Staff Report - Solidfury7

[chiu]

Staff Report

Your BYOND Key

chiwi

Date of Incident

March 22, 2022

Your Character Name?

Joan Fitzsimmons

Their BYOND Key

Solidfury7

Approximate time and date of the incident

Around 15:00 CT

Which Staff Protocols (//showthrea...-and-Protocols) were broken

Preserve the RP and enjoyment of the server

Description of the incident

I was playing as CO during an LV round. I decided to wear standard Marine fatigues (rank pins and tactical waiscoat attached) under a standard light armor set and then assign myself to Delta squad in order to better fit in with my subordinate personnel and give a drop of realism to a field CO's equipment, as in real life, officers do NOT wear clothing or equipment that makes them distinguishable from enlisted personnel, as it compromises their security. Additionally, assigning myself to a squad gives CIC the ability to watch my camera directly from both Delta's OW console and the groundside ops console, which I is a big plus for coordination and keeping CIC aware of my position and what zones are of interest at the time.

I must say that I've been doing this for some time as the CO. I find that it fits well within the setting and the actions themselves command respect from enlisted personnel, as you're not wearing the hottest LRP "CO DRIP" (the standard CO armor being part of this designation, along with many other items that I find would be extremely distasteful to deploy with, such as the bomber jacket or Dress uniform pieces).

Regarding my behavior as a field CO and how wearing a standard uniform/assigning myself to Delta affects it and my capabilities: this does not affect me in the slightest, other than negatively (refusing to wear the more protective CO armor). My subordinate personnel still knows who I am (both by knowing my character, IC, and the big blue start next to my head, OOC). The xenos still perfectly know who I am when they hear my sidearm and see me firing the M46C. My abilities (giving orders and callouts, managing the massive influx of intel and comms, making sure CIC and the ship are working effectively and lastly playing the game) are not impacted whatsoever by this set of actions.

So, what happened?

Solid (William 'Jester' Crimson) spawned as a Provost Vice Admiral and boarded the Almayer. I returned pretty much the moment I was made aware that PV. Admiralty personnel was on my ship. When we met, Solid was quite hostile from the start, giving seemingly antagonizing comments, "what in the blue fuck are you wearing", "you are acting like a fucking private", and among others, referring to me as a chimp. I disregarded these comments and acted as seriously and professionally as my character would in such a situation, naturally.

I acknowledged his concerns (aware that he's a member of the CO Council) and, even though I indicated that I was never informed that either of these actions were unacceptable, unbecoming, or against procedure. To cite uniform regulations from the CO code of conduct:

---
Uniform and Clothing

Commanding Officers must remain in reasonable clothing during the operation and wear clothes of USCM or American origin.

Overly flamboyant or impractical wear, especially unprofessional costumes or overly suggestive, revealing, or casual clothing are prohibited.
Visible display of underwear or bare chests is prohibited in public appearance.
Athletic or gym attire is to be worn only during athletic activities.
Exceptions may be granted at the unsolicited discretion of High Command. Do not ask for permission to violate these regulations.
---

The action was not kept at a reprimand- it was escalated to my rank being stripped (O-4 to E-1) "for the rest of the operation". I accepted the punishment gracefully and at no point made any attempts to antagonize him.

To name the issues at hand:

- Provost Admiralty was spawned to reprimand and strip me of my rank instead of a superior officer up my own chain of command.
- I was not only relieved of command, but stripped of my rank for the rest of the operation, however that works.
- My actions at no point breached the CO code of conduct, and I have not been putting myself in unreasonable danger during any of my field CO rounds. I'll admit I sorta sucked at the start, but I keep myself at a support-fire position, keeping myself out of immediate danger and picking my moment to deal huge amounts of damage in well placed, quick bursts.
- The whole affair disrupted the round, particularly by removing me from my role while we could've still had fun for the rest of the round. Instead, Marines were rolled, my absence being a contributing factor.

I find the whole interaction and the actions against me during this particular round (and any further actions from the Council, whether it is against me or any other COs by restricting what the Commanding Officer is allowed to wear in their own AO) an LRP mess, incredibly boring, and an affront to any semblance of roleplay we're trying to promote within the whitelist.

