Did I do wrong as a RO?

[fanit937]

I got into this position about a week ago, thanks to many nice, helpful and knowledgeable ROs. I love Colonial Marines and actually learnt about Cargo just a few weeks ago, it fits me, I get to help people, and I get into work with people, so I learnt about things and I moved on from CT to RO, still learning. As a RO I basically never get into the office room, I stay around the counter and pads to make sure I have workload on me, what CTs do I do too, I don't want them to have the wrong idea, I always tell CTs to take breaks, have a cigar, have fun around the ship etc.

So today I was RO with a experienced CT and one that's new to the job, things go smooth, lines closed, I taught the newbie basic stuffs just like how people do to me.

Things went downhill mid-game. Again, different ROs taught me many, directly or indirectly, however, never had this situation happened before, so I don't really what would they do, and more importantly, was I wrong?

(here starts the actual post)

The experienced CT asked for a spare command radio, it would greatly help his job as I do admit that I would miss a line or two, I consider myself a rookie and do make mistakes here and there, so I give him the one in office locker. (Sorry if this is against law even rules, did not process it at that moment.)

And then things changed: He started yell at the new CT (calling idiot or something else, I believe it's an IC thing though), buying things without notifying any of us, surprised but definitely no hard feelings (In fact grateful that he's helping out), I check the paper to find out that he spent 10 points on a crate of empty boxes because of a marine's (Not sure if marine, didn't really check) order. I talked to him and said something along the lines of "Did we buy empty boxes?" "We could put the points into good use" with the example of a ammo box which worth 20 points and, apparently, has 800 rounds of ammo filled now. Of course, as I stated I am a rookie and, I admit I don't really know the worthy of empty boxes, I will totally take and learn from criticism, but I wanted to save points for more important orders, and I tried to explain. Don't get me wrong, it is great to help people out if that's what they need, but in that round we have orders upon orders from squads. We had stacks of metal and bags of ammo prepared, still I want to prepare for the worst, I want to have at least points to buy a sentry, at least a plasteel and maybe a ammo box and nades.

I don't quite remember the details, it wasn't even a argument because he simply refused to listen to me and he also didn't have things to say other then "It's not a big deal". After said event, he has started to stand right in front of the console all day long, NEVER take a step aside, and continued to order items on his own, AP / expanded mags for example, no discussion, no communication, and my brain went blank because, I don't know, I don't want to put it this way, but a somewhat nice guy turned into a control freak all of a sudden, I mean, it was just unexpected, I was just sitting here staring at my screen, I was not prepared for it, it may be naive of me but I had the mindset of "Let's have fun and work together", and it worked until this day, I tried to talk to him, but he already started to act and work like he was the boss, ignoring any of my words. At that point I just left the stamps and my ID card, went to cryopod, because, again, my brain was blank, I needed rest.

I know this might really be a minor, common and even laughable drama (may even not be OOC drama), but the community has actually been extremely delightful, even the rudest ones may care about you (You can feel the change from a rude character to the actual person behind the character.), and I am sorry I started a post just for this, but I want to know: Was I so wrong? Did I overreact? I am absolutely not angry, just sad, depressed.

Again, I am not trying to have consolation or prove who's right and wrong or anything, I simply want to know if I could do better, like do I have bad attribute and made my partners angry in some ways? Maybe next time I meet him, there better way to communicate and maybe solve it out? Although, I did make some stupid decisions that round (And his actions were confusing my brain even harder), but the whole situation and relationship, I really don't know what to do, I totally have no experience in this.

(In other games, you can easily ignore people you don't like and move on, but I still want to be RO/CT in CM, and it would really be hard to work with this CT again for me, because, again, he simply didn't want to talk to me at that point, all of a sudden, even though I am very willing to.)

Again sorry for bothering all of you with this, I could laugh while a MP threatens me with a baton while I am gathering stuffs in prep rooms but not this.

I tried to find the rules to see if this is the correct place for posts like this but couldn't find any, but I really need somewhere express because I feel like Cargo fits me and try very hard to learn and get the job done, this is the first time of this sort of thing happens and my brain really can't work straight right now, my wordings may be odd, rough, orderless even incomprehensible, and it is kinda long, thank you for reading, and after this post I am gonna get a sleep and move on anyway, but thank you.

