Staff complaint-Mofo1995/Caelphon

[MccRrib]

BYOND Key: MccRrib
Staff BYOND Key: Caelphon/Mofo1995
Game ID: N/A
Reason for complaint: I'd like to say as a preface that this complaint isn't intended to contest the lore team's choice of developer, Styx is a talented writer, and I think they'll do a great job with skrell lore. That being said, I'm more than a little dissatisfied with the reasons provided for my denial, and with the conduct of our two loremasters in regards to both of my lore team applications.

I'm going to start by addressing my deputy application from February of this year. During the months leading up to the unexplained closing of the deputy slot, I wrote and workshopped several pieces of lore, not just when requested for my app but also in DMs with Cael. One particular piece I was told would be sent for review to the human lore team following some editing and review from Cael and the rest of the skrell team at the time. (1) I received no updates from Cael regarding it and a later conversation with a member of the human lore team informed me that, from what they remembered, it was never shown to the human team. As far as I know, that piece, along with the others I wrote, never left our DMs. Following the closing of my deputy application over unexplained "behind the scenes stuff," I was told to wait three months before having another go at the slot. (2)

Those three months came and went without a word of elaboration from Mofo or Cael, and in contrast to what I was told in DMs, the slot was never re-opened and that chance to have another go at applying for skrell deputy never came. I was offered no further information on the subject until earlier this month, a whopping seven months after my initial deputy application, when I was contacted by Mofo with the following. (4)  Understanding of how two writers working in conjunction managed to go three months without clearing up what was a simple communication error is beyond me.

However, frustration remains within reach given that a major reason for my denial, as cited by both Cael and Mofo, was a lack of lore written and put to the forums. I can't help but wonder whether or not a lack of lore written would have been such a big issue had what I wrote left my DMs with Cael at any point or if my prior attempts at seeking a lore writing position hadn't been stymied over a communications error. I feel as if my application(s) were egregiously mishandled, and that the conduct of both parties warrants investigation.
Evidence/logs/etc: 

(1):

 (2):

 

(3):

(4):

Additional remarks: N/A

[Caelphon]

24 minutes ago, MccRrib said:

I'm going to start by addressing my deputy application from February of this year. During the months leading up to the unexplained closing of the deputy slot, I wrote and workshopped several pieces of lore, not just when requested for my app but also in DMs with Cael. One particular piece I was told would be sent for review to the human lore team following some editing and review from Cael and the rest of the skrell team at the time. (1) I received no updates from Cael regarding it and a later conversation with a member of the human lore team informed me that, from what they remembered, it was never shown to the human team. As far as I know, that piece, along with the others I wrote, never left our DMs. Following the closing of my deputy application over unexplained "behind the scenes stuff," I was told to wait three months before having another go at the slot. (2)

https://pastebin.com/me72ENQz

You'll find a link to the conversations between myself and McCrib / Hugh Janus. 

Your contribution was presented in the form of a complete overhaul of Akhet, which I did many moons ago. It unfortunately was denied due to the fact that it didn't align with the sight of the Human Lore Development Team. I didn't fight for it, or really wish to die on a hill for it. I can understand how it may have been forgotten. I apologize that I never updated you on its status, so that is on me.

In our interactions you'll note that I attempted to provide ample opportunities for you to contribute to the development of Skrell Lore. I would have loved for you to expand on how the Jargon Federation handles tadpoles, help me with Qerr'Malic or to contribute to the Marauder update. Unfortunately, it seems that each attempt fizzled out or simply wasn't responded to. I didn't believe that prodding you would be any good, so I left the ball in your court. 

25 minutes ago, MccRrib said:

Those three months came and went without a word of elaboration from Mofo or Cael, and in contrast to what I was told in DMs, the slot was never re-opened and that chance to have another go at applying for skrell deputy never came. I was offered no further information on the subject until earlier this month, a whopping seven months after my initial deputy application, when I was contacted by Mofo with the following. (4)  Understanding of how two writers working in conjunction managed to go three months without clearing up what was a simple communication error is beyond me.

31 minutes ago, MccRrib said:

However, frustration remains within reach given that a major reason for my denial, as cited by both Cael and Mofo, was a lack of lore written and put to the forums. I can't help but wonder whether or not a lack of lore written would have been such a big issue had what I wrote left my DMs with Cael at any point or if my prior attempts at seeking a lore writing position hadn't been stymied over a communications error. I feel as if my application(s) were egregiously mishandled, and that the conduct of both parties warrants investigation.

I only very recently learned that I did not require authorisation from Mofo to actually open slots, which is my fault. Disregarding that, I do not believe it was the right time to open slots especially considering I had just lodged an application for Deputy Loremaster, where I included that I would resign from the position of Skrell Maintainer should I be promoted. It was also during this period that Monomyth approached me and had told me about their plan to resign - due to how busy they were getting with life. I ultimately decided that opening slots wouldn't be in the best of the species' lore development, and that it was best to leave the Skrell Development Team empty. I know what it is like to be the maintainer of a deputy that is "older" than you. It leads to many arguments regarding creative direction, its why I thought it was best to give the next maintainer a fresh start. 

It was never my intention to make you feel as if you were cast aside. It simply just wasn't the best timing to bring someone on, during either March or June. 

[Arrow768]

Usually the goal of a staff complaint is to contest a ban or another administrative action.

What is the goal of this staff complaint?
(What do you expect to happen when it’s done?)

[Mofo1995]

I'm at work at the moment, but will reply when I get home. ETA 5-6 hours.

[Mofo1995]

All right, I'm home.

I'm going to begin with some background from the lore team rules and regulations, namely about the deputy appointing and applications process.

