HoS Application: Ace Victor

[MagicStudiosGuy]

Usual character name: Ace Victor, R.O.B. (A.I.)
BYOND username: EnchantedNautilus
Discord username (if you are on our discord): Nautilus#6296
Recommended by (if applicable): Jedediah Hawkins, OMJ
Goon servers you play: Goonstation (#2)

Reason for application: 

• Security is my most played role and is the one I have the most fun with. Dealing with all sorts of threats and teaching new people to do the same is what really defines the role for me, and new recruits are generally much more likely to listen and follow the advice/direction of a head over a peer. Being head of security is a responsibility I know not to take lightly (but also not too seriously), and it is also proof to myself that I don't (completely) suck at security. I have shown to be able to take the more serious roles like security and A.I. with a totally different degree of play than other roles or antags, being more careful while still providing fun twists and turns. Teaching new people how to play the game is a lot of fun and I figure that being HoS would only make it easier for me to help other learn a very undervalued role in SS13.

Security experience (300 word minimum):

• While I have played goon for close to 3 years now, I have only played security for a little over a year. However, sec is my most played role and the role I have the most knowledge about. I know how seccomp works, I know what punishments to give based on different crimes, I know what situations to prioritize over others, and I also know how to teach these things to other people. I have taught a few people some sec basics and it's fun watching them grow, as I imagine it was for some of the sec when I first started out. I play sec probably 60-70% of my time on goon, and when not sec I am either usually AI or an antag. I know the basics, I know most of the complexities, I am fairly robust, though I know its obviously not the most important thing in the world, and I know how to make security an enjoyable experience, not only for security officers, but also for the crew and antags of the round. I know how to quickly search someone and then put them in the brig in a fast but orderly manner, so the crimer does not get agitated about being out of the brig longer than in the birg. A lot of what I know is how to optimize basic security procedures for what works for both myself and whoever is on the recieving end. I have worked with numerous different security officers and heads of security, including but not limited to Vivian, Jeb, Adrian, OMJ, and many, many others, and have worked well with them and know generally how they approach situations, and learn from them. For instance, OMJ once suggested that I didn't simply confiscate spy PDAs once and from there I came up with a fun way for the spy to potentially get their PDA back (described below in greater detail). Working with all these great people has helped me refine what I do well, and fix whatever mistakes I make. They have helped me be a better security officer, and I would love the chance to do the same to others, as HoS.

Answer two or more of the following:

• What advice would you give to other sec players?
  Don't take the role too seriously. When I first started playing SS13, a few people told me not to play as sec, and after I didn't listen and played as sec for one round I understood why, but for a while I looked at sec as a role to stay away from forever. It wasnt until I just figured why the hell not and started playing as sec that I realized that it isn't as difficult as it first may seem as long as you understand the rules and basics of the game. I understand sec far more than I understand engineering and pathology, in large part because I took the leap to start learning while I haven't spent much time in the other two roles. Take the first step and start to learn. Most of the people who play sec are absolutely great and would love to help you learn the basics of security.
  

• What was one of your favorite security moments? (Either playing as a sec officer or interacting with one)
  On Cog1, it was a wizard round, and after the two wizards kept blowing people up (myself included), I made some acid and when a wizard appeared nearby, I stunned him and got rid of his hat with the acid. I cuffed him and prepped for a trial, but the other wizard tried to free the caught one. So I stunned and cuffed the second wizard after using the acid of his hat. And then the trial. A fellow sec made the courtroom chair into an electric chair, so I set the first wizard on it but didn't touch the controls. A crowd gathered, some wanting the wizard to die, others wanting them freed. The problem was that the electric chairs kept going off. I'm unsure if you can control the chairs from a distance or what, but the chair kept electrocuting the wizard until he died. I turned the chair off and set the other wizard on it, but whoever was controlling the chair ju st turned it on and killed the second wizard too. This caused a revolution. The crew, mad that the wizards were killed, starting breaking the windows into sec. I took both corpses, and, with the help of Mr. Green, borged both after fleeing to the medical booth and then to robotics. When I returned to security, the entire place was a mess. All windows were broken, lockers ransacked, power off, doors hacked, and the floors very dirty. Apparently the crew never noticed I took the corpses and wanted to steal the bodies because they believed I was the one who killed the wizards (I was not). It was hectic and pure mayhem, but dealing with these situations is half the fun of security.
  
