"NAS Trurl here" - A Guide to Faxes

[TullyBBurnalot]

 

Foreword: Knowing BB Code is not so much a bonus as it is a requirement.

 

So, you've decided to fax Central Command and hope for the best. Well then, here are some pointers on how to do so properly.

 

Part 1: What are faxes?

 

Faxes are paper-based communications sent from any fax machine on the station to either another fax machine or Central Command. You write on a piece of paper, stick it into a fax machine, select your desired destination, and BAM! You're done.

 

They are usually reserved for official communiqués, be they CoC orders, departmental audits, staff complaints or even demotion/arrest orders. For the purpose of this guide, we're assuming you are faxing Central Command.

 

For starters, here's where you can find a fax machine:

 

 

• Any Head of Staff Office, including the Head of Personnel and Captain;

• The NanoTrasen Representative's office;

The Magistrate's office;

The Internal Affairs office

 

 

In addition, only members of Command and the IAAs can actually use the fax machines. Everyone else is locked out of them by default. As you can see, access to them is quite limited, and it should. Faxes carry with them a heavy aura of authority and finality, and a well written fax can make or break someone's entire shift. The sole exception to this level of access would be the fax machine in the IA office, which often sees more interdepartmental activity.

 

However, you want to know how to properly fax Central Command. Well, it's time for a little OOC note.

 

Every fax you send to Central Command is seen by Administrators, ranked Game Admin or above. These faxes are listed in the Fax Panel, along with the title, time it was sent, the person who sent it, and a nifty little "Reply" button. We can also see interdepartmental faxes, but those are beyond our jurisdiction. As such, when you fax Central Command, you are faxing the Administrators, and when you receive a response from Central Command, that's our word in it.

 

What does this mean ICly, however? Well, Central Command (or the NAS Trurl if you want to be technical about it) is the main hub of activity that the NSS Cyberiad (the station you're on) is associated with. They handle several other stations in the systems around them, and handle all the administrative burden associated with that (NAS stands for NanoTrasen Administrative Station). When you fax Central Command, you are essentially calling upon the highest IC authority you can muster. It's the equivalent of someone in the US faxing Barack Obama (or whoever's President when you read this). Central Command's decision on something is final, and should be treated as such.

 

Central Command communications, as was noted already, can make or break someone's entire shift. Comdoms can be demoted, great people can be promoted, and even Karma jobs can be circumvented if so required/desired. Whenever there's a stalemate in Command, Central Command faxes break it. Whenever the Magistrate is being ignored for no good reason, Central Command shouts louder. Whenever the Representative finds a severe breach of SOP, Central Command raises their eyebrow.

 

What I'm trying to get across here is that Central Command is not a toy, nor a tool, and should not be treated as such. "I'ma fax CC" should never be used as a threat, and demanding things from CC should not (normally) be done. But more on that later. For now...

 

Part 2: The Title

 

Yes, this is important enough to warrant its own section.

 

The title you give your fax is the first thing we look at when we open the Fax Panel, and appears on our chat box whenever you send a fax over to Central Command. Here's a couple of things that should not be in your fax's title:

 

 

• paper;

• all lowercase letters;

CAPS LOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL;

Incredibly winding, pointless diatribes that seek to explain everything that could possibly be explained but just end up being ignored because of how text parsing works;

"FUCKING SHTICURITY!!!" or any variation thereof;

butts

 

 

You get the point. Keep your fax's title as short and concise as possible, so that we can get an idea of what's going to be in there before even opening it.

 

Part 3: Formatting

 

Hey, remember this?

 

Foreword: Knowing BB Code is not so much a bonus as it is a requirement.

 

Yeah.

 

BB Code denotes everything that can be used to format your text, just like in Microsoft Word or Wordpad. A few examples:

 

• ---

  creates a neat little horizontal line that can be used to separate blocks of text;

• [logo] creates a NanoTrasen logo;

[large] lets you shout in writing

 

 

And many more. BB Code is quick to learn, if not to type, and it really adds flavour and substance to your faxes.

 

Why is this important, you ask? Well, bluntly put, your chances of getting a proper response go up the more formatted your fax is. Remember when I said you faxing Central Command would be like a US citizen faxing Barack Obama? Well, what do you think would happen if Barack Obama received a piece of paper that wasn't signed, or stamped, and contained this message:

 

Cant open Obamacare, please send IT.

