Anuntakenusername

Thank you for the response! <3 I actually don't mind the folding thing too much, but maybe others not being able to bop you once to do it would be nice. So your master still could, but other people would have to hit you twice or something. The only reason it bothers me is just getting snatched randomly or deleted for no reason (Happened to me once) is kind of silly.

But why? There's no other RP role that has so little to do or so few ways to affect the round. I think allowing them to use computers just furthers their ability to act as an assistant without messing with the physical world, which I understand wanting to limit that. I think that suggestion and the spawning changes (More or randomized pAI's in other departments for variety for the person playing one) are good changes that don't make them some kind of crazy force. I also just made this list as a sort of collection of all my ideas, and I'm not necessarily suggesting that ALL OF THEM are added all at once, or even ever if that's the problem you're having. If every one of them is popped in at once pAI's would become a little ridiculous and much less reliant on RP, certainly.

That's fine. I just wanted to include all my ideas, from what I thought was likely to get approval to the more outrageous stuff. You never know! And in this case a pAI would only have access to the computers that their master does if some sort of permission like that (An ID card swipe on the pAI) was possible, so. It shouldn't matter.

Just wanted to add on my second point about interfacing.. I learned after posting this that borgs and drones can interface with computers! So for that specific point, I think just adding this functionality to pAI's is the simplest and most concise improvement. I've heard there's some permission limitations though for borgs and drones, so if possible I'd suggest that something like an ID swipe I mentioned above would give the pAI access to the same consoles it's master has.

