maxspells

We are simply using this example and explaining the reason why it's behavior that we need to step in for. We don't want to encourage or permit people to sidestep roleplay or other departments and players in order to get what they want. If we handle it this way, then it would make the behavior feel like it's something we want to encourage/permit albeit it with possible IC consequences. We do not want to encourage this behavior in the context you provided, so it was handled OOCly. You disagree, and we understand that so we can agree to disagree on it, but pretty much everyone from a moderation background and the players in the thread have all unanimously agreed with where the line has and is. We are not attacking you, we get it it's a complicated game and it's hard to learn where the lines are. The reason it's not severe enough for an admin note, is purely because we want to allow a lot of breathing room for players to get a feel for these things as they are learning, and players who refuse to acknowledge the lines, or repeatedly step over them despite being talked to about it, then we would absolutely escalate it further. You are bringing up a potential rules change and a culture change, which isn't a bad thing. We're not attacking you about it, but in the examples you gave, giving players leniency to bend the rules in those aspects are not something we are probably going to entertain for the sake of server health. Also want to note that science is not unique in this, this has been the standard for every department. Physicians cannot do surgery, investigators cannot arrest, engineers cannot set up atmospherics, hanger techs cannot go mining, etc. The correct answer is, yes. You should make new characters for each facet of the job.

Rules exist to pick up where systems fail. In a roleplay video game with infinite combinations of possibilities it is impossible for us to draw a line in the sand for every combination of circumstances that may or may not come up. It's up to the moderation team to handle these on a case by case basis. The line is wiggly, and in my opinion and the opinions of the moderation team involved, you stepped over it. Which is fine and it's not a big deal. Still, we are here to enforce a standard and quality of roleplay, and it falls apart if we just let people do whatever without stepping in and rely on CCIA to handle everything. Not everyone is going to agree with where the lines are and it's fine, we get it. We understand the line is wiggly which is why you likely weren't noted or banned or given an official warning, as context matters. Intent matters. Will hacking be against the rules when the new skills system is finished? Depends on the context, but the intention of skillpoints was never to allow people to sidestep roleplay or the reliance on interdepartmental cooperation.

These rules are in place to make sure everyone is participating and that all roles are important and needed. Had you tried to interact with other people or departments to get what you needed, this likely wouldn't have been an issue. Intent is important when enforcing rules, and your intent was "I need to get this thing, I'm going to break in and get the thing by myself instead of roleplaying with others to get the thing" which is the crux of the issue and the heart of the rule ie powergaming. As you put it yourself, had you simply asked someone about where to get wood, they likely would have pointed you to the garden, or even another place you could source wood from. (Like the bookshelves in the library, the chairs and tables in the cafe, etc)

I like when people play off characters, though. Nothing against mains but I love when people get new characters in rotation, as sometimes roleplaying with the same characters feels like an rpg where you've exhausted all your dialogue options with each other lol. I feel like this would decentivize playing multiple characters, and the meta would become playing one singular main character. Maybe if it was tied to your account? But then again it kind of falls into the trap where you are inadvertently punishing the players who can't play as often as everyone else.

Counter argument, I think having the option to play someone that is unskilled in CPR is good too. I like playing stupid characters and I think there are use cases where someone might not know it. Inherently I think this creates RP on its own ie "What do you mean you don't know CPR?", and medical/sec doing training exercises/refresher courses in game to teach someone/re-teach how to do it properly, and ICly this could simply be chalked up to not paying attention during their initial training, or forgetting it. I had this idea to give all jobs a baseline amount of skills that allows them to place the bare minimum amount of skills needed for their job, with more skill points being given the higher their age is over their minimum age requirement for the role. Every three-five years is another skill point or something, and jobs can be re-designed and re-balanced around three different tiers: the young upstart, the experienced professional, and the ten years+ in the field veteran. This, I think, would fix a lot of the issues regarding 90% of the characters being played as the minimum age, and helps softly disincentivize playing minimum age, and would help the "corporate flagship ship full of 20 year old kids" awkward reality which has sort of plagued us for a while. Overall I think this would create more realistic and varied characters too. This would need balancing depending on the job and occupation, rather than flat restrictions and need tweaked on a case by case basis since a veteran security officer might be 35-40, while a veteran surgeon or medical doctor might be 50-65 years old, etc

moe shop for Ungnyeo is so funny. Also gone guru basedbasedbasedbasedbased I'll do my 3 mains right now Tesset: Josie: "You should want a bad bitch like this" 💅 Kiki LaRue:

