Huivn's Head Whitelist Application

[Huivn]

BYOND key: Huivn

Character names: Jack Thomas

---

---

How long have you been playing on Aurora?: A few months on and off.

Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?: Because I play a damn good CMO, and I've seen a distinct lack of leaders centered around medbay when I'm on.

Why did you come to Aurora?:Because why not? I think the better question is why I stayed. The answer to that is because of the decent RP without everyone being an asshole about muh arpee all the time.

Have you read the BS12 wiki on the head roles you plan on playing?: Yes, of course.

---

---

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

Give a definition of what you think roleplay is, and should be about: Well, roleplay is pretty much acting for shits and giggles. Playing a role and character in a setting for the sheer fun of doing it, whether in a game like this, or in real life. As for what it should be about, well that should be obvious. It's about having fun with other people in a fantastical setting. Whether you take the noble route and take it upon yourself to ensure that other people are having fun, or the more selfish route, and only think of your own fun, it's all about having fun.

What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame?: ...This question broke my brain. The OOC, which is real-life, purpose of a head of staff is, ingame, which is fantasy. I suppose to train new players, and to coordinate the department so that everyone knows what they should be doing, cutting down on congestion and confusion, thus making the game more fun for everyone. Also, to be a superhero of the department on low-pop rounds. For example; a CE who can set up any type of engine, repair breaches, lay wiring, configure atmos, build new areas of the station, renovate old ones, etc.

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

---

---

Whitelisted players don't have any responsibility to other players beyond what they already brought to the table in the first place. If they were acting a certain way before getting whitelisted, and then got whitelisted, why should they act any other kind of way? It's ludicrous to think that just because someone gets on a list of trusted players, that they should act any other way than they've been acting the whole time. If they have been acting in a matter not befitting people placed on the list, then they should not be placed on the list. It's really that simple.

Please pick one of your characters for this section, and provide well articulated responses to the following questions.

Character name: Jack Thomas

Character age: 55

Please provide a short biography of this character (approx 2 paragraphs):

Jack was born on February 2nd 2417 in Sector 23 on Mars as the bastard son of a waitress. Jack's childhood was a hard one, as his mother drank up nearly all the money she made, and beat him mercilessly, as he reminded her of the man who broke her heart. Eventually Jack got tired of having no food, and getting beaten all day, and left home at the age of 10. After surviving on the streets for few weeks, he was picked up by a street gang calling themselves the Sector 23 Meteors. Jack ran with the Meteors for 6 years before they got into a gang war with the Red Men, during which, Jack was injured by an explosion. During his recovery, Jack thought a lot about where he was going with the Meteors, and decided that he was unsatisfied. So, he left just as the gang was falling to the Red Men.

Jack found life outside the Meteors hard. He had no skills to speak of besides his street smarts and fighting skills, neither of which he wanted to have to use anymore if he could help it. So he decided to learn a trade, and got a job at Nathan's Bar and Grill as a cook. Jack enjoyed his new life not having to dodge bullets and constantly watch his back for rival gang members, and the owner even convinced him to work the bar and gain more useful skills. This life, as it turned out, didn't fulfill Jack, so while working at Nathan's he attended university to get a chemistry certification, and graduated top of his class, due to having a headstart from his already having learned the basics while in the gang. He then worked as a chemist for the Sector 23 General Hospital. But Jack saw the doctors, and as he watched them, saving people, he knew more and more that it was what he wanted to do. So he attended university once more to get a PhD in medicine. Five more years and jack was 35, but he was still unsatisfied. He thought pracicing medicine wuld make him happy, but what he learned he really wanted to do was surgery. So, he went back to university, and got another PhD in Surgical Practice. Ten more years passed and Jack was 55. He truly enjoyed the life he had carved out for himself on Mars, but he felt it was time for a change. Thankfully, he had made some friends at university, and they helped him get a lucrative spot on a research station in some far off area of the charted galaxy.

What do you like about this character?: His spontaneity. It keeps things fun and interesting

What do you dislike about this character?: His inability to back down from a challenge. Particularly a violent challenge, which tends to land him in trouble, or worse, a cloning pod.

