Faris

Right now, it's my belief that in common radios current iteration, that it cheapens interaction and more or less makes other methods of interaction as redundant. Let me list what things we have right now for communication. 1- PDA. It's most likely the second most used method of communication. You can just use the common radio to speak to them. 2- Holopad. It's very rare to see holopad calls. You can just use the common radio to speak to them. 3- Request consoles. Again, very rare and used by a small amount of people. You can just use the common radio to speak to them. 4- Personal interaction, walking to people. You can just use the common radio to speak to them. 5- Intercom. You can just use the common radio to speak to them. 6- Bounced radio, setting up private frequencies to chat with friends. You can just use the common radio to speak to them. Not only that, it cheapens the feeling and sense of risk. A person teleports a tile in front of you with lethal weaponry? Before he has the chance to even threaten you or do anything, these words are usually heard over the radio. "; Help. Intruder. Science." So here is what I propose. We can make the common radio listened to by everyone but only broadcasted on by command headsets, re-branding it as a frequency that is used for emergency coordination instead of chatter. I'm unsure on how possible it is code wise, but we can add another emergency thing to swipe for by adding the option to permit everyone to broadcast by command if there's a need, this'll still make it rare. Through this, I hope we can accomplish a more interactive environment, getting people to use more personal methods of interaction and making the station a bit more lively.

I don't think there's an issue with maintaining both sprites. I've used both. Why limit the choices of what people can wear?

Can you make it so that it needs the person to remain motionless? Like if the exosuit has you cornered, it shouldn't be able to suck you in if you are beating the exosuit.

It should not be forced on crew, yes.

Essentially this.

My personal belief is that paperwork shouldn't be used as a way to delay people too much from doing a thing. Paperwork can sometimes add some spice and enjoyable aspects, but I feel that in the case of expeditions, they are a brick wall that research directors need to break down with their bare hands just to get expeditions going so that they wouldn't face severe consequences as expeditions can be quite dangerous. I propose that all crew members, by default, as part of their employment contract, have effectively signed a waiver for participating in these expeditions and that in the absence of a Captain, a Director can still order an expedition. This cuts down on a cumbersome process that takes up time, even if it was only a five minute process, that is time that could be spent on more engaging things for the players. This is the waiver.

Sometimes notes includes information where the player is not privileged to see due to staff presently looking into a matter. Wholesale allowing of notes to be viewed by anyone at anytime would case issues with moderation. You can still however ask staff, and sometimes you'll be obliged. I don't support the mandatory allowance of all players to see their notes at any time.

The suggestion is to increase the amount of time it takes for the sleeper module to swallow people, perhaps increasing it to six seconds, with some room to wiggle. I'm not against other suggestions. Let me tell you why. Presently, the module is useful and widely used by paramedics, which is not an issue when used in good faith, people that can use the exosuit scoot over to where wounded are, move them into the pod within 1 second or so and transport them back to medical. The issue comes when it is used in bad faith. I've witnessed a few rounds where a fully kitted out antagonists, even a ninja, where the exosuit would walk up to a person and load them in a very very short period of time, knocking them out, effectively removing their capability to do anything until they were ejected. I feel like this is a very cheesy method and unhealthy to the roundof, as it's one thing to do it to a individual that's injured, downed and too injured to move on, it's another when all you need is one second of a person backed into a corner to completely disable them. Some might argue that a second is enough for people to evade it, and while it may be true in some cases, the round tends to slow down as it goes on, or maybe the player has a above average ping so that one second window is in reality less. Just a disclaimer. There's a possibility I may be wrong describing mechanical aspects of this module, so correct me.

For the sake of transparency. I accidentally posted something in AOOC that is rude for a person that was there. When it was brought up, I checked the logs and noticed the error, admitting to it to Paradox. I bring this up in case people want to change their opinions or have new ones to post.

If nothing new, can we just close this? It’s serving no purpose being open right now.

I'm going to start off with a few things that I noticed reading the application before I critique the overall application. I appreciate you mentioning one Skrell at the very least but even though it's only a couple of words " and others which I forgot the names of," it feels like a filler. It's like saying you've got examples without having them, which is moot and redundant? You covered psionics/wake, idols and pop culture. Are those the only bits you're interested in? How about how they interact? Biology? Their place in the galaxy? While volume wise the answer is good enough, I feel the scope is limited. For what you filled, it's a bit cliche? Lackluster? The Skrell was born, studied, got three degrees, heard of a cool station in Tau Ceti and works there as a xenobiologist. What drives them? Why are they curious about the species? Why did they pick their field of study? Did they excel? Did they struggle to fit in? What's their belief in the Federation? Do you have an actual age for them? I don't need all questions answered but it does help to have some insight to the character you're applying for. I can change a few key phrases right now and the application could work for Humans, Unathi and Tajara moving to Tau Ceti. Your application could stand to make it unique in that it makes them different from other species background wise. They want to make friends. Are there no other aspects you could point out about the character that you like? I don't think the application is bad, it could use some work though to make it better.

