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My general idea for ages I've never gotten around to implementing is to have the current 'assistant' job renamed to Civilian, with numerous alt-titles such as tourist, off-duty, etc. Assistant itself should be a seperate job with limited slots, part of service, with an SoP that requires them to actually assist departments if they're able to. This could then have alt titles such as Engineering Assistant, Medbay Intern, etc. Thus we can split the people who want 0 responsibility and RP into their own job, and leave assistant for people who want to help out departments in minor ways, and be a great job for newbies.

Design Doc - Revised Edition (approved by design/balance teams to go ahead) New Mechanic: Tickets / New Role: Constable Inspiration: Paul Blyant, Space-Mall Cop We could stand to give SOP, and its Internal Affairs enforcers, a little more teeth. We could stand to keep the low-key shittery on the station better controlled, while also providing an interesting counterpart for greytiders, Clowns&Mimes, and other agents of non-antag chaos. We could stand to break up the 'Security hivemind' a bit, and introduce a little bit of dissension and mistrust into Team Redshirt. The ticket system and the new Constable role aim to address all of these elements together. Tickets: Paying Your Way This design introduces a new system of tickets, paid in-person with an ID-swiped 'excise payment system' (a modified EFTPOS scanner). If there's one thing we've seen from the recent 'courier' system change, it's that face-to-face interaction is a Very Good Thing, and that we should be building new mechanics based around encouraging it. 1xx (Minor) crimes will now be handled by paying a fine of 20 credits per violation, and 2xx (Moderate) crimes can be resolved by either a fine of 50 credits per violation or the same 5-10 minutes Brig time, at the discretion of whoever's making the arrest. The fine can either be paid in the field, or by bringing the person to the Brig and processing it there. SOP will now be enforced by fines, too. Internal Affairs and the NTR will be given the power to levy fines for SOP violations, with fees of 20 or 50 credits per individual violation. In either case, if someone is unable to pay their fine, they can serve their time in the criminally-underutilized Labor Camp, by working off their tickets in the 'debtor's prison.' However, actually collecting these fines from unrepentant greytiders is gonna be impossible without getting them in cuffs, soooo... Constables: Corporate Legbreakers Enter the Constable. This role is geared around enforcing the new fines and tickets system, and is specifically designed to remain targeted and focused on greytiders and low-key trouble throughout the shift. If Sec Officers are the station's SWAT team, responding to ':s HALP VAMPIRE SCI MAINTS,' then the Constables are the station's patrol cops, walking a regular beat and ensuring that someone with arrest authority shows up at the Dorms when '; halp joe griffer beating me up.' Internal Affairs/the NTR can write a ticket for SOP violations, and Security members can write a ticket for 1xx (Minor) and 2xx (Moderate) crimes, and since they're a role geared around tickets, Constables can write tickets for both. A Constable can subdue a crewmember in the field to collect a ticket, or bring them in for a 2xx (Moderate) offense such as Assault or Kidnapping if they think it's warranted. Unlike Sec Officers, however, Constables are not allowed to make arrests on anyone they see doing a 3xx (Major) crime or higher, and are expected to call those in to Security instead. Since we don't want to rely on SOP and Space Law alone, though, the Constable's gear has been carefully geared around the goal of "letting them reliably roughhouse greytiders, while also making them minimally-effective at fighting actual antagonists." Perhaps most importantly in terms of avoiding the 'Sec Officer Lite' problem, however, the Constable does not start the round mindshielded. Similar to the HoP they'll be blacklisted from a number of roundstart antag roles (cult, changeling, and vampire) but can be Syndicate traitors on occasion, along with being initially vulnerable to subversion attempts with mindslave implants, Dantalion vampires, cult conversion, etc. This makes the Constable only partially trustworthy by ever-paranoid Security, and keeps them from turning into Sec Officer Lite in the same way that the Brig Physician tended to become. The HoS can try to browbeat Constables into accepting