Shimmer

It's an SCC outpost, no a zeng-hu or a Hephaestus outpost. The SCC as itself has barely any presence on Konyang due to it being formerly Solarian, and being dominated by Einstein Engines. This outpost, is clearly marked as an SCC outpost, and conveniently has three landing platforms specifically for the Intrepid, Canary, and Spark, no other vessel can land there. This construction is recent, not old. It's marked as recent by the chainlink being painted on it. The rampant IPCs are DEFINITELY interested in the wildlife, giving anytime they spawn in the wildlife around them undergoes a complete extinction event, including aquatic animals and giant cockatoo birds. I'm not imagining some extinction level event, I'm point out that it is there. If any ruin with IPCs spawn in, the crew, any crew, will get attacked. What is portrayed planetwise is that the place is CRAWLING with infested IPCs, and it is, because if ruins do spawn in they spawn in upwards of 10-20 IPCs in a round. What, you want me to believe middle of nowhere jungle, in what you describe as not an apocalyptic total overrun, has that many infected IPCs? Just there? Just because? Middle of nowhere? Come off it. Either it's badly overrun, and the number makes sense. Or it's not, and the attacks are too frequent for what is supposed to be middle of nowhere. You wanna talk ludonarrative dissonance? Let's talk about the one where the SCC clearly states that fighting those IPCs is to be avoided at ALL costs, and yet permits expeditions to places where everyone knows they are present in large numbers. Why would Konyang permit those, knowing it's citizens will come to harm by expeditions that do not benefit it? It's almost like there is a good reason, a good fucking reason, I said arguing common sense and what makes sense and what doesn't is a stupid idea that will lead nowhere. It doesn't make sense for the SCC to send expeditions there, that's not what the SCC is there for, it's a waste of resources and deeply unprofitable. It doesn't make sense for Konyang to allow to expeditions to take place, because all of them ultimately lead to their citizens being shot dead for no gain. You can't argue 'it doesn't make sense', because if you start going down that path, I can poke holes in just about everything myself, too, and we can turn this into a pointless debate where you are convinced you are right, and so am I, and completely miss the point. So I am asking, plainly, simply, keep this on topic, the topic is not whether or not it makes sense, is whether or not it's enjoyable to do. I did not misrepresent the premise. What I am saying isn't that people aren't exploring the location, is that the infested IPCs attack people before they even notice heavily discourages exploration unless done in huge groups, during lowpop, you are practically forbidden from going down there. As I have mentioned prior, the amount of infected IPCs that spawn are not single digit, they number in the tens to twenties. The expedition shotgun is cute and all, but it has four fucking shots total, ah yes! What a smart and totally sufficient solution to the problem! Or alternatively you as a bridge crew or xenoarch can totally break character, and start making weapons out of pipes. Or request weapons from security or operations that will never get approved, because the answer you will get is 'What are you doing? Going on a hunting party? Make due with your expedition shotgun!' Limitations exist to promote roleplay and corral it into something interesting. This doesn't fucking do it. What you are essentially telling, is that anyone who plays a reasonable person that doesn't seek out violence and actively avoids it, you know, common sense that you put so much emphasis on previously, should be punished by a whole new map area to explore being locked off to them. In essence, play a reasonable character? You're not allowed to enjoy all the new fun parts we added, and you are not allowed to use them for character development. You are only ever allowed to explore the planet if you play someone willing to dome 7 IPCs in a row. How exactly is that good, explain? Why is punishing players for choosing to take a reasonable character, rather than a BOOYAH JOHN SOL, a good thing, again?

