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So I've been spending some time on the Bad Deathclaw server and they have a system there that I really thing should be something that we tried to implement. This IS just a suggestion though as I lack the code knowledge to implement it myself. Anyways, the first thing I noticed when I joined was that the different roles were all time locked, as per usual for all of the servers I've been on except CM. But what was different was that each of the different factions on the server, the NCR, Brotherhood of Steel, all had different time locks. So, for example, the Brotherhood of Steel had two starter roles, the Initiate Scribe and Initiate Knight. In order to unlock the next role, the Scribe, you needed 10 hours of playtime as the BoS specifically. The NCR had the same thing for the Sergeant and officer roles and the like. Anyways, my idea is that this mechanic should be applied to every department except service. So for example, in security, if you wanted to play Warden or HoS then you would need to play as a security officer for 5 hours to unlock warden and then 10 hours as Warden or Officer to unlock HoS, for example. The exact timing can be figured out later. Then for like medical, if you wanted to play CMO, you would need 10 hours of experience as an MD or Paramedic. Maybe a 5 hour barrier on Virology. Same for science with the RD. Not sure about HoP. Maybe like a 1-2 hour time block on QM with experience as a cargo tech. And then for Captain you would have to play 10 hours or something as any of the other command roles. AI would require maybe some time spent playing a cyborg or something. I'm unsure how hard it would be to code but I think the game already keeps track of play time as specific departments already from what I've seen in the player playtime menu so the system is already there to track department playtime. Anyways, that's all, appreciate any thoughts.

Oh cruel fate

Yeah I totally support this, i think i even have suggested the same thing somewhere in the comments, but i was talking more about nuke ops time block (hours of traitor playtime).

Good thing from a few days back. So, a mostly mute warden and a blind civilian walk into a brig. . . How unfortunate

My idea is to include flogging as a punishment for certain crimes instead of brig time. The amount of flogs would be proportional to the severity of the crime(s) committed. Security would always have the option to deny it and have people serve brig time instead. I would also propose public flogging in front of the bridge, or in the bridge, for people to watch, to entertain the crew. Have the magistrate and the HoS/Warden start with a whip at roundstart. Having flogging instead of jail time would make security run smoothly at times and would make processing faster. We could make a holodeck option for a 'flogging arena', with benches and everything, where people could watch it. The flogging would happen with an actual whip though. Overall I think this is a great idea to boost crew morale, provide stress-relieving activities for security officers, provide alternative punishment options and make security run smoother by having to waste less time with brigging, keeping watch and all that stuff. EDIT: Slight change: FLOGGING ONLY FOR MINOR (class 1) crimes. Class 2 and up still get brig time.

A beautiful commission that I got from Draw-it Ralph! Here's a spooky gif I made!!

Aside from keeping new or inexperienced players out of certain roles, I don't actually think this is a good idea. Head Roles are the only ones that should be time gated behind certain amount of hours in a department, most other jobs should have enough variance between them that playing them requires different kinds of thinking and play to succeed. For example, Security Officer, Detective and Warden all have very different responsibilities and play styles. The only shared ground and responsibilities they actually have are Space Law. Requiring 5+ hours as a Sec Officer before unlocking Warden could perhaps wrongly influence a person into thinking it's okay for a Warden to randomly patrol the station or spend most of their time in maintenance, when in fact their primary duty is to stay in the brig to watch prisoners and the armory. Doctors and Paramedics have similarly different roles and Virologists and Geneticists have very little in common with Medical Doctors. For Head Roles, I'm a little more willing to see department play time locks, though I'm skeptical about those as well as I feel a head of staff should be familiar to competent in most of their department and able to fill the gaps as needed, but heads of staff shouldn't be exclusivley working a job unless nobody else is available to do it (such as the RD running RnD alone, CE setting up the engine or CMO doing chemistry/setting up camp in Surgery, their primary job is getting other people do theirs, not do it for them.) A far better system, in my opinion, would be for a backend where the game tracks player hours in certain roles, such as Head Roles or slightly more complex ones like Virologist or Warden, and if they have less than 10 hours in such a role, Mentors who are logged in (or via the Discord bot if that function is working) are notified and given a link to message the person directly to greet them and offer assistance and their knowledge as many new players don't know or seem to remember Mentor help is a thing but would probably engage in a PM conversation if they were more directly made aware mentors were active and willing to help without disturbing everyone else's rounds. Beyond that, I would like to see interns added in some shape of form, dept specific assistants who can help during high pop rounds as an extra set of hands and during low stress and drama moments fully fledged dept members could try and help teach interns the ins and outs of the job. TL;DR Time locks rarely improve the quality of play for most players since many locked jobs don't share the same responsibilities and mechanics as the jobs often used to unlock them, and a more proactive use of the mentor system would help educate players willing to learn a new job.

