[Accepted] Hepatica's Command Whitelist APP

[Hepatica]

BYOND key: Hepatica01

Character names: Klementine Kuznetsov, Zoya Kuznetsov, Jane Kanvers, Annika Richards, ISU-Brick, and Salvation.

How long have you been playing on Aurora?: 3-4 years, though on and off.

Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?: I've noticed a lot of command dies out during the dead hours of the server. I think it'd be good for the server's health to get more people in Command given that, as far as I've seen, a lot of our Command regulars are dwindling away from the roles. That, and I have confidence that I can play the part of Command well enough to drive rounds forward and further RP.

Why did you come to Aurora?: Before Aurora I had played SS13 very, very briefly on other random servers, and while it was enjoyable getting up to some shenanigans, I wanted more roleplay focused and less fast paced (god the constant running gave me a headache) game play. After eyeballing the server list, I picked out Aurora as it was much smaller at the time and I figured it'd be easier to get into as a result, and I never turned back. To date, I've only played on one other server one single time since joining Aurora, and did not like it.

Have you read the Aurora wiki on the head roles and qualifications you plan on playing?: Yes I am, many times in fact over the course of the last few years that I've been trying to work up the nerve (and mechanical ability) to play these roles. Whoever made the Job Guides page with a short summary of each role is hilarious and a genius.

Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they? I have received a total of three warning, one of which was a serious warning. However, the serious warning was from my literal first round coming into Aurora after leaving LRP servers and it was for beating my friend, who I was playing with at the time, to death after the round ended, because I didn't like reading rules back then. The two lesser warnings were from around the same time when I chased after an antag and attacked him with a circular saw, which I definitely shouldn't have done, and one four months ago that I still maintain was fine IC, however I do also understand and accept why I was given the warning over it. Long story short: Revolutionaries were doing a cult gimmick, they were sacrificing someone in the chapel and being very loud about it over the radio, this someone was a friend of my characters as well as the others I was with, we were all off duty sec visitors, so we showed up to find out what was going on, saw them getting sacrificed, and went in to try to help. Cult backed off, I grabbed the person and they ran out, then I got attacked so we all kicked the hell out of them and stomped their gimmick at about 1:30-1:45. My defense is, security was apart of the antags, all except the Warden who only showed up after it was all over.

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 a means to live out stories and experience life in a way you probably will never be able to experience in real life. It exists to give us, not only an escape from reality, but a way to be someone we want to be and explore their life, story, and emotions throughout the course of the time we play them. I believe roleplay should, first and foremost, be about making enjoyable and memorable experiences with other people, all the while developing your character, even minorly, in the process. However, you don't always need others to further roleplay. I've seen plenty of instances in SS13 where people roleplay and create a story all on their own, which at times will naturally lead to others getting involved.

What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame?: Well obviously it differs from role to role, with each Head having their own specific goal for the round. However, as far as roleplay goes, I believe it's a Head of Staff's duty to push forward roleplay for the people in their department, whether it be something as simple as allowing them to go on break, to pairing people up with one another to tackle a problem their department is currently facing, to offering a friendly (or otherwise) helping hand to someone in their department who might need it. From what I've seen, some people enjoy interacting with Command, and I think it's good when Command players get out of their officer and roleplay with people regardless of that persons role. From a mechanical/game perspective, I believe it is a Head of Staff's duty to ensure a round progresses as naturally as it can, tackling whatever obstacles they come across in a way that gives some leeway to both sides without just outright allowing antags to walk all over you (unless it makes sense in that situation).

 

What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them?: A player with this whitelist has access to some of if not the most important roles on the station, both in universe wise and OOC. I believe that players with this whitelist are meant to be an example of what good roleplay and good behavior OOC can get you. If a new player joins the server and they see someone with a command whitelist bullying other people OOC or treat those who work under them IC horribly, it'll naturally drive that person away from, at best, that department, or at worst, the server entirely. People with Command whitelists should be drawing people in to their department through the use of great, engaging roleplay and excellent mechanical knowledge, not driving them away. If a multitude of people look at someone in Command and say "Well I'm not playing this department this round", they probably shouldn't have their whitelist.

