[Accepted] Ally Bearsley Human Deputy Lore Developer Application

[AllyBearsley]

Ckey/BYOND Username: AllyBearsley (or AllyBear or Andry...)

Position Being Applied For (Species Maintainer, Deputy Lore developer, Wiki Maintainer, Lore Developer): Deputy Lore Developer Humanity

Past Experiences/Knowledge:

This is pretty tough to show because I have done a lot of work for 40k related things and I can absolutely understand that being a major turn off for many people. I mostly did my own little twist on the setting for RPGs I ran. I will admit several of the campaigns crashed, but many others went all the way through. I have not run an RPG in quite some time. I was also a lore writer before for a 40k group long ago. I would rather not name it now since the group is basically a dead meme now; however, I will if asked. The lore I worked with specialized with the Imperial Guard (or the average man army of 40k).

I am also the Wiki Manager, so I have a strong connection with the wiki already. I know how to work it and how to find things, though most of the recent improvements are thanks to my team being very good.

Examples of Past Work:

A lot of this will be links to google drive docs relating to 40k stuff. If that is an issue I am fine with anyone just ignoring the links.

But before that a little blurb I wrote up for the home system my most played character is from:

The Ocasta System I made for my character has 4 orbital bodies. One's a frozen rock that has a Telecomms station on it this is Ocasta I, one is a mineral rich asteroid this is Ocasta II, one is a planet with a "small" city with the only major space port in the system this is Ocasta III, and one is a farming planet that divides one half primarily produces crops and the other side handles cattle this is Ocasta IV. Despite Ocasta IV exporting a lot of fresh produce and meat, the major source of income for Ocasta has always been Ocasta II. Unfortunately for the system Ocasta II is drying up, and due to some issues with the terraformers on Ocasta IV, the system could be in for some hard times.

 

Again, just a little blurb for a system I came up with in the Frontier, just so I had everything made up in case I was asked where my character came from.

My first custom Chapter the Swan Knights:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uL3HJ0XuOnYGrl004IybcfT1HqRQFm25w_8ewjadG_g/edit?usp=sharing

My second custom Chapter the Winged Redeemers:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xySSVuC5HPRR2OxNQKiJdKqu9EfHe2z27p-AH3x3mW4/edit?usp=sharing

A history of the custom setting I used for my games:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pEnD420praATC8Ku59nFdb7_mNgsp6k1NDIiXvv4efY/edit?usp=sharing

Additional Comments: I can understand if anybody saw the 40k links and dreaded giving me a chance for fear I might try to make Aurora more grimdark. I do not want to do that. I just enjoyed a lot of aspects about 40k. The overly done grimdarkness of the setting is only something I enjoy when the setting seems to take it as more of a joke. I do not want Aurora to be more grimdark. I tried to show a lighter side in 40k for most of my writings about it.

I also feel I should say I am just fascinated by humanity in science fiction settings. I love alternate histories for humanity or the made up histories going forward. I love seeing how human society has changed depending on the sci-fi. I love seeing how humans interact with alien species whenever applicable. For a while human lore stagnated, but since Zundy has picked it up humanity has been rolling again and feels relevant once more. I just simply wish to throw my hat in the ring for a chance to help.

Edited January 8, 2018 by Guest

[Azande]

Ally has shown they are capable of writing (which lore developers do), and they already work within/under the Lore Team, serving as head of the wiki maintainers - which goes to show they are capable of working on a team and in tandem with others.

I support this application.

[SeniorScore]

I think Ally has the skill and drive to be able to make humanity continue to be distinct in tandem with Zundy's directions. As well as focusing on potentially overlooked pieces of humanity.

[Zundy]

I'll be preparing some questions for you shortly (I.E in around 9 hours) so watch this space.

[Zundy]

Some questions, please answer them as best as you can:

I'll be expecting regular weekly lore developments and weekly team meetings (likely voiced) via discord. Is this alright with you?

Let's say on your first day on the job I give you free reign to alter any human or corporate lore as you see fit. What would you focus on, change and why?

Let's say you there was an aspect of the lore which you really loved and Jackboot and I wished to remove it or alter it beyond a point that you would accept. After you give us your heartfelt plea we still proceed to remove or alter in a manner that appears unfair to you. How would you react to this and why?

You're working on an aspect of lore development when you unknowingly overstep and alter another species lore. The species lore dev confronts you on discord and begins to aggressively reprimand you beyond your idea of fairness and respect (they're being far too aggressive). Unfortunately I'm not online to offer support, what do you do and why?

I task you and another deputy with an area of lore development, during which you and the other deputy enter a heated debate. Your colleague decides to overrule you and in essence spark an edit war on the wiki and a minor flame war across public lore chat. Jackboot and I are unreachable for whatever reason. How do you deal with this and why?

