FlamingLily

Speaking from a narrative point of view, I think it makes a LOT of sense for Sol Consulars to come back. Sol has been on the path of recovery since KOTW recently, and with the wildlands gone and a formal Biesel/Sol border in existence, it would make sense that the two nations would want to rebuild diplomatic relations (especially with Sol's change of government) to avoid further conflict. Consulars (when done correctly) add a good piece of tension into the crew dynamic (eg: dominian or skrell consulars and synthetic crew) and I think solarian consulars have the potential to excel at this.

I think removing a unique species trait just based on a job only really serves to limit the amount of people playing that species/job combo (which, for captain, is a big deal considering the species limitations). In terms of OOC concerns, we can absolutely keep mindshields having antag conversion resist without necessitating psionic cuckery. ICly, I do absolutely understand the logic and the thematics of such, but I think the same effect can be achieved with more of a lore explanation then mechanical punishment. Consider: mindshields don't prevent psionics, but they do monitor them for any unwanted activity. Something along that line.

I agree that machinists don't really fit well in science, and that's because they were only in science to begin with because they work with cyborgs which are science-adjacent, but I still think engineering is a far better place for them. I don't think you can cleanly equate the fabrication of a hardsuit or a mech to hauling crates off of a shuttle or collecting ores, it's much less of a "supply" and more of an equipment maintenance. Operations' scope as a department is kind of loosely defined, but I think that's good, it's the broad underpinning roles that support the ship at its most foundational level, as opposed to the no less critical but much more clearly defined in scope departments. And, to reiterate, engineering's key role is to maintain and repair ship systems and equipment (which partially includes the AI, though RD is also involved there), so I don't see why mechs, EVA gear, IPC crew, and cyborgs are excluded from that.

Are they gas stoves? Cause that's dumb, why would we be using a gas when we have the infinite power of a newborn star to cook our steaks.

I also think engineering is the best option out of the three (and ops is the worst), though I wouldn't entirely be against doing a split department thing between engineering and research. From a lore perspective, machinist being ops makes absolutely 0 sense. Sure, hephaestus does robotics and industrial equipment work, but Orion's robotics field feels like it was literally added as a justification for making machinist an ops role. In fact I would argue Orion kind of lacks anything that would make it distinct from Nanotrasen in that regard, it hits all the notes of being the low-budget, cheap option. Additionally, operations is framed as responsible for the low-level, most fundamental work that makes the ship tick. Moving supplies, mining, fueling shuttles, loading ammo. It doesn't make any sense to me that a role about constructing and maintaining ship equipment (Cyborgs, IPCs, Hardsuits and Exosuits all included) is included in that; Hangar Techs don't do maintenance on the shuttles, they only fuel the things, for instance. Thematically, it makes far more sense for engineering to have a job that literally needs an engineering degree to have ICly. Something that would make more sense in operations, I would say, would be janitorial, but that's neither here nor there. Gameplay-wise, it's frankly bizzare that the job responsible for cyborgs is completely divorced from either of the jobs responsible for the AI (that being the RD and the CE according to regs; Yes I know standard procedure differs and says it requires a captain level decision). It's so bizarre because it's clear just from looking at the map which department machinist is closely related to, they're still right next to the science wing, they still get all the research tech in their room, even though apparently "By staff decision, machinists are not permitted to build tech processors or otherwise conduct research activities." Machinist does not have a clearly defined role in the gameplay loop, almost every time I see a machinist at shift-start I read "Hey engineering, do you guys want an exosuit?" (and before anyone says things about keeping departments reliant on each other, that would still be the case with Engi-Machinist, because they still need resources from ops). Yes, I agree that we shouldn't do this on a whim and this should be a properly thought out process, we should absolutely not snap our fingers and invalidate a proportion of the playerbase just because we want to change things, but we also need to change this, IMO. We shouldn't hide behind the "let's think it through" to prevent the change happening at all, because I believe it needs the change.

