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Regarding the recent allegations and drama towards the server hosts and staff, I do not feel comfortable having my contributions associated with this server anymore. I have reverted the policy back to its original, please respect my wishes.
 
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Command Policy [V2]

Do not give people access to be your 'assistant.'

General Overview and Standards

Members of command staff aboard the station take on the primary role of the Captain, Head of Security, Research Director, Head of Personnel, Chief Medical Officer, Quartermaster, and Chief Engineer. As any of these roles, you are the designated leadership and delegate for your department (or the station itself as Captain). Even if you choose an alt title for your job, you fall under these standards.

Your role is that of a leader, not a boss. Remember that other real, human players are behind those pixel spacemen in-game, and they have their own thoughts and feelings. Be considerate of them from an ooc perspective, as well as an IC perspective. An asshole boss in real life doesn't usually last too long if they're severely toxic, so take that into account.

General guidelines for all head/command positions are as follows:

  • Delegate and be a leader, not a boss. The players you deal with in your department are still players, and not YOUR employees. They're your character's coworkers and staff, not just subordinates to order around. Giving orders in order to organize people and issue tasks is one thing, barking orders like a drill sergeant is another. There are some occasions where this is acceptable, such as with the head of security during an emergency, or if your department is completely neglecting their job, but these are exceptions, not the general rule.
  • If anyone in your department is new or needs instruction, take them under your wing and even let them shadow you so you can show them how to do things. You'll save yourself future headaches by doing this. If you find yourself too busy and unable to do this, try getting an experienced member of your department to teach them instead.
  • As a head, you have primary control of your department. The captain can issue orders to you in emergencies, but you are the one who runs the show in your neighborhood. As CE, you are the one who takes responsibility for the engine the most, as you are the head of engineering and thus (hopefully) the most knowledgeable of engineering tasks [and atmos]. As RD, you should be knowledgeable on xenobiology, toxins research, and anything else covered by R&D, and if someone outside of it makes questionable demands, you are the one who should correct it with the right information. This does not mean you shouldn’t listen to others, or at least consider other crews opinions if they tell you that what you’re doing is incredibly dangerous or stupid. Overconfidence is a frequent cause of issues.
  • Each head role requires a certain amount of play hours as a different role in order for you to play that role, however don't think of that as the end-all-be-all. You still should have the most knowledge possible of how your department runs, at the very least intermediate knowledge of most things, especially in the event someone needs your help learning a role in the department. Before playing a command role, try to play each job in a department at least a few times to be familiar with how it is.
  • If you go to ERP as a head of staff/captain, focus on your role FIRST. Otherwise, go assistant if you want to do such a thing. If the “Command” clothes are integral to your scene, go to the Ghost Cafe. This means the moment your job comes up, ERP stops. This is ESPECIALLY important for the head of security, and ESPECIALLY on code red.
  • You are not security (Unless you are, but even then, calm down) Do not go around trying to hunt down antagonists or even troublemakers unless you're the HOS, and even as HOS try to not be super active like a normal officer unless you feel it's needed. Keep combat to self defense as any other head role as much as possible.
  • Be a role-model IC and OOC. As the head of a department, try to not actively talk down about your employers (Nanotrasen), don't harass crew members needlessly, and don't berate other departments unless you're certain of something. Be professional and courteous. Don't loud mode that the captain is a retard on general comms just because he did something you don't agree with. Act like how you would if you were in the shoes of your character and want to keep that job. This is an 18 plus server. We’re all adults here. We should act like it.
  • Loud mode is a tool for emergencies. Do not keep it on for 24/7 use, and especially do not use it to badmouth people of general comms and do not constantly have it turned on. Remember: you should act with professionalism, and play your role.
  • Do not trade equipment specific to your role with other command members. Example: HOS trading their Glock for the Captain’s SOCOM pistol.

As a Head of Staff, or otherwise direct subservient of Central Command, you’re (ICly) expected to uphold the shining and glorious image of Nanotrasen. You are expected to be an upstanding member and role model for how others should act. This expectation, while primarily based in-character, has some merit on an OOC level. You truly are expected to be a shining image (to some degree) and expected to be a role model of sorts to your co-workers on an in- and out of- character level. As a head, players look up to *you* for guidance and how to properly conduct oneself in a department. You are not only the leader of a department, but it’s representative.