Whilst a deputy a player you quite like and consider a friend beings to PM you with ideas for lore changes, some of which appear to favour his characters and player friends. What do you do and why?

A player begins to openly and aggressively mock a member of the lore team on public discord channels. They are not being constructive. What do you do and why?

[AllyBearsley]

@Zundy answers are as follow

 

I'll be expecting regular weekly lore developments and weekly team meetings (likely voiced) via discord. Is this alright with you?

 

Yes, and I highly encourage this to be done even if I am not accepted.

 

Let's say on your first day on the job I give you free reign to alter any human or corporate lore as you see fit. What would you focus on, change and why?

 

This is a hard one for me, because what I want to do with the lore is expand it not directly change anything. I would probably alter a bit about the Sol Alliance and ATLAS. I would have the Sol Alliance hold pretty heavy prejudice depending on where you live in the galaxy. The world closer to earth are viewed very highly while the further away you are seen as inferior in some ways. However, I would have ATLAS stand for all of humanity. They do not care from where.

I feel Sol and ATLAS are in very strange places right now. Most people don't really care about Sol unless their char is for or against ATLAS or unless they are from Mars. I feel adding a layer of prejudice against the distant colonies could spark some RP. ATLAS is given a lot of flak for how it's handled, and you've already split them up a bit to add more flavour, which is something I've wanted to see. I would add the "love all of humanity" flavour as an extra layer for people to really get behind them.

I hope I actually explained that well enough. As I said, I mostly want to expand not to rewrite.

 

Let's say you there was an aspect of the lore which you really loved and Jackboot and I wished to remove it or alter it beyond a point that you would accept. After you give us your heartfelt plea we still proceed to remove or alter in a manner that appears unfair to you. How would you react to this and why?

 

Ultimately, you guys are my boss and if you feel something should go even though I do not, that's up to you. However, I would make sure that the community is fine with the change, perhaps you two changed it due to community vote or to the community it was so obscure it never really mattered. Now if the community wanted to keep it, then I would argue with them that maybe it should say or there should be a compromise over outright removing it.

 

You're working on an aspect of lore development when you unknowingly overstep and alter another species lore. The species lore dev confronts you on discord and begins to aggressively reprimand you beyond your idea of fairness and respect (they're being far too aggressive). Unfortunately I'm not online to offer support, what do you do and why?

 

Depending on how aggressive they are acting I would either:

A: Apologize for the inconvenience, if they are just getting heated. Then I would come to you or Jackboots about the issue.

B: If it's gone to full on harassment levels, I would report it to an admin or other member of that team.

I am a very blunt man with my opinion and what I type can send the wrong message. I would keep communication with them as brief as possible, to not escalate the issue.

 

I task you and another deputy with an area of lore development, during which you and the other deputy enter a heated debate. Your colleague decides to overrule you and in essence spark an edit war on the wiki and a minor flame war across public lore chat. Jackboot and I are unreachable for whatever reason. How do you deal with this and why?

 

Well as the wiki manager, I am not going to have edit wars. I want to improve the wiki and our edit lists being spammed by people being petty is not a step to improvement. I also do not find the idea of spreading a private disagreement into public places, but if it were to happen I would try to be as civil as possible and move the conversations back to a private area. Maybe, give the other person some time and perhaps give myself sometime to think on things. Maybe I was the one who sparked the debate by being too stubborn and they were just pushing back against me. If it lasts too long I would bring admins and mods in to make sure we don't continue to allow private issues to be public.

 

Whilst a deputy a player you quite like and consider a friend beings to PM you with ideas for lore changes, some of which appear to favour his characters and player friends. What do you do and why?

 

I would remind them that we are here not to make our characters look better, but instead write lore compelling enough to keep people interested. If he can find a way to do that with his character, I honestly can't complain. I have plans for the wiki that will include possibly putting player characters on it, but it's still an early draft in my head and I want to run the initial idea further by Jackboots before I say too much.

Also it's not like we don't already have at least one player character on the wiki painted in a very good light.

 

A player begins to openly and aggressively mock a member of the lore team on public discord channels. They are not being constructive. What do you do and why?

 

I tell them if they really want a change they should be constructive and actually contact the member to talk things out. It's real easy for players to forget the loreteam are just people. I forgot that for a while. However, I started reaching out and talking to more members and most of them replied and were very considerate. Now sometimes there are just going to be bad eggs who just want to whine in the public chats to get attentions. If this seems to be someone who is doing that, I really won't bother them. It's best not to give those who desperately seek attention like that, what they want.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

After conferring with Zundy, this application is being accepted. Welcome to the team!