The two checkpoints we have are at the merchant dock, a role that sees less activity than Sol Consulars (at least, from what I've seen), and at the auxillary landing pad (but it's placed in such a way that all people landing there invariably take the elevator and invalidate the point of the checkpoint anyway) I think this change would be good to give security more of a way to passively integrate into rounds before any antagonist activity starts, and without having to just loiter in the middle of a hallway. I would be absolutely fine with changing the d2 sec-point to being another janitors office, as well.

My curse of not giving essential info continues... I intended to say "no more than a janitor gets, and only within that department" so an engineering assistant would only have access to the areas of engineering that a janitor does.

Were I to code it, I wouldn't give any greater access than a Janitor gets, and if more is needed it can be got through in-game means.

I forgot to mention it when I made the initial post, but this was my main idea. Strictly speaking, there's no reason an assistant character currently can't achieve anything I propose here, but it requires an often difficult process of gaining the OOC trust of other players, and the IC trust of other characters, and then taking time out of either your round or their round to get the access and equipment necessary to even start as the role. Giving the assistant a title would partially bridge that level of trust, and giving the assistant characters even a minimal amount of departmental access would make humouring specialised assistants less of a chore for full department members.

So, this is something that I've been thinking about for a while now, especially as discussion on Lab Assistant (and its role as a learner role) continues. There's an inherent conflict on the server between our learner roles and the idea of a lower-ranking, but permanent, departmental role. We want learner roles, a role that a player uses to learn the mechanics, and graduates out of once they're ready. But, on occasion, we want more permanent roles in an assistant like capacity -- however, we don't want those lower rank roles acting as if they were fully qualified departmental roles. It's out of character, doesn't fit the setting, etc. So what if we split these roles up, wherein I propose making them alt-titles of the main Assistant role, with their own responsibilities, access levels and equipment (this is possible in the code, as it is). This will alleviate the issue of permanent-learners overstepping the role that they've chosen, such as apprentices setting up the engine, interns doing full surgery unsupervised, or lab assistants breeding slimes, by still maintaining the fact that they're not a full member of the department. Note that this isn't intended to replace the normal assistant title, simply add additional alt-titles. My suggestions: Lab Assistant - This would fulfill the same role as the current Lab Assistant, without the expectation of learning. The current science learner could become an understudy or something of the like. Technical Assistant - Labourer, carries materials, machines, et cetera, perhaps spawns with a debugger for faulty vending machines. Probably wouldn't get APC access on their ID, certainly wouldn't get engine access. Orderly/Medical Assistant - Mans the desk, supervises patients, cleans the OR, bags and tags when things inevitably go wrong. Unable to provide medical care. (Possibly) Wait Staff/Service Assistant - Waits tables. I'm unsure whether this one is worth adding, but it would be soulful.................. I can't imagine operations or security having any purpose for a non-learner assistant role, and while command members might have a personal assistant, that should probably not be it's own alt-title, and instead just managed through the normal "Assistant" title.

I think we should increase all requirements. Every character must have a cybernetic enhancement allowing their bodies to operate at 150% of a human's capacity. Jokes aside, I concur with everything said so far. Especially that blindness categories need a look at (Perfect: ... Characters with nearsightedness, or other disabilities that may affect the eyes to a minor extent belong in this category.) (Flawed: ... Characters with colorblindness or nearsightedness also belong in this category.) I also think hearing is lacking, insofar that lumping in full 100% deaf with "I can't hear out of one ear" or "I have pretty bad tinnitus but can hear people talking" is kind of needlessly binary. Perhaps also the limbs section. Is an individual with one hand as disadvantaged as someone with tremors, but two hands?

I'm here to revive bodycam discussion because I think the inherent value they give to roleplay far surpasses any detraction they may bring, especially if given enough (reasonable) restrictions. IMO if they're only accessible on higher alerts, and only by warden or HoS, that's going to be able to be abused by antagonists (positively). Adding a glow to the item to signify when a camera is active will also be good. And here's one more idea: vision cones. Not for the seccies, but if we restrict the body camera to only seeing what's in front of the officer, then it, at least in my mind, has some really juicy opportunities for antagonists to get involved. Imagine taking an officer hostage and using the bodycam to interact with the rest of security.

The paint gun's colour picker is pretty useful, tbh, but I don't see a reason why we shouldn't do this.