 

A response, if it even existed, would most likely be them telling you to take your time to write a proper message. If you fax Central Command, it is expected that you're doing so with utmost professionalism, and that involves not sending a wall of text with absolutely no formatting whatsoever, no signature and no stamp.

 

The importance of signatures and stamps cannot be overstated. Why? Well, Central Command is not omniscient. Even though the Administrators can see (or find out) everything going on in the round, Central Command cannot. Faxing Central Command should not be like sending an Ahelp. Do not assume that Central Command "just knows". If you send us a fax with no signature and no stamp, how are we to know someone didn't just break into your office and faxed Central? Having a piece of paper signed and stamped by you tells us that you did, indeed, send the fax (or that someone at least is really good at forgeries), and you'll actually get a proper response.

 

As for the formatting itself, well, simply put, it's easier on the eyes, and it's prettier. Having to sit and stare at a gigantic wall of text that just keeps going without any sort of formatting whatsoever is painful, boring, and just looks sloppy. If you're taking the time to fax Central Command, take the time to make your faxes look official, and not a hastily scribbled note at the end of an exam.

 

Part 4: The Message

 

Now we reach the crux of the matter. What you're actually telling Central Command.

 

Now, as stated before, faxes are supposed to be official communiqués, and are expected to be permeated with the utmost professionalism. This is because Central Command, in all their power, expects some level of sanity from the people they give fax machines to.

 

What does this mean? Well, consider the following: you're aboard a futuristic space station that can, among other things, create physics-defying handbags, harness electrical power from a contained black hole, craft heavily armed military mechs, and have clown VS mime showdowns.

 

Should you really be faxing Central Command to complain about Security insulting prisoners?

 

Don't get me wrong, there are legitimate grievances to be had regarding IC behaviour. However, Central Command, being the final authority on pretty much anything, should only be contacted about important stuff and, most importantly, stuff that cannot be fixed ICly. This includes any situation where the relevant Head of Staff is ignoring SOP/Space Law and is refusing to actually address issues, forcing you to go over their head. If the situation can be handled internally, it should be. Speak to people, have reasonable discourses with them, and try and solve the situation then and there. If that fails, then get the fax machine.

 

This goes for pretty much every complaint or investigation handled by whoever writes the fax. Central Command should only be contacted over staff complaints if:

 

 

1. The complaint is actually valid;

2. You have reasonable evidence backing it up;

Assuming a and b, the relevant Head of Staff isn't listening to you

 

 

Should all three conditions be met, a fax to Central Command would be the best course of action. If, however, the relevant Head of Staff is willing to cooperate with you, keep it internally. It adds to the overall level of RP and actually lets you do something against bad behaviour.

 

That said, sanity please. If you complain about Security manhandling prisoners when there's an active, hostile cult on the station, it's Code Red and there's an ERT on the field, you're most likely getting ignored/slammed down hard. Context is paramount.

 

When it comes to departmental audits or other similar investigations, having a detailed description of how every Department is doing will go miles towards grabbing attention to your message, will increase the chances of you getting a reply, and will generally make you feel incredibly useful. That said, don't go overboard and write a small novel detailing every last thing every last crewmember is doing. Keep it concise, keep it to the point, and note important details (such as a particularly good/bad crewmember) if needed.

 

Part 5: Fax Ettiquete

 

Oh boy, here we go. Most of this section will be OOC, and directed at the players, not the characters.

 

First off, respect. Central Command is not a toy, nor is it a tool. Central Command is not your stick to wield, and is not your weapon for when you want to comdom around and try and pretend you have authority you do not have. Central Command is, for all intents and purposes, your boss.

 

What I mean by this is that you shouldn't go around threatening to send faxes whenever you want to boss around people, or when you want to throw your weight around. This goes double for the IAAs and the Representative, who have no actual authority and are merely there as advisors/investigators. "I'MA GO FAX CC AND DEMOTE U" is a shitty attitude to have, and will most likely get you stonewalled by Central Command if you actually make good on your threats.

 

Do not make demands of Central Command. Do not fax us demanding to demote someone, or to promote someone else. You may suggest doing so, amidst a well detailed report with reasonable evidence and information to back up your suggestion. But never demand it. You wouldn't walk up to your boss and yell out "I want you to fire Jenkins this instant, he smells funny!", would you?

 

(if you answered yes, wat, just wat? Really?)

