Rotharia's Command Application, Two

[Rotharia]

BYOND key:Rotharia

Character names:

How long have you been playing on Aurora?: I first joined the server several years ago but there are some large gaps in between, in all I've probably logged a couple hundred hours in Aurora.

Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?: Too often I spawn into rounds and there are no heads whatsoever, especially during deadpop hours early in the morning (EST). I'm hoping to spice those rounds up to be just a bit more interesting. I also do not see enough Xeno Consulars and plan to play a Vaurca Ta Hive Representative should I pass trial. Beyond that, I think I can perform the role well and would like to have a guiding hand in some rounds.

Why did you come to Aurora?: I joined Aurora after the server that I had been admin on shut-down due to lack of funding. (Apollo Station 17) and been here ever since. I wanted another HRP server but not one that was absolutely overflowing with players where it felt like you never really had a personal connection or stake with other characters. Aurora fit those criteria for me.

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?: The only administrative action I have received was the removal of my Skrell whitelist for a bad name.

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: Playing a character among others in a larger setting/story. Specifically a form of interactive and collaborative storytelling between multiple people done in the context of that larger setting. Through roleplay, people have the chance to interact and engage in a story on a more personal level, everyone has a stake in how the story is written. To that end, good roleplay should have an emphasis on sharing the story amongst your peers, not trying to be a spotlight hog every chance you get. Everyone should get their time in the limelight. In addition, good roleplay is characterized by believable characters and events. Characters should feel like they're a part of the world and act like it too.

What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame?: Ingame heads of staff serve two purposes. The first is to teach new players the basics of the department, acting as mentors and teachers. This is especially true in places like Engineering and Medical where the in-game systems can be quite difficult to grasp at first. The second purpose is to drive the story forward and act as plot points. A head of security's purpose isn't to charge headfirst into firefights equipped with the best the armory has to offer, it's to decide how to best deal with a threat and delegate that decision to his subordinates. Heads of staff shape the course of rounds by giving orders and providing direction and structure for the roleplay.

What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them?: Their first responsibility is to always set a good example, having a chief engineer who consistently slacks off in-game or provides bad roleplay can turn off new or returning players to the game or cause players to think they can get away with the same. In a way you almost want to encourage players to be better by curbing bad habits in-game. The more we can do to make everyone's experience in the game enjoyable, the better. That isn't to say that we're the end all be all of good roleplay, but I think most everyone has one thing that they do particularly well and if we can spread some of that to other players then everyone wins.

Could you give us the gist of what is currently happening in Tau ceti and how it affected your character and their career?: As the Solarian Alliance crumbles, corporations are rising through the dust to take advantage of the chaos. The Phoron shortage is still on-going and it's effects are still being felt across the spur, leading to things like the use of Hydrogen in the stations power supply as an alternative. Tensions are high and we all live in uncertain times with the formation of the SCC and the end of the second solarian invasion. The whole spur seems to be sitting on a powder keg just waiting for a spark.

What roles do you plan on playing after the application is accepted?: Head of Personnel, Research Director, Chief Engineer are in mind immediately, then Captain and Consular if I pass my trial. Though my primary focus is HoP and CE.

Characters you intend to use for command or have created for command. Include the job they will be taking.: Floating Among Stars Without Number for Chief Engineer, Briony Dillard for Head of Personnel, Apogee for Research Director

How would you rate your own roleplaying?: 7/10

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

Have you familiarize yourself with the wiki pages for the command roles?: Yes, I also have familiarized myself with the station procedure page.

Extra notes: This is a re-application following a denial, I believe I have taken the criticism of the last application to heart and changed my behavior accordingly.

Edited June 7, 2021 by Rotharia

[Predicament]

Always fun to play with Rotharia's buggy fellas. From what I've read and seen, I have good faith they'll do good while playing command, especially with the preparation they've already taken. +1

Update: Started playing with their QM, Bri. I really like playing cargo with them, they're engaging and responsive in RP, and does quite well with managing a crew.

Edited June 9, 2021 by Predicament
Update

[Eple]

+1 from me too, shes awesome to talk to   adapting into situations pretty well, unlike me.

[Valkrae]

Rotharia was the one who initially brought me to early Aurora, as he had played on Apollo, I think?

He's a good RPer, and competent enough that he can make a good example for other people as a Head of Staff. 

A definite +1 from me, boss.

[RyverStyx]

A definite +1 for me! Their characters cover a wide range of play styles and they’re all great to be in round with! I trust that with a command whitelist they can improve the narrative of the rounds they’re in!

[whitewolftamer]

I really enjoy RP with them, Apogees way of speaking where they emphasize words by having like, "would you like PASTE" (not an actual sentence) is great, i know i like PLEX (though i dont exactly remember why) and the RP ive gotten with Briony is enjoyable +1

[Toast]

Met with them a handful of times. Goes to initiate situations which is a big green flag and seems like a good QM, which speaks for itself if you can rally cargo. Heard no complaints from anyone else, and from my personal experience would be a good Command member. +1

[Lordnesh]

In my experience they are a competent roleplayer and know what they're doing mechanically. I believe they should be given a shot. +1

[4000daniel1]

Briony is a solid Quartermaster. Fun to talk and interact with and does a solid job at managing the department, I'm certain you could play command well.

+1 from me!

[armrha]

Great interim HoP on a difficult round with many moral quandaries at play. An excellent edition to the whitelist.

[TheGreyWolf]

As a HoP I have enjoyed my rounds with Briony around as they're a good quartermaster who gets the things handled I need them to handle. They got a +1 from my side.

[Lmwevil]

:b:retty good HoP. Not much else to say, enjoyed you before you ended up dying. +1

[DekserBecauseILostMyAccoun]

"Bri... Are you a Skrell?" +1 from me for the lady with the funny pink hair.

