I come late to the party but i'd like to give my general opinion on OP's post:
While the whole quality aspect has been thorougly discussed under this forum post by virtually everyone and their mother i'd also like to throw my two cents in regarding the experiences an antag player makes more than the experiences others have when confronted with an antag. First and foremost when i see a """""""""""""""""bad"""""""""""""" antag i like to think that problem is far higher up than the player just being """"""bad"""""". I like to think the player is, to put it unkindly, clueless, the only way to make someone have a clue on how to play antag is to play antag yourself instead of expecting them to know everything and this is probably the main mistake most people make when they see a bad antag and immediatly jump to conclusions. I know everyone who plays on the server is not some four year old kid bashing his head against a keyboard but you can't, in no way whatsoever, expect anyone to be "good" at making "gimmicks" if they never had the chance to do them before either, this post goes to enforce the same vicious cycle i've seen in other mrp/hrp servers of:
>player plays antag for the first time
>trips on their shoelaces
>everyone shittalks them for ruining muh funy chair arr pee
>the player gets upset
>the player stops playing antag
>their enthusiasm is nipped in the bud
>they either continue to play antag with shit gimmicks because the feedback is "you're are bad"
>they stop playing antag entirely and change server
>pop dies/people complain muh no antag and only extended players are happy because they get to talk about their feelings for 3 hours straight
Teaching and letting people learn to play antag or just giving them a little push by introducing them to the concept(s) of antag(s) is a very good way to both boost population, curb the waves of extended that plagued the weeks prior to the adding of this change and keep things interesting.
Implying that people will not adapt, when major changes come around is not proactive in any way, people ALWAYS adapt if the change is reasonable and this change is, in my opinion, extremely reasonable as there is a very quick and easy way out which is simply joining after the round started.
Do consider putting more faith into others and their ability to adapt to the circumstances, it would really help improve the community expecially now in the wake of the coronatide which has seen many many many new and old players join : )
With this said i'm completely in favor for something regarding contracts or adding optional objectives to guide people or give them an idea, perhaps an option (automatically turned off) in the "role" selection menu which makes you decide wheter or not you'd like guidelines at roundstart or working on your own gimmick. Give them the option to have an option or an option to have freedom.
edit: i'd also like to add that one of the primary characteristics of ss13 is, and i'm quoting the wise words of a wise man/woman, incompetence of the professionals aboard the station is a big part of this game. And this can and should apply to antags aswell.
summer is nice player : ) yes : ) )))))))) +1 many times for good player also good mod on dirthmouth and very nice persin overall : ) ))) thank Her rp is neato burrito and she gets shit done overall without having stupid feelings get in the way, solid in my book : )