Nanako

I don't feel that the Atmospherics Technician job is a good idea. Of course atmospherics is important, but the existance of that job, and the designation of special areas for it, just gets in the way more than anything. The first thing an engineer does in any round is get kitted up. You grab your multitool, your insulated gloves, perhaps your magboots. And then the second thing an engineer does is hack into atmospherics, and bolt it open. Because getting in there is critical to getting the engine setup. if there's an AI it could bolt the door open, but otherwise you hack that door or everyone dies. Engineers need into there quite frequently for all sorts of reasons, too. like refilling gas, But we do have atmospheric alert consoles outside of it. Now what does an atmospherics tech even do? They typically don't fix air alarms, because those usually come from a hull breach, fixing that is an engineer's job. and you don't send two people to a one-person task. They can optimise the atmospherics setup a bit, but a good engineer can do that too, and often will. I don't see a point in the role. What i propose instead, is all of the following: 1 Remove the Atmospherics Technician class 2. Give Station Engineer full access to what is currently atmospherics 3. add Atmospherics Technician as a new alternative title for Station Engineer. Someone who wants to specialise in atmospherics and stay in there optimising the air systems, can still do that, but engineering wouldn't have this pointless division that slows everything down. Thoughts?

I'm gradually learning the scientist role, but i'm running into snags After a little while, i made a flamethrower, for research purposes of course. I wanted to see how it works, and what i could do with it. I tried to do the responsible thing and take it to the testing range before using it. We have one of those, right? I spent quite a while wandering around science, before i realised there was a bridge leading out of the toxins room, into space. I figure that must lead to it, but it was built of single plating tiles, completely exposed. How am i supposed to get there? I searched all over the science wing, but i couldn't find a space suit or magboots anywhere around. I eventually ended up testing it in the departure lounge. i figure we could use the airlocks to vent the room if i started a fire. And i spent 15 minutes in there trying to use the damn thing. Eventually i had another look at the baystation wiki, and found this (see highlighted text): Does this mean that flamethrowers don't work? Or am i reading it wrong, if so how the heck do i use it. The interaction menu on it says it's unlit, and i couldn't figure out how to light it. The Unlit text is a link, but clicking it does nothing. Using a lighter on it didn't seem to work either (i definitely installed an igniter) I hit a bit of a wall when some aliens boarded the station, i had no luck figuring out what kind of weapons a scientist can mak, aside from the things mentioned on this page: https://tgstation13.org/wiki/Flamethrower#Flamethrower Most of them don't seem very sciencey. Is there any guide anywhere for the sort of things a scientist can make with researched parts?

So in that case, what if a crewmember physically drags a cyborg onto the shuttle, and then orders it to stay there. It's first law will tell it to return to the station, it's second law will tell it to follow the order to stay on the shuttle. As you said, a conflict results in null action, so it should stay where it is, which is on the shuttle. If that happens, then the cyborg can leave on the shuttle, right? Of course, that might be against nanotrasen protocols, for a normal transfer. But in the case of the aforementioned transfer-when-station-is-doomed scenario, Nanotrasen would appreciate the recovery of their property.

Personally, i'd argue against alerts being technically limited to any single member of staff. I'd say all heads of staff should have access to all alerts (except delta), but with the expectation that they only use those relevant to their department (the alerts console should categorise them by department, and have written warnings about who is normally allowed to use each category). Abuse of this would lead to disciplinary measures, or demotion In an emergency, the research director should be able to issue a red alert, especially when there IS no captain. the number of 10 seems pretty arbitrary. On most stations i've been on, 10 deaths means the station is basically screwed beyond repair. I'd say the number should be based on a percentage of total crew count, say 5-10%. But in either case it shouldn't be a technical limitation, it should be at the medical department's discretion to use their judgement of when to issue it. Limitations should be in guidelines and NT protocols

I agree here, i think firearms should be loaded with lethal ammunition by default. You shouldn't be opening the armoury unless you're prepared to kill, generally.If lethal force is not required, then use your tasers and stunbatons Rubber bullets are still a good idea to have as an option, but not as an expectation.

