Caelphon's Unathi Lore Writer Application

[Caelphon]

Ckey/BYOND Username:

Caelphon
Position Being Applied For:

Unathi Lore Writer 
Have you read the Lore Team Rules and Regulations wiki page?

Yes, probably know it back to front. 
Past Experiences/Knowledge:

I have been part of the Lore Team since about 2020. I was a Diona Lore Deputy, then Skrell Lore Writer, Deputy Loremaster and then finally Loremaster. 
Examples of Past Work:

https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Special:Contributions/Caelphon

For Unathi-specific examples, majority of it has been done alongside @Triogenix so I cannot take sole credit for these projects:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YI_vgiXMVHS7o7BJQ70_ImIB95J9Sdn-VG1eV5-XSkw/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L2FrXdfZgVfNyBTB6BeFtr_V8Crv1fDtHwnYC5NFhps/edit?usp=sharing
Additional Comments:

I have been thinking about lodging this the last few days, really dwelling on it. The Unathi Lore Team has been a fantastic team to work with these last few years, and both Trio and Gecko have been exemplary deputies. While I enjoy being Loremaster, I do miss developing lore for specific species, and I'd like to at least lodge an application. By throwing my hat in the ring here, I am obviously voiding my participation in the selection protocol, meaning it relies on Lucaken to handle the selection. Should I be awarded the position, my resignation from Loremaster would be immediate (as per Lore Team Rules and Regulations), so any fears regarding me attempting to consolidate power should be stemmed. Regardless, I look forward to working with the Unathi Lore Team, either as the Lore Writer or as the Loremaster. 

1. A particular section of Unathi Lore that you think should be expanded upon, alongside your reasons for it. Or what you think should be removed, and expand your reasons for that too.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i3UEUkq6otQvz0c8x0E92Zh6GQF2M4LsfvAhBTVdoAk/edit?usp=sharing

I always felt like the Queendom could be more extensive, and I loathe the lack of any content for the Wasteland. So I thought I would throw this together. 

2. How would you utilise the mobile setting that we have today with the NBT to move forward with Unathi Lore?

I do think that I'd need time to be able to properly formulate how to shift the mobile setting we have, and how to merge it with Moghes (well, Unathi as a whole). In particular, I want to focus on engaging organic lore development through articles (ugh, articles!) that would lay the grounds for the SCCV Horizon moving to Moghes, Ouerea or really other places dominated by Unathi. In particular, I'd focus away from the species' martial focus, and perhaps my first arc would instead be a humanitarian one -- with some science on the side. I think it would work well, and I've seen people refer to a humanitarian focused lore arc for some time, and they seem interested in pursuing that. 

 

[Triogenix]

This has me incredibly conflicted, in a way that surprises me very much. It's been a joy to write with you as Lore Master, but I have a few concerns about you becoming the Unathi Lore Writer.

I think my biggest concern has to do with your writing and prioritization. I think I notice it most in your regions doc, where the regions themselves are barely longer than paragraphs, and don't contain much that would allow for backgrounds to flourish. Given you were loremaster at the time of writing, I understand you might not have felt compelled to write more and would expand them should you become Unathi Writer. More importantly, I have concerns about your apparent prioritization that I've observed while on the team. It seems to me that you'll only write significantly about topics that interest you, which is something I feel to have been noticing more of as of late. I think the biggest example of this recently has been many of our current team projects, where you wrote a massive amount for the Trasens, all the while; the Orion Update was only really contributed to by me and Brotendo, still not done, the (I don't want to spoil stuff so I'm not mentioning the specific doc here, but I'll let you know to which I am referring) was once again mostly me writing(outside of the species specific content), also still not done, the SCC lore being only several paragraphs despite its importance, which we haven't even started on, and the whole idea for Trade/Economic lore we were looking at, spearheaded by canon, seems to have been forgotten by the side of the road. This is not to say the lore you have written and published is bad or unimportant, just that there were significantly more important things or lore projects already in motion that you did not contribute to, did not stay on top of, or put aside to focus on writing lore that you personally enjoyed. I also understand there may be things going on behind the scenes that I am unaware of, such as what happened with me and the relay event plans; this is just based on what I can observe as a deputy, and may be a complete misunderstanding. Unathi Lore is in dire need of work in many aspects, and I'm afraid that many of these aspects may be forgotten or brushed off, assigned to me or gecko to complete with minimal input from you besides editing. I've spent my time on the team(when I wasn't on leave for a solid 3 months) doing the work of 2 people, being the primary person writing and pushing for the vast majority of Unathi Lore Development over the past year, and that's not something I want to continue to do as deputy. I am concerned that should you get the writer position however, that is what I will be doing once again.

