Combine

If you don't mind, I use this thread instead of making a new one, as it's related. I have a specific suggestion for xenobiology. You may have heard - and maybe rejected - it before, but I'd still like to bring this in and elaborate: What? Adding one or two xenomorph(s?) to xenobiology - slightly expand the section at best or use existing cells for this. Now hold on! Let me elaborate, put your torches and pitchforks away for now! Elaboration, Details This idea came to me in a wizard round. I was the ERT leader hunting the wizard, it was a prolonged cat and mouse game. Then, we fought him with two people near science. A mech and me. That is when he shot me. For a second, there was a "mindfuck". For the blue suited ERT commander turned into a purple creature on the spit. From space marine to space alien, kinda. But there was a difference. The thought pattern and memories remained, and so did the ability to communicate with other crew in a normal way. Only the body changed, not the mind. The idea here is that xenobio might incorporate one or two aliens (max) into xenobio that were turned this way. Thus, they are friendly or neutral - no griefing sprees or red alerts because of xenos that break out every time. In addition, there could be reminders just like starting messages for head jobs or specific jobs that remind people of their roles, like "You are a friendly / transformed alien, thus, not hostile by instinct. You are here for research and... (and so on)" Result, options? "Okay, man, you got 1-2 "friendly aliens" that were former crew or humanoid. And then what?" Research! You can tie this in perfectly with the station's theme. Even if we switched to a more multi-purpose station (away from the science focus), you have these weeds that are related to plasma, which you in turn could process into some resources or products via the station's departments and so on. It would expand xenobiology and make it more useful if you could tie this in somehow. If need be, you could set a certain karma limit to these 1-2 roles, maybe 15 points or so? Given how limited the roles may be per round. In short: Add 1-2 playable docile / friendly aliens (former crew that can speak normally or specifically trained / raised / docile aliens) to xenobio. Can be lore friendly if wizard spell was used or if captured elsewhere. Can be useful if plasma and weed research can be combined and if you can get resources out of this. Vital: This does not have to include drones / queens! It can / should include sentinels or hunters, so you don't get an alien armageddon (via eggs / npcs) every round! I understand there could still be some conflicts with other scenarios or gamemodes (such as normal xenos? Or maybe not?), but I'd like to hear more input on this in general. Good or bad? Thanks.

I like the idea. Given that it is random and somewhat balanced, with any possible scenario, then it could be fun! There's also enough docking areas left to use for that, I think.

I don't think we need any special "groups" or "factions" for this mode; we have ERT / DS as major factors if need be, or even some sort of Admin / player gimmick. Creative ways as alternative I mean. Like a heavily armed agent sent by CC or a crew militia. "But ERT is usually just few and they could drop like flys" - Keep in mind that in theory, you can spam the station with ERT. Your only limit would be players and gear on centcomm (ERT area). While ERT "callout" has a delay and ultimately ends, I've seen a round where ERT was called in twice. In short: Call another ERT if you need it.

Hm. I think the responsibility lies with those who go afk or leave, primarily. If you leave for good go to cryo if you are perfectly fine (not dying / disabled somewhere in a dark corner without the ability to call for help). BUT (!) PUT YOUR GEAR BACK BEFORE DOING THAT. It's fairly useless to free up spots only to have the new people arrive in front of empty lockers or storage rooms. For temporary breaks (naps, etc) you should use your department or, if there's no alternative, one of the small dorm rooms. If you want to be safe, put an additional note down saying you will be back soon, edit your flavor text or just lie down but stay in the game (Alt-Tab to do other stuff). That way it does not show you as SSD, or disconnected. If others find someone who apparently SSD'd / left in the middle of a corridor, bar or etc then they should be brought to cryo, considering the role. As for the others: Keep in mind that people taking stuff from people at cryo do not always have to steal it. It might be someone who's retrieving any excess gear, too. Try to keep it in mind before yelling "THEFT!" or "BAN!". I also saw a "retrieve gear" command at the sleeper console but I don't know how long that works. So, to summarize: Manage your characters, bring others who apparently did not to cryo if you suspect them to be gone forever and if their roles need to free up. Put any gear back before going to cry, retrieve any from anyone you put in there. I also suggest slightly lowering the removal time of characters. It should be high enough to allow random DCs to be overcome w/o problems, but not too long to take forever. With only 3 pods. I do not know the exact timer, but I suspect it is something around 5 minutes or way past it. I suggest 2-4 minutes as removal time. Or 5 if it's way past 5 minutes by now.

Expanding on cryo (storage / sleepers) actually sounds like a good idea. I suggest replacing the beds in the upper bedroom ("Dorms 2" ?) with cryo pods, too. The rest could stay as it is. And perhaps shorten the time just slightly.