Spoiler

From the section "LORE TEAM EXPECTATIONS AND STAFFING: LORE TEAM ADMINISTRATION"

"Lore team administration may not appoint deputies, however all lore deputies must be approved by lore team administration before their applications can be accepted. The requirements for the lore writer application process are at the discretion of lore team administration. Lore deputy hopefuls must also go through the application process before they can join the team. In the event that there is a lore writer vacancy, jurisdiction over that department is absorbed into the responsibilities of lore team administration, but the duties associated with it may be delegated to any deputies within that department. Even in the event of a lore writer vacancy, the loremaster may not appoint deputies to that department but must appoint a lore writer first who may then select their deputies within the rules."

 

From the section "LORE TEAM EXPECTATIONS AND STAFFING: LORE WRITERS"

"They are allowed to appoint up to two deputies through the developer application process and may delegate any of their duties to their deputies as they see fit. Lore Writers reserve the right to modify the application process when selecting their deputies to any extra requirements they desire, and cannot be forced to accept deputies against their will by lore team administration."

 

From the section "DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS AND PROCEDURE: TERMINATIONS"

"Terminations are the last resort of disciplinary action and are the removal of a lore team member from the lore team against their will. Unless if a lore team member has received a permanent ban from the server or has committed a particularly egregious code of conduct offence, warnings will be issued before resorting to a termination."

 

Lore Team Code of Conduct in its entirety:

Spoiler

1. All members of lore team are expected to maintain property civility and respect to their team members, fellow staff, and the community. Insults, harassment, or hate speech to any members of the community may be subject to disciplinary action. As members of staff, lore team is expected to be an example of good behavior to the community, and ideally, even to other staff. Observing decorum, whether in public or debating fellow team members in staff channels or private messages, is a requirement for continued participation in lore team. 

2. All members of lore team are expected to be active. Activity requirements are to be met in a composite of interaction with the community and fellow staff on discord, the forums, or the server. Large lapses of on-server play may be forgiven if there is a sufficient amount of lore writing and community interaction. Inactivity is determined at the discretion of lore team administration, however unless a team member has ghosted from server play for months of time and has not maintained any significant community or team interaction, a member will generally be considered active enough.

3. All leaves must be preceded with prior notice to lore team administration and the lore team. If a team member is going on leave they must notify the lore team, as well as ping or private message lore team administration with notice. Explanations for going on leave are not required, however a general estimate on when a leave is ending must be provided if available. If a lore writer goes on leave their duties are handled by lore team management unless otherwise delegated to relevant lore deputies. If the loremaster goes on leave, the deputy loremaster will assume the duties of lore team management in their absence.

4. All resignations must take place by informing lore team administration. While lore team administration will discuss the resignation intent with the relevant lore writer and lore deputies, lore team administration must be informed of any opening vacancies in order to notify the community and prepare the recruitment and staffing for the relevant team. A general best practice is for a lore team administration to conduct exit interviews with resigning team members in order to gain insight into the issues affecting lore team.

5. All procedures and regulations outlined in this thread must be followed. Failing to follow lore team procedures and regulations may incur disciplinary action, even if as a result of ignorance. 

6. In the event that the loremaster is found to have engaged in a code of conduct violation, the deputy loremaster will handle disciplinary action against the loremaster. If a loremaster and lore writer or deputy are in a dispute over code of conduct or procedure, the deputy loremaster will mediate the dispute. If lore team management and a lore writer or deputy are in a dispute over code of conduct or procedure, head admins and developers will be asked to mediate and take any relevant disciplinary action. Staff complaints still maintain their full functionality, and this procedure does not infringe upon the rights of team members to file a complaint.

 

Lastly, I would like to include the essay I wrote regarding why I chose Ryver over Hugh. It comprehensively covers the entirety of my reasons, based on the information available to me at the time of my selection for the skrell lore writer. CutMySliceIntoPizzasThisIsMyLastResort.txt
 

With that background out of the way, I have a disclaimer to make. Although all my actions have been within the confines of the lore team rules and regulations, I understand that does not mean that they are all within proper staff conduct as well. I do not believe I am guilty of any misconduct, but all the same, I do want to make clear that I recognize the supremacy of server rules over lore team rules. 

 

With all of that out of the way, I'm not entirely certain what I'm being charged with. Or even slightly certain, really. All I can make out for 100% sure is that I've allegedly committed an act or acts of staff misconduct. I will answer, however, whichever points I believe I have understood correctly.

Point 1: "Understanding of how two writers working in conjunction managed to go three months without clearing up what was a simple communication error is beyond me."

There is enough space on the lore team for up to 23 lore staff. There are seven different departments, each can have one writer and up to two deputies, and then the lore master and deputy lore master, assuming the deputy lore master is not concurrently serving as a lore writer too. The lore team generally hovers around 20 members at any given time. Each having their own needs, each making proposals, asking questions, filing complaints, or even just casually talking to me. At no point later on did the subject of skrell lore deputy applications ever come up (that I can remember), and this summer saw a lot of turbulence as I had to go through the new deputy lore master process and a very contentious IPC writer application process. Skrell deputies were very far from my mind in terms of priority. I'm going to lead into point 2 to continue.

Point 2: "Those three months came and went without a word of elaboration from Mofo or Cael, and in contrast to what I was told in DMs, the slot was never re-opened and that chance to have another go at applying for skrell deputy never came. I was offered no further information on the subject until earlier this month, a whopping seven months after my initial deputy application, when I was contacted by Mofo with the following. (4)"

As the lore team rules and regulations outlined above earlier, the right to open deputy applications and to select a deputy is reserved to lore writers. The entirety of my jurisdiction on it is the power to veto applicants who I do not believe would be a good fit or have other concerns about. This is where the miscommunication came in, as Cael was under the impression that they needed my approval to open apps. For my part, I didn't really think anything of it since I just figured Cael would open applications whenever they were ready. And if they didn't, they were well within their rights to not bring on deputies. My apology to you still stands, but I was certainly under the impression myself that if Cael knew they could unilaterally open deputy applications during their skrell tenure, that they would've. I'm actually surprised that they've said otherwise here. It's not the approach I would have taken in the same situation, but they were still within their rights to not open deputy applications. I bring all of this up to highlight that, firstly, I do not have the power to force deputy applications to open, and secondly, it's outside of my jurisdiction to track down and contact potential deputies to staff the team with. Had I contacted you and told you to apply or anything along those lines, I would've been writing checks that I wouldn't be able to cash. My advocacy on a deputy application would surely be weighty, but I wouldn't be able to guarantee anything. 

