CatsinHD Posted July 5 Posted July 5 Ckey/BYOND Username: CatsinHD Position Being Applied For: (Wiki Maintainer, Lore Developer, Deputy Lore developer): Tajara Lore Writer Have you read the Lore Team Rules and Regulations wiki page? Yes Past Experiences/Knowledge: The bulk of my experience comes from small personal/university projects and CCIA. Most of my writing is technically oriented, given both my education in engineering and CCIA’s presence as a corporate-RP entity. However, I have done plenty of creative writing for characters, brainstorming, etc. Obviously, there is my current role as Tajara Lore Deputy, however due to unfortunate timing, much of that work was proof-reading/reviewing the final changes of the Gender Overhaul for the species. All total: 2 years in Wiki Maint team 2 years in CCIA 1 month Taj Lore Deputy Examples of Past Work: FTC Expansion present in Lore Deputy application, not canonized Guide to Faxes Numerous Regulations and SoP changes SCC Bulletins (Not all, but most) 1. A particular section of Tajara Lore that you think should be expanded upon, alongside your reasons for it; what you think should be removed, and expand your reasons for that too. To introduce new ideas, I won’t be retreading my proposed FTC expansion from my Deputy application, however if you want to read it, you can find it here. The main area I see room for expansion (and arcs) is Tajara in space. There is well developed lore on the military capabilities and some in-system activities that occur, however this ends very starkly at the edge of the S’rendmarr system. While thematically it is reasonable to see most of the focus of arcs and development directed towards Adhomai, it leaves uncaptured potential with space exploration, resource exploitation, and colonization. Through the introduction of the People’s Kosmonautical Survey Corp (PKSC), I would utilize the PRA as a vessel to address this, and to open new background opportunities for characters on the Horizon. This organization would take over the control of the Hadiist survey ships already present, as well as expand on Hadiist efforts to explore the regional space around Adhomai and Hro’zamal for resources and potential colonies. While considered a branch of the Kosmostrelki, it is absolved of military duties and expectations unless elevated in war. The corps handles many aspects of space travel for Tajara, filling the role of system traffic controller, relay tender, and other essential but often thankless duties. In many ways, the PKSC is seen as an easy out for Kosmostrelks wanting to exit service prior to their enlistment contracts expiring. The arguably easier workload and safer workspace has earned itself the reputation as a veteran’s training camp for civilian life. This goes further, as the PRA and NanoTrasen’s relationship continues to deepen, agreements between the two entities have led to joint training and survey missions in the Human Frontier and Badlands. The partnership has led to a higher rate of employment for former Kosmostrelks leaving the PKSC in a variety of positions within the phoron company, including as NT contractors across the SCC. 2. Do you have a long-term vision for what direction you want to take Tajara? Yes. I would see a shift away from Adhomai and towards interstellar efforts. The total vision is broken down into Fracturing, Unification, and Expansion. At a broad level, the Cold War must end eventually. Both to ensure chronological consistency, but also to allow Tajaran lore to look beyond the boundaries of Adhomai itself. The end goal, ultimately, is to achieve an outward focus to lore that allows more interaction with players on the Horizon and more collaboration with other lore teams. While the focus on Adhomai is and has been thematically reasonable, it has begun to come at the cost of connection with characters on the Horizon. Beginning to treat Adhomai as many other homeworlds are, an important piece of lore but not the main focus, allows for growth in new topics and brings in a breath of fresh air into future development. This will, naturally, require an arc, which is broadly defined below. Fracturing. Adhomai is already fractured, but to unify it the remaining states must break down more. The herald of this is the death of the old-guard. One has already fallen, that being King Azunja, but the NKA was never in a position to stalemate the planet (and had a positive transition of power). However, the death of Nated and the (public) death of Hadii are the last remaining obstacles to chaos and power grabs. This period is short, but chaotic for most nations. The entire point of the fracturing of Adhoma is to break down the causes of stalemate. The DPRA is in its current state due to Nated and Harrlala keeping an uneasy balance. The PRA has a single unifying leader keeping the power hungry cabinet at bay. The NKA, ironically, is already on a path to chaos whether it knows it or not. These changes allow the conflict to naturally occur, and progress past the last vestiges of the pre-revolution rulers. Unification. The final war to end the Cold War. It is during this time that Adhomai will be at its lowest point (again) as the three nations, fractured as they are, attempt to unify themselves and Adhomai as a whole. The end goal is one of the nations to win over the others. Whether this is as a result of nuclear weapons, foreign governmental assistance, or corporate aid will vary based on discussions with other lore teams. Unifying Adhomai is a requirement. It is difficult to logically justify the focus of outward expansion when the planet itself isn’t in a unified state, and in such a way that the home system is under multiple claims all vying for control. In unification, the varied backgrounds and concepts can remain, but it allows a better foundation for moving beyond just Adhomai, and hopefully allows more opportunities to bring in lore that interacts directly with characters on the ship. Expansion. While Adhomai has re-unified, it is still very very divided. In truth, the end result is a facade of a struggling central government or a powerless de-centralized government. In either case, the