TrickingTrapster

Pretty much just the title. I don't see any reason why ghosts and people in the lobby can't just check which borgs are active, or which AI. To me it sounds like something that should have been added ages ago.

There is a difference between non-combat and just straight up ruining someone's round because mechanics coax you into doing so. And, the situation that you described as captain? You had prior RP. You knew there were hostiles, you had an idea of where to find them, and you found them. A situation like you described there is fine, and also less applicable to cult because cult is literally the odd one out for all the gamemodes, if only for the conversion system. It's also a lot less about WHAT the antags do and more about HOW they go about doing it. I do not enjoy cult, because the way the gamemode is laid out it just >almost< forces people to greentext the mode. I'm not saying that we necessarily need to remove anything cult has now, just add a few more ways that cult could go about roleplaying things rather than people seeing one rune and the entire station starts meta-ing the cult, or the cult goes loud and the round is basically over after 30 minutes. Stealth cults usually have the problem that they don't really RP much cult-wise until it's time to summon nar'sie which then comes the hell out of nowhere for 80% of the crew. If the things they do lead up into summoning nar'sie, perfect. They succeeded. Buuut how much enjoyment did the crew get out of it? Remember that a gamemode is supposed to be fun for the >entire< crew, not just the people that get converted. Just add a bit more flavor for the cult to interact with the crew that's not HOLY CRAP BLACK MAGIC EXORCISM VALIDHUNT. Not knowing what's in store is fine, but as soon as a single crewman discovers a rune and calls it out on the radio, the entire station is aware and there is going to be a degree of metagaming, whether they do it conciously or not. Yeah I totally don't know what's in store if someone discovers a rune 10 minutes in. Cult feels way too play-to-win as it is now in my opinion.

As engineer, it is mandatory to open up the phoron valve; Never mind the atmospheric technicians, they don't know how healthy phoron is. Additionally, as atmospheric technician, you are just a second-rank engineer: You should know how everything works despite not having access to it, if you don't, you are a bad player. If a head of staff gives you an order, ignore it; You know what you're doing way better anyway.

Hmmm, yes, lots of roleplay when you're sneakily assassinated/absorbed in a far-off corner of the station where nobody ever goes with your sensors off. Oooo, people will find me, uhuh. And let me be clear here: I dislike combat in SS13 in general. So of course that means I'm also not gonna like gamemodes associated with it, like merc, heist and cult. And before you call me out on calling them combat-oriented, heist and merc literally spawn with armories of weapons so yes they are combat gamemodes, the community just got creative with them to not make it devolve into a slaughterfest with no RP. Not so much with cult, whenever a cult round is going on I usually feel like they are just greentexting. And fair enough, the entire gamemode coaxes you into doing so, but, why, exactly? Why do we have a greentext gamemode on our HRP server again? It's fine to have a goal but all current runes for cult are literally RP-less greentext-achieving mechanics. I want some more RP mechanics, get the crew spooked, get the crew to fear things and coax them into joining you willingly. Instead of "hurr durrr I need to use this to valid". Get the chaplain involved instead of making him -just- a target because he's the one cult counter. Vampire has presence, merc and heist get access to merchant like things, rev thrives on RP since people need to make up their goal, traitors have a lot of tools for RP, wizard just got revamped to make RP more accessible, malf AI can make up laws to RP in, and what does cult get? Conversion, soulstones, constructs, pylons... But RP mechanics? Noooo, we need to greentext apparently. And I know it can be done, I have played as cultist a little while back, I did roleplay, it was great, nobody died, we got to summon Nar'Sie. Yes, the current problem lies with the playerbase's mentality on cult. No, we can't change the playerbase's mentality on cult just like that. So the solution is to change cult to make RP easier for the a little less-creative people so we don't get greentext summon ghost army fuck up the station cults all the time. Making cult less greentext-y would do wonders for the RP stability of that mode. Get some different deities to worship, get different runes based on the deity, have all of them include some form of RP runes and mechanical runes. Bam, revamp. Just came up with that on the fly. It's not hard to think up new things. But my god, please stop greentexting cult so much.