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

My planned Research Director, Annika Richards, doesn't have much of a stake in the current events of Tau ceti, mainly due in part to her Sol citizenship, and the fact that her only connection to Tau ceti is working on the Aurora. Despite this however, given what has happened recently on Aurora, she's grown weary of Tajarans affiliated with either the NKA or the DPRA, fearful of another repeat of the shuttle landing in the center of the station, bringing with it a little warzone to Aurora. She never had much stake in Tajaran politics, given it's never been relevant to her in the slightest before now, however now that so much has happened on the Aurora in regards to it, she has been most invested in Tajaran politics, if only as a means to keep herself safe.

What roles do you plan on playing after the application is accepted? Research Director and Head of Personnel, perhaps Captain at times. I am very familiar with Science as a whole and believe I would make a good RD, a role I find is very often left wide open, even when the rest of command is filled. Head of Personnel, similarly, seems like a very fun role for RP that I often don't see anyone filling, and finally Captain, with at least a few other command staff present, seems like it would be fun for coordinating efforts and facilitating RP throughout the entire station when possible.

Characters you intend to use for command or have created for command. Include the job they will be taking.:

Annika Richards - Research Director

Toterus - Research Director

Siobhan Verity - Captain

Victoria - Head of Personnel

Anastasia Komarova - Necropolis Liaison

Feng - Zeng-Hu Liaison

How would you rate your own roleplaying?: I believe I am an above average roleplayer on most days, but I put my best efforts more often then not into making believable and enjoyable RP for anyone I interact with. I try to RP with as many people as I'm able too, that want to RP with me as well. Depending on the character, I'll interact with just about anyone that makes sense for my character to interact, because only through RPing with as many people as possible can I get any better at roleplaying.

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

Of course, absolutely. If I have done something to deserve it being stripped, then I accept that completely. The admins giveth, the admins can taketh away.

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

I have yes! Infact, due to my memory issues, I often reread wiki pages multiple times on separate occasions, and usually keep it open for whatever role I'm playing regardless of my familiarity, just in case!

Extra notes: If accepted, I very much look forward to proving myself as an able member of Command!

Edited April 14, 2020 by MattAtlas
Added my new command characters

[Roostercat]

Hepatica is a nerd a very competent roleplayer with memorable characters. She has been here longer than me and I trust she is good enough to run command well. +1

[Ventii]

Hep's great! Super easy +1 from me. Really wonderful roleplayer whom I personally love interacting with on all counts. She's also proven herself to be, on average, mechanically competent and I absolutely believe that she's worthy of a trial.

[Daemon]

Although I don't know much about Hepatica's abilities in science, but during the occasions Klementine became Internim HoS, they showed to handle the role pretty well, so I'm sure it would apply for RD as well.

edit : after a observation and frequent interaction, - Hepatica's command characters are all interesting and are very proactive and involving command members, liaisons especially - from what I've seen we don't have many corpo reps out there . so I'm giving my +1 with full confidence this time, I want to see their characters more after the trial!

Edited April 12, 2020 by Daemon

[Dark1Star]

+1 I may not play much anymore, but I can 120% vouch for Hepatica's ability to RP, and communicate a lot (which is a big thing for Command players) honestly I think they would be a great person to be given a trial, and It will be interesting to see how they do!

[Melariara]

Hep is amazing at roleplaying her characters. The diversity she portrays with them all is incredible and I've seen her in iHOS a few times and every time she's been calm, collected and controlling of any situation brought forward. Her as a research director would be amazing, and I hope to see her as captain at some point in the future. +1

[lilyflower]

Hepatica is a delight to roleplay with, I have always had good interactions with them across all their characters that I have come across. They are friendly and pretty knowledgeable, I think they'd be a good fit for command.

+1

[Wigglesworth Jones]

Hepatica is a great roleplayer and very competent at what they do. They definitely deserve to trial.

+1

[BearSchwanz]

hep person good.

[Scheveningen]

Strong +1 from me. They're really fun to interact with and keep a level head at all times.

