Skills, Roles, and You.

[Jamini]

While I think Atmos techs should have sufficient electrical knowledge to install air alarms, they shouldn't be able to hack doors without at least an Engineer telling them the specific wire.

No idea what to say. Other than "metagaming" (??? not sure). Her character knew surgery, chemistry, cryo, everything (I am not sure if that is a bad thing)

 

Okay, I'm going to get my initial point out nice and early so everyone can see it.

---

---

Statements like this need to stop.

---

---

 

I am sick. Utterly sick. Of various people bringing up complaints or ideas proposing strict restrictions on the skills of other players/characters. Far, far too often I see people complaining over the most basic forms of departmental cross-training. It is frustrating to deal with those allegations, and is taken to hilariously unbelievable levels in OOC, LOOC, and on the Forums.

For reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-training_(business)

 

Cross-training in business operations involves training employees to engage in quality control measures. Employees are trained in tangent job functions to increase oversight in ways that are impossible through management interactions with workers alone.

 

http://www.startmedicine.com/app/coursework.asp

 

All medical schools pretty much require the following pre-med coursework:

General Chemistry with lab: 2 semesters

Organic Chemistry with lab: 2 semesters

General Physics with lab: 2 semesters

General Biology with lab: 2 semesters

English: 2 semesters

Calculus: 1 semester

 

So, to make your medical school life a little easier while in medical school, it is also beneficial, if you still have some room in your undergraduate elective schedule, to take some of the following courses. They will help you be better prepared for medical school. But realize that they are not required.

Highly recommended:

Biochemistry

Anatomy

Physiology

Genetics

Also recommended:

Histology

Microbiology

Immunology

Statistics

Embryology

Neuroscience

Pathophysiology

Pharmacology

Calculus

 

Now, take a moment. Look over those requirements and recommended classes. Notice how the required courses edge into tangential practices?

Roles that require a MS, phD, or more, often include information and training and education outside of one narrow field. This is a reoccurring theme within any form of higher education.

 

---

---

 

Now, I am not saying everyone should be a super-engineer, super-doctor, or super-scientist. Clearly having weaknesses or inabilities within a character is a good thing, and it encourages interaction and growth. Nor am I saying that we should have people consistently stepping outside of their role to take over the jobs of other characters.

I am, however, saying that we should not stigmatize characters with a well-rounded skill set within their department.

Let's take a look at one of my characters as an example. Omnir Al-Nasser specifically, my paramedic.

 

 

First thing to notice: His skill set is average for his age (23).

As a first responder, his medicine skill is officially trained. Allowing him to use most medical equipment.

As he is going to school specifically to become a surgeon he is also trained in Anatomy and capable of doing surgery (though he ICly should ask for permission or wait for an emergency.)

Due to schooling and previous in-house training, he has a smattering of chemistry. He knows enough to make a handful of medical drugs (specifically Bicardine, Dermaline, Dexalin plus (from dexalin. He can't make dexalin), Speacillin, Tramadol, Antitoxin, and Inaprovaline). As a general rule he avoids handling plasma, and he has no idea how to make dangerous chemicals (unless he is an antagonist) or more advanced pharmaceuticals, grenades, and mood stabilizers.

Of Virology, he knows enough to recognize most virus symptoms and not much more.

He has no training in genetics.

He has additional training outside of the medical field, amounting to roughly a third of the value of his overall skill level.

Personally I feel as a rule of thumb, station staff should be expected to have one area of their field where they are highly trained (Professional or Trained level), a second area where they are capable (Trained), one or two tertiary areas where they have limited or basic training, and at least one area where they have a pronounced weakness. While there should be exceptions (The occasional savant might specialize heavily in one area at the expense of others, or a very well-rounded character could be well-versed in the bulk of operations for an entire department) I do feel that such cross-training should be the norm.

 

---

---

Okay, so what is your point?

---

---

 

My point is simple. We, as a community, need to recognize that we are playing characters who are supposedly highly trained individuals. We need to recognize that cross-training within a department is not rare and that as a rule most characters should be able too, at minimum, fill in for absent members of their departments. Likewise we need to recognize that people who do play specialists should be allowed to handle their specialty.

In short, we need to bitch about skills and roles less overall and focus more on playing the game.

Thank you.

[Skull132]

One note.

If you want to have your character be a person qualified in multiple professions, then please, make them actually older than 30. Because, yeah, no.

[Jamini]

One note.

If you want to have your character be a person qualified in multiple professions, then please, make them actually older than 30. Because, yeah, no.

 

Do you mean multiple departments, or multiple areas within the same department? As those are very much different beasts. It takes a lot longer to learn skills that one has not training/basis in than it would to expand ones knowledge within their field.

