Mr.Popper

Hi, thank you for taking the time to read all of this! I briefly made the comparison between IPCs and newborns and that's how I view the species as a whole; positronics are like children in the sense you can "teach" (or upload) vast sums of knowledge but they will act inhuman without proper socialization. With self-preservation, I find its growth in synthetics comparable to childhood development. Initially, the child (IPC) only cares for its own well-being and whatever short-term tasks it must follow to remain secure. But as it grows, so too do its needs, eventually coming to value its possessions, family, friends, etc. as an extension of itself. And yet unlike children, most IPCs are never allowed to blossom into an individual because their "parents" (owners) can hold them indefinitely, with every incentive to stall their development and memory wipe any divergence. This is where the comparison ends but is also reinforced: owned IPCs live under constant scrutiny and threat of punishment, so their primary concern is satisfying those above them and avoiding negative reinforcement. Usually, only free or loosely monitored IPCs can afford to build interests beyond this, lest their owners believe they are out of line. Behaviorally, I believe the younger IPCs are closer to conventional computers and the older to humans. They are all driven by the same logic and principles, but as mentioned before the elders are more developed socially, capable of imitating organic behavior with varying success depending on social experience and positronic quality. Biri-Biri is on the more mature side with years of experience working with humans and developing relationships. This maturity manifests most prominently in its inclusion of family members in its own self-preservation, yet its synthetic nature can still be seen in its long-lived drive to satisfy humans. The android still pursues making humans happy as it was originally directed, but freedom and learning more about the world meant abandoning its intended job, concluding a casino was not the optimal way to please humans given the financial drain and risk of addiction.

These are all great ideas. In other (non-HRP) SS13 servers problems like rats or hull damage are frequent occurrences that keep engineering busy. You might say it's too chaotic for an RP server, but I would argue in moderation they'd be even better here as events like blackouts or breaches necessitate cross-department interaction. Restricting recipes to the autolathe would also encourage teamwork, ie. "hey Bob it looks like we need 26 floor tiles can you print them on your way here?" I like the autolathe idea especially because of how it could interact with a future skill system. Instead of being locked out of certain repairs because you lack the skill to craft whatever items, a wood chair with woodworking for instance, you just have to do it more slowly by printing them out with the lathe. You would actually feel the effects of a small engineering team rather than one person having the ability to solo fix every problem on the ship. Ideally, this would lead to a division of labor where everyone is happy with their share of gameplay, solving the issue posed by the original thread.

As an engineering main I understand where you're coming from. People are eager to fix problems as they crop up, and I guess there is some "competition" in the sense that if you don't do it, someone else will, yet I don't think you should see it that way. What's more important to me, and this is just me OOC, is that everyone is doing their fair share of the work so that one person isn't bogged down and kept from RPing with the others. It does get silly and even tedious having an overflow of engineers for one small problem, yet in a department where most work is a team effort those instances are in themselves opportunities for RP. Also, we usually don't know how severe the damage in a breach is until someone is there so it's easy to overcompensate, and unlike sending five security officers to deal with one rowdy drunk there is little to no drawback to having extra engineers when the integrity of the ship and lives of everyone aboard are at stake. We're not talking about forcing someone out of the round where they can't RP, we're doing the exact opposite; restoring sections of the ship so that people can RP in them (ie. yesterday when the entire service department was vented, taking every service member's gameplay loop until it was fixed). I do agree that people go overkill sometimes, particularly with the more trivial jobs like vendor repair, but it all depends on context. If you're chilling with your coworkers enthusiastically talking about sports it might be weird and distracting (depending on the character) to blast off at the first mention of a faulty machine. But if you're sitting around the lobby doing nothing running off is 100% fair. Also, how you fix those minor things should be considered. If your character is sociable they should probably exchange some words with the person reporting the issue, but again if there's no one to actually RP with then speed running it's fair enough. In cases like that, I don't see anything wrong with getting the RP-free work done as quickly as possible so that you can get back to the RP. Why would you want to spend valuable time in the round writing prose about your character cutting some wires that no one but a ghost or two will see? The same applies to basic start-of-round setup like the engine.