What do you think makes this character fit to be a head of staff?: He is skilled in most areas of medbay, with chemistry as a specialty. Also, his personality makes people under his command want to follow him. People often like his methods, and direct, but relaxed attitude.

 

---

---

Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions.

How would you rate your own roleplaying?:Decent. I've been roleplaying for many years over many platforms and communities. Yet I still cannot type quickly without looking at the keyboard. And so I sometimes miss things that would have changed my response.

---

---

Extra notes:

Edited October 6, 2015 by Guest

[Killerhurtz]

Okay. I've never played with this player, but just based on the application alone, I say that they're not Head material.

Here is a list of things that I find are wrong for a Head:

 

Because I play a damn good CMO

According to who? I mean - since you're not whitelisted, it's most likely not according to anyone here. For all we know, you could be the most terrible.

 

Roleplay is pretty much acting for shits and giggles

I can interpret that in two ways, and one of these ways could go very, VERY wrong.

-The whole segment on the purpose of a Head. But most specifically, this:

Also, to be a superhero of the department

This is NOT what a Head is for, and I'm not sure I like what could happen with a Head that has that mentality.

 

Whitelisted players don't have any responsibility to other players beyond what they already brought to the table

I'm not even going to comment.

-Character is generic, "rough childhood and adulthood" character which is cited to have, in the 'things not liked' section a violence problem - which, while I'm not an expert, would certainly come up in the psychological evaluation that Heads, IC, are to take. (Unless it's something we've forgone/that I'm imagining remembering?)

-On top of the above, this:

Jack decided that after all this time, he wanted a change of scenery. He wanted to see what one of these state of the art space stations was like.

To me, this implies that the player is too new to Aurora to know the rudiments of the lore. "Oh, I'm just going to start working at this high-tech secure research station."

 

Yet I still cannot type quickly without looking at the keyboard

How do you expect to fill emergency medical roles, much less CMO, if you have to look at your keyboard to type? (Personal gripe of mine - I might be wrong

On the flipside, there ARE some redeeming points:

-One of the best answers I've seen for the reason of his presence in Aurora.

-Good grammar and punctuation, and while pretty damn pompous and a bit sassy, generally seems like a non-bad player.

But still, overall I have a bad feeling about this.

[Huivn]

Alright, let me clear some things up

 

According to who?

 

I mean, I can give references to other people who will also tell you I'm skilled...And the person who plays the Akenzua family might even be one of them. But besides them; Jtdrow, Yithani, BDPuffy420, Cirra, Kaedwuff, pretty much anyone who played on Unbound Travels and got injured frequently, or admins who watched medbay shenanigans.

 

I can interpret that in two ways

 

I enjoy acting, and am aware that the enjoyment of it is a shared experience. Being a dick and fucking up the whole thing might be fun for some people, but I actually have a conscious

 

This is NOT what a Head is for

 

So a head is not supposed to be skilled in every area of their department? Because that's what I meant, and I thought I expressed that fairly well in the next sentence. They can do any and every job in their department if they need to.

 

I'm not even going to comment.

 

But it's true. If you get whitelisted, you should continue to show the same behavior that got you whitelisted. If you want to stop, that's your business, knowing full-well that it will most likely end with you being taken off the list.

 

Character is generic

 

Came up with that bio on the spot. I can be more in-depth about his backstory, explaining how he became devoted to his god, who the Meteors and Red Men are, and what they're about, why the gang war happened, the events leading to Jack's birth, all that good stuff. But I felt that the two paragraph limit was only enough to get in the basics.

 

violence problem - which, while I'm not an expert, would certainly come up in the psychological evaluation

 

He isn't overly violent, but he will respond to violent challenges. He doesn't go around abusing his staff, or alpha dogging them, but he does feel he needs to protect them, and all of medbay. (With his CMO hat anyway.)

 

Oh, I'm just going to start working at this high-tech secure research station.

 

Again, two-paragraph limit. He did work on a few spaceships before going to the Aurora. I am also very aware that we're on a top-secret frontier spacestation owned by Nanotrasen researching mainly plasma, but many other things besides.

 

How do you expect to fill emergency medical roles, much less CMO, if you have to look at your keyboard to type?