[CatsinHD]

Honestly, I have to leave my 2 cents. Whenever I have brought Rotharia's Briony up to interim HoP, she has always been dependable, curious, and over all great. I want to see Briony in the big chair, I think she deserves it. Not to mention Briony is an amazing character to RP with. Love it all.

+1

[ReadThisNamePlz]

Hello! I have decided to give you a shot at command. 

Starting today, 06/14/2021.
Your trial will end on 06/21/21. 

During this trial period, you should continue to try and gather feedback. Good luck!

[sebkillerDK]

right, ive played some rounds with rotharia now, both before trial and after, i can only say that it has been enjoyable, and fun, they are interesting to interact with, and react well to preassure. they would be a great addition to the command team.

+1 from me vadim aprooves.

[ReadThisNamePlz]

On 14/06/2021 at 22:59, ReadThisNamePlz said:

Hello! I have decided to give you a shot at command. 

Starting today, 06/14/2021.
Your trial will end on 06/21/21. 

During this trial period, you should continue to try and gather feedback. Good luck!

Due to the lack of feedback, I am extending this trial by three more days. 

The trial will be ending on 06/25/21.

[KingOfThePing]

I dont like how Briony Dillard is trying to fill in every station within service that happens to be unstaffed (I think even mining, especially the refinery is not safe from this, but I could be misremembering). I saw you from serving drinks to cooking meals to providing yourself with crops as Head of Personnel. A Head of Staff is not supposed to be a jack of all trade for whatever is currently lacking in a department. I also don't like that you play QM as your HoP character, when HoP is taken. There's a reason why HoS's aren't seen as officers or RDs as roboticists (for example). QM is not command and command staff should be elevated, in a way. I know Briony Dillard used to be a QM but she's employed as a HoP now. I can't comment on your CE, since I didn't see you play them. All in all you seem to have some wrong impressions of Command

Edited June 23, 2021 by KingOfThePing

[Rotharia]

It is certainly true that I tend to fill a lot of hats as Briony, but I attribute that more to the character than to the whitelist. I grow nothing of great complexity, nor serve any drinks that are not found in the soft drink dispenser. For food, I only serve steaks and fries. As far as the mining goes, I've never personally went out mining as Briony but I have instructed new miners on how to use their equipment. I don't think it's unreasonable to play a head of staff who's willing to roll up their sleeves and help out their workers when need be. It's not so much that I'm trying to be a cook, and a gardener, and a bartender, I'm just trying to portray a reasonable level of skills in the department they oversee. As I stated in my app, I believe one of the primary purposes of command staff is to serve as an introduction into the mechanics of their department. If you personally feel that this portrayal is unrealistic for my character or in general just in poor form then I would love to have a more open discussion about that. But again, I think this is more of a character issue than directly a problem with my being command. Again, if you disagree I'm open to discussion.

As far as not playing QM anymore, I do see HoS's play officers or wardens, I was not aware this was really an issue. But if this isn't befitting of a member of command I can certainly change it.  I DO know that Captain's aren't allowed to play normal roles other than other heads but I was aware of no such thing for normal heads.

Edited June 23, 2021 by Rotharia
Further discussion

[RyverStyx]

I enjoy Briony whenever I see her in game! She makes rounds fun and exciting while advancing the story. I would give her a +1 again now that I've actually seen her in command  

[Yaku]

I enjoy interacting with Briony, i like the way they are going with their character, aswell as how they play command. What kingoftheping said has some truth, however, i see Rotharia as a very engaged and eager player. I have no doubt that they will become a good command player and can address some of the concerns quickly. Afterall we're not born all knowing. +1 from me.

[4000daniel1]

Having interacted with Briony as a HoP now, I feel I can personally confirm my suspicion that Rotheria can handle the role.

In my opinion, a HoP serving drinks and food isn't an issue - in fact I recall seeing other HoP's do it. I'd say it's something the HoP can do to when there is no on else around to do so, and there aren't any duties of a more administrative nature to do at that time. I'd definitely argue doing so does more to promote roleplay than just sitting AFK in the office waiting to get kidnapped by mercenaries or something. Not saying that'd be the only thing a HoP could do if they weren't serving drinks or food, but I feel if there isn't any particular command situation they have to respond to, or if there isn't any particular reason to have a meeting with anyone, the options get rather limited.

And when I interacted with Briony, she was doing command things, such as changing identifications and having meetings with the HoS. So I wouldn't make the assumption that they're playing HoP in order to be a sort of jack of all trades, since they do the usual things you'd expect from command and does them well, alongside occasionally filling service stations.

[Eple]

Kitchen could be fixed by haveing a community Kitchen available for anyone who wants to make food when there is no professional chefs about.

Tho do understand that serveing alcohol even if one knows how to mix drinks, probebly isnt a good idea to let cargo has open access to in form of a OPEN bar

A minikitchen near community gardens would be pretty nifty tho... a option

 

But yes, i can imagine it beeing boring beeing HOP and locked away near command with litterally a job i don't belive does anything short of giveing accesses in special situations, wich may be never in case of most rounds, especially skeleton rounds that we tend to play in alot.

Bri as HOP still functions a little in Cargo aswell, i see shuttle sometimes are on station despite me not calling it

Edited June 23, 2021 by Eple
Small sidenote.

[Herpetophilia2]

+1

After playing a bunch of rounds with Dillard as the HoP, I can confidently say that the player knows what they are doing. Dillard is helpful, competent and fun to interact with. I think Rotharia would be a great addition to the Command team, and I look forward to seeing them on it!

[ReadThisNamePlz]

Hello, my internet has finally returned and I can now post. 

You've passed your trial, mind what we spoke about regarding the main incident. Other than that, good job. 

Locking and Archiving.