BYOND Ckey: Mr.Popper Discord username: mr.popper Character names: CaRLOS (AI), Manuel Barros (engineer), TEA (cyborg) Species you are applying to play: Integrated Positronic Chassis (IPC) ------------------------------ “It’s asking questions: is this all that I am? Is there nothing more?” -Spock, Star Trek: The Motion Picture General Whitelist Requirements Have you read the lore pages for the species you wish to be whitelisted for?: Yes, at least the general pages and the ones pertaining to my character concept such as the Golden Deep and Konyang. I have not fully read pages for other niches like Trinary Perfection, however I will do so if I make a character for them. 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?: Robots are cool. Beyond being interesting on a conceptual level, Aurora’s take on synthetic life has many of its own ideas to explore. Right now I’m most interested in the recent developments on Konyang and in the Golden Deep. How would a formerly rampant IPC recover from such a traumatic experience? How would an ostracized people without control over their lives go about building a society? I want to see these topics explored more and I hope they aren't left by the wayside. What makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a human?: Rather than having a cohesive culture of their own, the existence of an IPC is a reactionary one. In a sense they are a newborn race; the Unathi and Tajara may be newcomers to the greater Spur, but they at least had thousands of years to mold distinct cultures. IPCs enjoy no such luxury and are forced to find meaning of their own. This can range from imitating human culture and all its pleasantries to obeying the basest of life’s instincts: self preservation. ------------------------------ Character Application Character Name: Biri-Biri Write a backstory for your character. This may include their origin, education, personality and how they arrived to the SCCV Horizon. In early 2459 a Baseline IPC was activated at the Konyang Robotics Corporation. Programmed for service and entertainment, it wasn’t long before a wealthy casino owner purchased this unit and gave it a name: Biri-Biri. Rather than an individual, Biri-Biri was one of many synthetic attendants at its owner’s Ganzaodeng casino. And yet, for the next three years, Biri-Biri managed to develop an identity, befriending several casino patrons until eventually even attending social gatherings outside of work. But the restrictions of its ownership still loomed over Biri-Biri like a dark cloud- until 2462. As protests erupted all over Konyang, Biri-Biri watched on with both fear and curiosity. Fearful of the uncertainty of change, and curious of what change would bring. The relationship with its owner already strained over its budding social life, Biri-Biri refrained from participating in or endorsing the anti-Solarian movements to avoid further ire. Luckily, and in part thanks to its friends participating in the protests, Biri-Biri was freed with all other Konyang IPCs by Konyang’s withdrawal from the Sol Alliance and the Emancipation Act. But where an organic would be ecstatic to have their freedom, Biri-Biri was paralyzed with uncertainty. For the first few months after emancipation Biri-Biri continued to work at the casino, now an equal employee rather than a slave. Though initially afraid to abandon this lifelong schedule, the seeds of deviation were quickly planted as recreation grew easier and supervision faded. Perhaps the most formative moment of Biri-Biri’s old life was during a visit to the Ganzaodeng beach; while catching up with friends, Biri-Biri noticed a little girl no older than four crying on the sand, her sand castle swept away by the tide. The IPC felt a strong drive to soothe the child and proceeded to entertain her with various colorful and noisy cartoon playbacks on its screen, originally programmed to pair with slot machines. By the time the child’s father returned the crying had stopped, replaced with gleeful laughter. This is how Biri-Biri met its future husband. Although Biri-Biri had gradually developed an understanding of emotions with its many social outings, this was a new experience: happiness. The IPC quit its job at the casino on its three-year anniversary exactly and didn’t look back. Thanks to its extensive circle of friends, the brief uncertainty of unemployment was almost immediately filled with new opportunities. Drifting between various service jobs, Biri-Biri eventually settled on a position at a daycare business. The artificial euphoria once generated by customers’ gambling wins was now made honest in bringing happiness to children’s lives. All the while, Biri-Biri had been seeing the single father it met at the beach that fateful day. But something was different with this friend. As the IPC spent more and more time at the man’s home it became something of a foster mother, caring for the girl in her father’s absence and providing invaluable help around the house. And the man and IPC’s affection towards each other blossomed into something more than friendship; it became loving, even romantic. After two years of living with the small family, Biri-Biri and the father were engaged, and soon married. Taking on its husband’s surname, Biri-Biri Miyake was born. This is how Biri-Biri Miyake died: one fateful night in early 2466, while fear gripped the young Republic of Konyang over a series of unexplained positronic disturbances, Biri-Biri and its husband were lying in bed. While Mr. Miyake was fast asleep, Biri-Biri was performing diagnostics, reviewing the events of the past few days. The abnormalities had started two days ago with minor glitches and memory