the mindshield implants from their locker, can try to keep the Constables away from the Brig as much as possible, or can simply ignore them when feasible. Either way, however, there will always be an element of doubt and paranoia present, which is something that's currently missing from Security. Similarly, the Constable's inherent untrustworthiness means they'll provide extra work for their own Legal department, who currently lack enough interesting and fun work to do. Internal Affairs will obviously watch other departments for SOP violations to ticket, and the process of assigning and collecting tickets will keep them busier, but IA and the Magistrate will also need to keep an eye on their own legbreakers to make sure the Constables aren't taking a little extra cash on the side. The Constable role is intended to be a little bit shifty and untrustworthy by design, and to both introduce and encourage low-level corruption complications like 'Constables taking a small bribe to overlook Botanists selling drugs.' That being said, Constables are also not required to be corrupt, and can in fact be the One Good Man on the force. The role is meant to be open-ended in this regard, and the alternative uniforms (the 'British bobby' one in particular) are meant for players who want to play their Constable as an upstanding citizen. Whether it's 'bored mallcop writing tickets,' 'corrupt corporate mafia man,' or 'the cops we wish were out on patrol in real life,' the Constable role is meant to give players enough narrative freedom to play the role as honestly - or not - as they want. Necessary Changes: This covers the bare minimum, absolutely-necessary elements needed to get this to the point of a TM. There's a lot of 'nice-to-have' stretch goals, which'll be covered in a separate header below. However, with the basic elements covered here we should be able to go for a basic TM and see how the ticketing mechanic and the new role both handle in practice: 1. The 'Excise Payment System:' An EFTPOS scanner, but modified with a shiny red skin and modified to have always-on access to the department accounts. The EFTPOS normally requires you to know the account number and PIN of any account you're paying into, but this 'EPS' will let you pay directly into one of the various department accounts without also knowing anything more beyond the name ('Command Account,' 'Security Account,' etc). This will be accompanied with a slight modification to Space Law and SOP (details below) which cover the recommended payments for various types of low-level crimes and SOP violations. IA Agents and Constables will each start with an 'EPS' in their backpacks, as tickets and fines are meant to be central to their gameplay. Security Officers can also levy fines, so I'd like for two 'EPS' systems to be in the Brig Processing, along with one each in the Warden, HoS, Magistrate, and NTR Offices. There'll also need to be a reminder about normal ticket amounts, namely the 20-50 credit prices for the time being (exact numbers subject to change based on user experience, ofc), so the wiki will need to be updated with the relevant info (details below). 2. The 'Ticket' security status + SkillsHUD visibility: The Constable is the obvious go-to guy to handle an idiot Engineer who's resisting a demotion. Unfortunately, the SkillsHUD (which the Constable will start with) currently can't view the 'Demote' status on the HUD, which seems an obvious oversight. Additionally, I'd like for arrest statuses (Wanted, Parole, Release, etc.) to include the new 'Ticket' status, which'll be an orange $ sign or similar indicator. Ideally the 'Ticket' status should also be visible on the SkillsHUD, as it falls within the purview of relevant characters (the NTR, IA, and the Constable). 3. New Sprites/Minor Gear: At a minimum, Constables will need to look different from Sec Officers. I'd recommend re-using the sprites from a prior attempt to merge a not-Sec Officer, though other people are welcome to resprite as they wish. Constables will also need a Procedure-only encryption key, along with a renamed version of the IAA's non-bowman headset. 