It wouldn't make sense for the SCC to build a forward exploration outpost in a place infested so badly with IPCs you can't step outside. How did they build this outpost if the planet is that badly infested? Did they kill two dozen IPCs to protect the construction crews? Did dozens of the same crew perish in it's construction? Why are there still pirate hideouts, villages, firewatch towers, communications bases, if it's so badly overrun there is no possibility what so ever to live down there unharassed. The villagers and firewatchers and pirates have no fencing, and the former have no means to defend themselves. Should all of them stop existing because it doesn't make sense, the area is too hostile for it? It doesn't make sense for the SCC to be allowing expeditions down there in the first place, it would be extremely unprofitable to send down exploration teams to a zombieland in which they are almost certain to be attacked. Why do jeweller cockatoos spawn in there? It doesn't make sense for them to live in such dangerous places, half of the time those birds just die! Wouldn't they migrate away somewhere less dangerous and zombie-y? If it's so baaaadly infested, why are there rounds in which none of those ruins spawn in, and so, no infected IPCs are around? Shouldn't they be like carp then, a random spawn? Afterall, it's that badly overrun! Oh but that's not the point of my thread, is it? We can argue what does and doesn't make sense until we're blue in the face, and in any other thread I will! The point of the thread is that it isn't fucking fun. It isn't fun to gear every single expedition to a planet with a lot of effort put to it, and a lot of uniqueness to it, and a lot of love put into it, to the same degree as if you're going down to Mordor. It isn't fun to fight those IPCs again and again and again and again and have to either dismiss them entirely because it's the seventh time you had to kill them or to pretend to be mournful over a simplemob. It's not fun to not be able to explore places like the trinarist altar, a site that's made beautifully by all means, because you are required to grab with you security officers that usually don't give a shit about the off site and it's meaning. It's not fucking fun that security, a department that already has the MOST amount of gameplay and players out of EVERY OTHER DEPARTMENT, again gets yet even MORE gameplay and yet MORE reasons to play it over others departments in the game, to the detriment of other roles who's purpose is purely exploratory in nature! Want to go down as a xenoarch or BC to mess around on a hand crafted planet? Boo hoo, get yourself people from a department that already has all the toys, and all the stuff to do, because otherwise you will literally die. I think the problem of 'it makes' sense can be suspended here, ey? Lly puts it well, I'd prefer characters be able to walk and take in the scenery of the planet, it's more soulful and more useful for character development than knockoff project zomboid, another notch on the shotgun edition:tm: It'd be better than what we have right now, where you can, technically completely without issue hunt IPCs and claim that anytime you kill them it's self defence. They're always going to be the attack party. A miner, can, just, gear up in a hard suit, KA, walk around 'mining' while waiting for an IPC to attack them and rack up those numbers. Prove it wasn't self defence! Something like this would be a good alternative. My biggest issue right now is that they spot you before you have any indication they are near you and there is no way to evade them. If they spot you, you can't outrun them, you have to fight. Something like either an aggro system, or a detention radius, like say, enter within 5 tiles of the mob to get them to attack, outside of that you're gold.

I think the way infected IPCs currently causes a lot of issues with players willing to explore Konyang outside of point verdant, because as it stands right now, the way IPCs spawn are through a set of a specific map ruins. Well what's the problem with that? It's that they're not locked in to that specific ruin, meaning those really fast, instant agro mobs rush players in the middle of nowhere away from any indication they could possibly be there in the middle of the jungle. This leads to either of two issues, issue A is where you disregard the fact that you are not supposed to kill those IPCs, given their Konyang citizens, and you treat them as just simple mobs like carp or reavers, leading into the funny issue of quadruple murders happening without a second thought put to it. Or issue B, you don't treat them as simple mobs, meaning it's very hard to justify going down to the planet to explore sites and ruins on it that aren't focused on either hivebots or those that show off the devastation brought upon by the virus. It's frustrating, because if you want to play a non-violence inclined character, be they BC, or xenoarch, or miner, you are essentially locked out of reasonably exploring Konyang, which sucks because it locks out those same characters from being able to share what they saw. Too many of those same stories or memories just end up being 'i was zombied, it was horrible :c' which imo doesn't really feel fun to interact with or explore. It feels hollow, uninteresting. So what the fuck is my actual suggestion to all those problems I find? Redesign the way the ruins in which infested IPCs spawn and work. Make them more similar to the hivebot ruins, wherein all the infected IPCs are locked inside and unable to leave. You can go in and fight them, you have that option, but you also have an easier option of retreat, there is an indication of a threat rather than being randomly ambushed, and it allows players to explore interesting, visual ruins found on Konyang, like the trinarist altar for example. It also allows xenoarcheologists to explore the place with less worry, allowing them to look for alien artefacts on the planet known for having been the source of a significant alien artefact - positronics.

A few issues come to mind with this suggestion that I feel need to be addressed. The primary role of BCs is, and always will be, flight. That is the whole purpose of the role, I as a player, speaking for myself, enjoy this aspect of BC a lot and Konyang as a sector not offering much opportunity to fly, given the low amount of points of interest, lack of randomized points of interest meaning you see the same names frequently etc etc etc already means a HEAVILY diminished gameplay opportunity for bridgecrew as is. To automate one of the few functions that are as of now their one and only niche feels... Odd? I would not mind an automated shuttle with the caveat that it is only operable when there are no bridge crew aboard, or if there is one, that they can somehow unlock it if the logged BC is not the type to enjoy ferrying but rather other aspects of the role. There is a further issue, and that is- if this shuttle is automated- how is it used, exactly? Does it use the same system as the merchant shuttle, and the deprecated transit shuttle, as well as the mercenary shuttle? It goes from point A, solely, to point B, solely, when an input is given. The issue arises that you can in theory be on the other side of the system and still be able to access Konyang in seconds, which is somewhat immersion breaking, but oh well, can be suspended for the sake of disbelief... ...and then there is the aforementioned point about people using it as an advanced maintenance tunnel to evade security. How is that going to be rectified?

