Portinari

As switching regularly is not on the table another possible solution is to delist the server for an extended period of time, let's say a week, then relist it once grey tide interest has moved to other servers. That way population should hopefully see a long lasting decrease while avoiding more then one or two switches. Care should be taken though to limit how long the delist is. Last time there was a extended delist the server nearly became empty during slow hours, and in my opinion that's almost worse than high pop at peak.

I agree that once server pop goes over a certain number the station is difficult to manage. Near 100 players it becomes absolute chaos. A solution is definitely needed. Delisting during peak hours sounds like a good plan. It deals with the greytide without affecting server population too much during slower periods in the weekdays. It will need someone who can set the server's listed and unlisted status on a regular schedule, however. Population caps are a bad idea though. That will just keep good players out during peak hours, unless there's a form of whitelist (Which is a bad thing for obvious reasons). This also won't take into account players who are just observing the round or ghosting after death, who by staying will block out people who actually want to play.

I'll say this much on the subject: The only source of new players for the server is through public listing. While most of these players are of course clueless at best and griefers at worst, there are those few who take the time to learn the rules and how to play and eventually choose to stick with Paradise and strengthen its core of regulars. That's how a server keeps going even as players drop out for other games and real life. By de-listing the server for long periods, this lifeline is severed and you're left with low populations even in peak hours. Even regular players who prefer the server will stop coming, since rounds with barely staffed departments are dull and lifeless. Yes, it's easier to administrate, but that's essentially sacrificing the welfare of the server for mere convenience. We play this game not for small shifts where you have to make an effort to find someone to work with, but for the large, hectic hives of people going this way and that, each with his own goals coming into conflict with everyone else to make the wonderful disaster that was the average round of this server in its heyday. If you take that away, and are happy with small server populations that are easy to manage, then you better be happy with a server that eventually has nobody at all... That being said, I'm happy to see the server is relisted and back to its usual vigor, and I'm sure most agree with me on this.

While I can understand delisting the server at peak hours to avoid griefers, keeping it delisted during downtime (And a weekday, too) doesn't make much sense. Earlier now I saw the server had 20 people, only a fraction of whom were actually on station, and decided against joining. I suspect others have done the same.

You know, if implemented with certain limitations, this could actually be an interesting idea. From what I've seen in rounds detectives rarely identify subjects from the evidence at the crime scene, much less actually locate and capture them. A bloodhound bot in cooperation with the detective could be a potent force for catching antagonists. It should move rather slowly though, so an antag can stay ahead as long as he keeps moving. This can dissuade many antags simply hiding in lockers until security gives up trying to find them. It also won't be able to say out loud who it is tracking, just follow the path until it eventually reaches the person and stops. It will also need to rely on security following it to actually make the arrest (Or protect it from being destroyed by the person it's tracking). And once the killer takes a shower, the bot stops following (Unless the killer forgot to wear gloves and so leaves fingerprints at the crime scene for the bot to also track). That should make it a useful, but not overpowered, tool for the detective.

Regardless of how good this sounds on paper it ignores the reality of how rounds progress. Later shift issues are due to a combination of both large numbers of patients and only a few doctors staying at their posts, the rest wandering off or going SSD. Even with pills it's difficult for a doctor to manage more than three patients at once, especially if they are critically injured. Forcing us to use liquid medication in IV's (with monitoring, no less) reduces this number to one patient at best, and when you only have three working doctors and upwards of 10 or more patients in your average round you can start seeing how without pills this quickly falls apart. In fact, it was falling apart before overdose mechanics were introduced.

Not to mention they can stop virtually anyone from being cloned by just giving them 15 units of alkysine and clonex, killing the clone extremely fast, while claiming it was an accident. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if non-antag doctors do this purely by mistake.

I think this sums up how most people feel about the overdose system nicely. Medbay couldn't keep up with patient load before...and with this change new and inexperienced doctors who don't know the overdose limits will become worse than useless...killing patients by just giving two dexalin or two antitoxin pills.

The problem with careful monitoring of drug administration is patient volume. By midshift there are usually over a dozen patients that need varying forms of treatment, leaving doctors enough time only to give each one basic first aid and some medicines to treat their damage, with speed being the key to saving lives. With this new overdose system treating patients becomes more time-consuming, requiring doctors to monitor pills given...and one overdose doubling or even tripling the time needed. And this is considering experienced doctors, say nothing of new or inexperienced doctors who think popping multiple pills is a perfectly acceptable way of healing someone...then watching as their patient dies before their eyes. In short, expect a lot more people to die in medbay.

