Reno 'Weenie' Story for CO

[Renomaki]

Byond ID: Renomaki

Player name you use the most: Reno 'Weenie' Story

Make a list of links to all of your applications and (job)ban appeals, including whitelist and staff apps, within the last year. Also, provide "Ban reason; Verdict" beside each (job)ban link:

• Predator App viewtopic.php?f=127&t=8631 > Denial Reason = Pulled out before final verdict

Do you understand that any player - even donors or staff members - can have their whitelist status revoked should they break our Server Rules or Roleplay Guidelines?

I understand quite well, and wish to avoid shaming myself in such a way.

Why should you be whitelisted?
I have a fair few decent reasons to be allowed to lead a platoon as commander.

One reason is that I am dedicated to whatever job I roll. In the case of a role such as commander, I can be trusted to stick with the marines from beginning to end, no matter how dire or frustrating things may be. Trust me, I had some real shitty rounds, but where others would have rageSSDed their way out, I powered through and fought on to the end.

I also believe in more determined and aggressive play over "Lets retreat with 60 marines and camp the sully" tactics. My personal style of leadership involves keeping the fighting spirit of marines going no matter what and fighting till the bitter end, for it is better to die fighting than to die exposing your back to the enemy. After all, isn't the best part about being a marine the epic last stands? The glorious struggle to hold back the alien armies of doom until reinforcements arrive? Survive or not, those are the better moments of being a marine, and I want to encourage more bravery in my troops over cowardly tactics.

I also am quite talkative as well as a commander, and while I might struggle sometimes to keep up with everyone, at the very least I'm not silently standing by while marines die. A commander who tries to keep in touch is better than one that rarely says anything to his men below.

And while I may be harsh, even cruel sometimes due to my tactics, I myself still care for my marines. I'm not a bloodthirsty leader who personally executes people unlike most other COs during executions, nor do I send MPs to give out random beatings. Rather, I'd like to talk things out and be diplomatic rather than letting my pistol do all the talking.

And, ah... I'm a pretty decent RPer, as some people probably know by now.

[Snypehunter007]

You awaken in the middle of the round, the XO has authorized several executions and a riot/mutiny is brewing what do you?

[Youbar]

I haven't seen Renomaki in-game as much as I'd like, but he is quite competent from what I've seen. His thought processes, revealed in his guide to playing squad leader, are what you'd like to see in a leader, and these thought processes are reflected in-game.

[Renomaki]

You awaken in the middle of the round, the XO has authorized several executions and a riot/mutiny is brewing what do you?

Goodness, what a horrible situation to wake up to.

I'd probably first look into just what the hell happened by asking my XO why the marines are so pissed off. During our discussion, I'd aim to send out an announcement that I have awaken and have taken command, and will try to calm the marines down.

The way you put it, I have very little information to work with, and I'd have to both juggle leading marines on the ground while trying to get everyone's focus back on the mission at hand. Hell, knowing marines, I could easily get their side of the story as to what the hell happened while I was in cyrosleep, but I'd need to make sure I'd have enough matching stories, as well as discuss the matter with the MPs who were no doubt present.

If the executions were unjust and a tad extreme, I would heavily berate the XO for his foolish behavior and instruct him to read a lawbook next time before executing someone, while attempting to apologies to the marines the best I can for what happened. However, if they were legit, then this could be trickier to convince angry marines to accept it, moreso if it was a celebrity like Xur.

In all my time as commander, I only had one execution, and that was because an admin requested me to do it. I did not enjoy it, for it was getting in the way of my duties, but I went forward with it in a sophisticated manner, going through the motions as the system goes and simply overwatching it rather than partaking in it like most other COs tended to do. I guess this is one of my weaknesses as a commander, since I rarely ever resort to executions as a punishment. The only other time I did an "execution" was when I punished a traitorous RO by drafting him into a "suicide squad", where he was then demoted to standard and forced to fight on the frontlines with the other marines, and thus wasn't expected to survive in the slightest.

I know, a bit of a random tidbit there, but I figured it would be worth knowing. I just don't like executions, and would rather try better solutions if possible.

[Feweh]

You wake up in the middle of the round, all the food is gone in the canteen!

WHAT DO YOU DO!?

[Renomaki]

You wake up in the middle of the round, all the food is gone in the canteen!

WHAT DO YOU DO!?

Hrm, food shortages sound like a real serious issue, despite the joking nature of this question.