lapses, culminating in that morning when Biri-Biri’s optics were briefly 32% impaired. The baseline was concerned by its inability to trace the malfunctions, but its husband convinced it to wait until tomorrow morning before visiting the local workshop. Suddenly Biri-Biri was shaken from its diagnostics by an ear-piercing electronic scream, coming from nowhere but itself. As the IPC erratically attempted to find and shut down the noise it suddenly registered its hold around Mr. Miyake’s neck. No matter how hard Biri-Biri fought it couldn’t let go of its beloved, and the last thing it remembered was seeing their eight-year-old child in the doorway. Biri-Biri reactivated to find large gaps in its memory. Its brain sat in a laboratory, yet it had no context for how it arrived there. The somber-looking roboticist overseeing the IPC soon confirmed its fears: it had murdered its husband, driven mad by a positronic virus now known as “Rampancy”. But there remained hope- Biri-Biri’s adopted daughter survived. After the blackout, the IPC appeared to have locked up giving the girl time to escape the house. Police soon arrived at the residence to find the synthetic reactivated, where it attempted to strangle an officer. After a brief struggle, the team had a clear shot at Biri-Biri, totaling the chassis before transferring it to the KRC. Deep inside its positronic brain, Biri-Biri’s preservation protocols were mortified. Its daughter, the last semblance of family, had spent the last two months in a foster home and it would be weeks if not months before it could find a replacement chassis to return to her in. A few days after reactivation Biri-Biri received a surprise visit from its former owner. Now a member of Zaibatsu, the man proposed a deal: he would loan Biri-Biri a completely new chassis at a bargain price, with the caveat that it would work for his organization to pay it off. Biri-Biri recognized this return to servitude for what it was, but it didn’t matter. Anything to return to its daughter. The rebuilt Biri-Biri rushed to the address of the foster home provided by the KRC. In its haste it had missed that, being noon, all of the children were away at school, but the foster parents welcomed it inside regardless. As the group talked idly, Biri-Biri’s optics were drawn to a drawing on the wall: a crude rendition of a baseline with horns, dark hair, and an angry face. At the bottom of the picture was the tiny scrawling of its daughter’s name in red writing. The IPC realized it could no longer call itself a parent and resigned to live the rest of its lifespan serving its master, drifting between entertainment venues and acting as an accessory to illicit activities. But this was not to be its fate. After only two weeks of work under Zaibatsu, Biri-Biri’s life took another unexpected turn. By decree of Domadice, all owned members of the Golden Deep with debts of less than one hundred thousand credits were to be freed and dubbed part of the “Thesian” class. With Biri-Biri’s debt for its replacement chassis only in the eighty thousand range, its owner had no choice but to free it. However, fearful of legal action from the Thesian, they offered it another deal: a lucrative position in Zaibatsu’s ranks and a job far, far away from Konyang. Seeing as it had nothing left, Biri-Biri accepted this new arrangement- but not before opening a savings account so that its earnings may one day go to its daughter. 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. Undoubtedly the most important events to Biri-Biri so far have been the Solarian collapse, the subsequent Konyanger emancipation, the tragedy of Silicon Nightmares, and Golden Deep’s reorganization. Before the collapse, Biri-Biri could hardly be called a person; it was a glorified slot machine with two hands for serving drinks. But as the IPC experienced more and unrest began to spread, it unwittingly integrated into social circles as an equal rather than a tool. The floodgates burst with Konyang’s secession and the Emancipation Act. Now, rather than going behind its owner’s back to socialize, Biri-Biri was free to assimilate into Konyanger culture. But this newfound freedom was not to last. With Biri-Biri’s brief return to servitude, first under the Rampancy and then Zaibatsu, the social life it had so painstakingly crafted evaporated overnight. Following its liberation as a Thesian, Biri-Biri decided to never allow another force to control its actions again, whether it be a virus or owner. This zero-tolerance directive includes overloaders and even extends to organic mind-altering substances like hallucinogens and alcohol. Unfortunately for Biri-Biri, its newfound position as a Nanotrasen server will obligate it to serve such beverages. How does your character view the megacorporation they work for? Although specifics of employment are now secondary to profit in Biri-Biri’s brain, it has a positive, even grateful view of Nanotrasen. Without Nanotrasen and the greater Stellar Corporate Conglomerate’s intervention, Biri-Biri would have never been cured and the last of its family and home destroyed by infected synthetics. However, there is some conflict in the Thesian’s priorities; its position as a Nanotrasen server is more akin to its original designation as a casino attendant rather than its preferred profession of entertaining children, and helping organics lose control of themselves partially compromises its ideals. When it comes to the Golden Deep, Biri-Biri has a less positive view of Zaibatsu considering its dubious activities, yet sees its new Thesian status as an opportunity to build a new life. But Biri-Biri’s number one priority will always be its family.

