Science Job SOP --- COMPLETE!

[alexpkeaton]

 

In terms of the chain of command, as far as I am aware of (WIKI), Captain - HoP - VOTE AMONGST remaining HEADS - (Magistrate?) - NT Rep

It is just that 90% of the time, HoS gets picked and is generally the better and recommended option.

 

As SoP currently is concerned, it is Captain - HoP - HoS* (*Succeeds only in times of an active security threat to the station). Otherwise all remaining heads, including the HoS when there is no active security threat, have equal standing and should vote for the successor among them. The NT Rep only can become acting Captain in very narrow situations (so narrow that it's misleading to suggest the Rep has any command claim at all) where the heads are dead or other serious problems prevent any one of them from taking command. I wouldn't even think "remaining heads don't want the job" is a good enough reason. In such a case as Rep, I would fax CC and request guidance.

 

The magistrate has zero claim to command and doesn't even start with bridge access.

 

[Knightedskull]

I was going by memory so could not remember if they did or did not. Seemed an important enough figure head to not outright exclude but had my doubts.

[Habalabam]

 

As everybody seems to agree that no department head (including HoP) outrank any other, regardless of the order of succession as Captain, then it would be good if the SoP reflected that.

I believe it is a common misconception that the HoP by definition is second in command.

 

[TullyBBurnalot]

That'll be included in Command SOP.

[Knightedskull]

Should we start up the next department/discussion while waiting on the wiki/amendment stage?

[TullyBBurnalot]

This'll be up for about 2 weeks, at least, before we move onto the next one, there are some people I know are still looking at it.

[Keroman]

 

So far I think this is going great. I'm happy with the suggestions that have been made and how the SOP clarifies a lot of things that were lacking in guidelines before.

 

Will we be doing the Engineering SOP once Science is finalized?

 

[Knightedskull]

I personally can't wait until we discuss the medical aspects of SoP.

[Habalabam]

 

I know. This SoP project is looking promising.

 

Suddenly the head position makes sense. Suddenly the IA position makes sense. Suddenly the motivation for selecting a job is not the free reign of a goodie bag.

 

Maybe the "play your role" part of the general server rules should point out that it's unlikely that a person who does not care about SoP would be holding an SoP regulated position.

 

[TullyBBurnalot]

 

Once again, after this is done (which will still take a bit, because I know there are people who want to take a look at this), we're having another vote. I'm thinking Engineering VS Medical.

 

Job SOP, as I'm sure you've noticed, isn't really anything new. It's either stuff that people were already doing, stuff that most people wanted everyone to be doing because lol common sense, or clarifications on contentious matters. And Roboticist prohibitions, because fuck personal deathmechs.

 

Most of Job SOP will basically be this. Stuff that is already happening, but is now formalized into actual guidelines so people can crosscheck and not BS their way out of punishment.

 

Also, remember, SOP is still not meant to be a Demotion Checklist. As always, context applies. I'm seeing a lot of Sec personnel not hand out weapons before going to Blue, even with a confirmed threat. This is ridiculous.

 

The name is Standard Operating Procedure. IE, what should be happening when everything is functional and nominal. SOP is, and always should be, malleable, if the situation so calls for it. That, however, will be clarified in Command SOP.

 

[Kyet]

 

Bluespace artillery fire detected. Brace for impact.

 

The Research Director must make sure Research is being done. Research must be completed by the end of the shift

 

I would add "assuming mining delivers adequate minerals, including diamonds" to this. Otherwise, RDs will get blamed for not maxing research when their department doesn't have adequate minerals to do so. Even if it is possible to scavange parts from other machines for levels, you'd be breaking those machines, and it would still be pointless because lack of minerals would still stop you building anything with those levels.

 

The Research Director is not permitted to authorize the construction of AI Units without the Captain’s approval. Exception is made if the station was not provided with an AI Unit, or a previous AI Unit had to be destroyed;

 

Good.

 

The Research Director is not permitted to carry their Reactive Teleport Armour on their person;

 

They can carry a weapon (baton, etc), but not a defensive armor? Weird.

 

The Research Director must work with Robotics to make sure all Cyborgs remain slaved to the station’s AI Unit, except in such a situation where the AI Unit has been subverted or is malfunctioning

Another good rule, as it is annoying when people meta and make unslaved borgs just because they know ion laws / malf AIs are a thing.

