Wezzy's Command Re-Application

[wowzewow]

BYOND key: Wowzewow

Discord Username: alsoandanswer

Character names:

Wesley Miyazaki

Jeremy Hanford

Morgan Chiang-Slaughter

How long have you been playing on Aurora?
Nine years, intermittently, with a couple of hiatus periods.

Have you received any administrative actions? And how serious were they?
Yes. Not very serious.

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?

A Mini-DM, basically. Give people things to do. Set up scenarios for roleplay. Something that really stuck with me way back when I was playing a chef was the Captain ordering a steak, a glass of wine, and some mushroom soup. It wasn't much, but it gave me something fun to do. To elaborate - it's all about *delegation*, you've got *power*, and you *should* use it. It's fun to boss around a bunch of goons - but it's also fun to be bossed around. "Aye-aye boss, with pleasure", as you order some security boys to give em' what for. If they don't comply, well... do this or you're fired! Conflict! Either way, everyone has fun. Typically, good leadership's about conflict mediation - not taking sides, and ending things peacefully, that's nice and all. However, it's more fun to draw lines in the sand and form teams. Since you're a member of command, you have the *authority* to do these kinds of things. And it's the best kind of roleplay that you can get on the server. Every character gets to pour out their grudges and greviances, and it's a very emotionally raw experience. People die, fight, and get messed up! Its dramatic, romantic, fantastic.

What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them?

Be good roleplayers, basically. If something goes wrong, just help smooth things out and make sure the show goes on. Realistically though, you aren't a loredev, nor an admin, so your responsibilites are much more muted, but also a lot more personal. There isn't this power dynamic, so you're a lot more of a mentor and friend than anything else. Also makes you a lot more approachable. You're "higher ranking" per se, but in knowledge, rather in authority. You should be a rock to other players, and when they see your name in the manifest, they know they'll be in for a good time.

Explain how the recent events in the Spur changed your character and how they came to be employed on the SCCV Horizon.

As much as a Solarian citizen as anyone else, unfortunately, Morgan isn't particularly all too fond of the Solarian Alliance, with its dogmatic rhetoric and nationalistic fervour. Though Sol Common was the lingua franca, he never really felt a connection to it. Dad spoke a dialect. Mom spoke Basic. Sol Common was the language of propaganda. Failure after failure, corruption, scandals. The fact that his leaders were utter imbeciles were an insult to his to intelligence. And he'll be damned if he's going to be drafted into the Solarian Navy to die in a Gadpathurian trench. With a broad higher education in Basic under his belt and a fire in his gut, he sought employment with the SCC. Working for a few years inbetween menial jobs and middle management (for that valuable "work experience"), he's hoping that his new position's his ticket up to the big leagues.

Though, it'd be hard to say he *hates* the Solarian Alliance. Changing masters from pauldrons and military formals to suits and ties isn't particularly all sunshine and rainbows for him, but at least there's a way up and out, he hopes... Well, at least it's better than the senseless self-absorbed bickering of the Coalition, but that's something to think about for another time.

(Yes. I've been playing him as a bartender for a while - I just wanted to test out his character. Once he's promoted he'll be aged up and have some things changed around)

What roles do you plan on playing after the application is accepted?
Executive Officer.

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:
Morgan, Chiang-Slaughter Tsing-Hsien - Executive Officer

Morgan is a New Hai Phonger - well, at least half, mom's a Bieselite and *insisted* on the double barelled last name.

A gaunt, sharply dressed New Hai Phonger man, usually seen with a ledger or clipboard in tow. It's as if he's *thinking* through his pen - that is, if his white dress gloves don't catch your eye first. Usually deadpan and monotonous - some see this as uncaring, uncouth - but really, he's mostly nonplussed most of the time. However, that's not to say he isn't emotive... (and that's for you to find out!) His hair is in a rough undercut, his beard mostly stubble, thicker at the mustache and chin. A pair of horn-rimmed spectacles rests on his face. He's kept in an utilitarian manner.

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

Have you linked your BYOND account to the Forums?
Yes.

Extra notes:
I can't particularly always play at peak-hour. It's usually around 3-7am and I have things to do in the morning.

Edited March 14 by wowzewow

[JeffMomentRed]

-1 copy-pasted app with an extra line added to it.

[Owen]

On trial until 3 April 2025. Feel free to advertise your application once per round to gather feedback. 

[QuestioningMark]

Morgan Slaughter on command?

Dude's an excellent communicator, really competent, and manages to keep the whole crew up to date with stuff. Massive boon the round.

Absolute massive +1

[strawberryx3c]

+1 engaged with me in some real suit asskissing and antics, good roleplayer and good character

[Sparta9001]

-1 Kinda oversteps as XO and tries to command other departments over very minor things. 

[Acetrea]

I played and observed a round and a half with your XO and overall what I witnessed was lackluster.