I agree, we should be considering on gameplay merit, not the realism of it, so to speak. Hivebots, for instance, it may make less sense for them to dodge, but gameplay-wise they should be more of a threat. As to rogue maintenance drones. I think they should be more of a minor nuisance than anything, and thus trivial to dispatch, so I would say no dodging.

I think everything I want to say on this topic has been said, except for this: I think it might be worth considering, if we do want stairs to have more of a gameplay purpose beyond just "what if up and down", that running down stairs can make you trip over. That is all,

While certainly possible, that can be a difficult process which for many people I'm sure makes the role undesirable; that's what I feel alt-titles would work to remedy, by providing a mechanical avenue of trust

I fundamentally do not get the issue with a role with little mechanical obligation and a lot of roleplay obligation on a roleplay server. Like, librarian, assistant, consular and representative, psychologist, chaplain (unless there's vampires) There is no purpose to these roles other than RP, and yet no one would remove them, because the roleplay element is valuable. And so, for what purpose should lab assistant be turned from a RP focused role that can be used to learn the mechanics, into something that a player is expected to use for mechanics, mechanics alone, and leave once you know what you're doing? I wouldn't be entirely against turning the existing "Assistant" role into a lab or research assistant through alt-titles (and following through, one title for each department), though the sudden reduction in access and comms would be disappointing.

BYOND key: flaminglily Discord Username: flaminglily Character names: Lillian Nyström - Engineer Mira Tilton - Security Officer S.A.R.A. - Janitor (Formerly Quartermaster) Ayah Nasri - Detective Aieszk Kukssal - Hangar Technician GINS-HA - AI Marie-Rose Simillien - Lab Assistant Hazel #S-H14.47 ("Optic") - Paramedic How long have you been playing on Aurora? My discord join date is September 2021, which sounds about right. Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they? Nothing formal, the occasional "hey, you need to chill" on discord, but that's it to my knowledge. Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph each. What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame? In my opinion, the role of a Head of Staff is twofold, depending on the state of the game. In times of calm, where there are no antagonists or conflict, a head of staff's OOC role lies with activity. They should be an initiator of departmental, ship-based and role-based roleplay (i.e., not character roleplay (this is not to say a head of staff can't do character roleplay, but that's not a unique trait of the head of staff role, anyone can do character roleplay)). A Chief Engineer might assign tasks, come up with a project or an engine experiment. A head of security might hold training; a CMO medical screenings, et cetera. This keeps players engaged with the game and its world. The second role is streamlining mechanics. This can be antagonist related or not, though more often than not it's antagonist related. Coordinating players within departments and with the other departments, spearheading engagement with antagonist gimmicks, either beneficially to the crew or via being a HVT. All of these things are essential components for a head of staff. This also applies to events, as they are mechanical engagements most of the time. Another instance of this is with new players, who will often look to command staff (due to IC authority and experience) for guidance at what to do, and thus a command staff should endeavour to make learning as easy as possible. What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them? I think this has a wide overlap with the above question, but one thing that I didn't cover there is what not to do. As command staff, players are granted a larger range of authority and power on an IC level, and a slightly higher OOC level of authority (insofar that they're sought out by new players), and the main responsibility is to avoid abusing that authority in such a way that harms the enjoyment of others. Command staff should, first and foremost, be a role that heightens the round through roleplay, streamlining mechanics, and creating activity. Command staff should avoid actively trying to shut down antagonist rounds and the like. I believe this applies to the head of security as well and that they should take a less active (though, to be clear, not a wholly inactive) role in combating antagonists; more of a sidelines coordinator. Explain how the recent events in the Spur changed your character and how they came to be employed on the SCCV Horizon. Lillian didn't really want to take up a job on the Horizon. Not initially. But, with the Phoron Scarcity, uncertainty of employment being doubled thanks to working on the rapidly-losing-importance NSS Aurora and her faith's strained relationship with her employer, Zavodskoi Interstellar was in a prime position to offer her a deal she couldn't refuse. She'd gain the scholarship of her dreams, a (relatively) cushy, secure job, with a vision for the big leagues. All she had to do was pack things up and head off into the great beyond. Since then, she's developed a love for this ship. The way her supermatter crystal groans, the way her gravgen warps and zaps, and every annoying prick of a vending machine throwing knives at passerbys. It's home. Together, they've saved lives, found Phoron, beat back pirates, and they've only just started. And so, looking back at her choice, or lack thereof, she's sure she made the right one. Though, in the back of her mind, underlying concerns still linger. What of IPC freedom? What of her home in Tau Ceti? Only time will tell. What roles do you plan on playing after the application is accepted? Immediately, CE. I'd also like to make an XO at some point. And probably a captain. Oh and a Corporate Representative, maybe a consular. and a- you know what i'll just say "CE and XO" for now. Have you familiarized yourself with the wiki pages for the command roles? Yes Characters you intend to use for command or have created for command. Include the job they will be taking: Lillian Nyström, as Chief Engineer Do you understand your whitelist is not permanent, and may be stripped following continuous administrative action? Yes Have you linked your BYOND account to the Forums? Yes (unless i'm dense)