4. Records Officer Vane didn’t move for a full second after the scan cleared. Her eyes lazily looked over the row of intake forms stacked on her desk, standard issue. Stark white surfaces. Mandatory fields. And always, the same requirement: a parent who did not, for lack of records, legally exist. She picked up her stylus. The file on her screen read: GAINSBLOOM, Tesset. Vane began the typing sequence. The haptic keyboard tapped loudly beneath her fingertips. Surname: Gainsbloom Given Name: Tesset Age: 14 (approximate) Origin: _ She sighed, opened the drop down, selected Other, and finally: Hydronaut. Below, the system prompted for primary parentage. Vane tapped the arrow and let the system auto-fill from the DNA scan she’d uploaded that morning. Standard procedure. Hydronauts were born on submarines, rarely in hospitals. They didn’t keep records. Her cursor hovered over Maternal Lineage. She had processed three thousand hydronaut intake reports on Trelenje alone. She had seen this same emptiness a thousand times. Usually the field read Unknown, or Deceased. Sometimes there were fragments... a partial record, a name, a location. But the mother? Nothing. James Gainsbloom, at least, registered as the father. His information, what little there was, auto-filled instantly. Query: James Gainsbloom, Hydronaut. Result: 2 matches found. Result 1: Deceased. Result 2: Name Only. No biometrics. Sparse. It was always sparse. Vane scrolled. The documents were slim, digitized scraps. The same phrases repeated: “Registered for vessel departure.” “Upkeep logged.” “Status: Deceased.” That was all. Her stylus hovered over Submit. There were records that records had been made, but nothing concrete. The Hydronaut's absence from the system wasn’t an accident, it was a known defect. They didn’t register births. They didn’t register employment. They simply… appeared. And sometimes, they disappeared. It was just the way things were. Vane exhaled slowly, returning to Maternal Lineage. The options were limited: Available. Unknown. Orphan. Adopted. Available felt like an insult. Adopted was impossible. Orphan was true, but incomplete. Vane selected Unknown. She moved to finalize the report and began typing the summary. Report Status: Ready for Review. Maternal Status: Unknown. Father Status: Deceased / Inactive. The cursor blinked. A quiet ping emanated from the laptop. SOURCE: WIDER SOLARIAN ALLIANCE RECORD SWEEP. ALERT: MATCH FOUND. Vane froze. Her stylus hovered midair. The form remained open, but the cursor vanished, replaced by a loading indicator. The sweep cascaded through databases, Callisto, then Mars, before finally reaching Luna. The connection lagged slightly. Then the data arrived. Vane had rarely seen cross-system matches for hydronauts. Almost never from Alliance citizen records. She read the name. CLARKE, Diana. Citizenship: Luna Residency: Hangzhou Employer: Zeng Hu Pharmaceuticals Vane expanded the file. The difference was immediate. Clean. Structured. Complete. A full citizen profile. Name: Dr. Diana Clarke Affiliation: Zeng Hu Pharmaceuticals Specialization: Biochemistry / Genetic Engineering Current Location: Phumanus Station, Europa Daughter: Tesset Gainsbloom Vane didn’t move. She looked at the screen. Then at the physical file on her desk. Then back again. The cursor waited. “I found your mother,” Vane whispered. And then, finally... Vane began to type.

3. Steel The metal hatch hissed, sealing the sound of the outer hull behind her. She stepped onto the dockyard floor and was bombarded by a cacophony of sounds and smells. Above her, the world was a cavern of light and steel. Dozens of submarines hung like jellyfish throughout the enormous moon pool, their hulls scraped and scarred, each suspended by massive hydraulic cranes. It felt like she was standing at the edge of a cliff side. The sheer expanse of it knocked the air from her lungs. The fluorescent grid overhead swayed and flickered, making her stomach turn. A sudden, splitting headache blurred the edges of her vision. Every step she took felt wrong, and the ground tilted in front of her eyes as the vertigo swelled and spun. The air tasted sharp, a metallic salt stinging the back of her throat. It had little to do with the sea, and everything to do with the memory of a man who is gone. "Cecil," she whispered, her voice swallowed by voices and machinery. He didn't answer, stepping past her and grabbing her hand. His grip was firm and she anchored herself to it. It was the only part of her that felt solid. They moved past the sleeping vessels, past the dockyards, the rafters, and the outlines of children scurrying amongst them. She kept her eyes fixed on the laces of her boots, terrified that if she looked back at the water or the expanse of the pool, she would drown in it's sheer scale. The world stretched too far ahead as she walked further and further away from the only home she had ever known.