Firstly, within your own department, your character got onto the Chef for having the appliances on, despite the Chef being in the kitchen. Your reasoning was that they were not cooking a meal at that specific moment and because the ship needed to conserve power. ICly and OOCly, having to turn the appliances on and off is extremely frustrating as a Chef because they take a while to reheat and having to do that between every customer would have me ripping my hair out.

Secondly, I observed your XO overstepping into the HoS's jurisdiction, writing an injunction at the spoken whim of a bully Security Officer against another Security Officer for simply playing on a game console during code green. Even if your XO is sole command, they should not be taking on other command staff's duties unless it is an emergency situation.

Thirdly, I observed your XO overstepping into the CMOs jurisdiction (and even a Consular's/Representative's jurisdiction) when asking Medical crew to take surveys evaluating their coworkers, how often they work, and to rate their professionalism. When approached by the CMO about this, you described it as an 'evaluation' and claimed that employment and hiring fell under your control. This is not the case. XOs do not have hiring and firing power. 

Overall, it seemed like you were trying to play as the absolute authority over the ship and its crew rather than sticking to Service/Bridgecrew and assisting the other departments when needed, as it is outlined in the XO wiki guide.

-1

[wowzewow]

Alright, so, please forgive me - it's literally my first few rounds, so I apologize if I overstep a bit while I try to figure out some gimmicks. Morgan's supposed to be a pencil-pushing, slightly overbearing manager that tries to do "efficiency" stuff.

56 minutes ago, strawberryx3c said:

+1 engaged with me in some real suit asskissing and antics, good roleplayer and good character

49 minutes ago, Sparta9001 said:

-1 Kinda oversteps as XO and tries to command other departments over very minor things. 

37 minutes ago, Acetrea said:

Secondly, I observed your XO overstepping into the HoS's jurisdiction, writing an injunction at the spoken whim of a bully Security Officer against another Security Officer for simply playing on a game console during code green.

Actually, this is all connected, and it was a pretty confusing ordeal, so let me explain.

- Morgan gets annoyed at a Security Officer for playing video games. Just body-languages frustration, but nothing more.

- Officer pulls Morgan aside - "This is unbecoming of the PMCG. Allow me to correct this behaviour on your behalf"

- Said officer files an injunction and other things on their own discretion. As there were no other command staff available, I felt it was some good paperwork RP, so I signed off on it.

(And to be extra certain, I ahelped as well to double check if I had the authority to do so.)

- Mid round, HOS joins and takes over. Afterwards we had a conversation about the injunction and then the problem was resolved.

37 minutes ago, Acetrea said:

When approached by the CMO about this, you described it as an 'evaluation' and claimed that employment and hiring fell under your control. This is not the case. XOs do not have hiring and firing power. 

Apologies if my intentions weren't clear. I wasn't planning on hiring or firing anyone. I was trying to do a survey gimmick where I'd intervew someone for a moment, then give them a gold star/coupon as a fun side thing. There was only really Security (busy with Greimorians) and Medical, so I didn't have much choice in trying to get the gimmick going.

37 minutes ago, Acetrea said:

Overall, it seemed like you were trying to play as the absolute authority over the ship and its crew rather than sticking to Service/Bridgecrew and assisting the other departments when needed, as it is outlined in the XO wiki guide.

There was no Bridge Crew, Service nor other Command staff for most of the round, so I had to fill in. As soon as the HoS joined, I immediately went hands-off.

Edited Friday at 05:41 by wowzewow

[CatsinHD]

 

8 hours ago, Acetrea said:

they should not be taking on other command staff's duties unless it is an emergency situation.

I will clarify this minor point. This is not entirely true. Per Chain of Command, if a Head of Staff is missing, other command members are permitted (sometimes expected in cases of emergencies) to take on leadership of the missing department regardless of an emergency or not. Signing an injunction for security when an HoS is missing is perfectly fine. The Chain of Command permits this.

Quote

In the event a Head of Staff is not present on-shift, or has gone missing for whatever reason, it is expected that the rest of command does whatever is necessary to fill in the gap within the power structure. This may include Heads of Staff from another department stepping in to give direction, leadership, and help where possible, or the appointment of an interim Head of Staff.

To what extent a command staff does this is subject to discretion and all that.

 

With that being said, the rounds I've played with Wezzy's XO have been fine. They've done their job during the chaos, didn't step into my bounds (as investigator), and was helpful when their assistance was requested. Most of the issues I've seen discussed so far are the things many command trials fall into the trap of and learn out of. +1 from me.

[Loorey]

Hi. As your Trial is intended for gathering feedback and whether to decide or not you are fit for playing a command role I will leave what I have observed in the few rounds I played with you or observed as of right now:

Firstly, I don't really understand the deal with the hostility of your character against your own department, which is service. The first round you played this trial period, or well, the first I have seen, you wordlessly walked through the bar, to the kitchen, just to antagonize one of the cooks with sudden statements out of nowhere like: "How long was this dip out for?!". I get what you are trying to do here, but, really?