I too would be strongly behind this idea if they could help out with cloning and organizing the bodies that come in piles by the end of every shift. While that's supposed to be the geneticist's job I've never seen a geneticist help with cloning; all they do is fuck around with powers... ...which leaves cloning to doctors, who by that point are overwhelmed with wounded patients and barely have the time to clone anyone. (See the above image)

But isn't that awesome in of itself? Some people prefer the faster Gygax like we do. So yeah, save the Gygax and let it have its glory. True you might get the odd griefer here or there, but it happens so rarely and you guys are usually on top of those things (Hell, you shut me down when I did it. But again, traitor so... it's not QUITE as bad) 'Sides, you try to say that seeing Old Man Henderson do battle with a Xeno Empress in a Gygax isn't one of the most awesome things ever! (Again, that actually happened.) Lenneth, you got banned once for running around in medbay with a lethal Gygax and killing everyone. In fact, it was impossible for the crew to fight you because by the time security and support got to medbay you had already sped away with Gygax speed and started killing somewhere else. Based on that alone I strongly believe Gygaxes should remain nonlethal. Given that griefers aren't exactly uncommon on the server and that robotics attracts some of them like flies I think it's not in anyone's interest to make Gygaxes lethal. They are too fast and versatile to provide with lethal weapons, and the situations where they would need them are few. A durand can just as easily deal with xeno queens and other slow, large threats...the Gygax's speed isn't intended for that, but for hit and run missions against people on the station.

As a humorous addition to cult rounds I propose the ability to convert certain pets such as Ian or Runtime to their demonic counterparts by dragging them over a convert rune and activating as normal. Doing so will cause a name change as well as sprite change to a darker, more sinister version with red eyes. Furthermore, this conversion can be performed even if the pet is dead, reviving them as their new demonic form. Runtime => Runetime the Demon Cat Ian => Nar'Ian the Unholy Crab => Doomcrab (As far as I'm aware there's already a sprite for this). The evil version of each pet should have more HP as well as new fluff abilities such as demonic meowing/barking as deemed appropriate. They will also count as an additional cultist for the purposes of summoning Nar'Sie or escaping on the shuttle with 5 acolytes (Reasonable as their obvious appearance will make them a target for anyone who sees them). While intended as a fluff suggestion, used by cultists for fun and as a big fuck you to the CMO/HoP (Bonus points for bringing the pet back to their office after conversion), perhaps future cult rounds could also have custom objectives related to these pets such as bringing them on the shuttle for stealthcult or using them as one of the sacrifices to summon Nar'Sie. This would add some complexity back to cult rounds because currently it's rather easy to accumulate 5-9 cultists and accomplish the cult's objectives.

I conceived this game mode more out of the curiosity to see whether this would be possible in SS13 than the desire to actually see it implemented, as it is understandably a monster to code. Still, I feel the mode offers a unique dynamic that's more than just cult + xenos and am happy to see that it might work out with some balancing. For one thing, while the Unitologist/Necromorph advantage may seem overwhelming at first glance, the cult half has little to no resources (apart from their wits) and, moreover, the Necromorphs have a single weak point in the Marker, which if destroyed automatically stops the infection; unlike xenos which can always return as long as a single drone or even facehugger survives. It moves the impetus away from slaughter and more towards defense, as the immobile and helpless Marker can easily be found by a semi-competent AI or even your average crewmember who pays attention to where the hallucinations happen, and all it takes is a few people with welders to take it down rather fast. Furthermore, most of the Necromorphs must come from the cultist pool for a good portion of the round, as conversion of non-cultist corpses by Infector form is intended to be slow and easily impeded. This makes the cult's success in converting crew before Marker activation important (Though not absolutely critical) to the eventual success of the Necromorphs, as for a good 5-10 minutes after activation the only defense the Marker will have will be the Necromorphs that arose from the cultist suicides. Combined with the fragility of the Necromorphs if dismemberment and lasers are properly applied, the antags are faced with significant challenges should they wish to succeed. And this assumes the cultists were competent enough to smuggle the Marker into the station and to a hidden location without being seen by the AI or their fellow crew. I expect most rounds to result in a sighting forcing the cultists to activate the Marker early, leading to only a few Necromorphs that must immediately go on the defensive as the crew converges. The concept is fun just to think about, and I thank all of you for taking the time to read it.