Agreed, make it happen. Although for what it's worth, my experience as roboticist tends to be extremely stressful and swamped with demands. I'd like more endgame options, but i don't think the roboticist is lacking for things to do.

For what it's worth, i'm against this, i'd like to see more random events, not less. Yesterday we had a five hour extended round, and people started commenting on how quiet everything was. We gained a pretty high player attrition rate due to people turning up, having nothing to do, and leaving again. At one point an admin stepped in and gave us a stationwide plague of furry blue creatures, which was pretty awesome. But the admin logged out sometime after that, and i eventually felt compelled to call a crew transfer, for lack of anyone having anything to do. An almost-nonexistent science department didn't help matters, but i think low population servers during the dead hours really need those random events.

In real life, people love drinking. They enjoy it. Quite a lot of people spend most of their money on it, and do it every chance they get, it's become such an ingrained part of human culture, that we even invented a word for the Addiction to the stuff, Alcoholism In SS13, there is an obvious attempt to reflect this part of culture. We have Lots of types of alcohol, we have a bar, and we have a dedicated role for it, the barman. At least one role, the detective, has his own supply of the stuff, and a little flask intended for carrying it around. Characters can get drunk, and it causes slurring of speech, which is kind of fun, the first time at least. However, i want to talk about practicality. In practical terms, your character being trunk is not actually that fun for the player, the speech slurring becomes annoying when you're trying to actually do anything, and as far as i'm aware, alcohol doesn't really have any other effects. Passing out drunk isn't really fun for the player, it just removes your control of your character for a while. These things don't help with a stressful job, they add to it. The real-life fun of being intoxicated is impossible to convey in a game, and all we're left with is the negative effects which CAN be conveyed. The server can't just tell you "you are having fun". It's not real, and doesn't work. As a result, the bar is only really populated by roleplayers. Quite a lot of people, especially those trying to get things done, will go whole shifts without ever visiting it. The bartender's job is nowhere near as interesting as it ought to be because people don't really need or want to drink, and this often results in him leaving the bar to find other things to do, or going afk. Not good. With that in mind, i have a few ideas for remedying what i see as problems. Ideas that i think would add, not detract, from the roleplay value of alcohol, and especially of the bartender's job 1. Enhance movement speed. This is the first and foremost one, and i believe by far the best. I'd say that when slightly intoxicated (Ie, not heavily drunk and staggering around) you should move a bit faster. This wouldn't be unrealistic, as alcohol often does actually make people more energetic and outgoing, it's one of the reasons drunk people are famed for doing (or attempting) strange physical feats, and getting into a lot of fights. One of the most noticeable things for any new player on aurora is the movement speed of characters. It's vastly decreased. I'm sure this is done for a variety of reasons, and i agree with it, it makes combat a lot more interesting. By allowing slight intoxication to make you move faster, you'd be able to get things done more capably, which would directly reduce the stress level of your job. You'd have engineers taking a sip of dutch courage before going into dangerous situations, and crewmen of all kinds having a drink whenever work is getting too tough, and they have a lot to get done. This wouldn't at all affect the roleplayers who like to sit at the bar and converse, but it WOULD vastly increase the bar's patronage as people come in to pick up what is now a very useful tool for their lives. This would notably include antagonists, who'd want that extra edge to help escape security, and the public exposure of visiting the bar might work against them. If nothing else, it'd certainly give security and detectives more reason to question the barman when looking for a fugitive, as it's likely he's seen them. The barman would have more to do, causing their job to be more interesting, more commonly picked, and less likely to go afk or log out in the middle of the game. By only applying this benefit to the early stages of intoxication, people would have a reason to carry a drink around with them, or keep a bottle onhand in their office, and it would give an additional little balancing act of trying to stay slightly buzzed, without going overboard and having it negatively affect your work, 2. Give the barman some cleaning supplies. A mop, a bucket, and some trashbags. None of the fancy things like cleaning grenades, space cleaner, or galoshes, those are the janitor's toys. Maintaining the bar area is the barman's job, it makes a lot of sense that he'd have things on hand to clean it, i don't know a bar or pub in the world that doesn't. Bars, both in real life and ingame, are one of the most commonly messed up areas, whether it's foot traffic dirtying the floors, barfights spreading blood everywhere, or drunkards vomiting all over the floor. Having to call the janitor in to clean up these messes detracts from the bartenders already-extremely-light workload, and is especially egregious when the station doesn't even have a janitor, which is often the case. The janitor has every other part of the station to clean, he can afford to yield a little of it to someone else, and cleaning the bar is often a low priority when he's mopping up a murder scene in a maintenance hall somewhere. 3. Introduce the Zombie mode. A scenario i've seen on many other servers as a possible gamemode. An outbreak of some kind of virus causes people to lose their minds, and run around biting others. Getting bitten gives you the virus, and will cause you to turn into a zombie after a while. The way this relates to alcohol, is that Whisky is the cure for the zombie virus, and on those servers the barman suddenly sees an influx of stressed medics demanding strong spirits for their patients It's worth notingthat zombie mode on other servers often includes the spawning of hordes of NPC zombies. I don't think this part makes sense, an i wouldn't like to see that ported over, except possibly some initial npc zombies to start the outbreak 4. Damage Resistance, and Combat Enhancement Some of these effects may already exist, it's hard to tell. but if they don't, i'm suggesting adding them As previously mentioned, drunkards are known for getting into fights. An increase in punching damage (or maybe damage with any melee weapon) and a resistance to brute damage, would help reflect this fact. These changes would also farther incentivise antagonists to visit the bar. Radiation resistance. There are some studies that indicate alcohol consumption can help against radiation poisoning. They're contested, but pseudoscience is good enough for a game, and it's a common trope anyway, many other games have used it http://stalker.wikia.com/wiki/Vodka Since iirc, radiation deals toxin damage anyway, extending that to all forms of toxin damage would seem reasonable, and it'd give people a reason to drink up before trying to run through a hallway with a phoron leak 5. Taser resistance. The last, and perhaps most controversial idea, so i'm putting it here seperately. Alcohol dulls a lot of senses, and drunken people are known to shrug off a lot. It might be a good idea to include a feature whereby, when someone is heavily drunk (Ie, slurring and staggering) being hit with a taser/stun weapon wouldn't instantly knock them down, but instead slow them to walking speed, and require a second shot to bring them down. This could give drunken antagonists an edge in combat versus security forces, but balanced against the fact that being heavily drunk is suspicious, and often grounds for arrest due to dereliction of duty, creating a workplace hazard, or suspicious behaviour Again, another reason for antagonists to visit the bar, and increase their interaction with the crew I'd like some thoughts on these ideas, ideally individually. implementing some of them, and not others, might still be good. I believe the movespeed increase is the most critical one, and i'd like to see that more than any of the others