The Research Director is permitted to carry a single weapon created in the Protolathe, provided they receive authorization from the Head of Security and/or Captain

This is a bad rule because it constrains the RD to one weapon, even on red alert. Competent, armed RDs never carry just one weapon on red alert. They might have a tranq RSG or stun revolver for crew-based threats, a temperature gun for dangerous slimes, an AEG/lasercannon for carp/monsters, and/or a bluespace portal gun for utility. Whatever combination the situation requires. All of these have completely different uses, and you can't replace one with another - stun weapons are useless on monsters, you don't want to use lethals on crew, and temperature guns are bad at everything except slime control. Restricting the RD to one weapon just means they're more likely to get killed (because that one was ineffective against what they faced) or, more likely, they're always going to choose the "best" weapon (AEG/lasercannon) and be more aggressive with it, because they know they have no backup.

Second, it is an unnecessary rule because the RD can't unlock weapons (except the bluespace projector). Only Cap/HoS, and maybe HoP if they elevated their access, can. Presumably if Cap/HoS unlock a lockbox for the RD, and let him keep the resulting weapon, they're giving him a weapons permit to carry it. Since the RD already has to get in-person permission to carry via lockbox opening, what's the point of having it in SOP? There's already the lockbox mechanic, which is a far stronger way of enforcing the need for Cap/Hos permission.

Third, why exactly do we have restrictive SOP on red alert? Red alert is do-or-die time in the face of a major threat. Crew understand this and often throw SOP (and anything else that gets in the way of surviving) out the window because of it. If I was playing Captain, and I saw an RD only use one gun against a blob, when more were available, because "that's all SOP lets me carry on red" I would view that as total incompetence on their part. Surviving is always priority #1, and SOP should serve that goal, not get in the way of it.

 

The Roboticist is not permitted to construct Combat Mechs without express written and stamped permission from the Captain and/or Head of Security. This refers to the Durand, Gygax and Phazon. If permitted, the Mechs is to be delivered to the Armory for storage;

[*]The Roboticist is not permitted to construct Combat Mech Equipment without express written and stamped permission from the Captain and/or Head of Security. If permitted, the Mech Equipment is to be delivered to the Armory for storage. Exception is made for Equipment made for research purposes

These rules completely gut the use of combat mechs, to the point it is no longer worth building them except to be nice to security.

Sure, some kind robos will continue to make combat mechs, despite knowing that they'll go to security and the robos themselves will never get to have any fun with them. That's the kind ones, though. The majority might not bother.

As RD, I frequently give sec whole lockers full of improved gear and watch in sadness as the warden/hos lock it up in the armory and refuse to distribute even the basic non-lethal items like stun revolvers and crew monitors to their own trusted officers! Typically, after giving HoSes science items, I get a group of sec officers at the R&D desk asking them when I am going to give them stuff - because the HoS never even told them there is equipment waiting for them. If sci gives sec mechs, they'll either rust, unused, for the rest of the round, or a nervous HoS will parade around in his own personal mech "for protection", never using it effectively and ensuring his team can't sneak up on ANYTHING.

Worse, the majority of hazards which really need a mech to help deal with them (blob, xenos, etc) are fast-growing ones. If you wait until red alert is declared to even think about starting to build one, its probably not going to be very useful by the time it is done.

The relationship between science and other departments has to be one of give-and-take. An excellent example is Cargo. Cargo supplies science with minerals. In return, science upgrades the ore machine (meaning more points for miners) and gives them upgraded gear.

Under this SOP, however, science can't do shit without permission, and even if they do get permission to build cool shit, they probably don't get to USE any of it because it gets locked up in the armory where they will never see it again. That is not a give-and-take relationship.

 

The Roboticist is not permitted to transfer personnel MMIs into Cyborgs without express written and stamped consent by the Head of Personnel, in the case of a willing Cyborgization, or verbal consent by the Captain and/or Head of Security, in the case of a Cyborgization sentence. Exception is made for Civilians, who require no stamped permission, but must still fill a consent form;

The HoP should not have any authority over people not in the civil department. Second, all he really needs is to be *informed* that someone is getting borged. Getting his permission shouldn't be required, and seems like 100% pointless paperwork.

 

The Roboticist is not permitted to construct AI Units without express consent from the Research Director and/or Captain;

This directly conflicts with the earlier rule in the RD section which states that ONLY the cap can authorize new AI units.