 

You see, the thing about Aurora is that pretty much everyone I've interacted with knew exactly what they should be doing. You can mostly trust your staff not to be fuckwits, and understand what they should be doing. Of course you sometimes have to relay information to them, but that usually doesn't take too long.

[Killerhurtz]

Again, not much internal references. We don't know what "good CMO" to these people are.

Fair enough for the RP.

And no. I know a LOT of Heads that don't know every single job of their department - because IC-wise, it would be just SO MUCH studying for things like Medical and Science. Most Heads specialize in a single role (with general knowledge, sometimes). And furthermore, it's also extremely encouraged for Captains to have the background of a single department. For instance, there's my RD, Sybil, that mains actual research, while being rusty in genetics and robotics, and a bit of hazy on certain specifics of toxins research. And there was a CMO that no longer is on the server - he was the finest surgeon you could get, but don't ask him to do chemistry or he might blow it up, and as a psychiatrist he would make things worse. But still - a Head knowing all of the things is often considered powergaming because of how intensive it is to master all of the roles.

As far as responsibilities though, that maybe the case for other servers - but we wouldn't have our own subforum if it was that simple here, hm?

As for the two paragraphs, it said APPROX. It meant "don't type a single paragraph, but don't do a wall of text". Three or four paragraphs can be fine as far as I know.

And for the violent bit - I understand. The problem is that, as I said, it would come up in the screening process IC. And a character who will respond and escalate like that is not ideal.

I still feel that it should be explained how he got assigned. Favours pulled? Honors? Request?

And finally, I agree with your last paragraph - and that's EXACTLY why Heads shouldn't be superheroes. They're not. They're there to direct their department, not be a single-man department. Otherwise, there would be no motivation to be a normal crewmember is there?

[Huivn]

Unbound Travels was a medium-high RP server. Their standard for a good head was a well-played character with a skillset to warrant them being a head of staff. I can understand that this is a high-RP server, but I feel that my ways would bring quite a bit of fun to the table.

That is a fair point on the studying

I don't see why it can't be that simple.

Still, I wanted to be sure that it was an acceptable length

So a character that will try to defend NT's assets, including the crewmembers, is not ideal. Interesting.

Honestly I'm not sure. As I mentioned, I only really wrote this biography because I had to. I much prefer to Joker it and make up stuff on the spot. In that way, I have covered the basics in my year or so of playing this character over multiple servers.

[Guest]

The back story is a little laconic, but hey. Two paragraph limit. I can dig it. Ganger turned sawbones? Proficient in chemistry ... Sounds like our man was a "chemist," if you follow. Maybe an amateur demolitionist in kind. Might be something to work off of there.

If you want to play the lowpop hero, I'm not gonna rib on that. Dying sucks, and so does spending 20-40 minutes in a body bag because no one knows how the cloner works. So does having to deal with cripplingly broken bones because no one knows how to splint, and they're busy ERPing at the front desk.

So having a somewhat OP CMO makes sense to me from a quality of life standpoint.

My suggestions? Make him older to justify the extra knowledge. Justify the cross training. And explain how he's developed his leadership skills.

Also, take a look at the hiring requirements for a head of staff real quick, and figure out how he managed to get those credentials!

Mars is like space Detroit with a liveable but not breathable atmosphere. It's a pretty fucking cool place to have a character hail from. Maybe after ditching his gang, he made off with their treasury? Making it a bit easier to afford med school on top of punitive loans and serious tutoring costs.

That also leaves him with some seriously embittered enemies, and might result in some awesome spice in an antag round, if someone decides to play one of his gang pals.

Overall though? I like it. +1

Edited October 7, 2015 by Guest

[Code2200]

I have played with Jack Thomas a few times recently and I like his work. His knowledge of chemistry is very helpful, and he is one of the very few chemists that actually do their job. With that said I feel he may attempt to power game a little to much. Having seen the way he sets up the cryogenic tubes was genius though very much overkill. His setup ultimately made the job of MD useless unless someone broke a bone. Now, in his defense he was the only on the med bay staff so in a way I do understand. However, if the cryo type of power gaming was just a fluke to keep the round going and not having an actual doctor on board I will +1 his application. If that is how he likes med bay running I would have to -1. We need to balance med bay by allowing our doctors to actually care for patient and their medical needs. In OOC terms we need to make sure that all players that work in med bay are actually able to play.