(Spent some time proofreading and thinking if I should post this or not, I want to type even more but it's really long now, and it's 2 a.m. here, also, registered just to post this looks really childish and doesn't contribute anything;
If this sort of post is against rules please remove it, and I apologize for the trouble.)

[Philby0]

You definitely weren't in the wrong here, in fact you could've called the MPs for that, and they'd force the CT to stop.

[taketheshot56]

the whole noob RO and vet CT is something that has troubled req many times, you didnt do anything wrong.

[Bronimin]

Ground rules are good. I've experienced something similar with Technicians trying to take over as RO once before and have adjusted my approach so that it doesn't happen again.

0) You must know what you have in stock and roughly how many supply points you have at all times.
1) Staff Officers MUST talk to you and only you when they want something from Requisitions. Make sure that you are the first one to answer them when they come calling. It is not the technician's place to get involved. This is the chain of command, and the Staff Officers MUST follow the chain of command properly. Also, this is the worst thing that can happen to you as an RO, as you are essentially made redundant.
2) Cargo Technicians are not permitted to authorize things without checking with you first. Again, if this isn't done you are essentially made redundant (or Cargo turns into some commie-topia where the technician is equal to the officer and that isn't very American). On high-pop, I personally will tune my radio to all frequencies and sit in the office ordering supplies and soaking in all of the information, leaving loading and unloading and management of the attachments line to my technicians completely (otherwise, they have nothing to do themselves and the game gets boring).
3) Hold onto the stamps at all times.
4) If technicians are loading crates for drops by themselves, check them before approving the drop with the Staff Officers (see: rule 1).

Technicians always are the ones to move supplies to the Alamo, never myself. Sometimes I will ask them to deliver supplies in person, because I know that that is a lot more interesting.

[Bronimin]

The empty box crate is a load of garbage by the way, you have 50 sheets of cardboard in your back room to turn into boxes, folders or more commonly, cardborg hats.

[davidofmk771]

You would be 100% in the right to call the MPs if a CT is disobeying your orders as an RO, no matter how confident they are that they are in the right.
Insubordination is a serious offense in the military for a good reason, it completely defeats the point of the chain-of-command.

[Stripetail]

You did nothing wrong here. I cannot stress this enough.

This is a consistent issue with Requisitions that affects every person who's ever been in the bay.

Everyone has their own way of doing things, the problem is when one side of the equation won't accept that and try to work with what they're given.

As the RO you have the final say on everything involving Requisitions short of the XO or CO. (Though some SO's will attempt to bully you, generally good XO's or CO's will curb this.)

If a CT doesn't like how you do things they can absolutely go and cryo, or try and offer suggestions. God knows that I've learned many things from CT's from the Sully days.




Bah, just don't beat yourself up over it, try RO out in low pop, you'll learn a lot more than high pop stress. (It can be ludicrous) Other than that, don't let this discourage you from trying the role again. Most CT's are looking for a round to chill in, that's why they chose CT. Try to keep them busy and treat them right and they should do the same for you. If you have a CT that's done something obscene, like waste hundreds of points on items not needed (black market shit) or the like, especially without telling you. Feel free to sick the MP's on them. You're playing a position that has some of the most fluctuating emotions from marines in the game.

[Sir Lordington]

If anything, you went too soft on the guy. You're the RO, you're in charge. If they insist on doing their own thing against your orders, slap them with insubordination. If they wanted to be in charge, they should've played RO. Don't be afraid to call for MPs if people try to fuck with you, and this goes double as the RO, since both squaddies and CTs will attempt to override you and get you to do what they want.

[Stripetail]

I remember one fucking round I had a marine literally go on general comms to whine to the fucking CO about me not giving him a BC. (He was a private)

[fanit937]

Now that my mind has cooled down, first of all thank you for all the responses, because last night I had built up enough self-doubt to a point that option 8 in this guide helped out the most.

My brain was also so empty to forget to mention my character name, which is Fanit Mercier. The post's not meant to be a one-sided story, if you are a witness and feel that my post is biased towards myself, please do reply. Although, I don't think anyone would be bored enough to ghost Requisition.

You definitely weren't in the wrong here, in fact you could've called the MPs for that, and they'd force the CT to stop.

The thing is, 1. I don't want to ruin the fun of anyone and 2. His action had led me to believe that I fucked up something somewhere, that he had to take over.