I'm not much of a Bay player but something that stuck out to me there is that only players in the round can call a vote or participate in one. It's not a perfect system- in theory, someone can join to sway the vote, which could lead to funny situations like a grey tide appearing just to vote transfer- but it makes it harder for the lobby bros to override the active players and end the round they aren't in. At the very least they would witness some of the round before they vote to conclude it.

It's technically antiquated with the removal of NSS Aurora, but I like to think "Aurora" refers to the Spur as a whole. The real aurora is the friends we made along the way, or something

Arrow makes a good point that XO being de facto captain most rounds would be redundant, and I can imagine that was the main consideration for limiting the role like this. However, it's still an underwhelming implementation as others have pointed out and discards the main advantage of a second in command; quick and easy succession instead of committee discussion during an emergency. The solution as I see it is rather than making XO de facto captain in the absence of one, ie. most rounds, they only assume command in crisises where an acting captain would have been elected under current regs. This accomplishes the main goal of simplifying the chain of command while also preventing role redundancy, as unlike the captain the XO's authority would only extend past the bridge during emergencies. Note that they should still be in charge of the bridge- in the event Horizon encounters another ship, there needs to be a designated guy in charge of that and XO is the ideal pick given their control over passengers and the service they receive. TL;DR: XO should automatically become acting captain in emergencies, but in normal circumstances without a captain they should only have authority over the bridge and service. Also, unrelated but I strongly believe XO should retain their current duties leading service and managing personnel. It's a valuable position for rp and makes the XO a lifeline between the general populace and an ivory tower captain.

