accepted Shimmer wants to *beep and *buzz people into action | Command application

[Shimmer]

BYOND key: shimmeristaken

Discord Username: shimmeristaken

Character names: Tomine Rosenweiss, Ethnea

How long have you been playing on Aurora?
I've re-joined Aurora around March/April of last year, meaning my most recent consistent playtime on Aurora is roughly a year or so. I also used to play around 2020-2021 (during the KoTW arc) under a different ckey, Timirald, but I don't remember much of my time there nor anyone from my time there, so I don't really count it as proper play time.

 

Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they?
I have a total of three notes and one warning. One was for spamming ghostroles to try to fix a dead ship. Other two of the notes and the warning related to them was for being snappy/snarky/angry towards other players when their behaviour irritated me, crossing the 'Be nice to others' line.

 

Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph each.

What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame?
There is no singular purpose for heads of staff in my opinion, as they cover multiple areas and responsibilities that are all different to each other. If I had to put it laconically, it will be similar to how I described A.I; Their purpose is to make the round flow better for both the players and the antagonists, achieving so in a myriad of different ways and using different tools.
It's not limited to just antagonist rounds either, command members hold the ability to introduce more activity in extended or event rounds if they have an idea, the will to executive that idea and the creativity to make it fun. In my A.I whitelist, I described A.I as a soft gamemaster, they had the tools and ability to push the round in pretty much any manner they wanted, and it is their responsibility to make it flow better. Going by this comparison, command are more senior players / party leaders, the type you can look up to for guidance, and those who can push their respective departments into action, but don't posses the same overwhelming presence that an A.I does.

 

What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them?
'Players' are too broad of a category for me to really stuff them into one, so I'll break it down into four groups I think are relevant to command!

New players: The most significant responsibility command players hold in my opinion are to new players. Not just new players to Aurora, but to new players to their departments. Command players are an easy person to turn to when players need help, they have the authority, ability, and OOC knowledge to help out new players adjust mechanically into the server or into a department. Be it through direct tutoring, or through the attachment of another senior player; Command can and should ease new players in.

Regular players: With regular players, command plays a similar role to what I described AI do in that application. They exist to allow for better round flow, having access to tools and the authority to organize their department and allow for more convenience and direction. In non-antag rounds, command are able to, if willing, introduce interesting elements to the round, expedition, crew organized events and the like. Command players also exist as a direct line for their department to communicate with others, and ease cooperation between them.

Command players: Other command players are in a unique position, and the obligation to them is largely to keep to your lane and not to boss about in departments you don't belong. Good communication and information updates are vital for smooth cooperation between departments, and other whitelist holders are essential for that.

Antagonists: What's seemingly the most difficult aspect of command, the treatment of antagonist players. Command have a responsibility to allow an antagonists' gimmick to go forward as best as it can, since they are in the best position to easily and thoughtlessly shut it down early into the round. This ties into the obligation to regular players, just as they allow their round to flow better, so should an antagonist's round flow better with the help of command; either by facilitating it to begin with, allowing leeway, or showing the response it calls for.

 

Explain how the recent events in the Spur changed your character and how they came to be employed on the SCCV Horizon.
Laura is a synthetic produced for Zeng-Hu pharmacueticals by Siddhartha Systems Incorporated, Xanu, in the year 2452. She was initially assigned as a pilot for the Keiretsu's security detail operating in and around the weeping stars, especially with expeditions going into the Lemurian sea. Her performance and initiative within those assignments, when it came to negotiating with errant vessels or providing aid to Zeng-Hu assets in distress, made way for her slow climb of the corporate ladder. With the increased pirate activity following the phoron scarcity and the Solarian collapse, Laura's performance with the Keiretsu not only earned her freedom, but also a command position in one of it's vessels, continued by a swift recommendation for reassignment to the SCCV Horizon.

 

What roles do you plan on playing after the application is accepted?
Executive Officer, Consular, and Operations Manager!

 

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

 

Characters you intend to use for command or have created for command. Include the job they will be taking:
Currently, I only have my trial character in mind, Laura, who is going to be an executive officer. I am planning on playing a Zeng-Hu corporate representative, and then some kind of operations manager, maybe Nanotrasen?

 

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

 

Have you linked your BYOND account to the Forums?
Yes, I have!

 

Extra notes:
None that I can think of!

[SilverSZ]

Shimmer is both an excellent roleplayer and a wonderful person to interact with oocly. The answers given to the questions posed about the purpose of command staff are perfectly in line with how I myself view and play command position, they also have more than enough experience with the bridge to play their application character to what is required of a command whitelistee I am sure. 

There's really no reason to not give her a trial in my mind, +1

[NG+7 Gael]

Honestly, I'm surprised Shimmer doesn't already have a Command whitelist. Interacting with her both ICly and OOCly is always a very fun and pleasant experience, and interacting with her characters- particularly on the bridge- really shows that she understands what to do, and how to do it in a fun and engaging manner. On the occasion that her character is given some form of leadership or pseudo-leadership, I've found that she does a very good job of managing it in a way that I think would be perfect for a Command member. She puts a lot of effort into her characters and RP, and I think she does her best to give as many people as she can some sort of opportunity to interact with whatever is happening, without sacrificing RP quality. I think this is a very important thing to see in a Command player, and I think her question responses emphasize my point: she clearly knows the role of a Command character in dealing with all different types of players and situations. Additionally, she can be trusted ICly and OOCly to follow through on using that knowledge to actively improve the rounds in which she is present, something which I believe to be an important distinction from only knowing what should be done.