Hello. I took part in the discussion and agree that modifications are always good for that. I remember that Wisewill even said that they (admin team / devs) are already working on it. As for your suggestions, my opinion: 1: Have two customs officers. This sounds like a good thing at times. I also like to treat customs officers as arrival sec guards that can go as far as pods, lower airlocks, disposals and cargo maint, maint near the solars and the main corridor that goes to the central part, where it meets EVA. They can free up resources for normal sec that way instead of sitting around all day. Having two officers would require two lockers though. Also good: If you don't have two, sec could have another locker in emergencies, if unused. 2: Add a disposals chute that leads to the line. Dunno. 3: Modify the detainment cells so that prisoners can be ejected back on the outside of customs when their time is up. Yes, however I'd like a split design. Have one cell for longer detention like a permabrig, and another for just unruly folks that you can throw back into arrivals automatically after their time (the cell has a timer) is up. I don't advise doors that lead back to arrivals corridor. I advise a system I once saw on goon or older TG layouts where cells had "chutes" that lead back. These would be "open" once the timer is up, locked if it's running. A good solid one-way thing back to arrivals so people can try again or stay there. Apart from that: It really depends on how people run the checkpoint. It's usually NOT fun for all if it just takes too long and if more people appear on one side. I personally think having all fill out lenghty forms is ineffective in some or many situations. You can just use 30 copies anyway until you run out. I prefer a faster way and only use forms or checks when needed. It's fast, still fluffy and good mostly. I think with some more tweaks and additions customs can be a really nice addition and fun for many. With gameplay relevance. PS: Consider that (unique) bomb suit as standard gear in a locker!

Change suggestion: "Brigbay" could use some tweaks. I like the new addition, but it seems to be somewhat "impractical" on average. You basically need a dedicated medic, break / hack your way in or tell the AI to just bolt the doors open so that the department can benefit. This may be intentional, but considering how it usually goes I advise the following: Turn the medical door into a security door or add sec access to the existing door Move the gloves / sterile masks (boxes) on the corner table up - The way the sleeper is placed prevents you from taking any of them, or rather, anything from that spot EDIT Ignore one, recent changes made it possible to use brigbay as sec. However, the table thing is still a bit borky.

G'day!

I gotta agree with mkenner here. At least if I compare that with my own experience on most known or running servers with this gamemode or variant of the game, but to be more specific also my time here on Paradise / Cyberiad. While some assistants (or at least certain characters in that role) tend to be more troublemakers, it's still within reason mostly (no "self-antag stuff"). Because I don't see "grey tide" as significant problem (apart from them piling up at customs for some time with no progress) I only see some advantages. Because any assistant that joins can fill any missing and / or vital positions. Or be actually worthy of the job name and assist people if departments are already full. Even if most assistants don't acknowledge or do this, they can be vital in some departments. Heck, if you want to go wild you could put an assistant into sec with a red jumpsuit but no weapons or only a flash, assigned to handle paperwork or so. Or as a trainee. In short: I don't see a real problem here and only advantages at best.

Imo, security is hard in general, the Detective probably being the easiest role of all on average. At least regarding direct conflict or stress potential. Sometimes it's better to try a non-violent solution to deescalate effectively. Sometimes it's "better safe than sorry", and sometimes, it's "shoot at once". It really depends on the circumstances, but in general I advise NOT to go apeshit or very violent for minor crimes. People might still be dicks to you, especially captured or compromised antags. In that case I like to hold a mirror in front of their faces. I tend to give verbal warnings, and if they don't comply it's THEIR decision with all consequences. Or in short: You tried. But I also think always using the softest method and working your way up as needed is a rather stress-free way of handling minor things. A very offensive and direct, violent, confrontation for minor stuff just pisses people off and might result in more work that could've been avoided in the first place. On that note, I also suggest to not dress up people in prisoner clothing if they're just there for some minutes. In general I only advise that for permanent detention or anything way longer than just a few minutes. Save yourself the effort and time of messing around with them once or twice. Also, keeping records up to date and managing them on the fly via sec HUD is also strongly advisable. In short: Anything that either makes your life easier or prevents it from getting more chaotic should be done. Even if you do, Sec remains a rather hard and ungrateful (but vital) job and you can still end up dead quickly or eventually. But it lowers the risk greatly and might annoy less people.

I wouldn't mind if some time and resources would eventually go into customs. To make it a bit more interactive for both sides, without making it too complicated and time consuming. A good compromise. It really shouldn't be overkill though. So far I only was on the "other side", being security watching over it. But I can tell just as easily that after a while (waiting too long) it's not fun for most players. Also explains some riots we were having over there. Nasty.