Kaz Martell's Head of Staff Application

[KazMartell]

BYOND key: KazMartell

Character names: Kaz Martell

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How long have you been playing on Aurora?: Off and on for about 2-3 weeks, and for a few weeks about six months ago?

Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?: I've noticed there's not always enough Heads to cover each department. I, and Kaz, have had a lot of experience as Head of Personnel and as Captain, mostly on the NSS Horizon.

Why did you come to Aurora?: My first foray onto the Aurora was in search of better RP, when the Horizon was hitting it's rough death. Since starting to play SS13 again, the Aurora seems like the best RP server around.

Have you read the BS12 wiki on the head roles you plan on playing?: I usually keep the Wiki open on my other monitor for quick reference pertaining to any job I perform. That said, I've also read over it a few times and have a fairly good understanding of what is and isn't okay.

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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:

Roleplaying is defined by playing the role of another person. In this context, I am playing the roll of Kaz Martell, Captain/Head of Personnel of the NSS [Enter station name here.] This means that I know only what a Captain should know, barring anything he may have picked up from his past before there. This also means that he has expectations from what he expects from others.

So to Roleplay is to interact with other people, who are in turn playing the role of someone else. One of the more important aspects of Roleplaying, for me, is being sure to keep the line between character and player well and truly uncrossed. Out of Character knowledge, metagaming, and other such instances, can utterly break a game's entertainment value if one party is operating under the assumption that such things are okay, while the other is entirely immersed.

It's the immersion into the universe of SS13 that should be key. I bring my own things with me wherever I go, but the core concepts- being a member of NanoTrasen, operating as a supposedly competent Head of Staff on a highly valuable research station- mean that a high degree of respect for the source material is necessary.

Additional Statements:

Firstly I'd like to further elaborate that I try very hard to ensure that I keep any meta knowledge to a minimum. I've been playing the game for some years now, and so most of the surprises of the game are far past me. That said, I know that the most important reason to play the game is to have fun- and it's an Antagonist's role to bring excitement to a round. As such, I know that even as the Captain, my IC knowledge per-round needs to be based on facts encountered in the round. A teleporting individual is going to be assumed to have a hand teleporter, or some similar derivative. Cult happenings will be investigated properly, not assumed to be a threat out the door. Etc.

I'd also like to say that, in my previous experience as Captain, I try very hard to ensure that I act precisely as the Captain of a ship would; namely, I don't take 'off' time in the Bar unless it's an exceedingly slow shift, I don't assume direct control of any situation unless the relevant head is not available, and I leave the other departments to their own devices for the most part.

What I do do as Captain is make departmental inspections, keep an ear and an eye out for any issues that happen to stumble my way, and deal with any situations that look like they may get out of hand. If the Singularity is about to hit level 5, I'll throw on some Mesons and go shut the Particle Accelerator off, but if I'm getting reports that there's a problem with the engine I'll just sic the CE on it. Etc.

Kaz as a person only has knowledge of Civilian affairs, Security matters, and basic Engine maintenance. He doesn't know pretty much anything about Medical, or much about Science, other than that we need results from it.

Similarly as Head of Personnel, I'm usually going to be in my office and making sure the Service and Supply departments are keeping up with workload. As HoP I may take over as Quartermaster, if there is none, and of course Temporary Captaincy if the need arises, but other than that I stick to my department except in the most drastic situations.

I hope this is good enough! I know I'm not a big player on the server and, character-wise, tend to keep to myself, but I roleplay almost all the time with D&D, Warhammer 40k, and a couple other systems, so it's kind of a passion.

If not no worries, I'll still be around. I enjoy non-head positions more often than not, because it's a higher chance of getting to play an Antagonist (and less responsibilities), but sometimes it seems like we need more good heads.

What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame?:

For me the OOC purpose of the Heads of Staff is to ensure that the game can continue running without having to resort to breaking character. For instance, if there are no Engineers, the Head of Personnel can give someone who has knowledge access rather than make everyone hack through doors.

More importantly it gives the round a purpose to have the Heads of Staff on hand to dish out objectives and expectations. While the role of the Antagonist is undoubtedly more important to provide activity for a round, the Heads are the ones who should be taking charge of the situations and delegating tasks so that everyone is included, or at least as included as possible.

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

It seems to me like being Whitelisted- especially for a role such as Captain- means taking things seriously. Respect peoples' characters, but don't let them just walk all over yours. It also means that the Whitelisted player needs to respect the potential power they have in their hands, and make sure not to abuse it. I would expect a more strict adherence to the rules, especially the roleplaying rules.

