[Accepted]Zaeperry99's Command Whitelist Application

BYOND key: Zaeperry99

Character names: Naomi Ray, Alexander Barker, Qrrnyl Wiirshln-Xyla

How long have you been playing on Aurora?: Roughly eight months, possibly longer.

Why do you wish to be on the whitelist?: Due to the relative lack of heads of staff on the shifts I play on (Graveyard shifts), as well as additional opportunities to experience different types of roleplay/scenarios.

Why did you come to Aurora?: After a break from SS13, I came back and desired a high-roleplay server. I scouted out Aurora and opted to stick around.

Have you read the Aurora wiki on the head roles and qualifications you plan on playing?: Yes.

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: Roleplay can be summarized pretty well through its name. It's the playing of roles. Just as one would in a play, movie, LARP, etc etc, you take on the mask of somebody who isn't yourself for one of several reasons. The largest difference between roleplaying and playing a role is that the former is generally meant to be enjoyable and inclusive for all involved, rather than just those viewing.

What do you think the OOC purpose of a Head of Staff is, ingame?: The head of staff's job is that of an out-of-character administrator, in character. Your job is to make certain people are enjoying themselves, not ruining the fun for others, and not killing each other over petty squabbles. Mostly through the forms of giving new players a lifeline in learning the game, making sure your department isn't letting everything go south and settling debates that may arise. A head of staff is also excellent for livening up extremely quiet extended rounds; CEs can manage the remodelling of areas, CMOs can host first aid classes/blood drives, the RD can do SICK SOCIAL EXPERIMENTS GONE WRONG collaborate their team to make / research something interesting, etc etc.

What do you think the OOC responsibilities of Whitelisted players are to other players, and how would you strive to uphold them?: The OOC responsibility a head of staff has to other players is similar to what was put above. Making certain that new characters have a way to learn the game without focusing entirely on trial and error, as well as making sure they don't get into other's ways whilst doing so. The head of staff also has an obligation to be exceedingly competent at whatever department they're a head of, and be able to ensure and explain correct processes.

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

Character name: Alexander Barker

Character age: 45

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

Alexander is an engineer aboard the NSS Aurora. He was originally born in the Republic of Elyra to immigrant parents (of Lunan origin), on Perispolis. Throughout most of his late teenage years and young adulthood, his work comprised of quick contracting work and other brief jobs, for the most part while going through basic training / pursuing an Associates degree in Electrical Engineering. After working for three more years on various 'quick' jobs, he moved to Tau Ceti. Partly to attend Hongsun Park Engineering Institute for further education, and partly to pursue a relationship which had grown more serious over the extranet.

After graduating from college, Alexander joined Einstein Engines in the assembly of mass-sized parts and various spacecraft. He was married and had a child several years later. The position with Einstein Engines turned into a lay-off and an unrelated event led to his wife's passing. However, there are more pressing details in the current:

Alexander is an active father and engineer. Though his move from Phoenixport to Mendell as well as change of jobs to Nanotrasen left him somewhat out of touch with friends, he's made more than a couple aboard the NSS Aurora, and still has distant family in Eyra.

What do you like about this character?:

Alexander is calm and caring. He's exceedingly friendly (His favorite job in a fully staffed Engineering crew is setting up shields so that he can wave to people getting out of cryo) and tends to find open confrontation less than pleasurable, though can do so if there's no other option. He's an inherently understanding character, even when I am not, to a degree I slightly envy.

What do you dislike about this character?:

Most of the above also apply here. He doesn't swear, doesn't yell, and avoids open confrontation. Whereas being told to move out of the way would get an 'Up yours.' out of my other well-known character, Alexander is more likely to do so and apologize for getting in the way in the first place. Though I'll make a note that this can be a different story when it comes to actually doing his job, and he's entirely unlikely to stand by and let somebody make a mistake simply because they're arrogant or because he doesn't want to be a bother.

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

He's understanding. Engineering apprentices who clearly don't know what they're doing OOC or IC won't need to worry about being yelled at him for configuring the SMES' wrong or not setting up the solars, and engineers who do know what they're doing won't need to worry about being treated like apprentices for making mistakes we all make. As a pleasant by-product of this, his attitude helps promote an air of professionalism and workplace-manners that most departments are sorely lacking -- and no, he's not about to start demanding people don't swear or fill out paperwork for everything.

Secondly, as is quite important both in being a father and a head of staff, he's very used to co-ordinating children. (That was mostly a joke.) He has at least some experience in making sure people can meet half-way and putting an end to playground disputes. This also predisposes him toward knowing how to communicate and work with other people in the same position as him.

Please provide well articulated answers to the following questions.

How would you rate your own roleplaying?: I'd give myself about 8/10 for non-combat or 'chair'-RP. I think I'm quite good at playing a character and reacting as they would rather than as a 2D spessman on my screen would, but there's always room for improvement.

In combat/enemy engagement roleplay I'll knock that down to around 5/10 - I don't play security, I avoid situations where combat has a high probability, and generally avoid playing an antag. Thus, I don't have much experience with it, but try to behave as realistically as possible when it does come to me, as it will in space-game.

Extra notes: Nothing, really. Thank you for reading! If you think my characters are dope please do leave a nice review, and if you think I'm the dope - that's okay, same here.

+1.

For the sake of transparency, I do know this person IRL, however their roleplay is better than mine, even, and they always play extremely believable, fun, level-headed characters. Their love of bureaucracy makes them an ideal candidate for head of staff.

Zaeperry99 is maybe one of the best roleplayers I know - And 8/10 is pretty modest, in my opinion. They put a ton of effort into fleshing out the characters they play by really doing work into researching hobbies and religions, and are excellent at improv-ing and facilitating roleplay. I've only really seen their character, Naomi Ray, but I know they really have a good grip on the mechanics, and I have full faith that they can handle the knowledge required from a command role.

Speaking now on Barker, an understanding, helpful command staff is always great to see, I'm a fan of boss-characters that are so nice, you'd feel bad disappointing them by messing up. However, I want to know - how will he deal with someone who risks the life of the crew through uncaring negligence? What about people that will try to abuse his kindness, and walk over him?

To sum this up, Zaeperry99 is absolutely a wonderful role model of a roleplayer, and I think they completely deserve a command whitelist. I'm sure they'll find fun tasks to assign other engineers as a CE, and I look forward to see what they come up with. A strong +1.

However, I want to know - how will he deal with someone who risks the life of the crew through uncaring negligence? What about people that will try to abuse his kindness, and walk over him?

While he's extremely passive and makes an effort not to be rude, he is very much an adult. Mistakes are easily forgiven, but continued gross negligence is not. As for people abusing his kindness, it could happen to a limited degree, I'll admit. I don't know what examples to use to where he'd 'draw the line' as it'd require writing out more context than is reasonable, and so I'll just say that he's not liable to stand idly by whilst somebody violates corporate regulations, basic moral standards, treats his staff poorly, etc etc.

CE Alexander is a must have. Zae is an awesome person, great RPer, and I love playing with them. +1 million

The application will be put under trial until 11/08.

Sorry for the extremely delayed resolution.

Application accepted.