So I've only been playing Space Station 13 for two months or so, and the majority of that time has been spent on Paradise. So far I love the game and the server, but I had a few suggestions to make pAI's (A role I've been playing a lot lately) more interesting! I understand the thought process behind keeping them from having a massive effect on the world, but I don't think most of my suggestions would change things too drastically. This post is LONG by the way, but most of my individual suggestions aren't massive and wide ranging I hope. I just like to be detailed and to include my reasons for my suggestions. One last note before I get properly started.. Please, PLEASE consider adding more pAI's and/or randomizing their spawns. More upgrades to the role will lead to more people wanting to play it of course, but the main reason I suggest this? You almost always end up working for a civilian or the RD because of where the pre-placed pAI's are unless you wait for new pAI's to be built and basically sit out a large part of the round. If one was always in sec or in the bridge, that'd add some real variety to people like myself who love this role for some reason. The lighter, easier suggestions: 1st - Upgraded host bioscan. Out of all of my suggestions, I think this is the one that should be added as soon as possible. Even if staff thought that the scan should be upped in cost from five to ten or something, it currently serves almost no purpose. It tells you damage numbers, but you can see health bars with the medical hud and examine people to see what type of damage they've taken. So what should it do? I think it should do just about everything! I believe the scan should act as a health analyzer and perhaps even a body scanner all in one. I understand that's a massive change from what it currently does, but it currently does almost nothing. This would immediately make pAI's more useful in so many situations, and give the person playing them more to do. From doing scans in medbay when there's multiple injured (Please let them print the report for people too, just like a body scanner!), to working in the brig medbay for the brig physician that doesn't start with a scanner of their own. You could even print a report for your injured master while they're running to medbay or being taken to medbay for treatment and save precious time, allowing them to go straight into surgery since you already scanned them! I understand that again, this suggestion is pretty big. A health analyzer AND a body scanner? That almost sounds ludicrous! The pAI still has to climb onto the person to scan them though, and this is a player who can't interact in the vast majority of ways with the world that others can. It also follows the trend of giving the pAI options that aren't directly physical and are wholly unique to them. 2nd - Interfacing! I think this is another thing that should be added as soon as possible and uses elements already available in the game. pAI's should be able to interface with every computer (Or the ones they have access to, given to them by a swipe of their master's ID) by using the same cable that's used in door jack. By default, they'd be able to hit a button and drop the cable, with another person plugging it in.This would allow them to further assist their master in multiple ways, such as.. Record keeping! This is exactly what a personal assistant should be doing. From updating medical and security records to monitoring cameras as a security pAI, this gives them a lot to do and still follows the rule of requiring someone else to help them interface by plugging their cable in. I don't think it'd particularly break anything if they could interface with computers without another person helping them plug in, though. I've heard that on other servers the pAI can be swiped on a computer, and after that it can interface with it from anywhere remotely. I understand that may be difficult to do, so maybe after it's plugged in to a computer once the pAI can activate it without assistance from then on. It would be cool to remote to computers you've been swiped on, though! To be clear, door jack would remain a separate upgrade but I believe this computer function should also be a base one considering how many assistant elements it adds without affecting the physical world too much. (Connecting to previous computers remotely would be an upgrade, though.) Door jack could use speeding up though. Maybe thirty seconds instead of a minute considering it's already limited use. 3rd - Let them write! This is another thing that would allow the pAI to participate in the game without killing people or massively affecting events. I would suggest that pAI's have a pen and a pack of paper, (Say they start with an infinite stack, and they can't replace it with anything else or drop it.) and they are able to write. Why? It allows them to do paperwork for their roles and act like a true assistant. End up as the pAI for the HoP? You can help them with their paperwork, and the same for IAA or the NT rep. If there's any worries about the feasibility of it in character, just say that chassis' like the fox or cat write with the pen in their mouth. They ARE an artificial intelligence after all, a machine. Not an actual animal! I think this should also be default by the way, given that it's such a basic function. 4th - Allow them to speak on other frequencies. Unless I'm mistaken, pAI's can currently only speak on common. If their master was in some way able to have their pAI interface with their headset to give them access to their radio stations, I believe that would be a big improvement. Currently if you're riding around with your owner you can hear their channels but you can't respond on them, and if you hop off them you can't hear anymore either. Even if this was a five point upgrade, I think this is another low effort thing that should be added. Being able to interact and act as an assistant for your master would be much more interesting if you could talk for them to their peers, or call for help on their specific channel if something goes wrong. And now.. The slightly more extreme suggestions. 1st - Opening doors. I understand why this one wasn't added up until this point, but I also don't agree with it. I don't believe pAI's should ever be the sort of physical force that other entities are, but this limitation can really hamper things. Say for example your master is killed or attacked and you're stuck in a room? There's not much you can do besides yell on the radio, you can't run out of the room and try to get help. You can't even take small walks through the same department to talk to their co-workers because all the doors need to be opened for you. Similarly to the radio suggestion, I think owners should be able to use their ID on their pAI and give them the same access their master has. Apparently this is already a thing on another server, but I've never seen it myself. If people still have a problem with this, I'd be fine with opening doors being an upgrade or there being a delay of say, five or ten seconds where a pAI has to stand at a door before it opens. Anything is better than nothing. 2nd - Dragging things. I again get why this isn't already implemented, but I believe allowing a pAI to drag things around without putting them into an inventory wouldn't break the game, it'd just allow them to do more as assistants, especially if it was done in conjunction with letting them go through doors. Not much more to add to this idea, it sort of speaks for itself. I believe this should be a default ability and not an upgrade, just because it allows more basic elements for the role so there's more to do. 3rd - A single defensive option in the form of a shock. Now I know what you're thinking, that's too far! But hear me out. This one would almost certainly need to be an upgrade, and it would likely work the same way as a taser. It would have significant limitations though. In addition to being an upgrade that costs memory, it would only be a single shot, have a lengthy (Maybe five minutes, maybe longer even?) cooldown, and it would do no damage. This is purely meant to be a last resort defensive option for you to assist your master if they're in danger, since you have zero ways to help them otherwise. I would be fine with some sort of short range shock around the person carrying you too, but I understand that's probably harder to develop. I'd leave it up to the coders to figure out how this works, from something like a wizard spell to a "weapon" you can equip with the mentioned limitations mentioned above. I want to be clear though that I've got absolutely no desire to see pAI's become murder machines, but a single and heavily limited defensive option just allows them to have more utility. It gives them a SINGLE chance to help their master, and not even themselves since it can't be used while walking around. Now.. I understand this post is SUPER long so if you read this far.. Thank you! I've very much enjoyed my time playing as a pAI, and the only reason I care so much is because I want to keep playing it. I want more to do so I can keep enjoying this role! Please consider my suggestions, and thank you.