I'd first have to get in contact with the cargo crew and ask for a budget report. If they are able to afford it, I'd probably request that a crate or two of food be ordered and shipped in, and then have someone (preferably an MT) restock the machines with food.

However, in times of desperation, I do know of alternative sources of food. The Bridge normally has a box of donuts, and the Brig has a vender that has a few dozen donuts that should feed a good handful of marines until more food could be shipped in. I'm not sure if the food vender in medbay would be still stocked with food, but if it was, I'd probably have an MT wrench it and move it to the messhall so that sleepy marines have something to chew on other than donuts.

[Karmac]

You wake up in the middle of the round, all the food is gone in the canteen!

WHAT DO YOU DO!?

Die of starvation.

[Eenkogneeto]

For reference, 10 points orders enough food to cover like 10-20 late arrivals

[Edgelord]

You wake up in the middle of the round, all the food is gone in the canteen!

WHAT DO YOU DO!?

You clearly whip the CL into crit with the chain of command. Next question.

[Toroic]

I'm going to be serious for a moment, please forgive the lack of a shitpost in an app that I have full confidence will pass.

I'm very fond of Renomaki, and had initially met him on paradise where he was unrobust and didn't know that he could do better. The nickname "weenie" absolutely applied, and I saw him become bored with the server.

I was surprised when he came to CM, and have been following his progress from cowardly and unrobust standard, to a more robust standard, to a careful and competent SL during a period where I was playing as a marine. When he started trying out xeno, he initially limited himself to T1, thinking that other people deserved the slots more, and I pushed him to be confident and evolve. After some time, he's gone back with a focus on being CO. He makes mistakes, but learns from them. Reno doesn't break character, and tries to not only roleplay well but embrace the epic last stands CM provides instead of retreating at the first sign of trouble.

I think Renomaki not only represents exactly the kind of person we want playing CO, but in general the type of player CM could use more of. He started out as someone who was unrobust, but took care to avoid FF. He's played marine and xeno in multiple roles, and legitimately tries to improve his play every game he plays. Renomaki doesn't get salty, which isn't something I understand but appreciate.

I'm proud that he's trying to take on a leadership role, has become more robust, and has become a mentor and I think he'll easily pass his CO whitelist and be a productive member of our community.

[Renomaki]

Flattering comment

Gee mate, thanks for the support.

Although it is a surprise that we somehow met on Paradise. Funny how small SS13 can be sometimes, that you would unknowingly meet someone on another server and never think much of it until they bring it up. SS13 truly is a small world.

But yes, I worked very hard to be a good marine and xeno, having dabbled as CO/Queen a number of times, played SL quite a bit (even doing a whole week long challenge of nothing but SL rounds), and in any other role, I push myself to give it my all so that not only does shit get done, but marines/Xenos get to have a good time because of it. After all, we all been in that RO line where it could have easily been fixed by opening a second line. Might as well be the guy that does it instead of only doing the bare minimum the job requires, right?

[Szunti]

You are not alone in the bridge. Do you delegate tasks? I play BO sometimes and my biggest problem with active COs is that they don't share their plans but give orders directly to the squads leaving BOs and the XO out. Then I don't even dare to give orders on my own, because if CO tells them something different we just confuse the marines with the conflicting orders.

[Renomaki]

You are not alone in the bridge. Do you delegate tasks? I play BO sometimes and my biggest problem with active COs is that they don't share their plans but give orders directly to the squads leaving BOs and the XO out. Then I don't even dare to give orders on my own, because if CO tells them something different we just confuse the marines with the conflicting orders.

Normally at round start, I remind all my BOs to attend briefing so EVERYONE is informed on the plans. As the mission moves on, I try to get my BOs to update objectives accordingly for me as I call them out. While I am not afraid to get on an overwatch console of needed, I admit that I struggle to lead alone... I NEED help in order to be the best I can be, otherwise I'll just burn myself out as I struggle to keep up with the demands of 4 different squads.

Having both a good Bridge Crew AND a operational cargo crew is vital to success, and with them, I most certainly perform well. However, when cargo is poorly manned or lazy, or I am lacking in bridge crew, it puts a lot of stress on me because I know that without them, I can't operate as effectively as I'd want to.

If anything, I expect my BOs and other members of the ship staff to work together just as well as I try to. Working as a team makes everything so much easier for me.

[Aeleto]

Guy definitely tries to do his best whatever role he gets, I am sure he'll make good use being CO.

[Rain7x]

Guy definitely tries to do his best whatever role he gets, I am sure he'll make good use being CO.