[ClemTheDuck]

Hep is a strong roll player whose characters are always fun and interesting to talk to and meet. Definitely a +1

[MattAtlas]

I will be handling this. I'll give your app one more day before deciding. If I happen to forget, torture me in DMs about it.

[Shadow7889]

I LOVE playing with Klem ICly. Brick pisses me off ICly. 

Still +1. Would like to see Klem as an HOS maybe

[geeves]

I spoke a bit with Hepatica yesterday in dchat, about being command and all that. I believe they took my advice well enough, and I think they would be a good addition to our command ranks. My only concern is with something I saw a few rounds ago, where ISU-Brick executed a wizard by stomping and crushing them to death, after being EMP'd. I can only assume that that was validhunting. For that reason, I'd urge you to try to avoid going Head of Security after getting your whitelist, or to try your best and be a laid back delegation kind of HoS if you do.

However, you've told me, and shown here, that you intend to go RD and HoP mainly. My concern applies, as I have seen batshit crazy validhunting RDs. However, as we discussed yesterday, I don't think this will a problem for you at all, as you mentioned what you intend to do. I think you'll manage to do really well in these roles. I wish you luck on your trial, if you get it.

+1

[Hepatica]

11 hours ago, geeves said:

I spoke a bit with Hepatica yesterday in dchat, about being command and all that. I believe they took my advice well enough, and I think they would be a good addition to our command ranks. My only concern is with something I saw a few rounds ago, where ISU-Brick executed a wizard by stomping and crushing them to death, after being EMP'd. I can only assume that that was validhunting. For that reason, I'd urge you to try to avoid going Head of Security after getting your whitelist, or to try your best and be a laid back delegation kind of HoS if you do.

However, you've told me, and shown here, that you intend to go RD and HoP mainly. My concern applies, as I have seen batshit crazy validhunting RDs. However, as we discussed yesterday, I don't think this will a problem for you at all, as you mentioned what you intend to do. I think you'll manage to do really well in these roles. I wish you luck on your trial, if you get it.

+1

Yeah, that was my bad. It was still in the early stages of playing the character and I didn't realize how much damage a G2's melee did. I was trying to keep the wiz down long enough for someone to come and secure him after I got emp'd and the other officer got turned to a statue, I didn't realize it would kill him so easily. It was also a bit of an IC thing of, in part because Brick was also blinded from the EMP, "oh god oh no I got emp'd survival instincts go start flailing wildly" but it was never my intention to kill him. In retrospect I should have gone for the leg but it all happened so fast.

[MattAtlas]

On trial until 15APR2020.

[Caelphon]

Lovely roleplayer, I enjoy roleplaying with their new Captain. They seem fit for Command, and I'd like to them far past the trial end. 

+1

[Miracae]

I very much enjoyed round with Siobhan Verity, she was great captain who put good point on roleplay, never lost character, but got through all issues station had and brought up roleplay in more people. Very much enjoyed!

 

+1

Edited April 9, 2020 by Miracae

[Skyglazer]

After having experienced what Siobhan Verity is like during particularly chaotic situations- namely, a Tower Defense round where all of the antagonists were ran-sacking the bar, I found it to be quite lacking. Hectic rounds should be where Command players try their hardest and stick out as paragons of the round, but on behalf of Siobhan as captain, it felt like they were not making much effort to interact with the antagonists' gimmick.

The context is as described previously: They were the captain when a group of raiders, mercenaries, and a ninja had all taken over the bar to host a convention, where many syndicate agents get together and socialize in a NanoTrasen establishment as the ultimate middle-finger to the company. Announcements were made about this, though I think Siobhan might have been a late-join to the round, I am not sure. From the logs I'm examining, she mentions that she was going to go down to the bar to find out what was going on, but we, as the antagonists in the bar, never saw her. What we did see, was a quick jump to red alert and a distress beacon launch.

Now, I'm not saying that it's necessarily bad for her to have done any of this. Reasonable, even. However, this lack of interaction compounded with prior concerns of validhunting behavior (especially how they describe in the app how they "maintain something they were warned for was IC" and proceed to justify it) gives me the impression that they have not really taken the initiative to listen to how others view their actions, a reluctance to learn to play differently, and an inclination to still engage in this sort of behavior. Especially later in the round, it was worrying (later being 1:20 in, as they had called the shuttle very quickly after hearing that somebody had been mugged by one of the raiders) because the captain still spoke very little- no attempts at diplomacy or even attempts to establish any sort of understanding with what the raiders want was established-- all they told people was to focus on getting to the escape shuttle.

