Synnono

Mr. Kur'yer-Isra, I had no idea you were running an operation like this. Lance and I just fell into some good financial fortune a couple of weeks ago, and of course we'd be happy to donate to keeping your doors open. I can arrange a transfer of 5,000cr for later in the week, what's the best avenue for you? Warm Regards, Zahra Karimi and Lance Flack

-@KariZee_30- @OneTajaran I didn't know #TheFamilyOfTheTauCetiFaithful existed before today! Count on me being in touch. These things are important. Zahra Karimi

BYOND Key: Synnono Character name: Zahra Karimi Item name: Indigo remembrance pin Why is your character carrying said item to work? The story of Indigo's contentious captivity and disassembly has strengthened Zahra's support of improved synthetic legal rights in the Republic, and she wants to wear the pin to work to share that support with crew on board. It could either be something UNITY decided to distribute to recent donors (thoughts, Nebula?) or just manufactured and distributed by sympathetic citizens. Item function(s): None/cosmetic. It would ideally attach to a jumpsuit around the breast or collar, and be included in the look description of the character's jumpsuit. Item description: That's an Indigo remembrance pin. A small metal pin, worked into the likeness of an indigo iris blossom. It can be attached to a jumpsuit. This is Zahra Karimi! She is wearing a scientist's jumpsuit. Attached to it is the webbing and the Indigo remembrance pin. Item appearance: I don't have much of an opinion on the sprite of the item itself. It's just small, so maybe something comparable/simple to a cigarette butt in visible pixel size, or a bit bigger for easier picking up. On a jumpsuit it might not even have to be visually represented, but if it were, just an indigo darkening wherever it should be attached would be fine. How will you use this to better interact with crew and/or stimulate RP? The question of synthetic rights has split the Republic and the Company's population into polarized camps, and being able to see evidence of one stance or another is immediately provoking. In my opinion, Indigo and UNITY have been much more recently relevant than the SIM armband that exists in the custom loadout. I'd like an item that both expresses discontent with recent events in the short-term, and serves as a memento of the times in the long-term. Additional comments: It could be made a lily, rather than an iris, if that would be more appropriate (the memorial service floated flower candle-boats on the water). An iris is naturally indigo, though, and also an unintentional Mega Man X4 reference to another robot's tragic death, which I can dig. God, that game had terrible dubbing :'D

California's firing up plans to secede. Catch you on the beach.

I enjoy this. Fond memories of half-assing college projects mixed with a healthy dose of AI sci-fi love. Mister Overeasy sounds like just the thing we'd find in the galley, and you pay some respect to the recent political climate in the Republic as justification for its existence out in space. That's more than most IPC characters do! You even used Zahra's university in your backstory here and that makes me selfishly happy :'D As for the player, Vile's a dedicated writer with an interest in synthetic lore, and some of their most interesting moments when they're in a round as Simon Bard come out of playing with (or against, or around) AI. I think they give plenty of thought to robotic and computer nature when when they're playing neither robot nor computer, and I'd love to see them tackle both in person.

I've been waiting for this one! Very glad to see Kyle up for prospective RD. He's a well-meaning character with know-how and good sense. Though I would be curious to know if there's anything more to his backstory that you think illustrates him best for the purposes of this app - does he have shareable motivations for seeking this promotion, for example? As for the player, I've had universally good experiences with TequilaJoe on the two characters I know. They're often out engaging people with their characters, building side stories and bringing people together to roleplay in a manner that most folks who log in just don't try for. Like they mention in their application, they often try and facilitate the roleplay of others, which is something I think a Head should be doing. They keep things interesting for me, whether that's by building on the story during an antagonist round, or just developing history with other crew. There's so much of this going on that it can sometimes be hard to pin them down in one spot, but some of my favorite rounds have been spent in conversation with either Kyle or Monique. They're a very level-headed and aware player in the OOC, write compellingly in the IC, and I'm confident they'll handle the whitelist well.