Another very important aspect is having the authority to control how someone else spends their round, to an extent- as Captain especially, if someone is not performing their job, it's important to go through the proper channels to ensure they either do what's necessary for the round, or get put in a position to make sure things go more smoothly.

But just demoting someone isn't exactly fun for the player- if the player themselves aren't being personally antagonistic, and it's just the character, forcing them into a position where they won't have as much fun means having to make a choice, ICly as much as OOCly, what to do. For instance- permanent brigging should only occur if the player will have company, or else it should be handled differently, such as by Cyborgification or a 'house arrest' style situation, where applicable.

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

Character name:Kaz Martell

Character age:42

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

Kaz Martell is from the Nalin Rim, a section of Human-controlled planets roughly Spinward-Trailing of Earth. While there's little of great value out there, it's an unfortunate matter of fact that the area has seen a great deal of internal conflict. Raised amidst this, Kaz spent many of his early years performing minor labor, and eventually joined one of the local militaries for four years.

NanoTrasen started coming into the area around the time Kaz had served his term. In his mid twenties, and having lost most of his family to the ongoing strife, he elected to jump onto the NT Bandwagon for the hope of a better life.

He got this, for the most part. Predominantly serving in Civilian sectors- he had grown an aversion to hostilities- Kaz spent over ten years performing as a bartender, cargohand, Quatermaster, and moved to Engineering for a brief stint before eventually moving back to the Civilian department and applying for Head of Personnel on his current posting- the NSS Horizon.

From there he worked diligently, occasionally rising to take up Captaincy, but for the most part remained under the radar.

What do you like about this character?:

Kaz is my go-to character these days. He's dutiful and knows when the time to get serious is- but he's also got it in him to joke around. He's very formal while on duty, and more often than not, off duty as well. To, with that said, I like playing him because I get to be sociable while still maintaining an air of competency- which I try to match with actual capabilities, as well.

What do you dislike about this character?:

Because of the fact that Kaz is usually focused on completing his job, he doesn't usually have much time to be social- which is an unfortunate fact about a lot of my existing characters, save a couple who I haven't introduced yet. He also doesn't work well if he's not in a position to be useful, and can be frustrating to play in such instances.

What do you think makes this character fit to be a head of staff?:

He follows orders and has a good enough head on his shoulders to know when he should delegate tasks or take them over himself. That said, he's not blind to orders- unless he's Captain or otherwise Loyalty Implanted, receiving a command from NT to, say, kill a Crewmate, will result in his working towards detaining the individual, if that, but not looking to just kill them because he's told to. He'll investigate matters that he feels are for the well being of the crew.

 

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Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions.

How would you rate your own roleplaying?: I like to think I'm a good roleplayer. I follow the guidelines and work hard to make sure that I don't overstep my boundaries, as far as what kind of information I should have IC versus what I know OOC. As a Head of Staff I also work very hard to make sure that my decisions are fair, and, more importantly, keep the round as entertaining as possible for as many people as possible- all of us are here to have fun, first and foremost.

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Extra notes:

I hope that's more fitting! Please let me know if anything is amiss or lacking.

Edited October 14, 2015 by Guest

[Killerhurtz]

I think I remember the Horizon. Good place that was.

Anyhow - again, I'm 90% certain there was supposed to be a sheet here. Please don't cut out fields from the forms.

Also, I feel like your "what is roleplay about" section was copy-pasted from somewhere, it feels very cookie-cutter.

Furthermore, it feels like you're doing it "because the server needs it" and not because you have something to contribute - and all of this is very vague.

You're eager, I'll give you that - two headlists applications at once. And you're literate, and you don't seem to have bad intentions. While I haven't seen you roleplay, I'm not going to disapprove yet - but seriously, for your own good, redo both of your applications and don't cut out sections. I can see some potential - but I'm 90% certain you're not going to be approved if you don't have a set plan in mind. This IS a heavy-RP server.

[KazMartell]

Again I failed to copy the entire sheet, for which I apologize.

And I know my description of 'What is Roleplaying' sounds kind of generic. I assure you that I didn't copy it from somewhere though!

Also, it's only partially because the server needs folks for Head positions, I do think I'm fully capable (and more than willing) to handle the role of Head as well.

I will finish the sheet up and let you know when that's done, so so sorry again.

[KazMartell]

Alright, edited that one too. Hope it looks alright.

[Killerhurtz]

Yep, looks alright. Haven't played with you, but your sheet checks out - I'm giving my approval.

[Aqy]

Application Denied. However, please don't let this discourage you from applying in the future. If you'd like to know the reasons behind this, please PM both Aqy and TishinaStalker. It's recommended you contact us, and allow us to offer explanations and hopefully help you in learning from the reasons for this denial before putting in another application.