Point 3: "However, frustration remains within reach given that a major reason for my denial, as cited by both Cael and Mofo, was a lack of lore written and put to the forums. I can't help but wonder whether or not a lack of lore written would have been such a big issue had what I wrote left my DMs with Cael at any point or if my prior attempts at seeking a lore writing position hadn't been stymied over a communications error."

All of the information I had available to me at the time of my selection is already outlined in the essay I wrote about my selection. I was completely oblivious to the conversations you might have been having with Cael behind the scenes. I have not read the logs Cael posted, namely because it's a broken link with a blank page for me, but there's really no way I could've known about it unless if you or Cael had told me. I understand if the implication here is if the feedback Cael provided to me was dishonest or deceitful. But assuming that is true, I'm left wondering why I'm being accused of misconduct and egregiously mishandling your application. Continuing on the assumption that Cael was deceitful and misrepresentative to me, there was absolutely no reason up to that point for me to suspect them of being untrustworthy. There was no smoking gun to cause me to respond to their feedback with accusations of lying to me. Even if we suppose all of that, and that Cael is a no good rootin tootin lyin scurvy dog, there's still the facts highlighted in my essay that 1.) I already felt I preferred Ryver even before I got Cael's feedback on it and 2.) I felt the content of Ryver's application thread had more potential and more engaging ideas for lore that I thought would wind up all around better. So even if it came to light that you submitted lore to Cael in DMs and had discussions, it still might not have tipped the scales. It's hard to say for sure, since at this point we're working in what-if scenarios and hypotheticals. I'm not going to dig into Ryver's performance at all though, since those justifications would be retroactive.

 

Ultimately, you were not eternally denied entry onto the team or barred from the team. Had you decided to continue as a deputy application, though I don't have the power to accept the deputy application myself, I believe you surely would've had it. I wholeheartedly endorsed and supported it personally along with a lot of other great people. I clearly wanted you on the team even though I felt another applicant was a better choice for the writer. However, you chose not to. And while I thought I understood that perfectly fine, when you then filed this staff complaint,  (which I think is alleging that you've been unfairly kept off the team?) I'm a bit at a loss. The door was as wide open as it could've been, and I did my best to unroll the red carpet as neatly as I could've, but the VIP was a no show. 

Although the question posed to you was in a hypothetical denying an applicant due to lack of skill, something which I believe you certainly are not lacking, I close with the following quote to surmise my position on the allegations of egregious misconduct regarding your skrell writer application.

"Applying for a position at all is inviting the possibility of denial, hopefully this is something that my Skrell-enthused friend would understand."

[Caelphon]

It seems that my pastebin is broken. 

Quote

Hugh Janus — 12/15/2020
Hey, do you know if the Skrell dep slots open, by any chance?

Caelphon — 12/15/2020
They are not, as of yet.

Hugh Janus — 12/15/2020
Gotcha

Caelphon — 12/15/2020
yeyeye

Hugh Janus — 12/15/2020
Thank ya

Caelphon — 12/15/2020
I'm planning before the end of the year, but will only know later rather than sooner

Hugh Janus — 12/15/2020
Sounds good
December 23, 2020

Hugh Janus — 12/23/2020
Hey! I had a couple of ideas about Skrell lore that I’ll probably work on expanding/detailing sometime in the future. I figured it’d be a good call to run it by you beforehand, see if it makes sense with what we’ve got/what you have planned before I do any major work on it.

Caelphon — 12/23/2020
Yeah, shoot!

Hugh Janus — 12/23/2020
Right, just spitballing here, and it’s a bit late at night over here, pleasure forgive my incoherency, but, I thought it might be interesting if Vat-grown Skrell were a thing/had a  bigger part in their history, and I had a thought that perhaps one of the ways glorsh was able to sterilize so many Skrell was via some kind of highly infectious disease it created, and gave to the Skrell as they grew in the vats, so all the freshly grown would begin infecting the rest of the populous. Branching off of that there was an idea for a planet, or maybe just an asteroid, moon, w/e, where the majority of vat-grown were created, something like Kamino from Star Wars. During the rise of the singularity, it would’ve become an exclusion zone, given the high presence of the sterilization virus. It’s since been locked down/quarantined by the Federation and forgotten about, but journeying into the exclusion zone clad in biohazard suits in an attempt to retrieve pre-glorsh Skrellian technology has become a hobby of several Skrellian interest groups, the likes of which which I’ll need to detail once I have more creative juice and I’m more awake.
[11:01 AM]
Ideally vat-grown Skrell wouldn’t be a subrace, they’d probably be growing Skrell of the existing ethnicities, but for specialized professions, maybe there’d be a higher presence of Nlomkala, to psionically influence their minds as they grow

Caelphon — 12/23/2020
So, a disease made them sterile? I like the idea, but I'll have to discuss it with my deputies (when I chose the 2nd one).

Hugh Janus — 12/23/2020
Yeah, some sort of man, or rather AI-made virus. And that sounds good, been thinking of applying myself, actually.

Caelphon — 12/23/2020
I definitely will talk to the deputies about it, however

Hugh Janus — 12/23/2020
Appreciated, Monomyth and I are likely gonna do some work on detailing it in the meantime.

Caelphon — 12/23/2020

January 11, 2021

Hugh Janus — 01/11/2021
Hey, I had an idea for a Skrell character I wanted to apply for my WL with, figured I should run it by you first to see if it was lore compliant before throwing it up on the forums, if you’ve got the time to spare.