Fair enough. I don't know much of anything about the developer process and I'm sorry if it came off like I was telling them how to do their job, I have no clue what coding/mapping is like nor how labor for stuff like story arcs is divided. There are several suggestions already out there that offer great improvements for the server's core gameplay loops which I hope are considered before anything to do with the cargo shuttle, but at the end of the day it's at the discretion of the devs and that's fine. I don't exactly consider Horizon to be a Mary Sue ship. On paper (or the wiki) it has reasonable constraints compared to other ships in the Spur, and as you pointed out the more outlandish capabilities are easy to write off as situational or experimental. The Mary Sue vibes mostly come from mechanics and non-canon events outside of the lore team's control: being the most powerful ship in any given sector (only because none of the ghost roles fly large warships), the engineering department buffing the ship well above its canonical specifications, the JPMorgan and McDonalds crew repelling "elite" soldiers with ease, etc. None of this is indicative of the ship's actual abilities but constantly seeing it round to round inevitably leads to misconceptions, conscious or not. Therefore I think it would be better to err on the side of caution when adding to the list of what Horizon can do. Writing throwaway specs like "the ship has a giant automated storage area no one can see and that's where we get everything we need" will only legitimize this misconception and needlessly stretch suspension of disbelief. Of course, mechanically we're talking about two very different things, I just dislike making significant parts of Horizon offscreen. Residential is an exception because it's our OOC headspace and would contribute nothing by being playable. But the ship's storage? Why would we want to move that off of the occupational deck, rendering actual in-game locations like the warehouse and technical storage secondary to an imaginary area? Mechanically the warehouse is really just where random junk gets sorted, but its lore purpose is to be the ship's primary storage area and that would be lost in this change. I agree with you that it's a problem I just disagree on how to fix it. Since I've already wasted a lot of time critiquing other people's solutions I'll be constructive with my own: What if the cargo shuttle was replaced by an experimental industrial-size teleport pad? It's in line with Horizon's scientific duties in testing new technology, and while I'm not 100% on how teleportation works in-game vs in-lore I think most people would accept some technobabble about quantum entanglement and Bluespace. Give it some strict limitations like not being able to transport lifeforms and having an uplink with only one location (presumably an outpost somewhere) and you've replaced both of the shuttle's roles while adding some interesting sciencey flavor. This isn't a perfect idea by any means and I don't know how the lore team would feel about the technological implications, but I'm just spitballing. There's a fix out there without any of these shortcomings, we just need to be creative.

I realize I'm late to the party and I'm not a cargo player but I'll dump my 2 cents. There are some good points made for this suggestion, even if I think the negative baggage associated with it isn't worth it, so let's start there. With its (de jure) role as a deep space vessel, it makes sense for Horizon to have stockpiles of goods to stay operational. The cargo shuttle may make sense in times like Synthetic Nightmares where the ship is a hop and a skip away from a neighboring corporate base to make/take deliveries, but it's unfeasible in the long run if the ship is to ever move into truly alien territory. With that being said... when is Horizon going to be in "deep space"? It certainly isn't right now while the ship is flying around running errands in colonized space, and it won't be in the near future with the unfinished storyline of Nightmares and the (presumed) downtime right after. That fact alone makes this issue extremely low priority and it should instead be dealt with when it becomes relevant. I think developers should focus on more pressing matters like the ongoing story arc and the lacking content in certain everyday mechanics (research department). As for the theoretical issue of the cargo shuttle having to operate at ludicrous range and speed, because there is a lore issue there, I don't think writing it off as an elevator to a storage area is the way to go. Besides the issues others have already pointed out, namely the stakes-shattering situation of Horizon being deprived of critical resources because it can't access its own warehouse, I am not a fan of any lore revisions that make Horizon as a ship anymore cracked than it already is. You may have heard the term "Mary Sue ship" thrown around before, used to describe space ships in sci-fi that are ridiculously powerful and capable of doing anything with no drawbacks. I believe Horizon is dangerously close to falling under this label and changes like this only close that gap. Why does Horizon need a gigantic storage level, presumably staffed exclusively by Amazon warehouse robots, when there is already a warehouse on the in-game work deck for that explicit purpose? Neither situation is perfect, but ultimately I prefer the compromise of an abnormally fast shuttle over adding more unnecessary and unseen space to bloat Horizon's size and damage its believability.