This, definitely one of the most competent commanders I have seen.

[Jroinc1]

I should probably change my vote to no, as that section shouldn't be COMPLETELY empty.
+1, enjoy the whitelist!

[Surrealistik]

I've seen you melt down as CO once; it was not a pretty sight. On the flipside you gave up command. Neutral leaning negative at this point.

[Renomaki]

I've seen you melt down as CO once; it was not a pretty sight. On the flipside you gave up command. Neutral leaning negative at this point.

Can you give me more detail on this event? It might have been awhile, as my memory is hazy.

I'm going to guess this was during a mutiny?

[solidfury7]

I've played with Reno multiple times, he's an absolute pleasure to be in command with. +1

[Xurphorus]

In my personal experience with Reno as a CO...., now that I think about it he isn't one of the best ones up there. He may speak a good game, but there are times where he doesn't completely deliver the complete CO experience. He competent, he does have that advantage but I like him better in support roles like Medic, Engineer, and Spec. He's a sponge and can take in whatever he learns and incorporate it into his play style, but I haven't actually seen him in a command situation that gathers my focus. I'm neutral about my vote.

[Renomaki]

In my personal experience with Reno as a CO...., now that I think about it he isn't one of the best ones up there. He may speak a good game, but there are times where he doesn't completely deliver the complete CO experience. He competent, he does have that advantage but I like him better in support roles like Medic, Engineer, and Spec. He's a sponge and can take in whatever he learns and incorporate it into his play style, but I haven't actually seen him in a command situation that gathers my focus. I'm neutral about my vote.

I appreciate that you are not completely against me being a CO, although it is true that I am not THE BEST CO on CM by any means.

I have played CO at least more than a dozen times by now, if not more than that, and in all my time being a CO, I am aware that I made a lot of mistakes, did some embarrassing things, and most of all been dealt a bad deck of cards more than I can count and struggled because of it.. And I am aware that, compared to other COs, I am most certainly flawed.

Will I be a good CO if whitelisted? Oh, probably not, I won't lie. I can't just jump into a game and magically make everything better, nor can my leadership skills lead marines to victory in even the bleakest of times. Hell, people remember me more for my failures than my accomplishments.

But if I ever do get plopped into a round of CM as a CO, you can know that I will try my damn best to be a good leader, just as I do with any other role I am given. I can't promise that I'll win the day with my tactics and skill, but I can certainly try.

And even if I fail, I'll at least fail with style.

"This isn't flying, this is falling with style" - Buzz Lightyear

[Xurphorus]

And with that response sir, you have my vote.

[Surrealistik]

Can you give me more detail on this event? It might have been awhile, as my memory is hazy.

I'm going to guess this was during a mutiny?

No, Marines were getting their ass whooped and you totally broke down then abdicated command.

I'm also pretty sure this was the time you complained about wanting to be known as a reputable commander instead of a meme.

[Renomaki]

No, Marines were getting their ass whooped and you totally broke down then abdicated command.

I'm also pretty sure this was the time you complained about wanting to be known as a reputable commander instead of a meme.

Aaah, now I remember that round. The infamous orbital bombardment round where the marines won despite horrible blunders. I don't remember stepping down as commander that round though.. What I do remember is all the constant mockery from Apop for every little mistake. The fact that I was struggling to keep up mostly by myself while a war raged on probably didn't help matters.

It was a very emotional round that round, all the constant insults being hurled my way despite my best efforts, and after the war was won, having Apop go out of his way to get everyone to point fingers and laugh at my mistakes to the sound of bagpipes hurt me dearly. After that, I almost quit the community, because I feared that I would never be respected again, and just end up another "Bill Carson", who is hated by everyone for the sake of being hated simply for what he did in the past.

Despite what Apop told me, being a meme was not something to be proud of, at least in the way he set it up. It sucks even more that people still recall it and sometimes remind me of this so, something I wish they'd forget by now.

After that round, I had a long talk with staff about what happened and they attempted to comfort me. I felt a little better, but still felt like shit for the rest of the night.

And yet, rather than simply abandoning command roles outright (or even possibly all of CM all together), I stuck around. I still play leadership roles with an aim to make up for my past mistakes, to prove to people that I'm not a loser and that I can do better than what most people expect if me. All I ask is a chance.

No doubt this won't change your mind, and I understand completely if you are still against me. Like I told Xur, I'm far from perfect, but I do care about being a good leader to my marines.

[apophis775]

Approved