Omicega -- Command Whitelist Application

[Omicega]

BYOND Key:
Omicega

Character names:

Alicia Parker -- Security Guard
Yingmei -- Bartender
Mahisa Quraishi -- Security Guard
ZH Ji-Seon 451 -- Surgeon
Maria Faraci -- Engineer

I have others on top of these, but these are the five I've played the most of recently.

How long have you been playing on Aurora?:
Since mid/late September of 2020. I dabbled for a few days at a time in the distant past, too.

Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?
I want to play some of the head of staff roles as well as a consular officer from time to time. I'll be honest and say that I don't really see why these roles are gated off to begin with -- I certainly don't think the whitelist helps ensure any level of quality in the players and/or characters that I see in these roles, personally -- but this is really what the answer boils down to.

Why did you come to Aurora?
I played on CM for a couple of years -- primarily held there by the roleplay angle, believe it or not -- and left in about October-ish of 2019 following a final decline in standards that couldn't really be ignored. I went to Bay for a brief while before migrating to Hestia after a few months of trying to cope with Bay's community wore me out. Having tried Aurora for a brief period around that time I never found it gripping enough to fully engage me (that and the footstep sounds were atrocious), but when I dipped my head back into Aurora in late September this year I haven't really looked back. I love the standard of roleplay on offer here and find great enjoyment in getting involved with the community.

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

Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they?
To the best of my knowledge I have never been banned, formally warned, or had administrative action of any sort taken against me that was not later overturned.

=======

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:
I think it should be about fulfilling interactions and ongoing personal storylines between interesting and fleshed-out characters. I personally prefer playing characters that are more on the 'grounded' end of the scale (more of a working everyday individual than a novel protagonist or something), so I have a natural tendency to prefer that end of things, but ultimately I really enjoy seeing the creativity other people put into their characters and how they can bring interesting interactions to the table. I don't necessarily agree that it's something everyone has to agree on, at times -- sometimes your characters will be put in places you'd rather not have had them put, and dealing with that in a believable manner is part and parcel of roleplaying a character properly. As long as the setting as a whole maintains a level of believability that rides above a certain level, I think roleplay really does just boil down to the way individual characters interact with one another and build relationships; whether that's on a longer-term scale, or in the context of a single round.

What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is ingame?
First and foremost -- they are the most important factor inside a department where new players are concerned. They have the most weight in ensuring that cadets/apprentices/interns don't end up confused and lost and alone for two hours, and should use their influence in this regard to make sure these sorts of players have a fulfilling experience as learners in learner roles. This duty of care extends to their department as a whole, of course -- the head of security has an integral role in coordinating security's response to antagonists on secret rounds, for example -- but I think it should mainly focalise on learner roles. Finally, they are the one line of IC contact between the ongoing round and online staff in the form of Central Command (and distress beacons etc), and need to have this in mind depending on how the round is playing out. In short, they need to be ready to fax as well as being switched on with regards to their department and its workings.

What do you think the OOC responsibilities of whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them?
I don't really think whitelisted players have any extra responsibilities ahead of other players, to be honest. I'm going to be blunt and say that I've seen absolutely no difference in quality from command whitelisted players and players without the whitelist; there are people of all levels of quality on both sides of the scale. They have more of an ability to impact the round of non-whitelisted players, for sure, but I think the same basic concepts of decency, empathy, and an overall understanding of what it means to try and make the round fun for everyone involved (antagonists included) apply to heads of staff and whitelisted roles just the same as they apply to anyone else. I can only say that I'd try to play my heads of staff with the same level of quality as I apply to the rest of my gameplay here -- with the same care and attention to how other players' rounds are affected by my actions.

Could you give us the gist of what is currently happening in Tau Ceti and how it affected your character and their career?
The most recent story arc with the Solarian invasion weighed extremely heavily on Alicia (my main character at the moment). Being at odds with her home nation took its toll on her, and while the initial strife following the invasion itself has mostly settled down, anti-Solarian sentiment is something that continues to pop up from other members of the crew. Clandestine and other canon events helped shape a good few key aspects of her personality so far, and I've done my best to incorporate development offered to me by the server's ongoing storylines into her personal arc. Now Biesel and the Spur as a whole are moving into a quieter period, the fallout from the Solarian incursion is giving her more and more thoughts about where to take her life from here -- whether returning to Silversun and the Alliance is ever going to be worth it, or whether somewhere like Biesel and its intense corporate presence is something she can stomach for the longer term.

What roles do you plan on playing after the application is accepted?
Head of Personnel, Head of Security, and Chief Medical Officer for the time being. I don't know how much I'll touch consular officers or chief engineers in the near future, if ever. Captain is something I'll probably never touch.

Characters you intend to use for command or have created for command. Include the job they will be taking:
I won't be using any of my existing characters for command. I have a concept in mind for a Golden Deep IPC as a head of personnel, but it's still being fleshed out. I really enjoy the concept of the Golden Deep in particular, and it's not something I've had much room to explore on account of most of the fitting roles being gatekept behind the command whitelist here on Aurora. IPCs are a race I've really been eager to dip into in every respect after getting the whitelist, and I am excited to see how I can blend an IPC's goals and motivations in with the gameplay and roleplay opportunities afforded by roles like the head of personnel. On top of that, I have a Lunan HOS concept that I want to float, I think. I'll be happy to update either this post or add a later post with the characters' names once I have them fully finalised.