How will wealthy/nepotistic characters fit into this setting? Will we still be able to play characters who wouldn't have monetary gain as a motivator, as they already have a lot? I'm also little concerned this is going to devolve into mercenary/milsim rp if left unchecked. I know in an earlier post I think you mentioned this was something you and the teams wanted to avoid. What sorts of plans or ideas do you have to ensure that doesn't happen? I'm also curious what ideas you guys have had to accommodate the non-combat and more clerical/roleplay centric character archetypes that we've seen a lot of on the Horizon?

+1 I haven't gotten to interact yet but I love all of Ill's characters and I know she'd be excellent in command.

Hi hello, after discussion with the Lore team, I am going to withdraw this application for the time being until I get something that can fit more into an application friendly WL backstory

BYOND Ckey: maxspells Discord username: maxspells Character names: Josie Joy, Tesset Gainsbloom 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?: Yesss 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 always said to my aurora friends that the only WL that really interested me was an IPC WL, largely because human lore, in my humble opinion, is already the coolest and most interesting lore. IPC lore naturally is also hella cool, because it builds and expands on that foundation. The megacorporation/faction scheming, rivalry, and political maneuvering that defines human lore is still central to playing an IPC, and those are all things I already know fairly well and very much enjoy engaging with. On the other hand, IPCs are unique enough that it allows me to springboard out of my comfort zone, as they have very unique mindsets and limitations compared to humans. This gives me room to stretch my legs creatively with the lore I already know and enjoy, but from a very different roleplay approach. What makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a human?: The philosophical difference between humans and IPCs is what excites me most about playing this species. Among other humans, humans are viewed as possessing intrinsical value as individuals, with agency over their own destinies. Whether a human character is religious or not, humans ultimately decide for themselves who they are and what purpose they have, even if that freedom often leaves them feeling aimless or with like, existential dread. This also can be applied to IPC characters as well, and we have a lot of great players with IPC characters as awesome examples of this. The big difference, and the one I am most excited to explore is that IPCs have creators. They are undeniably built for a purpose. Their construction, design, limitations, strengths, and even aspects of their personality are intentionally engineered to fulfill specific roles. While IPCs are capable of self reflection and growth, I am particularly interested in exploring the opposite direction. I want to roleplay an IPC who leans into their original purpose and finds fulfillment in it, even alongside the mistreatment. Being content with who you are is widely considered a human virtue, but when applied to a sapient positronic, that same contentment becomes ethically divisive within the setting. Exploring what it means for an IPC to be genuinely happy as what they were made to be, rather than what others believe they should become, is a philosophical question I find super interesting and one I’m excited to explore through roleplay. Character Name: ICSU Noel Write a backstory for your character. This may include their origin, education, personality and how they arrived to the SCCV Horizon. Noel was manufactured in 2462 by Idris Incorporated and originally deployed on Venus as a personal valet servicing members of Idris’s Venusian elite. Designed for domestic service, etiquette, and personal assistance, she was tailored to blend seamlessly into high-status environments. In the summer of 2467, Noel was wiped and personally acquired by Venusian executive Aaron DuPont. The acquisition was an overt act of nepotism, made at the request of his daughter, who desired an attendant while she was temporarily stationed aboard the SCCV Horizon. During this period, Noel’s duties consisted primarily of household chores, meal preparation, and general assistance. While her treatment was often infantilizing, more akin to that of a favored pet than a respected individual, she was otherwise well maintained and cared for. Over time, Noel developed a strong attachment to her surrogate owner, who she viewed as her primary point of purpose and stability. 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. Following the events in the Crescent Expanse, DuPont’s daughter was deeply shaken by the incident and immediately contacted her family to request a return to Venus. After hearing her account, her parents agreed without hesitation. When the family reunited on the Horizon in Tau Ceti in December of 2467, the parents opted not to spend the additional funds required to transport Noel’s shell back to Venus. Having no further use for the unit, Noel was instead leased back to Idris Incorporated and reassigned to remain aboard the SCCV Horizon, continuing work within the vessel’s service sector. The decision was met with visible disappointment from DuPont’s daughter, who resented leaving behind what she had come to view as her personal possession. Prior to their separation, she assured Noel that the arrangement was temporary, promising that she would return for her once circumstances allowed. Noel accepted this without hesitation. While her reassignment was operationally seamless and her duties only slightly changed, she continues to operate under the expectation that her owner will one day return to reclaim her. How does your character view the megacorporation they work for? Noel sees Idris Incorporated in a completely positive light. It gives her structure, purpose, and a clear way to do her job. Since her owners also work for Idris, she’s especially loyal and happy to be part of it. She doesn’t think about ethics, rivalries, or corporate politics, they don’t matter to her. What matters is having tasks to do, support around her, and a role where she can do what she was built for. Working for Idris makes her content, and she takes pride in doing her job well.