[Huivn]

Make him older to justify the extra knowledge. Justify the cross training. And explain how he's developed his leadership skills.

 

Y'know, this is what I like to see. Offering suggestions on how to improve my application, instead of just tearing it down. As for the suggestion itself, it's a good idea. Matter of fact, your post is filled with good ideas for him that I'd like to try implementing, regardless of whether this gets accepted or not.

 

His setup ultimately made the job of MD useless unless someone broke a bone

 

Honestly that mix was just my way of shaking off the cobwebs. I usually don't make it unless it's a higher pop round with few people in medbay. As a matter of fact, it was invented because medbay was often a one man show on Unbound.

[Killerhurtz]

Unbound Travels was a medium-high RP server. Their standard for a good head was a well-played character with a skillset to warrant them being a head of staff. I can understand that this is a high-RP server, but I feel that my ways would bring quite a bit of fun to the table.

That is a fair point on the studying

I don't see why it can't be that simple.

Still, I wanted to be sure that it was an acceptable length

So a character that will try to defend NT's assets, including the crewmembers, is not ideal. Interesting.

Honestly I'm not sure. As I mentioned, I only really wrote this biography because I had to. I much prefer to Joker it and make up stuff on the spot. In that way, I have covered the basics in my year or so of playing this character over multiple servers.

 

I'll let it slide. I remember Unbound Travels, and they do have decent people.

Glad you agree on the studies.

As for the Heads thing, here's quotes from this thread:

The thing with heads of staff is that their duties are, or at least to a degree, skewed. They are not supposed to be God's of their department. They should be expected to know a little about most of the department so they may assist when needed, but their primary duty? Direction. Coordination. Making sure the people who are specialized in their fields are doing their job and doing it right. And, of course, training the new guys.

Most research directors I saw just took it as a 'I'm just an uberscientist with my access ayyyy' instead of sitting in their office, writing discoveries, directing their scientists and making them fill out proper paperwork when needed, etc.

I see this all the time with research directors and new RnD folk.

Almost every RD: "You're telling me you don't know how to make protopistols and borderline traitor weapons within five minutes? ITS SO EASY ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS USE A TOOLBOX, BREAK INTO THE TELECOM, GET THIS THIS THIS. You need to get good and get out of my face, I'm going to go be a pain in the ass for security and give every scientist a protopistol on code green for self defense :^) "

"You're fired."

Eventually the RD just barges in and does everything themselves and firing the new guy in the mean time. Then requesting security come and detain the now fired personal.

That or some fucking lab assistance gets everything to 10

That or a CMO who bitches/threatens to fire the chemist for not making the god drug within 3 minutes of the shift starting

 

It's all good and well to know your departments. But you're part of a team. While I agree with Callie that "know-it-alls" DO legitimately help in low-pop rounds, quality of life wise, it's not entirely realistic, not without having a quite old and impressively educated CMO that borders the allowed age on the server.

And that's perfectly acceptable. At least you seem like you had a bigger story to it.

As for protecting NT assets... it's not that simple. Characters like yours are often more likely to cause damage - simply because of the escalation. This can go from crewmembers being harmed in a scuffle, to antagonists being downright provocated and becoming hellbent on making the station pay. That, and he's a CMO - while his backstory DOES make it acceptable to jump into action, it shouldn't be done lightly - he should understand to let security deal with it.

As for Jokering it up, I understand - it really is fun, but it can make things really cloudy because when I hear that, I mean "I can make up backstories to justify my characters' behavior no matter what". Like - right now, your character is clearly a chemist that happens to know how to handle melee and ranged weapons from what I understand. But with no clear backstory? Oh, your character knows how to drive a mech "Oh yeah, he made a stint in a cargo thing once". Suddenly your character understands how the singulo works "Oh yeah, hijack mission gone wrong, it was learn or die". See where the problem is? It's always a better thing to clearly know what your character can or can't do. I know you want to be a hero - but let's face it, even heroes don't know everything.

I'm sorry if you saw this as "tearing it down" - but I'm not one for chewing words. Though you do seem to be willing to fix things up - and so if you produce a CMO character that does not leave a taste of 'bad things that could happen' - I'll gladly endorse it.