With you acting as a representative and role model of not only your department, but of the station, and the server as a whole, it’s no surprise that you will be held to a higher standard both IC-ly and OOC-ly.

Command Code of Conduct

You’re based on a frontier station. You’re far away from the prestigious and no-doubt well-kempt stations of other areas. Keep this in mind. We do not expect you to be stellar, but there are standards to ensure the bare minimum quality of roleplay we expect out of each and every player can be achieved & maintained. Heads should, as stated prior, treat themselves as a proper role model and leader rather than a disconnected boss. There are some general snippets of etiquette you should follow as a Head:

  • (1.) You are expected to… Always hold some semblance of professionality in how you conduct yourself. This expectation, more or less, is asking you to realistically play the part of a head. You’re not a normal crewmember, and you’re not a lackey. You’re an esteemed and highly-valued part of the station. Treat yourself as such. Your office, and the Bridge, should also be given the same respect.
  • (2.) You are expected to… Maintain a certain degree of level-headedness and fair temper. Keeping yourself calm on an OOC level is extremely important. Do not indulge in command often if you find yourself unable to let bygones be bygones, and unable to see things for what they ultimately are: a game. Everyone gets frustrated - it’s how you deal with that frustration that matters.
  • (3.) You are expected to… Keep “inappropriate” remarks and acts away from public knowledge. Matters that are typically handled in private settings, or remarks that are typically said privately should be done privately. Command is held in a different, much brighter light from the rest of the station. You should not be openly blabbering on common with lewd remarks. Your professional and “corporation-friendly” demeanor should always be maintained when speaking in public, or being in public view. What happens behind closed doors, however, is completely fair game.
  • (4.) You are expected to… Be professional when communicating in public to the crew. While we allow some leniency in the terminology that’s permitted to be used, Command must and will be held to higher expectations and be expected to use little to no slang when appearing/talking to the public. Specifically meme-y terminology such as “based”, “cringe”, “sus” and so on are not to be used in means of communication that is accessible to two or more people. Whatever happens behind closed doors and in private is another matter. Otherwise, you should be maintaining a face of IC professionality and only utilize a decently mature vocabulary. You will not be bapped for occasionally using casual slang such as “Dude”, “Sup”, ect. But it is advised against.
  • (5.) You are expected to… Dress appropriately. It is vital that you wear proper attire. Heads should not dress like civilians. This is not only to make yourself more identifiable, but to reinforce the concept that you are, infact, an esteemed and valued Head of Staff, hired directly from Central Command. Given that this is a frontier station, uniform laws would, understandably, be much more lax. Wearing your own hats, shoes, and sometimes your own uniforms is entirely acceptable! This includes the Star Trek load out uniforms. If you do opt to wear your own uniform, however, you should wear something that resembles your role, such as the corresponding cape that signifies your role, usually found in your locker. At the very least, you shouldn’t be wearing a gear harness.

AI and Borg Law Changes

The Captain and RD have full authorization to do law changes as needed, though the captain has the final say. However, it is expected you do so in good faith and do not give laws to them as a non-antagonist that would harm or hinder the entire station/crew. Switching from default laws to basic Crewsimov would be fine, but not switching to something like Paladin or One-Human Asimov.

The Acting Captain, if not the RD, also has final say.

If you feel law changes are needed, remember the golden rule: when in doubt, hit F1 and ask admins. Just know that law changes you make will make you held accountable for the end results if they're something that can be interpreted badly.

In most situations, however, command roles are subject to certain procedures when it comes to their own departments. As such, here are the general rules pertaining to each role, including NT Representative, CC Official, ERT Personnel, and Blueshields.

Acting Captain

Acting captainship is something that is encouraged to be discussed among all heads and determine who is best fit to run the show based on merit rather than job title on a round to round basis. If you're the HOP but you and other heads feel the CMO or QM is a better pick, you are 100% allowed and encouraged to hand the reins to them should you feel unsure of your own abilities to lead. If you are all having trouble deciding, then work together as best you can to keep the station functioning by keeping constant communication up between each other or speak to the NT Representative for their advice on the matter (more info in the NT Rep section).