Secondly about your communication, from my observations and while I was playing command or command support roles myself, you are barely communicative about the current ongoings of the shift, at all. There are attempts to be doing so, but mostly it's just radio silence when other command members ask you for something, especially well seen in the last round.

Lastly and the thing which concerns me the most: You are actively questioning the presence of antagonists, constantly, and pushing to let their gimmick blow. As a member of command you are here to do the exact opposite of that. I have especially strongly seen this in the last round too, with the Idris mercs, where you have been in constant questioning of their actions and even proposed multiple times to fax central command about them.

^ That's all I have to drop, thanks for reading through it. Good luck with the rest of your trial, I hope these things get progressively better. 

[NerdyVampire]

Hi, I played BUDDY in the round yesterday evening, and it's probably the only round I've played with your XO!

I only got the side of you on comms, and cameras, so there's likely a lot about your character I missed, so take my constructive criticism with that in mind!

You have a few things I think you should work on, but they are also things I think you can showcase in time for the end of your trial. I would focus on these and gather some positive feedback that you're on top of them going forward!

Your responsibilities

There was a very small service department and no bridge crew during most of this round, but there were still some things that seemed to fall through the cracks, that were really in your ballpark as XO. The hailing frequency is your responsibility as XO. Foreign vessels ask for docking permission from you. The responsibilities of other department heads do not cover this, but you are in charge of the bridge and docking permissions and off-ship communications are a bridge matter. It is only the captains if she takes it from you. You can/should offload most of this responsibility to bridge crewmen, but in their absence it falls to you. The same issue arose when the antags were asking for docking permissions, which should be a no-brainer, but which we look to you for as XO to approve. It shouldn't have to wait for the captain to do it personally.

It was also a bit of an oddity that the captain was doing the shuttling to Konyang when an XO existed, but I expect it was an agreement for a good reason.

Your communication

It did not seem to me like you were present on the command channel at all, or that you kept yourself informed about what was going on. The gimmick involved crew finances and logically it would eventually involve their job positions, payment, etc. You should have been more involved, if not in-person due to your pizza-party, at least on the command comms to stay informed, and show us that you were informed and aware of your place in this. Frankly it was more logical that you would be leading the meeting.

Alright, work on these and if I see your character again I'll drop a new feedback if it has improved

[kermit]

I personally like Wezzy's XO. I've seen a couple of their gimmicks, including an arranged party and staff evaluations (I think), which are always appreciated for the roleplay they provide. Yet to personally be involved in any of these Service gimmicks, but knowing that someone's doing them is nice.

Regarding the round mentioned in above comments, I think it's fine for an XO to focus on Service over Bridge duties. Service is a department the XO supervises afterall, and XOs aren't immune to powergaming rules where they can be a super-head of staff and fill in for every role in their department. This was communicated to my Captain near round start, and so we saw my captain agree to do the 1 port-of-call ferry given the absence of Bridge Crew. No biggie.

I do agree communication was a bit of an issue in that one round I've co-Commanded with Wezzy's XO, but I think that's normal for most Command Trials.

Good luck.

 

Edited 23 hours ago by kermit

[wowzewow]

On 30/03/2025 at 06:18, Loorey said:

Lastly and the thing which concerns me the most: You are actively questioning the presence of antagonists, constantly, and pushing to let their gimmick blow. As a member of command you are here to do the exact opposite of that. I have especially strongly seen this in the last round too, with the Idris mercs, where you have been in constant questioning of their actions and even proposed multiple times to fax central command about them.

23 hours ago, NerdyVampire said:

It did not seem to me like you were present on the command channel at all, or that you kept yourself informed about what was going on. The gimmick involved crew finances and logically it would eventually involve their job positions, payment, etc. You should have been more involved, if not in-person due to your pizza-party, at least on the command comms to stay informed, and show us that you were informed and aware of your place in this. Frankly it was more logical that you would be leading the meeting.

Frankly, I didn't really know what much I could do in that round. I was basically sitting on my hands for the most of it. I was constantly trying to ring alarm bells trying to "raise" the heat and escalate the situation so Security can actually play the game - unfortunately, I can't really ask Sec to go guns blazing since it was up to the HoS' jurisdiction. So I was just stuck with saying "The Idris Reclamators are doing REALLY FUCKED UP SHIT we need to do SOMETHING", and "I'm in charge of the ship's finances, this isn't adding up".

It wasn't until the Assistant flat out had to succumb and die that I could go "HOLY SHIT THEY KILLED A MAN ESCALATE NOW!!!"

Basically, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, because I don't think there was really much I could do during that round. the HoS was already talking to the Reclamators, and the Captain was *just* coming back from ferrying people on the shuttle. I didn't particularly want to muscle in on anything to avoid overstepping my bounds as a XO.