 

I utterly hate giving criticism like this, because firstly I sound like an entitled dick, and secondly, despite everything I still think you've done an incredible job as Loremaster, especially with our transition to the Horizon. I don't mean to sound harsh or vindictive about your behavior, but from what I've observed, there's the potential for significant issues.

 

I also have a few questions for you.

1. Unathi lore under Haydizzle has had a system where if the two deputies were in agreement, they could over-rule a non-WL decision made by the Writer, to act as a check against the writer. Would you keep this system in place?

2. What do you think the most important current project is for Unathi Lore?

3. Should you become Unathi Species Writer, would you apply for Deputy Loremaster once Lucaken takes over?

4. Could you expand on why you miss developing the lore for a specific species?

I'll probably have more questions later, but this is a good start.

Edited March 2, 2023 by Triogenix

[Lucaken]

It’s a strange position for me to be in, but nevertheless I must echo some of what Trio brought up as potential concerns. While you are incredibly driven, it can be hard to keep up with you sometimes as a deputy - a trait you ironically share with Trio. I think you will have to slow down at least a little bit for the sake of your team, and you should be aware of that when going in.

Aside from that I really only have two concerns. The first is that I am not a big believer in article-led arcs, or at the very least I find the way we approach articles means they reach a lot fewer people than actual in-game arcs. Do you feel confident you can do the latter effectively, perhaps even on a whim if we suddenly have to take the Horizon towards Moghes?

And second, are you considering applying for Deputy Loremaster should you get this position? I ask because I have significant concerns about shifting positions so quickly, with no new people added. My own rise to the post should be evidence that sometimes new blood is necessary. 
 

Please take your time answering these questions.

[Faye <3]

speaking 100% honestly, i do not think it would be fair at all for you to receive this position. leapfrogging from LM to unathi writer when the unathi deputies have been working their butts off mostly alone just simply isn't right, especially when one of them wants the position. i think you'd be fine, however, as a deputy for unathi lore.

[Alberyk]

So far, the Tajara team wrote nearly everything, with the unathi's team permission and oversight, related to Gakal'zaal. Because of this, there is a real lack of response from Unathi forces outside of the planet to what is going on there. What are your plans for Gakal'zaal in regard to the planet's content (lore related to culture and etc for example) and the ongoing developments?

[Caelphon]

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> It seem to me that you'll only write significantly about topics that interest you, which is something I feel tohave been noticing more of as of late. I think thebiggest example of this recently has been many of our current team projects, where you wrote a massive amount for the Trasens, all the while; the Orion Update was only really contributed to by me and Brotendo, still not done, the (I don't want to spoil stuff so I'm not mentioning the specific doc here, but I'll let you know to which I am referring) was once again mostly me writing(outside of the species specific content), also still not done, the SCC lore being only several paragraphs despite its importance, which we haven't even started on, and the whole idea for Trade/Economic lore we were looking at, spearheaded by canon, seems to have been forgotten by the side of the road. 

These are valid criticisms that I agree with, and I hear you. However, to shed light on the situation, at the time I was handling a lot of projects. Trasens, Expanded TCFL, as well as other projects for the Skrell Team regarding a potential arc that I cancelled due to not having sufficient time to dedicate myself towards its finishing. The workload became really overwhelming, to the point I needed to bow out the projects and institute project leads. I felt like I was putting to much of my own time and effort into the project, while also juggling in real life time schedules as well (University, Exams, Work) and that didn’t do justice to the projects — which is why I retained the Trasen project, and shifted the TCFL out of my docket onto Lucaken’s. I was not aware of the Orion Update as that was not on my docket, so I cannot really expand on anything there. I wasn’t project lead and I tend to try and divide the work between myself and Lucaken fairly so both of us don’t feel overwhelmed — especially when having to write, edit and manage the team.

Though, in regards to the investing in projects I’m interested in: that’s really one of the only ways a Loremaster can contribute; they don’t have a species to focus on and so it’s really just finding something you’re interested in and developing the idea. With Biesel, people started getting somewhat frustrated at the amount of articles I was outputting so I had to move away from doing those, and really I focused on whatever else I had interest in. So I agree I do invest time in aspects I’m interested it, but I think the workload would be alleviated hypothetically should I be chosen for the position as I won’t be spearheading team projects, editing proposals, etc.