 

Scientists are not permitted to construct weapons (IE, anything that comes in a lockbox, such as firearms and laser weaponry, in addition to the Portal Gun) in the Protolathe without express permission from the Head of Security and/or Captain. Exception is made for the Plasma Pistol, as it useful for completing Research;

Does this include temperature guns? Those are very helpful for xenobio. What about if a sec officer asks for something? What about if the BS asks for something? What if the HoS asks for something? Can you turn down the HoS' request for ammo because you can't reach the captain and you're interpreting it as "and"?

 

Scientists are not permitted to create AI Boards without express permission from the Captain and/or Research Director

Not even for R&D purposes?

 

Scientists are permitted to construct weapons in the Protolathe at their discretion, but these must be delivered to the Armory prior to being unlocked

If science has less incentive to make these things (because they never get to use them), then a lot less of them will be made.

 

The Geneticist is not permitted to grant Powers to non-Command Staff without express verbal consent from the Chief Medical Officer and the Research Director;

IMHO, make the CMO the sole authority on cloning. Make the RD the sole authority on genetic research. Having them share joint authority just sets up conflict when they don't agree.

Or, better yet, just make Genetics a solely science job, and give the doctors authority over cloning. They already do 90% of the cloning anyway, and pretending that genetics is a joint department when its staff spend >90% of their time doing science is a obvious fiction. The only thing medical that genetics does is clone people - and not only do they not usually do that, doctors could frankly use the extra work to do officially, seeing as they're usually the ones doing it anyway.

 

The Geneticist must keep Genetic Research recorded in a format of their choosing;

Why? So people can break in and quickly hulk themselves with notes the geneticist was forced to keep? That does not sound like a best practice at all.

If the Geneticist wanted to keep notes for others' benefit, he already would.

If he doesn't want to, this rule won't force him to. He can keep his notes in his head, write them in a format only he understands, etc, any of which would make the notes useless to anyone else.

Why does anyone even care to look at a Geneticist's notes, given that any powers they develop can be reset with a syringe gun and a few units of mutadone, regardless of what they are? You don't need notes to reset powers.

 

 

Telesci/Xenoarch

Realistically, I don't think there is much chance of either of these jobs coming back. When/if they do, I will happily eat my words, but in the meantime I don't see the point in having 100% unnecessary extra words in the SOP document which is already going to reach godzilla-sized proportions.

 

The HONK Mech is not to be constructed without full approval by the Research Director and Captain

The word "and" there is quite important.

It means the RD can say no to a HONK mech even if the captain says yes.

In practice, this means that unless either:

A) The captain and RD both agree on making the HONK mech (unlikely)

or

B) The captain wants a HONK mech so badly they're prepared to fire the RD if they don't say yes to it (unlikely)

- that no HONK mechs will be made.

 

RIP HONK mechs. I shed no tears for their loss.

 

I was not aware they could only make Advanced E-Guns.

If you don't regularly play science, it might be worth pinging the regular science players you see, and see what they think of this new proposed SOP.

 

Edited January 28, 2016 by Guest

[Fox McCloud]

 

The Research Director must make sure Research is being done. Research must be completed by the end of the shift

 

This is bad for the same reason TZO stated; this requires co-operation from multiple departments for this to happen; not to mention this focuses on one aspects of science--maybe the RD wants to focus on chemical/bomb/xenobio research one shift instead of R&D; from an RP perspective, it seems a bit forced to intentionally make them focus on R&D.

 

The Research Director is not permitted to carry their Reactive Teleport Armour on their person

 

No offense, here, and this is going to be harsh..but are you crazy? This is like saying that the HoP isn't allow to use his energy gun, the CE isn't allowed to use his magboots or unique suit, or the HoS isn't allowed to use his unique laser gun. The whole point of the tele-armor is that it's risky protection. I realize you stipulate that this is ok blue and up, but really, this is adding in an artificial "can't do this" for no good reason---especially for an item that RD's already avoid, like the plague, because of how incredibly finicky it is.

 

The Research Director is permitted to change the AI Unit’s lawset, provided they receive general approval from the Captain and Chief Engineer. If a Chief Engineer is not available, another Head of Staff can fill in;

 

CE has zero authority on non-repair AI issues; only the HoP, RD, and Captain have access to enter the AI upload, and only the RD and Captain have access to enter the AI inner core. The boards inside the chamber are properly gated so that the RD can fiddle with laws all he likes, but he doesn't have access to the really nasty ones (which are locked to captain's access).

