Kyet

As part of an effort to address the PR backlog, we are replacing the 'Coder' staff role with a new role: 'PR Reviewer'. The new PR Reviewers role will: be application-based, IE anyone with the 'Github Contributor' tag can apply for it. be easier to get, IE we will be looking to appoint a batch of people to this role within the next two months, though it will also have less permissions than staff coders did be more tightly focused on helping out the maints by doing code review of PRs, no longer being a general 'staff coder' role For more information, see here:

Thoughts: Unsure if beach guard is necessary. What if nobody enters the gateway? Those ghost roles are going to get bored. What are player controlled skeletons in the sunken ship supposed to do? Squid treasure room's loot seems too strong. Wand of ressurection is capable of reviving a bunch of normally unclonable people with a single shot. The barricades won't keep people from kiting the squid away (say, behind an obstacle) then circling back to get the loot without fighting it Unsure about all the syndi loot. Especially the red hardsuit. Seems like it would generate lots of security alerts if someone wore it back to station. There are a fair few syndies in the base. How is your average explorer meant to beat them without relying on normally unavailable gear, or anything that would be OP if brought back from the gateway? Poisonous jellyfish are my idea, something I was considering adding anyway for a space australia mission, only add them yourself if you think they'd be useful in this mission. While we do have ratvar items in the code, we don't have all of them, and they're not functional, so you'd have to implement any puzzle mechanics yourself. Pinging @necaladun for feedback as well.

We recently had a case where someone could not sign in on the wiki, because their forum account name contained special characters like "_", and our wiki software apparently cannot handle those. To prevent similar cases happening in future, I've set the forums to require display names to only use standard letters/numbers, IE: no more "_" and similar special characters in displaynames. Anyone signing up to the forums from now on will need to use a name without special characters. Existing forum accounts with special characters in their name can stay as-is, unless you intend to edit the wiki. If you have such an account and want to edit the wiki, you will need to contact me so I can rename your forum account.

Here is how Patreon donors can get their perks: 1) Register an account on https://www.paradisestation.org/forum 2) Verify your email address 3) Log into the game, and use the 'Forum' button to link your ingame account to your forum account. 4) Use https://www.paradisestation.org/forum/index.php?app=patreonintegration&module=system&controller=patreonconnect to link your forum account to your patreon account 5) Use https://www.paradisestation.org/forum/discord/invite/general/ to link your forum account to your Discord account Assuming you have done all of those, you should get your perks in game, forum and discord within one hour or so. If you don't, contact Kyet.

We are now running Byond 513 (aka: beta branch) in production. This has been months in the making, and required quite a lot of backend changes. We're doing it because beta branch is about to become the new stable branch, and we need to be ready for that happening. Please ping me if you notice anything weird after this update, especially anything related to: Saving/loading stuff from the database (like player character records, library books, etc) Stuff that suddenly and consistently started happening today, never happened before, and now happens all the time Anything related to characters (like letters with accents, emoji characters, etc) in the game

We recently started publishing the public runtime summary log. That public log: Shows basic information about every runtime error that happened on the live server last round. Is intended to help PR authors identify and fix runtime errors in our codebase. Now we are going further, and giving Github Contributors access to the full day server runtime log. This is the same runtime log that previously only staff (e.g: staff coders and admins) had access to. This new log: Is much more detailed than the public log, providing a full stack trace for every runtime error. Covers a larger window of time, being an almost identical copy of the live server's runtime log for the whole calendar day up to present. Has a few safeguards to protect certain information (like player IP addresses) but otherwise provides all the information we have on runtimes. Is updated at the end of every round, new information being added at the end. Is reset at the end of every calendar day (since it only includes information from the current calendar day). Alongside these changes: "Github Contributor" is now a role on the website, which means if you are one, that will be listed under your avatar when you post on the forum. Having the role on the website is also necessary to access the new contributor-only runtime log. All players who already have the Github Contributor role in Discord, and who have linked forum accounts, have been granted the role on the website as well. If you are one and did not get it, that means you haven't linked your forum/discord accounts. Do that, then message me. Similarly if you've got a good record of contributing to the github and don't have the Github Contributors role, then message me.