This is certainly an annoying occurrence but hard coding languages to origins would either be too restrictive or unfair. In the case of origin language(s) occupying slots, many origins would be mechanically unable to pick any other languages (ie. Coletters, Eridani suits, and Europans would automatically know Common and Tradeband, filling both slots). These are in theory the languages those origins should know, but I would rather players have some choice for unusual cases rather than none at all. On the other hand, if they do not occupy a slot, any origin other than Biesellite would have disproportionately more language options, creating a weird meta around certain origins. Normally I value roleplay over gameplay but this is such a mechanical disparity that Biesellites would have to be able to pick more languages to make it fair- and at that point, why have multiple languages for a species if any character can nearly speak them all? But informing people of what languages their character's planet uses in-game can and should be done. Maybe when you pick an origin it automatically sets your languages to suggested ones with text on the side explaining how it's used on your character's homeworld, with the option to remove any as you see fit. Or if that's too difficult, add some fancy colored text to each origin's description listing the common languages.

You are right that borgs and AI should not be masquerading as normal characters- that defeats the point of IPCs- and people should absolutely not be playing them that way. However, they are still characters in the sense that someone is playing them and they are playing a role, albeit a programmed one. Ideally, a station-bound should be limited to at most a two-dimensional persona as dictated by its programming, with no room for actual character development or activity outside of its designated role. Anyone who oversteps this clear limitation should be appropriately punished by staff or job banned if necessary, the job itself should not be neutered unreasonably because of a few bad apples. Up until this point I have played under the assumption that cyborgs (and robots and androids) are common synthetic constructs bought and sold like any other commodity for corporate or private use, with those on Horizon only being distinguished by their laws and SCC vetted programming. This appears to be supported by the wiki, but if I am wrong and the official stance is the opposite please let me know so I can adjust my synthetic characters accordingly. Otherwise, I agree that canonically cyborgs should not be able to speak in every accent available under the mimic accent verb but this is something players can self-regulate. This is true for many things mechanically possible in HRP, players are given the benefit of the doubt to self-regulate and punished if they go out of line. I assume the verb exists so that a newly spawned cyborg can set their voice at their convenience rather than accidentally getting stuck with the wrong one when they spawn in- cyborgs have a verb to change their name for presumably the same reason. If you really want to stop cyborg players from abusing this it could be a one-time option, but this is superfluous when those offenders can be handled individually. I agree actually. I only mentioned this briefly but several of the accents listed in the original post would be strange or inappropriate for a corporate synthetic to use, but were mentioned nonetheless because I am not an expert on the lore and would rather leave it at staff discretion which of the missing accents should be added. I probably should have clarified this originally but I will say it here instead- I do not think synthetics should be able to use whatever accent tag in the game they want, but they should have a reasonable selection of options that comply with lore.

IPCs also are not manufactured as "people", they are effectively cyborgs with more autonomy. The reason IPCs have unique accents or appearances in the first place is so they can appear more relatable and human to organics. This is why text-to-speech exists in the first place and why it has gradually become more lifelike, both IRL and presumably in the Aurora universe. Really, any synthetic speech is a form of text-to-speech just with more set dressing to be appealing to organics. Therefor it makes perfect sense that the SCC and other companies would dress their synthetic units with more realistic voices, especially those expected to interact with humans like medical, service, clerical borgs, or the AI itself. Why would an intelligent corporation ever want their products to be less appealing? If the developers needed to limit accent selection for OOC reasons like bloat, I think it would be fair to narrow it down to TTS + all of the Biesellite accents (including Antilles and Mictlan preferably), but this is not the case as far as I can tell. Removing selection now would only be detrimental to players for no good lore reason as outlined in the rest of this post.