Instead of wasting time to argue and reason (If he was willing to, of course) or having the whole Requisition and MPs go nuts, which would result in a loss of whole USCM side, I chose to step out of it peacefully. I don't know would this way bring greater benefits, but I did know that time was tight at the moment, and I am here to help the team, drama should be ended as soon as possible.

Ground rules are good. I've experienced something similar with Technicians trying to take over as RO once before and have adjusted my approach so that it doesn't happen again.

0) You must know what you have in stock and roughly how many supply points you have at all times.
1) Staff Officers MUST talk to you and only you when they want something from Requisitions. Make sure that you are the first one to answer them when they come calling. It is not the technician's place to get involved. This is the chain of command, and the Staff Officers MUST follow the chain of command properly. Also, this is the worst thing that can happen to you as an RO, as you are essentially made redundant.
2) Cargo Technicians are not permitted to authorize things without checking with you first. Again, if this isn't done you are essentially made redundant (or Cargo turns into some commie-topia where the technician is equal to the officer and that isn't very American). On high-pop, I personally will tune my radio to all frequencies and sit in the office ordering supplies and soaking in all of the information, leaving loading and unloading and management of the attachments line to my technicians completely (otherwise, they have nothing to do themselves and the game gets boring).
3) Hold onto the stamps at all times.
4) If technicians are loading crates for drops by themselves, check them before approving the drop with the Staff Officers (see: rule 1).

Technicians always are the ones to move supplies to the Alamo, never myself. Sometimes I will ask them to deliver supplies in person, because I know that that is a lot more interesting.

1. The whole chain of command thing is where I am truly unused to. I understand it, but at the same time, I also don't want the CTs to feel like they are made redundant. Most people, or rather everyone beside this one did not fail my trust. As I said, this is the first time of mine.

2. Understood, I see that your point being division of labour, which was basically out of my mind. I personally didn't want to give them the wrong idea of that I am leaving all the hard works to them, so I would do what CTs do, I also want them to be involved, to feel that they are also a part of the team, so I would let them do a little of what I do.
I don't think I will change this style, but I will try to find a better balance of this.

4. Will do. I actually always do it, but that guy, at that moment, didn't even give me chances.

5. I would, too. I always try to think of some interesting works for everyone to do, and carry the boring ones that you have to repeat every round onto myself.

Thank you for your advices. I am, in fact, not so used to work with CTs. 80% of time I sign up for Cargo job, I end up solo the whole round, which actually improved my skills and knowledge, and I enjoy it as much as working with people.

The empty box crate is a load of garbage by the way, you have 50 sheets of cardboard in your back room to turn into boxes, folders or more commonly, cardborg hats.

Good to have you to confirm its worthy. What I had in mind was, actually, clean up some MRE boxes, but it doesn't matter now.

You would be 100% in the right to call the MPs if a CT is disobeying your orders as an RO, no matter how confident they are that they are in the right.
Insubordination is a serious offense in the military for a good reason, it completely defeats the point of the chain-of-command.

The thing I worried is not that he's right or not, but rather was I? I could not take the risk to harm the whole team because of my stubbornness, thus I withdrew from the situation.

And yea, you are right, I need to get used to and follow the chain of command.

You did nothing wrong here. I cannot stress this enough.

This is a consistent issue with Requisitions that affects every person who's ever been in the bay.

Everyone has their own way of doing things, the problem is when one side of the equation won't accept that and try to work with what they're given.

As the RO you have the final say on everything involving Requisitions short of the XO or CO. (Though some SO's will attempt to bully you, generally good XO's or CO's will curb this.)

If a CT doesn't like how you do things they can absolutely go and cryo, or try and offer suggestions. God knows that I've learned many things from CT's from the Sully days.




Bah, just don't beat yourself up over it, try RO out in low pop, you'll learn a lot more than high pop stress. (It can be ludicrous) Other than that, don't let this discourage you from trying the role again. Most CT's are looking for a round to chill in, that's why they chose CT. Try to keep them busy and treat them right and they should do the same for you. If you have a CT that's done something obscene, like waste hundreds of points on items not needed (black market shit) or the like, especially without telling you. Feel free to sick the MP's on them. You're playing a position that has some of the most fluctuating emotions from marines in the game.

Yea, people are always willing to accept each others, and sort it out, for me, beside last night.

Funny that this is exactly the opposite: I, as a RO, offered suggestions to the CT, and then went to cryo.