Like Silvie said, I think there's absolutely no reason to not give her a trial at the very least, and I'm confident enough in her IC and OOC conduct to say that I think she can easily pass the trial. +1

[Nagito Komaeda]

A great player! I've had the honour of learning the ropes of BC under Ethnea, who conveyed the necessary information in a concise, useful manner. Without a doubt a good holder of the whitelist, as they're really good at setting the necessary expectations and adjusting to the round. Combine that with interesting characters & great roleplay, and you have yourself a prime candidate for the position. +1!

[MattAtlas]

On trial until 31MAR2024.

[SilverSZ]

Hello!

I just played my HoS, Ophelia with Shimmer playing Laura as the XO.

Whilst I didn't get to spend a huge amount of time with them in the chaos of the round, for the time I spent at the bridge at the start they did an effective job of managing the BCs and getting everything that I would expect of a BC done whilst presenting some RP at the same time.

And then in the chaos of dealing with a bridge siege by both Mercs and Ninjas, they managed to do a good job from what I heard over the radio and after the situation. It was a very high stress situation and they kept their cool and did what they should have done in that situation.

Overall, certainly a +1. I hope they continue to keep playing XO in the future so I can get to actually interact with them next time.

[Fyni]

Hello!

During the round that just passed, the Security team (all four officers and an investigator) pursued a pair of Operatives to an away site after they stole the Canary. When it was determined that the Operatives were as good as gone, I was informed the only available pilot, you, had prioritised paperwork over recovering what amounts to the whole security complement of the Horizon.

This is a poor choice IC and OOC - IC it makes no sense to leave the ship defenceless in case said antags returned, or literally anything else happened. OOC, it basically sticks five players off the ship when the round is about to return to normal RP - all to do paperwork.

I understand the importance of doing said paperwork, and it can be fun and add to a round, but I think this was a very poor command decision during a time of quiet - there was no chaos to cause this.

However I would also like to add Shimmer/Laura did do the important steps of allowing the antags to do their gimmick, playing along to create a more intresting round, choosing to escalate after what felt like an appropriate amount of RP. I know I make bad command decisions from time to time, and this feedback is meant more as a constructive piece - I am sure said lessons should be easy to take on board. With that in mind, I give a +0.5, upgraded to a +1 when I'm sure this is taken onboard

Edited March 25 by Fyni

[Shimmer]

23 minutes ago, Fyni said:

Hello!

During the round that just passed, the Security team (all four officers and an investigator) pursued a pair of Operatives to an away site after they stole the Canary. When it was determined that the Operatives were as good as gone, I was informed the only available pilot, you, had prioritised paperwork over recovering what amounts to the whole security complement of the Horizon.

This is a poor choice IC and OOC - IC it makes no sense to leave the ship defenceless in case said antags returned, or literally anything else happened. OOC, it basically sticks five players off the ship when the round is about to return to normal RP - all to do paperwork.

I understand the importance of doing said paperwork, and it can be fun and add to a round, but I think this was a very poor command decision during a time of quiet - there was no chaos to cause this.

However I would also like to add Shimmer/Laura did do the important steps of allowing the antags to do their gimmick, playing along to create a more intresting round, choosing to escalate after what felt like an appropriate amount of RP. I know I make bad command decisions from time to time, and this feedback is meant more as a constructive piece - I am sure said lessons should be easy to take on board. With that in mind, I give a +0.5, upgraded to a +1 when I'm sure this is taken onboard

Hey! Thanks for the feedback. Yeah in hindsight I agree that I probably should have went down to bring back the security officers first, but the decision was made largely out of a tired end-of-the-round tunnel vision, I had been prior to this decision doing most of the negotiations with the ninja, including intentional stalling of the antagonist, which is tiring to do for a whole hour, especially giving I'm new to command.

So this was more of a groggy "im halfway finished with this dumb paper, ill just take two minutes to sign and fax it" than giving it conscious priority - by that stage, the situation report did nothing more than notify command of 'we've just been robbed. no one died except for our pride.'

Hopefully this explains why I did it, I'll keep this in mind next time.

[rrrrrr]

got into a fun argument with this character regarding responsibility over interns and that sort of thing. good character, was enjoyable as XO throughout the entire round.  +1

[Noble Row]

Shimmer is a joy to work with and has shown off excellent work organizing people as an Executive Officer. So much so that they've somehow negotiated an actual hostage trade without killing the hostages in the process. A true one in a million event on Aurora.

 

+1

[Nagito Komaeda]

I've given my +1 for the trial already, yet I feel like commending Shimmer a second time on their actual play. I've only gotten to play with Laura twice or thrice by now, and I wish I could get that opportunity more. Their XO is a great facilitator for both roleplay and mechanical opportunities. For example, they ensure Operations has additional funds so they can have more freedom. They also let Bridge Crew actively fly the shuttles (and even advise other fuel setups, which is neat!)

A bit of a grasp, but I think Shimmer plays their XO from the perspective of being a Bridge Crew. Unsurprising, considering Shimmer's experience with that job. I believe they play a head of staff that really stands behind their department, knowing what they need because they've been in the receiving position.

You're already a great communicator, Shimmer, and I think you'll improve on it even more once you succeed on your trial and you get to play more Command roles, more regularly. My experience during my trial as HOLMES is that you take initiative in communications (good!!) and planning (also good!!), as well as a bit of delegation (good IF you're up for that - I remember you saying after the round Noble refers to that "you weren't prepared to play as Captain", is this because that absolute responsibility?)

Definitely has what it takes to be a good Head of Staff! +1!

[MattAtlas]

Accepted.