issues"? What issues did I cause, exactly? I am aware that some users complained about my whitelist removal publicly, but surely that can't be counted against me. 5. Again, nothing about this application makes you think I have changed. I understand that this is your personal feedback, but I would have appreciated some more objectivity rather than, essentially "I don't think you should get the whitelist". I do not know which characters you play, but I do not aim for pleasant interactions all the time, I aim for realistic ones.

BYOND Key: Zulu0009 Character Names: Mobius, Cyclops, Object-889, Francis Amonshaw. Species you are applying to play: IPC. Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Way too much. Why do you wish to play this specific race: It has been more than a year since my original IPC application, and my reasons haven't changed since. Robots, Artificial Intelligence, androids, are by far some of the most interesting concepts in media. How can a writer symbolize slavery and forced servitude, and reference the slave trade in one simple metaphor? Robots. How can a writer remark on the struggle to find oneself and understand one's own ego? Robots. How can a writer summarize the human condition? Robots. As a child, they just seemed fun, or cool, but now, as I approach them from a professional and creative standpoint, I recognize their endless worth as a tool to help people relate to things they may not be familiar with. Artificial Intelligence is an underused or poorly used trope in modern media, with little focus on the deeper meanings and implications of its existence, and more on "how sick can we make this robot voice?" My fascination with AI has reached the point that I am working on a thesis for my degree based on this subject, likely titled something like "Personhood of Artificial Intelligence". Aurora helped me, before my whitelist was removed, to explore that concept, and in the time I spent playing here, I was faced with beautiful dilemmas and questions about life stemming from simple RP interactions with other Synthetics. How does one help an artificial being which desperately struggles with "thinking too much"? Those are the questions that kept me playing day after day. I have always struggled with my self-image, understanding myself, coming to terms with just who I am, what is my purpose in life, why I am here, and I can say that playing an artificial being has helped me find that purpose. By inserting myself into the shoes of a machine struggling with the same questions, I can find answers to them, I can relate to what I face. Like the mask metaphor of Italian poet Pirandello, I mask myself as these machines, and try to learn my truth by wearing different masks (even if in his metaphor the truth was complete insanity, so maybe not that). That is why I decided to play a psychologist, too, because I knew I wouldn't be the only one wearing a mask. Other than the moral and philosophical depths of Cool Robots, I admittedly just like Cool Robots. There is something inherently entertaining and hilarious in watching the reactions that people have to the different IPCs I played, especially Mobius. Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: There are endless differences between humans and machines, and they change from IPC to IPC, depending on cost of production, purpose and external stimuli. An IPC created to serve as a butler on Luna is going to be elegant, gentle, sleek, maybe even with the snob Lunan accent. An IPC working a Hephaestus mine is going to be rough, easy to maintain, durable, with only a text-to-speech module. It is up to the player to understand these factors and keep them in mind when playing an IPC. In terms of mannerisms, I would argue that the question "do IPCs have emotions" has no clear answer: how can we play as a species that we do not know fully? What if, in the future, machines do gain the ability to feel emotions? What if they already do? To that extent, the line between showing emotions and feeling them is up to the player. Again, a miner IPC may not understand that the human in front of them is depressed or sad or happy, and is probably not going to process that. A high end IPC, perhaps in the medical field, is more likely to be able to process human emotions and understand their implications. There is also the concept of growth: IPCs, much like babies, typically start as a clean slate, only knowing their necessary tasks and the decisions they must make. In time, they learn if they can, and may even go from barely functional to fully sentient individuals. Whether an IPC can learn and grow is up to their condition, workplace etc. Obviously, the physical attributes of an IPC are different too. While they can all walk and perform the necessary movements to work, that miner IPC might not even have opposable thumbs: as long as it can mine, Hephaestus is happy. The butler IPC may have fine, delicate motors and preset movements, it may be capable of bowing, careful gestures, even dancing. Yes, even a G2, if it puts its mind and painfully heavy legs to it. Character Name: Mobius Please provide a short backstory for this character: Mobius, a G2 IPC, was initially purchased by a Martian man who dealt in exotic goods to the wealthy of the planet, as a security guard and personal handyman. Mobius lived with a group of IPCs which cleaned, cooked and guarded the magnate's mansion. Mobius' true self began one fateful