Caelphon — 01/11/2021
Sure
January 12, 2021

Hugh Janus — 01/12/2021
Appreciated, basic idea was for a Skrell culinary scientist from Aliose that spent time on Europa looking for exotic xenoflora/fauna to cook with, and after noticing they were starting to contract deep crazy, they left federation space to avoid causing interferences in the Nlom back home.
[2:23 AM]
Working on adding more meat to it, but that's the basic gist

Caelphon — 01/12/2021
Hmmm, a WL should preferably have a Skrell from within the Federation

Hugh Janus — 01/12/2021
Gotcha, I’ll find another idea for my app

Caelphon — 01/12/2021
Yeye
January 27, 2021

Hugh Janus — 01/27/2021
Howdy, just to confirm, there's still an open Skrell deputy slot, right?

Caelphon — 01/27/2021
yuh
February 21, 2021

Caelphon — 02/21/2021
HEY YOU!
[7:02 PM]
I saw your application, and wanted to share this:
[7:02 PM]
https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=User:Caelphon/Sandbox
Index.php

Hugh Janus — 02/21/2021
Looks great so far, though if I may offer a bit of advice, and this is solely what I would like to see, I can’t speak for the Skrell community at large, I think seeing an expansion on the roles of Skrell on specific planets could be interesting, something similar to the Vaurca in Unathi wasteland lore, as an example.(edited)

Hugh Janus — 02/21/2021
The federation has a migration treaty with the Solarian Alliance, where can we take that? What’s the standard of living like for Skrell in alliance space? Do they face prejudice or scorn from more extreme Solarians for branching out diplomatically into the CoC?

Caelphon — 02/21/2021
That is something that can be expanded on yeah
March 5, 2021

Hugh Janus — 03/05/2021
That conversation in OOC on the relay the other day got me thinking, so I wrote up a quick draft of a Skrellian DCFS equivalent this morning, could send it your way if you’re interested?

Caelphon — 03/05/2021
DCFS...?

Hugh Janus — 03/05/2021
Oh right that’s an American thing
[9:47 PM]
Department of children and family services

Caelphon — 03/05/2021
Oh I see! Sure.

Hugh Janus — 03/05/2021
They look into neglect cases, ensure children are being raised properly, etc

Caelphon — 03/05/2021
I'd love it. Even if its fluff, it hones into the identity of a Skrell.

Hugh Janus — 03/05/2021
It’s a bit rough, but here’s the draft I have so far, wall of text incoming
[9:49 PM]
Having formed not too long after the destruction of Glorsh Omega, the JCSD (Jargon Child Safety Division) is a volunteer branch of the Tupkala dedicated to ensuring the safety of Skrell children born and/or raised outside of the Federation. When a Skrellian child comes into the care of, or through some miracle,  is born to a family of less than a bare minimum of 2 adult Skrell, parents are required to register their child with an agent of the JCSD, who is then assigned to the family. JCSD agents deploy to a household to ensure that the incredibly strict childcare guidelines set by the Jargon Federation are met, as well as to help the child develop properly from a psionic standpoint. Dietary plan, emotional status, education, and the aforementioned psionic development are all things monitored and regulated by agents when assigned to a family. Proper psionic development is regarded as particularly important, and as such, Shells and other synthetics are entirely forbade from raising Skrellian children. Failure to meet any of the childcare standards set by the Federation often leads to the child being seized by the JCSD, and returned to the Federation, where they are placed into the care of one of the many willing Quya without child, parents may also be extradited to the Federation to stand trial for psionic neglect of a child, if the agent assigned to them believes such measures to be necessary. Typically deployed for as little as 2 weeks, up to as long as 6 months at a time, JCSD agents are rarely without work, often making repeat trips to a family until the child reaches maturity, their notoriety for and eager attitude towards removing children from non-Federation space at the drop of a hat has made it immeasurably difficult for a Skrell to grow up in a non-Skrell family, though some parents manage to endure the onslaught of questioning and careful monitoring brought on by JCSD presence.

Caelphon — 03/05/2021
I love it. Instead of voluntary Tupkala, I'd rather make it an entirely separate division. Like, the Department of Families or something.

Hugh Janus — 03/05/2021
Thanks! Gonna do a little more editing, make it it’s own division.

Caelphon — 03/05/2021
Its very good work.
[9:52 PM]
I'll have a verdict about deputy stuff this sunday.

Hugh Janus — 03/05/2021
Sounds good
March 9, 2021

Hugh Janus — 03/09/2021
Just wanted to confirm before I jumped the gun on anything, am I clear to use the Eridanian Skrell lore I wrote as part of my app for a character?

Caelphon — 03/09/2021
Yup!

Hugh Janus — 03/09/2021
Fantastic, thanks.
March 24, 2021

Caelphon — 03/24/2021
Hey Mccrib! 

Unfortunately due to a lot of behind the scenes stuff (just about the Lore Team) I'm sadly going to not be bringing ANYONE on for a few months. I'll definitely shoot you a message when I plan to re-open the slots, and I hope you still keep a keen interest! You're a very good writer, and I'd love to have you on the team.

Caelphon — 03/24/2021
Mofo says 3 months I'll be allowed to take people on (if the behind the scenes stuff is taking care of)

Hugh Janus — 03/24/2021
I see, well, I’m glad you enjoy my work, and I’ll see about re-applying when that time rolls back around. Hope everything works out well behind the scenes.

Caelphon — 03/24/2021
Same lmao!
March 29, 2021

Hugh Janus — 03/29/2021
Threw together a very rough draft for some more Eridani Skrell lore, if you’d be down to take a look?

Caelphon — 03/29/2021
I'd love to!