Dec 26: cazdon has become a Trial Admin

For the next week or so, the Gateway will always connect to the seasonal 'Santa' away mission.

Nov 20: Drakeven has become a Trial Admin eler00 has been promoted from Trial Admin to Game Admin Landerlow has been promoted from Trial Admin to Game Admin TheSardele has been promoted from Trial Admin to Game Admin Dec 18: Normalyman has retired from Game Admin 25charactersorless has retired from Game Admin

Hey folks. To help keep the wiki updated: The menu on the left side of wiki pages now links to the "how to contribute to the wiki" guide, as well as a list of pages needing update. I'll likely be going through the contribution guide, updating it to a shorter and more readable format, as well. Each page that needs update is clearly marked as such, and the reason it needs review/update is shown on it. Players can add/remove pages from the list, very easily, using the provided instructions. So, if you notice something that needs fixing/update on the wiki, even if you're not an experienced editor, you can still easily flag it as needing update. Wiki editors can now volunteer to maintain a wiki page. Details are at: https://www.paradisestation.org/wiki/index.php/Category:MaintainedPages Essentially, editors that do this are volunteering to help keep pages up to date even if the underlying game mechanics / information changes, e.g. due to a PR being merged. I've volunteered to maintain the wiki pages for the various features I've added myself (like terror spiders). I encourage our long-term players with expertise in a specific area of the game to step up and volunteer to help maintain wiki pages about that area.

Over the last 24h, nobody could register on our forum, due to a captcha issue. This is now fixed. Credit to @E.I.G.H.T. for being the only person to mention it to me on Discord, so I could fix it.

We are moving domain, from nanotrasen.se (bork, bork!) to paradisestation.org. So: Try out our website at the new address: https://www.paradisestation.org Update your saved bookmarks. Make sure your browser's password manager has your password saved under the new domain (typically, just login once on the new domain, and it will offer to save it) If something doesn't work, contact me (via Discord PM)

Additional updates made today: Updated forum software version (maintenance release by Invision software). Updated discord integration code again (bug fixes by 3rd party authors). Lots of backend maintenance

Changes made: About 10 players had an in-game account linked to a forum account, and then the forum account was automatically deleted by the forum because they never finished their forum registration (never confirmed their email address). This left those players in a weird state where their byond account was linked to a forum account that no longer existed. All of the affected accounts have been fixed, and the code has been improved to account for this situation. The forum has also been reconfigured to no longer prune (delete) accounts where the owner fails to confirm their email address. The "registration completion" banner (which prompted everyone to link their discord account) has been removed. It showed up to everyone, including banned players, which was not ideal. All banners have also been hidden for forum accounts which don't have a confirmed email address, to avoid confusing players with multiple instructions on the same page. A new "Add Discord for easier login, an invite to our Discord server, and perks" line has been added to the top of the page for ingame verified forum members without linked Discord accounts. This is much smaller than the previous banner, and only shows up for verified accounts. It is not currently possible to dismiss this notice, though I may add that in future.

Plasmamen did not RP more when their karma price was 100. Plasmamen did not suffer a reduction in RP levels when their karma price was reduced. Based on those facts, I don't think that changing the karma price of Vox, or other races, will affect the RP level of Vox players. I'm skeptical about the karma system in general. We do not review, moderate, or otherwise verify the effects of the karma system. We just take it for granted that it works. I've never seen any evidence to prove it works. I've never seen any evidence that karma totals measure RP ability/willingness better than pure playtime does. At times, I've been tempted to just abolish the karma system entirely and just use playtime for everything that's currently karma-locked.

Nov 11th: brandonsacawv has returned to the staff team as Game Admin.

Nice idea. Unfortunately, gateway maps require a LOT more effort to create than you think.