I don't understand why you posted this, or are getting likes for it. I believe i stated very clearly that i'm not asking for these jobs to be removed, i created this thread to learn more about players and their experiences, not to request changes or force my will upon anything. You're acting like I'm attacking you.

hmm, but freedom to do what? A roboticist could build a personal mech suit, a chemist can mix up drugs. what kind of unsupervised fun can a xenobiologist get into? Does this happen I've not really seen it in an isolated place, orheard about it happening. Antagonists especially, rarely seem to roleplay, if they're going to do something horrible it's usually a silent ambush I did once have someone on the radio looking to dispense surprises though. i opened the door and got a cream pie in the face what kind of advanced research can you do down there? on my shift we didn't get too far with the slimes before things went horribly wrong This is basically exactly what happened. although not me. I had the bright idea of trying to take my deceased colleague's head to the medbay for cloning, and in doing so left several crewmembers unattended in xeno. One of them went insane and released the slime horde. Seven people died that part of the shift was certainly exciting, moreso than the slime work though, i felt

There are quite a few jobs on the station where people work in extreme isolation, their workstations in distant locations, with no foot traffic, and often little or no reason to leave their station. I can't recall all of them, but a few that come to mind are: Xenobiology Xenobotany Xenoarchaology Shaft Mining/Mining Cyborg To put it simply, i don't like these roles. I don't understand them. I've tried a couple, and they were a wholly unfulfilling experience. They kind of feel like playing a singleplayer game, even if you have a colleague. Of course, i'm certainly not suggesting they be removed or anything. My fun is not your fun, no such thing as wrong fun. But i'd like to understand them a little better. And more importantly, i want to understand the people who play them. Or at least, the people who enjoy playing them. I'm sure these roles have their fair share of first timers who never return, we've all been there stuck in something we hated. But i'm interested in those who pick these roles habitually. Are you one of these people? Why? What appeals to you about these jobs?