focal point is, temporarily, the rebuilding and reorganization of power across the planet. Unrest, riots, and guerilla activities become the norm until peace can be slowly and painfully restored. However, this is the expansion period. Adhomai is injured, and survival regardless of the state of the home planet relies on resources on and off of Adhomai. Therefore, much like how Humans pushed into space when Earth was dying, Tajara push towards space to grasp for a safety net planet, find resources to fuel the rebuilding effort, and find a foothold to stay secure in the galactic power structure. While the planet remains uneasy and in turmoil, the unified government will keep a grip. For the foreseeable future, the wars are over. Adhomai is united. Expansion is, in essence, the end goal. There are multiple avenues for development in reaching this point, whether it is exploring the southern spur, human frontier, or arcs related to the turmoil on Adhomai. Additionally, it allows for more interaction with other lore teams given Adhomai would be looking out, which may prove to be a problem or opportunity for the local powers. 3. Is there anything regarding Tajara lore that you'd really like to remove or heavily rework, but it's so ingrained in the lore to the point where it'd be challenging to do in a way that's satisfactory? Tajaran naming has always felt like a mixed bag. While many of the traditional names have felt fitting (if not unwieldy without nicknames), the “humanized” naming conventions have been confusing at times, and errs away from what could be a more unique aspect of Tajara. However, the difficulties lie in both how to develop names, and how to address this to the wider server. Names are, by intention, hard to change. On a mass scale, it is nigh impossible. It is an aspect that I want to look into and try to consider some more concrete solutions or, at the very least, formulate a method to create a traditional Tajaran name without (as much) guess work. Another aspect to this are the names of certain key lore items, such as S’rendarr. Many of these names were either inspired by or taken directly from the Elder Scrolls series. From what I gather, this was a choice long ago, and something that has been stuck with Tajaran lore for a long time. While easier to address in terms of logistics, as it doesn’t require admins or player cooperation (excluding PRs for in-game items), it does touch many aspects of Tajaran lore making it difficult to change in a substantial way. 4. What do you think are your strongest and weakest attributes in terms of working on a team, and why? My strongest attribute, I believe, is collaboration. I have always found benefit in the process of having other review works whether it is for proof-reading, or to ensure the concepts within are solid. It is a two-way street. As much as I prefer my own ideas and writings to form from collaborative brainstorming and review, doing the same in return to others I work with (when desired) is something I ensure I put effort into. One of the greatest weaknesses I will claim is self-assessment. This applies to more than just my writing, but also assessing (ironically) strengths and weaknesses. The practical effect is that my writing can, at times, be drawn on too long. Without something or someone to check things over and give a thumbs up, I tend to keep iterating. 5. Tajara writer is a position that comes with two deputy writers under them on the team. It is the writer's job to manage their team, in addition to their duties of moderating the WL. Given that, what skills do you have that you think will assist you in this? On the opposite end, what do you believe is your weakest link regarding management and moderation? I have worked in many teams, whether as a team member or team coordinator/leader. One of the skills I have been working on honing and utilizing is the process of identifying tasks, the steps to achieve those tasks, and how to best delegate these tasks. To this extent, I would point to my job IRL as a supervisor (at Starbucks. Laugh now), but take that as you will. Beyond that, I do attempt to communicate as often as possible, as could likely be noted with my time in CCIA. I think one item that should be mentioned are Tajaran WL applications. There has been a noticeable reputation for the application process that has built up over the years, deserved or otherwise, that it requires intense knowledge of minute lore, and can be a chore to address in a single application. It has become something which to me has a tendency to push people away from applying, or worrying too much over details that are unnecessary. For that reason, I want to encourage the team as a whole, and myself, to remain open about those things, and drill down what is essential for a WL, and keep our judgement to that criteria. My primary weakness is somewhat tied to communication. I can, at times, fail to make my point or ideas clear. Whether that is through overcommunication, or simply not wording my communications properly. I do attempt to clarify this ASAP, but that varies case by case. In terms of moderation, I am very aware that I err towards softer approaches to issues. This often ends up in the case of giving too many warnings before finally making an escalated action when it was warranted much sooner. I have been working to mind my tendencies, and look over my plans/writing before I send them. If I have time to, sourcing another set of eyes to see if I’m getting my point across or if I’m softballing WL moderation actions. Additional Comments: 6
Valentine Posted July 5 Posted July 5 What can I say that I haven't on Catsin's lore dep app? They've always been a very lore-focused individual whom I've had the good fortune to roleplay with and in no small part contributed to my desire over the last year and a half to continue playing Tajara. What caught my attention on this application was their addressing of the current status quo on Adhomai and the incipient societal upheaval that is destined for the planet. It was shrewd to point out that TajLore has been almost completely focused on Adhomai, and I'd be excited to see how the lore develops if it turns towards resolving the longstanding tripartite cold war narrative there and placing more focus on what Tajara can do beyond S'rand'marr. Catsin is also just a reasonable individual overall, in terms of approachability. They've always been level-headed in pretty much everything I've seen them do. This is an easy +1 from me. 1