As acting captain, you play the role of your initial job above all else. You are to take the Nuclear Authentication Disk, the spare ID, the disk pinpointer, the door remote, the spare captain headset (leave the bowman alone), and nothing else. You are advised to spread these items out to other heads, as well, for security purposes. Leave the clothing, sword, gun, and anything not listed above alone unless it is an actual emergency and you need the equipment.

As acting captain, your role is to manage your department like normal, but you also are responsible for more advanced duties should the need arise. You are the one who will need to raise and lower alert levels as needed, call the shuttle as needed, and even delegate to different departments and security in emergency situations such as viruses, meteors, or severe security issues such as extreme antagonist behaviors and round ending threats. However, until a severe emergency happens, your authority is limited and you should leave issues to their respective department heads. If departments lack a head and they need someone to delegate or take leadership, offer your assistance as much as needed in order to get them back on track, but do not be a tyrant.

Also, this should be obvious, but do not leave the station with the disk in your possession.

Captain

You are the head honcho and the big man himself. While you aren't supposed to act like a big dick tyrant or anything, your word on things is the one other heads and departments should take the most seriously, so long as it makes sense. You don't have absolute, total authority over every little thing (that would make the game very unfun), but you are able to access every department comm channel, delegate among your heads of staff, give reasonable orders in an emergency, and resolve department issues IC if the head of that department is unable to. Think of yourself as the main leader figure as well as human resources.

Remember, this is still your station that you are in charge of. While the NT Rep and Fleetmasters are part of CC, you still hold the authority and governance over the station itself, even if an ERT arrives.

You should remain on the station at all times, without express CC approval to leave.

Your main powers are as follows:

Contacting CC to provide status updates, request ERT assistance when needed, purchase and call shuttles as needed, provide reasonable orders and commands to the heads of staff and departments as needed, raise and lower alert as needed, provide information on dangers to the crew to keep them informed, authorizing executions if needed, and demoting heads of staff as needed.

The words as needed come up a lot here because you need to remember that despite your powers, everyone is playing this game to have fun. Read the room and try to understand what is going on with a situation before providing your input. If you're unsure of details, ask all parties for their sides on things before moving better. If more time and investigation nets a better resolution, it is always worth it. Don’t raise to code amber over a pickpocket or a used thermal vision injector.

While it may be tempting to involve yourself in every squabble with antagonists, try to use common sense when doing so. If a suspected espionage agent is in custody and being interrogated, coming into interrogation yourself to listen in or ask questions is more acceptable than running at an armed and decked out hostile active shooter. As the captain, you are responsible for your crew and should do what you can to ensure their safety. Nanotrasen may be a soulless corporation, but you and the other crew are still people, and thus you should act on that.

Pardons for crimes are something you and the HOS must agree on together. If there is no HOS, then pardons cannot be made at all. You may only pardon minor crimes, specifically level 1 crimes in the corporate regulations.

If in the event security has been incapacitated to an extreme degree, and crew members (especially heads of staff) are being actively attacked with hostile/deadly intent, you are free to assist them as needed, even if it requires combat. Try to make every attempt to contact security and get them to assist as well, especially if it's urgent.

If a round ending threat (meteors, multiple horror form lings rampaging, heavily armed boarding parties with hostile intent, blob/mold, vines, zombies, bluespace portals event) is happening, you may also involve yourself as needed. If at all possible, try to take alternative methods to resolving any situation other than combat, but if combat is the only way to resolve it, swing away.

Weapons Permits are at the privilege of the Captain to dispense. They are given-out via ID modification at the appropriate consoles. They are often, but do not have to be, subject to a reasonable cost. It is solely the directive of the captain in how this is handled, this means:

  1. It is the captain's ultimate authority to determine how to dispense permits, and to whom, and any additional fee attached within reason.
  2. The captain can decide to work on consensus with other heads as in example to require HOS approval for each permit.
  3. The captain, however, does not have to receive the approval of any other head, and no other head can countermand their decision

Research Director

  • You're the big brain man of the station, the one who got his/her role because you know your shit and you know it well. While you don't need to know everything about each part of sci (there's a lot to it and some is more complicated or less useful than others), you should know the basics of at least xenobio, toxins, robotics, and research.
  • As leader of the science team, you should be organizing them to run parts upgrades, make sure each department has the tech they need, keep tabs on the AI and cyborgs, and communicate with the vanguard team and miners as needed to provide what assistance you can. Your responsibilities are very few and scattered, so while you won't have consistent free time in the round, you will likely have a lot of it regardless.
  • You are also, of course, to make sure your scientists know what they’re doing and actually do their jobs. Watch over genetics to make sure they’re not giving random assistants telekinesis or something, make sure robotics isn’t making armed phazons on code green, so on and so forth.