 

As for the tone, we do not expect you to remain detached and clinical (this isn't the SCP Foundation, after all, despite what the level of gruesomeness might imply), but we expect you to remain professional and formal. Don't speak to Central Command like you would to a coworker, but rather how you would speak with a company rep, or with Internal Affairs at an actual office. You won't get slammed in the face if you talk to Central Command like a schoolyard friend, but you most certainly will receive a poignant reminder of what's expected of you.

 

Do not keep sending the same fax over and over every few minutes in order to "bump" it. If you sent a fax that never got answered to, either the Administrators believed it wasn't worth a response, or they missed it (which is entirely possible, the fax notification on the chat box is hilariously easy to miss). A quick Ahelp fixes that, but please don't keep bwoinking us with "REPLY TO FAX PLOX" every few seconds.

 

Lastly, and to finish off this guide on a high note, no butts. Never fax butts. It is a time honoured tradition to BSA anyone who faxes butts to Central Command, and we do so love the sound of explosions.

 

Edited November 23, 2015 by Guest

[mikecari]

 

Very nice explanation.

 

One thing I've been meaning to ask is: what's the primary difference between communication console messages to centcom and faxes to centcom?

 

[TullyBBurnalot]

 

Well, firstly, those messages are Captain-level only.

 

Secondly, being on a noticeable cooldown, they're usually (or should be) reserved for "GUYS GUYS WE HAVE SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT HERE GUYS!!" situations, such as complete station breakdown, particularly aggressive antags and the like.

 

[Garoon]

 

Well, firstly, those messages are Captain-level only.

 

Secondly, being on a noticeable cooldown, they're usually (or should be) reserved for "GUYS GUYS WE HAVE SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT HERE GUYS!!" situations, such as complete station breakdown, particularly aggressive antags and the like.

I suppose a very good example would be if you are a head during a revolution, and all of the other heads are dead, MIA, or just plain unable to respond. Or just any situation involving any of those three.

 

[TullyBBurnalot]

 

Right, fuller reply here since that last one was done in between classes while eating a pastry.

 

Faxes are, by their very definition, a way for the crew, in general, to contact Central Command via an (admittedly formal) easy way. They're supposed to contain substantial (but not excessive) amounts of information and, above all, are there either to alert Central Command to something that they need to be alerted to, or to request further information/advice whenever there's a stalemate going on. In addition, you can literally send as many faxes as you like so long as you have a fax machine. Yes, sending a message to Central Command is on a cooldown, but it's only a couple of minutes, and you can use another fax machine in the meantime. Not to mention, faxes can come from literally anyone. Hell, I've had janitors file formal complaints against the crew, they just happened to give their written complaint to an IAA who then signed and stamped it.

 

Communications Console messages are much different. Firstly, as stated, they're Captain-level access only. While any member of Command and the IAAs have fax access, only the Captain has access to the Comm Console CC Message. This is meant to be the equivalent of, say, a Captain on the field phoning/radioing his HQ. Rather than a formal means of communication between corporate entities, it's a direct message being transmitted between a central entity and a person they appointed to handle things on their behalf and, as such, isn't subject to the same rules. Comms Console CC Messages aren't meant to be formal, or long winded. Rather, they're supposed to be short, concise messages that are sent only if absolutely required, hence the long-ass cooldown, to warn Central Command of something that just can't wait for fax approval.

 

Another big difference is that all Comms Console CC Messages have a BSA button attached to their chat box prompt. So if you send a CC Message reading, say, "FUCK NANOTRASEN BITCHES LONG LIVE THE SYNDICATE", you may want to duck. Not really though, we don't do that.

 

[Edd]

 

Another big difference is that all Comms Console CC Messages have a BSA button attached to their chat box prompt. So if you send a CC Message reading, say, "FUCK NANOTRASEN BITCHES LONG LIVE THE SYNDICATE", you may want to duck. Not really though, we don't do that.

Yeah, never.

*Cough* IAA got BSA'd after sending pictures of butts to CC *Cough*

 

 

 

 

Edit: Oh, well, I should've read the last sentence of the guide.

 

[KasparoVv]

 

Thanks so much for putting this up. I've had the karma jobs for ages but I didn't want to risk being a total shit for not knowing about faxes

 

Much appreciated!

 

Also, what does Trurl mean and does it have and significance?

