Sikroth

I made a dumb mockup for what I'd change. Basically moving the brightness close to old tiles (or at least neutral 50% grey), and changing the texture a bit. I know that doing this for each tile would be quite time consuming, but just as a proof of concept Left's classic, middle is current, right is what I did. Edit: and a zoomed in tile cause i realize it's hard to see much there, lol:

Vocing my opinion from the PR here too. I really like the textures but I would prefer if the brightness was brought closer to our old floors. The dots personally don't bother me but if there's enough voting against them I wouldn't mind seeing a dotless version perhaps (or maybe just an outer line of dots, or corner dots, or some other variations, who knows). Also very much in favor of making the side colored tiles be 2x2 quadrants instead of triplets.

I am paraphrasing as my memory is crap, but during that round one of the active admins said something along the lines of "if you're transformed into a slime you should be feeding on everyone, not just targeting the wizard". Which would Imply that all transformations turn into non-crew, not just xenos/terrors, and also that you're not meant to work with the crew to valid the wizard, and instead sort of "wreck the place" (obviously at a smaller scale but still). This is not to say that your interpretation, or the admins at the time's, are right or wrong, just that there is no universal "this is how it should be", and so I think it'd be beneficial to have one.

I had a little talk with an admin during a Wiz with polymorph round, about the behaviour you should follow after being polymorphed by a wizard, and what effect should that have on your actions. They suggested that the more neutral approach is to act like your previous life is forgotten and go on from there (so a slime might choose to act docile or feed on people, xenos will likely be hostiles, etc). There's a couple of potential issues with this approach, in my opinion. For starters, depending on what the polymorph rolls, it can turn the round from Wizard (which alone is a station-wide threat) to wizard + like 20 antag-like hostile creatures in a minute. I think that is arguably also a balance concern, as that'd make it heaps better than a wand of death, which only reduces the number of alive crew members, while Polymorph would permanently remove the crew member while actively creating a lot more threats on top. Additionally, the polymorph itself is entirely unclear about what you're meant to do, anyway. All you get is a small message that reads, "Your form morphs into that of a Ash Walker/Xeno/Slime/etc.". At face value this sort of implies you're changing in shape, not mind. If the intent (or what the staff thinks is the best approach) is that polymorphed creatures act like such creatures, and not "who they previously were but in a new body", I think that needs to be clarified. And if the text is vague on purpose, so people can choose to rp either or, I still think the transformation text, or maybe somewhere in the rules, could benefit from being expanded upon to mention that. So people are more clear about what they should, can, shouldn't and can't do without accidentally breaking some rule on murdering/validhunting/etc. Just my two cents on this topic, maybe it's not a big deal for anyone else but I found it a little unclear and prone to missinterpretation.

Well people can use the kiss-hand in melee range to "physical kiss" though I don't think the chat says anything of the like. Realistically I don't think unwanted kissing should be battery, but I am definitely in the "this feature is annoying and is being spammed too much" boat, so I wouldn't be against some form of IC (or OOC) deterrent. I'd argue having some sort of law against harassment (which could include threats of violence as well as unwanted affection) could be a good idea.

Just to clarify, again, what I said was my personal subjective perception of things. That is distinctly not an accusation. I chose my wording specifically with that intention, although clearly that is not how it came across. I apologize for the missunderstanding. I should have added the explanation as to why I said that in my first post (that is, all the bits about transparency and communication from my 2nd post). Nothing else to add in regards to the topic at hand that hasn't been discussed already, unfortunately. Just wanted to clear the missunderstanding. Apologies for the derail as well.

I am not really accussing staff of anything. I just said it felt that way since the ruling kind of came out of nowhere (for us non-admin plebs who can't see internal discussion, anyway) with the only previous situation regarding it being the aforementioned admin complaint. I understand if said admin complaint prompted an internal discussion and that's what got the ruling in place and not just a "lets bend the rules to our admins actions", obviously. But there was a lack of transparency on where the rule came from, what the reasoning was or why it was changed. Plus I still think it'd be simple and fairer to keep it out.