Officers don't wear bomber jackets, dress uniforms, or flashy, gold-plated armor sets while on the field.

Evidence

This is as far back as my chat logs will go:

VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "And instead, you assign yourself to a fucking squad."
VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "Dressed as a Private First Class."
VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "The admiralty is furious."

Maj Joan Fitzsimmons says, "I understand."

VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson asks, "Do you know what they're planning on doing because you're genius idea?"

Maj Joan Fitzsimmons asks, "Official regulations on uniforms for commissioned officers?"

VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "Yes, with restrictions because your chimp arse wants to be a fuckin' want to be private first class."
VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "So you know, what Major."
VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "You get your dream."

Maj Joan Fitzsimmons says, "Hm."

VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "You're demoted to Private."
VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "Drop your kit."

Maj Joan Fitzsimmons asks, "So I was wrong to assume that due to the lack of regulations on the matter, it'd be acceptable to wear standard USCM fatigues?"

VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "Major."
VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "You didnt merely put standard fatiques on."
VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "Do not play fucking dumb with me."
VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "Or I'll have research splice you in to the fucking chimp you are."

Maj Joan Fitzsimmons says, "Right- it's the squad assignment you're referring to, then."
Maj Joan Fitzsimmons says, "I understand your concerns. If you find that behavior unbecoming, I won't argue it."
Maj Joan Fitzsimmons says, "It could've been handled more easily through a fax though wouldn't it."

VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "This is a repeated behaviour which you are stepping over the line with, day by day."

Joan Fitzsimmons says, "I was never informed it was unacceptable, sir."
Joan Fitzsimmons says, "I apologize for making the assumption, in any case."

VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "You do not need to be hand held, you were assigned the post because the admirality was under the illusion you were able to handle yourself and the command of the USS Almayer."
VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "Instead you're off galivanting and fighting like an aging mustang nostaligc for the glory days."

Joan Fitzsimmons says, "It's your decision, sir. Up to this point, I wasn't under the impression that this was interfering in my commanding duties whatsoever."

VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "Once the operation is concluded, we will re-examine yourself and, as a result, the policies we have."
VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "Hand over the M46C and head to the CIC for ID alterations."
VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "The Second Lieutenant will handle your ID."

Joan Fitzsimmons says, "Sure thing."
Joan Fitzsimmons says, "Regardless of the circumstances- thank you for the meeting."

VADM. William 'Jester' Crimson says, "Return to standard duties, Private Fitzsimmons."

What resolution are you seeking?

It's not my place to choose.

[chiu]

apologies for the typos, typed this up on my phone

[chiu]

We've had some degree of clarification in the CO channel. In short:

- One is allowed not to wear the CO-exclusive armor set.
- One is allowed to assign oneself to a squad (for now), the only concern being bugs related to the change, which are easily fixable by using the ID console to set oneself as CO once again, keeping the color.

What prompted the "intervention" to call it some way was Solidfury's impression (seemingly both acquired from his own POV and "reports") that I was being excessively risky or reckless -the word used being "PFC+++"- while deployed as a CO, making myself an easy target.

I've already given my own opinion about this, which in summary is that most of the people who see me play, from the Marine perspective, agree that I am generally aware of what's happening around me and the situation on the field, can handle and relay the huge amounts of intel that flows in and out in comms, and can play the game effectively, not often putting myself in a reckless spot (most of my not-numerous deaths being the result of smart xenos tricking us with very creative plays). Most of my rounds I deploy my XO to stay in CIC myself, and when I do deploy, I keep my responsibilities and abilities in mind. However, this is all subjective and up to the interpretation of whoever's watching me at any given time, many circumstances, and their personal opinion of me.

The report on the basis of "Preserve the RP and enjoyment of the server" still stands, due to the strange nature of the intervention (why Provost, why remove me from the round, why make it a huge public commotion for all to see?) I still believe that the interaction itself, disregarding the reasoning, could be criticized as being LRP, and, even though it is Solid's character and the way he carries himself, needlessly aggressive.

