Commander Whitelist Application
Byond ID? BatHoovyDood
Player Name You Use Most? Charles ‘Boston’ Ellis
Make a list of links to all of your applications and (job)ban appeals, including whitelist and staff apps, within the last year. Also, provide "Ban reason; Verdict" beside each (job)ban link
Have you received any ban within the last month? How long was it and what for? Negativo mi amigo
Do you understand that any player - even donors or staff members - can have their whitelist status revoked should they break our Server Rules or Roleplay Guidelines? Yes
How do you view the tool of Battlefield Execution to be used? What circumstances do you think it would be necessary to BE a member of the crew? Where do you think the Battlefield Execution Mechanic Differs from regular Execution and why? To me, the Battlefield Execution is a way to quickly get rid of a marine or crew member who poses an overwhelming threat to command, personnel, or the operation. However, I think that in most of these cases it is better to use standard execution procedure. While BE-ing someone is a quick solution that allows you to get back to work, it is also permanently removing someone from the round without giving them a chance to at least roleplay it out, and as such I have some distaste for it. Where the BE is a quick game ending option, full executions offer a lot more benefits to me.
1) They allow for a more noticeable and widely acknowledged execution, which can be important in situations where one out of a large group of dissenters are being executed.
2) It gives something for MP’s to rally around, as they often have little to do shipside when a bug isn't loose and Delta isn’t trying to overthrow command.
3) It gives a chance for the person getting executed to roleplay a bit, maybe get some rousing last words off, and is all around more engaging for everyone involved.
Generally, I would only feeling comfortable BE-ing someone If the offending party is a lethal threat to me or another member of the ship's crew, and no MP’s are available or close enough to assist, and I had no non-lethal tools on me. I know this standard will have its exceptions, but 9 times out of time I would rather go for a standard execution.
How will your Commanding Officer run his/her ship? Provide a detailed explanation on how he would handle situations that might commonly occur such as, a insubordinate Req, Engineering, MP, or Command Staff Ellis tries to keep track of the whole operation at once, and remain up to date on what is happening in every single squad and piece of shipside crew. However, he trusts in his team to be able to handle their departments and squad’s properly. Most of the time the SOs can handle themselves and speaking from experience don’t appreciate getting shoved just so the Cap can stare at a camera for a few minutes. Most of the time he is happy to leave the minuta to the crew, but when the situation gets dire he takes a hands on approach, and if there is a serious situation shipside he would rather set the XO to work and go figure it out himself.
For the situation examples:
Insub Req: It generally depends on the severity of the situation, of one CT is refusing to give out attachments or something, I trust that the RO can take care of it, and I will also likely dispatch an MP or two to take care of it, whereupon the CMP can figure out what is happening. However, if the RO just came from watching one of Sseth’s videos and is trying to establish cargonia, Ellis would gather up the MPs to secure the area himself, and then get his XO to take over req if no-one else can. Req not being online for a short time is survivable, but then being out of action permanently is death for an operation, so Ellis wouldn’t have a high degree of sympathy for the RO in this situation.
Insub Engie: As long as the power is maintained, Ellis is fine to let the CE and their team to do whatever they want as long as it isn’t hurting the operation or breaking the law. However, if they are actively sabotaging the operation, there is more than enough staff with some engineering knowledge, and the department vastly overestimates their necessity. This would still probably only warrant sending over an MP or two to secure the situation and clear out the offenders.
Insub MP: Assuming there is a competent CMP on board, I would treat this as if it were a Doctor ignoring their duty. Leave it to the department head to sort out. (And generally an insub MP is more of a sign of a new player than an antagonistic one, so getting the SEA might be better than just demoting and/or brig-ing them)
Insub Command Staff: First let me say I am assuming this is referring to SOs and XOs. I know that the rules (IC and OOC) tend to allow the XO leeway here, and not so much for SOs, but I would generally try to hear them out first. Most people playing command roles are experienced enough to be playing the role, so if they have a valid reason for not following an order I would want to hear it before making a decision. However, if they are absolutely refusing to do their job I would have no qualms about getting an MP to CIC and having an SO pull double duty.
What do you think is the job of a Commander? I don’t mean to rip off Roman’s opening so much, but there really are two answers to this, the IC reason and the OOC reason.