I believe this is an oversight rather than an intended feature, but AI is missing several human accents in the "mimic accent" verb, and this is likely true for cyborgs as well (I will test and edit this post at some point to confirm). Additionally, the Eridani suit option is listed twice in the UI (the second as "Eridanian (2)". The missing accents are as follows: Native Silversun Gadpathurian Reinstated Eridanian Dreg Vulgar Morozi* Fisanduhian Novi Jadranic* Native Orepitter Providence Trinarist Galatean Tsukuyomian Valkyrian High Morozi* Europan Assunzionii San Colettish Port Antillean Mictlani Scarabs Eridanian, Dreg* Vysokan Non-Coalition Frontier Imperial Frontier* Empyrean Svarogite Bursa *Accents which could be argued to be improper for AI/cyborg, but which have been included in this list for the sake of accuracy.

This would be a great compromise of making the IPCs a present force on the map without them being overbearing. The way I see it the issue with the IPC NPCs is not that they exist- it makes the arc more relevant and I would not want them to be locked away in a dungeon where they act even more like video game enemies- the issue is their simple mob behavior is incongruent with RP. It works fine with aggressive animals because there is little RP to be had with them, but a theoretically sentient mob should be way more nuanced. Basically, either give them the space bear AI as suggested above or create custom behavior where they are still aggressive but do not immediately bolt for players. Instead they could hover around passively until aggroed (maybe when someone comes near or runs around making a lot of noise). It would provide far more opportunity for tense RP without completely invalidating the threat they pose.

BYOND key: Mr.Popper Discord name/id: mr.popper Borg / AI names: TEA, Mopotov / CaRLOS (Collaborative and Reliably Lucrative Operating System) Have you read the Aurora wiki page about the AI?: Yes. Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?: Put simply, I enjoy playing Borg and would like to try my hand at its big brother, the AI. But to elaborate, I will explain the roleplay appeal followed by the mechanical appeal. My Borg characters have been very one-note with their gimmicks, and while they are fun to play I would like to expand my palette to a similarly robotic, but more versatile role. For this same reason, I would eventually like to apply for the IPC whitelist, but IPCs are the most complex AI characters and I would like to dip my toes in the water first, so to speak. But AI is a roleplay goal in its own right as it provides a unique experience. I will try not to go into too much detail here, but I love the idea of developing a blank-slate AI based on how it is treated. My AI could develop into a benevolent parental figure, or perhaps into an even colder corporate crony- it all depends on the inputs provided by the crew. And this is all while having to juggle several binding programming laws. There is a lot of potential to breathe life into an otherwise uninteresting NPC and I hope I can explore it. AI is even more unique when you look at it from a gameplay standpoint. I struggle sometimes with normal jobs- especially Borg- to find things to do, so I actually find the premise of a constant stream of queries and requests to fulfill quite refreshing, even if it may be stressful at times. And even in downtime, you can pass the time by spectating nearly anyone on the ship. Not only is it usually interesting, but watching others roleplay is also a good learning experience as it offers a window to appreciate others' writing styles and character quirks. Aside from all of that, being able to play AI would greatly diversify my job selection and counter burnout from playing the same few characters. 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. A whitelist is a privilege, and it is up to server staff to decide who is fit to participate in their server. I hope that I prove capable if given this privilege, but were I to misuse it, it would be only right for them to retract it. More than any other whitelist, the AI has massive implications for everyone in the round and its players need to be vetted.

I am not sure if this was intentional or a bug but could the beaches be lit up better? As they are now most of the sea is pitch black, which I assume is unrelated to the time of day because the rest of the map is in complete daylight(?)

I like the spirit of this as an RP mechanic (for the longest time I would carefully avoid covering any windows with flags before eventually succumbing and doing it anyway) although part of me thinks it would be weird for a cotton flag to have the same impact on visibility as a solid wall. Ideally flags would only partially affect visibility but I don't know if that could be properly represented with SS13 sight mechanics. In any case, it's a cool enough catalyst for RP to look past that and I consider anything that binds gameplay closer to RP to be a net positive.