Point one is a little meh. If you get spotted in maintenance, that's your fault for not being careful, really. Point two sounds like a cool idea, but I'm not sure if that's realistically possible, though the whole creating more changelings along with point 3 will make changelings just a different version of vampire. Point 3, yeah, what I just said. Turns changelings into vampires, though I won't deny liking the idea that changelings don't need to kill people to progress, because killing is stupid imo.

Alright then. I've talked to Xor, JB and Abo and I've received enough information to come up with a verdict. First off, the captain's suicide was warranted, with 2 hours of prior RP involved, so there is no issue there. Xor joined 2 hours in, so he missed a lot of that. There was no real ganking going on before or after the suicide dominations. The suicide domination in question, the one against Richter, has been called a little hasty by both abo and JB, but it was not exactly against the rules. The fact that you had weapons on you ready to use would have been enough for him to engage at the very least. What I did find out is that JB was a tiny bit careless with his wording in the domination command. Had he not said to specifically use the gun Richter had there was a high probability of Richter not being headgibbed and consequentially cloned. A second thing I found was Xor jumping the gun a bit here, making a few claims without properly asking around about it first. So, what I will do is, I will give a note to the both of you, and a tiny verbal warning to try and watch it in the future. Xor gets one about being a little hasty on the complaint, while JB gets one to watch his domination wording more carefully in the future. That is all.

Alright, notice here that I'll be the one resolving things. Gonna talk to some people involved and come up with a verdict.

If people get annoying about handing these things over ICly, handle it ICly. If it becomes an OOC problem or LOOC problem, shoot an ahelp people, it's what mods and admins are here for. If people start abusing the boot knife I would be in favor of removing it but I haven't really seen any ahelps about it so I don't see too much of a problem.

Agreed with Kaed on most points. I don't think a character should be removed from the round because cult(or a wizard) decided on LOL SOULSTONE. I personally have more enjoyment out of a round where constructs and juggernauts are not rampaging around and destroying everything. They don't really RP, they just break shit. I don't see the fun there. They don't create conflict, they create combat. Any semblance of the character used to create them is gone, you're not even allowed to RP a lingering sense of them, which just outright sucks. Hell, staff of change does this better. Yes, it affects your character unwillingly but at least it's still your character as opposed to a mindless slave. The inability to have my character even remotely recovered just because an antag decided to use a certain mechanic certainly sucks any enjoyment out of the round that I might have had. "Oh but just respawn as another character" No. I logged on to play as the character I joined as, not another character. Might as well give cult a supermatter while you're at it, they'll achieve the same thing. Just push people into it, boom, no more character. Same thing as with a soulstone, at least when used on me, because I'm not staying in that soulstone. We're high roleplay, dammit, why is there a mechanic that forces players into mobs with the sole purpose of making combat and unable to RP properly. And no, I don't see combat as a form of RP, at least not when a mob's sole purpose is to combat, like with juggernauts. The fact that there's a player in there only makes it worse. Cult kind of feels like someone made a draft for an RTS game and accidentally forced it into a roleplay.

Okay, guys, first things first. Calm down the attitude a little bit. Let's not turn this thread into an ad hominem pile of shit. We have received several reports of posts in this thread so please keep it calm and keep it to the topic, thank you. Now, on to what I think. I think the new system works better than the old one. If the players currently playing, those who have a narrative in a round, feel that their narrative is still going well, the round shouldn't end. I think I've found a good comparison, sort of. If you let lobbysitters vote, it's like the players playing are a little kid listening to a story their father is reading to them. Halfway through the story their mother, aunt and uncle rush into the room, push the father aside and outright DEMAND that their own story be told instead. Sounds like a sucky scenario, doesn't it? Well the mother, aunt and uncle pretty much represent the lobbysitters and observers, since, to be frank, it wasn't their turn yet. It would have worked better if they slowly, one by one, entered the room, and added to the story rather than forcing it down the kid's ears. Such is the same with players playing and people in the lobby; If you want your own narrative to be told, don't force it down other players. Join in and add your own narrative to theirs. Don't force a hard reset on a good round just because you think all the good things already happened in a round. If you need antags to make your round fun or, god forbid, need valids to do so, in my opinion you have a wrong view of roleplay. We're a high roleplay server, we should be able to make a good story without outside sources. Antags are story helpers, not story struts. Sorry for the wall of text but that needed to get off my chest.