I've done a major upgrade to the wiki. As of today: Logging in to the wiki now uses your forum username/password. You no longer have to remember a separate username/password just for the wiki. Creating a wiki account is now automatic, when you log in via a forum account which doesn't have a wiki account. No more manually registering separate wiki accounts. Logging in will now synchronize your email, email verification status, displayname, etc with the forum, so it won't get out of date on the wiki. Game Admins now automatically get moderator permissions on the wiki, including the ability to view the list of unpatrolled edits, and to mark edits as patrolled. This enables game admins to keep an eye on the wiki. Players can no longer send each other email via the wiki. This had the potential to be annoying.

Updates made today to our Patreon integration: Fixed a bug that was causing people with expired pledges to still get Patreon perks as if they were current patrons. Patron status now synchs from your forum account to your Discord account, the same way that other roles do. This eliminates the need for Patrons to separately connect their Discord account directly with Patreon. It also prevents situations where the forum thinks someone is a patron, but the Discord doesn't, or vice versa. It also ensures that ex-patrons have their patron tag in Discord removed. Patrons of the $1-4 tier are no longer counted as patrons anywhere. They don't get the Patreon Supporters group on the forums, the role/tag in Discord, or any ingame perks. This is a strictly token tier which does not grant anything, per the tier description. To make sure your patron status is correctly updated: If your forum account needs to be activated (you'll see big red text at the top of the page if this is the case) then activate it. Link your Patron account to your forum account here Link your forum and discord accounts here Your benefits should be synched everywhere (on forums, ingame, and on Discord) within an hour.

Today, I reworked how the forum handles member ranks and titles. Short version: The forums no longer give you extra permissions after you've posted once. Instead, they give you extra permissions after you verify your forum account ingame. Patreon supporters no longer have their names displayed in cyan, but they still have "Patreon Supporter" listed on their posts, and unlike previously their supporter status won't cause problems if they are also an admin/mentor/etc. Since this update required a LOT of work on the backend, I urge all staff/mentors/donors/etc to double-check that their forum accounts work correctly. If you notice any issues, message me.

This list is very comprehensive, but it would be even better if it distinguished how important each upgrade was. The most important upgrades are: ORE machine (matter bin multiplies ALL minerals you get) Robotics fabs (manipulator reduces mineral consumption of the #1 most mineral-consuming machines) R&D Machines (same reason as 2, plus enables you to print more upgrade parts if you upgrade protolathe first) Medical Cloner (clones faster, phasic scanner enables autoprocess, may even let you scan people not previously scannable. Overall, huge boost to medical's ability to keep crew alive, and enables easy cloning of people whose bodies are not recoverable, e.g: gateway explorers) When doing science upgrades, you need to do those first. After those the next most useful set is: Robotics Cyborg Rechargers (faster recharging, self-repair, makes cyborgs more useful) Medical sleepers Kitchen appliances Xenobio machines All autolathes (both cargo and science lathes) Teleporter (to stop people spacing themselves)

Certain in-game roles (Captain, NT Rep, IAA, Magistrate, etc) are expected to be played with some level of seriousness. When playing one of these roles, if you photograph your ass and fax it to CC, you're probably not playing the role with the appropriate level of seriousness. It is appropriate for the Clown, or a random Civilian, to try pranking CC in this manner. It isn't appropriate for the IAA, Captain, or other crew trusted with fax access, to be doing it. Previously, we've handled this via strictly IC means, like demotions, or BSAs. Now, I'm going to start considering butt-faxes like this as Captain/NTR/Magistrate/IAA as a sign you're not taking the role with the required degree of seriousness. This means that if I see an IAA butt-fax CC for no reason within a couple minutes of shift start (as I saw yesterday), henceforth I'm going to consider that a good reason to job ban the player from the role, until they start treating the role with the higher level of seriousness it requires. Roles like Captain, IAA, NTR, Magistrate, etc are intended to be taken somewhat seriously. While we understand and expect some antics, treating them completely non-seriously will get you job banned.