 

[Crazylemon]

The "Cyberiad" (the name of the station we're on is "NSS Cyberiad") was a series of short stories by Stanislaw Lem, and "Trurl" was one of the two main characters in the series of stories. At least, if that's the reference I'm catching here.

[tastyfish]

When the round is slow, how often do you expect updates from the NT rep, or do you really expect one at all if there's no issues?

[TullyBBurnalot]

If there aren't any issues, at all (which is rather rare, mind you), most I expect is a Departmental Inspection and the occasional "X is Comdom" report.

[KasparoVv]

 

The "Cyberiad" (the name of the station we're on is "NSS Cyberiad") was a series of short stories by Stanislaw Lem, and "Trurl" was one of the two main characters in the series of stories. At least, if that's the reference I'm catching here.

 

Great catch, thanks for clearing that up. At first I thought it sounded like some Tajaran thing, and that confused the living hell out of me.

 

[Edd]

 

How often do players actually play as IAA and perform their appropriate duties? I mostly see IAA either SSD in their office, drinking at the bar or threatening security.

 

I'm surprised more don't than what amount I believe do, as it is extremely satisfying to deliver a long report to CentComm or a Head of Department and have it being acted upon.

 

[Stephanov]

 

I remember fondly, being the CMO. A shuttle was called when all the hallways and medbay were bloody.

 

I faxed Central Command with a letter of concern.

 

A moment later, central sent a squad of "elite janitorial" ERT.

 

It was a beautiful day.

 

 

Thanks for this guide by the way, I think faxes are incredibly underused - beside request consoles that is.

 

[Machofish]

 

I write most of my faxes along these lines, and I tend to get a fax response rate somewhere in the ballpark of 80%, give or take. When I first started doing faxes as NT Rep, I figured that writing and eloquently revising a 3-4 paragraph short essay would show that you've put serious thought into the fax and also communicate that you're serious about the faxing process.

I'm pretty sure this is a great way to have your faxes ignored. Structuring your faxes into 1-2 concise, objectively-worded paragraphs will usually get an idea across in a way that's clear without being droning and eye-straining.

As said, the big mental checks to consider are whether or not a problem can be handled in-house before asking for CC's help, and if not, explain in the fax why it can't be handled on-station.

 

As for IAA faxes, I like to -tell myself- that I a play a more even-handed HoS than most, but I still find it's often a very difficult decision to fire/suspend an officer based on a fax. More often than not, there's usually only 1-3 active officers during any given shift of 30-80 people, and guaranteed non-antag officers from arrivals or roundstart are almost always in short supply. I don't think there's a single, objective answer when asking the question of whether bad sec is better than no sec at all, but it's something that comes up whenever IAA investigations are launched. This gives me a few ideas - for another thread, though.

 

One question - when we're starting a fax to CentComm in letter format, who do we write as the recipient? I'm guessing that it's not exactly professional to try and address Comms Officer Jenkins directly, but "NAS Trurl" feels like a little bit of a generalization.

 

As long as we're on the topic of faxes, do you think there should be a forum guide on Syndicate Faxing using an e-magged communications device? Stuff like what's reasonable to request from the Syndibase, what the expected benefits are to contacting the Syndicate, etc. I think it's an option that opens a lot of unique possibilities, and an interesting dynamic that very few traitors ever attempt.

Notwithstanding the fact that I've now put it on my SS13 bucket list to fax a butt to the Syndicate just to see what'll happen.

It was my idea first don't steal it.

 

Edited November 27, 2015 by Guest

[TullyBBurnalot]

I always imagined that faxing the Syndicate would actually be the "ohshitpeoplearecominggottagetthisfast" type of thing. Basically a note scribbled onto a piece of paper with your signature on it so the Syndicate has some sort of confirmation that it's actually you.

[Stephanov]

 

Got an IA template for ya, finished it today c:

 

 

 

---

[logo]

---

[large]NanoTrasen[/large]

NSS.Cyberiad

---

[large]For the desk of [field][/large]

[small]Leave blank if contact unknown.[/small]

 

---

[small]Legal note: This is a confidential document, only to be viewed by those for whom it was intended. This document is bound by a Non-Disclosure Argeement (NDA), as such the intended recipient may not disclose any information within this document to unauthorized personnel. Disclosure of classified information be it intended or not intended shall be met with legal repercussions by NanoTrasen's department of justice.[/small]

---

Topic: [field]

Involved parties: [field]

---

[field]

---

End report

---

Name of report author: [field]

Rank of report author: [field]

Author's signature: [field]

---

The following information is optional. Leave blank if not applicable.

