[Accepted] Simon's Head of Staff Whitelist

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BYOND key: Simon_The_Miner

Character names: Nikit Vasili, Tamir Hanar, P.H.A.X., Taps, Mason Birro are probably my better known characters to varying degrees that still get use.

How long have you been playing on Aurora?: Since March 13th of 2018, Aurora was the first server I ever played on and learnt how to play SS13 on. I have taken a small break but plan on returning and playing frequently.

Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?: Partially because I want to get back to the aurora after having poked around other servers, but mostly because I've been looking for new things to do and new ways to contribute to the server and community in an IC manner by playing a high quality command member. Nikit's my most well known character and as far as I am aware, the most popular one out of all my characters, and I recall many times people have pushed me to consider a head of staff whitelist specifically for Nikit to work as an RD. I used to turn it down all the time, but now I'm thinking it's a good time.

Why did you come to Aurora?: My friends, IAMCRYSTALCLEAR and AIMMO got me into the game, and told me aurora was the server they typically played at the time. I got hooked to the game and the community in general, got my first whitelist about 2 weeks after I started, and now hold 3 different species whitelist due to the amount of time I've invested in a server and community I'm proud to call myself a part of.

Have you read the Aurora wiki on the head roles and qualifications you plan on playing?: Of course, this isn't my first rodeo with whitelists, and not reading what's expected of a head of staff is just asking for failure.

Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they? Almost a year ago (was June 20th of 2018), if I recall correctly it was a severe warning but has since expired. The warning was due to me attacking an AFK person under the assumption they had passed out from severe brain damage at the time. I admitted fault and told the staff member (satinsprist666) that I was more than willing to accept any punishment they deemed fit for my mistake and lack of foresight. Since then I have had no further issues, both IC (such as IAA reports) and OOC

Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph each.

Give a definition of what you think roleplay is, and should be about:

Roleplay is many things, at least under my personal definition. To roleplay it is to participate in an story being actively constructed as a character involved in said story. While roleplaying that character is in a way a reflection of yourself, even if the character is an absolute polar opposite of its player. The reason every character we play is a reflection of ourselves in some manner is represented by how we help shape the story we are crafting on the fly and the fun we have with others. It can be much more than pretending, it is writing, interacting with others with similar interests, and its a way to have fun by pretending to be something we aren't at the moment, or can't be in the case of aliens. It lets us explore new stories and relationships between characters, craft interesting backgrounds for each character, and influence one another with the net goal of having a fun time.

What I believe roleplay should be about is having fun in the end, regardless of the story we craft with one another. Sometimes the best stories we will ever read, participate in, or make ourselves are stories of a good life turned for the worse, or a bad one turned for good. We roleplay because we love watching these stories unfold in a way we have at least some shape over, bending it into a good time had by all despite how it turns out in the end. I role play because I'm practically addicted to this process, and love watching different stories unfold together, mingle, separate, and wrap up in a satisfying way regardless of if the ending is good or bad for the characters.

What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame?:

The OOC purpose of a head of staff whitelist is to help organize, collaborate, and guide others. Head of staffs tend to be more experienced than other players, or at least know what they are doing to a high degree. OOCly they serve as teachers and a sort of miniature dungeon master. They come up with new things to task their department with to keep rounds interesting and fun, as well as teaching the new guys who don't know whats going on and need a helping hand. They are also expected to behave well and set an example for others, acting in what they believe to be the best interest of everyone on the station ICly and OOCly. A head of staff can make and severely enhance a game by their presence and participation on station, or break it by not being there or performing to something other than the best of their abilities.

Icly heads of staff are the boss of the department they represent. They also serve as a main function of communication with other departments via their heads of staff, allowing for interdepartmental collaboration and projects. They are expected to help out their employees, set goals for the shift, and maintain a balance between hands on and hands off. Heads of staff also act as an IC role model for characters, and help keep others under control or from doing possibly dangerous or stupid things under the radar which can cause havoc (assuming the player is not an antag at the moment). In many cases the also lead the station against the antags, and their job is to help resolve the situation to the best of their abilities while still OOCly providing for an interesting round for all.