https://nanotrasen.se/wiki/index.php/Internal_Affairs The IAA's job includes: Conduct investigations and write reports Ensure SOP is followed Ensure Space Law is upheld This means: For them to be able to conduct an investigation, either they have to witness a problem, or someone has to come to them with a complaint For them to ensure SOP is followed, they have to work with the department heads, who in practice have more authority and knowledge than they do, which makes them largely redundant For them to ensure Space Law is upheld, they need to work with Security. Problems: Few people bring complaints to the IAA, for various reasons. The IAA rarely work with the heads of department. If there's a problem and the head is willing/able to fix it, no reason for the IAA to be involved. If they're willing but not able, IAA involvement is pointless. If they're able but not willing, that's when the NT Rep gets involved. The IAA usually don't work with Security effectively. For example, they usually don't check on processing enough to notice when someone is in there longer than they should be. The IAA is generally considered a joke role. I've lost count of the number of butt faxes I've got from IAAs who don't take their role with even an ounce of seriousness. Solutions: IAAs need to take the job more seriously. This really is the fundamental requirement. If they won't take the job seriously, nobody else will take them seriously either. This means I shouldn't be seeing cases of IAAs buttfaxing centcom as much as I do. Every time you buttfax CentCom as the IAA, you make even admins less willing to take IAAs seriously. IAAs need to remind heads that they exist, and are available to help with investigations. For example, they could adopt a policy of faxing a short note to every head, or sending them it via PDA, at the start of each shift. Simply to remind the heads that they exist, and they're here to serve, by assisting the heads with investigating potential violations of SOP and/or Space Law. For example, the head can contact them to ask about the status of members of their department who have been convicted of crimes. The head can contact them to ask for help in investigating members of their department for doing stupid things. Etc. IAAs need to actively put in the time to monitor Security. This means paying special attention to them in the hallways and reminding them not to run around with tasers out. This means paying attention to brig timer notices and double-checking that the time given matches space law. This means checking on processing often and making sure nobody sits there forever. And so forth. Above all else, IAAs need to ensure they aren't sending pointless faxes to CentCom. CentCom doesn't give a flying hoot if a single officer hits a prisoner with a baton once. That is NOT CentCom worthy. That's the sort of thing the HoS is expected to sort out themselves, assuming it wasn't an accidental misclick. Just about the only time the IAA should be sending faxes to CentCom is if there's a serious problem with the Captain, Magistrate, Blueshield, HoS, or similar high-ranked position. If we want to actually change the game to make the IAA's job easier: Add a timer in processing which generates an alert over sec radio when someone is held in there with no charges for more than 10 minutes. Improve the documentation available to IAAs, to make writing GOOD faxes easier, and to discourage bad faxes. Make it easier for heads to work with IAAs. For example, create a 'private radio kit' which has 5 radio keys all set to the same, random frequency. Have the IAAs start with this kit. The IAAs could then hand out these keys to heads or other informants who want to work with them, giving the IAA eyes and ears throughout the station and a much better chance of detecting problems they can then investigate. Another example would be making it easier for IAAs to be granted access to departments. Usually when I see IAAs in a department now, its because the Captain or HoP gave them the access without even asking the head... which tends to annoy the head and make their co-operation much less likely. Heck, just move their office right next to prisoner processing (separated by shutters) so they can always see who is being processed. Make their boss the NT Rep, rather than the magistrate. The NT Rep can manage them and advocate for them better than the Magistrate can, anyway. Create a new crime "obstructing an investigation", which can be applied to people who completely ignore the IAA while they're trying to ask them about the subject of an investigation. Allow IAAs access to records that allow them to check that SOP is being upheld. E.g. HoP's records of job transfers, Coroners records of who is in morgue trays, Science's records of R&D levels, Cargo's records of what is being ordered, etc. Basically make them record central - bring the information to them.

Updates: The prompt to link your forum/ingame accounts is now easier to read. A new prompt has been added to link your forum/discord accounts, for people who haven't yet. This prompt can be dismissed. It is never shown to people who are banned ingame.