Reading this application, your writing helps me see things from their perspective. What I see is a motherly figure, a matron, a caring yet determined Skrell, filled with hope and the capacity in effecting positive change, a person with a vision. She wasn't just born, raised, had a job and is just existing. She isn't a job with a character attached, in fact reading this, it seems like the job they will have is a minor aspect of the character, which I love. I feel like your answers are spot on to me, it's impossible for an applicant to cover every single aspect of a race, out of disinterest in those certain topics or accidentally skipping over. That being said, I feel like the points you've presented are written in a lively manner. So here's my question for you. You mentioned this, but your character has no mentions of children or a "Qu'Poxii - Starlover, Starlight". Can you explain why? Other than that, this has my deputy seal of approval.

I have played a few times with them and the experiences have been good. There is however one issue I believe I spotted. I found you chasing an antag into maintenance as a Director when Security was out and about. Granted, they didn’t seem overly efficient, I’m still unsure on the validity of your actions. Normally I’d send a ticket to check on it but it slipped my mind. Can you explain to me why you thought it was valid? I’m not trying to call out here, there are instances where this is okay, but not everyone gets it, so I’d like to know more before I give some rating.

Out of principle and fairness for others. I wouldn't accept it. No double standards.

Basic Information Byond Account: Aboshehab Character Name(s): I crossed out a few names as they are characters I prefer to keep to myself. Staff have access to those names and can display if there's a need. AI Name(s): Greatness Mk2 Discord username + tag: Aboshehab#0211 Age: 23 Timezone: GMT+4 Dubai When are you on Aurora?: Hard to say. I'd say that I practically cover all timezones? Sometimes I'm on during the morning since I'm busy the rest of the day. Sometimes when I'm studying late I'd hop on for a round. And so on. The only really important thing to note is that Sundays until Wednesdays I don't have easy access to the server itself as I'm at my dorms and they heavily regulate what can be connected to. Experience How long have you played SS13?: I'd say maybe as far as 2010? I wasn't an active player, a round there and there. How long have you played on Aurora: According to the server, 1419 days. How much do you know about SS13 (Baystation build) game mechanics?: I'd say 95% familiar. Complex atmospheric configurations are my weakpoint. Do you have any experience moderating for an SS13 server?: Been a Moderator for two months, Secondary Administrator for three, skipped primary and was a Head Administrator for a long time, don't have the exact dates. Beyond that, I'd say I'm very very familiar with all administration tools and have spent a lot of time both managing the community as an administrator and handling the regular adminhelp affairs on the server. I tend to be more proactive with how I handle things, trying my best not to wait for issues to come my way but rather stopping them from imploding. Outside the scope of SS13, I've had some experience managing different communities. If its specifically within SS13, my experience remains solely on Aurora, but I've had a lot of time spent here as staff. My first day of trial was on the 7th of January, 2017 and my resignation from Headadmin was on the 1st of December of last year. Have you read through the criteria thread; https://forums.aurorastation.org/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=4198 - and believe that you mark off all the criteria?: Absolutely. I never asked others on the team when I was around for things I did not do myself. I feel my track record speaks for itself. I'm not saying I'm immune of making mistakes, but I do not shy of admitting fault and attempting to fix it, and as far as I'm aware, they never repeat. Have you ever been banned, and if so, how long and why?: A seven day ban from antagonist roles. Beyond that, I have four notes. My last entry was on 2017-01-10 08:23:50 which was a note. Personality Why do you play SS13?: Simple, I enjoy it. It's a game that let's me enjoy Aurora. Why do you play on Aurora?: I've played briefly on other servers but I enjoyed Aurora the most. Originally it was just for the gameplay, I'd play my rounds with ooc muted or just ignored it. After a while I gradually started interacting with people, some that are still here and others that gone. So I'm here for both the gameplay and the community. Aurora introduced me to the whole concept of roleplay, and even though I felt I was atrocious at it, people were supporting and taught me how to improve, and while we may have had a few rotten apples, I still enjoyed the interaction I've had with the rest. What do moderators do?: My expectations of a moderator has always been that they are present, willing and active enough to handle round-to-round matters/forums/discord, be it reactively in the form of questions and admin helps sent and proactively in that they don't wait around for issues to come to them but instead investigate things. They help with maintaining