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>Unathi Lore is in dire need of work in many aspects, and I'm afraid that many of these aspects may be forgotten or brushed off, assigned to me or gecko to complete with minimal input from you besides editing. I've spent my time on the team(when I wasn't on leave for a solid 3 months) doing the work of 2 people, being the primary person writing and pushing for the vast majority of Unathi Lore Development over the past year, and that's not something I want to continue to do as deputy. I am concerned that should you get the writer position however, that is what I will be doing once again.

Again, I hear you. It’s horrible being the one carrying the team, and it’s frankly something I try and address when I see it. But sometimes these things do slip through the cracks. Though, I can assure you that the duties of a Lore Writer, in comparison to a Loremaster, are much less when I remember my time as a Skrell Lore Writer, so I believe I’d be able to invest significantly more time to helping, editing and writing for one specific team as opposed to eight. 

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> 1. Unathi lore under Haydizzle has had a system where if the two deputies were in agreement, they could over-rule a non-WL decision made by the Writer, to act as a check against the writer. Would you keep this system in place?

This sounds like an excellent system. The Lore Writer merely oversees its production. They shouldn’t go unchecked. I would be for continuing this system, and wouldn’t mind seeing it across the Lore Team. 
 

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>2. What do you think the most important current project is for Unathi Lore?

I believe that the most important project for Unathi Lore in the upcoming future (and well currently) is through exploring the species less martial sides — I heavily believe that to explore the species cultural sides (art, sciences, entertainment even) is important. I feel the species sorely lacks more culture, as well as variety. It’s either Traditionalist, Hegemony, Ouerea. Those are the big three, and two of them are this all-encompassing banner of culture. Also expanding on the Wasteland to be less barebones. 

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>3. Should you become Unathi Species Writer, would you apply for Deputy Loremaster once Lucaken takes over?

No. I will only apply for Loremaster if there is an absence of any recruits (with a minimum cooling period of a year). 

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>4. Could you expand on why you miss developing the lore for a specific species?

I miss being able to engross myself within a species, run species-centric arcs, talking about the ins and outs of the species. I miss the ability to be able to just think about one species, and it’s future. It’s difficult to think ahead when you’re making Lore that spans the Orion Spur and you have to factor in how it impacts 8 different species, does it go against any current lore for the species, what about if all 24 staff agree with the direction, etc.

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> Aside from that I really only have two concerns. The first is that I am not a big believer in article-led arcs, or at the very least I find the way we approach articles means they reach a lot fewer people than actual in-game arcs. Do you feel confident you can do the latter effectively, perhaps even on a whim if we suddenly have to take the Horizon towards Moghes?

I do think I’d be able to handle this. I’ve run a lot of arcs at this point in my lore career, learnt a lot too. I think with the help of the other unathi writers, we could make some banging arcs that have an impact for Unathi. I do think that moving away from article-only arcs is the way forward for Unathi, especially due to the sheer size of its existing article lore.

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> And second, are you considering applying for Deputy Loremaster should you get this position? I ask because I have significant concerns about shifting positions so quickly, with no new people added. My own rise to the post should be evidence that sometimes new blood is necessary. 

As mentioned above, no. I do not plan nor wish to apply for the position if I resign. 

Regardless thank you for bringing these valid criticisms to my attention. I’ll be more focused on fixing these to help run the team better from now. 

Edited March 2, 2023 by Caelphon

[Caelphon]

3 hours ago, Alberyk said:

So far, the Tajara team wrote nearly everything, with the unathi's team permission and oversight, related to Gakal'zaal. Because of this, there is a real lack of response from Unathi forces outside of the planet to what is going on there. What are your plans for Gakal'zaal in regard to the planet's content (lore related to culture and etc for example) and the ongoing developments?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1blui2UsAulGRmaiHZV7pWegLaSJ8M_6kSJeNuIUCX-0/edit?usp=sharing

[Triogenix]

Another question I had - how long do you plan to stay in the writer slot?

[Caelphon]

On 02/03/2023 at 23:30, Triogenix said:

Another question I had - how long do you plan to stay in the writer slot?

I’m not sure in my honest opinion. I do want to stay for at least a year, but life happens. I might not be able to, due to something unforeseen cropping up, or I stay longer than I initially wanted. I can’t really define it. 

[Lucaken]

After many days of thinking, I have decided to deny this application. It was definitely not an easy choice, and both candidates had their strengths and weaknesses. It ultimately came down to wanting fresher blood in lead writer positions, which is something I hope you can understand. Thank you for being forthright with me throughout this process.