[Denied] CanadianDollar's Head of Staff Application

[CanadianDollar]

BYOND key: CanadianDollar

Character names: Astor Shaner, Alexander Gray, Samantha Noton, Eliot Beail and Viviana Draudy.

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How long have you been playing on Aurora?: I believe since 2016.

Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?: Because I wish to roleplay my characters in a different role to further their character while bringing an ability to help change and enhance the station with leadership.

Why did you come to Aurora?: I was introduced to the Aurora with some friends years ago when trying servers for Spacestation roleplay. Out of all of them, Aurora was the best.

Have you read the Aurora wiki on the head roles and qualifications you plan on playing?: I have, yes.

Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they?: I think I’ve had an IR once but I was a bystander to it, and I have had a small warning about playing an on-station character as an off-station antag. I don’t think I remember anything else that was very big.

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Give a definition of what you think roleplay is, and should be about: I like to think that roleplay is a form of escapism, where you are able to immerse yourself in the mind of someone that speaks, acts, and connects differently than you, the actual player. Roleplay is play, a fun way to be someone else and express yourself, and your imagination, in collaborative and creative ways with a group of people.

Roleplay should, to me, be about having fun first and foremost. Creating an interesting and in-depth character is important. Though, it’s key to remember balance in roleplay. We all want to feel special but we don’t need to be as long as you take time to build your character in who they are and what they mean to other characters.

What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame?: A teacher and a helper. With a head of staff whitelist, you understand your role and the department you oversee better than others- almost like a sign of mastery. With that in mind, you become a tutor to new players and to those who have forgotten something, or just need general help. You’re also seen as a role model for the community, or even just the department you oversee. If you treat people poorly in OOC and IC, then it will reflect in overall performance and attitudes. Be kind, be courteous, be open-minded, and be helpful in OOC to anyone who needs it as a head of staff.

What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them?: To be community role models. You now hold a high position of power within not only the game, but the community. Your voice is more likely to be heard than others in any situation as well as your reputation in the community. If you have a bad attitude OOCly, you will not be looked upon well by your fellow heads of staff and community members. As a whitelist holder, you have an obligation to be the best player you can be with kindness and seriousness- a professionals attitude.

How would I uphold this? By being the best player and role model I can be- giving it my all. Many of the people who did the same, I looked up to in the past. They were fun people with interesting characters and great department heads. Respectful, open-minded, not forceful and rude, I aspire to keep this alive too just like they did.

Could you give us the gist of what is currently happening in Tau ceti and how it affected your character and their career? The Lii’dra invasion of Tau ceti which brought death and destruction. What it brought to the station itself is fear and distrust of crew and heads. Fernando was around during the first attack on the station as CMO, where he was almost murdered many times and saw fellow crew die. Astor, being Fernando’s partner, was not around but sees the pain that Fernando suffers through every night because of it and knows there isn’t much he can do to help. Even at work, if they ever attacked again, would he be able to protect Fernando? He understands the pain but what can he currently do?

What roles do you plan on playing after the application is accepted? Captain, Chief Medical Officer, and maybe Research Director.

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Characters you intend to use for command or have created for command. Include the job they will be taking.: Astor Shaner for CMO and future Captain, (maybe) Alexander Gray for Research Director, and Sebastian Kaiser for Captain.

 

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How would you rate your own roleplaying?: Developed over a long period of time but at times a bit more comedic. I’ve roleplayed for many years, improving and grow my abilities to create characters and overall grammar skills and writing. It’s been tough, but I think I’ve reached a point now where I am quite satisfied with what I have become in terms of roleplaying (though I may play things up for laughs often). I would rate myself as pretty good but still looking to further grow and improve in character design and being able to use accents or body language more.

Do you understand your whitelist is not permanent, and may be stripped following continuous administrative action? I do, and that’s understandable.

Have you familiarize yourself with the wiki pages for the command roles? I have, I have also played as interm CMO in the past many times.

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Extra notes:

[Olympus7]

Have played numerous rounds with them since 2016 and each encounter were great. It's about time they have tried getting head for the server. +1

PS. Thanks for saving my dumb ass all those times before and after the blob rework

[Resilynn]

I'm obviously very biased here, but maybe some background will help with my +1.

Our characters absolutely did not like one another in the beginning. I'd assumed CanadianDollar was one of THOSE people with some kind of salty self insert. Instead, I discovered they were a great person who excelled at keeping their IC and OOC opinions separate. This allowed for really, really great in game development.

Frankly, I'm surprised CanadianDollar doesn't already have a whitelist with Aurora, they've played for a long time, and they've done great with command on other servers I have played with them. Their mechanical knowledge of the game is sound, and their RP is consistent and good.

If I'm being entirely fair, I do think they have a tendency to get bored and leave midround, which can be hugely problematic in command especially, but they've been improving on this recently.

[Wolfwood88]

Want to state my bias here since I main Nicholas Nelond. Him and Astor Shaner are BFF's, but I like to believe our characters are BFF's because CanadianDollar excels at understanding the game mechanics, and providing interesting, and engaging roleplay. If more players understood that the game is about weaving a narrative, and knew the mechanics behind the game to help progress the story like CanadianDollar does, the server would never have a shortage of interesting roleplay. +1

[Doxxmedearly]

Surprised you don't already have one. I think your RP is incredibly solid; working with Shaner teaching Amadi surgery has been an absolute delight; surgery was RP'd extremely well, and Astor is a memorable character. You've obviously been around a long time, and are adept at playing the game. No doubt you would be a great CMO, and excel at other command.

I don't know you as well as most. While I've RP'd with you for maybe 3-4 rounds, I really only learned your OOC handle in the last couple of days, and don't know most of your characters. So, I have some questions.