[Huivn]

Almost every RD: "You're telling me you don't know how to make protopistols and borderline traitor weapons within five minutes? ITS SO EASY ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS USE A TOOLBOX, BREAK INTO THE TELECOM, GET THIS THIS THIS. You need to get good and get out of my face, I'm going to go be a pain in the ass for security and give every scientist a protopistol on code green for self defense :^) "

"You're fired."

Eventually the RD just barges in and does everything themselves and firing the new guy in the mean time. Then requesting security come and detain the now fired personal.

That or some fucking lab assistance gets everything to 10

That or a CMO who bitches/threatens to fire the chemist for not making the god drug within 3 minutes of the shift starting

 

See, that's not my way though. I don't freak the fuck out at everyone who doesn't have a clockwork routine set into their head as to what they should do in every role, and how it should be done. Because that's dumb as hell. Because that's the opposite of fun. And I do realize that I should be training people who actually want to learn.

 

As for protecting NT assets... it's not that simple. Characters like yours are often more likely to cause damage - simply because of the escalation. This can go from crewmembers being harmed in a scuffle, to antagonists being downright provocated and becoming hellbent on making the station pay. That, and he's a CMO - while his backstory DOES make it acceptable to jump into action, it shouldn't be done lightly - he should understand to let security deal with it.

 

I see your point now. That's very true, Jack's involvement could escalate it higher, rather than simply neutralizing the threat. And all it would take to set him off would be to threaten medbay, or someone who worked there.

 

As for Jokering it up, I understand - it really is fun, but it can make things really cloudy because when I hear that, I mean "I can make up backstories to justify my characters' behavior no matter what". Like - right now, your character is clearly a chemist that happens to know how to handle melee and ranged weapons from what I understand. But with no clear backstory? Oh, your character knows how to drive a mech "Oh yeah, he made a stint in a cargo thing once". Suddenly your character understands how the singulo works "Oh yeah, hijack mission gone wrong, it was learn or die". See where the problem is? It's always a better thing to clearly know what your character can or can't do. I know you want to be a hero - but let's face it, even heroes don't know everything.

 

Again, that's not my way. I could give you a full, comprehensive list on what he can and cannot do, skill-wise. I know my character's limits, and I stick to them. I'm just terrible at writing backstories.

 

I'm sorry if you saw this as "tearing it down" - but I'm not one for chewing words. Though you do seem to be willing to fix things up - and so if you produce a CMO character that does not leave a taste of 'bad things that could happen' - I'll gladly endorse it.

 

I see that you are trying to be helpful, and I'm sorry for being unnecessarily aggressive. You are right, there are plenty of bad things that could happen, and have happened with, or even because Jack was the CMO. But do you know what? Overall, I have had few complaints. People enjoyed my shenanigans, including the people who were the 'butt of the joke' so to speak.

[Code2200]

His setup ultimately made the job of MD useless unless someone broke a bone

 

Honestly that mix was just my way of shaking off the cobwebs. I usually don't make it unless it's a higher pop round with few people in medbay. As a matter of fact, it was invented because medbay was often a one man show on Unbound.

In that case I hold to my +1

[Killerhurtz]

Know what? You're a perfectly reasonable player. You rubbed me wrong at first, but I think we're more alike than I thought, and you certainly seem like you have a play plan. I'm endorsing.

[Huivn]

Know what? You're a perfectly reasonable player. You rubbed me wrong at first, but I think we're more alike than I thought, and you certainly seem like you have a play plan. I'm endorsing.

 

I'm both surprised and glad. Thank you so much.

[hivefleetchicken]

I don't think I've identified your character anywhere so far, but your forum personality is something I dig. A lot.

I hope you implement it into your character, 'cause you seem like one chill motherfucker.

Anyways, this guy seems like a proficient Chief Meme Officer with the means (and memes) to make medbay functional, where so many of our CMOS can't.

I support him as CMO, and hope to see him in the Dream team soon.

[Huivn]

I'd rather not jump the gun here, but...Oh yes, there will be !!FUN!!

[TishinaStalker]

Application Approved.

 

 

Glory to Aurora.