Head of Personnel

  • As the HOP, your job is simple and pretty easy. You are essentially human resources with less authority, and your main department (service) is not only the largest of the station departments, but also the most arguably needed consistently. The botanists provide food, chefs make the food taste good, bartenders provide a friendly space for weary spacemen, chaplains provide spiritual aid, clowns and mimes provide entertainment, lawyers provide legal aid, assistants assist people, and curators provide books, translation services, and so on… Uphold the service department as a whole to the standards any other head should be holding their department to. Make sure they are doing their jobs and doing them in a safe and mostly sane manner.
  • As HOP, your main job roundstart is usually access changes and job changes as requested. It's generally good practice to ask for a reason for the changes, though depending on the requested access you might want to show discretion. You have full authority over access to service areas, though you should always ask service crew if they would want the assistance, as sometimes they have their own need for space.
  • When asked for a job change or access to anything outside of service, you should generally ask for a reason and communicate that reason to the appropriate head of staff. If someone wants to become an engineer, you should definitely contact the CE. If the CE was missing, however, ask the captain or acting captain.
  • Outside of access changes, you should be on the lookout for disputes among crew members and try to resolve it peacefully through communication. If it escalates, contact the captain or NT Representative for advice based on the situation at hand.
  • If IC legal issues arise, you also have access and authority over lawyers, and may assign them to cases and delegate as needed. If no lawyers exist, you may step up to act as a legal representative as well.
  • Do not give out access for no reason to your friends, or allow assistants to have access to your office as your personal aides slash ERP buddies.

Chief Engineer

  • As the CE, you're the second most big-brain dude on station. Unless the RD is dumb, in which case you're gonna have to be the smartest person on the station whether you want to be or not.
  • Your primary task is to manage engineering and atmospherics, so it's important and vital to know both before proceeding into the role of Chief Engineer. Maintaining power and life support for the station is your duty, and will likely be the result of any lack of downtime.
  • At the start of the round, your main priority is power. Have your engineers set up the engine and oversee the setup if you are able. Advise newer engineers of proper procedures and instruct them on how to set it up.
  • As the CE, any fancy SM setups should be run by you first IC, but you should probably ahelp and ask admins for permission to do so before moving any further, just to make absolutely sure.It also helps to let the captain know and get their opinion on it too.
  • Also, keep an eye on engineering staff, and check on things from time to time. An unauthorized HFR can lead to untold carnage.

Chief Medical Officer

  • Real life hospitals usually have a chief doctor to oversee things in the hospital and make sure doctors are following proper procedure. This is essentially your primary role as CMO. Try to delegate tasks to your team and make sure they're not doing anything to violate human rights or ethics to their patients. Step into the fray if need be and treat patients as well should medbay become overrun.
  • Remember to check in with each subsection of your department. Paramedics, surgeons, nurses, doctors, virology, and chemistry. As a CMO, you run what might be the most extensive and job-diverse department in the game, and you should expect to have a lot on your plate as the round progresses. Just remember, you should have the knowledge to back up your authority.
  • As CMO, you hold the authority to authorize or deny chemical distributions and manufacturing (for more dangerous or powerful substances), beneficial virus releases, and implant distribution. Be mindful of certain things with each of these occurrences, such as safety for different races, jobs, etc.