4. New Weapon: The Constable will need their own unique weapon to apprehend people (suggested custom weapon to follow). The basic design requirements were: a) Not a ranged weapon (extended chases are way more fun than if the Constable just no-sells a greytider with a disabler knockoff) b) Capable of reliably winning 1v1 fights with greytiders, and can't be easily lost (since Constables are expected to rely on this weapon against experienced 'tiders when flashes and pepperspray fail, and the whole 'lack of trust' means it's unlikely they can't count on Security backing them up) c) NOT highly effective against antags (we definitely don't want Constables interfering with Sec-vs-antag fights too much, and we don't need to repeat the 'detcurity' problem of the Detective's old .38 pistol) d) Unique and thematically appropriate for the role (whether they're an upstanding police bobby or a shady corporate legbreaker, the Constable's main tool should be something that reinforces the general look and feel of 'a patrol cop who solves back-alley problems with a beatstick and his fists') There were several great contenders in the Discord chat, including using the pre-existing police baton implant modified to only deal stamina damage, but the finalist was 'knockout muscle enhancer,' a weaker version of the pre-existing 'strong-arm empowered musculature' implant. The existing arm-mounted implant makes unarmed strikes deal 20 brute damage along with significant knockback; 'knockout muscle enhancer' is significantly weaker by design, operating instead like slightly enhanced boxing gloves. It causes the user to deal 15 stamina damage without any knockback when using unarmed harm intent, weakening targets until they fall over; depending on exact force amounts it'll take 6 strikes to fully stamina-exhaust a target. The strikes use the standard boxing notes ('X hits Y with a haymaker!' etc) and should ideally use a custom noise for their hits, so that others are aware these are stamina-only strikes. Like the original, a nearby EMP will cause the user to instead punch themselves. It can be printed in R&D protolathes with sufficient tech levels (I'm guessing...eh, Engineering 5, Biotech 6, and Illegals 2, say? Meh). 'Knockout muscle enhancer' is a useful CQC weapon that can't be taken away, but remains only mildly effective against most outright antagonists. It's a useful tool for a stand-up fight, but if the other guy runs then the Constable is at a real loss. They'll still lose a fight with a stamina-resistant vampire, and against a changeling with EMP Screech or a Syndicate with an EMP implant they're easy pickings - after all, one of the simplest ways to keep Constables away from actual antags is to make them very poorly-suited for fighting them. However, 'boxulature' provides a unique and interesting tool that's very thematically appropriate with the image of Constables as a shady corporate enforcer, and one that encourages extended chases and drawn-out beatdowns. 5. Mapping Changes - Starting Point: Gear-wise, the Constables will thankfully spawn with most gear they already need. Whatever their starting location (see below), we'll want to make sure they have access to two personal lockers (renamed 'Constable personal lockers') and a pepperspray tank. If the spriters come up with alternate clothing options in time for the TM, I'd recommend the alternate clothing options should go into a garment bag in each locker. Aside from that, if anyone's up to map out an actual Constable gear room (see the stretch goals below), I'd be very grateful! The Constables' design goals for access are as follows: a) Other than the stuff they must have, Constables should have minimal outside interaction with Security (we don't want them to turn into Sec Officer Lite, after all) b) Constables must have access to the Holding Cells, and may have access to Brig Processing and Interrogation depending on preference and how it shakes out in practice. However, on all maps Constables should not have access to the Prison Wing, Execution, Evidence, and anything more restricted (note: this may get problematic because the Prison Wing uses the same Holding Cell access - access type #2 - which the Constables will need at a bare minimum) c) Ideally, Constables should have access to the Labor Camp. The area is criminally under-utilized anyway, everything there is already set to the Holding Cell access which Constables will need to have at a minimum, and using it as a 'debtor's prison' fits in thematically very well with the Constables' whole theme. Some maps like the Kerberos/Delta are perfectly suited for this already, whereas others like Cyberiad/Box or Cerebron/Meta will require some additional effort (see below). d) The relevant access numbers are the Brig (#63) and Holding Cells (#2); Constables must have Holding Cell access in order to set Brig timers, and may have Brig access depending on necessity. Obviously, Constables will not be having Security (#1), Detective (#4), or