a consistent atmosphere with the game and with the community as a whole. Handling a person that has broken the rules appropriately helps maintain this consistency that others want when spending time on any of the community platforms. They should also be present to help the administrators with their needs, be it assigning them to specific teams or handing our specific tasks like complaints. It's a collaborative effort and moderators act like an integral part of the community. What does it mean to be a moderator for our server?: To me, I can split its meaning into two. First, that the person applying intends to dedicate time and effort for the maintenance of our hobby here, in the capacity of a moderator. Secondly, it means that individual is entrusted with a level of responsibility and power that should not be misused either maliciously or carelessly. A bad staff member or even a subpar one can drive people away, decide the outcome of rounds in a bad way or in some cases, thankfully rare, abuse for personal use. Why do you want to be a moderator?: In my last application, I mentioned how I wanted to pitch in. This time, personally satisfied that I have pitched in the past greatly, I apply again because I feel like I can continue doing so again. I won’t say I’ll be able to do as much as I have before, which you’ll understand if you’re familiar with my circumstances. The way I see it, even if it’s still a lesser contribution to before in a role that has less responsibilities as my previous one, I can still pitch in. Aurora is a hobby of mine that I greatly cherish and spend a great time on it both from a gameplay perspective and a community one. And should I see that I’m simply taking up a slot that could be better managed by others, I’ll simply step down, like I have in the past. What qualities do you possess that would make you a good moderator?: I feel like I’m patient. I feel others know I’m patient as well. I feel like I’m understanding of others. Sometimes rule violations aren’t malicious, a mistake, and I feel like I can understand the difference and handle that according to the circumstances. I’m honest to myself and others. At times this can be seen as curt, I’ve always placed great importance on doing things right and honestly, so this has lead me in the past to telling what I felt as a the truth, even as it may upset them. I’ve handled a lot of staff complaints and if I felt a staff member has been wrong, I have been honest about it. I don’t shy from conflict. I feel like I have the capacity to take on confrontational people without sacrificing the fair handling of an issue that arises. Sometimes tough measures must be made and I’m fine with handling them. While not a suitable metric, I do feel that the amount of actions I’ve done as a good indication that I will punish a person if necessary. I think my experience on this part speaks for itself. I have shown in the past that I do posses good qualities to be staff. How well do you handle stress, anger, or insults?: I feel like I handle the three well. There have been time I’ve been angry, and while it’s hard to imagine being angry within the context of Aurora, we have had serious cases that have made me “angry” as a catch all term. That being said, I feel like regardless of my present feelings and even to my dismay, I am able to separate that feeling with being constructive. Why dismay? Because it’s always easier to carry out your urges. I do admit I have in the past snapped at people for a number of reasons, and even though it is most likely influenced by outside circumstances, I have never justified it nor accepted it as an excuse. I believe I’ve apologized to everyone I’ve wronged and I’ve also given a blanket apology to anyone I’ve missed or not realized I’ve wronged. I could go on, but I’ll just say that while I’m human and not without my faults, I have a good control over my emotions. Anything Else You Want to Add: Nothing right now.

Your application was denied an hour before you posted this. I encourage you to retract this and give it a week or two before going on.

@Skull132 @Arrow768 @Alberyk @Garnascus

Three things. 1- Psionics has been added. https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Skrell#Psionics 2- Idol section has been rewritten. https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Skrell#Idols 3- A section under mechanics has been modified.

So from what I see, the topic of the deputy limit is essentially being considered a communication mistake. That’s fine as they happen. I am however curious on the prospect of returning Nursie. From my perspective, my acceptance into the lore team got another person removed, and I don’t really comfortable about it. Though with that prospect, it adds the issue that it would contradict an implemented rule, which is an issue as people will point at it and ask for special privileges. So removing Nursie caused grief, and returning them might in the future. is there a solution for this? A sort of thing to undo the wrong?

I'm fine with this, you can lock the thread.

If no measure to is done to show that this behavior is unacceptable, then it'll keep happening. And when you say this, are you also saying that not even the lighter administrative punishments are even considered?