Hugh Janus — 03/29/2021
Wall of text incoming
[6:03 PM]
Drawn by the impressive demand for their work, consultant agents (often called “brain bandits” by dregs) are innumerous within the larger corporate entities that dot Eridanian systems. Often hired by affluent and enterprising employees looking to cheat their way up the corporate ladder, consultant agents are typically inserted by their agency (or their employers, in the case they’re hired by those at the top of the ladder) into low-ranking positions typically accompanied by nonsensical job titles, assigned to agents with the goal of obfuscating their purpose within the entity they’ve been hired to invade. Once inserted into and established within a corporation, a Skrell masquerading as the new Executive Directing Sub-Head of Archaeological External Net Marketing, or something of that nature, will seek out the target they’ve been assigned by their employer, and dig through their memories in search of a sufficiently abhorrent terms of service violation. Any discovered violations are promptly reported to Eridanian authorities, ideally resulting in a target’s demotion, or contract termination.
[6:03 PM]
It could use some detailing, a bit of cleaning up from a grammatical standpoint, but, rough draft

Caelphon — 03/29/2021
Ooooo
[6:05 PM]
I'll mentioned it to mono
[6:05 PM]
And then after we do our own editing
[6:05 PM]
The human team
[6:05 PM]
Sound good?

Hugh Janus — 03/29/2021
Absolutely, thanks for taking a look

Caelphon — 03/29/2021
Awesome!

Hugh Janus — 03/29/2021
Been in a lore-writing mood today it seems, put together some stuff on Skrellian entertainment, if you’ve got the time.
March 30, 2021

Caelphon — 03/30/2021
Always!

Hugh Janus — 03/30/2021
Another wall of text incoming, as well as some images

Caelphon — 03/30/2021

Hugh Janus — 03/30/2021
Ah fuck I’m over the discord character limit
[5:59 AM]
Unsurprisingly, considering their technological inclinations, competitive video games have been a mainstay of Federation entertainment for quite some time. Games of the RTS, grand strategy, and MMORPG genres typically see the most players among the Skrell, the most popular of which being a Federation-developed grand strategy game, Galactic Siege 6: Phoron Fire, as it’s known in Tau Ceti. Infamous for its oblique design, and needlessly in-depth simulation of near every aspect involved with running a nation, the game has found a footing among the more dedicated Humans in the grand strategy scene. Frequently lauded by Skrell and Humans alike for its complexity, GS:PH remains tremendously popular throughout the galaxy to this day, though many have expressed displeasure with the game’s clear political inclination, citing the unfair advantages given to those taking up the role of the Jargon Federation. It’s often argued that a
Skrellian army can easily triumph over near any other species, regardless of player input, proved, of course, that the army has been properly rationed food and water, as per species-unit metabolism (see page 14, index C3 of the official GS:PH strategy guide.) this imbalance is mostly resolved by Human players through the use of mods, however, players within the Federation itself are stuck with the base game, as the use of such mods is banned in Federation space. A more niche title, the tactical team-based shooter Opposition Force sees players thrust into the boots of a Tupkala strike team, cooperating to complete missions assigned to them by Federation handlers.
(edited)
[5:59 AM]
Successfully completing a mission is no easy task, however, and the game downright necessitates a level of communication and coordination on par with that expected of a real Tupkala. Positively riddled with Jargon propaganda, Opposition Force sees little to no play, or even distribution outside of the Federation.   As part of a relatively new training initiative, would-be Nlomkala are sometimes given a modified version of the game and forbidden from non-psionic communication with their team, for the purpose of training hand-eye coordination, and psionic communication when under pressure.
(edited)
[6:00 AM]
Alongside that we’ve got-
[6:00 AM]
A Skrellian spin on Greco-Roman style wrestling, Suur’Kala is a martial art practiced in the few Suur’Ka training centers scattered across the galaxy. As opposed to the sport it borrows its core rule set from, a match in the Suur’Kala style necessitates a teammate to fill a position colloquially referred to as the “interloper.” Taking place over 6 periods, instead of the standard 3, matches see combatants pitted against each other in pursuit of points, or a victory via pin. (A pin occurs when both of a combatant’s shoulders have been pinned to the field for a total of 3 seconds, as observed by a referee.) serving to alleviate the stress of combat, a team’s chosen interloper will spend the majority of a match on the sidelines, utilizing their psionic abilities to disrupt either member of the opposing team, filling their head with white noise, slightly shifting the position of a leg, things of that nature. Outlawed in Federation space along with the faith that practices it, few know of the sport, but it has found some renown as an extranet spectacle, and training footage is often enjoyed on Unathi wrestling forums.
(edited)

Caelphon — 03/30/2021
Do you mind doing the 
box
[6:00 AM]
My eyes are fucking BAD on my phone lmao

Hugh Janus — 03/30/2021
I’m not entirely sure how, not gonna lie

Caelphon — 03/30/2021
Oooh okay
[6:01 AM]
So these
[6:01 AM]
```
[6:01 AM]
Text
[6:01 AM]
```
[6:01 AM]
But in one sentence

Hugh Janus — 03/30/2021
There we go, right

Caelphon — 03/30/2021
Thank you!

Hugh Janus — 03/30/2021
To do: is detailing work, and putting the way points function in Greco-Roman wrestling to text

Caelphon — 03/30/2021
LMAO BANNING MODS
[6:03 AM]
"Nuh-uh, no cheating"
April 3, 2021

Caelphon — 04/03/2021
YOU
[11:31 AM]

[11:31 AM]
https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=User:Caelphon/Sandbox3

I am redoing pirates....
Index.php
[11:31 AM]
Your critical feedback is required....

Hugh Janus — 04/03/2021
They are largely a peaceful, mercantile faction that have simply found a rather lucrative gap the economy

Hugh Janus — 04/03/2021
I think a good first step here would be an elaboration of what exactly that gap is, what did they find, how did they exploit it?  As well, assuming most of their smuggling work is done within the Traverse, or the Federation itself, what exactly are they smuggling? What illegal goods are in such high demand that a group of pirates can afford to maintain 3 Qaqii-class vessels off the profits of smuggling them? Why are they in such demand, were they a popular consumer good at one point in time, but having since been outlawed by the Federation, they’re much harder to find?
[8:38 PM]
Assuming that you’re going to be writing other factions of pirates as well, I’d personally love to see some stuff about how they recruit, and how they interact with each other.