I don't understand exactly what does this improve? It removes to ability to revive pets for...? Realism? Immersion? I just do not understand what harm this brings, and it being completely unexplained in the PR itself is just confusing. What purpose to this PR serve should be front and center when you are removing items, none of us are psychics, none of us can read into the reasons behind it.

And having a Solarian consular on board will actually make that antagonism be felt. As it stands now, Sol being anti-SCC is not felt in any way, the presence of an antagonistic force is felt MUCH more than the lack there of. It's a background thing no one pays attention to unless their attention is brought to it. News articles are neat, and interesting, and well written, but how is Sol's antagonism felt on the Horizon? If you were to remove that element, would literally anything change? Re-adding a Solarian Consular, at the very minimum, brings this antagonism to light. They're not a corporate employee, they're only allowed to be there. A well played consular can try to push things in a direction that are contrary to the SCC's (Specifically Nanotrasens) interests.

FUCK YES PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE a lot of my characters are musically inclined, and its PAINFUL that i cant have one of my characters bring down a guitar to play for a friend or a partner, because theyre locked behind orders or finding some other way to make use of it. It also allows for character development, as inconsequential as it is. A person learning to play an instrument IS an interesting dynamic because its not Elianne McElianna learning how to fire gigatron ubercannonen at antag number 5. if people are being annoying with it, really is no different than someone being annoying by crowbarring lights or dragging characters around, it still falls into the same 'ahelp a cunt being a cunt'.

Thank you! I think Ethnea would adjust quite well into Zeng-Hu, Einstein Engines already instilled a sense of obeying perfectionism in her, Zeng-Hu would just add an additional grateful fervor to it all, the crumbs of liberty she'd feel pushing her to adopt to that new culture willingly, rather than just because a superior ordered her to do so. Sure! IPCs aren't born with human instincts and an inherent understanding of human social cues, all of that behavior, the subtle mannerisms humans display: gentle gestures, implications, inferring words - the younger an IPC is, and the less time and IPC has spent around such things, the harder it would be for them to pick up on those things. Everything would be a lot more literal and statement-of-fact lacking that essential nuance. In the case of Ethnea, for example, she is not super young as to not get any implications or to not understand any of that nuance, she's worked with humans for years, but she would still come across as a lot more naive when it comes to more serious topics, especially something like geopolitics which are COMPLETELY alien to her.