• Describe any differences in your playstyle when part of a full security team and when being the only security officer.
  When I am the only sec officer (which seems to happen a lot depending on when I play), I usually am a lot more serious. This may come off as 'try-hardy' (which I try not to do) but I am just trying to make 1 man feel like 10, while still not being overly aggressive. While playing with a large team on modes like rev, we usually wait a little bit before buying implants so as to not plow through the revs, but when its just myself and the cap/HoP, I try harder and faster to get what needs to be done. Often times I've had multiple different kinds of antags trying to kill me at the same time, so I have to be quick. I have created a sort of rhythm for working on different antags. Wizards, lings, vampires, and other antagonists I have a general plan for, and I like to mix it up occasionally based upon the station's condition and how the antag plays. I enjoy both styles of play, as working in a team involves a lot of communication and can deal with threats in a fun manor that doesn't put the entire station in jepordy, and working alone feels like a test of all sorts of skills depending on the antag.
  

Answer one or more of the following fun questions (because it's important for the HoS to be fun):

• Write a poem to convey your thoughts on security/NanoTrasen/space/bees/anything related to SS13.
  • A Day in the Life of Clown Patrol  (very good chance the link didnt work because the goon forms hates me)

• What's a security gimmick that you've ran or wanted to run?
  On spy rounds, if a spy is a crimer and is caught, I will take their contraband, but I give them a chance to get their PDA back. While they go through their sentence, I hide the PDA (but not ID) in a random location and then give a riddle to the spy. Sometimes the Spies like the chance to get their PDA back, other times they can't figure out the riddle, and some don't play along at all, but it is fun nonetheless. I have done the same with traitors a few times to similar results. It at the very least delays the mayhem a spy could potentially do, which is helpful when sec is busy.
  

Previous bans (while this will not affect your application lying about it will):

• A few years ago I got Command/Sec job banned for killing traitors for invalid reasons as Det. I have changed a lot since haven't done anything like this since.

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The link to the poem didnt work. I have no clue why, the same thing happens every time I try to insert an image. Ill try here: https://justpaste.it/3dbng

[OMJ]

big yes

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big yes

edit: i don't think i was the one who had given you the tip on the spy pdas thing but I love that you're doing that

[Sundance]

100% yes

[WhatATerribleUserName]

A consistently good player who knows their stuff. Would make an excellent HoS.

[Sick Ness Monster]

Ace knows what he's doing, chuck a beret at his head

[Kovirii]

Just yes.

[Avack]

It feels weird dropping into a really positive app thread to detail some bad experiences, but: I can recall three big experiences with Ace, once when I was sec and they were traitor, once when they were sec and I wasn't, and once when we both were. Of these, the latter was unremarkable, and the rest were honestly bad! I do freely confess that this is a small sample size, but I just plain don't feel right keeping it to myself. I've put the details in a spoiler below.

Spoiler!

The first time I can recall meeting Ace Victor, I was the HoS. I'd been watching a rage cage when they started attacking people nearby with a c-saber out of the blue, so I arrested them - all fair enough. However, from that moment until the end of the round, they did nothing but constantly repeat "hah". I consulted with Christopher Firewood and we checked for a mindslave, but found nothing; when I spoke with Ace later, they told me that acting like a mindslave was the intention, but that doesn't explain why they did it not only after we'd confirmed they weren't one, but even into OOC in the lobby for the next round. The result of this is that I couldn't work with them as sec to make anything fun happen, which is what I feel is a really important thing for sec to do... so when somebody who wants to be HoS demonstrates such a bizarre lack of willingness to play the part from the other side, it concerns me. At the time I was basically convinced that they were a new player who hadn't learned getting arrested wasn't a death sentence, not somebody who would be applying for HoS within a few months.

In the second experience, I was a doctor, standing around in medbay. They came in, healed themself, ran off without a word. I tried to speak to them a minute later to either complain or establish that they were just super busy, whatever, and they just suplexed me and left. Later on I was chatting with another secoff by the chapel and Ace passed by, so I tried to explain what I thought: that ignoring doctors to treat yourself was to the detriment of the doctors' game experience. He told me he didn't care, went silent, then wandered off. Maybe they just objected to my tone, but again, caring about other people's game experience is vital to sec, surely?

The third experience was when we were both sec recently - it was a very good team and I have no complaints. The worst I can say is that I didn't notice them really standing out in anyway. I mention it mostly for the sake of completeness.

Maybe I've caught Ace at the wrong times or whatever, and the other replies here and the app itself seem to indicate they're rather better than I've found, but I personally would not endorse them for HoS. In my experience, Ace can be an effective secoff, but with some really weird traits and an odd disregard for other players, and so I think they don't have the particular qualities that set the head of security apart from regular officers.