Caelphon — 04/03/2021
hmmmm
[8:38 PM]
That is good stuff
[8:39 PM]
Yes I'll probably expand on what the gap is and how they exploit it
[8:39 PM]
I do have plans to write about
[8:40 PM]
AI Pirate Skrell
[8:40 PM]
a Skrell that went mad, and uses an AI to control his fleets and shit
[8:40 PM]
sorta "against the skrell" thing

Hugh Janus — 04/03/2021
That sounds rad, looking forward to reading it
April 24, 2021

Hugh Janus — 04/24/2021
Quick lore question, is it illegal for a Skrell to read somebody’s mind, or just illegal to read their mind without consent?

Caelphon — 04/24/2021
Its legal for both, its just frowned upon if you abuse it
[4:16 PM]
its actually illegal if you abuse it

Hugh Janus — 04/24/2021
Gotcha. Thanks

Caelphon — 04/24/2021
np!
May 24, 2021

Hugh Janus — 05/24/2021
Would hate to be a nuisance about it, but just to clear things up, when you gave a 3 month timer, did you mean 3 months from when I had applied, or 3 months from when the app was closed?

Caelphon — 05/24/2021
You applied!

Hugh Janus — 05/24/2021
Gotcha, thanks.
May 30, 2021

Hugh Janus — 05/30/2021
Would hate to be a bother, but, I think it’s been roughly three months since I applied, is this something I’d be updated on, or, something I should inquire about?

Caelphon — 05/30/2021
Let me check with Mofo
[6:58 AM]
He might want to wait until everything is in the clear
[6:58 AM]
So lore Deputy etc

Hugh Janus — 05/30/2021
Sounds good

Caelphon — 05/30/2021
Yeah I think it's best to keep it closed until everything's sorted! So sometime next week, according to Mofo!
[7:06 AM]
When he is selecting the next Lore Deputy, and then afterwards everything will me more solid.

Hugh Janus — 05/30/2021
Roger, sounds good
[7:06 AM]
Appreciate it

Caelphon — 05/30/2021
No problem!!
June 3, 2021

Caelphon — 06/03/2021
HEY NERD!!
[6:00 PM]
Wanna help redo the Skrell planets

Hugh Janus — 06/03/2021
I’d absolutely love to

Caelphon — 06/03/2021
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XjIL_Y8Iq7ZynCiBVD9uznX06GEF5z0tMvEWOK33N5o/edit?usp=sharing
Google Docs
SKRELL: QERRMALIC
{{Navbox_Lore}} {{Navbox_Skrell_Lore}} {{toc_right}} =Qerr'Malic= For eons, Qerr’Malic was seen as a benevolent presence watching over the Skrell, especially with its innate connection to that of the tides. The fascination of the moon has hardly dimmed in recent times, even if setting foot is m...

[7:18 PM]
I'm doing Qerr'Malic first
[7:18 PM]
And want to make it quite the entertainment hub
[7:18 PM]
And good old fashion Jargon control
[7:18 PM]
Like clubs that release psionic pulses than make people addicted to actually coming to the club

Hugh Janus — 06/03/2021
Love the idea of psionic marketing

Caelphon — 06/03/2021
Ikr? I was hyped for that
[7:19 PM]
But I'm not sure what other hooks to use

Hugh Janus — 06/03/2021
Given that planets like the homeworld, Aweiji, whatever would likely be bigger examples of how terrible the Federation can be, I imagine federation officials would focus on keeping people distracted in one way or another, in this specific case, making sure that everybody always has something to do, or making sure they’re always distracted by some new thing

Caelphon — 06/03/2021
Oooo
[7:22 PM]
That's a good idea
[7:22 PM]
I'm trying to make different Skrell concepts so it's not the same
[7:22 PM]
"I am smart! I do science! I am medical man!"
[7:23 PM]
Because those tropes are overused and boring unless done well
[7:23 PM]
So im hoping Qerr'Malic is gonna be our hops, bartenders, chefs and all those type of Skrell

Hugh Janus — 06/03/2021
Yeah, I concur

Caelphon — 06/03/2021
Entertainment folks
[7:24 PM]
I'm nearly done redoing history
[7:24 PM]
Then I'm gonna work on environment

Hugh Janus — 06/03/2021
I have a rough idea floating around in my head, need to scan over the wiki page as it currently is real quick

Caelphon — 06/03/2021
Also I'm gonna redo second surface too

Hugh Janus — 06/03/2021
Right, idea. I think that some degree of xenophobia might be necessary for at least some parts of Qerr'Malic, to ensure that the population at large doesn’t wise up to the poor treatment of Vaurca and Diona. I’m imagining something in a similar vein to what’s going on in some parts of China, where they hire Americans to move to China, and make tons of internet videos that portray themselves, and by extent Americans, as idiots, uncultured, etc
[7:28 PM]
A sufficiently hard worker among the diona or cthur could be given a similar job, assisting in keeping the population in check

Caelphon — 06/03/2021
Oooh so ambassadors?
[7:28 PM]
Or hmm
[7:29 PM]
I do want to use Qerr'Malic to eventually be Idris breeding ground when I introduce megacorps

Caelphon
Oooh so ambassadors?