BYOND Ckey: shimmeristaken Discord username: shimmeristaken Character names: Tomine Rosenweiss, Alexandra Plisetskaya, Eirwyn Llywelyn Species you are applying to play: IPC ------------------------------ General Whitelist Requirements What colour do you plan on making your first alien character?: (IPCs exempt) Have you read the lore pages for the species you wish to be whitelisted for?: 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 species?: I find their primary dynamic interesting, owned IPCs are essentially treated as a very autonomous and advanced piece of equipment by the majority of the Spur, they are almost a synthetic in that regard but with a major difference - space for development as a character, since unlike bound synthetics, IPCs have the capacity to learn and integrate with their environment, acting differently as the character develops. I also like their second-class dynamic, and the variety in the opinions held by various factions and origins towards them. I think it introduces an interesting element to roleplay, some people will see IPCs as nothing more than tools, others see danger, and some see them as equals. It allows for roleplay opportunities not afforded to your average Solarian. What makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a human?: IPCs are a lot more mechanical in the way they think and act, they do not act off of human instinct, all of their behaviors and mannerisms are learned, from understanding social cues to interactions with the outside world. The only thing I would consider as some inherent "instinct" with them would be their inherent desire for self preservation, and whatever directives their manufacturers or owners have given them. ------------------------------ Character Application Character Name: Ethnea Write a backstory for your character. This may include their origin, education, personality and how they arrived to the SCCV Horizon. Ethnea was constructed in 2463 by Einstein Engines, withing the Utgardian Plains of Callisto. She was part of an effort by Einstein Engines to consolidate their Solarian IPC assets within Callisto, given the secession of Konyang and the Alliance's loss of their previous IPC production center. Einstein Engines prides itself on its advanced shell models, Ethnea was one of many, her purpose to act as a general bridge crew for Einstein vessels, pilot, navigator, communications officer, most of her assignments were to Helium-3 transports, moving gas harvested in the Oort cloud by Pluto and purchased through the Solarian government. The time she spent with Einstein Engines reinforced a form of cautious perfectionism within her, its corporate culture pushing Ethnea to her absolute limits with the constant threat of severe punishment looming above in the case of underperformance. It forced her to adopt a timid, hardworking and people pleasing personality, learning that trying to talk back to her handlers only resulted in threats to herself, Ethnea sought to avoid those in any way she could. Most of her interactions with wider Solarian culture were limited to Callisto, where she was given very brief and leashed leave to spend as she saw fit, within that short period Ethnea explored every corner of the planet she could, and grew to consider herself as a Callistean, spending a considerable amount of time in the neon lit streets of Ha Wan. Having been produced during the turmoil of the Solarian civil war, and its navy's ever growing need for Helium-3, Ethnea existed to plug in holes within this recently expanded market exploited by Einstein Engines. Yet, as the civil war drew to a close, and the situation both in the northern and southern territories of the Alliance stabilized, the supply chains leading there were reinforced and optimized, the need for a shell like Ethnea grew lesser and lesser. Her adequate performance and comparatively recent production saved her from the usual practice of scrapping, Einstein Engines instead choosing to sell her off in a small batch of other similar positronics. She was purchased by Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals somewhere in the middle of 2465, a few months after the end of the war. With new owners came new responsibilities, instead of a freighter pilot she was placed at the helm of various research vessels operating within Coalition territory, her longest missions being within Light’s Edge. Zeng-Hu’s far more egalitarian stance on IPCs had a profound effect on Ethnea, being part of long term research and archeological groups introduced her to an environment less willing to constantly remind her of disposability, punishments now being replaced with incentives. The Keiretsu reinforced that sense of perfectionism, but gave it a new direction, a far more passionate one all with the ultimate goal of trying to prove herself worthy of the incentives, rather than a persistent attempt to avoid punishment. Being around researchers also gave Ethnea a spark of curiosity and wanderlust towards the wider spur, helped by the fact that she found herself within a new territory, the Coalition being a place alien and unique to her - one she wanted to explore. The same fire with which she explored her home planet was now directed outwards, fate giving her the opportunity. How has the recent events of the Orion Spur impacted your character? Events such as the Phoron Scarcity, the Solarian Collapse or even the Invasions of Biesel for interstellar-wide affairs, while region-specific events such as the Peacekeeper Mandate, The Titan Rises or even Cold Dawn may impact your character. Ethnea was created as a consequence of the consolidation of IPC production on Callisto following the beginning of the Solarian civil war and the consequent secession of Konyang, her initial purpose was to be a gear in the ever growing Helium-3 market that started to balloon as a result of the phoron crisis, pushing the Solarian economy towards reliance on Helium-3 produced within the Oort cloud. How does your character view the megacorporation they work for? The differences in treatment of IPCs between Einstein Engines and Zeng-Hu are immense, while both corporations urge their positronic workers to strive for perfection, encouraging them to out perform their colleagues, her brief time with Zeng-Hu gave her an opportunity to experience some degree of freedom not afforded by her much less egalitarian former owners. This increased liberty left her feeling gratitude towards her new owners, a generally positive and supportive view of the Keiretsu, which she views herself as a part of rather than an extension of.

That would be a good way to increase survival rate for miners who aren't robust, honestly, and give them a reason to ask a machinist for a suit.

Echoing this, the armory should be removed, there have already been cases where BCs used the guns found inside to act as security. I know this action is ahelpable, but even still bridge crew do NOT need a whole armory all to themselves, in emergencies they had a small cabinet with carbines and armor as is, and when they REALLY need to arm themselves there is already an armory on the other side of deck three.

BYOND Key: HotStuff Staff BYOND Key: campinFUNkiller Game ID: THE DISCORD CHANNEL GRRRRRRRRR Reason for complaint: I have decided to lodge this totally legitimate, serious complaint about a certain campinkiller, whom has shamelessly, without shame, without ANY remorse, STOLEN the creation of a channel from another user!! Such behaviour is totally unbelievable unacceptable and I WILL BE TAKING LEGAL ACTION Evidence/logs/etc: Additional remarks:

Hello! Thank you for the application. After seven intense weeks (nights AND days) of discussion with the lore administration team, we have decided that you need more sprites before we can accept this application. We thank you for the understanding!

