04-15-2025, 09:29 PM
Usual character name: Ben Wyatt, Al Coholic, Friend Computer, Ben - Y - ATT - 9, and a few others
BYOND username: AmazingDragons
Discord username (if you are on our discord): AmazingDragons
Recommended by (if applicable): A few people, but so long ago they've probably forgotten
Goon servers you play: All of 'em
Reason for application:
Security is fun, and a good HoS makes the whole round more fun for everyone. The gear helps, but more importantly the HoS acts almost like a gamemaster in terms of making sure the round is progressing smoothly and making sure that the antags, sec, and the crew are all of having fun. I'm good at making the game fun as a secoff, and considering I've played hundreds of hours as an officer I have the experience and temperament to affect the round in a greater way as a HoS.
Security experience (300 word minimum):
A lot of y'all might not recognize me because I returned recently from a hiatus. If I need to put in a few more rounds to remind everyone who I am that's totally fine, but I'm hoping my presence in the community hasn't been totally forgotten. In total I've played about 700 hours, and security is one of my most played jobs. I picked it up early and stuck with it, because it tends to put you in the centre of the chaos of the round, which I love. Through this time I've managed to become reasonably robust, but arguably more importantly I've picked up on when to be robust and when to be willing to lose to antags to keep the round exciting. I'm more than happy to be the guy drinking poisoned martinis at the bar to make the round intriguing. Security controls the pacing of the round, and knowing how to approach each situation in a way that makes it fun for everyone is the most important skill of a secoff.
I've played a bit of detective, but it never really stuck. Nothing beats chasing a wizard down a hallway while screaming on the radio for backup and I find that you get the true sec experience as an officer. When rounds are slow I really like to engage with the crew as much as possible. I find that patrolling is either ineffective or a little metagamey, and either way it's not really a fun way to catch a troublemaker. Catching someone who hasn't even started to cause trouble is super duper lame, and it's a whole lot more fun to be told by crewmembers that you're chatting with about what THEY think is wrong with the station, and then starting your investigation from there. If the antags haven't managed to make enough commotion for it to come to you, it's usually not worth your time trying to preemptively stop imo.
I've done a lot of teaching as well. Not so much since I came back, as I now have no idea who is or isn't experienced and I try not to over-step, but back in the day I knew all the security regulars, so when I saw new people I made sure to offer guidance and try to meet them where they're at. Plenty of people want to learn through trial and error, and so long as they're not making things worse (preemptively executing prisoners for example) I'll leave 'em alone. However, a whole lot of people are super receptive to some kind of advice or guidance, ranging from little bits of advice like "hold your harm baton from the UNELECTRIFIED end" to letting them shadow you and supporting them wherever they need it.
Finally, I've played a fair amount of command and AI, which has a lot of crossover with security. Those roles tend to impact the pacing of the round and the decisions one makes in those positions can make the round more or less fun for the people there. No judgment towards people who do believe in demotion, but I try to avoid it whenever possible. People sign up for their roles because they like that particular access, gear, equipment, etc., and unless I really feel that the station needs it (for example a TTV bomber sprinting back to research to make their third batch) and even then I tend to check in with other members of command and the security team. It tends to take a lot of agency away from the person being demoted, so I personally choose to avoid it. In general, I try to take a very utilitarian view towards decision-making, like I laid out above, maximizing everyone's fun as best I can.
Answer two or more of the following:
If you ask me, the responsibility of sec is to progress and maintain the round as the crew creates a story together. That means progressive discipline for antags (warnings/tickets/fines -> arrests -> confiscated gear -> exile -> execution), and while I think that a lot of security officers pick up on some variation of this pretty quickly, the finer details lie in your ability to let the station slowly go to shit. If every time the antags do anything, you're on their ass dishing out an appropriate punishment and stopping any possibility of crime, you've followed the letter of progressive discipline very effectively, but you haven't managed to create a fun round. If the round is slow, consider getting plastered at the bar until something bad happens, and then dramatically losing the conflict because you're wasted. On the other hand: if half the station's depressurized, and the other half is filled with plasma, and the AI is rogue, you gotta be a supersoldier. Confiscate the syndicate gear, smash your way into upload, and scream and pray into the mic for an engineer to fix something instead of trying to optimize their pipeburn. A great story is all about pacing, and if the crew feels that the threat of death and destruction rises over time, hits a dramatic peak, and then comes crashing down one way or another, you've killed it.