A medical doctor being competent or even holding a minor in chemistry is very different than a security officer with command training picking up advanced medical training.

[Guest]

As pointed out ages ago, the Skillsets in the game are not good descriptions of the skills, they are generic, generalized, and ill balanced.

What is amateur, how well trained is trained, what is a professional?

The reason there are separate jobs in departments is because of responsibility. I may be trained in how to operate a linux cluster but if I was working somewhere I wouldn't be immediately have free access to it if it's not my job description, regardless of if I worked in the same department that the people who do work on it.

[Tainavaa]

In cross training right now and loving it.

Seriously though, yeah. A lot of what I see isn't that far fetched. Honestly I don't even care personally if someone goes back and forth between medical and security. I wouldn't do it but yeah. People are very strict on capability for some reason. If an atmos tech knows enough to install an air alarm, they know enough to figure out what wires do what in a door. They're both electrical work and while they may not know initially it would be significantly easier for them to learn and it isn't outside the realm of learning in a relatively short amount of time if you weren't cross trained.

I maintain that Aurora needs a drink. I'll get the rum.

[Jamini]

The reason there are separate jobs in departments is because of responsibility. I may be trained in how to operate a linux cluster but if I was working somewhere I wouldn't be immediately have free access to it if it's not my job description, regardless of if I worked in the same department that the people who do work on it.

 

And that is fine. However! Let's say that by some coincidence all the linux people in your department were out with the Indian Crow Flu, and you were left there nearly alone. During this time the cluster updates and crashes hard. The folks who can reboot it do not have access and are not on site.

You are trained in how to fix it. Your supervisor (for the sake of this argument, your supervisor isn't trained in linux at all) knows this. This cluster needs to be unfucked by the morning.

I'd wager your supervisor would be willing to grant you temporary access, probably with oversight and with a few calls to the folks responsible (to guide you through any rough patches). And honestly, assuming the problem isn't outside of your skill set you could probably certainly DO it.

Permission does not equate to ability. Essentially.

 

---

---

 

I've personally, when working for a IT firm, configured citrix routers with assistance while working alone. It was an emergency situation, and I couldn't get another person over to help. I had no citrix training, but with a bit of assistance and knowledge of other, similar systems I was able to work my way through. For the incident I was given elevated credentials to get the machine online and functioning.

The client was a bank. Some of the most security-minded individuals in the private business world.

[Erik Tiber]

I see nothing wrong with cross-training. I see absolutely no reason for anyone to complain about a character's skills if they're average or below on the 'skill' page, the only possible grey area would be for characters with skill levels above that, and even then I'm not gonna make sweeping generalizations.

...I mainly just want to see more 40-something or 50-somethings, since those should basically be young adults still anyway. But I find it a bit silly to complain so much about cross training.

I have a character with amateur close combat, weapons, and forensics, from their criminal background, plus moderate engineering knowledge and advanced knowledge of information systems and complex devices. And they're 39. I'm definitely not in a position to complain about cross training.

[Guest]

Vira was trained in combat surgery. As in, digging out bullets out of people in an emergency. She recognizes basic-intermediate medicine, applies it in emergencies to treat wounds and injuries. Doesn't mean she can fill up lungs or remove appendices easily, but you get the point. She has more experience in combat roles, but she took up classes in first aid and combat surgical training because it would prove more beneficial to herself and the companies, squadrons and fireteams she would work with throughout her tour with the Federal Navy as well as with NanoTrasen in Fleet and Station Security. She's 42.

And Vira was based on my Aunt, who served in the US Army as a combat medic.

I detest it when people state that characters cannot specialize in related or monochromatic fields. Monochromatic in that, the two specializations blend and coincide with each other very well.

[NebulaFlare]

In cross training right now and loving it.

Seriously though, yeah. A lot of what I see isn't that far fetched. Honestly I don't even care personally if someone goes back and forth between medical and security. I wouldn't do it but yeah. People are very strict on capability for some reason. If an atmos tech knows enough to install an air alarm, they know enough to figure out what wires do what in a door. They're both electrical work and while they may not know initially it would be significantly easier for them to learn and it isn't outside the realm of learning in a relatively short amount of time if you weren't cross trained.

I maintain that Aurora needs a drink. I'll get the rum.

 

Pour me some tequila!

I think it's safe enough to set a realistic limit of knowledge while in crosstraining. Karima is a roboticist, but she can also RnD and xeno-arch - if they are related to machines.

There are certain roles of cross training that are a bit far-fetched: I honestly don't like to see research/engineering in security, or vice versa. But if it's within a department or share similar core training, then why not?