Armory (#3) access, so those are safe for use. With all that said, I think there's basically three general approaches to giving Constables the 'right' access while keeping them away from the 'wrong' ones: 1. Minimalism: This would remove Constables' Brig access entirely, so that they only have Holding Cell access. On all maps there's at least four temporary cells near the front of the Brig, and modifying the double-doors near those cells to accept Holding Cell access (#2) would be sufficient. The Constables' starting position (+pepperspray and personal lockers) would be changed to the Courtroom, and Labor Camp SOP would have the Constables turn over any prisoners going there to Security instead. This 'minimalist' approach is relatively simple to implement, and accomplishes the goal of keeping Constables outside of the Brig, most notably in keeping them clear of the Prison Wing, Evidence, and other places they shouldn't be. However, it also keeps Constables away from the Labor Camp Shuttle, which is problematic since that'd be a great starting point and home-base for them, along with fitting into their general theme really well. Additionally, some poorly-organized maps (*cough*Cerebron!*cough*) utilize Brig access (not Courtroom #42 access - no joke!) on the Courtroom, so there'll need to be a bunch of doors modified anyway. 2. Compromise: This would retain Constable Brig access, but alter the areas they shouldn't go by changing door access there. Evidence, the Prison Wing, and Execution at a minimum would need to be updated from Holding Cell (#2) to Security (#1) access, or alternatively Security+Forensics (access_one, #1 and #4) access in cases where we want the Detective able to travel there too. This will let us use the Labor Camp Shuttle as a home base of sorts for the Constables, while also keeping them separate from Security in the process (since Sec almost never uses the Labor Camp or its shuttle except when evacuating the station). This'll take more time up-front to tweak specific door access codes properly, and may affect things like 'a traitor CE or RD being able to scoot in and easily loot Evidence,' but in the end I think it'll work out best. 3. Maximalist: We add a new 'Constable' access type, modifiable in the ID computer, and add the access to specific doors and areas where Constables should and shouldn't go. This will avoid the issue of interfering with other job types, and let us tweak exactly where Constables are allowed to travel (along with letting them have a private gear room; see the 'stretch goals' section), but will also take a lot more work to code and implement. Notably, we'd need to either make sure that the new access lets Constables still set holding cell timers appropriately on the telescreens, along with having access to necessary computers like the labor camp points manager. After talking with design/balance, option #3 has been chosen for the actual TM. Constables will have Maintenance and the custom 'Constable' access, which will be added to the standard ID computer (under the 'General' tab, similar to the 'Magistrate' and 'Law Office' ID accesses, another little detail to help reinforce that Constables aren't part of Security). We'll need to make sure that entities like the telescreens are set to access_one and allow the Constable access, ditto for the Labor Camp, but this'll help keep them where they belong. 6. New Role: Unlock requirements: 20 hrs as a Security Officer, 4 hrs as Internal Affairs Agent Starting text: "You are the Constable. Your job is to mediate disputes and maintain public order." Department/boss/starting location: Legal (reports to Magistrate), starts in Labor Camp shuttle checkpoint* Starting access: Constable*, Courtroom, Maintenance Starting equipment: custom jumpsuit, armored jacket, and soft cap (similar stats to the Sec jumpsuit, standard armored jacket, and Security soft cap), Skills HUDSunglasses, black shoes, radio (non-bowman, has Procedure encryption only), and a cardboard 'Constable equipment box' (starts in backpack) containing pepperspray, flash, handcuffs, security hailer, an 'excise payment system,' and a security holobarrier creator. Has standard Security PDA (with read-only Sec Records access and ability to summon bots). Starts with 'Fist Aid' Starting numbers: 1 at lowpop (<50 crew), 2 at higher population. Can be altered by HoP or other on-station ID computer. Does not start with a mindshield, but like the HoP the Constable is ineligible for certain antagonist types (cultist, changeling, and vampire in particular). *Please