The community has been too nice to me, that when this happens, I didn't know (or simply forgot) how to react. No, the workloads, commands and marines asking for attachments never put enough stress on me to make me feel bad and quit. To be honest, no stress taken at all, I enjoy this position very much, these interactions always give me fun and good laughs.

But then this happened, first time and the only time I got real stress and feelings from the game. Everything else was fun and entertaining.

If anything, you went too soft on the guy. You're the RO, you're in charge. If they insist on doing their own thing against your orders, slap them with insubordination. If they wanted to be in charge, they should've played RO. Don't be afraid to call for MPs if people try to fuck with you, and this goes double as the RO, since both squaddies and CTs will attempt to override you and get you to do what they want.

Yes, I understand, but I try to avoid to give people the idea of being controlled. The law is my last resort, I want to find the best solution for both sides before that. I absolutely agree with you, but still.

It may sounds weird to say now, but I am usually not this kind of easy person. But again, the community is too friendly, the fact that the game is 100% focus on cooperative play and supporting each other doesn't help, it just... soften my thoughts, I guess.



All in all, thank you everyone for the responses, helped me a lot to clear my mind and man up. More importantly, thank you for reading that pile of messes. My brain was so dead last night.

[davidofmk771]

The thing I worried is not that he's right or not, but rather was I? I could not take the risk to harm the whole team because of my stubbornness, thus I withdrew from the situation.

And yea, you are right, I need to get used to and follow the chain of command.

I understand this point completely, nobody wants to be known as a terminal baldie. However, at the moment he stopped communicating, calling the MPs became the best option. You can disagree with an officer, that's generally fine, but if they lash out, insult, or ignore an officer over trivial nonsense like the guy in your story, they are completely fair game.

Frankly, its the ignoring part I hate the most. If you say something, even some thing dickish, you are at least RPing somehow. The way you put it this guy just simply dropped out of the social aspect of the game and started ordering relatively useless crates at his own wish. That adds absolutely to the round and only serves to fill a limited, high-potential RP slot with a mute, disobedient robot.

[fanit937]

I understand this point completely, nobody wants to be known as a terminal baldie. However, at the moment he stopped communicating, calling the MPs became the best option. You can disagree with an officer, that's generally fine, but if they lash out, insult, or ignore an officer over trivial nonsense like the guy in your story, they are completely fair game.

Frankly, its the ignoring part I hate the most. If you say something, even some thing dickish, you are at least RPing somehow. The way you put it this guy just simply dropped out of the social aspect of the game and started ordering relatively useless crates at his own wish. That adds absolutely to the round and only serves to fill a limited, high-potential RP slot with a mute, disobedient robot.

This is only my point of view, but yes, it felt like he did, indeed, cut off the line between him and I.

He did talk but his words implied that there's no room for discussion, and I felt that he was also implying that I wasn't doing well on my job, which I do admit, definitely not in best shape. But I was always nice to the technicians and open to communication, I would be really grateful to work (and ultimately, play) with him if he suggested with words instead.

However, he did order those crates for people's demand (In the case of empty boxes, someone did require a single empty box, leaving remaining boxes in Requisition afterward), so I don't think it's entirely useless nor he was at fault on this subject, but rather, he failed to realize the importance of priority, which is, again, what I wanted to converse about with him, and I would be fine to be proved wrong.

[Szunti]

You can't really be bad as RO if you put effort into it. I play SO often and If you respond usually in less than three attempts and didn't spent all the points on useless stuff you are completely fine.

You could talk to the other CT, an MP or another officer about your problem. You can get support in the game ICly and that's good opportunity for RP imo.

[Steve_Rhino]

IMO, no you weren't in the wrong. You're there to be run req. For better or worse. If you have an subordinate not communicating, not respecting your position or their peers, then that is grounds for MPs.

They are, whether good or bad at it, taking away from your position and will mess up the Chain of Command down the line. Alpha needs supplies? Did the ct order them? Will they stamp them? How many points left to juggle between the squads and ship etc.



Tbh them calling the new ct an idiot does annoy me. If only as 1. They are new so have leeway, and 2. Ct is labelled as easy on wiki so good start for new people at times. But that's a personal grind.

[FelixG]

Huh. If your`e RO you`re king of Cargo. You can arrest CT for disobeying orders disrespect and all that. I did this once or twice.
Once they come back they either go to cryo or become obedient.