Hugh Janus — 06/03/2021
Sort of, they’d be given more comfortable jobs, working state sponsored media with the goal of pushing a “we enjoy doing constant labor for the federation” perspective

Caelphon — 06/03/2021
Ooooo
[7:31 PM]
I see that makes sense
[7:31 PM]
I am gonna talk to Rooster cat about making cthur quite popular on the planet cause rn Vaurca are dead
[7:32 PM]
And expanding on the Dionae clusters
[7:32 PM]
But seriously want to franchise o the subliminal messages and psionic addictions

Hugh Janus — 06/03/2021
Playing up subliminal messaging and psionic manipulation is probably a good idea, that’d make it a lot easier to eventually tie Idris in as well

Caelphon — 06/03/2021
Yeah
[7:34 PM]
Also Idris being shady and introducing it else where
[7:35 PM]
I will carry on working on it tomorrow

Hugh Janus — 06/03/2021
Sounds good, I’ll check out the document in the meantime

Caelphon — 06/03/2021
Yeye
June 4, 2021

Hugh Janus — 06/04/2021
I’d imagine you’re probably getting a thousand pings right about now, but
[11:47 PM]
Congrats, cael

Caelphon — 06/04/2021
Thanks nerd!!!
June 6, 2021

Caelphon — 06/06/2021
happy belated, nerd

Hugh Janus — 06/06/2021
Appreciated 

 

[MccRrib]

On 20/09/2021 at 01:46, Caelphon said:

In our interactions you'll note that I attempted to provide ample opportunities for you to contribute to the development of Skrell Lore. I would have loved for you to expand on how the Jargon Federation handles tadpoles, help me with Qerr'Malic or to contribute to the Marauder update. Unfortunately, it seems that each attempt fizzled out or simply wasn't responded to. I didn't believe that prodding you would be any good, so I left the ball in your court. 

In the case of expanding upon the Marauders, I was given a wiki sandbox link, something I didn't have the permissions to edit. As per your request, I offered some feedback on it, I won't claim it was massively expansive feedback, but it was, as was requested, feedback. More significant feedback was given for what was written at the time of the rework for Qerr'Malic, though given I was busy with IRL things at the time, and was already a tad frustrated with the lack of updates on the timeframe for my deputy application, feedback and ideas were my only contributions. Save for the lack of updates in regards to what I'd written that was already complete, I think the biggest issue regarding what was written/suggested in DMs was a difference in expectations between the two of us that went uncommunicated until it was too late. I'm partially to blame here as well, though my largest gripe with how the situation as a whole was handled remains the lack of communication between lore team members on re-opening deputy slots, and the lack of transparency regarding why they were ever closed in the first place.

[MccRrib]

21 hours ago, Arrow768 said:

Usually the goal of a staff complaint is to contest a ban or another administrative action.

What is the goal of this staff complaint?
(What do you expect to happen when it’s done?)

The "goal" here is to air my grievances. I don't want anybody banned, or something like that, I just want to voice my discontent with some aspects of the application process, and the lack of transparency from lore staff. I don't expect anything to happen, I had a complaint about the way my applications were handled, and I wanted it to be heard.

[MccRrib]

Apologies for any confusion caused by the wording of my complaint. It's hard to put the reasoning behind my having made this post to words without coming off as salty over the choice made. To clarify, I'm not contesting the decision, I'm expressing discontent with the handling of my applications, and the reasons (or lack thereof) cited for their denial. As proposed towards the end of your response, I feel as if I was kept unfairly at least from the deputy slot, a position that would have permitted me to put a lot more writing to the wiki, an issue that was cited as one of the main reasons for the denial of my developer application.

12 hours ago, Mofo1995 said:

this summer saw a lot of turbulence as I had to go through the new deputy lore master process and a very contentious IPC writer application process. Skrell deputies were very far from my mind in terms of priority.

I'm still somewhat confused as to why my deputy application was closed at all, considering that loremaster/IPC writer applications had yet to open as of when I was informed that nobody would be brought onto the skrell team, and they wouldn't be opened until days before the conclusion of my three month wait. 

12 hours ago, Mofo1995 said:

As the lore team rules and regulations outlined above earlier, the right to open deputy applications and to select a deputy is reserved to lore writers. The entirety of my jurisdiction on it is the power to veto applicants who I do not believe would be a good fit or have other concerns about. This is where the miscommunication came in, as Cael was under the impression that they needed my approval to open apps.

I'm something of a broken record here. This is all well and good, but it still begs the question of why that initial deputy application was closed in the first place, and why there wasn't more transparency from those involved? From what I know as I'm writing this, my deputy application was closed for "behind the scenes stuff", the specifics of which I'm still completely unaware of.

12 hours ago, Mofo1995 said:

The door was as wide open as it could've been, and I did my best to unroll the red carpet as neatly as I could've, but the VIP was a no show. 

I said no because I was burnt out on the waiting game/feedback collection song and dance after two applications, and an arbitrary wait period brought on over a communication error. The complaint isn't intended to contest the decision made, it's intended to voice my frustrations with how the applications were handled.

[Mofo1995]

Likewise, apologies that my input so far has been very defensive in nature. (Post script: I do think the following is also fairly defensive, but I've actively worked to keep it as non-confrontational as possible. Also, sorry about all the comma splicing and run-on sentences.)

I don't have anything else to add about the skrell writer application, every single possible factor about my motivations and justifications regarding it has already been as elaborated on as I possibly could, and I sincerely don't believe I could have gathered any more information before making my decision without knowing the right questions to ask and who to ask them to. And I feel as though I couldn't have known those right questions to ask and who to ask them to without having already an idea of the answer. Particularly, I'm referring to the correspondence you had with Cael in DMs. Since in that case I would have had to of suspected Cael of tomfoolery and then either accused them of it and demanded they fork over the correspondence that I didn't know was going on, or suspected them and then approached you for it. The result being that, I don't think there's anything I could've done differently other than pick you on the same set of facts and opinions that led me to pick Ryver instead. Maybe that's a false dichotomy and I'm not thinking outside of the box, but I really don't feel it was misconduct on my part (though it's not for me to judge), and I certainly intended no malice. 