Head of Security

  • The chief of police, as it were. As HOS, you spawn in with a pinpointer for the nuke disk, a powerful weapon, and control of the station's law enforcement. Your job is going to be stressful, thankless, and likely result in a few deaths or even round removal from time to time. However, you should do everything in your power to ensure your officers aren't breaching conduct and procedure, delegate as much as possible with them, and keep regular communication with your officers and brig staff to ensure the most efficiency and least casualties possible. Keep an eye on the chat window as often as possible, because even a single missed radio message could result in a catastrophe.
  • Additionally, make sure your officers follow SOP, Corp regs, and general security policy and standards, to a reasonable degree. If the warden is running around outside brig on code green in riot armor to krav maga a suspected antag, stop them. If an officer gets black market tokens and gets guns for themselves on green, either ahelp it, or stop them. Make sure your officers are at least semi-professional.
  • Pardons for crimes are something you and the Captain must agree on together. If there is no Captain (acting captain doesn't count), then pardons cannot be made at all. You may only pardon minor crimes, specifically level 1 crimes in the corporate regulations.
  • Another thing to remember is you should be the front-liner for diplomacy if your officers cannot do so. This goes for hostage situations and people with bomb threats. If demands are reasonable, try to work with them and comply. If you can use diplomacy and not just beat them down, make an attempt to do so, and then if that person continues to be a shit despite their demands being met, you can hit them. Human/Crew lives should be held higher than mere items.
  • Remember: you're the chief, the general, the big boss, but you're not a foot soldier. You're essentially a police chief, and should be relying on your officers to do the grunt work for petty arrests and smaller tasks. When larger scale threats occur, that's when you really should be out and about helping on the front lines. Remember: even you can be hit for validhunting.

Quartermaster

  • The QM on Skyrat is considered a head of staff, and is not subject to orders from the HOP. The captain is your direct superior, and you should listen to them and hold yourself to as much of a professional standard as possible.
  • As the QM, you have the authority to accept or deny orders, similarly to your cargo techs. However, your word is final on these things most of the time unless it's a private order (within reason). You probably shouldn't be accepting an assistant's private order for three SMG crates and contraband without very good reason, such as an emergency that requires them like a blob or xenos.
  • As QM, you need to be able to read the room as much as the Captain or HOS. Keep an eye on comms and announcements, and if emergencies crop up, be ready to order supplies for it without being told. Biosuits for viruses, firefighter gear for fires, guns for blobs/mold, the works.
  • Remember to check in on your miners as well, and if need be scream at medical to retrieve them or go down to mining yourself and haul them back to station, so long as you let command know what you're doing and make sure the miners are recoverable.
  • And remember: cargonia is a bannable offense. This includes buying guns for yourself. You don’t need to buy two mosins on a greenshift, even if you just want to "display them".

Blueshield

  • While Blueshield isn't a member of command, you still protect them. As such, Blueshield will be covered here because its fitting.
  • Do not ask for all access; you aren't meant to have it, or elsewise, you'd start with it.
  • Your job and mission as Blueshield is protecting the command team and Captain from danger, performing recovery on them if they're incapacitated or killed as well if need be, and pacifying aggressors. You are not security and not authorized to chase down random criminals. Keep your reach to your jurisdiction exclusively in protecting the captain and command team. If someone attacks the heads of staff directly, you're authorized to restrain or incapacitate them until security is able to get them, or alternatively mow the assailant down with automatic gunfire if need be, but do not pursue retreating aggressors. Leave that to security.
  • If the HOS runs into combat like a normal officer, it’s their problem. If the Captain runs off to hit an antag with their sword against all sense of self preservation, stop them from doing so.
  • Lethal force is authorized if you can tell that someone has intent to kill a head of staff.
  • Remember: you should focus on protecting the heads of staff as people, not assets. If they lose their items, that’s on them. Just keep them alive and safe.

Nanotrasen Representative

  • The NT Rep is, in essence, an advisor and pencil pusher. You are a representative of The Company™ and should act as professional as possible. Not only this, but your job is to observe and advise the command team, document infractions, report them to CC, and oversee demotions as needed. Your job is to hold the command team responsible for their actions, and make sure that they correct their mistakes and uphold the values of your company, but not lord over them and act as a Captain+. Keep out of affairs unless you are directly needed.
  • Do not try speedrunning demotions or exceeding your jurisdiction. You're an observer and advisor, but the captain still holds the reins of the station itself and should be consulted as much as possible.
  • However, despite being an advisor, you have the capacity to help the station under extreme circumstances. Since you are working and living on the station, you should care about its wellbeing just as much as anyone else, and assist the command team in emergencies should the need arise.
  • In short, you’re meant to act as a check and balance to command. If the captain’s an idiot, or if security decides to violate the geneva convention again, you are to hold them accountable.

Closing Statement

Remember: the station is a workplace, and the command team and yourself are the leaders. You all are held to the highest standards and expected to act like someone who would believably hold the title of a head of a department on a research station. Even if the crew doesn't act like it, you should. Be the change that you want to see.


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