Also, COMMUNICATE. Your one real advantage in sec is your team, and if you're not communicating, you're hamstringing your whole team. Literally communicate everything. How annoying is the clown being, who gives off bad vibes, who did you arrest and confiscate a flamethrower from. This plays into the previous point, wherein the pacing of the round mostly comes down to security. If the right hand doesn't know how strict the left hand's being, they can't make effective decisions. And communicating also means when you go radio silent they might need to check maintenance for your body. It makes the game more fun for you.
I was a traitor mechanic who had planted nukes, and was making demands of the station to not blow everything up. A secoff arrested me and refused to let me touch a computer, pda, or terminal, until they had defused all of the nukes. They kept going on and on about how foolish I was, and how they were obviously going to dismantle all of my work and it would all be for naught. Right up until we both got blown up together along with the rest of the station. I was crying laughing with how awesome that secoff was, rping as super confident and in control right up until the end.
Answer one or more of the following fun questions (because it's important for the HoS to be fun):
[*]Red t-shirt on, I walk the halls,
[*]Dodging pranks and fixing walls.
Lawbooks torn, the clowns conspire
[*]I’m chasing chaos, drawing fire.
[*]Traitors lurk, the AI lies,
[*]Greytiders scream, “SEC BAD!” with cries.
[*]But still I guard this floating zoo,
[*]For space, for order — and NT too!
Previous bans (while this will not affect your application lying about it will):
1. Silicon-banned for not understanding laws.
2. Banned for leaving at roundstart as captain.
BYOND username: AmazingDragons
Discord username (if you are on our discord): AmazingDragons
Recommended by (if applicable): A few people, but so long ago they've probably forgotten
Goon servers you play: All of 'em
Reason for application:
Security is fun, and a good HoS makes the whole round more fun for everyone. The gear helps, but more importantly the HoS acts almost like a gamemaster in terms of making sure the round is progressing smoothly and making sure that the antags, sec, and the crew are all of having fun. I'm good at making the game fun as a secoff, and considering I've played hundreds of hours as an officer I have the experience and temperament to affect the round in a greater way as a HoS.
Security experience (300 word minimum):
A lot of y'all might not recognize me because I returned recently from a hiatus. If I need to put in a few more rounds to remind everyone who I am that's totally fine, but I'm hoping my presence in the community hasn't been totally forgotten. In total I've played about 700 hours, and security is one of my most played jobs. I picked it up early and stuck with it, because it tends to put you in the centre of the chaos of the round, which I love. Through this time I've managed to become reasonably robust, but arguably more importantly I've picked up on when to be robust and when to be willing to lose to antags to keep the round exciting. I'm more than happy to be the guy drinking poisoned martinis at the bar to make the round intriguing. Security controls the pacing of the round, and knowing how to approach each situation in a way that makes it fun for everyone is the most important skill of a secoff.
I've played a bit of detective, but it never really stuck. Nothing beats chasing a wizard down a hallway while screaming on the radio for backup and I find that you get the true sec experience as an officer. When rounds are slow I really like to engage with the crew as much as possible. I find that patrolling is either ineffective or a little metagamey, and either way it's not really a fun way to catch a troublemaker. Catching someone who hasn't even started to cause trouble is super duper lame, and it's a whole lot more fun to be told by crewmembers that you're chatting with about what THEY think is wrong with the station, and then starting your investigation from there. If the antags haven't managed to make enough commotion for it to come to you, it's usually not worth your time trying to preemptively stop imo.