The poster already mentioned PDA's not working, which is highly inconvenient for a number of reasons; lack of private messaging being the most important one. Currently, internal organ damage can't be repaired by surgery as trauma kits won't work after the chest is opened. This is catastrophic, especially now that lung ruptures (Quite common if oxygen is gone even for a short while) guarantee a slow death by suffocation; essentially medbay has had to resort to letting the afflicted expire then cloning them, which for obvious reasons is not practical at all. Also, you can't interact with the items a person is wearing while they're on the operating table. This is rather minor but it is annoying. All in all, I agree with the need for a rollback of some sort to fix these bugs alone.

Background: This gamemode based on the Dead Space series of videogames and associated fiction (From which several ingame sprites such as the engineer hardsuit are derived) is initiated by the discovery of an enigmatic alien artifact by the crew of the NCS Cyberiad. This artifact, called the Marker, is the catalyst for a insidious contagion that reanimates dead bodies, twisting them into horrible creatures known as Necromorphs. This process is aided and encouraged by crew members belonging to the Church of Unitology, a cult-like religion that believes the Marker will bring rebirth and ascension into paradise to all those who hold faith in its power. The truth, however, is far more terrifying... Church of Unitology At round start, a set number of cultists spawn as usual, dedicated to the religion of Unitology. However, unlike ordinary cultists, they have no access to any resources of a regular cult except to tomes (Book of Altman) and the convert rune. No stun talismans, soul stones, constructs, etc. Their only tools will be their runes to convert fellow crew, whatever regular items they can get their hands on, and (optimally) roleplaying to convince others of the merits of Unitology. Several of these cultists will start as shaft miners and/or xenoarcheologists; their primary mission is to locate the Marker (With its telepathic assistance) on the asteroid and smuggle it into the station without being noticed. The remainder will optimally be discreetly converting crew to prepare for the Marker's arrival. Unitologists will have their own secret Unitology radio channel they can coordinate on, in order to compensate for their weakness relative to actual cultists. Objectives and Victory Conditions Primary objectives of the Unitology Cult are as follows: 1) Bring the Marker to the NCS Cyberiad and Activate it. 2) Ensure the Marker is not destroyed. These primary objectives are accompanied by one additional objective out of the following that is required for Major Cult Victory: • Convergence: A number of necromorphs equivalent to 20% of the original crew population gathers around the Marker within three tiles to trigger a Convergence Event. Eg., if the round started with 50 crewmembers, 10 will be required to trigger Convergence, regardless of the number of late-joiners. • Downfall: The Marker is brought to CentComm on the evacuation shuttle. • Extraction: The Marker is smuggled onto a Unitologist Shuttle and taken from the station (This uses the Syndicate shuttle, and spawns an additional antag who acts as the Unitologist pilot, with access to Nuke-Ops gear). • Uprising: All the Heads are killed or forced off the station. All require the Marker to be activated on the station first - the cultists can't immediately bring the Marker from the asteroid to the syndi shuttle, leading to quick round ends. Destruction of the Marker before accomplishment of the third objective automatically leads to Major Crew Victory. The Marker possesses a high amount of HP and can be damaged by mining tools, bombs, welders, and laser weaponry. Evacuation of the station before the Marker is activated onboard leads to Minor Crew Victory. Evacuation of the station after the Marker is activated onboard but before the third objective is complete leads to a Minor Cult Victory. The Marker On the mining/research asteroid, a Marker will start in a random location, similar to an ordinary alien relic. This Marker will be controlled by a player who has both AI and cult antagonist enabled, and will function as coordinator for Cult and Necromorph activity, speaking on the Unitology radio channel and Necromorph channel (Hive Mind). The Marker can see through the eyes of any cultist or Necromorph (Ability similar to Remote View, but limited to cultists and Necromorphs), as well as everything in a certain radius around itself (Similar to the Blob) to help the cultists locate it. Once brought to the Cyberiad, it can be activated by being clicked on by a living cultist. It will preferably have been moved to a hidden location on station first, and any good Marker AI will regularly remind the cultists of this. Activation locks it in place for 30 minutes and immediately leads to hallucinations in all non-cultist crew on the station, the severity varying based on proximity to the Marker, with people on the opposite side of the station not experiencing anything, and those close to the Marker assailed by constant hallucinations (A major hint as to its location on the station). These hallucinations are