[Accepted] Arthur Osteen Command Application

[armrha]

BYOND key: armrha

Character names:

Arthur Osteen, Quintus Aurelian, Jaakima Niskala

How long have you been playing on Aurora?:

Since January 2019, with intermittent breaks. I actually applied before shortly after joining, but it was denied due to not having played enough.

Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?:

I think I'd be a decent RD, having played the game enough to get a feel for the server culture and learned enough about the department to perform the duties adequately.

Why did you come to Aurora?: 

I'm not sure if this helps or hurts my application, but Hesphos actually recommended the server after I had wandered alone through hundreds of rounds that weren't really to my taste. 

Have you read the Aurora wiki on the head roles and qualifications you plan on playing?:

Yes. 

Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they? 

Oh, I have. I got jobanned from science fairly early on here for abusing telescience in multiple ways. Despite reading the rules I definitely had a disconnect on the 'Aurora way of doing things' for a bit. I think I've sufficiently learned the ropes now though, only been bwoinked a couple times lately and none were found to be too egregious. I've learned how to better escalate things and try to take the encounters into role-play instead of just brute application of game mechanics.

Give a definition of what you think role-play is, and should be about:

    Roleplay is interactive storytelling. The goal of roleplaying is to construct a compelling narrative everyone enjoys. Stories should have conflict and things at stake. SS13 is an amazing narrative engine unlike most roleplaying games because there's actual "work" to be done in the game; each department has some sort of task to complete in some way and they need to fulfill their goals in some rudimentary ways to make the rounds work. This makes the entire thing a lot more interesting than in "traditional" roleplaying. In traditional roleplaying, say you are a chemist. You are just roleplaying at a table as a chemist, you're sitting there pretending to do chemistry. In SS13, you have to mix things and satisfy to simulation to "do chemistry". An engineer isn't "pretending" to power the station; they have to satisfy the simulation to make that happen. I really enjoy the cross work of making the simulation happy while at the same time feeding the narrative. A good round, you walk away laughing, genuinely surprised and satisfied at the drama, or feeling an emotional response to the story in some good way, whether your plans got foiled or not.

    Rounds in SS13 are relatively short, but the stories are compelling and earnest. I find a lot of people hear stories from this game and find them fantastic compared to a lot of other games, yet it's weird that most people don't have the patience to actually play it. The interface and the patience sometimes required is a little much for a lot of people.

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

    I think heads of staff help organize their departments to help streamline gameplay. Everyone who plays this game knows how completely useless departments are when they are three or four people just goofing off and one person on their job. A single security officer trying to corral or categorize threats always ends up in disaster.  Ideally, a head doesn't boss people around too much; it's not just an option to select to gain some peons to listen to your commands. A good head helps facilitate good storytelling and interesting character development, while helping new players learn the way the systems work and sets a good example for future play. They don't steamroll players from having fun and properly doing their job. They try to protect their department and direct people to counter threats. 

What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them?:

    I think basically they just have to set a good example in that front. Don't be completely incompetent, don't goof off too much or cause problems or interrupt good storytelling.  The best heads make you happy when you see their name, you know you'll get what you need to do your job, that you have some stake in the entire structure and at best it'll be a fun team effort to accomplish the goals of your department.

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

    Well, the construction of the NSS Upsilon means being the research director of the Aurora wouldn't be quite as illustrious as it once was. I view him as very competitive and hoping to fight through the budgetary reduction and make some new discoveries that might bring Aurora back to the forefront of the research front. Though I understand the Aurora is still the flagship station for Nanotrasen's resource exploitation initiative's in the Orion Spur. 

The company has been good to him so he's fairly loyal to NT (and especially their money), and he always keeps up with the news for new technology or research publications coming out of the other major interstellar players (Einstein Engines, Hephaestus, etc).

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

    I would like to make an RD character first and work on fleshing out that character. Later, after more experience in engineering I'd like to make a CE character as well as I always found the role of the Chief as interesting and fun.

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

    Arthur Osteen (Research Director), and perhaps a bit later Gunnleifur Valdórsson (Chief Engineer). Honestly, I'd like to make an IPC but I don't know if we're allowed to combine apps.

How would you rate your own roleplaying?:

   Good. I don't think Arthur is creating any tearjerking scenes of emotional depth really this moment or anything, but I believe I have satisfactory IC encounters with lots of the current players.

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

   Sure, that's a no-brainer.

