[Accepted]Zundy's Dionae Lore Deputy App

[Zundy]

Ckey/BYOND Username: zundy

Position Being Applied For: Dionae Deputy Lore developer

Past Experiences/Knowledge:

-I used to run a wiki on a NWN 2 Roleplaying server "Tales of Moonsea" though it ended up getting scrapped as it was taking up server space.

-I've also been a DM on said server for over 6 years and was head DM for around 3 years. During that time I wrote the entire server backstory and story arc for the "Herald of Chaos" campaign which has been ongoing for around 5 years. (User Cryosphere).

-I also run tabletop games every so often with my group, areas of expertise is WH40K, Dark Heresy, Pathfinder. D&D 3.5e and some Iron Kingdoms and some Warmachine. Usually I homebrew the modules.

-I'm was a Quality and Compliance Manager in real life so I appreciate working to targets, time management and attention to detail.

-I was the Human and Corporate Lore Developer on a popular SS13 Server called Aurora for over a year.

-I was a Human and Corporate Deputy Lore Developer on a popular SS13 Server called Aurora for over a year.

 

Examples of Past Work:

-Server side I try to organise events for players to get involved IG.

-Lore wise, I was the Human and Corporate Lore Developer and then a Human and Corporate Deputy Lore Developer on a popular SS13 Server called Aurora for around two years combined. A snippet of the things I did at that time were managing the additions to Eridani (adding suits and dregs, fleshing it out to kinda of what it is today though there have been changes since) and Dominia as well as fleshing out the corp' lore and adding planetary lore. I also designed many of the human flags (and sometimes still do :^) ).

-For a more detailed look feel free to give this a glance: https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Special:Contributions/Zundy

 

Additional Comments (Paragraph(s) about how you feel about the current dionae lore, and what you'd want to change or work on):

As it stands I think the Dionae lore is in the best place it's ever been HOWEVER we've still got some work to do. The main complaints with Dionae I see at present (and what I want to focus on as a deputy) are thus:

- Though Dionae are refreshingly Alien, they're too alien to be able to RP with for most players and thus these players are turned-off playing them.

- Mechanically quite over powered.

To address the above, I want to work with Yonni and Cael to build upon the Dionae Clusters (https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Dionae_Clusters), expanding on how they work and operate within those factions, leading to what I believe will be more accessible, unique play styles for each cluster. No longer "so alien I just can't" and actually part of the setting. That's big picture. What that'll look like in practice will depend entirely on the thoughts and feelings of the player base when we start introducing this, alongside the views of the other lore devs as these clusters are essentially symbiotic to their lore.

Mechanically, they're already being worked on but to my mind I'll be using my energy to try and keep them as flexible as possible in regards to antag roles whilst reducing their "gamey-ness", looking to still maintain their "alien-ness." A mouthful but, big picture, I don't want to limit their access to antag roles. I want to balance their currently unbalanced abilities but I still want them to keep the unique "alien" features they already possess by fleshing out the uses of their organs and abilities with an eye on mechanical balance. I want to bring new players to the table with fun Dionae lore but at the same time ensure that the cheese isn't there which will ultimately ruin other the "round experience" for other players if left unchecked.

Thanks for your consideration, if you have an questions or reservations let me know below and I'll try to answer as best as I can.

Also I low-key want to more dishes that use nymphs to the game, is this bad? Let me know in the comments. Remember to smash like and subscribe for more content.

[Caelphon]

Zundy, not only do you have a background with Aurora but you're one of the only people I see try and create group roleplay scenarios. I do have some questions however; 

 

1. I assume you departed from the lore team for a personal reason - and I won't probe, but do you believe if you are accepted that you'll remain in the position for a long period of time? 

 

2. What sort of mechanics do you believe should be implemented to help curb the current problems that others believe are occuring? 

 

3. Do you mind sharing what ideas you have for some of the clusters? 

 

Thanks for applying!

[nonno_anselmo]

+1 bold pink comic sans

Based on, obviously, your previous work in the wiki expecially regarding the Techno-Conglomerate and the Jewel Worlds. 
You also have shown great interest in the race on the Dionae discordd which was not only, but did include, shitposting. 
I would also like to see a bolstering in the amount of people actively working on Dionae lore aswell as your plans to further clusters lore-wise and as a concept.
I'm looking forwarding to seeing how the treepeeps will be rendered less alien-like too.

 

I'm going to ask the same question as Caelphon, i'd like to know your plans for the clusters.

I doubt you'll be able to change my mind, unless you plan on making a meme clusteryou get my full approval in that case.