see 'Mapping Issues' section above; this assumes we go ahead with the third version listed above Stretch Goals: These are a bunch of 'nice to have' ideas which I'd love to see in the future, but aren't strictly necessary to move ahead with the whole concept: 1. Constable Gear Room: Shady back room? Shady back room! This'd be a roughly 3x3 Constable-only area, with things like a 'ConstDrobe' containing alternate clothing options and additional basic gear like handcuffs and a pepperspray refiller. This would also serve as an ideal place for Syndicate Constables to check their uplinks, store stolen gear, and for both antag and non-antag Constables to carry out not-totally-legal business deals like "selling emag swipes to the crew." 2. Constable-only access: The easiest way to keep Constables where we want 'em is to simply add a specific and unique access type. This also makes their own back-room more secure, and lets us modify exactly what places they can and can't go in Security (thus reinforcing the divide that these guys aren't card-carrying members of Sec). 3. Constable DRIP: If there's one thing that sells a role, it's looking the part. I've seen a number of interesting suggestions for alternate Constable getups, from a Bri*ish bobby cap to a uniform straight out of We Happy Few, ditto for a unique whistle that'd replace the classic Sechailer ("HALT! Security!" works well enough for the testmerge, but we do wanna reinforce that these guys aren't Sec). 4. A Constable-only ranged tool: Although the Constable's gear is designed to enable long chases, this may get too frustrating in practice. Therefore, one concept batted around was a method of temporarily slowing greytiders only long enough for the Constable to get to melee range and start decking them. One option would be for the Constable's whistle to have a short targeted 'instill fear' option that would slow a single target down for 1-2 seconds; the whistle would have a 30-second cooldown, and only work on non-antag crew to avoid being effective against antags (though this runs into the issue of 'how do we avoid having the Constable meta antags by using their whistle?' etc). Either way, depending on how the TM goes it may be nice to have a unique ranged option like this that'd let the Constable catch up to fleeing greytiders while keeping them minimally-effective against actual antagonists. One suggestion has been the laser pointer, for instance; we'll see how that is received in practice. 5. A simple 'demotion notification' method: Idiots resisting demotions is a common issue, and one that's practically tailor-made for Constables to help with. It'll help greatly if Constables know who needs help and when, though, so there should be a way for Heads of Staff to notify Constables quickly and easily. This can take the form of a special request console option for the Heads of Staff ('notify regarding demotion,' with an input option for the person's name, and an automated message that gets sent out on Security and Procedure comms), a 'ping Constables' option in the Heads of Staff PDAs or the consoles in their offices, etc. Alternatively, someone getting set to demote could cause the console where it was issued to send out an automated message on Procedure comms, similar to how the holding cell telescreens send out an automated message for every Brig sentence carried out. 6. Moving the EFTPOS functionality to Security R.O.B.U.S.T. cartridges: 'Gear bloat' is already a thing, and having to haul around more stuff is always a pain. Additionally, the EFTPOS functionality has always been pretty clunky, and isn't optimized for this particular use-case. I'd like for 'Ticket Payment' to be added to Security PDA cartridges, where the cartridge can automatically transfer funds from the account of any ID inserted into a departmental account. This would significantly streamline the process of moving money around the station, making it a lot more relevant to regular spessmen gameplay, and also mean that Constables, IA Agents, and Sec Officers wouldn't have to haul around yet more random stuff. 