 

This is a BIGGGG reason why the RD is the de-facto acting captain if Cap+HoP are killed or not present. HoS is considered to important to station integrity+security to step down from his position, and RD has access to the most powerful piece of equipment on the station, so it's a fairllyyy logical leap.

 

 

The Research Director is permitted to carry a single weapon created in the Protolathe, provided they receive authorization from the Head of Security and/or Captain

 

Good luck enforcing this one when there's Shadowlings/Xenos/Wizards/Revolutionarys/etc. around--while I haven't read your other stuff, isn't the Captain and HoS allowed to issue weapons permits to whoever they want?

 

 

The Roboticist is not permitted to transfer personnel MMIs into Cyborgs without express written and stamped consent by the Head of Personnel, in the case of a willing Cyborgization, or verbal consent by the Captain and/or Head of Security, in the case of a Cyborgization sentence. Exception is made for Civilians, who require no stamped permission, but must still fill a consent form;

 

This is annoying for the person wishing to get borged, to say the least; the HoP should have ZERO say what people willingly do; the cyborgification form is there purely to document willing borgs so the roboticist doesn't get arrested for murder; the HoP shouldn't have any part of this other than potentially being notified that it occurred.

 

 

Scientists are not permitted to construct weapons (IE, anything that comes in a lockbox, such as firearms and laser weaponry, in addition to the Portal Gun) in the Protolathe without express permission from the Head of Security and/or Captain. Exception is made for the Plasma Pistol, as it useful for completing Research;

 

This is retarded. They're in a lockbox for a reason; to prevent access to its contents; this is just adding an arbitrary "don't use lockboxed stuff for research" for no reason at all that has no real impact at the end of the day.

 

Scientists are not permitted to create AI Boards without express permission from the Captain and/or Research Director

 

Some board have high research levels and you'd need them for this purpose.

 

 

 

Scientists are permitted to bring Toxins Bombs outside of Science, but only for delivery to the Armory;

 

Lol...scientists trusting security to now blow the shit out of everything with a tox bomb. That said, science should always be allowed to hand out tox bombs to miners; its' one of the few legitimate uses for them.

 

 

The Geneticist is not permitted to grant Powers to non-Command Staff without express verbal consent from the Chief Medical Officer and the Research Director;

 

CMO handles cloning RD handles the geneticist research side of things; the CMO shouldn't really have a say in this unless the RD is gone.

 

The Geneticist must keep Genetic Research recorded in a format of their choosing;

 

Tedious as hell; while a lot of them keep track, OOCly, of what blocks do what, forcing them to do this, ICly, is akin to forcing miners to document their ore shipments.

 

 

The Geneticist is not permitted to use sentient humanoids as test subjects without a signed consent form waiving NanoTrasen of liability, approved by the Chief Medical Officer

 

Why? If the person is willing and made fully aware of the consequences, why does this matter?

 

 

 

 

I mean no offense, but...sommmeeeee of these things here seem to indicate that you've nottttt played science a whole lot

 

[Shadeykins]

Research can be brought very close to being maxed (and for all intents and purposes for what the parts do, may as well count as being maxed) without any help from mining.

[Kyet]

 

Research can be brought very close to being maxed (and for all intents and purposes for what the parts do, may as well count as being maxed) without any help from mining.

What useful things can you do with that level of research, but no minerals?

 

[Crazylemon]

I second tzo's verdict, that having combat mechs be as restricted as locked weapons from the protolathe, diminishes the ability to have a standing force ready in times of crisis. It is already hard enough to get the standard weapons unlocked - getting permission to make something that must be brought to the armory, very slowly and conspicuously, seems like it would reduce the practicality of mechs to the point where their use-cases would be nil, similar to the impressive array of hand-held weapons from the protolathe, that never get used due to the logistics of both producing and unlocking them.

[TullyBBurnalot]

Well, that's a pickle. Lemme work on this, I'll have something ready and waiting in about, uh... an hour or so. Maybe.

[Vivalas]

I really like this set of SOP you created, the only thing wierd is the fact that RD apparently loses the ability to carry their telebaton on Red, maybe a typo.