Now that I know, what specifically, you want more clarification on, I'll let you in on the circumstances of your original deputy application denial. But first I want to stress a few things. The first thing I want to stress is that as far as I'm aware right now, you did absolutely nothing wrong. The second thing I want to stress is that the following is not intended to detract from your character. And the third thing I want to stress is the background of the situation in lore team back in spring of 2021, which I'll launch into now. Back around late winter/early spring of 2021, there was a massive influx of complaints coming in about lore staff conduct. I think around the time of your skrell deputy application, I was handling about 6 complaints at the same time. I would have to dig back through discord chat logs to actually know precisely now what was back then though. It was extremely hectic and stressful, and probably one of the most dramatic periods of my tenure as lore master so far.  When you submitted your application, Cael liked it and approached me and told me they wanted to bring you on board. But there was a snag. Someone brought to my attention that you were in a private discord, and alleged that there was a lot of bad mouthing people on the lore team going on in it, and produced some screenshot about a group of people planning to brigade in favor of another for something or another. But nowhere was there like, direct evidence of you actually doing anything wrong. All the same, it made me suspicious, and given the chaotic climate of the team at the time, I was in a state of mind where I felt an overabundance of caution was in order. I thought on it for like, a week or two with Cael occasionally checking in to see if they could bring you on, and I decided to err on the side of caution and vetoed your application. Cael asked if, after 3 months and no further issues, you could reapply and get brought on board. I agreed to it, and the rest is history as already thoroughly described in my previous post and essay. At that point the ball was out of my court, and after 3 months there most certainly was nothing new beyond those original suspicions, which were thoroughly dispelled after nothing new happened. I'm not 100% sure why Cael closed deputy applications entirely. I thought the idea was to hold that slot for you and then reopen them and bring you on board, since Mono was occupying the other deputy slot at the time. But as I already described, I wasn't really actively thinking about skrell deputy applications in any capacity and didn't think much of it. 

As far as transparency goes, I think I largely left it up to Cael on how to communicate it to you. If I'm wrong on that though, they're free to drop in and call me out. I've never dropped in on a vetoed application (something I think has only happened maybe 4-5 times in the past two years, I didn't keep count) and announced that they were shut down, or otherwise publicized it. At least outside of the lore team itself. I think it would be a bad practice to do,  because it would introduce an element of shame into the already disheartening sensation of being denied. Whereas a denial post on an application can be fairly delicate and courteous, there really isn't a positive way to say "Not only have I declined your application, but I went out of my way to decline it." In every other case where a veto was exercised, some of the few vetoes that happened being repeat applicants, it was because the person had a very bad reputation with big problems. In your case, dropping in and announcing, or even me personally going and telling you that I vetoed your application wouldn't have been ideal. For one, I was wide open and receptive to the possibility of three months going by without incident and then you coming aboard the team. And for two, acting under the assumption that in three months deputy apps were gonna reopen, letting you down hard could've discouraged you from reapplying. And lastly, three, alerting you to the concept that you were being checked for potential bad behavior along with the the exact time frame of when that check was going on would skew the results and not provided helpful information, assuming it didn't outright discourage you as per point two. 

If applications had opened in May/June according to the original plan, none of this would've happened. I think you would've come aboard as deputy, and then being deputy for some months at the time of Cael's resignation to focus on deputy lore master, would've been my obvious choice for skrell writer. And being skrell writer, would've probably opened deputy applications and brought on Ryver, who probably would've applied. It would've been a great meta-narrative of suspicion turning into the meteoric rise of a talented writer and an absolutely stacked skrell team. But that's all speculation on a present that doesn't exist, and the pains of the opportunity cost aren't lost on me. I don't mean to throw Cael under the bus by any of this. Kyres' resignation from deputy lore master was very sudden and this is but one of many things that suffered from the fallout of the event. Cael had their reasons which they outlined in their posts, and while I see where they're coming from, I still feel that I personally would've handled it differently. My approach would've been to bring on an heir as deputy and use the intervening time to bring them up to speed before resigning to ensure a smooth transition. I never really considered the "fresh start" angle, since I think the advantage deputies get for writing position applications is high enough that a non-lore team applicant would have to have an absurdly better application than a deputy to be seriously considered for the position. This latest application round wasn't nearly that dramatic in qualitative difference. While I think it would've been grand if everything went according to that original plan, I hadn't the authority to force it to go that way. Cael was well within their rights as a lore writer to pursue their fresh start idea and bring us to the situation where we had all non-deputy applicants. Assuming no foul play, it would be a competition on equal footing. I say assuming no foul play because, hey, every other time I've included "assume" and Cael in the same sentence in this thread so far, it's been assuming the worst of them. May as well assume for the sake of argument something good intentioned of them at least once. [Post-Script: Along with anything else that comes out of all of this, any lore dev who might be reading this present or future, take this as a case to learn from about the importance of utilizing the deputy-heir system.]

So now, that is the entire and conclusive story of my involvement in your first application, to be combined with my previous posts about your second application, to now provide the comprehensive story of my everything to do with you in my life so far. If you need clarification on any of that, let me know.

Edited September 21, 2021 by Mofo1995
The year is 2021, not 2020, originally put that the year is 2020. Additionally added a post script on a topic that I think serves as an important case study for lore writers present and future to learn from.

[Caelphon]

6 hours ago, Mofo1995 said:

I'm not 100% sure why Cael closed deputy applications entirely. I thought the idea was to hold that slot for you and then reopen them and bring you on board, since Mono was occupying the other deputy slot at the time. But as I already described, I wasn't really actively thinking about skrell deputy applications in any capacity and didn't think much of it. 

It was initially. It changed after I had lodged a complaint regarding the conduct of a lore colleague, and my application/promotion to Deputy Loremaster. 

[MccRrib]

9 hours ago, Mofo1995 said:

So now, that is the entire and conclusive story of my involvement in your first application, to be combined with my previous posts about your second application, to now provide the comprehensive story of my everything to do with you in my life so far. If you need clarification on any of that, let me know.

That about wraps everything up, truthfully. Your continued attempts at clearing the air and clarifying the specifics of the situation are very, very much appreciated. I had assumed, when writing this complaint, that there was misconduct from lore staff based on the perspective of events I had formed from the information I knew at the time. The information that has since been provided proves that there was, in fact, no misconduct from either of those mentioned. Only an unfortunate series of miscommunications. Am I still frustrated by what happened? Yes, but to a significantly lesser degree. With all that being said, I'm thankful for the closure and clarification after all this time, and would like to request this thread be locked/archived, thanks.

[Alberyk]

Locked at the request of the complaint's creator.