VTCobaltblood's Application To Be Boring And Basic

[VTCobaltblood]

Ckey/BYOND Username: VTCobaltblood
Position Being Applied For: Human Lore Deputy
Past Experiences/Knowledge: I was the previous skrell maintainer before being dismissed by Jackboot, and was allowed to re-apply by the new loremaster.
Examples of Past Work: In my tenure as skrelldev, I worked on various projects with my deputies. The one most relevant for human lore would probably be Skrell Military, roughly half of which is written by me, and the other half by Aboshehab under my supervision. I've also written Martian gangs, illegal surfarcers on Venus and Scarab culture, and am currently working on human lore navboxes as a wiki maintainer.
Additional Comments: 

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What would you change, if you had unlimited power?

Rename Necropolis Merging this into the second question.

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What part of human lore needs the most work?

I disagree very strongly with the format, design and overall creative direction of most human lore articles. A lot of them do not read as a foundation for roleplaying characters, but rather as dry descriptions you'd see in a geography textbook. This will be explained in further detail below.

Human lore also has a staggering issue of being inaccessible, being hidden in categories (e.g.: Jupiter) or singular links which nobody tends to click (e.g.: Elyra Culture). I plan to correct this by making proper human lore navboxes, even if I'm not chosen for the deputy position.

Obviously, another issue is lack of culture/fluff lore which seems to be acknowledged by everyone at this point, including the new loremaster and the current human loredev.

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What part of human lore is your favorite and least favorite?

Without hesitation, I will give the same answer to both of these questions: Mars.

Mars has a fantastic aesthetic that resonates with me greatly - mazes of grey and dark slums, dominated from the shadows by a criminal underworld. How much time is spent describing that aesthetic? Slightly more than two paragraphs.

Instead, the page is filled with often unnecessary information such as terraforming projects, Martian senates, the economy, smearing "people of different ethnicities live here" over a whole paragraph, my dumb bloated gang lore, etc. As a result, nobody cares about the actual aesthetic that the Mars article aims to convey, and instead throw cowboy memes around. This is far from an isolated case in human lore, and Mars is but one of many examples. Upon becoming deputy, I aim to rewrite the whole article. 

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An essay on culture for any of the human factions, min. 2 paragraphs:

This is a biiiiiig WIP, but has a culture section in it.

(Side note, I'm on vacation on 16th-27th this month, so I might not be immediately available as a deputy.)

[Arrow768]

I have to give this a big no, since your attitude hasn't changed after you dismissal as skrell lorewriter only a few weeks ago (for bad attitude).

[VTCobaltblood]

3 minutes ago, Arrow768 said:

I have to give this a big no, since your attitude hasn't changed after you dismissal as skrell lorewriter only a few weeks ago (for bad attitude).

This is not what I was dismissed for. I will refrain from further comments on this matter.

[Arrow768]

1 minute ago, VTCobaltblood said:

This is not what I was dismissed for. I will refrain from further comments on this matter. 

Well, you were warned for consistent bad attitude, then continued that attitude in private messages with the person that talked to you, which led to your dismissal.

So, what has changed since then?

[VTCobaltblood]

1 minute ago, Arrow768 said:

Well, you were warned for consistent bad attitude

I was warned, not dismissed. I have personally asked for my dismissal.

If you would send me examples of the behavior you find offensive in DMs, that would be great.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Why do you think you were you dismissed if not for the reason arrow cited?

[VTCobaltblood]

1 hour ago, Marlon Phoenix said:

Why do you think you were you dismissed if not for the reason arrow cited?

I said I will refrain from further comments. I did not apply to start drama.

[Scheveningen]

+1. VT's done a substantial amount of work developing their respective race and keeping the story arcs ongoing while ensuring transparency of those changes reaches the community. Which is more than can be said of some people.

I've only seen VT get snippy/defensive when either they or others are being mistreated. Not saying it's a good excuse per se but it's pretty unreasonable to expect someone to shut up and not talk about problems endemic to certain areas of the community.

Do you have a particular image to transform Mars into? I agree that "the wild west on an entire planet" is a pretty stale setting and it could use some improvement.

[VTCobaltblood]

4 minutes ago, Scheveningen said:

Do you have a particular image to transform Mars into?

Yep! The doc I've attached as a culture essay is my WIP rewrite of Mars. 

[Doxxmedearly]

VT's done an excellent job as lore writer. She also cares a lot about the team she works with (Like her previous skrell deputies). I agree she can be a bit abrasive when frustrated, but overall I don't think her attitude is much worse than a number of staff on the various teams throughout the server. I feel her writing is top-notch, her dedication to lore is strong, and she could do great things for our lore. I do miss you as skrell dev, though.

+1 from me.

[Mofo1995]

Hello! I've spent a ton of time the past week interviewing a lot of people to get a full picture of your behavior and activity.

Two items stood out like sore thumbs: 

1. Excellent creativity, strong activity, and good writing.

2. Concerns about behavior.

In the past, I denied Lord Fowl for the position of skrell developer because of this exact same combination of circumstances. And much like with Fowl, I feel that you and I get along swimmingly despite the issues others have. I am willing to let Pegasus bring you onto the human lore team. For one, a deputy position is inherently lower risk than a full developer position. And for two, I sincerely believe that your behavior has improved in the past two months. But concerns are still present, so we have to address the elephant in the room. In the past when you were assigned a warning, a situation which would end up in your resignation, I had agreed with Jackboot to give you that warning. Despite the faults in lore team management, your attitude was a serious problem and I feel it contributed heavily to galvanizing the lore team. I know you were in a frustrating situation, but I need you to acknowledge the wrongdoing of your attitude issues in the past and formally promise to do better. Once this is done, I'm willing to bring you onto the team, but if Pegasus and I feel that you're too aggressive afterwards, we may consider reversing that decision.

I'll level with you, that the reason for coming to this has been because in my many interviews in the past week, I've received a ton of warnings about you. But I am willing to move forward and bring you on despite this because I seriously believe in you and in my minds eye I can see the lore team being a much better place for having you on board.

Once this is addressed, I would be happy to have you with us again.

[VTCobaltblood]

First of all, I sincerely thank you (and the ones you have interviewed) for the kind words in your comment. It does mean a lot for me to hear that.

Secondly, regarding behavior. 

Yes, I was extremely tired and frustrated of the ongoing issues in the lore team management and direction that went virtually unfixed or completely swept under the rug. And yes, I agree that I had gotten very aggressive, especially at the time of my dismissal, because of it. When I see big problems in things, I am usually very upfront about it, to the point of becoming non-civil. My critique of things and wrongdoings can become very heated, and I admit that.

I also admit that there are people with whom I do not get along whatsoever. Yes, occasionally I get very frustrated with them, and allow myself to get aggressive.

Would I try and fix these issues? Absolutely. I would lie if I say that these problems will instantly vanish the moment I become deputy, but I sincerely do not enjoy being angry and abusive. I would appreciate any help along the way, be that advice or examples of my bad behavior that I can reflect on. 

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

13 hours ago, Mofo1995 said:

In the past when you were assigned a warning, a situation which would end up in your resignation,

She was dismissed, she did not resign. This correction is really important because it would make vt look bad if she resigned willingly then we all made that whole deal about her dismissal being improper. Keep the onus on me for the improper dismissal.

I have nothing more to add.

Edited July 26, 2019 by Marlon Phoenix

[Pegasus]

Consider this application accepted. I will echo what Mofo has said, and hopefully there will be no cause for complaint by anyone in the lore team leading to me to have to take action. Welcome to the cursed lore team.