I've done a lot of teaching as well. Not so much since I came back, as I now have no idea who is or isn't experienced and I try not to over-step, but back in the day I knew all the security regulars, so when I saw new people I made sure to offer guidance and try to meet them where they're at. Plenty of people want to learn through trial and error, and so long as they're not making things worse (preemptively executing prisoners for example) I'll leave 'em alone. However, a whole lot of people are super receptive to some kind of advice or guidance, ranging from little bits of advice like "hold your harm baton from the UNELECTRIFIED end" to letting them shadow you and supporting them wherever they need it.
Finally, I've played a fair amount of command and AI, which has a lot of crossover with security. Those roles tend to impact the pacing of the round and the decisions one makes in those positions can make the round more or less fun for the people there. No judgment towards people who do believe in demotion, but I try to avoid it whenever possible. People sign up for their roles because they like that particular access, gear, equipment, etc., and unless I really feel that the station needs it (for example a TTV bomber sprinting back to research to make their third batch) and even then I tend to check in with other members of command and the security team. It tends to take a lot of agency away from the person being demoted, so I personally choose to avoid it. In general, I try to take a very utilitarian view towards decision-making, like I laid out above, maximizing everyone's fun as best I can.
Answer two or more of the following:
- What advice would you give to other sec players?
If you ask me, the responsibility of sec is to progress and maintain the round as the crew creates a story together. That means progressive discipline for antags (warnings/tickets/fines -> arrests -> confiscated gear -> exile -> execution), and while I think that a lot of security officers pick up on some variation of this pretty quickly, the finer details lie in your ability to let the station slowly go to shit. If every time the antags do anything, you're on their ass dishing out an appropriate punishment and stopping any possibility of crime, you've followed the letter of progressive discipline very effectively, but you haven't managed to create a fun round. If the round is slow, consider getting plastered at the bar until something bad happens, and then dramatically losing the conflict because you're wasted. On the other hand: if half the station's depressurized, and the other half is filled with plasma, and the AI is rogue, you gotta be a supersoldier. Confiscate the syndicate gear, smash your way into upload, and scream and pray into the mic for an engineer to fix something instead of trying to optimize their pipeburn. A great story is all about pacing, and if the crew feels that the threat of death and destruction rises over time, hits a dramatic peak, and then comes crashing down one way or another, you've killed it.
Also, COMMUNICATE. Your one real advantage in sec is your team, and if you're not communicating, you're hamstringing your whole team. Literally communicate everything. How annoying is the clown being, who gives off bad vibes, who did you arrest and confiscate a flamethrower from. This plays into the previous point, wherein the pacing of the round mostly comes down to security. If the right hand doesn't know how strict the left hand's being, they can't make effective decisions. And communicating also means when you go radio silent they might need to check maintenance for your body. It makes the game more fun for you.
- What was one of your favorite security moments? (Either playing as a sec officer or interacting with one)
I was a traitor mechanic who had planted nukes, and was making demands of the station to not blow everything up. A secoff arrested me and refused to let me touch a computer, pda, or terminal, until they had defused all of the nukes. They kept going on and on about how foolish I was, and how they were obviously going to dismantle all of my work and it would all be for naught. Right up until we both got blown up together along with the rest of the station. I was crying laughing with how awesome that secoff was, rping as super confident and in control right up until the end.
- Describe any differences in your playstyle when part of a full security team and when being the only security officer.
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.
[*]Red t-shirt on, I walk the halls,
[*]Dodging pranks and fixing walls.
Lawbooks torn, the clowns conspire
[*]I’m chasing chaos, drawing fire.
[*]Traitors lurk, the AI lies,
[*]Greytiders scream, “SEC BAD!” with cries.
[*]But still I guard this floating zoo,
[*]For space, for order — and NT too!
Previous bans (while this will not affect your application lying about it will):
1. Silicon-banned for not understanding laws.
2. Banned for leaving at roundstart as captain.