Apologies if these seem a bit newbish, i've not done much construction, still getting the hang of it I was called to repair a hull breach today as an engineer, and the process took a lot longer than expected, i'm not even sure i did it correctly The first major thing that comes to mind, is mistakes. How do you fix them? For example, i accidentally built a wall when i meant to make a reinforced wall. I couldn't figure out how to go back a step, or tear it down and start over. The wrench doesn't seem to deconstruct them. How do you deal with building something in the wrong place by accident? The second thing is grilles, i hate these things. When i need them gone, i usually smash them with a crowbar, but that does still leave behind a broken grill, and i can't figure out how to pick that up, or move it out of the way Then there's windows. Most windows on the station use a setup that seems odd to me, a grill in the middle, surrounded on all sides by single-pane reinforced windows. At least, where it connects to something other than more window. How do you actually create this setup? And how do you deal with one of the panes getting broken and needing repaired. The thing i think i messed up, the middle of three windows was smashed out, and i repaired it with a metal wall. possible problem is, the sides of the window tiles facing the wall had no panes on them. Does that compromise hull integrity? I had no idea how to re-add those panes

So the middle option that i agreed with, is correct. Cyborgs should stay behind on a functional station, but evacuate in an emergency? Incidentally, are they allowed to evacuate in a situation which obviously should be Code Red (like imminent self destruct) but the emergency evacuation isn't actually triggered (for example, by traitors taking control and cancelling the shuttle). can they leave on an escape pod? Or alternatively, if people call a crew transfer instead of an emergency evac, when the station is FUBARed. I see that a lot, it's a sort of "everything's screwed, lets end the round and restart" And i had no idea bringing the AI along was allowed. Why should an AI be evacuated? They're just software, i don't understand why they'd have any value. perhaps their servers and install disks would, but...

I had a bit of conversation about this topic in OOC chat earlier, and there seemed to be some conflicting opinions, so i'd like some sort of official/administrative ruling on this issue. So questions: 1. Is a cyborg considered "part of the station"? Many have said yes, and for a cyborg slaved to an AI, i'd personally agree. But there are also unslaved cyborgs, the rules text on start specifically says that they're NOT bound to the AI. The aurora wiki also states that two cyborgs are "shipped to the station" at the start of a round, indicating that they're built offsite, and perfectly capable of travelling: http://aurorastation.org/wiki/index.php?title=Cyborg#Modules so is a cyborg considered part of the station, or as property aboard it? One of the cyborg laws is to protect itself, because it is expensive. 2. Should a cyborg leave the station with the crew? Opinions differed quite a bit on this one, our cyborg floated onto the shuttle just before it closed. There's clearly no coded restriction preventing it from leaving (there is for mech suits, so the support is there if you wanted there to be) Some people, including our cyborg, thought that borgs should leave the station with the crew. Some people, personally including myself, thought that borgs should stay behind on a functional station, but should evacuate if the station is heavily compromised and unlikely to be used again. For example, self destruct imminent. And some people, including quite the majority of those in OOC chat, thought that a cyborg should remain behind in all circumstances, and "Go down with the ship". I'd argue that this is pointless and wilful destruction of Nanotrasen property, it doesn't seem logical I'd like a definitive answer to these questions from someone with server authority. Opinions and discussion are of course welcome, but there doesn't seem to be a consensus on this subject among players, and i can't accept a majority opinion as an answer, however popular

I don't understand this part. As an engineer, am i not allowed to pull out a crowbar defend myself if someone tries to murder me? i'd like more explanation for this