[TullyBBurnalot]

 

Alright, it's time for my favourite activity! Going through quote walls with more quote walls, aka, the whole reason I started this thread in the first place.

 

Do keep in mind, this is my personal opinion. It in no way reflects the totality, or partiality (that's a word?), of the Staff's opinion, and is merely my view on things. You are free to disagree and, if you do, I honestly request that you explain why so that we can reach a compromise/solution.

 

I would add "assuming mining delivers adequate minerals, including diamonds" to this.

 

I'll add "assuming Science is provided the materials for it" to make it clearer. That said, common logic still applies, no one can really blame Science if the Miners are getting drunk off their ass in the bar.

 

They can carry a weapon (baton, etc), but not a defensive armor? Weird.

 

Mostly because the Reactive Teleport Armour is a highly expensive, experimental one-of-a-kind piece of armour that shouldn't be worn unless there's a darn good reason for it. A baton, by comparison, is a stick.

 

-weapon snip-

 

My logic behind it, and bear with me here, is that the Research Director is probably the last person who should packing heat. They're supposed to be on the station to help further scientific research, and arming themselves with a multitude of weapons for a multitude of possible situations falls far beyond their job description.

 

At least from where I stand, there's no real logical reason the Research Director should have as much firepower as the entire Security Department, just because they can make the things. That's not what their job is, nor is it what they're supposed to be doing in the first place. In fact, the entire reason lockboxes were added is because Science regularly armed itself to the teeth and basically became a small military nation-state that Sec couldn't do jack shit about. TL;DR: it's not the RD's job to carry guns around.

 

That said, I'll swap it over to a blanket "can carry weapons if permitted by the HoS" to avoid redundancy. I say HoS because, in a Code Red situation, they're most likely the ones getting stuck in there, and across all Color Codes detain the most authority over the Armory. In addition, it's not really restrictive. Code Green/Blue does not allow for any weapons, period. Code Red permits one. Not to mention, Code Red isn't necessarily "do or die". In fact, most Code Reds are called over there being confirmed antagonists, not any particularly impending doom looming over everyone. And if there is an impending doom over everyone, as I stated multiple times before, SOP is malleable if the circumstances and context so allow it.

 

-snip about mechs-

 

I second tzo's verdict, that having combat mechs be as restricted as locked weapons from the protolathe, diminishes the ability to have a standing force ready in times of crisis. It is already hard enough to get the standard weapons unlocked - getting permission to make something that must be brought to the armory, very slowly and conspicuously, seems like it would reduce the practicality of mechs to the point where their use-cases would be nil, similar to the impressive array of hand-held weapons from the protolathe, that never get used due to the logistics of both producing and unlocking them.

 

I'll repeat myself once again, and I'll keep repeating it until everyone gets it:

 

SOP is malleable if the situation and context call for it.

 

I've seen Wardens refuse to hand out weaponry in the face of a threat because it was still Code Green. This is stupid.

 

I've seen HoSs do the same. Also stupid.

 

I've seen IAAs, Reps and Magistrates flip their shit over Code Green restrictions when there are hostile changelings murdering people because no one upped to Blue yet. Also stupid.

 

Standard Operating Procedure is not meant to be followed blindly regardless of circumstances. Again, it's STANDARD Operating Procedure, to be followed when everything is nominal. When things aren't nominal, SOP can, and should, be molded to adjust to the situation before falling back to nominal status. So if there's a Blob, there's literally no reason Robotics shouldn't be immediately making mechs just because Command is too lazy/rambo to up the Color Code. There's a freakin' Blob, protocol can be damned.

 

That said, I'll also put my two cents into this: Roboticists should not be playing Robotics just so they can make pretty military mechs.

 

Why? Because they have literally no reason to. The Durand, Gygax and Phazon are incredibly dangerous Exosuits that can carry incredibly dangerous equipment that should not be in the hands of whoever built it just because they had the resources to do it. Not to mention, aside from extreme emergencies, there's no reason to use those mechs anyway. You can't just go around hunting traitors with missile racks or laser cannons.

 

There is, again,a reason why a sizeable chunk of the community was very much positive to the idea of lockboxing Exosuit weapons. As is, Science is broken. There is no argument against this. They are 15 minutes and a half-decent Cargo shipment away from getting hilariously powerful weaponry and fully-equipped military Exosuits, while the rest of the station basically has what they had from the start, plus whatever they can scrounge up from Cargo. Science is very much at an advantage when it comes to their power level, and can be very easily abused.