I love this little spreadsheet, but it's in need of work at the moment. Someone got into a column they ought not to have and shunted everyone's boxes over to the left by one. Also, a dozen people need to either update or finish filling out their lines. Also there are two Ash LaCroixs now for some reason. I mean, I don't mind that last bit, but it's getting messy!

I normally try to leave better feedback than this, and more may be forthcoming, but...I would just be tickled pink to see unbound Mix. Give this borg a whitelist. Can you elaborate at all about who might have supported Mix's chassis, and why?

It is, technically, after Halloween, now. Let sleigh-bells ring.

M1-X is a scary, beefy robot. Next time he says "affirmative" I'll envision something a bit more Space Marine and a bit less WY android.

Thank you Mr. Boot. Amending intensifies

With some polish the OOC components of this application could pass muster for me. I'd like to see more about what the player is supposed to do for the crew during a round, rather than the character in their role. I don't like the idea that a head character is supposed to 'babysit' as well, though sometimes that is what they end up doing. It implies a micromanagement that can step on toes and diminish enjoyment. What I take a bit more issue with is the Cane character, and his suitability for the role of a Head. Assuming he worked as hard at med school as anyone else for an advanced and specialized degree, he might have what it takes to be put in charge of a pathology lab by age 30 as a virologist. He certainly wouldn't be in a position to run the entirety of medbay as a CMO though, and there is nothing suggesting he has the life or work experience to be considered for a HoS position at all. Also notable to me is that he's a wildcard with an unreliable personality, and you write that as being something you like about the character. While variety is great, and there are certainly some less than sane head characters aboard, the application tends to look for a character NT would reasonably promote. Why is Cane being trusted with responsibility for other people, when he himself seems to be emotionally unstable? While sorting out the above for me is something I am interested in reading, I agree with Sharp that you should consider a new character for this whitelist. Someone else could probably showcase your OOC understanding of the obligations a bit better, both on the app and in play.

Ironically, this question isn't even on the thing. It's five years people, think short-term madness.

The wiki page on Tau Ceti says the Romanovich Cloud in that system is the only known source of phoron (plasma). Recent news articles say that Tau Ceti supplies only half of phoron energy to human space. The general FAQ in this forum and plasma page both say that the stuff can be found everywhere, though the plasma page seems to be referring to types of objects in space rather than stellar locations. Soooo, where is all the phoron in known space? Is it Tau Ceti's monopoly or the common commodity suggested elsewhere? With the recent embargo it would be nice to know how much leverage Biesel and NT have.

I thought I'd share a useful character development tool for those interested in finding ways to flesh out their characters. This 100-question exercise has helped me figure out the qualities of my own characters for quite some time. It can be especially helpful when planning someone new, or when trying to think about stuff that is hard to illustrate in the course of a round. It may seem like a lot of thinking (it is) and a lot of writing (it isn't), but taking the time has usually been worth it for me. Some people might also enjoy sharing their responses, though it is massively, massively spoilerific for any character it's done for. Let me know if it helps someone out!

Currently, when the game does a false alarm in the form of a high radiation alert, the maintenance access restrictions aren't revoked. This has led to some scenarios in which characters are immediately saying the alert is fake and that the crew shouldn't be concerned, since they understand as players that the real thing would unlock maintenance. It's a smidge metagamey, since presumably the station or central's systems are fooled up until it's revealed to be a sensor glitch. Shouldn't even a false alarm trigger the maintenance access, since the false positive is discovered after the fact? Is this at all easy to code? The false alarms should be harder to detect. Or maybe I just want more of us to get cozy in maintenance tunnels, Iunno.