Going to post just to say I fully agree with Rurik here. I honestly felt like this rule edit was added just to retroactively justify an action carried by an admin that resulted in some salt a while back. I think localized pipenet griefing is still griefing and falls under the being a dick rule. Everyone knows how hard it can even be to notice an unwrenched pipe, if the pipenet even updates to begin with. In my eyes there really is no "strategy" here, it's just a dickish abuse of bad game mechanics. Plus it's just simpler rules wise. Don't fuck with the pipes. If you add exceptions you just add ways for people to argue and bs their way out of trouble with excuses.

A concept for a potential rework of the Tesla engine, aimed to increase its danger levels while still keeping the "setup and forget" aspect. No code done yet because I'm lazy not an experienced coder. Here is the idea: The Tesla will generate a tremendous amount of energy. This is something it currently already does but for the purpose of this rework I think the power generated should scale exponentially. The charge level of the Tesla should also quickly go down though, to make the engine dangerous but still manageable. This power can be generally controlled by setting the PA to a lower level, much like a singularity. I don't think we want to completely remove safe engine setups. However the power generated in this state should be considerably lower than before (maybe not even enough to power the station? TBH the station should use more power, or there should be a point to generating more power (techwebs cough cough), but that's beside the point). The Tesla creates lightning arcs every time it jumps. These arcs should be entirely based off the Tesla's current charge level. Why? I want excessively charged Teslas to generate a true web of highly dangerous electricity. The specific implementation should be carefully considered, but I imagine an uncontrolled Tesla could cause arcs to sometimes travel and split a considerable way into the station. To keep the Tesla from always frying everything and everyone, the engine is equipped with Tesla coils and Grounding rods. Tesla Coils always absorb the arcs first, taking as much energy from the arc as they can (parts upgradable?). Coils are generally prepared to relay excess charge to other coils/rods, and will therefore never explode. Then there's the Grounding Rods. They're designed to attract and trap loose arcs the Coils didn't absorb. Lightning arcs that go past the Coils should be absorbed evenly by all the nearby Grounding rods, distributing the load. However, unlike the coils, a Grounding Rod will take damage when absorbing too much power. This should be a considerably high amount, but a number that a level 2PA can surpass. (maybe 1 too barely?). (Maybe) Damaged rods could notify the engineering radio, alerting the engineers to immediately lower the PA settings and/or set up additional Grounding Rods to offset the load. (maybe) they could also be monitored from an engineering console/computer so a savvy engineer can detect overloads before they become an issue. In the worst case scenario, a grounding rod will eventually explode. This is obviously bad, as it can damage containment and it also means other rods are more likely to explode soon, finally causing the tesla lightning arcs to freely travel through the entire hull of the station, heavily damaging machinery and people. Considerations: 1. Making a huge ass lightning every time the tesla tick could be awful for performance. This is my main concern, as the other points of the proposal, while they'd take developement time, I think should be relatively feasible. 2. I am unsure if this rework would be a priority or even necessary when/if the SM engine update gets finally added. The tesla would likely be an alternative and not the main engine. (Edit: this was supposed to go in the Suggestions Forum but I am apparently too dumb to do that sorry)

Slight bump. Used wrong it ruins people's rounds, as already stated. Used "well" it can literally regrow limbs and organs and basically "reset" your body, while also allowing to basically make vox clones and other shenanigans. I personally think it has too much grief potential and is also too strong when used for good. You could remove the ORs with a few bottles of this. I wouldn't be sad to see it gone.