 

TL;DR: there's literally no reason why a Roboticist should be walking around with a military Exosuit unless there are Nukies/Blobs/Shadownerds/maybe Wizards, and playing around with Deathmechs shouldn't be the primary reason Robotics is staffed.

 

The HoP should not have any authority over people not in the civil department. Second, all he really needs is to be *informed* that someone is getting borged. Getting his permission shouldn't be required, and seems like 100% pointless paperwork.

 

This is annoying for the person wishing to get borged, to say the least; the HoP should have ZERO say what people willingly do; the cyborgification form is there purely to document willing borgs so the roboticist doesn't get arrested for murder; the HoP shouldn't have any part of this other than potentially being notified that it occurred.

 

I've heard arguments from both sides on this. As it stands, I've come to believe it's needless paperwork, and will change it so that all borg candidates just have to sign a waver saying "Yes, I want to be borged". Much easier.

 

This directly conflicts with the earlier rule in the RD section which states that ONLY the cap can authorize new AI units.

 

Nice catch, I'll change that around.

 

Does this include temperature guns? Those are very helpful for xenobio. What about if a sec officer asks for something? What about if the BS asks for something? What if the HoS asks for something? Can you turn down the HoS' request for ammo because you can't reach the captain and you're interpreting it as "and"?

 

First off, I'll add an exception for the Temperature Gun, seeing as it's functionally harmless unless emagged (and if it's emagged, well, the person in question could probably get a whole lot worse things from that Protolathe).

 

That said, I would personally argue that a Sec Officer asking for something isn't a legitimate reason to give them that something if it happens to be a weapon. Officers are still under the authority of their Head of Staff.

 

I'll modify it so that giving out weapons requires that the Scientist obtain permission from the Head of Security, alone, seeing as they're the ones in charge of the Armory in the first place. Failing that, the Captain, and failing that, the RD.

 

Not even for R&D purposes?

 

Some board have high research levels and you'd need them for this purpose.

 

This is actually a misunderstanding. I did not mean AI Lawset Boards. I meant the actual AI Core Board. Will change to make it more obvious.

 

If science has less incentive to make these things (because they never get to use them), then a lot less of them will be made.

 

Falls back to my initial argument. As per Rule 3, people should not be playing Science exclusively so they have a chance of playing around with the cool guns at the end of Research line. In addition, they have a great many other things they can do, and if Security requires equipment, you can bet they'll be asking.

 

And seeing as Science can't use the stuff anyway, there's nothing stopping them from just giving it to Security anyway.

 

IMHO, make the CMO the sole authority on cloning. Make the RD the sole authority on genetic research. Having them share joint authority just sets up conflict when they don't agree.

Or, better yet, just make Genetics a solely science job, and give the doctors authority over cloning. They already do 90% of the cloning anyway, and pretending that genetics is a joint department when its staff spend >90% of their time doing science is a obvious fiction. The only thing medical that genetics does is clone people - and not only do they not usually do that, doctors could frankly use the extra work to do officially, seeing as they're usually the ones doing it anyway.

 

CMO handles cloning RD handles the geneticist research side of things; the CMO shouldn't really have a say in this unless the RD is gone.

 

While I agree with the overarching point, that would require change the actual job description, which does not really fall under the purview of SOP. That said, again, I agree entirely. I'll swap it so that the RD has the authority to permit those modifications.

 

Why? So people can break in and quickly hulk themselves with notes the geneticist was forced to keep? That does not sound like a best practice at all.

If the Geneticist wanted to keep notes for others' benefit, he already would.

If he doesn't want to, this rule won't force him to. He can keep his notes in his head, write them in a format only he understands, etc, any of which would make the notes useless to anyone else.

Why does anyone even care to look at a Geneticist's notes, given that any powers they develop can be reset with a syringe gun and a few units of mutadone, regardless of what they are? You don't need notes to reset powers.

 

Tedious as hell; while a lot of them keep track, OOCly, of what blocks do what, forcing them to do this, ICly, is akin to forcing miners to document their ore shipments.

 

I'll be absolutely honest, I was struggling to reach the 9 Guideline total for Genetics. I have to admit, I was never really content with this, and it was here purely so that everyone had the same number of Guidelines. I'll be happy to remove it.