Ornias is always nice to see on either Joie or Astor. I have no IC interaction with Breccan yet, but somehow I doubt the player suddenly becomes a terror just because they've got to baton a fool. They're a consistently engaging writer who I enjoy to play the round with, even if I'm just observing them from the side of the screen. Joie is, as a bonus, delightfully combustible. Now for other feedback. Regarding the answers to the questions about OOC purpose and responsibilities: I think this could use expanding upon. What you've written here is what I would consider to be the IC purpose of the Head, not the OOC one. Keep in mind that in OOC terms the game is (indeed) about the station falling apart, and how the players deal and interact with that event. A command position is not just an opportunity to roleplay a position of authority or responsibility - you're also the bottleneck for a few things from a perspective of gameplay and folks having fun. I think that this could also use some expansion, mostly in terms of what you feel the 'job' is that the player (not the character) is getting done. It's a reasonable thing to say that Command players need to display some maturity, but are there ways you see that manifesting in the game? Regarding the backstory as posted, it sounds like there's no formal education or team-management experience in the character's history, when both are fairly realistic expectations for someone trying to land a Command position. The secondary education is technically a requirement, though Head of Security may be the most relaxed command position in that sense. In your view, would the company consider making an exception for someone like him based on his job experience alone? I have no personal interaction with Breccan, so it's possible he behaves differently after his work with HI, but from what's written I get the impression that he's prone to violence, personally capable but not necessarily a leader, and supportive of a competitor megacorp, which is the kind of thing NT's HR and IA departments probably aren't oblivious to. While he's got the requisite experience, he also seems to have only two years with the company. With older and more learned/experienced candidates in the pool, what would make NanoTrasen select Breccan first? Finally,

A fantastic setting in this one. I recommend you try it and start as the Templars. They're by far the most respectable.

I implore you to pick up a crowbar, toggle harm intent, and click once, maybe twice, on the offender. It takes at most two hits.

This. If you like their RP as cartoon caricatures, embrace it. If you don't, murder them freely. Don't feel the need to raise hell. The game is just full of jokes. Player mice is one of them. We've done worse as humans or humanoids in the round. Staff has done worse. Drones have done worse. There's no need to call formal attention to this. People playing mice should know better, and most of the time they will.

I continue to be minimally involved in this, but please note that the rule quoted here has nothing to do with internal security wanting to curtail the activities of a trespasser. There was no recognition of Syndicate or Ninja items or origins needed to note the antagonist's non-compliant behavior in this round.

I lament that this was done before socks. However, I welcome all the beige alerts.

On 'snowflakeyness' and other such verbage: Despite what people sometimes voice, it is not a bad thing to have interesting or especially notable qualities in a backstory. They help make characters interesting and notable. The trick is making them both believable and in service to the character, and whitelist characters tend to get scrutinized a little more closely for it because they go on display ahead of time. I think the hunting anecdote was a nice touch, and would enjoy to see a more detailed story about it on the forums sometime. Someone passionate about warrior or hunting tradition might reasonably take that foolish risk, especially if they were also a foolish child at the time. You may want to be especially careful with Esfir's homosexuality, though. My understanding is that it was (somewhat) recently rewritten to be a severe cultural taboo, and puts Tajara at risk for punitive action by PRA authorities. You acknowledge that it's deviant, though, so if she can portray that conflict, be discreet, and remain the rest of what's written here (a PRA patriot, it seems), then it's also believable. I'd almost recommend taking it out of the application though, and playing it very, very secret-like on station. It seems to be mentioned as more of an afterthought than a useful piece of her development. Maybe it's a tidge late for that now.

I think this could use a little expanding upon. Keep in mind that while making a department run smoothly, stepping up in emergencies, and being trustworthy are all IC purposes/expectations of a Head of Staff, the question above is not necessarily asking about any of that. Most of what we play through as characters are extraordinary circumstances, and the people in your department end up having to follow your direction, by virtue of your IC authority. If it's not too much of a pain to indulge me, consider answering these questions instead: "What do I enable other players to do, as a Head of Staff? Why am I important to them in my position?" You can be the reason people have a fun round or a painful one, depending on what you do and how you do it.

You can take my cleaner, my bucket, and my freedom, but you'll never take my access!! (Seriously though, letting Sec access the medbay halls seems like a good idea.)