Why is it a problem if a player has access to positive notes, or to notes about things that aren't outright an issue but could evolve into one? Surely, some people will complain about their notes. I can see the concern over "more bureaucracy" having some merit, at least. But what Solessa said stands, even more so now. Knowing *what* wrong you've done, or even *if* you're doing something wrong, could be useful to adjust your playstyle or behaviour. Not everyone who breaks a rule is a shitter who wants to make things awful for everyone. I also don't understand at all the point behind banning discussion on past, expired bans. I really would like to see some sort of reasoning for it. What is the thought process behind this? Why is it an issue to discuss what actions can result in a ban? I understand not discussing current bans, if only because it can lead to pointless arguments, salt and other nasty stuff, but as long as it's in a civilized manner I fail to see an issue with discussing past bans.

So, here's an idea: mobs that are able to vent-crawl should also be able to access the pipes through open/unconnected/"broken" pipes, not just through vents/scrubbers. Additionally, when a mob that's ventcrawling runs into a broken section and leaves the pipes, it also removes the tile on top of that broken section of pipe, if any. Why? It makes sense that a mob that can fit inside the pipes can also enter through an open pipe. It nerfs the "strategy" (which I personally think is borderline metagame) of unwrenching pipes all around the station to fuck with xenos/terrors/swarmers/etc. It will be still annoying for them if they randomly walk into a broken pipe and pop out, especially in populated areas, but now they can climb back into the pipes instead of being basically fucked/stuck in some cases, especially considering vents are welded 90% of the shifts anyway. The tile on top of a pipe with an open end should pop off whenever a mob crawls out of it, to allow the mob to see and access the pipe it walked out of. Might give that unused pipe cap noone ever bothers with *some* usage. Unlikely but hey.

I think virology could use a full rework of some sort. The healing it can provide is stupid high, while also requiring a lot of dumb RNG work to get there, and the use of literal powergamey, no-rp symptoms no normal person would want to suffer. It's in a very awkward spot, to be honest. /tg/'s implementation has some good ideas (conditional healing, neutering symptoms) that I particularly enjoy. They also don't use a triple virus system, instead having only one virus effect you and higher resistance viruses overriding lower ones, which would solve these scenarios as well. That said, that's kinda out of the scope of this post I guess. I believe having the symptoms not stack would be a good idea. It reduces some of the variance from a regular virus to a perfectly crafted minmax triple virus, and gets rid of the OP healing you describe. If you just lower the numbers altogether you'll make non minmaxed viruses suck hard. Just my opinion though.

Thanks for the greetings! And @PhantasmicDream I can't say I've read all 91 pages of your art thread, but it certainly is one of the reasons I want to make my own little art corner too! Seeing the talented artists here in the forums drawing characters that I can meet and interact with ingame has some special charm :)

Welp, hi! I've been playing SS13 and Paradise for half a year now, if memory serves (which more ofthen than not, doesn't). And I've been wanting to make an introductory thread here for a while now, too. I'm just too good at procrastinating, it seems. But I figured today's as good a time as any, so yeah. Here I am. So for a bit of an actual introduction... My nickname is Sikroth pretty much everywhere on the internet, so if you wanna stalk me you know how to find me now! I'm spanish, so I'm going to apologize in advance if I ever need to google up some obscure word and make you wait for a reply at some point ingame :P. I play SS13 a lot, and I've most definitely played it an unhealthy amount of time in these last 6 months. Oops. I've tried other servers for a bit, but most of my time has been playing in Paradise. Other hobbies... I like drawing! Although my procrastinating skills shine here too, so I tend to not do it for long periods of time or leave a lot of artworks unfinished. RIP. Also I might or might not make an art thread sometime in the near future cause most of my latest drawings are SS13-related. I also play other games (when I'm not too addicted to SS13). Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, Terraria, idk. Stuff. Aaand that's pretty much it. I'm also a... knowledge nerd. My friends often say I'm like a wiki for most of the games I play, so there's that. For those who may want to know if they know me ingame, my most played characters as of recent are Fydia (slime girl, usually virologist) and Evein Summers (a loong-haired blonde botanist that speaks a bit weird). Other characters I've played (although not too much lately) are Jasmyne Dorin, Fergus McSquish or B.L.I.P. 1, among a few others. So that's it for today. Hoping to have more fun times with y'all!