 

Realistically, I don't think there is much chance of either of these jobs coming back. When/if they do, I will happily eat my words, but in the meantime I don't see the point in having 100% unnecessary extra words in the SOP document which is already going to reach godzilla-sized proportions.

 

Technically speaking, Telescience isn't gone. You can still make the equipment if you get the materials for it, and it's not exactly expensive either. Hell, you can remove the ExperiMENTOR and rebuild Telescience in its old place quite quickly.

 

As for Xenoarch, it is my firm belief we'll be getting it back. When, I don't know, but until a coder up and tells me "yeah no, this ain't happening", I'd rather this stay here.

 

The word "and" there is quite important.

It means the RD can say no to a HONK mech even if the captain says yes.

In practice, this means that unless either:

A) The captain and RD both agree on making the HONK mech (unlikely)

or

B) The captain wants a HONK mech so badly they're prepared to fire the RD if they don't say yes to it (unlikely)

- that no HONK mechs will be made.

 

RIP HONK mechs. I shed no tears for their loss.

 

RIP in piss, Honk Mech. You won't be missed.

 

That said, I've had situations where Command was favourable to a Honk Mech, usually when the Clown isn't being a shit. So it's not entirely impossible.

 

If you don't regularly play science, it might be worth pinging the regular science players you see, and see what they think of this new proposed SOP.

 

I do occasionally play Science (usually as the RD). The reason I had no idea was that the Weapons tab is something I rarely visit (except during Blob rounds, and even then it's just to spam that sweet X-Ray Gun button), and I applied a bit of common logic:

 

 

1. Advanced E-Gun > E-Gun; TRUE

    

2. Science can make Advanced E-Guns, and much worse; TRUE

    

Therefore, Science can make simple E-Guns

FALSE

 

Goddamnit, Aristotle!

 

Moving on.

 

This is bad for the same reason TZO stated; this requires co-operation from multiple departments for this to happen; not to mention this focuses on one aspects of science--maybe the RD wants to focus on chemical/bomb/xenobio research one shift instead of R&D; from an RP perspective, it seems a bit forced to intentionally make them focus on R&D.

 

Well, technically, the Science Department is there to do Science, and one of their job objectives is to literally max out Research.

 

From a practical standpoint, Research can be done in 15 minutes with the proper materials, and a normal shift lasts two hours. Plenty of time to max stuff out, even if you're coming back to it every once in a while to increase it a bit.

 

No offense, here, and this is going to be harsh..but are you crazy? This is like saying that the HoP isn't allow to use his energy gun, the CE isn't allowed to use his magboots or unique suit, or the HoS isn't allowed to use his unique laser gun. The whole point of the tele-armor is that it's risky protection. I realize you stipulate that this is ok blue and up, but really, this is adding in an artificial "can't do this" for no good reason---especially for an item that RD's already avoid, like the plague, because of how incredibly finicky it is.

 

See above for my argument.

 

That said, uh, I can see the "Risk V Reward" aspect of it. As far as I'm aware, the Reactive Armour can still randomly teleport you into Space if you're near/unlucky enough, so I'm guessing that if an RD is wearing it, and bad stuff happens, that's on them.

 

Will modify and add a snarky comment.

 

CE has zero authority on non-repair AI issues; only the HoP, RD, and Captain have access to enter the AI upload, and only the RD and Captain have access to enter the AI inner core. The boards inside the chamber are properly gated so that the RD can fiddle with laws all he likes, but he doesn't have access to the really nasty ones (which are locked to captain's access).

 

This is a BIGGGG reason why the RD is the de-facto acting captain if Cap+HoP are killed or not present. HoS is considered to important to station integrity+security to step down from his position, and RD has access to the most powerful piece of equipment on the station, so it's a fairllyyy logical leap.

 

This is in fact something I also wanted to work on, namely AI Lawset authorization. I was thinking of modifying it so that it's something like "Permitted, but needs Captain+another Head of Staff approval" for any lawset changes.

 

As for CoC, that's a whoooooooole 'nother matter entirely.

 

Good luck enforcing this one when there's Shadowlings/Xenos/Wizards/Revolutionarys/etc. around--while I haven't read your other stuff, isn't the Captain and HoS allowed to issue weapons permits to whoever they want?

 

Haven't touched Captain, and nothing of the sort in the HoS one.