7. There's quite a few other options for Constable weapons, and if someone's willing to code them, I'd love to give Constable players the option to choose, similar to how /tg/ lets the Curator pick their loadout of choice for the round. This could be a less-effective but nodrop-flagged version of the police baton, a set of thematically-appropriate gloves to apply boxing damage, an implant, etc. There's a lot of options, and if someone wants to put in the work of coding something different, I'd love to see what they could come up with! 8. Rule/Wiki Changes: Assuming the TM is fully merged, we'll want to update Legal SOP with a how-to of how a ticket should be applied IC. Similarly, we'll need to update the Space Law and SOP with a notice of what SOP violations (minor or major) should be charged, and how and when it shouldn't. I'd be happy to do all that (the suggested Constable SOP, and the first draft of a future Constable Wiki page, is attached below), but I figure it'd be helpful to TM it first and see how things go. Finally, regarding corruption: the relevant portion of Rule 5 reads "The Captain and members of Security are expected to follow and have a good understanding of Space Law and SOP (Standard Operating Procedure). Consistent abuse of these positions will lead to a Jobban; however, you may request to play a corrupt member of Security via Adminhelp, with valid justification." This part of the rule is a toughie for low-level corruption like what the Constable is supposed to encourage, but I also don't want to actually alter the rules without observing the results of the testmerge, seeing what happens, and getting user feedback. We may or may not want to alter this wording, depending on how the TM goes. Either way, it's good food for thought for the future. Additional Info: Conclusion: Although it's not a massive change-up in terms of code, this new ticket system touches on a lot of important basic gameplay loops. This design involves a non-mindshielded character making arrests, for instance, along with encouraging low-level bribes and similar criminal behavior. There's a lot to unpack here, and I'm happy to cover the details; feel free to PM me on Discord at .norwest if you'd like to ask me directly. That being said, please consider taking a look at the most recent Discord thread which led to this document, along with reading the Q&A sections from earlier in this thread. These concepts have gone through a lot of work and discussion, but on reviewing them I feel satisfied that we've got a durable, reasonable, and above all, fun role which is more than just Greytider+ or Sec Officer Lite. Giving IA Agents the ability to levy fines, and sending Constables out to collect them, is a solid gameplay loop that builds on good in-game foundations. Giving the station an 'enforcer' role who remains focused on low-key violence all the way through the round helps avoid the shitty, un-fun anarchy that can take effect later in a chaotic round. And for the greytiders, Clowns&Mimes, and general low-key troublemaker players who aren't outright shitters, I expect the people playing those characters will have more fun if there's a dedicated 'opposition' role like the Constable around. It means there's someone with the time and interest to interact with them, rather than Sec Officers who tend to go "too busy, got a 'cling to kill, don't do crime pls." Constables can be fought, bribed, or even worked with, but either way they're unlikely to be boring. Thank you for reading all this, and remember: don't do crime! (or if you do, I want my cut!)

Regarding alt titles, I have opened a PR that adds "Off-Duty", "Retired" and "Intern" as possible ones! I hope this change helps with assistant issues, at least a tiny bit!

Seriously? There are plenty of people who take an actual job and don't do it all round. At least assistants aren't taking the position just to get access and gear. Sometimes you just wanna hang out. Take that away and you'll have a bunch of hobos doing nothing but taking up job slots. (more people doing nothing taking up job slots I mean). As for bridge hobos, I've seen some of the most interesting builds done above the bridge by hobos. And sometimes it's comedy gold. Like when a bunch get run over by a MULE. And the absurdity of it all is a plus. That's one of my favourite things about this game. The absurd mixed with the deadpan RP. Does it really interfere with your RP enjoyment to have random assistants hanging around above the bridge? The station has a literal clown that honks! The absurd and the deadpan compliment each other. Take away the absurd, and you're left with boring, predictable HRP. Take away the deadpan RP, and you just have an un-fun LRP gamer situation. Where the best gamers have all the fun. And the rest get fucked. To pretend to quote the existential absurdist Camus; "One can spend eternity trying to change SS13 to create paradise. When paradise was right in front of them the whole time. And they were too busy being hobophobic to see it....... Honk."