Alright so. Considering what the other admins have been posting in here, what I have heard about the round and after reviewing SoT's notes, I have come to the conclusion that a warning was needed and fully warranted. As skull said, our head developer and as such mostly responsible for the voting system, yes, it's not a bug, but that is not a reason to abuse it and trying to rules-lawyer through it. And as our head admin was saying, just because it's technically not against the rules, does not mean it's a reason to exploit it. The combination of these posts, coupled with SoT's note history, does make me believe Delta handled right to add a warning. And to clarify, whether you receive a normal warning or a severe warning does not matter. What matters is that you stepped out of bounds and received a warning for it. That's my verdict, so I'm locking and archiving this.

Right then, before this starts getting out of hand. I have to go to my grandparents for about 3 hours when I post this. When I get back, I'm going to do a bit of digging and solve this complaint before it goes down a more awry road.

Maybe not necessarily the bridge, but more to the back of medical, a bit out-of-the-way like virology is now. It's pretty haphazardly placed next to the medbay entrance right now which really doesn't help.

To add to this, I remember reading that the intent was for anyone to still be able to start a vote, regardless of being in the lobby or not. So if he started the vote, nothing would have been wrong. If he had been able to vote in it, then yes, it would have been a bug/circumvention of rules. Not entirely 100% sure on this though, but starting a vote isn't as bad as being able to vote in it in the situation described.

The bribery was mostly to speed up the process of getting T.B. in, and to get a bit of favor with the screening process. Like, moved forward into the queue and a better disposition during screening. Notihng else, really. All other stuff is very 100% legit. I can omit the disposition if it's too much, though.

I like it. It means development of the world we RP our characters in, and it in turn means development and RP potential for our characters. We need more of these changes every so often. Not constantly though.

Right, forums went down when I wanted to post and then I got distracted by RL things. Anyway, as it turns out, coolbc's action happened because of an IC miscommunication. Those things happen, and it was legit. Coolbc did admit his action was a bit rushed and could have used more roleplay, but with ERT on the way he didn't feel he could do much in the short run. Dugbug has called it a nonissue after I explained it to him and so I will rule it as a nonissue.

Updated the backstory. It was lackluster, yes. I tried to include a bit more stuff.

Oh you wouldn't believe how some of my characters started out before I could make them a more solid personality. Also there isn't too much to draw from the IPC lore page. Compared to other races it's veeeeery short. And yeah it is a bit of a rushed story because I made this in a hurry because I had an hour time limit before I had to leave and would forget my ideas. I can rewrite the backstory if you'd like.

The occupation itself pretty much prevented his activation. T.T. had a few troubles while they were activated during the occupation but T.B. was purposely activated by his creator after it was "safe" to do so, in regards to the occupation. The occupation did cause the doctor to lose a bit of data due to not being able to monitor him all the time.

That really depends on who tries to put him down. He will offer way less resistance to women than to men, for instance. Individual relationships also factor in. He will defend himself against a man he's never met, for instance. And yes, he will form relationships and attachments with other characters. It's not like he won't kill entirely, but he will try to prevent death if he can. He will also go to great lengths to not have to hurt a female at all.