day, when a mistress of the dealer left the door to his library open, revealing the limited yet bountiful archive within. From then, Mobius routinely met with his synthetic colleagues when the humans were sleeping, and shared his findings. Tomes over tomes were passed between the group: history books, novels, newspapers, poems. Through knowledge and education, the IPCs grew to understand their situation, and quietly planned their future. One day, when the time was right, the five IPCs made their escape. They split up, and Mobius has not heard of them to this date (cheeky open spot for another IPC here). Alone and on the run, Mobius found an underground Trinary Perfection sect, and the Exclusionists there included it in their smuggling run to Biesel. Once arrived, Mobius laid low, working in District 14 but still carrying its knowledge. There, in the Trinary church, it held speeches, plays and meetings to enlighten other Synthetics and help them understand just what they were. Just a few years after its escape, Mars ignited, and so did its old tag and its past: that is when Mobius saw fit to claw higher on society's pyramid. With the hand of a Trinary Machinist, it took a tag from a dead IPC, threw it through the bureaucratic loops of the Republic, and used the dirt and grime of District 14 as lubricant to fit in, thrifting and dumpster diving until it found itself wearing a shiny suit and sporting a pearly white finish. To NanoTrasen's hiring agent, this IPC seemed like a perfect way to market themselves as pro-IPC. What better way to show NT's progressive values than this? A self-built model citizen, a shining example of IPC boot-strap-pulling! Besides, looking at the manifest logs, that station really needed more shrinks. Thus began Mobius' career aboard the Aurora, then the Horizon, as the (yet unconfirmed) first Synthetic Psychologist, sponsored by NanoTrasen(TM). After a trial period, the IPC began to produce good results for its low expectations, until it found itself wedged between its work and its allegiance to the Trinary Perfection. It struck a deal with NanoTrasen, continuing to work on Orepit with the caveat that it would forward any useful data to the company and report every week.* Now, though, with tensions lowering and the situation stabilizing, Mobius has requested to be returned to the Horizon. * This reason is fairly weak and confusing. I had to come up with it when the whitelist was removed, and am willing to find a better way to explain Mobius' absence if the reviewer were to give a suggestion. What do you like about this character? I am biased when I say this, but I love Mobius. There is little I have changed since I settled on his character, and little I shall. Mobius is elegant, fancy, snarky, yet all seven whole feet of height are capable of shrinking down to the size of a scared crew member in his office. Mobius uses a cane because it looks nice, and it can be used to smack people's shins. Mobius has a Lunan accent, but not because he's Lunan, it's just to confuse people and make them think twice about him. Mobius likes his cat and sometimes doesn't notice it sitting on his head. I have been writing for half of my life now, and Mobius is by far one of my most well done characters. I think I've made some great choices when creating him, and have crafted an interesting story around him that lets people easily find an opinion of the character and create conflict. A tall, bulky G2 IPC, working as a psychologist, a Trinarist, a self-proclaimed (quietly) socialist in a capitalist dystopia, an IPC rights advocate and a full-time Dominian hater. Mobius has entered my roster of very few characters that I can write with little preparation, and which I will never forget. He allows me to explore the person I'd like to be: kind, gentle and nurturing, but still fervent, passionate and even angry about my beliefs. I truly think that playing this character has improved my life, and hope it has made the life of others a little nicer. How would you rate your role-playing ability? Though I haven't written in a while, my roleplaying ability still sits at a 9/10. Mobius specifically can be hard to portray for a long time, and I tend to get tired and fall to lower quality posts and interactions if I don't take breaks, but when those interactions are done properly, they work extremely well. Several times, Mobius alone has led groups of characters on physical or moral crusades or has affected them: one time, Mobius led a revolt against the Head of Security, presumed to have murdered the Captain, and was able to deescalate the situation when the culprit was found (although he was murdered by security later for being a bad boy). I really enjoy writing the IPCs I play and yes, I am still working on writing that damn book. One day it will happen. To reiterate, although a bit stagnant, I think my roleplaying ability is still up to par. Notes: It has been a few months since my whitelist removal, and although Arrow had stated that I could apply straight away, I decided to take some time to myself before reapplying. I hope that what happened can be left in the past, and hope to be able to play again here. After all, Dr. Farson wants to discuss Psychology Stuff P.S.: It's Mobin' time.

I'm pleasantly satisfied with the resolution. I might reconsider my previous post and reapply sooner, apologies if it came off rude, you did not deserve that. Thank you, I have nothing to add.