Have you familiarize yourself with the wiki pages for the command roles?
    Yeah, I read that stuff.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Shadow

[Doggie666]

Recently, I have had nothing but good experiences with you and your character Osteen. Although we'll be competing for RD during deadhour, I think you'd be great at it. Your responses are good and I haven't seen you do anything sus for a very long time. So, +1.

[stevIII]

Arthur is an enjoyable character to roleplay with, ditto with Quintus. I feel youd be able to handle command, and I wish you luck in your trial. I'll likely edit this with some feedback on Arthur when your actions are more close by in my mind. For now,

 

+1

[Hesphos]

Armhra plays a scientist in a way I wish more people would. Actually getting into the science and mechanics behind his class and translating that into interesting and fun gameplay. Not to mention I've had one of the best rounds ever when he played my personal assistant on the character Quintus Aurelian whilst I was the captain.

Catering to my every whim whilst letting the single shred of power he had immediately go to his head, proclaiming he was the assistant captain to ensure I got my bahma mamma's on time. It was played in a good way however that actually left a good impression instead of a sour taste in your mouth. As a good assistant should.

I highly suggest to give him a trial as I think he would be an excellent fit.

+1

[Shadow]

Your trial starts today and will end in a week.

Try to get some feedback regarding your command play during this time.

[Daemon]

Tried to explain to me telescience - failed horribly as I can't comprehend anything mathematics related -

However they are good at playing their role in command and puts in a ton of effort when teaching! I had a definite good experience when Osteen was RD. 

So I'm passing out a +1

Edited June 17, 2020 by Daemon

[Nernums]

a lot better than some of the heads i've played with on aurora at least

[FreakyM]

Served a few rounds under them as RD. The research division always feels like home when he's around.

[Vulcenus]

Osteen's very knowledgeable around Science mechanics and also has an interesting personality, and antics I'd say. +1

[KesterShadowHair]

+1 from me. Osteen is very respectable to my medical character and I haven't had any issues with them.

[CrimsonFig]

+1 played a round as the ai, GRANNY, and i was able to see their radio chatter, and i have to say i like their inclusive and respectful roleplaying with their department and other peeps. they even found a way to get the AI engaged in a way that made me subverted but with a very interesting, comical, and engaging lawset that didn't put me in a sucky or compromising situation, and also wasn't one that would cause unwarranted annoyance or pain.

Edited June 19, 2020 by CrimsonFig
correct "with" to "as"

[Codename: Bear]

So far got to say, liking what I'm seeing from Osteen.

In my time I've rarely see RDs actually do anything with other departments. However, Arthur had a whole gimmick about involving the station (though it was kind of peace antaggy? I joined late so IDK) Regardless it's cool he tried to get everyone involved with something in Science.

 

[pommy]

+1 I was a first time wizard. Arthur Osteen was the RD, and provided good RP while also being accommodating of my antag gimmick/theme, did not shut it down. Was respectful and made my first wiz round not so nerve-wracking and actually very enjoyable.

[UnknownMurder]

Very flexible and open minded. Helps people to do what they need to do. Does not place unnecessary red tapes and is a good role model for many new people starting out. Will be with you on something if you need help figuring something out. 

And also gave me a bomb.  You the bomb.

+1

Edited June 21, 2020 by UnknownMurder
Including a joke statement.

[armrha]

Yes, if my math was right that bomb should have been 7 moles of phoron @ 1073C, 11 moles of oxygen @ 20c, so it should have been only 1 devastation range. (1,3,6,9). Kind of like a... big grenade. Though I did rush it a bit. Glad you didn't have to use it! I'll happily give a bomb to anybody who will comment positively on my whitelist. (kidding)

[Scheveningen]

You and your character are both pretty interesting conversationally. I haven't quite seen how you fare under pressure as command but RD is not a particularly stressful role compared to the others - you don't really strike me as someone who cracks under pressure, though.

You seem to be pretty interested on the OOC side of things contributing to the server's code development as well, which indicates that you're really attempting to commit.

I'd say +1 on my end. I don't usually give feedback, I'm quite bad at it, frankly. If I think of anything else to bring up, I probably will, but as mentioned my impression of you + your character was pretty positive overall.

[NerdyVampire]

Did quite nicely in my round with you on extended. Seemed interested and friendly. Hope you keep that up after the trial +1.

[WhatsUpBrotendo]

From the few rounds I've interacted with Arthur I'd say they perform decently as a part of command. Definite +1 from me.

[Shadow]

Accepted.