What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them?:
I believe the OOC responsibilities of any head of staff whitelisted player is to help guide the game into a fun round, while still keeping things reasonable and believable. They are also supposed to work as a source of learning for newer players, either by delegating that new lab assistant to a scientist with a reputation for being a great player and good worker, or teaching the new guys themselves. They are also expected to treat other players as equals, just because they have a head of staff whitelist that many others do not have, doesn't mean they have a free pass to act disrespectful to other players, and should serve as a good member of the community. I plan to uphold these responsibilities to the best of my ability by teaching the new players how to play the game or the role they are interested in while helping guide them to creating a good character, even after the round by offering them the ability to talk to me on discord in case they need help with anything. I also plan to act in a believable manner icly to help promote a fun story for all involved and still allowing conflict to happen ICly to help drive rounds to the point of being interesting and fun.

Could you give us the gist of what is currently happening in Tau ceti and how it affected your character and their career?

Nikit's not a big news guy, but he does keep up to date with what's going on through friends and occasionally checking the news on his PDA. He isn't very actively involved in politics either but back when the election  for vice was president running between Fahjil and Aristalus Nikit was torn between the two and ultimately voted for Aristalus the IPC.

For more recent things, the Aut'Akh took nikit a little by surprise, as his understanding of the Unathi was rocked. He was originally under the assumption that most hated prosthetic and synthetics, causing him to generally avoid the more vocal ones and speak with ones that were more relaxed on their opinions of synthetics due to his job and dreams. Now that the Aut'Akh have made an appearance and started working on station, Nikit has been more open to unathi in general, and is more likely to approach and speak with one. He never disliked the unathi, but now he has an interest in them. He did take a small break from work to catch up on how Aut'Akhs function so he is prepared to work on them when they are present on the station, and to just boost his skills as a roboticist in general. In the end it's made him more open to getting to know Unathi's, and the time spent studying resulted in his smoking habit to get worse.

Nikit has no issues working with or on the Aut'akh, and never had an issue working with unathi (even becoming friends with one and talking about hardsuit modules like two mechanics would with cars), but indirectly developed a worse smoking habit because of them making an appearance on station.

What roles do you plan on playing after the application is accepted?

I currently plan to take on research director for the time being, and will eventually expand out into HOP and maybe HOS or CMO, depending on if I can come up with a quality character for each position.

Characters you intend to use for command or have created for command. Include the job they will be taking.:
Nikit Vasili, the science cat and roboticist. Taps is a likely candidate if I start playing CMO.

How would you rate your own roleplaying?:

I would rate it a solid 8.5/10. I still have some things to master, but I have become good at quickly responding in situation to avoid holding up what is currently going on, make few grammatical mistakes in my messages (some do slip through sometimes), and create believable and reasonable characters. There is always room to improve, and I know of several other people who are better at role playing than I am, but I am confident in my abilities as a player to provide an interesting and believable interaction between other characters, regardless of antag status or my OOC opinion of the character and player. I stay present, don't join rounds I don't believe I can see to the end, and will always try to make my absences from my computer as short as possible. I've never once had anyone tell me directly that I need to improve my roleplaying skills and am always open to input to improve whenever and where ever I can do so. I strive to mutually make the round fun and interesting for anyone I can, while still keeping the round fun for myself such as making ic mistakes on purpose like forgetting to turn off sensors on a person I'm murdering, not attacking while someone is typing, and trying to make my antag rounds engaging and fun for everyone to the best of my abilities.

Do you understand your whitelist is not permanent, and may be stripped following continuous administrative action?

I entirely understand that my whitelist may be stripped from me due to poor behavior or performance as a head of staff.

Have you familiarize yourself with the wiki pages for the command roles?

As stated above, this is not my first time going through the whitelist process, and I will always read the wiki before even considering a whitelist application.

Extra notes:

We really need to update our Wiki on heads of staff, the research director still mentions Genetics as a possible route for traitoring!