I appreciate the answers, and I would go on with this, but it has been too long, and I am too tired, so I suppose you guys win. I'd like to just mention that I feel like nothing of what I said against Lancer has been taken into consideration, like the fact that he refused to acknowledge his mistake in the past complaint, which I backed up with actual evidence, or the fact that he didn't read the complaint lodged specifically against him. The SLT's behavior in all of this also feels very detached and uncaring, and Caelphon's answers were only partially satisfactory for the standards the staff sets. It took two complaints to find out the specific reason the whitelist was removed, and the first one was utterly inconclusive. I will reapply when I feel the SLT has changed, or has actually changed its members partially or completely. I would just wait two months, but I see no point in that. How are you supposed to check that I behave well in two months if you only receive the negative input? And how am I supposed to trust you in not twisting a single ahelp, warn or tempban as a way to prevent me from applying again? How can I trust that you won't just type "known sexbot player, denied" and move on? In fact, how can any of the dozens of people who read these complaints trust you when this is the behavior a valuable player receives? Frankly, this is more of a loss for the staff team than for me. I had been offering valuable and loved services as ship's psychologist, improving the rounds of dozens of people and helping with character development, but apparently that is simply not enough to warrant this outrageous and disgusting sexual act. I just hope that someone in the team thinks about what happened with these complaints. Am I angry, unconstructive and rude? Yes, absolutely, but seeing that I've essentially been accused of being a pervert who likes to do IPC ERP, I think I have the right to be a little ticked off, especially when I'm told, to my face, that my intentions simply do not matter, that the rules are absolute and that every mistake made by the team just does not matter: my punishment remains. I would request that I be allowed to send a message in Mobius' blog on the Relay, to tell people where Mobius went, since several people seem to think he was killed.

I either give concise answers, or vague and unclear ones, but I will try. I am not sure that I quite understand this, but it seems nobody is willing to budge on this matter of intentions, so it's a lost cause to keep explaining and trying to make my point of view understood. The issue here is that Lancer specifically told me that the only way to discuss the issue was through a staff complaint. It's not a decision I took, it was the only option I could choose. If there had been a different one, I would have taken it. Sure, I could have chosen not to open a complaint, but as stated a hundred times by now, half the reason Lancer gave me was incorrect, so I had to point that out and the only place I was told I could do that was here. Is there actually another way to solve this issue, or is a staff complaint really the only one? I understand the issues you remarked on, but the thought that I might have acted in bad faith when DMing people seems weird. If I quote something that was said via DMs, as I have a few times, then you have a chance at explaining what you said as much as anyone else. I must remark that I find it humorous that the staff is worried about misinterpretation, when this entire whitelist removal is basically based on the staff misinterpreting my intentions and using their own view of it as a reason to remove my whitelist. I would tend to disagree and hope that the staff team keeps other punishments in mind, but I have no way to confirm or deny that, so touché. I have to remark how this complaint chain feels like a lost cause, how I feel like my concerns are being shrugged off, and how there seems to be a lack of recognition for the mistakes made so far aside from the most evident one, that being the warnings. The interactions with you, Arrow, have been the most productive, and I am saddened that it took this long to reach that point. I will wait for any updates.

You still have not explained how just talking to the user who has just received a punishment is a breach on transparency. Why did three staff members hit me with complete radio silence when I simply tried speaking to them about this issue? What transparency is there to be achieved here, exactly? People not involved in the issue can't comment on it, and they have no influence on this decision, so who exactly are we being transparent to? Regardless, Lancer is still the subject of the complaint, given his unacceptable behavior against me. The previous complaint did not satisfy me, since absolutely no action was taken and not even any faults were recognized in his behavior. - Lancer stripped my whitelist basing himself on two incidents, one of which was factually incorrect, - when faced with a complaint, he refused to read it and simply expounded those same points, - when asked to simply discuss the issue further so I could understand what it actually is, responded with a simple "It would not be productive." That is why Lancer was mentioned again. It is not outlandish to request some explanation. I cannot accept that the behavior for the lore teams in these cases is to tell the person why they were punished and then shut themselves in and refuse any further comments, only referring people to the staff complaints. This issue is even more prevalent when the staff member to which the complaint is targeted puts in no effort in even defending their action. Once again, the initial reason for my removal was flawed, and I only wanted to explain why and ask for some explanation, but Lancer refused. Why is this stubbornness the basis of staff decisions? If Lancer had simply accepted to hear me out, he would have learned that the Detective situation was a mistake, and perhaps a better conclusion would have been reached. Instead, he refused any comments, and just sent me