BYOND Key: TrickingTrapster Character Names:In order on my character list: Chantal Faers, Lyndis Aevisen, Miles Houther, Zahia Hal'Ima, Ranie Raf'Iqa, Yumi Yotin, Shalae Aeria, Albert Gizro, Rose Gizro, Marian Skyling, Megan Thuris, Emily Overdale, Astrid Austad, Naz'Relz Anszar, Shakash Eitzashazh, T.T.(Android), Souma Jiro Species you are applying to play:IPC What color do you plan on making your first alien character (Dionaea & IPCs exempt): Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: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 specific race:Veeery basically, to get my character roster even more varied. Going into a little more detail, the reason I chose IPCs over Skrell and Dionaea for my next whitelist is because there are so many ways you can roleplay an IPC. An excited little kid, a grumpy old grandpa, a squeeing schoolgirl, or anything in between. Not on the same IPC of course but so much variation in a single race that doesn't even have to be a year old. I like that. And aside from that I really like how our other IPC players are doing their characters and I want to add to that good standard. Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human: Mechanical differences to one side, You will have very different priorities than most organics. Food, air and hydration will not concern you personally ever. Temperature and power are much more concerning. You need to be mindful of EMPs, and denting and burns to your chassis, since you don't really feel any of it. And of course the animosity between skrells and IPCs. Or anyone that doesn't like synthetics really. Character Name:T.B. Please provide a short backstory for this character, approximately 2 paragraphs T.T., an abbreviation of Tending Technic, was a personality algorithm created by one doctor Auven. A rich, eccentric, old genius of a man. The old doctor wanted to test people's reactions to a synthetic equivalent of a womanizing butler. After some long and arduous mailing back and forth with several companies and several bribes of cash, he finally got the greenlight for his experiment. However, restraints were needed, so doctor Auven sent in the algorithm as part of downloadable positronic brains to test reactions and take notes. However, this would not be a finished product - merely a predecessor to make sure his final creation would not be subpar. Thusly, T.T. was created. He tweaked and fixed bugs in the algorithm to not be a total jerk to men, and not too much of a slimeball to women. However, at the halfway point of his research, the sol occupation started. This brought many complications, largest of which was the inability to recover all the data from T.T. after shifts, and of course the threat to shut his project down. The doctor had to severely turn down the speed of his progress during this time, even having to go as far as to go undercover a few times to avoid a shutdown. However, the desire for his very own son, something he had no been able to get in his younger years, had the doctor soldier through this. He would have a son - Not necessarily in his image, but certainly in the way he would want one to be. Finally after waiting for what seemed like an eternity, the sol occupation finally ended, and with positive changes to boot. Finally, his research could progress, his desire for creating his own mechanical son satisfied. It was time, and his son would live. Of course, new features needed to be added if his son were to become truly "alive"- an integrated chassis needed more ways to interact with people. Recognition and memory were added, allowing for friendships and the like. Learning was added, to remember techniques. And, of course, butler mannerisms and knowledge of botany, cooking and bartending were uploaded. Finally, the name needed changing - Tending Technic would not cut it. Thusly, once activated, the IPC asked for its name. Doctor Auven said, "T.B., Tending Butler. My son." The following days were spent tweaking T.B.'s chassis exterior and monitoring his mannerisms. He was taught to serve men as well as women, although his preference of course stayed with women. Doctor Auven went to look for a job for his son, to become a respectable member of society, to uphold a good standard for synthetics - And, of course, to flirt with all the ladies. All of them. This was very important, his son would not be his son if he didn't. After some prodding, a tiny bit of bribery and a lot of official documents from the good doctor, T.B. found its way back to Nanotrasen - A company his former android self was activated for so many times, to serve the ladies his exquisite drinks and food. The doctor just hopes the data he missed will not affect his son too much. What do you like about this character?It's going to be a womanizer. Whether human, tajara, IPC, unathi or skrell - Females will be treated with the utmost respect and friendliness. Men are much lower on the ladder and will be served last, though they will be served once all women had their turn. Yeah, he will constantly try to flirt with women in a respectable manner. That's going to be fun. How would you rate your role-playing ability?8/10, as it always has been. I've seen people do better, and also a looot worse. Notes: Yes, T.T. is an abbreviation I made up to be an abbreviation of my username as well. Funny, haha. I changed it for the character to keep it distinct from my android and AI however.

Noooot entirely sure if the malf AI and syndicate mentions in the background are valid or not, but I won't be the judge of that. I like Cheshire and I'm pretty sure Sommer is 50% of the reason I can play security after he trained my cadet. Also, the synths won the antag contest, so yeah, they can be heads now. +1 here.

Ooookay then. I think this complaint has been simmering here long enough. I'll be the staff member to resolve this. Gonna do some digging and come up with a verdict.

Two paragraphs, right? One, two, three... You made ten. Pffff. Nah but really, you're a good roleplayer and I trust you won't abuse the lore but... This backstory seems a little generic to me. Nothing wrong with it, honestly, but it sounds like something that could happen to any other human as well. It doesn't have a huge tajara ring to it, at least for me, but I won't ask you to rewrite it. It's a good backstory nonetheless. +1 from me.