-People are always going to worry about metacliques. Do you feel that you can avoid (or at least, try to be on the lookout for) OOC favoritism as a command member?

-What do you think you can do, as a command member, to further the RP of your department and/or the round as a whole?

-Command relies on communication and coordination. It's very frustrating when a command member is afk for half an hour, or just doesn't talk in the command channel, and can definitely lead to rounds stalling or getting stale. How do you feel about your ability to communicate? Do you have any ideas about improving department coordination, or what you would do, personally, to encourage this?

Overall, I think you're a good player, and I have respect for you. I don't doubt you would be a great Head to learn a department under, so you have the role model part down. Your answers to the app questions are very good. I hope you're working on Resi's last point there; sometimes command can get very dull! But you are in a very influential position and may be integral to a round; while we can't always avoid cryo'ing at these times, it should not be a consistent thing.

At this moment, I am leaning very heavily towards a +1. This is a very strong app.

[CanadianDollar]

I don't know you as well as most. While I've RP'd with you for maybe 3-4 rounds, I really only learned your OOC handle in the last couple of days, and don't know most of your characters. So, I have some questions.

-People are always going to worry about metacliques. Do you feel that you can avoid (or at least, try to be on the lookout for) OOC favoritism as a command member?

-What do you think you can do, as a command member, to further the RP of your department and/or the round as a whole?

-Command relies on communication and coordination. It's very frustrating when a command member is afk for half an hour, or just doesn't talk in the command channel, and can definitely lead to rounds stalling or getting stale. How do you feel about your ability to communicate? Do you have any ideas about improving department coordination, or what you would do, personally, to encourage this?

 

 

Thank you for the questions! I'll answer each to the best of my ability.

1) Metalcliques are a legitimate worry and I have seen it before. I won't say that it's impossible for that to happen with me but I am aware of it and I will look out for it. Being a leader means being unbiased and impartial to everyone- even your friends and loved ones. So if a friend does something dumb in-game and I have to come down on them, even if it means having them mad at me OOC for it, then I just have to do that and hope they too understand. Really love this question.

2) This is actually a tough question, hard to say what exactly! If I were Captain, I'd do little department checks and see how everyone is doing. Connect with the crew, talk with them, maybe even have some drinks with them! But as a Captain, you can't interfere too much or keep them from actually doing their jobs.

If I were to do anything more special it would need to be calm, at the very least. As a department head, I'd do along the same as Fernando... but not as extremely. (Haha) Maybe small department meetings or training sessions, too! We'll see, I'd love some ideas, though.

3) I'm not that bad, I'm more worried about my laptop crashing. It tends to do that... but I do get it back up and running pretty quickly. If you cryo as a head of staff, you usually ahelp and alert an admin that you're leaving the round for such-and-such reason. I also usually alert when I go AFK for a bit due to personal reasons, but when I play I try to keep time free so I avoid that.

Part of number three there is like another question so I'll count it as that.

4) When people say communication is key, they mean it. I cannot stress how good communication can lead to problems being quickly turned into solutions. From experience, a well-oiled medical team will naturally communicate with each other about who is where and what they're doing and the likes. I have seen poorly communicated rounds not just in medical, but in command and other departments. The issue there is not only the head but also the crew members as well- what if they choose simply not to talk ever or have an attitude about it? It's very tough to encourage it but it helps when other department members follow the lead and join in communicating. I'd honestly say the best way to get everyone to join in on talking would be having yourself do it frequently and letting them get used to it and join in with it. This is another tough question!

[Doxxmedearly]

Extremely solid answers. I love your answer to the metaclique question; it's going to be a big thing, and when you've been around a long time, and have IC relationships, you're going to get accused of it. I have been, too. You seem to be willing to be actively aware of this pitfall, so that is some relief. I hope you'll be able to handle such accusations with grace and keep an open mind about critique. Personally, I think you can.

As for the second question, I agree it's tough to just list out an answer. Mostly, it's something I think command needs to focus on. Even if your character is a jerk, or too highbrow to mingle with the lower echelons, you will still need to find a way to allow interaction. Sometimes this means checking in, or taking lead. Other times, this will involve letting them be autonomous as to not stifle or limit them. I've personally been trying meetings. Training sessions are a good idea. Most importantly, you seem to be actively thinking about it, which is what I was hoping you'd do.

The AFK comment wasn't a jab at you; I don't actually know your AFK habits. But I've seen someone stall out a merc gimmick by being inactive for almost an hour.

And lastly, I like your thoughts about communication. Sometimes people have attitudes and do their own thing; there's little to be done in these cases. Extend your thinking about medical and communication to include the command channel and I think you'll be one of my favorites heads of staff. You've seen how Fernando runs medbay; you don't need to be talking ALL the time, especially if people are doing it themselves well enough. It's a balance you have to strike while remaining true to your character.

All in all, these are very good answers. Very solid +1 from me for the strong app and followup. Good luck.

[KingOfThePing]

I'll be honest, I didnt have too much to do with you and the characters you play, at first, I think I only know Gray and Shaner and I didnt like Shaner very much, the first time I encountered him, IC, that is. BUT after RP'ing some rounds together, working with and next to each other, bot in calm and very stressful situations, you clearly know what you are doing and your RP is more than rocksolid and I really asked myself what I didnt like at first. Doxx asked some really good questions and I don't really have any more to add.

+1 from me. You can do it.

[Alberyk]

On trial until 22 of october.

[MattAtlas]

Hello, we notice you haven't been playing Command much, is there a reason for this?

[MattAtlas]

[mention]CanadianDollar[/mention]

[MattAtlas]

Denied due to low activity during the trial period.

You're free to reapply once you're active again.