Lately we had some topics started where people voiced their displeasure with some people. This topic especially had some people start talking about assistants: So.. let's open a dialogue about them (even if just to free @Landerlow's suggestion of talk about it since it's not the main topic there) We had people call assistants jobless or useless, call people standing in front of bridge as AFK etc. So what do you all think about them? Personally I had never seen in my playtime in medbay or engineering a single assistant that tried to help doctors/engineers. I did see assistants getting their job title changed to "engineer trainee" or "engineer assistant" Most helpful assistant I did see was some guy helping librarian start a newspaper. I also did see people redecorating bar, or making new bar in fore-starboard maints but they usually change their job title so I dunno if you can count them as true assistants. So do we have a problem with assistant's mentality? Both from the gamers that play assistant and from those who don't? Also did we ever have an alternative titles for assistants like "Engineering assistant" and "Medbay assistant"? I do think "Civilian" would fit better the role with how people treat it right now and maybe "Assistant" should be an alternative title?

EXCELLENT job, Norwest. I wish I could code. I'd code it in right this instant, heh. I was wondering though, for ranged weaponry; How about letting the constable use (and perhaps spawn with) a bola? How do you feel about that? Or do you feel a bola is too powerful? It would be lame if the constable just bola'd anyone on the spot but on the other hand, it is only a single use item and I do think they are hard to come by once the supply in the security vendors is empty. (I forgot if you can get 'em in a cargo crate but it costs credits to order crates and I imagine sec won't order a whole crate just for a bola).

Update: the fines design has been rolled in with Constables in order to facilitate in-person interaction. Details here: Revised design doc incorporating 'fines and the legbreakers who enforce them' is now in the other thread.

Plot twist: Constable and IAA conspire and split the profits (assuming Jane Chef paid in cash). This has a lot of RP possibility but from an admin perspective we should also try to define as best we can what is and what is not over the line, so to speak.

It's not about making antagging around the bridge hard, I think. It's because it's generally annoying and is dumb in my opinion from a RP perspective. You're literally sitting/laying down in the middle of a busy hallway, in front of the most important area on the station. This has been an annoyance of mine since forever. There are specific areas to hang out. There's the dorms, the bar, even the library. There's a garden on the station too and lots of places in maintenance areas that you can build a cool hangout if you so desire.

Hello, hello, I make this post today to present an idea, and discuss it with ya all. Idea is - giving blueshield security comms. "Why do they need them? They are not security!" - You may say, and while you are right, they are NOT security, their job often INVOLVES security. So, why SHOULD the blueshield have access to security comms roundstart? Minor examples of it are tresspassers - blueshield is to protect command areas and detain trespassers. He however MUST pass the trespasser onto security force for brigging. In this scenario, it'd mostly be convenient, but it's by no means necessary. Now, more important point - communicating threats. In theory, captain and HoS can communicate any threats via command comms. In practice, they often do not. Knowing what are possible threats helps you be more prepared to save command when it is needed. Falling under the same category - fast communication about threats. No captain will yell "vampire in science" on command comms, and it sure as hell helps you stand near RD and make sure vampire doesn't get him. Blueshield's job is to also prevent something happening to command. Not only to save them after the fact. This leads to last point - security comms would help coordinate rescue efforts with security. This is rather self-explanatory. In general, it just sucks to not even know what is going on because command comms are silent. Now, what would be the downsides? Or, well, at least the downsides I can think of. Not many! Most important one, is that it could shift mindset of blueshield players into fighting antags for the sake of it. It's a valid point, but I do not believe it would affect that much. Nobody is stopping you from asking warden for sec comms already, and there is a good chance you will be granted them. My point here is, if you want to redtext the antag man for no lawful reason, you can do it already. I would love to see the response to this. Hear if this change would be positive or not? If feedback is rather positive, I will gladly figure out how to code it myself, so do not worry about that.

Considering that there is crime for stealing credits and to check it if this is truly the case if it has happend is up to the hop or captain to check or the crew show their own records I think it would be a great idea to have IAA have an extra job to make sure the station cash flow is legal. For this they should have their own console like the one in command to check finacial matters on the station and make sure that no illegal cash flow happens if so they then need to report it to security with a report of the suspected illegal cash flow. This gives them something to do while not much is going on the sop side and be a more productive member of the station on a legal side.

This suggestion but without it deteriorating over time/distance.