I think there might be some confusion here because of how the military page is worded. (https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Solarian_Armed_Forces#Notable_Navy_Forces) There are two naval forces that use 'the 1st', we have the 1st Battlegroup which is a force based out of Sol, initially comprised of mostly Lunans until Courtois' reforms added fleets like the 25th to this battlegroup, doubling it in size. Then there is the 1st middle ring battlegroup, which is Szalai's force and went on to form the SSMD which alongside the provisional government formed the reconstruction mandate. The 1st marine division serves the 1st battlegroup, made up of primarily Lunan working class, "Its marines are primarily recruited from the Lunan working class and are generally looked down upon by the upper and middle class Lunans which serve as the 1st Battlegroup’s officers", they have nothing to do with the 1st MRB.

Don't do this as a character that likes animals obviously lmao But outside of that no, those monkeys specifically serve the purpose of being butchered for organs, teach interns, and practice, they're not pets and so killing them won't get you in trouble.

Depends on what you are practicing, organ transplants don't require damage, organ repair might require you to inject the monkey with plant be gone (toxin + water), bone repair will require you to punch or wrench or hammer or somehow break the monkey's bones. Arterial honestly the same, knife the monkey until you get a bleed. I don't imagine it's any different to using a protohuman, safe for the fact that monkeys move around which can be infuriating.

You can also practice on cube monkeys, which the OR contains a full box of. Functionally there is no difference.

Heyoooooo! A ton of luck on your app!! Since the Alliance got mentioned, and is quite a biiig part of human lore, I'll ask you the same questions I asked botanist if a little modified. What direction do you wish the Alliance would take, in terms of government, treatment of outsiders and outside powers (Primarily, Coalition, Elyra, Biesel), especially as it pertains to to the CRZ and the secession of Konyang? What do you believe the reaction of the Alliance should be? Furthermore, assuming elections do occur, which direction would you like to see the Alliance pulled ideologically? You've mentioned that the Alliance would like to see some form of referendum / favorable deal when it comes to Konyang, however, what would be it's aims and goals towards other Coalition member states? Would it continue to seek out reapprochement with Xanu? Continue it's special relationship with Galatea? One thing I'd be really interested to see is an expansion on Mars post violent dawn and post re-conquest by the Provisional government. Do you feel like Mars should get any attention in regards to its newfound situation, say, an expansion on whether or not the Alliance attempts some form of reconstruction effort, similar to the one done to Earth through contracts with Zeng-Hu? And expansion on what life is like post dawn? A bunch more luck to you!!

I haven't had pretty much any interactions with you, however, since you do bring up Sol as one of your points of interest in human lore, I'd love to hear yours thoughts/plans on a few questions. I'm not really sure if it's appropriate for any player to ask questions, but these are just curiosities I have, if I'm doing something wrong just poke me with a stick lmao. What direction do you wish the Alliance would take, in terms of government, treatment of outsiders and outside powers (Primarily, Coalition, Elyra, Biesel), especially as it pertains to to the CRZ and the secession of Konyang? What do you believe the reaction of the Alliance should be? Furthermore, assuming elections do occur, which direction would you like to see the Alliance pulled ideologically? One thing I'd be really interested to see is an expansion on Mars post violent dawn and post re-conquest by the Provisional government. Do you feel like Mars should get any attention in regards to its newfound situation, say, an expansion on whether or not the Alliance attempts some form of reconstruction effort, similar to the one done to Earth through contracts with Zeng-Hu? And expansion on what life is like post dawn? Much luck on your application!

So do we remove Ginny and Ives? They're novelty animals.

I'd rather not because Pun-Pun is boring and deserves to finally be ousted. Capybaras are cooler than monkeys.

Because the intrepid is there, it's not used nearly as frequently for expeditions and the like as people imply. If you want to use the intrepid for an expedition you can just talk with the xenoarcheologist using it, I don't understand why we need yet another shuttle exclusive for them.

Just a few cents, as someone who plays medical, please make it so it spawns on by default as opposed to being an order from cargo, it'd be a lot more helpful for training interns that way.

We have dogs, a fox, and a cat shoved in what is a tiny cramped office, the dogs are locked inside of a small glass cage until they are let go, none of the pets make sense, at all. I don't think a capybara is all that much of a stretch here, come on, the pun is excellent.