[VTCobaltblood]

Fantastic roleplayer. Wish you'd play more often. A definite +1.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Simon is fantastic. He is endearing and a good roleplayer and is always in character and he would make a good head of staff proven with how he conducts himself IC and OOC. +1

[IAmCrystalClear]

Known this kid for years. Like him. Like his work. Seems good enough. +1

[SleepyWolf]

they roleplay well and are cool, nikit can reasonably be an RD, seems good

[ferner]

Simon's a great player, icly and oocly, and they're thoughtful of others' experiences in-round which I've seen first hand and as can be seen from their well thought out answers.
I’d be glad to see them in head of staff roles.

[ReadThisNamePlz]

Hi there, I will be handling your application. Please gather more feedback, I'll be back to you with an answer on a trial within the next 48 hours. 

[Happy_Fox]

I've had a few rounds of wonderful RP with his character Dekel in both antag and regular roles, both of which he's played very well in either tense or non-antag situations. Very consistently positive experience with well thought out characters and responses to situations. +1 from me ?

 

EDIT: Thought I had the wrong thread, turns out I had the right one!

Edited May 12, 2019 by Happy_Fox

[ReadThisNamePlz]

I will be granting you a trial.

Trial begins on MAY/12/2019 and will end MAY/19/2019 - MAY/22/2019. (Extra three days if any issues arise and delay the processing process.)

[Ornias]

I've delayed giving my +1 until post-acceptance, but I guess it's better late than never. Nikit is a fantastically developed character with understated depth that makes him a joy to interact with. I've run into very few other players who are willing to take a step back from the action and enjoy a moment of literally nothing, which is a testament not only to your commitment to remain in character but your ability to enjoy and make the best of whatever you're presented with. I've not heard a bad word about you in almost a year now.

I had a couple questions about the application, but after speaking with Simon, it seems clear that he's thought through why his character is being promoted to the position he is and what that will mean for his development and play. I wish you the best.

[NoahKirchner]

Just finished a round with Taps as CMO, and I wouldn't have guessed that he wasn't a veteran head of staff player. Roleplayed wonderfully +1

[stev]

Taps is a thoroughly competent CMO with some fun roleplay, highly enjoyable to EMT under. +1

[AnyaShimizu]

As Anya Shimizu, the Surgeon under the CMO, Roleplay was great, seemed to be interested in the staff and build relations with them. His understanding of the medical field provided the medical with the ability to function 100%. 

[Bear]

Not only is he fully competent medically wise, also maintains small rp elements like bedside manner and patient centered care on symptoms described not only from mechanics but sheer rp. Well done. +1

[Doggie666]

Had great experiences with Nikit as RD and Taps as CMO. +1

[Juani2400]

Hi.

Short notice. I will be taking over this application, since Read will not be around for the next week. Let's continue advertising the application and gathering feedback on your Command play, since that will be a determining factor on the sucess of the application.

See you on the 22nd.

[Juani2400]

Trial being extended for two days, until the 24/MAY/2019, due to health reasons of the applicant.

[Butterrobber202]

had a fantastic antag experience with Simon as his HoP

 

+1

[Schmuck Lord]

Shane was a solid head of personnel last round I played with him. He was brief, too the point and organized. Didn't get too much roleplay with him but I would like to see him as a HoP again.

 

+1

[TheAbsoluteMadLad]

A lovely person to work with as Head of Personel.

+1

[CyberstormFox]

When playing with Taps as CMO, he did a great job with the unexpected amount of responsibility thrust upon him and made decisons that fit the role and character. I would give a Thumbs Up.

+1

[Lonely Caravan]

I've played with Simon for a long while now. He's a great roleplayer, better than many we have here. He's definitely capable of holding a head of staff whitelist.
+1 from me, ❤️

[b4c0n]

Had fun playing with CMO Taps and RPing brain damage with him. The madlad saved Bones from the burning wreckage that was medical.

+1

[Sytic]

Oh hey, it's Nikit!

He's one of my favorite guys to see around and has almost ALWAYS pulled through for everybody around them. Way more importantly, they're both personable AND very hard working in character across almost all their chars!

 

what a lad +1

[armrha]

Just played a round where Taps was an excellent CMO. Held captive by a traitor, I thought he still played an interesting character and the resolution to the round was interesting, with the takedown being entirely non-lethal through N2O. +1, definitely adds something to the server.