Triogenix Posted July 11 Posted July 11 (edited) Hi! Thank you for applying. I have a few questions I wanted to throw your way. 1. Tajara Lore deeply explores difficult content and themes at a level and regularity no other species matches - things like eugenics, homophobia, racism, and similar difficult subjects - and this is brought up at least once a month. I didn't see this addressed in your application, so I wanted to ask your thoughts on it here; do you see yourself just leaving it as is? Do you think it should be changed? Why or why not? 2. As a result of the above, the Tajara whitelist can be one of the trickier ones to moderate when it comes to a player's conduct. Where do you see yourself drawing the line between something that is an OOC WL issue (that may result in a WL strip at worst), and something that is an OOC player issue (that may result in said player being removed from our community)? This question is impossible to answer with specifics, and sometimes it is out of your hands, but I'm looking for a general idea. 3. Lastly, when it comes to the phoron rework and Tajara, there are difficulties presented by the nature of their factions; one large difficulty being that, for lack of a better term, Tajara are "backwards" or underdeveloped societies that exist within a setting far more advanced than them. In general, explain how you think that difficulty can be worked around to make the scarcity still relevant to Tajara society and characters? (No more than two paragraphs please). That's all - remember there are no wrong answers - and if you have any questions or want clarification on what exactly I'm asking, my DMs are always open. I look forward to seeing your answers! Edited July 11 by Triogenix
CatsinHD Posted July 11 Author Posted July 11 37 minutes ago, Triogenix said: 1. Tajara Lore deeply explores difficult content and themes at a level and regularity no other species matches - things like eugenics, homophobia, racism, and similar difficult subjects - and this is brought up at least once a month. I didn't see this addressed in your application, so I wanted to ask your thoughts on it here; do you see yourself just leaving it as is? Do you think it should be changed? Why or why not? I do believe dark topics have a place in lore, just like any other media. The issues primarily arise when said lore is written in a way that allows or encourages OOC conflict, written in an inflammatory way, or not integrated in a satisfying* way. Eugenics, for instance, has become a major part of Tajaran history. It is very dark, but doesn't encourage OOC conflict, and has become one of the most integrated parts of Tajara lore. On the other side, gender and sexuality before the gender update was loosely integrated (pretty much a generic "they're conservative ergo hate LGBT") and encouraged too much OOC conflict, bad faith or otherwise. I am more than willing to change lore if it shows signs of being a problem up to and including removing the lore altogether. *Satisfying in this context meaning in-line with existing lore, without gaps or friction with other writing, and logically sound. 52 minutes ago, Triogenix said: 2. As a result of the above, the Tajara whitelist can be one of the trickier ones to moderate when it comes to a player's conduct. Where do you see yourself drawing the line between something that is an OOC WL issue (that may result in a WL strip at worst), and something that is an OOC player issue (that may result in said player being removed from our community)? This question is impossible to answer with specifics, and sometimes it is out of your hands, but I'm looking for a general idea. For me, it boils down to frequency, scale, and/or context. It's hard to place my thoughts into words, in all honesty. The simplest way to put it is whether it causes discomfort to all involved. Misunderstanding/mistreating lore is a WL issue and should rarely cause much discomfort. However, once problematic behavior becomes frequent, egregious, or inappropriate regardless of context, it is an admin issue. Additionally, this is assuming an IC environment. OOC environments, such as on the maincord, become primarily admin issues. 1 hour ago, Triogenix said: 3. Lastly, when it comes to the phoron rework and Tajara, there are difficulties presented by the nature of their factions; one large difficulty being that, for lack of a better term, Tajara are "backwards" or underdeveloped societies that exist within a setting far more advanced than them. In general, explain how you think that difficulty can be worked around to make the scarcity still relevant to Tajara society and characters? (No more than two paragraphs please). The vast majority of phoron-related issues end up becoming a top-down approach. For instance, trade. Adhomai is reliant on trade to maintain their economic presence. As the rest of the Spur's economy declines and trade becomes harder and harder, so too will the Adhomian economy stagnate. The nations' ever-increasing reliance on megacorporations only deepens the effects of phoron on the economy. In essence, the nations are kneecapped. No option is a good option, and this will naturally fall onto the workers. Additionally, it places a glass ceiling on Adhomai's progress. They cannot rise above the level of technology where phoron is required simply due to being the last in line for the phoron soup line. So, for the foreseeable future, they cannot achieve modern technology found across the spur. To experience such, you either must step into the world of phoron dependency or be a part of the few elites permitted to use such technologies on Adhomai itself.
Triogenix Posted July 12 Posted July 12 Kermit and I have decided to accept this application. Congratulations!
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