[Accepted] Lord_Balkara's IPC application

[LordBalkara]

BYOND Key: Lord_Balkara

Character Names: I have quite a few, but the most well-known are probably Matthew Rayburn, BADA BING, BOB-OS, and Damian Alliman

Species you are applying to play: IPC

What color do you plan on making your first alien character (Dionaea & IPCs exempt): N/A

Have you read our lore section's page on this species?: Yes

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Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions in a paragraph format. One paragraph minimum per question

Why do you wish to play this specific race:

Well, to be completely honest, partially because I'm curious what playing as an IPC is like. But also because I've had a few interesting char ideas, and I think it would be nice to try them out. Another reason is that it's much more simpler to RP as than other races, since I've already RPed a few synthetics.

Identify what makes role-playing this species different than role-playing a Human:

Well, the character may not be sentient, or more intelligent than any borg for that matter. Another way is that the character may not feel pain, so screaming in pain isn't always the go to reaction to pain, and a simple, bland statement like "It appears I am injured" may be more apt. It's also worth taking into account the stigma around synthetics, as many people look down on them.

 

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Character Name: Helper 593

Please provide a short backstory for this character, approximately 2 paragraphs

The Helper line of IPCs was pretty much always obsolete. The only reason it was even sold was as a lower cost budget version of a regular IPC.

So, when a beaten down Helper unit was simply discarded and left to be scrapped, no one would have really cared. However, someone working at the landfill noticed it, and upon closer inspection, found it may have even been fixable. He talked to his boss about it, and, for what was practically peanuts, was allowed to buy it and take it home.

Cleaning it out, and using the extranet as a guide, was able to replace most of the damaged parts using cheap ones he bought online. Over time, he felt a sort of bond with the IPC, the same bond many people felt with a nice car they work on. Finally, one day, the time had come. He pressed an activation button on the posibrain, put it back in the Helper's head, closed it up, and waited. Slowly, the lights on it's face flickered, and then came on. It looked at him and said "What is your name, Master?". He was filled with glee to find that his project had borne fruit. He was even more filled with glee when he found out that a Helper unit could download information from the internet, and could use this information to apply for a job. He is now a wealthy man, as his Helper now works at an NT facility, providing money for him.

What do you like about this character?

I feel like it gives me a good backdrop to play an IPC that isn't exactly "sentient", and isn't necessarily "free" either, as I feel most people make a free sentient IPC. The only thing I'm really worried about is a garbage man replacing broken parts in an IPC, but if it's too much of an issue I could always find some other excuse, like a company that rents out IPCs to other companies as "employees".

How would you rate your role-playing ability?

I have issues with it sometimes, but I always listen to criticism and try to apply it to how I role play.

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Notes:

Edited December 3, 2017 by Guest

[Ian The Corgi]

I dont know a whole lot about IPCs, but I like this app.

[AllyBearsley]

First thing: Internet should be Extranet for sake of fitting in with lore. Not a major thing, it's just in the Auroraverse the Skrell made the extranet which is like the internet but in space and bigger. I think.

Your characters names are just that to me, names. I've seen them on the manifest and around a few times, but I can't say I've interacted with them. Now with my sporadic playtime and not always being on the ball when meeting new people, I can't blame you at all. However, I actually kind of like the "I have interesting" ideas bit to your answer there. It shows you've put some thought ahead of time and means these characters will be more personalized.

As for the backstory. I don't, dislike it. I actually quite like it. Some junker finds a junk bot and takes a good while to fix it up. I would like to hear, how long exactly it took him to fix up this IPC, and more of a reason why a company would be intentionally making IPC models that were basically junk at launch. Was the company just not well off, looking to make a profit however they could? Had they been hit by other big names in the industry? Did the company's CEO spend all the money on space drugs and hookers meaning the rest of the company had to work with scraps?

I'd honestly love to see the backstory expanded more. Especially since I feel it'd take a good long while for someone not working on some form of robotics degree to fix up and get an IPC working, even with the help of the extranet. Unless it wasn't really that banged up.

[LordBalkara]

I actually quite like it. Some junker finds a junk bot and takes a good while to fix it up. I would like to hear, how long exactly it took him to fix up this IPC, and more of a reason why a company would be intentionally making IPC models that were basically junk at launch. Was the company just not well off, looking to make a profit however they could? Had they been hit by other big names in the industry? Did the company's CEO spend all the money on space drugs and hookers meaning the rest of the company had to work with scraps?

As he was inexperienced, it likely took the man several years to fix up the IPC.

As for why the company was making junk IPCs that's because they were intended as very cheap IPCs that could be bought in bulk. Why spend money on an expensive borg, or a hi-tech IPC, when you can buy 500 cheap Helpers? So, it's not really a high end product, but more of one of those brands you buy because you know it's junk, and it's cheap junk at that.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Hello! I am sorry for the delay.

You have a good character design and I'm glad to see an IPC that acts as an actual indentured servant, which IPC's remain as within our setting. Your concern for the junker is something I can be okay with - the field of robotics is filled with endless numbers of indie robotics companies starting up and going bust all the time, so it's not entirely unreasonable that someone would find a discarded IPC that they would be able to rebuild. What makes it okay for me is Helper is accepted as being a cheap, not-so-sentient IPC. If he was a top of the line model I would have called foul, but you have made it very reasonable.

Application accepted.