 

Name of relevant department head(s): [field]

Rank of relevant department head(s): [field]

Signatures of relevant department head(s): [field]

---

Stamps of relevant departments:

 

 

[TullyBBurnalot]

 

One question - when we're starting a fax to CentComm in letter format, who do we write as the recipient? I'm guessing that it's not exactly professional to try and address Comms Officer Jenkins directly, but "NAS Trurl" feels like a little bit of a generalization.

 

I just address it to "Central Command", really.

 

[Rumiluntti]

 

Just a reminder that I always BSA butts faxed to CC.

I don't even check who did it. Be it captain, clown or nukeop, they all get BSA'd the same.

 

[Regen]

 

Very nice explanation.

 

One thing I've been meaning to ask is: what's the primary difference between communication console messages to centcom and faxes to centcom?

 

One main difference is that, the captains direct line will almost always be responded too, by BSA or by an actual message / action.

 

Going "Hey NT, how are you?" will most likely result in a demotion notice, because you just wasted very VERY expensive equipment on doing fuck all.

 

[johannhawk]

 

Very nice explanation.

 

One thing I've been meaning to ask is: what's the primary difference between communication console messages to centcom and faxes to centcom?

 

One main difference is that, the captains direct line will almost always be responded too, by BSA or by an actual message / action.

 

Going "Hey NT, how are you?" will most likely result in a demotion notice, because you just wasted very VERY expensive equipment on doing fuck all.

 

its about...this expensive to buy a kit

https://www.google.com/search?q=quantum ... iment+cost

 

and about...this possible IRL

http://phys.org/news/2014-07-scientists ... ified.html

i realise im not adding anything to the conversation

 

[counterfeitguise]

 

Many many MANY thanks for this guide! I've been itching to get fax-writing with the few karma unlocked jobs that demand it, but I was never sure what's accepted and such. I'm a little bit less terrified to at least give it a whirl now.

 

I have a little question though - on rounds where little is going on and the Trurl decides to send random crap to the Cyberiad (this one time I was HoP and they sent over experimental large Ians, Pollys, Runtimes, etc come to mind), is it appropriate or at least semi-amusing for the admins/CC to read faxes updating them on the less serious results of these events?

 

Because a bunch of Vox took the gigantic Polly and started attempting to summon what my character referred to as The Mother Bird with ritualistic shrieking, and I sent a silly little fax about it because there wasn't anything urgent going on - afterwards I wasn't really sure if it was appreciated or not since sorting through stupid faxes can't be that fun.

 

[TullyBBurnalot]

 

If the Trurl is joking around, assume the madmen have taken the helm.

 

Context is king, after all!

 

[MindLeaker]

 

Psst, hey kid, you're looking for some BBCodes?

 

I like to think of myself as an adequate pretentious asshole NT Rep. I'll show you my preferred method of pestering the admins ICly writing important faxes!

In order to make the text more palatable, I generally employ the [small] text everywhere. The font used for normal sized is very, for lack of a better word, chunky in my opinion. So I generally avoid it.

 

Put [small] first every time you click "write" and you get something nice like this:

 

This is my preferred format, I like this minimalistic approach in favour of the example report papers, I'd love to see other's way of drowning incompetent swine in paperwork reporting things to CC

 

Edited January 31, 2016 by Guest

[johannhawk]

 

 

[logo]

---

Time of writing:[field][br]Location of writing:[field][br]From:[field][br]To:[field][br]

---

 

 

thats it, thats all i need for NT repping, and i can format it to add more detailed and precise stuff later.

 

 

[field]

[br]

[logo]

[br]

---

Name(s) of complainer(s):[field][br]Name(s) of issue(s):[field][br]Time of writing:[field][br]Relevant location(s):[field][br]

---

Details:[field][br]

---

Actions needed:

 

 

here is the thing i carry around as a IAA...

 

[Shadeykins]

 

I keep it nice and easy.

 

 

[b ]NSS Cyberiad

Glory to NanoTrasen

 

[logo]

 

STATUS REPORT

 

[/b ]

 

Afternoon Command,

 

textgoeshere.

 

- [sign], Rank

 

stamp.