This scheme was implemented on Oracle, so I was surprised when I first joined Paradise and found most of the roles open. Honestly, I think they work best for players who are very new to SS13. It keeps them from choosing roles over their heads on their first or second time playing the game. My observation is that the time locks didn't significantly improve Oracle over what I see in Paradise today. Nor do Paradise's lack of time locks make things significantly worse on Paradise than what I saw on Oracle. So, nice on paper, but maybe not as effective in practice as I would hope.

This is another excellent point. Speaking from experience you have to factor in your players. Just because something works when you the developer dose it or in tests, does not mean it will work well when deployed to the player base. You have to ballance what you want with how your players use what you provide.

NECROMANCER IRL

Something cartoonish where the eyes are the most feminine part of the body Is this what couples do? ... because I"m pretty sure it is. He's actually an IPC, NECROMANCER does get a little thrown off when people think he's "human"

Fucking. Ultra. Nerd.

Just another day In Chapel Town. Thanks to Lakanaloa for sharing the screen shot!

Here's a Valentine's day themed drawing that I actually did up some times ago ... Also, I guess I'm weeaboo trash, I did up some fanart of my favourite character from My Hero Academia.

as far as security goes: riot shotguns are loaded with tranq darts by default. contrary to what the name implies, they don't stun, and are loaded with haloperidol, making them effective against stimulants. an interesting idea, but far too situational to ever see use. stun batons have removable batteries, which can be handled with a screwdriver. this enables you to potentially reload a baton in the field or replace the battery with a higher-tier one from science. seclights are surprisingly robust, being only marginally less harmful than a stunbaton. likewise, tasers are also surprisingly potent melee weapons. generally, both of these are overshadowed by the baton. on the topic of batons, a baton can be used on a shield to make an intimidating noise. handcuffs can be used on orange (and only orange) shoes to make leg-cuffs. these force a person to remain in walk intent. trying to wash a live stunbaton makes you electrocute yourself. the DNA and fingerprint strings in security/medical records can actually be altered, potentially allowing for elaborate frame jobs or erasure of evidence. the captain is, similairly to the chaplain, innately immune to being converted by cultists, even if their implant is removed. i have no idea of the reasoning behind this. during rev, both heads and revheads are considered dead if off z-level. this can allow for potentially non-lethal resolutions to the gamemode. targeting the mouth and clicking someone in help intent with a ranged weapon will perform an 'execution'. This takes a long time to prepare, but deals 5x the damage of the weapon to the target. most weapons do not deal enough damage for this to actually be lethal to a healthy victim. a few not-useless-but-fairly-obscure mechanics: tracking implants can be used to teleport directly onto the target as one would a beacon. this makes re-capture quite easy. riot armour has a very long strip delay and protects almost all of your inventory slots. combined with a flare in your pocket, this confers immunity to shadowling conversion. chemical implants can be activated by the person implanted in them, not only remotely. this allows the construction of ghetto adrenal implants. flashbangs, being grenades, can be combined with the soon-to-be-removed explosive lances. this makes a ranged stun weapon that is effective even against people otherwise immune to them. roundstart members of security heal when consuming donuts. donuts are also not considered junk food, meaning they're a fine substitute for healthy eating (in ss13). clicking a magazine-based weapon with a magazine will perform a tactical reload, swapping the existing mag for the new one in a single click. this ditches the old mag. weapons with multi-stage reloads such as the SAW cannot do this. the combat knife can be sharpened with a whetstone as other knives, making it arguably the best non-stun melee weapon to the crew. prison jumpsuits cannot have their suit sensors disabled. (not too obscure anymore) tape rolls can be used to completely silence footwear. this is most notable for disabling the distinctive noise of jackboots.

Did you know - lockers can be locked after being opened?! stares at sec officers