[solidfury7]

In this report, you are claiming that, after evacuation of the colony, you are dressed down by a superior officer for frontlining as a pointman, as well as dressing like an enlisted private during this.

You are claiming that my character, widely known as a strict by the book figure, beasting you, which is a known military technique I was emulating, is low roleplay. Considering that we had a quick briefing regarding your character, even naming the outpost (HELIOS 5) we were dispatched from and evacuated a civilian to, to flesh out the roleplay (Survivor Bill Stone)

Now, if it's the fact you were dressed down in the briig (literally and figuratively), that is a rather private area, I believe only one MP was present for it briefly, and a released prisoner was escorted out by an enforcer. This was far from public and stating that it is, that is disingenuous at best.

So, to sum it up, your extremely aggressive pointmanning as a CO was noted over time, then further situations where you were assigning yourself to squads, dressing as PFC, calling yourself the Delta CO were merely things when combined with the nature of the combat became points to bring up.

So, around the time that evacuation has occured , you were demoted to PFC and XO given operational control and assigned to your standard duties. This interaction is near the end of the round and it's affects likely only affected the final 10 minutes of your round.

The Provost were sent because the USS Reeducation is a military police prison vessel, which is a bit of fluff if you read the ship wiki. I wasn't supposed to be a rear admiral, however logs, the enforcers and the staff online will be able to state that I encountered an issue with loading people with equipment, and before tweaking anyone but Moonshank, someone encountered us in the maintenance so we just rolled with that.

So, ultimately, I find the whole claim that this was LRP as rather bone hurting juice, and the claim that being demoted(in a restricted area) just prior to hiack and rather swift, as being as removed from the round as rather eyebrow raising.

[chiu]

In this report, you are claiming that, after evacuation of the colony, you are dressed down by a superior officer for frontlining as a pointman, as well as dressing like an enlisted private during this.

We weren't really close to evacuating by the time I was told we had a VADM on board- I was informed that you guys wanted to speak to me about something and as such immediately turned back and returned to the Almayer. The operation was -still- underway as we were having the conversation in the brig.

So, to sum it up, your extremely aggressive pointmanning as a CO was noted over time, then further situations where you were assigning yourself to squads, dressing as PFC, calling yourself the Delta CO were merely things when combined with the nature of the combat became points to bring up.

If the council believes (after a reasonable examination of the way I play) that I am too aggressive or put myself at too much risk at times, I'll accept it, of course. I personally do not think that I play in such a way, and neither do the people I play with often- but once again, this is absolutely subjective (though I'd hope, again, to be given quantifiable feedback or items to take note of regarding my behavior after a proper examination is conducted).

Not to be nitpicky, but I've never called myself a Delta CO. That's just what the machine turns your role into once you assign yourself to a squad, and once again, along with dressing oneself as a standard Marine, is something that other COs have done and continue to do, and they've never gotten in trouble over any of these.

Now, if it's the fact you were dressed down in the briig (literally and figuratively), that is a rather private area, I believe only one MP was present for it briefly, and a released prisoner was escorted out by an enforcer. This was far from public and stating that it is, that is disingenuous at best.

We were in the brig foyer, yes, but I counted at least 6 others gathered around us and watching it all. Not to mention tons of ghosted players who witnessed the entire interaction. This is why I'm saying it was rather public compared to a DM telling me to dial it backa little or an ingame fax that I could've read.

Not much else to say, other than this report isn't a byproduct of anger or any similar emotions. I really enjoy the way you play, whether it is as a formidable Queen, a competent CO, a respectable CMP, a great SL. It's just this specific interaction that blew my and other people's minds.

[forest2001]

This should not have been made a staff report, but admittedly there is not much of a procedure towards reporting a councillor for actions taken using council authority aside from speaking with me, or where appropriate their senator, directly.
I'm going to close this thread as it should not really have been made.

Solidfury elected to take IC action for a round to address concerns within and without the council, rather than take action against your whitelist through sanctions/formal punishments. He's within his rights to do so.
As for the content of that IC action, I will discuss with Sammy before I make a final ruling on it.