accompanied by a message letting everyone on station know activation has taken place and that shit has hit the fan. After activation, the Marker can also speak telepathically to any crew member it chooses, optimally using this in combination with the hallucinations to erode crew morale and sanity. Activation also prevents the evacuation shuttle from being called due to the station being placed under immediate quarantine by NT. ERT can still be called. After activation has taken place, 30 minutes must pass before the Marker can be moved. It remains active, and can be moved by anyone (Including Necromorphs). At this time, the evacuation shuttle can be once again called. Necromorphs This is the most nefarious power of the Marker, the one which threatens the lives of everyone aboard the station. Once activated, the Marker immediately converts the corpses of any dead cultists on the station into Necromorphs, and will do this for any new cultist corpses until its destruction. However, only the corpses of cultists are converted automatically...regular corpses remain corpses, which encourages cultists to convert as many people as possible before Marker activation, and subsequently commit suicide upon activation so that they can become Necromorphs and defend the Marker from the inevitable assault from the crew. Cultists can choose to not kill themselves if they feel they can help more in life. Non-cultist corpses must be converted a different way...by Infector forms, which are described below. IPC and slime people bodies can't be converted. Conversion of any corpse by any either Marker (for cultist corpses) or Infector form (for non-cultist corpses) takes one minute, during which time the corpse turns into a dormant Necromorph that is vulnerable to being destroyed by any crew present with any damage dealing weapon (brute or burn). After a minute passes, the Necromorph rises and the controller can choose the form it takes. The Necromorphs are controlled by the original cultist if converted from a dead cultist. If converted from a non-cultist body or if the original cultist has disconnected or can't rejoin the game, it remains a dormant Necromorph until an eligible observer takes control and chooses the Necromorph form it will become. Necromorphs, regardless of origin, start out as cultists and can see if living humans are cultists, thus avoiding killing them. They also become aware of the Cult's objectives if they weren't previously. Once a necromorph is created, it can choose to become one of the following forms: • Slasher: The most common and mainstay combat form, it can deal a decent amount of damage (Similar to xenomorph hunter slash damage) and force open non-bolted doors (After a long delay) using its scythed arms. o Retains the exosuit and head slots of their former body, and so will keep space suits, armor, etc. if their corpse transformed wearing these items. o Evolution: After accumulating 750 biomass, it can become an Enhanced Slasher, a black form which deals more damage, is more durable, and moves faster. • Spitter: Weaker and slower than the slasher (Less HP and deals less damage), and can't open doors, but can spit neurotoxin globs that stun targets for a brief time and deal minor damage. o Retains the exosuit and head slots of their former body, and so will keep space suits, armor, etc. if their corpse transformed wearing these items. o Evolution: After accumulating 750 biomass, it can become an Enhanced Spitter, a black form which deals more damage, is more durable, and can spit Neurotoxic Spray instead of just globs. • Leaper: Possessing a long barbed tail composed of the legs of its former corpse, this form can leap (Long jump with a longer cooldown) as well as tackle (Similar to Vox tackle with longer cooldown) its victims. Otherwise similar in damage and durability to the Slasher. o Evolution: After accumulating 750 biomass, it can become an Enhanced Leaper, a black form which deals more damage, is more durable, and has reduced cooldown for its leap and tackle abilities. • Infector: The support form, it can infect non-cultist corpses and transform them into Necromorphs. Arguably the most important form, a few are required for the infection to spread beyond the initial cultist pool. Also the weakest form - it deals little damage and can be killed rather easily by a civilian with a toolbox. Also moderately slow. Transforming a corpse requires a set amount of biomass (150) that must be replenished at a Corruption Node before it can transform another. o The Infector must stay by the corpse it is converting for 10 seconds for the process to be successful; moving either the corpse or the Infector (Eg. pulling it away) cancels the transformation, forcing the Infector to replenish its biomass and start over. o Infectors cannot pull anything and so require other Necromorph forms to bring it bodies if converting out in the open is too risky. o Infectors can open morgue trays to access dead bodies stored inside. o Evolution: After accumulating 1500 biomass, it can become an Enhanced Infector, a black form that deals moderate damage, is more durable, and can convert corpses into Enhanced instead of Regular forms. All Necromorph forms can plant Corruption Nodes (Costs 50 biomass), which function similarly to xenomorph weeds except