 

That said, see above for my "SOP is malleable" thing. If there's something like Shadowlings/Xenos/Wizards/etc. (RIP in piss, Rev), I have no problem with the RD grabbing weaponry, mostly because those kinds of threats are the "Kill them or we all die" type. This is one situation it shouldn't be enforced, as doing so would endanger everyone.

 

This is retarded. They're in a lockbox for a reason; to prevent access to its contents; this is just adding an arbitrary "don't use lockboxed stuff for research" for no reason at all that has no real impact at the end of the day.

 

...

 

Good point, actually. I'll swap it over to something like "No Portable Wormhole Generators without RD approval".

 

Lol...scientists trusting security to now blow the shit out of everything with a tox bomb. That said, science should always be allowed to hand out tox bombs to miners; its' one of the few legitimate uses for them.

 

It was mostly for Security purposes. It's harder to break into the Armory than it is to break into Toxins.

 

That said, good catch on the Miners, I'll add that.

 

Why? If the person is willing and made fully aware of the consequences, why does this matter?

 

Mostly so then you have a piece of paper clearing you of any potential allegations of murder and/or abuse.

 

[Habalabam]

 

I believe the HoS should have the knowledge of dangerous weapons on the station and at least should at some point make a decision as to whether or not post a guard to make sure that the items aren't stolen.

 

These SOP's are going to tie into eachother. If you believe the HoS is hampering the application of new research in the security department, then maybe you should take a look at the SOP for security. And maybe the coders should be able to give Security some love so that the Security dept minute-by-minute play is possible to support from the HoS office. Right now, the HoS is most often the badass robocop more than an administrator.

 

 

And:

 

A: HoP, can I be borged?

HoP: No.

A: I resign. Can I be borged

HoP: Yes.

 

[Knightedskull]

 

(damn I missed a lot of the action)

I would like to point out that genetics IS IMPORTANT for medical staff to have on standby.

 

We need them for the extra staff to manage cloning ( IF THEY BOTHER BUT THEY DON'T).

We need them for CLEAN SEs ( don't say mutadone works exactly the same cause they do not).

We need them for new bodies. Extremely important for brain/organ/limb transplants and cloning ( again, genetics need to handle cloning).

And, again, we need them for cloning due to possible clone side effects.

We need them for the shortcut when science team blows up.

 

What competent doctors we have left, we don't need them tied to the cloning process and even then, they are still bound to go to the geneticist to fix any genetic issues. This prevents hassles of handing patients to other people.

 

The less doctors and staff a patient has to go through, the faster they can be fixed ( assuming the doctor knows what they are doing).

{EDIT: forgot to add: }

In regards to RD and genetics : Yes, do whatever with genetics RESEARCH, but crew experimentation and genetic manipulations? That does not sound like a decision for the RD to make, both IC and OOC.

 

[pinatacolada]

 

Mutadone does act like a clean SE, it's just bugged and awaiting the fix to be patched in. That said, all of the above, especially the new bodies part. It's kinda a requirement to pump out at least one, for chemistry to make synth and biomass.

 

And honestly, if instead of a wall there was a window in genetics, I bet we'd see them a lot more involved in the cloning thing. If the issue is that windows are easily broken into, make it an electrified grille.

 

[alexpkeaton]

 

And honestly, if instead of a wall there was a window in genetics, I bet we'd see them a lot more involved in the cloning thing. If the issue is that windows are easily broken into, make it an electrified grille.

 

This. I like this idea!

 

[Knightedskull]

 

Mutadone does act like a clean SE, it's just bugged and awaiting the fix to be patched in. That said, all of the above, especially the new bodies part. It's kinda a requirement to pump out at least one, for chemistry to make synth and biomass.

 

And honestly, if instead of a wall there was a window in genetics, I bet we'd see them a lot more involved in the cloning thing. If the issue is that windows are easily broken into, make it an electrified grille.

 

yyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssss

 

Also, is it really bugged? I thought the intentions behind it was that mutadone fixes just changes while an SE is dead set change (guaranteed everything off)

 

[Crazylemon]

 

No, mutadone goes through every block - sets all 55 blocks to 0, just that the bug was that some mutations didn't trigger that ({de,re}activating dna blocks is costly, so we leave it be unless there are actual mutations).

This DOES mean, that if you give a monkey mutagen and mutadone, that they'll turn human.

 

[Knightedskull]

That's going in my notes. Instant Human Potatoes.