@Mofo1995 It's why I raised this point, and this isn't about drama. If we're all honest we can come out of this better. Oversight is part of his role, but the way it seems does look somewhat negligent? Might not be the suitable word but you get my point here. A fully even spread of attention is impossible but it can stand to be more even. I feel team morale has tanked to a degree because of this as well. Coalf has spoken to me about certain issues as well. He personally felt that it was too overbearing, while the degree of what both of you feel might differ, the point I'm trying to drive is still experienced by both of you. Additionally I'm unsure if you're aware but he also felt he was unfairly scrutinized for their work, that he found it less of a hassle if others tried to push content in his stead, even if he was the one to work on it. @Senpai Jackboot I'm not asking you to internalize all your thoughts. I do appreciate that the projects being referred to have been canned due to push-back and/or feedback. The point I'm making in those projects is that there tends to sometimes be a lack of diversity and painted in "red". There was a proposal by you to have GAIA merge with the other parties being Workers Party and Utopia, which was cancelled yes. Then what I cited before about the Syndicalists and Populists in Tau Ceti. I'm not hounding you for the act of suggesting things, but when it comes to politics and governments, it could stand to diversify a bit more when it comes to these suggestions. We're in the future, we can try so many different things out there. Perhaps new beliefs even. Additionally when it comes to your comment about @Skull132 being your boss and forcing @VTCobaltblood to pick someone, I'd like to show you a brief portion of a conversation I had with Skull. @Neinbox I don't want to shift this complaint towards you but for fairness, I feel the need to say there's a level of unfairness levied towards Jackboot by you. Presently Jackboot is the Lore Master and responsible for the lore team. He's entitled to making his opinions known about your projects, so asking for commenting permissions on a doc you're writing is not something out of place. Secondly, the perception of activity plays a big role, you can be working and people can still feel you're absent. Your work has been trickling in slightly compared to before yes, but their visibility is not exactly out there compared to other teams. You could also stand to be less hostile towards them in general, I felt uncomfortable trying to imagine myself at the receiving end of some of the conversations you had with them.

I honestly like this. Antagonists have always been a conundrum, perhaps a measure to help would be relabeling them. An emphasis that the core concept behind “antags” for Aurora does not have to be mutual to other servers. Visitor roles could do better if the player was given a choice between either or as well. Wizards could also do better with a wider variety of attire. Perhaps a chameleon kit sort of thing that has a number of options which when a person is satisfied with, they can lock it in. As for the other outsider group antagonists, especially for mercenary, they could have an item that dispenses an assortment of items. Instead of having to map everything into a room something akin to the Arma 3 armory boxes could be made. Maybe have them pick a shuttle design to pick from? I think there’s something similar implemented in other servers.

This is fine. You can lock this.

I’ll try to be short since there’s a lot of volume here. Don’t be shy to ask for more clarification. I want to say that Jackboot has the capacity to do good, I feel he’s come a long way from what he was before. Yet, I wouldn’t be involved here if I didn’t notice any flaws. Firstly, the most recent issue seems to be this whole deputy limitation. I support the rule as it makes sense. My issue comes from the fact that there seems to be an issue in communication or formalizing it. Personally, I’m not too happy and would not have applied had I known someone would’ve been removed because I was accepted. The timing of the announcement was odd. I could also be misrepresenting something said by Alb so feel free to correct me, but after being accepted as deputy and the rule announced, @Alberyk mentioned that no one needed to be removed, but the rule was a necessity. You can find the whole conversation in the lore chat on staff discord, it wasn’t really a long one. Again, no issue with the rule itself. My issue was how it’s being handled. Secondly, a recent theme would be the usage of “red” themes. Normally not an issue but it feels like there’s been a lot more recently that it treads into the territory of injecting personal political commentary. For this I’ll cite a proposal for the depression arc. @Garnascus and @Skull132 have read this I believe so correct me if I’m wrong. I’m also paraphrasing this. In essence the station would be dirtier and lacking. There were going to be two groups, Syndicalist and Populists. If for example you wanted insulated gloves, you’d grow potato’s for the coop. Similar aspects also discussed passionately in the political thunderdome. I admit this point is a bit iffy since intent is hard to gauge behind a screen and text, but I’m not the only one that holds this same opinion on this. Thirdly, mismatched focus to the lore team. Now, I understand that it’s impossible for a person to give them same focus and attention to everything. Different things resonate differently. Yet I feel what Jackboot has done in this regard to be a bit improper. Joining some mediums of lore groups but not others when they’re on the same level. I’m quoting Coalf on this as compared to other lore teams, the tajara team found themselves constantly micro’d by Jackboot. In essence for this, I’m trying to emphasize there’s uneven quality control here. On one hand he may be overbearing on one team and on the other hand he leaves another team to their own devices. Fourthly, again quoting Coalf here. He found it less problematic to have someone else push his work under their name than it was for him to do so personally. I think to have this mindset is troubling and points out an issue to possible bias that might go beyond what is acceptable. I can’t personally say for sure as the point of view I’ve seen and heard this from is only one sided. The thread had a few other points but I don’t feel like I can address them adequately due to lack of involvement or evidence. I may also be forgetting something, busy week.