I don't have particularly strong opinions on this topic (though I do think out of the two options, the deep storage elevator feels a bit more handwavey than a cargo shuttle), but what if we simply reflavoured the cargo shuttle to instead be trading with local trader outposts? For instance, while we're here in Konyang, maybe we're not buying everything directly from the SCC, maybe most of it is coming from Konyang companies? Maybe we're buying engineering supplies from PACHROM, and similar such ideas. Of course, in Konyang there's still hefty SCC presence, but if we're out deep, near Assunzione, or in nations with less widespread SCC presence such as the Hegemony or Dominia, maybe we're buying from their local companies?

BYOND key: FlamingLily Discord name/id: FlamingLily Borg / AI names: For an AI name I was thinking "General Intelligence Nanotrasen Supercomputer Horizon Assistant" or G.I.N.S.H.A for short. Have you read the Aurora wiki page about the AI?: Yes Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?: To be honest, the largest reason is the gameplay (I will address the RP side of things below, don't worry). I've played AI a lot on pretty much every ss13 server I've ever played on, this server excluded (naturally). The extremely unique role that AI holds in SS13 has always captivated me, that state of being where you're distant, but not entirely exempt, from the goings on in the round. AI lets you (for the most part) take a step back and watch for a lot of it, stepping in when you're needed but otherwise not getting too involved. It's kind of like watching an ant farm, I suppose. Sort of like idly watching a Rimworld colony or a Dwarf Fortress, and I think the unique fact that, although this level of distance exists, every person you're watching is a fully functional, real being, and any interactions you have with them will be fully developed interactions. And that neatly brings me to the RP element. This is still a big element as to why I like AI, but it is also something you can get through Cyborg or sometimes IPC. In any case, there is something really compelling me to playing something that is bound by laws and commands, with little enough free will and decision that there's entirely grounds to argue it's not a living thing. Something about mentally running through interactions via an "input - response" analysis and determining what artificial processes would be doing what just really entertains me. Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they? No Do you understand your whitelist is not permanent, and may be stripped following continuous administrative action? Of course. Ideally I don't mess up so badly I would get my whitelist stripped, but I'm always aware that it's an option.