recolored brown and yellow. Corruption Nodes are required for Necromorphs to recover from damage (Consumes biomass) and also to gain biomass, which allows them to evolve. Biomass is accumulated by resting on the Node. Non-Infector forms begin with 50 biomass, while Infector forms begin with 100 biomass. Quality of the corpse also determines convertability; if the corpse is missing two or more limbs or is burnt to a husk by burn or acid damage, it can't be transformed. This allows the crew to prevent infection by chopping the limbs off bodies or burning them. Even spacing bodies is an effective means of disposing of them. Necromorphs have their own chat channel called Hive Chat. Only Necromorphs and the Marker can communicate on this channel. All Necromorphs can ventcrawl, have nightvision, and see humans through walls and in darkness. Necromorphs are immune to vacuum or radiation, and are mostly unaffected by brute damage that's not aimed at a limb. Necromorphs can feign death (Rest), which turns them into the sprite of a dead Necromorph. They can still be damaged this way, and don't regenerate health or biomass unless doing so on a Corruption Node. However, one can readily tell if a Necromorph is actually dead or faking it by examining the body (Shift+click); if it has all of its limbs intact it is most likely still alive, whereas if it's missing two it's down for good. Killing Necromorphs Necromorphs can only be killed in two ways: With heavy burn damage or by severing two limbs (Except the infector form, which can be killed by regular means such as a toolbox). Severing limbs functions exactly the same to regular limb severing mechanics, and can be done with bladed weapons or bullets. Once two limbs are severed the Necromorph automatically dies, becoming a Necromorph corpse. Necromorphs do have moderate burn resistance (Though intense heat or massive laser fire will eventually kill them), making the severing method preferable for killing them. Indeed, despite their fearsome appearance, Necromorphs aren't more durable than the average person and their limbs can be removed somewhat easily with the right weapons. However, this means aiming for the center of mass or using non-bladed weapons such as crowbars won't do much, if any damage. Crew Strategies To defeat the Unitologists and the Marker, the prime objective of the crew should be to locate the Marker and destroy it. Secondary objectives prior to activation are to prevent crew from being converted by imprisoning cultists where possible. If a cultist is killed, one should be ready to delimb or destroy the body immediately. Should the Marker be activated, efforts should immediately switch to welding vents and destroying (Read: delimbing) any dead bodies where possible. Actual Necromorphs must be dealt with by armored security personnel carrying lasers, guns, or bladed weapons, aiming for limbs. If an Infector form appears, it should be targeted first, especially if dead bodies are in the area. Don't be afraid to pull an Infector away from a body it's transforming, as this will interrupt the process and waste the biomass spent to start it. Tertiary objectives should be to destroy Corruption Nodes where found to deny Necromorphs biomass. Unitologist Strategies Before the Marker is located and activated, Unitologists must convert as many crew as secretly as possible. Once the Marker is located, efforts should be diverted to preventing its discovery and smuggling it into the station. Once it's activated, optimally after a number of cultists are converted, most cultists should commit suicide to provide a starting pool of Necromorphs to defend the Marker and spread the contagion. Remaining cultists can aid in the Marker's defense through sabotage or direct combat, or even killing crew and bringing their bodies to Infector forms for conversion. At least one cultist should stay alive to perform duties such as recalling/calling the shuttle or piloting the Unitology shuttle. Necromorph Strategies First priority is to ensure no non-cultists reach the Marker to destroy it. Secondary priorities are to plant as many Corruption Nodes as possible and to kill defenseless crew to create corpses for Infectors to convert. Bodies can be dragged to safe zones should converting out in the open be too risky. Evolving is risky and should only be undertaken once a stable infection and perimeter around the Marker has been established. Sabotaging station systems such as atmospherics and power/lights is acceptable, as you aren't affected by vacuum and can see in the dark. Once 30 minutes has passed, you can pursue the third objective. Most importantly, don't kill living cultists, as they can support your efforts in ways you cannot (Eg. Subverting crew, recalling the shuttle, etc.). Marker Strategies Throughout the round the Marker should be coordinating the cultists and Necromorphs towards completing the objectives. Beginning: Determine where you are on the asteroid and direct cultist miners to your location. After Activation: Monitor your area for humans that are getting too close, look through the eyes of your minions, and coordinate efforts where necessary through Hive Chat and Unitologist Radio. Also constantly bombard crew with disturbing (But in character) messages to scare the shit out of them.