EDIT: I'm playing these characters in command positions for now:

• Bianca Costa-Leveque, Head of Personnel
• Quu'quuii Xim'naa, Head of Personnel
• Lucia Zhao, Head of Security

How would you rate your own roleplaying?:
I've been around, both on SS13 and on other games with roleplaying scenes. Aurora has given me a lot of fun and interesting creativity space to play with as far as character concepts and the general quality of lore goes, and I think by now I'm beginning to feel way more adjusted to that. There are some roleplayers here and elsewhere that still manage to blow my mind in terms of the inventiveness and overall quality of their roleplay as well as the speed with which they can come up with it. I don't want to put a number out of ten on what I think my ability is, but I've been roleplaying for upwards of a decade now and feel as if I have a pretty good grasp on building and playing new characters as a whole.

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

Have you familiarized yourself with the wiki pages for the command roles?
Yes.

Extra notes:

This time around I should actually have the time (and motivation) to devote to the week long trial, barring anything else unexpected cropping up. This app is essentially lifted from the last one I made with adjustments made as necessary, since as far as I am aware the last one was only failed due to me only managing to fit one (1) command round in during the entire period.

Edited April 23, 2021 by Omicega
character names update!!!

[MattAtlas]

Since you're one of my best friends here I'll have to recuse myself from potentially handling your application. Instead, I just want to comment that I think you're a great player and you'd have no issues being a command whitelistee at all. I know you have what it takes from what I've seen of you - and I have absolutely no doubts about your RP capacity whatsoever. Your characters have lately been kind of a source of inspiration for me, and that's not something I tell many people. Go get 'em.

 

+1

[Sycmos]

While I haven't had a lot of direct experience with Omi's characters I've definitely noticed their solid RP chops in passing during rounds and on the relay, and I have no doubt they'll do a great job with command. +1

[Kintsugi]

I commented on Omi's last command application. If you want to see that, click this spoiler.

Spoiler

My opinion hasn't changed. Omi is a good friend of mine and genuinely one of my favorite players on Aurora - his characters are consistently fun and interesting to interact with, and I think he'll play command just fine. +1 from me, without a doubt.

[ShesTrying]

I’ll be handling this application. Keep gathering feedback, I’ll touch base with you soon!

[CampinKiller]

Omi has a good attitude, good roleplaying ability, and good characters. They recently were made a sort of second in command to my HoS during the course of a round, and did a very good job in that role, so I am sure Omi will do a good job in a command role. +1

[ShesTrying]

oki! Your trial will begin today, 4/20/2021, and end 4/27/2021. Good luck!

[Scheveningen]

I'm fairly impressed, in all honesty, and really enjoy Omi as an individual and his characters. He seems responsible enough, so I give this an emphatic +1.

[Tacaemarr]

A very pleasant and understanding character, with whom I got very pleasant to talk and carry out the shift. The head of personnel that everyone needs! +1

[Peppermint]

Despite a propensity to murder me in every game we play together (co-op and otherwise), very much a +1 for Omi's OOC conduct. They've settled into Aurora very well and seem passionate about it, which is pretty darn lovely to my eyes. Likewise their general play is great, and I seriously doubt they'll have any issues with their command app - at least going off of the HoP round I watched.

Edited April 21, 2021 by Lemei

[Waff-AI]

Omicega has long been one of the people I respect most in the Space Station community, here and elsewhere. They have been extraordinarily helpful in our communiques over the last year-and-some-change, and I really appreciate everything they've done to help me out.

Their characters, as well, are quite good. Always a +1 from me.

[4000daniel1]

Omicega is definitely competent at roleplaying the various characters they play. And from my one experience with Bianca, it appears as a HoP they'll scramble to find some time to interact with the departments under their jurisdiction even when things are a little hectic, which I think is neat. Certainly would like to see more of them in command.

[Butterrobber202]

+1

I played with Omi in a recent round and found their HoP to be professional and acted like a proper member of Command. Additionally, I've interacted Omi quite a few times as antag and in passing on the station, and each time their RP has been believable and well-put together. I think they would do a great job in the Command Role.

[MattAtlas]

I've actually played with your HoP enough to find out that they're not only a solidly well made character (you didn't promote any existing characters so you get extra points for that, well done, these points are subject to revokation if you ever promote a character). I also like the way you play command since I've stealth observed you a few times while pretending to play a comfy game of EU4.

All in all, I don't regret +1ing you. Not that I thought I would've.

I'm never wrong

[Happy_Fox]

Lots of interaction with their department and believable roleplay from their character. Very good egg. +1 from me.

[dinobubba7]

Interacting mainly with Omi back in CM which is where my experience with them comes from. Considering they were one of the last major role-players that I recall on the server, and were very good at it, interacting with their characters still reinforce to me they know what they are doing and are a joy to role-play with. I give a full thumbs up +1 and hope to see them in command!

[NerdyVampire]

Had a pleasant shift with the HoP character as BUDDY this round. She exhibited what I have come to expect from my dear command minions (heh); responsibility for her department, ability to communicate and an openness to interact with both antag and non-antag characters.

+1 from me

[Bear]

having interacted with them as command its an easy +1. Rolled with the punches on several hectic rounds including one under the heavy noncanon scrutiny of my HoS on a traitor round. Communicative, composed, and able to handle stress. Nothing more needed to paly command.

+1

[Desven]

I just have to say I love Bianca, it would be a shame to see her go. Also I'm really jealous how CCIA responds to all your faxes, eugh.

 

+1

[ShesTrying]

Welcome to the command team-- you've passed your trial!