I want Help Understanding Some Aurora Station Mechanics

[gwennadf]

Hey everyone,  

I am still getting the hang of Aurora Station and had a few questions about some of the mechanics. I have gone through the wiki but I feel like there are some things that just make more sense when explained by people who actually play regularly.  

 how do you guys handle learning new roles?? I do not want to jump into a position and mess things up for others but at the same time; I want to try different jobs. Are there any  roles that are beginner-friendly?  

Also, what is the best way to get involved in roleplay without feeling awkward? I see a lot of really well-done RP going on and I do not want to be that one person who breaks immersion. Any tips for easing into interactions?  

Are there any unspoken rules or things that new players should avoid doing? 

Also i have see this https://forums.aurorastation.org/topic/sf-admin-certi13004-cult-mechanics-rework-walls/ witch is good.

Thank you......:)

[Comet Blaze]

Hey there,

On Aurora, every department (except service and operations) has a learner role specifically so new people can learn the ropes without the responsibility of a full role. Just hop into one of those from the department and someone should be more than willing to show you around. People tend to be very open about teaching new players so don't be afraid to just ask for help on your department's channel.

As for getting into roleplay, there's really nothing else to say asides from just go for it. Introducing a new character will always be somewhat awkward, but in my experience people tend to be very open about interacting with others, so don't be afraid to just pop on over and say hi, introduce yourself and just building up some rapport things will develop naturally from there. If you can't find people to interact with, just head on over to the bar or the kitchen if they're staffed, they tend to be hotspots for people to gather in and it should be easier to get in on the conversation or just ask the other people in your department what they're up to.

Rules wise, there's nothing you need to worry about that's not written on the rules page itself, so long as you keep those in mind you'll be a-okay!

Feel free to ask about anything else you'd like to know and welcome to Aurora! Hope you like it here!

[ASmallCuteCat]

Hey, welcome to the server

Some of the roles have "Learner Roles" that clearly denote that you're new to them. Security has "Security Cadet", Medical has "Medical Intern", Engineering has "Engineering Apprentice", and Research has one that was recently renamed and I can't recall what it is. However, keep in mind that the Learner Roles may not have full access to the parts of the ship they work in.

Technically, all of these roles are beginner-friendly, but some of them will be more difficult because of the importance of their job.

For beginner-friendly roles, I would go with Chef, Bartender, and if you want a more "impactful" role, Pharmacy Intern.

Bartender is simple and straightforward. You just prepare and serve drinks, for the most part. It's probably the most roleplay-heavy of the three. A few things to keep in mind if you're the Bartender is that some of the species get poisoned by certain substances. For example, Unathi (the lizard looking guys) can't drink Alcohol, or they get poisoned. https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Guide_to_Drinks

Chef is also fairly simple and straightforward - it's like Bartender but you'll be in the kitchen preparing food, rather than drinks. Cooking is a little more mechanically-intensive than making drinks, since food will burn if you leave it on the stove too long. You'll also learn about Control-Click, Alt-Click, and Intents - for example, in order to crack an egg to get that egg yolk, you have to use Harm intent or else you'll just put the egg in the bowl. Also, species have some food intolerances that can be potentially lethal. https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Guide_to_Food

Finally, if you want a role that has more impact in things, try Pharmacy Intern. This one may be best to save for later, once you're more comfortable with game mechanics, as they work in Medical and if a mass-casualty event happens (a situation where there's multiple injured spacemen who need care) you might be needed to help with triage and stabilizing patients. However, for the most part, as Pharmacy Intern you'll be mixing chemicals, and there will (hopefully) be a full-fledged Pharmacist who'll show you the ropes. https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Guide_to_Chemistry

As for getting into roleplay without feeling awkward, that's a question with a lot of different answers - I imagine what makes each of us feel awkward varies from person to person. Is this your first time in a heavy-roleplay environment?

[Acetrea]

2 hours ago, ASmallCuteCat said:

Finally, if you want a role that has more impact in things, try Pharmacy Intern. This one may be best to save for later, once you're more comfortable with game mechanics, as they work in Medical and if a mass-casualty event happens (a situation where there's multiple injured spacemen who need care) you might be needed to help with triage and stabilizing patients. However, for the most part, as Pharmacy Intern you'll be mixing chemicals, and there will (hopefully) be a full-fledged Pharmacist who'll show you the ropes. https://wiki.aurorastation.org/index.php?title=Guide_to_Chemistry

Pharmacy Intern can be very easy in terms of mixing chemicals, and as helpful as the Guide to Chemistry Wiki page is for putting all of the chemicals in one place, I'd focus more on the forum chemistry guide here (note some descriptions here are likely to be outdated): 

Plus, it'll also help teach you what each one does, which is just as important as knowing how to make the medicines.

Medical players always expect full bottles (60 units) of medicines, and the Wiki only tells you the ratio (ex: 1 Aluminum, 1 Hydrochloric Acid, 1 Bicaridine = Butazoline 3 units)

When starting out in the Pharmacy, I would've had a very very hard time without the forum chemistry guide because of all the math you have to do in your head or on paper just looking at the wiki. Doing the pharmacy-- or what medical players might call a "full fridge"-- can be very time-consuming starting out, but if you enjoy having a game mechanic that takes at least twenty minutes when you have all the recipes down (or up to an hour when you don't), then you'll have fun.

If you need time to get used to the game mechanics, I'd suggest Janitor honestly. I find bartender hard ;-; Half the time I go to make a recipe but it turns out you have to add it in a specific order (?) IDK

[Fyni]

The learner roles exist to help ease you in, and players are very understanding of players in these roles. While in these roles, you may make mistakes and not know things, but this is expected and people will give you a lot of forgiveness and understanding because of this. Even better, people will generally be there to help you learn the mechanics of whatever job you're in, and will do so IC. Importantly, you can canonically promote your character out of the intern role into the full job role when you feel you're ready. Medical, engineering, science or security intern are good placves to start, janitor lets you explore and learn the map, bartended has very simple mechanics but throws you in the rp deep end. All of these are good places to start.

Roleplay! It can be intimidating, but as long as you're playing a character that is believable, anyone can get into it. If you're new to roleplay as a whole, it's as simple as having that IC/OOC seperation, and taking a moment to think logically how a character would react to things (keeping in mind most people are not the protagonist of a show, book or movie but just normal people). The rest comes as you do more and more of it!

For players new to Aurora, I recommend playing a character from a place such as Earth, where you can be largely ignorant of the setting as a large and again, find out IC by asking: people love to talk IC about lore and it's the best way to learn without it been intimidating.