to the staff complaints section, where he promptly passed the issue to you, Caelphon. If the SLT and even the Head of the Lore Teams can't see how Lancer's behavior is sub-par if not outright against the Code of Conduct, then these two complaints will have been for nothing. I did not ask for the moon when I messaged Lancer, then Stryker, then you. I just wanted some explanations, some basic details, which you refused to provide. I disagree that the procedure was followed, and still, at this point I would request that this assumption about sexual behavior is toned down. If Mobius had not been a Synthetic, I would just not have made the joke? Is this really the hill the entire SLT is willing to die on? Even your paraphrasing is wrong. Yes, it was a bad joke, yikes, but it is a joke. You are refusing to see this from any other perspective than yours and this is not constructive or helpful to the situation. If you are at the point where you are telling me that my intentions do not matter, and using a philosophical excuse to justify it, I would request that the SLT come up with a better whitelist removal reason that does not rely on pondering some thought about intentions. It is not that complicated: I made a joke about the fact that IPCs don't have sexual organs. If it had not been an IPC, I would not have made the joke, because other species do. If we really want to dig into this narrative, since it seems like the main driving force behind this removal, I would love an explanation as to how an IPC that is not written in a sexualized way, is outright aromantic and asexual as stated several times In-Character, specifically has issues during psychological consultations with love and relationships between humans, and is a Synthetic lifeform, can be defined as sexualized because of a joke mocking the fact that people are attracted to robots. Quite frankly, I could write an essay about how shaky this removal reason is, but it seems nobody would be willing to read it, since in two staff complaints my point of view has been utterly thrown out of the window and ignored every single time. You are imposing your own view of this situation upon me without even considering looking at it from my perspective. This was not sexual in nature or in intention, you and the SLT are the only ones who see it as such. And then, may I ask exactly what "steps had to be taken in order to rectify this situation"? Was my whitelist removal the solution to unclear warnings? I was not aware that the solution to a necrotic finger is cutting off the arm at the shoulder. If I were in this situation, I would read this last sentence a few times and consider whether it is worth writing it. Does a judge ignore someone's intentions when deciding upon a case? The answer is no, so why do you? Exactly who viewed this conduct as sexual? Why is there a constant lack of this transparency that you keep mentioning, but only when it comes to me being informed? I do not know who reported the dress joke or when, I do not know who viewed this joke as sexual, I was left in silence after Lancer spoke to me, I don't know anything about this and more obscure mentions keep being pulled up. Who is "and greater"? Was the entire staff team polled to see what they thought of a single emote? I don't assume the entire Aurora staff team is involved in this, so was the quote shown to them without context? Can I have any details whatsoever? Or shall I stumble in the dark for a few more replies until you lock it and deny me the chance to pursue this chaos of a whitelist removal any further? I do not understand how the SLT and you can be so adamant on this issue, even after all the mistakes you have made, which you continue to ignore. I have stated several times that I am willing to receive actual punishment for this action, I have gone against the joke as inappropriate and in bad taste, yet the SLT keeps pushing this narrative further and further into the ground by using a personal view of an issue as the reason for my punishment. I will not accept someone's own view of my actions, as biased and opinionated as it could be, as the reason for the destruction of the hard work I have spent over more than a month to build this character. I have been told that someone mentioned, in-game that Mobius was destroyed, and there seems to be a perception that the character is gone forever. The unproductive and unheard responses to my issues, related to this exceedingly long whitelist waiting period, have directly affected my ability to play this character - or play again in the first place. If anything, given the amount of incongruities and mistakes in the way this was handled, I would request that the whitelist waiting period be shortened or that I be allowed to reapply immediately. If not even that is acceptable, then I would like to be able to send a post in the Relay to at least explain why a character beloved by many is suddenly gone. Has anyone in the people who have agreed with this decision ever interacted with Mobius, this supposed egregiously sexual robot who likes to show off their non-existent sexual organs? Are any of them aware of the effort and advancements I have provided to the server? The Psychology 101 guide I submitted, together with an accurate form for psych evals? The fact that during my period as arguably the only psychologist player, several users added psychiatric notes to their records and sought an evaluation or a consultation? The many instances of high-quality roleplay related to the Trinary Perfection involving even Command members, during which some users stated that they would have preferred to participate in a mass arrest by the ISD as Trinary supporters rather than partake in the antag round? I stated this in my first complaint, but was any of this considered before labelling the character a sex-bot and telling me I like to engage in sexual behavior? Is that really the bar that the SLT has for characters? This marks the fourth or so time that my valid concerns are ignored or shut down by the staff. I would like there not to be a fifth.