Furthermore: their character is an elderly woman, described as being in her early seventies, who even walks with a cane for support. This elderly character's response to imminent danger was to arm and armor up to defend herself- the first time me and most of the other antagonists had seen her was not before she had gotten fully into her captain's hardsuit... meanwhile, another Command member, the Head of Personnel, was leisurely interacting with the antagonists in the bar in her normal outfit, and had even agreed to be disarmed-- which facilitated further interaction with the round's antagonists and their gimmick. 

Speaking of gimmicks, the wording of this app (combined with the experience in this round I am presently describing) concerns me, and I quote: "so we all kicked the hell out of them and stomped their gimmick at about 1:30-1:45." This is the wording in the same section of them "justifying" their warning about (what I assume is) validhunting behavior as security-character-visitors. "kicking the hell out of" and "stomping their gimmick" sounds like glorifying winning over an antagonist and denying them the right to exist and try to do something out of the ordinary. Gimmicks should not be stomped out, or ignored. They should be combated, yes, but refusing to engage with them doesn't create much fun for either party.

Lastly, the believability of this behavior is even worsened when you recall the fact that the character is 70+ years old and supposedly frail. During the round, as a solo raider, I walked into red dock and confronted the captain, who called for help. I gloated about getting to use a clusterbang, which I then threw and was promptly gunned down by the many security that were there. It was hilarious-- and exactly what I was expecting-- but what I got afterwards confused me. After I had been downed by laser fire, the captain (again, an old woman, after having blasted me with a laser gun) whipped out her telescopping baton and started wailing on my body to make sure I was dead-- even though the only hostile action I had taken was the clusterbang. After cracking my ribs and wailing on my chest for a good minute with me still not dead (still unconscious the whole time though), she elected that enough was enough and dragged my dying body over to the emergency lockers in red dock. She then hid it inside where it remained for the rest of the round.

I apologize for the length of this feedback and its negative nature, but I think a command whitelist is something that should be taken seriously as many people look to command characters for leadership, for interaction, and for an example, and I think there's a bit more to Captain than making sure the antagonists are combated and stay dead. I think that Red Alert -> Distress Beacon -> Emergency Shuttle is pretty standard for a Tower Defense round, but that shouldn't be all there is. There was all the opportunity in the world for the captain to make a stand to the raiders- make announcements instructing the crew how to act towards them- try to negotiate more agreeable terms with the occupying force-- but none of that was there. And the "beat the antag when he's already been turned to swiss cheese and stuff his body in a locker after" bit just seems like plain validhunt-y behavior to me.

This got way longer than I intended it to be, but I prefer to err on the side of being exceedingly thorough with the amount of context I provide so it does not seem like I am just writing an opinionated hit-piece. Given the concerns others have about validhunting behavior in security, and what I've experienced first-hand-- and as someone with a Command whitelist myself-- I feel the need to oppose this for now.

I would like to note, however, that I'd really love to be swayed on this. You express a desire to facilitate RP on your app and I'd love to see that realized- and we all make mistakes, so I don't think your behavior in this round or wording in the parts of your app that I pointed out-- or, indeed, concerns others have about validhunting behavior-- none of that should doom you for failure- but they're legitimate concerns that I think should be addressed before your whitelist is made permanent. 

TL;DR: -1, frail old ladies should not be going for the baton beatdown kill and stuffing bodies into lockers. They should be wise and willing to cooperate with hostile forces, not call every emergency response protocol they've got available without a word to the invaders. This is all my opinion, though, and I invite you to change it. Especially consider that, from my one perspective- I don't have all the context. I invite others who participated in this specific round to add to this story and share their thoughts as well.