[Zundy]

1 hour ago, Caelphon said:

1. I assume you departed from the lore team for a personal reason - and I won't probe, but do you believe if you are accepted that you'll remain in the position for a long period of time?

I do believe (then as now) that if you don't have the time to commit to both playing the game (or at least observing the rounds) and giving regular updates then it's best to step aside and let someone else who's passionate about the lore to give it a go. Both times I left because I felt I didn't have the free time to give consistent and frequent lore updates. I think the first time was because of arranging my wedding (yeah sorry everyone, I'm married) and the second one was putting my energy into looking for and purchasing my current house. Ironically, I think in hindsight I could have actually still given reasonable lore updates in both those occasions but what ya gonna do. I foresee nothing coming up in my life that'll reduce my output to such a consistently low level where I'd feel the need to quit any time soon.

1 hour ago, Caelphon said:

2. What sort of mechanics do you believe should be implemented to help curb the current problems that others believe are occuring? 

I'm aware that a lot of gears are in motion to create balance at the moment anyway, but a big thing for me is that I want to see valid counters introduced. As it stands, bar get down and dirty with a flash, security doesn't really have an effective counter to Dionae which in the past was "ok" because:

a) Lore wise Dionae were essentially peaceful and,

b) No one played them.

They're not "peaceful by nature" per se anymore and the push from Dionae devs is to get people playing Dionae. We need valid counters as a step one regardless of what we buff/nerf within the Dionae as a mob. To that end, a quick fix (assuming the Plant-B-Gone damage on the wiki is still correct) I'd propose sec spawns with X number of "Anti-Primis Grenades" (name subject to change) which are gas grenades which contain Plant-B-Gone, designed to as a somewhat non-lethal counter to rude/crude Dionae. This is a stop gap as frankly that's quite dangerous to use as a "non-lethal" counter. Moderate time fix - sonics. A Dionae's 'natural' method of communication is root song which utilises "various limbs and membranes." To that end, I'd propose we make Dionae weak to "sonic weaponry." A (I hope) simple tweak to either the hailer (<-my preference) or I maybe even the taser to make it so using a separate setting fires a sonic "beam" which gives Dionae HALLOSS damage in the case of the taser, and gives damage in a radius with the hailer. Sonic shackles would prevent a dionae from splitting. This would also make Dionae, flavor wise, adverse to EVERYONE SHOUTING as well as bull horns and what not. Those items wouldn't hurt them (wrong frequency) but would be uncomfortable. Later we could add sonic cannons/rifles that could cause actual big damage to Dionae and damage to others. Explains why they like to drift in space too. No sound waves. Long term when we've got the balance under lock I'd like to see a "sonic module" for Dionae which they equip, allowing them to "sing" a sonic blast, but we'll see.

All subject to change and discussion of course, but just an idea.

1 hour ago, Caelphon said:

3. Do you mind sharing what ideas you have for some of the clusters? 

Specifically the dependant clusters at this time but I want to flesh them out into the equivalent of the planetary pages for the other factions, keeping a brief summary as we have now for people who want to give have a quick download of lore. I'm talking environment, society, how the Dionae mesh with the faction the cluster is based in, what that means for the player character from those clusters etc. I'm talking about:

Haughty, religious, sneering imperialist Dionae from the Imperial Gardens. Followers of the Imperial Truth, almost human/sinta in their dealings but just not quite.

Studious, learned and wise Dioane from Xrim. Extremely well read but more interested in The Sciences then in society. Logical but perhaps too cold.

Fractured, angry, dangerous but down to earth Dionae from Titan Prime. Tough and 'streetwise' from their time living as dregs on a hive ship. Misunderstood as being criminally minded, fast talking and abrasive.

 Xen, meditative and humble Dionae from the Oasis. In tune with nature and the common folk. Slow speaking and introspective.

I'd also want to introduce different levels of "Gestalt Behaviours" ranging from completely uniform, 'I am one mind' gestalts to the 'Nymph 1:"we have reached consensus w-" Nymph 2:"No we haven't!"' individualist gestalts and everything in-between.

Just some ideas.

Spoiler

"Dionae Sec circa 2463 colorised"

 

[Caelphon]

This looks pretty good, and if you manage to incorporate it I bet that it would be an awesome addition! 

 

This application has my support. 

[Zundy]

I'm also personally a fan of news articles and such for flavor so I'll likely be doing some of those were possible alongside some canon RP on the discord relay server like I've done previously since folks seemed to like that, again, where possible.

[Yonnimer]

Application accepted!