In character it's the Commander’s job to make sure the operation is running as smoothly as possible on all fronts. I.e. making sure that marines are following orders, supplies are getting to where they need to go, and the staff are doing their jobs to the best of their ability. It is also their job to inspire the marine’s to do their best, this could mean joke incentives like “the best squad gets the crayola box with the sharpener after the operation” or heading down there themselves to lead the fight with their presence. Something that I have been trying recently is to talk incredibly over-confidently when hyping up marines, and I have found that it can help inspire marines to go the distance where they wouldn’t normally.
Out of character it’s the Commander’s job to make the round interesting and engaging for as many people as possible. This doesn’t mean making sure every single person is having 100% of the fun they could be having, but in general keep everything that people need to play their roles operational.
As a player what do you think could be added for Commanding Officer to benefit the role? Just a few ideas, most of which I am certain have been brought up in applications before mine but would pain me to leave out of my own.
1) A smaller version of overwatch for the tablet, maybe just for the Squad Leaders to get a quick view on the situation planetside without needing to shove one of the SOs.
2) More unique cosmetic stuff, even if just in the uniform vendor in the CO’s office. Stuff like the Sword is great and I would love to see more unique things that can be worn without breaking the SOP.
3) An identification modifier for the tablet, would need to be only functional with the CO’s id so that it won’t get abused if stolen.
4) Even more powerful group commands or a greater variety of unique command buffs. As it stands the mechanical difference between the CO or the XO leading the troops is basically non-existent.
Again, if even one of these is entirely original I would be surprised, but they are what comes to mind for me.
What do you think you could contribute by being whitelisted? Besides another dumb fool who thought it would be a good idea to play captain?
I could contribute some more personality to Command in the games I'm in. A lot of rounds I have played lately Command has been quite one note, with your generic “squads go here ok deploy” briefing. As I mentioned before I have been trying a new style where I add a lot of bravado and self hyping in my briefings and orders (a-la say Cato Sicarius, although closer to TTS then real lore) which I think could be a lot greater in the full Captain role. There is only so much I can do with it as XO.
Your story (potential topics listed below) I have chosen a short story for this section.
All things considered, Ellis had rather enjoyed his time in the Marines. If you could look past almost getting shot or stabbed every other operation, it really had a lot going for it. It certainly paid better than what he did before joining up. Well, it paid something at least.
He enlisted out of college at the age of 22, finding that the market for history majors in the 22nd century was rather limited. Not having the finances to pay for his first degree, much less something that might get him an actual job, he figured his best odds were to get as far away from home as possible.
On his third operation with the USCM in 2170, he was part of the Alpha Squadron aboard the USS Iowa, sent to investigate a possible UPP presence in the sector. So far they had checked four planets, and each one had proven to be absent of any hostile presence, but on planet five their luck ran out.
Within an hour of the first drop, the majority of the command structure of the squad was either dead or so far out of commission that they could barely move, much less fight. Sensing an opportunity for a quick promotion, Ellis took control of the squad to attempt to salvage the situation. Despite the losses and danger, Ellis found he had a knack for command, and decided to leave his enlisted life behind and entered the Phobos Military Academy, praying it was far enough from Earth that no-one could look much into his university records.
After a few delays he’d rather never speak about, and a couple more he’d love to if you got him drunk, Ellis graduated from the Academy and became a Lieutenant in the 7th Battalion. After ten years of enjoying the perks of making money and not getting shot, mostly anyways, he found himself missing the action of his early days in the Marines. When an opening came up for a commander in the tightly funded, rag-tag 2nd Battalion, Ellis took the promotion (and the pay-cut), now second in command of his ship.
Finding the path of higher titles and lower pay to be a promising one, Ellis kept his eye out for the highest title he had any wish to achieve, to be captain of his own ship. When the Captain of the U.S.S. Almayer came to an unfortunate end after an incident that no-one was quite sure on, but seemed focused on spending all of his budget on a feast in his office, Ellis saw his shot and took it. With a combination of confidence, luck, and exaggerating his success whenever he could, he had made it. Sure he made more as a Lieutenant in a funded part of the Marines, but those guys didn’t have any fun, and they sure as hell didn’t get the gun.
Do you understand that you cannot advertise your application on any public platform for votes. Do you also understand you may not edit this application 1 hour after it has been posted? Yes