Jazzenstein

I don't think those two exceptions should completely invalidate everything else I said. That they can die on the shuttle from vigilantes (which are themselves a big part of the problem) should be a sufficient reason not to pursue syndicate objectives.

From an in character point of view, I absolutely agree with the suggested rule change. If the shuttle takes off and an antagonist has not completed his objectives, he has lost regardless of what the rules or the game say. Why? The shuttle is on its way to Central Command. Suppose that traitor somehow manages to kill his target in transit. He's got a shuttle full of witnesses, and if he somehow manages to escape the shuttle when it docks, there's a whole slew of security personnel who are going to be very interested to meet him. It's like killing someone on a bus headed for the police station. Yeah, you technically won, but you've also gotten yourself caught (99%) and your benefactor is probably not going to pay you or even acknowledge your existence.

TL;DR: Taoism intensifies. In life, everything is a choice, even if it's a choice you don't like. Taking offense is a choice. Using words to incite offense is also a choice. I've made these choices several times in my life, I'm ashamed to admit. Ultimately, though, words are imperfect things that we've created to try and place names on concepts that don't have names. To create distinctions. They can't be named, in truth, because everything is the same. Words are like a hammer. To the universe at large, it's just minerals and materials given a certain shape. Words, respectively, are just letters combined to make a sound. You can use a hammer to drive a nail or to pry it out. You can also use a hammer to break your own fingers, or to break your neighbor's fingers. When someone tries to hurt another with words, it's a bad thing--not because the words have any meaning, but because the aggressor knows his victim will take meaning from them and decides to do it anyway. It's hard not to take offense, but again, taking offense is a choice. But that's just my personal philosophy. Let me get to the crux of the matter. Punishment should be based on intent. You can't pick and choose what's offensive and what isn't. Where does it end? Really, where does it end?Someone in the very beginning of this post made a very effective satire of the OP. You can construe anything to be offensive. People have, too. When I was young, my neighbors wouldn't allow their children to watch the Pokemon cartoon, because to them, it was sacrilegious. That leaves you with two equally unsavory options: ban any word which might possibly ever in any way be considered offensive, or allow every word. The first of those creates a stilted environment in which people are so worried about what might possibly offend someone that it takes them two or three times as long to communicate. If you want to create a comfortable environment, that's not the way to do it, because it's only a matter of time before one of the people you're trying to protect misspeaks and offends another group you're trying to offend. And that doesn't even begin to speak of what it would do for people who thrive on crucifying others for verbal blunders. The second option opens the flood gates to all manner of people who act and speak without thinking. As a man who prefers the company of other men, I choose not to be offended by people who use the word 'faggot' for anything that's unsavory to them. I also know that people who do so in my presence tend to be the same sort of people who get caught as an Assistant breaking into EVA; people who don't think before they do something. In short, the second option would turn this place into /tg/station. The only reasonable option is to consider intent. A hammer is not a weapon unless you make it into one.

What if they could get illnesses from ion storms? Illnesses which would require roboticists to cue, and which could spread to other machine people? Or suppose they run on biofuel and have to eat more often because the conversion rate from organic food to biofuel isn't that great?

So, I've noticed the server tends to lag with more objects in play. Cargo has a disposal chute, but all that does is just move the objects out of sight. Instead of looking for some way to resolve that OoC, why not add a Waste Management Technician job? Basically, the disposal chute leads to an indoor trash heap. The WMT is tasked with analyzing all the trash that comes to him. Non renewable items get placed in the incinerator, while renewable items get converted into Waste Credits, which can be sent back to Cargo, who then ships them off to CentComm (where they are despawned) in return for more supply points. Alternatively, they can be spent at a special vending machine which provides various supplies aimed towards making life for the WMT easier, such as a skewer which transfers items directly to the backpack. The WMT must interact regularly with Cargo, and, in the event of the inevitable Incinerator malfunction, Engineering. The Incinerator can be illegally modified to process more waste, or even human bodies, for the enterprising traitor who can sneak them past Cargo.

Hey! You showed me the ropes a few rounds ago. Thanks!

I play IA almost exclusively because I find the concept fascinating. Some of you have already run afoul of me and my bureaucratic tendencies. For those that haven't, it's a pleasure to meet you!