[Shenaanigans]

Also bringing some perspective from the above mentioned round, I do have to agree that your Captain play hasn't exactly shone from what I've seen. Maybe it was just a product of the absolute chaos that is a Tower Defense round, because 12 antags in one round is just insanity that I wouldn't wish on anyone in a trial, but even though I wasn't in a position to witness much of the combat oriented activity that happened that round I can bring perspective from a fellow Command member standpoint. To begin-- communication is KEY. If there is any one piece of advice I could give to anyone playing Command it is 100% to be communicating with the rest of the Heads so you're all on the same page as to how to react to a threat, and I felt that this was lacking in your play as Siobhan Verity. 

As a Captain your job is to coordinate the Command members and when 12 antags show up on station they're naturally all going to look to you and ask "what the hell do we do about this". The amount of response we got to that question during the aforementioned round was very minimal-- mostly just to call for a raise to red, distress beacon, and later a shuttle --with little to no talk of what we should be telling the crew or how we should be interacting with the visitors. Be hostile? Be friendly? Stay away from them entirely? Any of these would have been viable plans of action, but as a Captain it's important to choose and make that choice known rather than letting everyone do their own thing and fend for themselves. Otherwise both the other Heads and the rest of the crew are forced to sit back in this sea of uncertainty meanwhile not wanting to step on toes by taking charge, because we have a Captain and that's for the Captain to be doing.

I think if you work on being the voice of calm and coordination that's important to have from a Captain you'll find success in your trial, it was just a bit lackluster from my experience in this round. Keeping working at it! 

[Peppermint]

I feel that judging someone on a single round - tower defence on a trial no less - is a wee bit silly/unkind. Unless it was the WORST round that EVER existed...eh. From my own perspective, I agree that a little more communication is needed with the crew, though what you get with other command staff is enough. . Though then again, the rounds I have seen have involved the nuke,  a rather beloved character killing themselves (Sloan), and a merc team that didn't want to talk to anyone and instead just start shooting, all of which were handled well. 

 

+1

[Hepatica]

I don't disagree that I didn't handle the tower defense round the best, but honestly I tried my best. Communication sucked, and I spent a lot of time writing incident reports because I'm stupid and multiple times have written like 2-3 paragraphs only for it to just not go on the paper because I hit ok while not having the pen in my active hand, so that wasted a LOT of my time that round. When I finally planned to go to the bar, the CMO was in the middle of getting jumped, so naturally I fled back to my office as I deemed it wasn't safe. Then, I had multiple people tell me they were coming for me, so I put on my suit and swiped for both ERT and Red while I still could. Nearly everything I did on that round was based on information that was given to me, and I should mention every single call I made, be it ERT, changing code, or evac was done with consulting the rest of Command. Also, I did make an announcement to stay away from the intruders. I made various announcements that round to that effect. The only reason I fought in the dock is because, let's be real, the situation was hell and chaos, and all I had at my disposal to combat it was an officer, a cadet, and a single Kataphract hopeful. When the unathi started talking about "That means I get to use this, I've been waiting to use this" and then took out a bomb that I couldn't see the make of, and my officer/cadet started shooting, I elected to help with my side arm. The unathi collapsed infront of me and I beat on him with the baton assuming that the situation was life or death, as I was cornered in the command section with multiple other antags present outside of red dock, which started even more fighting that I did not partake in. I should mention that attacking the unathi was ahelped and the admin involved did not think I did anything wrong after I explained my side of things. I will say that my communication skills in every other round I've played as Captain have been good, as told to me by multiple people, it was just the chaos of, remember, tower defense, as well as some mistakes that compounded the issue.

 

Thank you for the feedback, I will work to better myself from it.

[Vizendel]

I have only interacted with Anastasia Komarova, but she feels realistic and like an excellent representation of the players skill and professionalism.

I'll keep an eye on them in future and update this post regarding it, but for now it's a +1.

[Quertypunch]

Having interacted with your characters quite a bit, I believe they positively impact the game and help others push themselves to new heights. You are able and willing to step in and do jobs that other people aren't currently doing, and you help drive the game along. I have not had any negative experiences that were not wholly IC, so I think you'd be a great addition to command staff.

I'd like to suggest that the application is accepted.

[MattAtlas]

Application accepted.