BYOND Key: FlamingLily Game ID: Round preceeding co4-a0bG Player Byond Key/Character name: Artemis Grey/ReadThisnamePlz Staff involved: No ahelp made; Melariara approved the Delta Alert Reason for complaint: At the end of a changeling round, a particularly combat-heavy one but one that security had resolved by the end of it, Read, as Captain Grey, activated Delta Alert. This occurred a few minutes before the server restarted and had no purpose within the story of the round, it seemed to serve solely as a last minute surprise. The decision was not discussed with any other command to my knowledge (Unsure, however), and it was not discussed with security. There was no discussion on common, no announcement, no information relayed to the crew about it until after the activation; And the announcement that did follow did not give any justified IC reason to activate it. In the round up until this point, there had been absolutely no discussion of "infections" or "anomalies," nor really any RP regarding what was going on at all. For all intents and purposes the changelings were just shapeshifting monsters and that was all that mattered. And, again, by the end of the round all of these monsters were dead. Security had handled everything. The self destruct was absolutely unnecessary ICly and OOCly. Let's talk in character justification for a moment, if we were to assume this was a solely IC motivated decision, it would mean the character of Artemis Grey is willing to destroy the homes and livelihoods of the entire crew, strand them all in deep space, potentially kill a lot of them, and destroy a trillion dollar vessel, all because she doesn't think the ship's security, science, and medical teams could take control of what is apparently an infectious anomaly. She comes to this conclusion with no discussion, no team meetings, and no forethought (let's bundle the entire crew into a much smaller space so that any infections spread much faster). This is not the type of captain the SCC would allow past their background checks. This was not the case. After the round, a brief discussion was had in OOC [Which got slightly heated and as such I was directed to make this complaint.] and more justifications were raised about the idea that it was spreading. The reasoning provided was that it was spreading because three crew members had been changed and it appeared to be the case one after the other. This did not appear to be a viewpoint held by anyone in security or anyone tangentially related. Even were it to be a justified reaction, the manner in which it was used was completely meaningless in the grand scheme of things, which harms the legitimacy of a self destruct as a mechanism. For a captain to activate the self destruct long after the round has ended and with no time to appropriately react, it sets an OOC precedent that delta alerts can be used in this way, which they shouldn't, because it's a meaningless shock-value point that's a borderline end of round grief moment and not something you can easily get emotionally invested in because of this fact. This is also not the first time this has happened. I don't recall the game ID or even when it occured, but I very clearly remember a separate changeling round having an unprompted delta alert called at the end of the round. I can't give many details, as this was a while ago now. Ultimately, this was either an OOC motivated character decision performed for shock value and 'spice' made at the expense of the round, or a purely IC motivated decision that results in the character of Artemis Grey being fundamentally unfit for purpose. Did you attempt to adminhelp the issue at the time? If so, what was the known action taken by administration/moderation? No time Approximate Date/Time: Server time 30/Jul/2023 ~6:40; AEDT 30/Jul/2023 ~4:40

Reporting Personnel: Lillian Nyström Job Title of Reporting Personnel: Ship Engineer Game ID: Immediately prior to cnP-a8go Personnel Involved: Keala Nalika - Hangar Technician, Offender Kada - Head of Security, Witness Secondary Witnesses: Za'Akaix'Gimb Zo'ra - Security Cadet, Secondary Witness Anyone on shift with their headset turned on, Secondary Witness Time of Incident: Approximately 0600 Real Time: (~06:00AM 15/05/2023) Location of Incident: Radio Nature of Incident: [ ] - Workplace Hazard [ ] - Accident/Injury [ ] - Destruction of Property [ ] - Neglect of Duty [X] - Harassment [ ] - Assault [ ] - Misconduct [X] - Other Slander (Place an x in the box that applies. If other, replace line and specify.) Overview of the Incident: At the time of the incident, Technician Nalika started making unsubstantiated claims of Terrorist activity towards my person. I do not know the motivation for doing this, but making such allegations could be particularly harming to my character and career prospects, especially due to my faith, which already has negative associations with an accepted terrorist group. He has routinely insulted me and even made other allegations of various things most recently bribery, but those are not the subject of this report. Only the allegation of terrorism is of my concern. Submitted Evidence: No evidence on hand, but the interaction was made over comms, if the recorder hasn't been purged already, the messages might still be present. Would you like to be personally interviewed?: [X] - Yes [] - No Did you report it to a Head of Staff or a superior? If so, who? If not, why?: Kada, Head of Security Actions taken: Kada issued a warrant for Nalika's arrest, but was unable to execute due to shift transfer. Additional Notes:

Medical Orderlies when

The rule seems perfectly fine worded. Don't do something your character could not reasonably do just to gain an advantage in the game. Your examples are also resolvable under other rules (Usually the "Don't make ridiculously unreasonable characters" rules.)

Seems like a relatively easy issue to counter, just add: "INFO: Administrator Notes applied prior to XX/XX/XX are not shown. Contact Head Administration to view." to the top of the window that shows your notes. Sure it doesn't exactly counter the issue as it stands presently for notes prior to implementation of the new system, but I think it's good enough when you consider the manhours needed to manually sort all of them